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No thanks. That will turn into about 500% in interest down the road!
I do not like to have Cashier's ask me in front of a line of people if I would like a credit card. I always say "No, thank you". Then they say, "Are you sure? We can save you a LOT of money today". I politely say "No thanks" one more time.
"Well, why would anyone not want to save some money? A credit card on this purchase will save you almost $15.00 !"
The next thing that comes out of my mouth is NOT nice.
Me: "If I wanted a BEEP credit card I would apply for one. I am ready to pay my bill, I do not want a credit card, I don't care how much money you think it will save me. I do not have credit and wouldn't get approved, because my husband had CANCER and we lost everything, even our credit, so please just shut up and take my cash so I can get the HELL out of here!
I had one man come up to me as I was finally leaving and he said "Way to go girl!"
Has anyone ever had that happen, especially during the Christmas season? OMG it's maddening.
I personally don't care if employees ask me about a CC in front of people or not. I know it's their job. However, I've NEVER in my life had them continue to say more after I've said NO THANKS the 1st time.
I agree. These employees are told to do this. It is rude however for staff not to accept a polite no and get pushy or manipulative about it. Even then there is a way to deflect it without resorting to being hateful or nasty.
Those employees might also be told to not simply accept a polite No but to deliver the counter-responses you get. Complaints should be directed to management.
No thanks. That will turn into about 500% in interest down the road!
I do not like to have Cashier's ask me in front of a line of people if I would like a credit card. I always say "No, thank you". Then they say, "Are you sure? We can save you a LOT of money today". I politely say "No thanks" one more time.
"Well, why would anyone not want to save some money? A credit card on this purchase will save you almost $15.00 !"
The next thing that comes out of my mouth is NOT nice.
Me: "If I wanted a BEEP credit card I would apply for one. I am ready to pay my bill, I do not want a credit card, I don't care how much money you think it will save me. I do not have credit and wouldn't get approved, because my husband had CANCER and we lost everything, even our credit, so please just shut up and take my cash so I can get the HELL out of here!
I had one man come up to me as I was finally leaving and he said "Way to go girl!"
Has anyone ever had that happen, especially during the Christmas season? OMG it's maddening.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bootsamillion
Yes, I get that, but what I don't get is the 4th or 5th time. It's too much.
I say 'no'. On rare occasion I have say 'no' a second time. Saying 'no' doesn't bother me.
I have no idea where anyone shops that they have to say 'no' three times, much less four or five - although even saying 'no' five times would still take, what, maybe 15 seconds? Less time than it surely took to write this thread's opening post.
It IS aggravating, but 100% of my anger about these offers is directed at the company. Never the salesperson. They are doing a job that I would not want to do for a lot less pay than what I make. They have management that makes bad decisions that anger customers, and then leaves them out there in the trenches to deal with it.
And often, they will get fired if they don't follow the instructions they are given to sell you something, whether it's a credit card or some other thing.
My husband used to work at FedEx Office. They had like 5 things that they were REQUIRED to say to every single customer. They would get "secret shopped" and were graded on it, and if you didn't get a passing score you could be fired. Leadership was on this bizarre mission to get all cozy and personal with every. single. customer. through. the. door.
I could not believe what he told me he had to do, because as a potential customer to a business of that kind, if I am going to FedEx, I know exactly what I'm there to accomplish, I don't give a rat's backside if printer paper or calendars are on sale, I don't need to bond emotionally with the clerk about my project or any possible future projects. And I really...REALLY...do not want to stand in a line that goes out the door because the cashier was told that even if they are short staffed and no matter how long the line is, and even if people give up and walk away, they MUST do this entire process with every person they encounter. If I wanted freaking therapy, I'd go pay a therapist, OK, you don't need my life story and I don't want to stand there while you try to extract the life stories of five people in front of me, either. My god.
As for the credit card offers... What they should do, is give every salesperson a stack of brochures with an identifying number on them that traces back to each employee, and then reward them for each customer who goes online or calls or mails in an application that has THEIR employee number on it. Because personally I would very much respect a business more if a.) They handed me the offer so that I could go home and consider the terms in detail, rather than rushing me into a possibly bad decision...and b.) They did not set it up so that one person filling out an application might hold up the line for other customers. To say nothing of c.) The reasons that a person might not want a credit card may be personal and asking about it in public is slightly inappropriate and a bit on the rude side anyways.
I also get rather annoyed about businesses asking for my email address. I refuse to give it.
It IS aggravating, but 100% of my anger about these offers is directed at the company. Never the salesperson. They are doing a job that I would not want to do for a lot less pay than what I make. They have management that makes bad decisions that anger customers, and then leaves them out there in the trenches to deal with it.
I will admit it is my privilege speaking when I wonder why anyone would not walk away from a job where the employer was so (1) dumb and (2) disrespectful to employees and (3) to customers. Of course, many simply can't.
As a customer though I CAN and DO walk out, and try never to darken their doors again.
All that said, I find it hard to believe that an employee is mandated to go through more than a socially acceptable number of iterations of their pitch, perhaps plus one ... and the ones that do, I suspect of getting off on it. Harkening back through the decades to my time in retail, I'm guessing there's a bounty sometimes on each sale and no guidelines at all, and some employees just will grind you mercilessly until you say yes. And if so that is on them.
