that's expensive!

[petshopboy]

When customers ask for a price on an item and I tell them, and they reply with "oh that's expensive".
I reply with a polite "compared with what" most times they don't know what to say.
If they do come up with a price that is reasonable I say that we can match it.
I just got sick of customers burlting out "oh that's expensive" without backing up the statement.
Do any members have customers doing this to them?

I also say to customers when they see no price on the item, and the customers reply is "It must be free" I reply " No that's shoplifting".

[Drakstern]

Happened constantly when I worked at Giant Eagle.

"That's expensive!" tended to come from lots of places, but the meat department was notorious for it.

That's because Giant Eagle has on-staff butchers, cuts it's own meat, and uses good meat. Second only to a devoted meat market or butcher's shop, but I digress.

Now, I don't know if they all do, but the one I worked at would occasionally have American Kobe beef in. Not the real stuff, the American 'almost' version of it. Still the best beef I've ever tasted, but it's expensive. Something on the order of more than I made a day per pound(I can't remember...).

I had one person buy a pound of it, and then act all indignant at the clearly marked cost. He couldn't comprehend the wonderfulness of the beef, or why it would cost so much. After all, "it's just meat."

Idjit...

[Ryu]

I'm guilty of that, I'm not expecting anything to be done just making a remark that its expensive and I wish I didnt have to pay so much but know I have to if its a necessity

[danegrous_21]

people do the same thing with me and the jerseys we have to sell. people are taken back that actually nfl jerseys are at least 50 bucks if not more. actually license product are expensive. people ail to understand this. o well

[AFpheonix]

We get that too. Yes, compared to Costco, we're expensive. But, you're failing to compute that
1) they're a wholesaler
2)you are paying for the convenience of a 24 hour store being here
3) We're open, they're not. Sucks to be you.


I usually just reply with "Mmmm." Don't give them anything to argue with, they really can't argue a whole lot.

[powerboy]

Yeah, I have people like that in my store. We have some rare anime, that is out of print, and well it is going to cost more to have. Since we paid more, we are not going to under sell it. And also yeah it is expensive, but that is the price that they indicate that we sell it for. We sell it for about 5-10 bucks then what we paid for it.

[Primer]

I think I surprise my veterinarian every time I have to go in there. I used to work in an emergency animal hospital, where just to walk in the door and have your animal looked at cost $50. The average bill for something non life threatening, but really should not wait till the regular vets opened on Monday would run about $350-500. About three years ago, one of my cats was attacked by a neighbor's dog. After two surgeries and a week in the equivalent of kitty intensive care, his final bill was all of $800. All I could say was, "Is that all?!?" Every time I go in for whatever the critters need, I'm still amazed at how cheap it is, compared to where I used to work (ok, except for Frontline Plus and Heartguard--I got those at cost)!

[Becks]

"That's expensive!" tended to come from lots of places, but the meat department was notorious for it.

I mostly say that about some products in the deli department. There is NO way that I'll pay more per pound for something when that price per pound is more that I make in one or more hour(s).

[Jester]

Had a memorable conversation many months back with a touron girl in my bar.

TOURON: How much are your Coronas?
JESTER: Four dollars.
TOURON: Four dollars? Are you serious?
JESTER: Yes, I am. Why?
TOURON: Where I'm from, they're not that much at all!
JESTER: Okay....Where are you from?
TOURON: Rhode Island.
JESTER: And how much are Coronas there?
TOURON: Two dollars.
JESTER: Okay, darlin', there is something I need to explain to you. Four dollars is actually quite reasonable. You know why? Because you are in a bar. In a luxury hotel. On Duval Street. In the heart of downtown Key West Florida! You are NOT going to get the prices here that you get back home, and frankly, we could charge a lot more and get away with it.
TOURON: Well, I'm not going to pay four bucks for a Corona!
JESTER: And that is your right. But you also aren't going to pay two dollars for a Corona anywhere in this town. Just so you know.

Who goes on vacation to a major tourist destination where everything is known to be more expensive than most other places and expects to pay there what they pay at home for things?


Edited to add: My 1,000th post! Yay me! Okay, okay....you are probably thinking I should get out more. Sadly, I get out way too often. My liver will attest to that.

[blas]

I love your defense about the Corona. I swear, some people only have 1/4 the brain cells the really should have.

