PallasAthene posted:I've come across plenty of smaller items that won't ship unless you're buying something else. I assume that means they somehow lose money if they try and ship them alone, even if you're paying the flat shipping rate? Yeah that's why they do that. Say you're buying a $10 trinket. Even if they had an extremely generous profit margin of 50% on that item, it's going to easily cost them more than $5 to get it to you and they'd lose money on the sale. Also add in 1-2% to the merchant processor, a few percent for taxes they pay, etc. If they ship FedEx/UPS they get even more screwed, you should see the random fees that get charged. Residential address is another $2-3, 'out of area' (basically anywhere that isn't a major city) is another $2-3, and so on. Amazon probably has a big discount due to their volume but still.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 16:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 02:14 |
|
|
Solice Kirsk posted:Were they still pushing cell phones harder than anything else in the world? I worked there back in like 2000 and I still remember the SPIFF breakdown for phones. It was drilled into my head that much. Bring them that case and car charger up to the cash register and make them say "no" when you are ringing them up! I hate to admit it, but it's actually the job that got me thinking I'd be good at client facing sales, just better paying ones. Yes, although the pushing cell phones thing and the forcing accessories thing are 2 different bits of fuckery, believe it or not. The accessories thing is because retailers either make maybe $5 off selling a $700 Android phone, or they actually lose money on a sale (iPhones are sold below cost). Meanwhile the phone charger they're retailing for $25, which they give you a super-special discount because you're already buying a phone and bring the charger down to $20, they bought for $1.75. The cell phone thing mystifies me to this day, mainly because of how they could have actually done decently well with it if they hadn't royally hosed it up. The biggest mistake was letting mobile sales become the focal point of the company, but there were tons of other dumb decisions made. For example: at one point we sold no-contract phones for Boost, Virgin, AT&T, Cricket, Net10 and Tracfone. (For the record Boost and Virgin are both Spring brands now, but the internal systems for all 3 of them are completely different). Radio Shack had the bright idea to launch their own branded no-contract line. It was under Cricket, which was already under AT&T at that point. They had the exact same phones you could get from any of the other pre-paid guys, same rates, same everything (except of course the RSMobile website was a loving nightmare mess and even something as simple as adding money to someone's phone required going to this lovely website, getting the customer's login and password which they never knew, etc.) I did a district-wide check once. Stores in the district received a total of about $10,000 in RSMobile cell phones (and our district was basically 1 city and a couple of suburbs). The entire district sold 2 RSMobile phones the entire time they had them. Both were $20 flip phones, and 1 was returned 3 days later. Multiply that kind of poo poo by the few hundred districts in the country and you get an idea of the loss RS took on that poo poo. All the phones were recalled, all the displays and literature and poo poo were destroyed in-store and trashed. Also flat SPIFFs on cell phone sales were like the golden days, they changed the employee commission plan 3 times in like 18 months near the end. Also, I was never arsed to prove it, but the commissions were really poorly explained on our checks. You'd get a smaller commission on an AT&T iPhone sale than you did on the equivalent Verizon iPhone sale, and nobody was ever able to explain why, despite both phones carrying the same retail price tag. Also I never learned the exact circumstances but right after I finally quit, either Verizon or AT&T pulled out of RS entirely, which was another kick in the dick for them.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 16:32
|
|
|
Solice Kirsk posted:If you had called them "those black tubes you put wires in behind computers" they would have immediately known what you were talking about. IIRC one of my attempted explanations was something like "those plastic tubes with ridges on 'em, that are cut down the middle so you can group a bunch of cables together inside of em" I mean I guess I framed the story poorly, I should have mentioned that I went home and checked online and they don't even sell split loom tubing, which kind of blew my mind because literally every store even tangentially related to electronics I've ever checked had plenty of it. I guess I can't expect their employees to know about a product they don't sell, even if it is a pretty common thing and directly related to the stuff they do actually sell. poo poo, I ended up buying it at the Sears next door to the Best Buy. Their podunk electronics section had like 5 different kinds.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 16:37
|
|
|
