Why I Hate Retail Sales People

[+blindleader]

I have always hated retail sales people and probably will forever.

 

I was in REI's flagship store (the Deathstar) buying paper today, when I couldn't help overhearing a counter person explaining GPS equipment to two well dressed executive types.

 

Just a few of the zingers spewed forth in the few minutes I eavesdropped:

- With WAAS you can get six to nine foot accuracy while without it, you could be as much as 130 or even 150 feet off. (The worst kind of lie is the one that is 100% factually correct)

- Nine feet accuracy means that the fix IS within nine feet.

- WAAS is a military system.

- A strong implication was made that you'll usually pick up WAAS and if you do, it will always result in six to nine feet accuracy.

- In answer to a question about the difference between handheld units and the big expensive things that land surveyors use. - Both use the same GPS satellites and measurement technology. Another factually correct and 500% misleading answer. It's like implying that the space shuttle and a Toyota are about equivalent because they both use the same technologies - metallurgy, chemistry, electronics, computers etc.

 

It's no wonder we often read threads from new cachers who are worried that something is wrong with them or with their GPSRs because it said the cache was ten or twenty feet away when they were standing over it. I wonder if retailers ever do a cost benefit analysis on the practice of creating unhappy customers through unrealistic expectations in order to put some revenue on the ledger.

 

There, rant over, and - No, I don't feel better now.

 

P.S.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh.

[+quills]

i can't aggree more. when i got into this almost a year ago i came in having worked with gps while i was in the air force. i went to several stores and couldn't believe the lines i got from the salespeople. i ended up buying my Legend at Wakmart because the guy behind the counter said i'm not real good with these but let me show you some books from the maker.

[+Volwrath]

OT Did they have a 60C there?

[+quills]

i have yet to see a 60c i've been to all of the big retailers: Walmart, BestBuy, CircuitCity, Gander Mountain, Target, Sears. I haven't found a local reatiler that has them yet.

[+CurmudgeonlyGal]

OT Did they have a 60C there?

Haven't yet seen them at REI. I've been a couple of times in the last week... so far... nothing!

[+SBPhishy]

You should have pulled the Suits to the side and told them the truth. Help out the little guy, even if they are wearing suits, and probably make more money in a week than I do in a year.

[+Shoknaw]

I only goto REI if I ...... um well I don't go there anymore. Seems like a place for yuppies with to much money. I buy all my caching supplies from discount stores and the web. Saved enough money by doing that to pay cash for my forerunner.

 

REI good idea gone bad.

 

So says shoknaw

[+SBPhishy]

Yeah, I'm glad they don't have them out here.

[+Prime Suspect]

Yeah, I'm glad they don't have them out here.

Saves you the trouble of not going to them?

[+SBPhishy]

Exactly.

 

Well, if they had them out here, I would probably go to them. So, I'm glad the temptation isnt here.

Edited February 3, 2004 by SBPhishy

[AJK]

They are better than Eastern Mountain Sports - another store in the New England area (and elsewhere?). EMS is a glorified clothing store that never has any decent stock or selection of outdoor equipment.

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

I love retail sales people.

[+aka Monkey]

Sounds to me like the guy had no first-hand experience with GPS, but was fairly diligent about learning the supplied marketing materials (although he still got a couple of things wrong, you did indicate he was mostly factually correct). Considering how much stuff REI sells, it might be unfair to expect the salesperson to have used every item in the store.

 

I must admit I'm an REI member. I almost always buy stuff on sale, though (you can sometimes find killer deals. I once bought a $250 Sierra Designs jacket there for $21 on clearance). Still, I like the fact that they are active in helping the environment and giving money to worthy causes.