I never heard "That's expensive!" at the grocery store, because we were a huge grocery store (with a discount card that, at times, you could get 10 12 packs of coke products for $1.98 a piece, bananas for 10cents a pound, etc). We were way cheaper than the local downtown grocery store (and much friendlier but that's a different argument).

I never heard "that's expensive" at the restaurant, because, well.....we were pretty much a truckstop without a truck stop. We attracted all kinds of.....lovely people. The food was dirt cheap, and the management was even dirtier and cheaper yet.

I ALWAYS heard "that's expensive" at the gas station. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. We were a MOM AND POP store. They decided what products we had and didn't have. We were under no obligation to have huge sales. We never advertised "cheapest smokes in town". Since it was the last gas station on that side of town, you'd be paying more. We raised gas prices once we heard everyone else had, and vice versa with lowering them. Also, regular employees could not change prices. Only the manager, the asst manager, and myself (the sup, lol) could do it, but ONLY after authorization from the OWNER of the store. The same people would complain that our Marlboros were 3.50 a pack, yet still come in day after day, when they could just go to Holiday a few blocks away and get them for $3.18. They could settle for a 6 pack for, oh I can't remember, $10, or they could go to Holiday and get it for much cheaper. Sorry, convenience comes at a price, dummy.

[ArenaBoy]

This thread reminded me about this idiot I got when I worked Richard Jenni, it was the college venue which is very small and low-key. This transpired:

Me
SC

SC: Hey, I know that guy was a supervisor and he just walked off but I have a question.
Me: Okay shoot.
SC: Well, I'm curious as to why I have to pay $10 for parking especially for a guy such as Richard Jenni who isn't well known if I know correctly. I mean $10 is quite a bit just to park.
Me: Well sir, that money goes to my employer the Raps arena. Now that $10 you paid goes to booking more performers for your pleasure but it funds its employees, company equipment, food, various other things, and employees.
SC: You can make as much if you charge $5 instead of $10 but--- (I cut him off, this guy had a condescending tone and I never take kindly to that)
Me: Let me put it lightly, a lot of us are students meaning that a lot of us are broke after books, tuition, rent, social lives, and various other things.
SC is left speechless and drives off thankfully.

EDIT: I should have pointed out that the venues in the city are quite expensive for parking alone, highest price I paid downtown was $20. Did I complain? No. I went inside and enjoyed my concert.

[heather124]

I get it all the time in our dvd store. My favorite is when they bring up a dvd and say "this is too expensive, what can you do it for me for?"

I just look at the price and repeat it to them. Why would we have marked prices if we just give a discount to anyone who asks?

[Jester]

SC: Well, I'm curious as to why I have to pay $10 for parking especially for a guy such as Richard Jenni who isn't well known if I know correctly. I mean $10 is quite a bit just to park.

And yet this is a guy who knows who Richard Jenni is enough to actually come out and pay to see him in concert. This is someone who wants to see Jenni. But because he is not as popular as, say, U2, he shouldn't have to pay the normal parking rate? What-bleepin-ever. Loser.

[Maevis]

/sigh

yes, I am one of those damn people who is constantly saying, "Dang, that's expensive!" But it's mostly said as an explicative...I don't actually expect anything to be done about it.

LOL, guess I'll need to stop using that expression.


And to Jester...wow if she thinks $4.00 for a corona is expensive, she needs to see the $5.00 bottles of water...yep water...16 oz...for your convenience set out on the nightstands in Phoenix hotels.

It's 115 degrees out...you walk in the room...oooo cool refreshing water, how much can water be? *glug glug glug*...holy crap! I just drank $20 worth of water! Dang it, I could have raided the entire mini-bar and walked away with a smaller tab!

[Jester]

Maevis, I know, I know. That is what got me. $4 for a Corona is not that expensive IN GENERAL, but in the bar of a luxury hotel smack dab in the middle of a tropical tourist resort town? Please. We could charge a whole hell of a lot more, and get away with it! I mean, has this girl ever been to a concert or a sporting event? Ihatethenba can back me up on this....drinks at those events are just sickly wrong in price. Hell, I have seen overpriced drinks at county fairs and carnivals, too! Not to mention amusement parks. I mean, I loved my day at Cedar Point this summer, but the refreshments, both alcoholic and otherwise, were simply highway robbery. And this silly girl is complaining about a $4 imported beer? The best price *I* get for one of those in this town is maybe $2.75....and that is at my other bar....at EMPLOYEE prices!

Whatbleepinever.