We do not haggle - stop it!

[Nemesis44UK]

I have two (soon to be three) jobs. A couple of evenings, I deliver chinese food, but during the day I work in Customer Service for a small company that makes water filtration products.

When we are busy, our calls are diverted to a call centre, who will email us the details.

BG/Off

Last week, I start getting some emails pinging in about a gentleman having an issue with his tap. I respond as soon as I am able - voicemail. I leave a message on his vmail. Lather, rinse, repeat x 3

Phone rings and what do you know, it's Mr SC

SC: "Finally, you answer the phone"
Me: "Sorry that we keep missing each other, sir, how can I help?"
SC: "Why don't you answer the phone?"
Me: "Well, (starts explaining about busy times, call centre etc) but he cuts me off -
SC: "I don't care about that, why don't you answer your phone?"
Me: "Why don't you, numbnuts?" (ok, I was thinking it).

Anyway, imagine this x 2 or 3 more times.

SC: "My tap is leaking and I need a new one."
Me: "Sorry sir, but your tap is out of warranty by six years. We can send you a new part which will stop the leak, but it's £25.00."
SC: "It leaks so badly, we have switched it off at the mains. I have been without water for three weeks, how come it is so much? You can't charge me that!! It is only a little red thing, how can it be so much? Rawwwwwrrr"
Me: "We do not make them sir, we buy them in and that is our price, we have no leeway to play with."
SC: "Rawrrrrr, it is disgusting, you are causing my children to go without water. I will pay £5.00 and no more. "
Me: "I'm very sorry, sir, but there is nothing more I can do."

Repeat x 17 minutes worth (yes, I timed it).

SC: "So, that is £25.00 for both of them?"
Me: "You want two?"
SC: "Yes, for £25.00 and I don't want to pay postage."
Me: "Sir, it is £25.00 each."

Me:

I understand that in some countries haggling is conducted, but not in stores and we simply didn't have any "wiggle room" as far as the price goes.

Two things:

a) This tap was quite expensive and where this guy lives is very expensive, so this cat has a ton of money.

b) Don't try and guilt trip me about being without water. If that were true, wouldn't you have called, like, three weeks ago? Also, it is one tap. Not your whole house.

Oh, and I get to call him again today for his credit card details because we don't take payment until we ship the items. Deep joy

[BamaBabe]

I've come to realize that people who have money are the stingiest. Sorry that you have/had to deal with such a person.

[thansal]

I've come to realize that people who have money are the stingiest. Sorry that you have/had to deal with such a person.

They don't necessarily have money either.

Where I used to live and work was a rather affluent neighborhood, however, a decent number of the people there were living well above their income levels (debt to the shoulders, leased luxury car, etc), and thus would be dead cheap about anything that wasn't your normal conspicuous consumption.

You could generally tell the people who had money because they would opt for the genuinely better items, and not just the ones that looked good. That or they had an amex black :P

[wagegoth]

Where I used to live and work was a rather affluent neighborhood, however, a decent number of the people there were living well above their income levels (debt to the shoulders, leased luxury car, etc), and thus would be dead cheap about anything that wasn't your normal conspicuous consumption.

Yeah, and the problem is they try to make it your issue. I live within my means, which means a small apartment, older car, etc., because I am a responsible adult, not still living with a high school mentality of "Wah, Jennie has a white iPhone, I gotta have a white iPhone."

[downforit2008]

I hear about people trying to haggle at my store too. It's a RETAIL STORE, not a GARAGE SALE or a CAR DEALERSHIP. If you can get away with it, you don't have to pay sticker price at those kinds of places, but in a store, you're going to pay $2.60 for that gallon of milk, not $1.00.

[Seshat]

Where I live is funny: the land and the houses are quite inexpensive (hey, we could afford to buy one of the houses. It's ugly and needs work, but it's shelter!)

Anyway: the land and most of the houses are cheap; but some of the people who live here have conspicuous-consumption cars, clothes, jewelry, handbags etc.

(Oddly enough, we don't fit in very well with the 'conspicuous-consumption' lot. I wonder why? )

[Mike Taylor]

I've dealt with this sort as well. Probably the only highlight of my working at the car dealership was the day that my boss pretended to yell at me in order to get a party of hagglers to leave the dealership.

[antlan87]

I've had people ask if they can get something on clearance for a cheaper price (often when it is down to half of the original price or less), cause of minor or superficial damage to the box it is in. I have also had people ask if they could get our display model (which is usually 10% off when we do sell them), when he have some in their boxes, partly cause they want it cheaper, partly cause they don't want to build it themselves.

Apparently, saying that we can't sell the display model when we have some in boxes, means we are lazy and don't want to set up another display, and not cause we were told we can't by management due to it cutting into profit, unless we get management to tell them, and sometimes not even then!