Edited February 3, 2004 by Indiana Cojones

[+st_richardson]

REI is one of my favorite places to shop. It has always been my experience that the staff is generally well informed and helpful. Regardless of where you shop there will always be different levels of knowledge. Being in retail sales also, I realize it is not always possible to be an expert on every little detail of every product. Every REI person I've met has always been open to input and constructive criticism. Why not try to share your knowledge with them? Yes, you can sometimes beat their prices online but name one online place that will stand behind their products like REI. eg The clip broke on the back of my GPS mount and they replaced it no questions asked after over 2 years! I purchased a stove at an "as is" sale that had a broken piece and they assisted me in sending it in for repair. The stove returned completely rebuilt at no cost to me. Figuring in the dividend, any small extra I've had to pay is well worth the piece of mind I have knowing that they stand behind the products that they sell 100%. I've purchased all my GPS units (Vista & 2 Rino 120s) and plan to be one of the the first to get a Rino 130 from them as well.

[+Criminal]

I was in CircuitCity and overheard the following:

 

The person is looking for a tape recorder to record lectures in a college class

 

SALESJERK: “This tape recorder has VOX, which is voice activated recording. That means it only records people’s voices and disregards all other sounds.”

 

Totally out of character for me, I turn around, “What?!?”

 

That’s called sales, and the unethical salesperson will say anything they think you want to hear.

 

You best defense is to do homework first and then ask the salesperson a few questions that you already know the answer to. Listen for the BS.

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

True Criminal, being well informed before you enter the store is important.

 

I spent 32 years as a house painter. So while in paint stores I always found it curious as to what the counter person would tell a customer. They knew better than to lie to a painter but they'd tell a regular person anything.

 

As a painter I've been known to interrupt and correct the counter guy on more than one occasion.

[gessner17]

I used to work at bestbuy (i know, I know) as a Tech and let me tell you, the managers could care less what you tell customers, as long as the product went out the door. It wa spretty sad. They would even tell us to flat out lie to people, they wanted techs to tell customers that MSN DIAL_UP is better than CABLE MODEM just so they could boost their sales numbers. Shortly after all this, I called it quits. They also tried to force me to play on customers fears when selling computers, telling them they would break and this and that, just so they could sell service. With big companys, its all about sales. The other thing is, they will put you in any department, no matter what you know about it, and just tell you to sell, I myself am very knowledgable with electronics, but they kept trying to put in the washing machines and refridgerators, blasted people, I Knew nothing about them and was always embarrassed. But that department was always short staffed so I always got volenteered somehow. The reason this happens is pay, who in their right mind would want to work for 6-8/hour if they are knowledgeable. They just want people who will do what they say, not think for themselves. Sorry had to vent, I am still scarred from working there

Edited February 3, 2004 by gessner17

[+Criminal]

That brings to mind another salesjerk I ran in to when I lived in Charleston. We were looking at new washing machines; the salesjerk is rambling about all the great features of their most expensive washer. He opens the lid, raps his knuckle in the tub and says, “Guaranteed never to rust!” Duh, the tub is plastic.

[gessner17]

HAHA, pretty typical of a sales person. I coudn't stand all the lies I heard employees telling people, it bugged me so much, I would be ticked if I was the customer, if they don't know about it, why the heck are they trying to sell or teach other people about it. I had to fix so many people mistakes there, because I was one of the few people that actually knew about the stuff, I can't tell you how many GPS deals I saved because the customer was wrongly informed about its capabilities (yeah, it will work in mamouth cave), I think that was one of the stupidest ones ever.

[+blindleader]

I've been a member of REI since it was a single store rambling over most of a block on Capitol Hill. Back then all the employees were enthusiasts, selling stuff they used and understood. Of course back then they weren't selling anything more high tech than a pedometer. They had their own in-house research entity to test the products they sold and they carried neither crap nor superfluous toys.

 

Unfortunately, by the end of the seventies, regular capitalist retailers had discovered there was money to be made in hiking, climbing and camping gear. The handwriting was on the wall and REI had to begin competing in the real world American market where price is not only the most important thing but also the only important thing. I'm sure there are knowledgeable, honest enthusiasts still working there, but no more so than in any other retail store. So now REI is no worse than any other retailer. It's just sad to go in there knowing what it once was.

 

Still it's a real trip to visit the Death Star, and it's on the list of things I show visitors from out of town.