Uncle at Nintendo posted:It will really screw up Wal Mart but I don't see it impacting places that sell stuff like refrigerators or washing machines or anything. Just basically everything else though. Buy stock in retail locations that sell cold drinks or something you really can't get from Amazon even same day. i dnt exactly spent a lot of time at wal mart but i can pretty safely say that the people who shop at walmart probably don't even know what amazon is, or that you can buy things on the internet
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 16:39
|
|
|
drunk asian neighbor posted:IIRC one of my attempted explanations was something like "those plastic tubes with ridges on 'em, that are cut down the middle so you can group a bunch of cables together inside of em" when i adopted my cat i went into the first pet store i saw to buy a collar, conveniently named 'all about cats and dogs' at the far back corner of the store was like three shelves of cat poo poo and they did not sell cat collars.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 16:44
|
|
|
nigga crab pollock posted:when i adopted my cat i went into the first pet store i saw to buy a collar, conveniently named 'all about cats and dogs' They were probably focusing on the ONE TRUE PET. The dog.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 16:53
|
|
|
Solice Kirsk posted:They were probably focusing on the ONE TRUE PET. The dog. Sorry that you have bought into the propaganda of Big DogTM
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 16:54
|
|
|
Iron Crowned posted:Sorry that you have bought into the propaganda of Big DogTM I own stock in Big DogTM and, except for a downturn in the pit bull sector, the future's looking pretty darn bright.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 16:57
|
|
|
who are we kidding here ferrets are basically the best pet but they make your house smell weird
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:02
|
|
|
Solice Kirsk posted:Bring them that case and car charger up to the cash register and make them say "no" when you are ringing them up! It's like every store has moved to the irl version of having to uncheck the box that agrees to accept spam emails every time your order something online. I was buying some things at the Vera Bradley store last week and had this interaction with the way-past-expiration-date sorority chick behind the counter; Cashier: Okay, I need your email, phone number and address. Me: Why? Cashier: For our records. Me: No thanks. Cashier: I need to put it into the cash register to start the sale. I turn to the other cashier and ask if he can sell me a blanket and overnight bag without my email and address. He says yes. The cashier I was talking to rolls her eyes and says, "Ugh, I can do it. But you won't get alerts when we have sales. Your loss." Then after totaling my stuff she says "Okay, that'll be $XXX, and since you spent over $50, you qualify for this special bag instead of the paper one we usually put stuff in...[then she practically whispers]...for only five dollars." I showed this thread to some folks I know and got a couple Cabela's stories: When they started selling extended warranties, his store had the cashiers automatically add them to a lot of items and hope it went under the customer's radar. One of them was Leupold scopes, which have a pretty awesome warranty to begin with. If the customer noticed, they would just say the computer automatically did that and they usually take them off, but forgot to hit the button this time. They also had a credit card selling class where the instructor said to ask elderly people if they wanted to "join the Cabela's Club" and then get them super hyped about points and special discounts, then hand them the credit application, because most a lot people were too polite to change their mind. The official name of the credit card is the Club Visa. Also, when customers use the computer to fill out gun paperwork, it uses their name and social and does a minor credit check that pops up on the register to show which customers they should work harder on signing up.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:07
|
|
|
PallasAthene posted:It's like every store has moved to the irl version of having to uncheck the box that agrees to accept spam emails every time your order something online. gently caress I hate these things.  : Can I just get your email address and phone number? : Um, no thank you. : ... oookay, your order comes to...Also, if I ever was dinged on a credit check that I didn't authorize I'd be calling the BBB in a heartbeat
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:14
|
|
|
PallasAthene posted:It's like every store has moved to the irl version of having to uncheck the box that agrees to accept spam emails every time your order something online. You should have taken a poo poo in the bag and handed it back to her
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:16
|
|
|
You guys ever use those chip card scanners? They're total dogshit. It takes like 3 minutes to read. You'd think if it was better it would be faster, what the gently caress is it even doing? As it stands now, it's just a waste of time. Store credit cards are hilariously bad too, like 23% APR. darkhand has a new favorite as of 17:22 on Jun 30, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:19