[PepperElf]

Oh, and I get to call him again today for his credit card details because we don't take payment until we ship the items. Deep joy

Please tell me it won't actually ship until he pays though... cos I'm betting he'd try to get away with it.

[protege]

I live within my means, which means a small apartment, older car, etc., because I am a responsible adult, not still living with a high school mentality of "Wah, Jennie has a white iPhone, I gotta have a white iPhone."

I never understood that mentality either. In fact, I find it a bit amusing. Why? Some people just *have* to have the latest and greatest item. For example, someone I work with bought one of the very first iPhones. He paid a shitload of money for it, and had nothing but trouble with it Problems, that after paying that much for a phone...shouldn't have been an issue. Instead of waiting for crApple to iron out the issues, he got impatient, and wanted to show off that he could afford it.

Speaking of phones, I'll never get a smart phone. My crappy flip-phone works just fine. I can't see paying that much...for features I'll never use. Hell, I don't use most of the extras my current phone has now!

The cars I do own, are paid for. I don't need to impress people with what I drive...I just need something reliable to get to work. That's why instead of buying another sports car, I bought a Corolla. It does the job...and is much cheaper to insure and run. Plus, if I *do* need to engage in some 'spirited' driving, I have that covered

Even the hobbies I choose to partake in, aren't all that expensive. They *can* be, if you let them. I know guys who will buy model locomotives for several hundred bucks, and then even more on detailing parts and 'reworking' them. Give me a Proto 2000 or Atlas engine, and I'm good. A new paint job, and most of the time, you can't tell it from the more expensive items.

Then there's my project car. Again, it had to fit as time and finances would allow. That's why most of the heavy work was done before I bought a house. Trying to pay for welding and paint while attempting to make mortgage payments wasn't happening. The end result, is that I could get the car running and enjoy it...and finish it at my leisure. Another result, is that I'm having the same amount of fun (if not more), as the guys who spend $20K and had a shop do the entire job within 6 months.

It's all about living within your means

[Nemesis44UK]

Please tell me it won't actually ship until he pays though... cos I'm betting he'd try to get away with it.

I am taking absolutely no chances with this guy. Nothing gets shipped until I have the payment slip in my little mitt.

I phoned up today and he was unrelenting. I suspect that when we have the parts shipped to him, something will be "wrong" and he will try and get a discount. I have dealt with this type before and something tells me that this isn't over yet.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I never understood that mentality either. In fact, I find it a bit amusing. Why? Some people just *have* to have the latest and greatest item. For example, someone I work with bought one of the very first iPhones. He paid a shitload of money for it, and had nothing but trouble with it Problems, that after paying that much for a phone...shouldn't have been an issue.

When the iPhone 4s was announced last year, I made a joke about that. Because it's basically just a lighter, slimmer version of what you already have, just $200 more than what you paid for your current one.

There are many things I want to have-- a tablet/iPad thing would be cool, but it comes down to "can I afford it"/"will I honestly use it all that much"/"can it do what my laptop does now any better"?

If the answer is "no," I don't buy it.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I don't see a problem with asking if there's any chance of a better deal being available, BUT when you repeatedly press the issue after being told repeatedly there's not, that's when you become an SC.

[Andara Bledin]

Speaking of phones, I'll never get a smart phone. My crappy flip-phone works just fine. I can't see paying that much...for features I'll never use. Hell, I don't use most of the extras my current phone has now!

That's what my boyfriend said.

But when our provider was giving away smart phones with a 2-year contract (and upgraded service, of course), we both got some rather nice ones. And we both use the hell out of them. They're nothing that is necessary for life, but when you're on the road and need information, it's incredibly convenient to have mapping, gps, email, and the Internet all on one device that you carry with you anyway because it's also your cell phone.

I phoned up today and he was unrelenting. I suspect that when we have the parts shipped to him, something will be "wrong" and he will try and get a discount. I have dealt with this type before and something tells me that this isn't over yet.

We get these idiots at the place I work. Whenever we have an inkling that someone's going to be difficult, we take extra pictures, and mark parts with a UV ink pen so that they can't return their broken crap for our working stuff, and any damage they do we can prove was on their end, not ours.

It's amazing how fast they back down when you let them know you have pics of the parts, up to and including the packing process.

^-.-^

[emax4]

I felt the same way about phones. I had a candybar T Mobile non-smartphone and loved that, until the buttons started acting a little wonky. I was also using an iPod Touch at the time, and using the Line2 app to make cell phone calls from the iPod Touch. I never thought I would actually need an iPhone, but oh man it's become so useful in a lot of situations. In some ways I'm afraid to spend my money on an iPad. I don't do a lot of reading, but I'm afraid if I bought one I'd find out so many other uses for it. For a long time I've had a practical mentality to see if I could use a lot of the things I buy before actually purchasing them.