[+Jamie Z]

I haven't had much experience with large retail outdoors stores. Around here is just small chain of mom-and-pop with seemingly knowledgeable folks.

 

I had an experience at Cabela's a while back that rocked, though. I was looking in their discount bin at some old night-vision goggles. I asked the guy about them and wanted to know the difference between several models. He said he'd never used them, but we could try them out. He opened the boxes, loaded batteries into all of them and brought me up to some big conference room upstairs where we turned out the lights and played a varient of hide-and-seek where we got to play with the goggles for about 15 minutes before I decided on the model I wanted to buy.

 

The enthusiasts still seek out this type of employment, there just isn't enough to go around so you'll also run into the nine-to-fivers that just want to collect their paycheck and go home.

 

Jamie

[+Volwrath]

Do the night vision goggles help geocaching? I may need to pick up a pair...

[+Sparky-Watts]

Ok, I've been biting my tongue long enough.....I find the same problems in a lot of stores, but the one I really love to tackle is Lowe's. I go there just to mess with the help, and end up giving them, and any nearby customers, a quick lesson in woodworking. It never fails....I ask a simple question about a router bit and climb-cutting, and end up in a 30 minute teaching session to the poor kid that happened to have the guts to say he'd built a birdhouse from popsicle sticks and knows about wood working!

[+gbod]

Sounds to me like the guy had no first-hand experience with GPS...

Yes- but just think of some of the misinformation you can get around here from people that do have first hand experience!

 

Some aspects of GPS, FRS/GMRS radios, pocket PC or Palm devices, digital cameras, you name it, can be technically complex. It's easy to feel like you know something when you really don't. A little knowledge can be dangerous!

[+Limax]

I can see that a lot of you people haven't had the experience of Fry's.

[+rusty_tlc]

Criminal hit the nail on the head. Educate yourself before you go to the store.

I was researching GPS units when I found the geocaching.com web site. (After that it didn't matter which unit I got as long as I got one.

I picked the Etrex legand as the best middle of the road unit, that is the best compromise between features and cost.

I "left" my notes on the dresser a couple of weeks before Christmas on my wifes week to clean. (Clever huh?) She shopped around and found the best price, without any sales "help".

[4x4van]

Unfortuantely, any retailer who experiences "success", and therefore "growth", ends up with the same thing; employees who are only trained, not enthusiasts who care.

 

Here in Southern California, we have a motorcycle parts retailer called "Chaparral". For years, they sold only aftermarket parts, and were staffed by people who ride motorcycles. They all knew what they were talking about because they actually participated in the sport. Then they started to grow, eventually buying out most of the surrounding motorcycle dealers (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Harley, Seadoo, Kawasaki...). They are now so large that the majority of their employees are just that...employees. They do not ride, and have very little knowledge of the sport. It's like the place is staffed with K-mart retail clerks who have never even seen a motorcycle, let alone have any knowledge about them.

 

Anybody who has been into off-road motorcycling knows the name "Malcolm Smith", only one of the best off-road m/c riders in history, who also has a line of m/c clothing. I went in to Chaparral to get replacement lenses for my Malcolm Smith brand goggles, and asked the girl behind the counter if they had any. She replied that she had never heard of the brand and therefore was sure they didn't carry them or replacement lenses. So I went back to the goggle section of the "huge" store to buy some new goggles, and there on the shelf, on sale yet, were...you guessed it...Malcolm Smith goggles!!!

 

Chaparral has gotten so large that they have lost sight of what made them successful in the first place, and I now only shop there if I absolutely can't find what I'm looking for elsewhere.

