New Year's Day Blues

[Tigress]

Ugh. Some real winners today.

As soon as I clocked in and started my shift, this lovely lady came up and proceeded to give me a 20-minute rant because her computer hasn't come back from the repair center. We always quote 2-3 weeks, sometimes more, sometimes less. It's been almost a month, which isn't unheard of, especially during the holidays. The only thing I could do for her was tell her to call our customer service line and offer to do an escalation to attempt to expedite things. Of course, that has already been done and she was convinced that it won't help. She's already gotten a free gift card from us to compensate for this issue.

But what exactly can I do, lady? I understand her frustration, but I can't magically make it come back all shiny and new just because she fusses at me and thinks I'm her bestest friend in the whole world! (Yeah, I've helped her before, so we're "friends" now.) And her kids -- who were extremely cute, obviously starved for attention, and knew I would be all too happy to give it to them (I swear I'm a magnet for children) -- started trying to talk over her. So she was alternately yelling at them and ranting at me.

--

About halfway through my shift, a father and his daughter came up to buy a laptop and some services. He started talking about the final price and I stated (several times) that all the discounts would come at the end. So I wouldn't know the final price of the transaction until everything was scanned.

After scanning the laptop, I started explaining the different service plans to him. At that point, he put his hand over the merchandise and asked, "Is everything covered here?" (Or something along this line.) I thought he was talking about the service plan and putting up his hand to interrupt me, so I stated the affirmative. Then I continued merrily scanning and cheerfully told him the price, which was about $1,300.

That's when things got ugly. He swore up and down that I had told him that the $800 price of the laptop covered everything. "Everything" meaning:

- $149 MS Office
- $59 install for same
- $129 OS customization, which included $70 of anti-virus and anti-spyware software and installation fees
- $300 service plan for 3 years

At first, I thought it was simply miscommunication. Maybe I misunderstood his question. So I clarified what he was asking and told him as much. It happens. I'm human. But it seemed rather odd that he would possibly think that all the above, which costs almost as much as the laptop itself, would be included for free.

So the guy started badgering me about the final price and I went back and looked through the ticket to make sure I rung up everything correctly and it packaged out right. The guy is swearing up and down that I misled him. It's became more and more apparent that he just heard what he wanted to hear and misled himself. When I didn't budge, he decided that he wanted a manager. So I called the manager, who is a pretty cool guy.

He checked everything and decided to back me up. He explained that the laptops and software are sold almost at cost. And the service fees can't be discounted. So there was nothing he could do for them. The father's sails lost some wind, so he finally decided to throw a few threats about going to corporate and walked away.

Later, the sales guy that had helped him asked what had happened. Apparently, the father and daughter were really nice and pleasant to him. It struck him as odd that they would turn nasty so quickly. That's when the cynicism set in and I finally figured out what was going on: The guy was probably trying scam us and trying to get the services for free.

Normally, when customers decide that the services cost too much for them, they just decide to not purchase the service. (At that point, I give them a business card and tell them to keep us in mind if/when their computer messes up.) The wording and timing of his question seemed way too convenient and his anger over a simple "misunderstanding" didn't seem all that justified.

So unless the guy was a complete and total moron (which I'm not ruling out), he might just have been trying to scam us. Sorry, but I'm not going to work on your computer for 2-3 hours for free just because you threw a well-timed fit.

[South Texan]

The guy is swearing up and down that I misled him. It's became more and more apparent that he just heard what he wanted to hear and misled himself. When I didn't budge, he decided that he wanted a manager.

Yep. It's the old "throw a loud fit and the manager will give you what you want either due to intimidation or just to get your screaming self out of the store". Glad to see it did not work in this case.

[reformedwaitress]

Good on your manager to back you up. I don't work anywhere with electronics, but the boyfriend does (think blue), so I hear stories. Why people assume that software and services should be included free is beyond me. The store does NOT make it's money on computers and software. They make money on accessories -- bags and such. I don't know the exact numbers, but the BF said it's something like less than 10% mark up on electronics. And that's without them being on sale. The sale prices -- especially around Christmas -- are usually at or below cost!! No good manager is going to lose money just to make an entitlement jerk happy.

[Worker-Intellectual]

I can't imagine any manager would be stupid enough to give in to someone like that , who is either an idiot or a scammer, and lose $500...

Therefore, knowing pretty much any corporate, they probably gave him a $500 gift card.

[Tigress]

Good on your manager to back you up. I don't work anywhere with electronics, but the boyfriend does (think blue), so I hear stories. Why people assume that software and services should be included free is beyond me. The store does NOT make it's money on computers and software. They make money on accessories -- bags and such. I don't know the exact numbers, but the BF said it's something like less than 10% mark up on electronics. And that's without them being on sale. The sale prices -- especially around Christmas -- are usually at or below cost!! No good manager is going to lose money just to make an entitlement jerk happy.

I think I work for the same company. And he's right.

I think the reason people think that software should be free is because it's not a tangible good. This stuff comes on a CD/DVD, which are now given away in cereal boxes. People balk at software prices all the time because they don't consider all the skills and man-hours it takes to make that CD they hold in their hands.

Same story with services. They aren't a tangible good and, as one lovely woman put it, just involves us "playing on a computer."

[reformedwaitress]

They aren't a tangible good and, as one lovely woman put it, just involves us "playing on a computer."

"Oh, really, Ma'am? Then why don't you go "play on a computer" and do it yourself? And then pay us triple what you would have paid in the first place when you screw it up!"

It's like my favorite thing -- the plumber fixing a pipe by banging on it with a hammer and the people complaining about the cost.

$1 -- banging on the pipe
$99 -- knowing where to hit it

[Barefootgirl]

I think the reason people think that software should be free is because it's not a tangible good. This stuff comes on a CD/DVD, which are now given away in cereal boxes. People balk at software prices all the time because they don't consider all the skills and man-hours it takes to make that CD they hold in their hands.

Exactly the same problem exists in the cell phone world. People are so used to seeing phones given away "free" all the time that they have no concept of the real cost of these little pieces of high-tech equipment. An operator will give you a RAZR for free, if you sign up to a hefty enough monthly plan - but if you try and replace your RAZR without signing up to a new plan it'll cost you $200+. And that's just for a phone that was never that good to start with and has now frankly had it.

[Banrion]

It's like my favorite thing -- the plumber fixing a pipe by banging on it with a hammer and the people complaining about the cost.

$1 -- banging on the pipe
$99 -- knowing where to hit it

Or as my brother who is a mechanic likes to say:

$1.00 for the new bolt
$100.00 for knowing where to put it!

[Tigress]

Exactly the same problem exists in the cell phone world. People are so used to seeing phones given away "free" all the time that they have no concept of the real cost of these little pieces of high-tech equipment. An operator will give you a RAZR for free, if you sign up to a hefty enough monthly plan - but if you try and replace your RAZR without signing up to a new plan it'll cost you $200+. And that's just for a phone that was never that good to start with and has now frankly had it.

I loved those kinds of customers when I worked for Cingular, especially during the summer and people were dumb enough to take their phones with them to the pool or beach.

Oh, you dropped your phone in the pool and it doesn't work? You want to switch to the highest-end phone we have? Sure, for $300. I'm going to lose your business, you say? Sorry to hear that. Customer service will be glad to charge you just as much to cancel your account because you are canceling your contract just after signing up.