|
|
|
blugu64 posted:Walmart grocery curbside pickup delivery seems cool since it's free/scheduled/and on the way home anyway. Haven't tried it out yet though. I've used it. It's pretty cool. I work for a giant company with like 5,000 people working at our local office, and Wal Mart rolls out refrigerated trucks for grocery delivery to our parking lot 3 times a week. Super convenient, order by 10 AM online and the guys load it in your car as you're leaving work. On the other hand, my wife's mom tried the curbside pickup in a different city and it took like 30 minutes and they screwed everything up lol
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:22
|
|
|
vyst posted:You should have taken a poo poo in the bag and handed it back to her Gave me a flashback of the Waitress cackling while she pooped in Dee's purse at the shoe store.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:24
|
|
|
darkhand posted:You guys ever use those chip card scanners? They're total dogshit. It takes like 3 minutes to read. You'd think if it was better it would be faster, what the gently caress is it even doing? As it stands now, it's just a waste of time. Yeah chip cards are poo poo because the US adopted the technology from like 2005 so they're slow as poo poo. I used to be able to swipe and go, now it's Insert. Wait. Enter your pin. No I don't want cash back. Wait. Yes I approve the total of $420.69. Wait. BONK BONK BONK you waited too long, transaction is done. I used one that made me enter my pin AND sign.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:24
|
|
|
Tap is where it's at. Smack your card against the reader, done. Why is the US so slow to adopt technology? We've had Tap for like 4 years
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:26
|
|
|
Professor Shark posted:Tap is where it's at. Smack your card against the reader, done. "are freedums!" 
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:30
|
|
|
Professor Shark posted:Tap is where it's at. Smack your card against the reader, done. I had it on my Chase visa, but they sent me a new card with it removed because nobody was actually using it I used it once at Taco Bell and the girl working the counter called over her manager because she thought I had hacked the point of sale because she never saw my card
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:31
|
|
|
PallasAthene posted:Gave me a flashback of the Waitress cackling while she pooped in Dee's purse at the shoe store. This was my inspiration
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:32
|
|
|
Professor Shark posted:Tap is where it's at. Smack your card against the reader, done. Baby boomers hate change
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:32
|
|
|
I used tap once when the guy at the gas station saw me going to swipe and was like "no no my friend I show you better way", blew my mind.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:33
|
|
|
bradzilla posted:Baby boomers hate change They need to hurry up and change from living to dead
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:35
|
|
|
Iron Crowned posted:They need to hurry up and change from living to dead 
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:40
|
|
|
Back to the point about knowledgable, non-pushy sales staff. I am getting super into fishing and have discovered that a lot of small to medium tackle companies have figured this out. Pretty much every decently large forum is full of company reps who are usually pretty amazing about giving out a ton of info without turning it into a sales pitch. In one case I PMed a rep with a question and ended up in like a week long email exchange with a product development lead who went into insane detail about their R&D process just to answer my simple question about some rubber worms.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:41
|
|
|
Holyshoot posted:Why? Amazon is not concerned with short-term profits at all and would much rather concentrate on expansion, development and crushing the competition with razor thin margins than do things like pay out dividends. Naturally, Wall Street hates this.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 17:59
|
|
|
Professor Shark posted:Tap is where it's at. Smack your card against the reader, done. It costs money. gently caress spending money to update technology when the old stuff works fine. Right?!!? There's a chevron by my house that says they do apple pay on the door but only one of the machines has working apple pay and that register is almost never open. Pisses me off sometimes. And I'm convinced it's because the cheap gently caress owner of the gas station is too cheap to get it fixed. Though one of their employees tried to tell me once they turned it off(this was when both of them did not work) because someone was stealing peoples numbers through it. I am pretty sure apple pay/tap is way more secure then a plastic stripe. As for warranty stories you guys run into some weird sales reps. I have never had someone be pushy or upset about selling me a warranty. Guess I'm just lucky? I did have a BB cashier ask why the mouse I was buying was over 100 dollars. She was mystified by it being that much money. I just said it's good for gaming. Holyshoot has a new favorite as of 18:31 on Jun 30, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 18:29