I'm old and this has probably happened a grand total of one times though, so it's arguably not worth discussion. But there's a reason people find the scenario so relatable. I suspect most of us have experienced it at least once and it leaves a real impression.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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There are actually times when it would make good sense to accept the offer. Suppose, for example, that you were buying a $1,500 riding mower at Lowe's or Home Depot, or perhaps a $3,000 shed or $5,000 kitchen cabinets or countertop. Pay it off when the bill comes, then don't use it again, meanwhile you will have saved $225, $450, or $750. I wonder if the employees are told not to make the offer when the sale is over a certain amount.
There are actually times when it would make good sense to accept the offer. Suppose, for example, that you were buying a $1,500 riding mower at Lowe's or Home Depot, or perhaps a $3,000 shed or $5,000 kitchen cabinets or countertop. Pay it off when the bill comes, then don't use it again, meanwhile you will have saved $225, $450, or $750. I wonder if the employees are told not to make the offer when the sale is over a certain amount.
I'd read the fine print to be sure this offer doesn't have an exclaimer like "discount applies to first $200 only" or such.
I will admit it is my privilege speaking when I wonder why anyone would not walk away from a job where the employer was so (1) dumb and (2) disrespectful to employees and (3) to customers. Of course, many simply can't.
As a customer though I CAN and DO walk out, and try never to darken their doors again.
All that said, I find it hard to believe that an employee is mandated to go through more than a socially acceptable number of iterations of their pitch, perhaps plus one ... and the ones that do, I suspect of getting off on it. Harkening back through the decades to my time in retail, I'm guessing there's a bounty sometimes on each sale and no guidelines at all, and some employees just will grind you mercilessly until you say yes. And if so that is on them.
I'm old and this has probably happened a grand total of one times though, so it's arguably not worth discussion. But there's a reason people find the scenario so relatable. I suspect most of us have experienced it at least once and it leaves a real impression.
Well for me it depends on what kind of retail we're talking about, too.
My post was mostly about cashier types at places where they are at a counter and are told to do certain scripted things like try to shill a credit card.
But then there are more high pressure sales environments, like notably, a furniture store I went into not long ago. I will not go back.
***Sofa purchase story***
I had already spotted a sofa on their website that I really wanted. I went into the store to see if I could check it out in person, but they didn't have any in stock. The guy was really determined to try and sell me a much more expensive set off the floor, and I did try to be fair and looked all around...but didn't find anything I wanted more than what I'd seen online. He finally huffed and sighed and said he could order it for me but had no idea when it would be delivered as it was on back order. I agreed to go with that, and he said that it was REQUIRED that I get a couple of extras...a form of delivery that cost $60 (full set up) and the "protection plan" which he said covered replacement if my cat scratched up the sofa ($55.)
Later, I looked at the item online again and found that a.) there were two kinds of delivery available, front door drop off and full assembly. The first was free, the guy at the store did not offer me that at all. It is what I'd have chosen, as I'm quite capable of unwrapping the packaging and screwing feet onto a sofa. And b.) when I looked over the brochure for the protection plan, it SPECIFICALLY excluded damage from pets. Liar, liar.
So I ordered my sofa online (and got an estimated delivery date on it) and then called the corporate number to cancel my in-store purchase and get a refund. They were able to enter the cancellation, and told me to expect my refund within a couple of weeks. It never showed up. I called back and the lady said that "it had to go through the store" and she has "no idea why they haven't processed it yet." I said, so...should I go back in to the store to ask about that? And she said, "Well, I sure would!"
... Great. So I went back, and went up and spoke to a guy at the counter about the situation and he told me that yeah I did have to be there in person with the credit card I'd used so that they could reverse the charge. Why the corporate lady did not tell me that, I have no idea. Whatever. I got my refund and saved over a hundred bucks on my sofa.
***/end sofa purchase story***
I hate high pressure sales BS enough, I will do what I can to dodge it by ordering things online whenever possible. I even bought a brand new car by calling a dealership that was out of town and doing the entire deal over the phone and had them deliver my car to me. I have had enough bad experiences of going to a dealership and having them determined to sell me something even if it wasn't what I wanted.
But when in particular it concerns offers for credit products... I really, REALLY think that the ethical thing to do is to lay off all the pressure and give people time to consider the details and if they want to open the account. Because those sorts of things can affect your life for years, and truly should not be an impulse decision made at a counter while others stand in line waiting for you to fill stuff out.
Frankly too, in this age where personally identifying info is sensitive and can be used for bad ends, I also really dislike the thing of being expected to shout out my phone number or email address to a cashier (through my mask and the plexiglass) where who knows who in line can hear. Probably nothing bad will happen, but still... I'd rather not.
I wasn't trying to be rude. It was getting crowded in there, there were about 7 people waiting behind me. She asked me three or four times, then started getting upset with me because I didn't want a credit card. You're being rude too. Does it make you feel better?
They're require to offer the card, and required to make at least a certain number of rebuttals. The rebuttals are scripted and memorized. She could lose her job if she doesn't offer the card and make at least a certain number of rebuttals. The best thing to do is let her finish her little scripted deal, say 'no thank you' and let everyone get on with their lives
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