Know it all staff
Discussion
Some of it, I agree, will be staff saying stuff just to try and get a sale. Some of it will be where the staff member has misunderstood/not listened properly in their training and from there misinforms the customer.
I work in electrical sales and do try and make sure our team know what they're talking about at the level they need to know. Also, if someone says they don't want a warranty/add on whatever it'll normally be "are you sure?" likely re-iterate a couple of good features (it is our job all said and done) but if someone says "sure" then that's fine. No hard sell, no bullsh*t, no ripping off.
However, there are obviously people who don't trust us as the number of times we're asked whether this cable will fit that phone, given the correct answer (micro USB into a Samsung Galaxy S4 for example) then have the customer say "hmm, doesn't look like it'll fit, I'll go and ask my son/grandson/cat/neighbour to make sure" is quite amusing...
I work in electrical sales and do try and make sure our team know what they're talking about at the level they need to know. Also, if someone says they don't want a warranty/add on whatever it'll normally be "are you sure?" likely re-iterate a couple of good features (it is our job all said and done) but if someone says "sure" then that's fine. No hard sell, no bullsh*t, no ripping off.
However, there are obviously people who don't trust us as the number of times we're asked whether this cable will fit that phone, given the correct answer (micro USB into a Samsung Galaxy S4 for example) then have the customer say "hmm, doesn't look like it'll fit, I'll go and ask my son/grandson/cat/neighbour to make sure" is quite amusing...
Robw73 said:
Apologies if I offend, but don't Estate Agents seemingly know everything, about everything?
Or perhaps, just as a crazy notion, they THINK they know everything, about everything!
Estate agents, definitely... Or perhaps, just as a crazy notion, they THINK they know everything, about everything!
Letting agents like myself, on the other hand... We know we know everything about everything!
In fairness a lot of these staff work to a script, there is no thought at all, I often get a subway sandwich for lunch,I always rock up to the counter carrying a drink and crisps, yet am always asked 'would you like a combo with drinks/crisps' ?
I used to think they were dumb, but its not that, its parrot fashion rote scripts...they don't care to look at the customer and reason it would be a waste of time, which is a shame, as a little more care and attention would go a long way.
I missed the PPI scandal in the UK as when I borrowed any money I tended to always rebuff any attempt to sell me the insurance, they always tried the what would you do if you lost your job line, to which I replied, carry on repaying the money!!
I used to think they were dumb, but its not that, its parrot fashion rote scripts...they don't care to look at the customer and reason it would be a waste of time, which is a shame, as a little more care and attention would go a long way.
I missed the PPI scandal in the UK as when I borrowed any money I tended to always rebuff any attempt to sell me the insurance, they always tried the what would you do if you lost your job line, to which I replied, carry on repaying the money!!
Storer said:
I agree they make very good money on the warranties but she was right about Panasonic TVs being crap quality.
Had 2 over the years and both failed. All other TV's in about 40 years have been Sony and they have never been repaired and only replaced with new technology rather than when they failed.
Careful, perhaps you get what you pay for.Had 2 over the years and both failed. All other TV's in about 40 years have been Sony and they have never been repaired and only replaced with new technology rather than when they failed.
we have two Pana plasma, a 40 inch HD I got in 2004! (£4000) and it is still perfect. The more recent 50 inch is much better and cheaper, again, faultless.
I am waiting for the old set to fail so I can justify replacing it.
MGZRod said:
Estate agents, definitely...
Letting agents like myself, on the other hand... We know we know everything about everything!
What is your line on restrictive planning and title covenants? Do you make enquiries and inform the prospective buyers, or wait till they see the replies to enquiries and hope they won't change their minds?Letting agents like myself, on the other hand... We know we know everything about everything!
Storer said:
I agree they make very good money on the warranties but she was right about Panasonic TVs being crap quality.
Had 2 over the years and both failed. All other TV's in about 40 years have been Sony and they have never been repaired and only replaced with new technology rather than when they failed.
I bought a Sony TV last weekend - lasted 8 days before the screen packed up and I'm still waiting for the replacementHad 2 over the years and both failed. All other TV's in about 40 years have been Sony and they have never been repaired and only replaced with new technology rather than when they failed.
RizzoTheRat said:
A mate used to work for Dixons as a school holiday job, they got quite a nice commission on extended warranties, presumably the retailer makes more on them than the do the product so it's not that surprising they're all trying for a hard sell.