[+Joe Smith]

if you've had a bad experience with salespeople, and everyone has you just have to be more prepared. If i'm buying something I have NO idea about I'll try to get some base knowledge on it before I shop. Most of the time I get a good salesperson and they do a good job. I'm in retail sales now. you cannot beleve the stuff you can sell out of one little kiosk. at any given time I need to have tons of knowledge on about 20 very complex things. most of the time i know it and try my best to stay current. If I don't know the information I will find out. Above all I try to treat customers with respect, but in the tech sector we get many people who are newcommers. Because of this you learn to explain things simply, and make sure they are comfortable and understand what they are getting. sometimes you can offend people when they play dumb and you explain things a little too simply, then they say "well, i'm not stupid I know THAT" but oh well. I lose too many sales because I tell people the truth. They will get mad and a coworker will close them because they tell them what they want to hear. A few weeks later they are back here to yell at me because they got lied to. It's never a good thing. But because of my experience i know when something sounds like a lie, and I am very critical of any sales pitch . I've had many bad salespeople so I try my best not to be like them.

 

that's my rant.

 

Joe Smith

[+harleycache]

I lose too many sales because I tell people the truth. They will get mad and a coworker will close them because they tell them what they want to hear. A few weeks later they are back here to yell at me because they got lied to. It's never a good thing. But because of my experience i know when something sounds like a lie, and I am very critical of any sales pitch . I've had many bad salespeople so I try my best not to be like them.

 

that's my rant.

 

Joe Smith

I can relate to that. When I was in college, I used to sell cameras at a department store. People would come in who really didn't know what they wanted, only that they wanted the camera being advertised on TV.

 

I would tick off the bosses, by explaining the differences of the types of cameras to the customers, and suggest they go home, read the brochures I gave them, think about how one might be more suited for their needs, then come back in a couple of days and buy what they felt was best. The boss told me I needed to close the sale then, or they would go somewhere else to buy. (We actually had some of the best prices in town).

 

More often than not, the customer would be back within the week and would buy a camera, perhaps the one they originally wanted, sometimes one I suggested, and sometimes a completely different one. They all seemed to appreciate the advice, and I really don't think I lost too many sales. And sometimes, the customer bought one on the first visit, because they 'knew' what they wanted, or decided based on suggestions.

[+Volwrath]

The cell phone industry is the worst bar none...

[+Karma Hunter]

I hope no one takes this too personally, but the problem isn't the sales people, it's us. Right here:

I was in REI's flagship store (the Deathstar) buying paper today

i have yet to see a 60c i've been to all of the big retailers: Walmart, BestBuy, CircuitCity, Gander Mountain, Target, Sears

Haven't yet seen them at REI. I've been a couple of times in the last week...

 

Look at how many threads in these forums are about where to get the cheapest 60c or whatever else is cool this week. "I've found the whosiwatsit at Megamart for $367.82, but I really want to save another $4.50 and I'm willing to spend hours doing it. Can anyone help me?" Have you ever ever seen a thread about where to get great customer service? Even if it costs a little more? You can't have it both ways. By supporting the big box retailers, whether it's for paper, a 60c, or whatever, you perpetuate the problem. I'm not saying don't do it (I shop there too); just don't look so surprised that the teenager with no training who gets paid minimum wage doesn't have NASA level knowledge about the one particular item you happen to know about in a store full of literally thousands of products. I would agree with Indian Cojones that you may not have witnessed the sales horror you perceived.

 

Sounds to me like the guy had no first-hand experience with GPS, but was fairly diligent about learning the supplied marketing materials (although he still got a couple of things wrong, you did indicate he was mostly factually correct). Considering how much stuff REI sells, it might be unfair to expect the salesperson to have used every item in the store.

 

Yes, there are salespeople out there who are lousy people. But there are lousy geocachers in the world too. It doesn't make sense to judge the many for the actions of the few. Regarding the GPS salesperson in question, I find it pretty difficult to be mad at someone if they're putting in effort. Be mad at the system (and yourself for the role you play in it), but in the grand scheme of things the employee who is assigned to a department they don't know or understand well is just as much a victim of corporate lameness as you are. I don't know that it merits this reaction:

I find the same problems in a lot of stores, but the one I really love to tackle is Lowe's. I go there just to mess with the help.

 

If you shop only for price, and not for customer service, in the long run you'll get exactly what you pay for. And as Blindleader said, you'll hate it.

Edited February 3, 2004 by Karma Hunter