|
|
|
Holyshoot posted:It costs money. gently caress spending money to update technology when the old stuff works fine. Right?!!? Way to talk yourself out of sex there chief.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 18:30
|
|
|
Solice Kirsk posted:Way to talk yourself out of sex there chief.  Wasn't that hot. I accept the loss.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 18:32
|
|
|
nigga crab pollock posted:its like walking into a used car lot staffed by rear end in a top hat 19 year olds Yeah Best Buy used to own but now its just as you describe it, teenagers and disinterested people trying to please their management. Thing is, I'd still shop there, but not because of their employees. It'd be a little bit nostalgia but also because their prices really aren't that bad anymore. Because of the online thing a lot of stores aren't really super high priced. Do your own research, go in, grab your item, boom done. Just don't touch any of the crap like warranties or whatever. I do find some of the company plans are decent though. CVS is pretty decent. Same with Petsmart. THey are free and for the privilege of them sending stuff to my spam email I get $6 off a $19 bag of cat food. I'll take it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 18:48
|
|
|
Jastiger posted:Yeah Best Buy used to own but now its just as you describe it, teenagers and disinterested people trying to please their management. I was sitting here trying to remember the last time I was in a BB and why. I got $100 for my birthday, and I bought a big rear end media rack that holds all of my media
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 18:54
|
|
|
Professor Shark posted:Tap is where it's at. Smack your card against the reader, done.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 19:14
|
|
|
The last time I went to best buy there were about a million loving sales people wandering the floor and I was just there to pick up a dehumidifier I bought online and holy PISS they wouldn't leave me alone
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 19:45
|
|
|
Captain Yossarian posted:The last time I went to best buy there were about a million loving sales people wandering the floor and I was just there to pick up a dehumidifier I bought online and holy PISS they wouldn't leave me alone Just stand tall, and look like you know where you're going. Especially if you're planning to buy something that an employee needs to get for you, and they'll all disappear
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 19:48
|
|
|
I actually had a best buy warranty work out in my favour because I had an LG rumor 2 back when I was a teenager and my dad was like 'get the two year warranty I'll pay for it' (it was like $20?) and the phone stopped working about 22 months into the warranty, and they didn't have the phone anymore so they gave me an LG rumor touch to honour my warranty 
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 19:54
|
|
|
My dad had a warranty work in his favor on an hdtv he got from Sears. It would randomly lose its picture. Repair guy came by and couldn't figure it out. Sears gave him a credit for the original purchase price to get a replacement. They were supposed to pick up the old tv but never did. I found out it could be fixed by unplugging a certain cable in the tv then turning in then plugging the cable back in and powering it up. It's been going strong for 6 years.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 21:21
|
|
|
Third party warranties aren't that bad sometimes. I bought one for my laptop I got off amazon and when I accidentally dropped it 2.5 years later they direct deposited me the entire purchase price because they didn't want to fix it. The laptop was $1400 so it was kind of a big deal.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2016 03:51
|
|
|
drunk asian neighbor posted:I asked 3 different salespeople at Best Buy if they sold split-loom tubing and got 3 blank stares. 2 people couldn't help me even when I tried explaining what it is, the 3rd guy ended up showing me those rigid plastic runners you use to hide cables from a wall-mounted TV installation. Silly me for assuming a place that specializes in a/v cables would also have a way to protect those cables What's that?
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2016 03:59
|
|
|
I had a Roomba I bought at Best Buy that had a 3-year extended warranty I purchased. Thing broke after 2 years - so I took it back for either a refund, a repair or to exchange it for a new one. Guy at desk: "they don't make these models anymore, so the best I can do is give you $25 towards a new one" The thing cost $400, so I asked to speak to the manager. After going back and forth for over 30 minutes, he finally just gave me a refund so I would go away.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2016 04:02
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 02:14 |
|
|
Home depot just offered me a $69.99 2 year warranty on a thermostat that costs $24.99.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2016 04:10
|
|