I used to work for them. The extended warranties were 90% profit.2 years ago we were dealing with a automotive company doing prototype testing for hoses with pressure tests. We have spent as company €15 million on our testing departments. The Lead design engineer disagreed with everything we recommended to them. fast forward and they have just completed a recall in asia and America costing them 3million $ and reverting back to the results we published for them. His words at the time was '' I know the pressures involved and in my knowledge you are wrong in every way''. He is since retired
What interests me is that some warranties are actually really good and will save you money (old dell warranties and warranties on things that you use heavily, washing machine if you have lots of kids, or cooker if your a foodie and cook an excessive amount spring to mind) but the bulls
t selling practices put people off, when you buy something new you don't want to have to spend extra in case it breaks, why they don't try to sell the warranty 6/12months later etc I don't know.
t selling practices put people off, when you buy something new you don't want to have to spend extra in case it breaks, why they don't try to sell the warranty 6/12months later etc I don't know.wibble cb said:
I used to think they were dumb, but its not that, its parrot fashion rote scripts...they don't care to look at the customer and reason it would be a waste of time, which is a shame, as a little more care and attention would go a long way.
Often they can get disciplined for going off-script too.Foliage said:
why they don't try to sell the warranty 6/12months later etc I don't know.
Some do, the Mrs had a laptop screen fail on her (HP I think) outside of the initial warranty period and they were quite happy to sell her and extended warranty and send a chap out to fix it for less than it would have cost to get a local computer place to fix it.NicD said:
I am waiting for the old set to fail so I can justify replacing it.
I have a Sharp 28" CRT, not replacing that until it fails. Strangely enough I had the "hard sell" on the warranty when I bought the TV, and when it failed about three months from the end of the warranty period, the retailer had already gone bust and I thought that was the end of it and I'd just "have" to buy an LCD or Plasma set. Phoned up anyway, to find it was run by someone else and they'd send someone around to fix it. Turned up, left me a terrible loan set and took it away muttering about it being hard to get parts. Oh well, I thought, the policy pays out original purchase price if it can't be fixed, so a free LCD or Plasma TV. But no, the guy fixed it and it's been fine ever since. So although I am annoyed at the hard sell on this kind of thing, it actually worked out well for me.I hadn't realised then that there's pretty much an automatic right to a refund on an extended warranty, something I think was championed by Martin Lewis and MSE, though it might have been someone similar, and it goes back a few years. If you negotiate on a TV+warranty deal, the discount is always applied to the price of the TV, and the warranty put through at full price to protect the commission. So if you then decide to cancel the extended warranty, you get a refund of the full price and end up with all the discount on your TV.
My most annoying time is standing in PC World Hanley near the PDA display, as I was involved in software for PDAs at the time. Someone was asking the assistant which was better, the Palm or the Pocket PC version, and he pointed them to Pocket PC. As a bit of a Palm fan that was a bit frustrating, but the most annoying thing was when she asked what the advantages were, the assistant said "oh, you can connect a Pocket PC to your PC and backup and share files, you can't do that with the Palm." I don't normally get involved, but I just had to point out that was rubbish, and if you can't link to a PC, precisely what is the included cradle and ActiveSync software for, if not for linking to a PC?
People making stuff up instead of saying "I'm sorry, I don't know, I'll go and find out" is one of my pet hates.
CB2152 said:
However, there are obviously people who don't trust us as the number of times we're asked whether this cable will fit that phone, given the correct answer (micro USB into a Samsung Galaxy S4 for example) then have the customer say "hmm, doesn't look like it'll fit, I'll go and ask my son/grandson/cat/neighbour to make sure" is quite amusing...
This is exactly why people do that:droopsnoot said:
My most annoying time is standing in PC World Hanley near the PDA display, as I was involved in software for PDAs at the time. Someone was asking the assistant which was better, the Palm or the Pocket PC version, and he pointed them to Pocket PC. As a bit of a Palm fan that was a bit frustrating, but the most annoying thing was when she asked what the advantages were, the assistant said "oh, you can connect a Pocket PC to your PC and backup and share files, you can't do that with the Palm." I don't normally get involved, but I just had to point out that was rubbish, and if you can't link to a PC, precisely what is the included cradle and ActiveSync software for, if not for linking to a PC?
People making stuff up instead of saying "I'm sorry, I don't know, I'll go and find out" is one of my pet hates.
People making stuff up instead of saying "I'm sorry, I don't know, I'll go and find out" is one of my pet hates.
NicD said:
MGZRod said:
Estate agents, definitely...
Letting agents like myself, on the other hand... We know we know everything about everything!
What is your line on restrictive planning and title covenants? Do you make enquiries and inform the prospective buyers, or wait till they see the replies to enquiries and hope they won't change their minds?Letting agents like myself, on the other hand... We know we know everything about everything!
PC world of Harrods upon purchasing a 4k TV the salesman asked me if I got sky, to which i said yes, but I don't have an HD, let alone a UHD subscription, to which he advised me that I should buy a special 4k compatible HDMI cable so that my TV can up-scale the signal...
I politely declined, but wish I actually made him go through the logic of needing a 4k cable for a task that is done at point in the chain AFTER the content has already been delivered. I really really hate bks sales tactics like that.
I politely declined, but wish I actually made him go through the logic of needing a 4k cable for a task that is done at point in the chain AFTER the content has already been delivered. I really really hate b
ks sales tactics like that.
Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff