>>>Moral of that story: rich guy goes from being informed consumer to richer
guy who can no longer be bothered to inform himself as to
his choices as consumer. He does, however, find the time to
fault those who aren't willing to molly-coddle his big-
spending ego.<<<
Matabala:
You misread my post. Believe me, I am not even CLOSE to
being a rich guy. The money for the laptop was a budget from
the company that grossly underpays me for my work. The
bicycle I bought my wife was $300.
That said, I don't spend money easily. And when I do, I want
guidance from someone more knowledgeable than myself. I want
to tell a salesperson what I need to do, then I want my
responsibility to diminish greatly. I want to say "I'm going
to ride 150 miles a week on bike paths and three days per
summer riding on dirt." Then I want the salesperson to show
me the hybrids or sell me a mountain bike and a set of
slicks to go with it.
It's really an easy concept for storeowners, because most of
us talk a good game but know really know **** about anything
we buy. Send me into fifty clothing stores to pick out a
shirt and tie that match and I'll come home empty-handed
every time. Then send me into a store where a salesperson
walks over with two or three different options and I'll
probably buy all three (rich guy that I am) just out of
gratitude to the salesperson.
"matabala" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:c9li2l$tpv$1@news-
reader1.wanadoo.fr...
>
> "NYRides" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
>
news:[email protected]...
> > Claire:
> >
> > While I understand and respect the opinions of others
> > who have replied,
I
> > also understand exactly what you mean. It isn't just
> > bike shops,
though.
> > If storeowners only knew how much business they lose
> > by hiring unknowledgeable sales people who are afraid
> > to approach customers, they would probably shape up
> > pretty fast.
> >
> > I constantly walk out of stores with money burning a
> > hole in my pocket.
> One
> > day recently, I had $3,000 to spend on a laptop computer
> > that I
absolutely
> > needed the very next day. I walked into a well-known
> > national mega
> computer
> > chain store and found three young salespeople gathered
> > around a 23"
> monitor
> > playing a video game. I told them I needed to buy a
> > laptop in a hurry
and
> > that it was my first time buying one. Without looking up
> > from the
screen,
> > two of them pointed me to the aisle with the laptops and
> > one said "The laptops are over there." Needless to say,
> > I walked out after two
minutes
> of
> > trying to sell myself a laptop.
> >
> > Even more recently, I walked into my neighborhood bike
> > shop on a Sunday
to
> > buy my wife the brand new bicycle I'd been promising her
> > forever. We're both really busy and this was the only
> > time we could arrange to shop for
> the
> > bike together. Again, the money was in my pocket and
> > there was no way
we
> > weren't buying a bike that day. Well, it was Sunday, and
> > the owner,
whom
> I
> > know very well and really wanted to give the business,
> > decided to take
the
> > day off and leave two high school kids running the
> > store. My wife and I walked in and started fumbling our
> > way through the hundreds of bikes on display. I even
> > pulled a few from the racks to size her up. In all the
> > time we were shopping, the two kids at the counter never
> > even looked up
> from
> > their conversation about "hot chicks." When I asked if
> > one could help,
> his
> > response was "What are you looking for?" I told him "A
> > bike for my
wife."
> > "What kind?" he replied. "Probably a hybrid." I said.
> > "What size?" he asked. "I'm not sure...she needs to be
> > sized up." He then brought my
> wife
> > to the closest female hybrid in the showroom, asked her
> > to get on, then asked "Does THAT feel like the right
> > size?" We bought my wife's bike somewhere else.
> >
> > This happens to me all the time, and I've made a habit
> > of skipping out
of
> > stores that do this to me. I guess I'm just getting old.
> > I used to like
> to
> > be left alone when I was shopping, but that was when I
> > was young and
> thought
> > I knew more about everything than anybody. Now that I'm
> > older and
realize
> > I'm not so smart, I need to be "sold" by salesperson
> > before I'll buy anything. My final example is the
> > $150,000 home renovation for which my
> wife
> > and I are trying to book contractors, designers, and
> > architects. Highly-recommended tradespeople of all sorts
> > have been escorted out our
> door
> > for making the same mistake: They ask us "what we want"
> > and tell us "they'll do whatever we want." We've made it
> > clear to all these people
> that
> > we need guidance, that we've never done this before and
> > we need input
from
> > experienced professionals. Still, they come to the house
> > and get
> frustrated
> > if we don't know whether we want flush beams or soffits
> > in our kitchen.
> The
> > first kitchen designer who said to us "This is what you
> > do and here's
why"
> > got a big gig out of us.
> >
> > I think store owners should take this as a warning. The
> > biggest reason people still shop in retail stores,
> > rather than buying things cheaper online, is for the
> > interaction with knowledgeable salespeople who can
> guide
> > us through the selection and buying process. Once that
> > benefit is eliminated, we might as well all buy blindly
> > via the Internet.
> >
> Moral of that story: rich guy goes from being informed
> consumer to richer guy who can no longer be bothered to
> inform himself as to his choices as consumer. He does,
> however, find the time to fault those who aren't
willing
> to molly-coddle his big-spending ego.
