Gemini73 wrote:Mafro wrote:Gemini73 wrote:This is a beauty.
So, after becoming completely frustrated with the clusterfuck that is Windows Store I went into town this morning with the intent of buying a 500gb X1S.
After shopping around and discovering everywhere had sold out of that model I bit the bullet and went into Game who themselves only had the 1tb model with FH3 for £269.
I said I also wanted FM7 and an additional control pad and would bite if they threw in a £15 copy of Recore.
They refused to budge saying they couldn't authorise it. The manager stepped in and said the same, so I said why not call the area manager and get him to authorise the sale. "We can't do that" was the response.
"So your going just let over £300 walk out of the store over fifteen quid?" I asked, utterly bewildered.
"We can't authorise the discount" was the repeated response.
Chuckling in absolute amazement I left the store empty handed, and them a lost £300+ sale.
A quick phone call to Smyths Toys (a 20 minute walk) they had the 500gb FH3 bundle with Hotwheels DLC and put it to one side. On arriving at the store I discovered that the actual deal was the following:
500gb X1S with FH3
FIFA 18
An extra, official White S controller
£229!
I also bought FM7 for £41, taking the total sale to £272.
Traded in FIFA at CEX for £41 and picked up The Master Chief Collection, Recore and AC Syndicate.
Game are strawberry floating mugs.
You tried to haggle in a high street store and think they’re the mugs?
For letting a £300+ sale walk out of the door and wind up in the pocket of a major competitor? Absolutely.
I doubt the store staff give a strawberry float about your £300, though.
I've worked in various retail outlets, some with flexible discretionary discount policies, and others without, but the one constant was the loathing I felt for every strawberry floater who felt they were entitled to a discount just because they wanted to engage in a transaction.
I worked at one retailer that sold cameras, from cheap point and shoots to high end DSLRs. No matter if someone was spending £100 or £1000, you'd always have someone wanting something chucked in for free. Free memory card, 50% off a tripod, whatever. Truth was, those were the bits we made margin on. Did it matter if someone walked because we wouldn't give them some free gooseberry fool? No, because the sale would ultimately have made no profit anyway if we had.
Then I worked for another company that supplied a lot of events/pubs/restaurants, but also sold to the general public. Given our margins, the threshold before we'd even consider giving a discount would be a minimum spend of £1k, but you'd always have some billy big bollocks waltz in off the street, thinking that spending £200 entitled him to 10% off because reasons.
Equally, I've worked in one place with minimum purchase quantities. Because prices of individual units varied, it was possible for one more expensive piece to cost more than six of the cheaper ones, so every now and again, you'd have someone come in and insist that the minimum order shouldn't apply, because what they're buying was worth more. Well no gooseberry fool it's worth more, it costs more for us, too. We still need you to buy several to make it worthwhile. No I don't care if you walk out, because someone else will come in, and buy it, along with the rest needed to make up a full order.
Martin Lewis, Mary Portas, et al. are all responsible for this ridiculous breed of over entitled consumer, who seem to operate on the assumption that if you can make life difficult for the shop staff, who more often than not see no direct benefit from you shopping there or not, then eventually they'll just give in and let you have what you want for being difficult.
In short, strawberry float people who haggle in high street chains.