Free stuff? Unacceptable!

[Argabarga]

I’m working in the pricing department at my store now, where no customer can reach me as I’m behind a security door with a passcode that randomizes every time you use it. But I still see plenty of stupidity. I get email concerning all the communications between other pricing departments in the chain, wether or not it pertains to me directly. Logic being, if it’s a problem in store #01, it might also be a problem in #98 where I am. I caught this lovely gem of email the other day.

Letter to corporate:

A customer became irate today because she claimed we were not pricing our Ziploc bags correctly. The bags in question are the 120 ct. value pack, where 20 free bags are included in the regular $2.xx cost of the package. Since most Ziplocs come in 100 ct boxes, the unit price is marked as “per 100” Even though the 20 bags are free, and don’t affect the price, the customer insisted it was incorrect, and that if she did the math, the correct unit price was really “2.xx” (Lower than shelf price) and demanded to get them at that lower price. She is not correct, but apparently the manager gave it to her at that price to get her out of the store, she’s still demanding “resolution” of this issue and threatening to come back later if it isn’t “fixed”.


What was even better was the corporate response: verbatim it was;

Wow, that lady’s reading too deep into this, tell her the advertised price was correct and if she has a problem with that, she can write her congressman, she isn’t correct and pricing it her way is a violation of consumer law.

At least someone up there at the mothership has half a brain on matters like this…


And who gets UPSET over 20 free plastic bags?

[Dave1982]

Wow. I wish the guys at Staples corportate offices were as enlightened.

Though if she didn't seem to understand the free part, then by her logic, shouldn't the price be higher?

No wait, this is an SC we're talking about. It's not supposed to make sense.

[DesignFox]

Everyone together now: If it makes sense, it isn't allowed!

[pbmods]

Erm...

100 bags at $1.99 (for the sake of argument, we'll just assign it a number) = 19.9¢ per bag.
120 bags at $1.99 ? 16.6¢ per bag.

So....

?16.6¢ per bag x 120 bags = $1.99

Hey, look at that!

[Drakstern]

Now now.

We should know better than to expect logic from an SC.

Why use logic when they could just threaten to go to that mystical store Everywhere Else?

[lordlundar]

Woah woah WOAH!

Did I read that right? Did corporate office actually agree with an employee in the store instead of a customer?

I wanna know what guy is on, so I can feed it to my corporate office!

[Gurndigarn]

Woah woah WOAH!

Did I read that right? Did corporate office actually agree with an employee in the store instead of a customer?

I wanna know what guy is on, so I can feed it to my corporate office!

Either that or, uh, do you mind mentioning in a public forum which company you work for? Inquring minds and all that...

[Getoutofmylobby]

Why... so... uh... if... Wow.

She bitched over a matter of cents?

Cents! For plastic baggies! And she still isn't happy even after the spineless manager caved. This is either a case of an overblown sense of always being right or sheer stupidity.

I say stupidity. Someone needs to tell this lady that life is too short to waste it on stuff like this.

And what a great response from corporate.

[Deceptitech]

Dollars and (non)cents

How to break this up in her mind.(not to differentiate from reality)

(thanks to pbmods for the idea)

100 bags = $2.99. $.029 each
120 bags = $2.99. $.024 each

Here's where SC logic comes in.

You have 120 bags for 2.99, and 20 of them are free. So take .024(the price for 120) and multiply it by 100 that equals 2.40 for them. But the price on the label says $2.99. This constitutes a 59 cent discount for them, and you can't charge them for it. This denotes her logic in getting that price.

Now take into effect decibel's law, where volume of bitching is equally proportionate to the discount that she is entitled to, and this justifies she should save 59 cents for your wrongful labelling. This is where she believes she is operating.

Now Suits Law clearly states that if the customer thinks one thing, and the store thinks something else, then customer is hereby entitled to scream, whine, moan, and claim lawsuit until he or she receives the self described discount under penalty of SL(stupid lawyer) sends said market into court for violation of the Field of Dreams Act of whatever year said customer was born which states that "I do not work retail, so I am more important than retail workers, and my every utterance is law to them."

Now I hope this has shed some light on how this customer may have gotten the idea that they should get the discount that they have come up with.

Now I am off to post a thread about laws that SCs make up for their benefit.

[Becks]

Did corporate office actually agree with an employee in the store instead of a customer?

Isn't that one of the signs of the Apocalypse?

[Dips]

And who gets UPSET over 20 free plastic bags?

It could be the lady who was so morally outraged about winning our product in a raffle that she bitched at my co-worker about it.

Some people are just crazy.

[karma_gypsy]

She bitched over a matter of cents?

Cents! For plastic baggies! And she still isn't happy even after the spineless manager caved. This is either a case of an overblown sense of always being right or sheer stupidity.

True, she did blow the whole price thing out of proportion. I imagine the manager caved into her because it was worth the time (or effort) to listen to her bitching. The store is going under because of a few cents difference . . .

But still . . . for her to demand that this be changed next time she comes back . . . that's ridiculous. That lady needs to get over herself, lady, she's not the self-proclaimed Queen of all Prices . . .

[pbmods]

Now take into effect decibel's law, where volume of bitching is equally proportionate to the discount that she is entitled to....

Wait... you mean that it's *inversely* proportional, right?

[stormtreader]

Ah, but when the 20 free promotion ends, she can come in and say "last week I bought them at 10c each (or whatever), you have to sell them to me for that price now." Instant discount.