BTW rip off

Bandit12

:mad: Just back from a very unpleasent trip to BTW in Sandyford. Doing a tiling job in my bathroom (first time so fingered crossed ) and have run out of an adhesive i needed. Went into the shop and was quoted 18 euro for the particular bag i wanted which seemed very steep considering i believed i only paided in and around 11 euro for the exact same brand of adhesive in the bathroom and tile shop on the kylemore road. So i said i'd think about it and went into tubs and tiles right next door. I **** you not the same size bag was a whopping eight euro cheaper at 9.99. I obviously bought it there and went back into BTW to let them know i was'nt happy and i would be letting people know they are ripping customers off to which i was told by a very rude sales person "maybe i should have gone up North as it would be cheaper there again". So here i am hopefully doing my bit for the consumer.

actuallylike

Well done on your saving but...

Bandit12 wrote: »

i was told by a very rude sales person

it seems like you were pretty rude also?

RoadKillTs

it seems like you were pretty rude also?

How was he been rude?

Bandit12

actuallylike wrote: »

Well done on your saving but...



it seems like you were pretty rude also?

Sorry you lost me?

daisydotty

Well done on going back in and letting them know!that's a huge price difference.no need for the sarcasm back from the sales person but you were dead right in what you did.:D

Bandit12

daisydotty wrote: »

Well done on going back in and letting them know!that's a huge price difference.no need for the sarcasm back from the sales person but you were dead right in what you did.:D

Yeah thanks. TBH i would'nt have even of bothered coming on boards to tell of the price difference if it was'nt for the sales person's attitude problem.

RoadKillTs

no need for the sarcasm back from the sales person

How was he been sarcastic?
I think he was dead right.

It was the sales person who was sarcastic imo.

Well congrats on the saving, but you shouldn't have taken it out on the salesperson.

He/she has probably been hearing the same thing from a lot of people for the last few weeks and 1 - can do nothing to change the price - 2 - is taking all the abuse for it..(not like they can just quit and get another job handily)

A calm letter to the head office would have been better than going back in the heat of the moment and having a go at someone who's trying to get by on minimum wage....and people wonder why some people would rather sit at home on the dole..

Bandit12

Rojomcdojo wrote: »

Well congrats on the saving, but you shouldn't have taken it out on the salesperson.

He/she has probably been hearing the same thing from a lot of people for the last few weeks and 1 - can do nothing to change the price - 2 - is taking all the abuse for it..(not like they can just quit and get another job handily)

A calm letter to the head office would have been better than going back in the heat of the moment and having a go at someone who's trying to get by on minimum wage....and people wonder why some people would rather sit at home on the dole..

First off i did'nt "have a go" at anybody.
Your right i should have said nothing :rolleyes:. Would you be one of those people who go to a restaurant and if the meal comes out cold/wrong//not cooked right, you'd just let it go?.....if i ain't getting value for money i'm gonna let the seller know about it, maybe that way they can amend the price and it would be good for all consumers. Also i doubt the sales guy was on minimum wage tbh.

tommy21

Rojomcdojo wrote: »

Well congrats on the saving, but you shouldn't have taken it out on the salesperson.

He/she has probably been hearing the same thing from a lot of people for the last few weeks and 1 - can do nothing to change the price - 2 - is taking all the abuse for it..(not like they can just quit and get another job handily)

A calm letter to the head office would have been better than going back in the heat of the moment and having a go at someone who's trying to get by on minimum wage....and people wonder why some people would rather sit at home on the dole..

Well the salesperson is there as a rep of a company and should know going in that he/she will have to take the flack from the public from time to time. I think the OP is perfectly justified and the salesperson should just man up and take it, comes in the job description in fairness.

Bandit12

Bandit12 wrote: »

First off i did'nt "have a go" at anybody.
Your right i should have said nothing :rolleyes:. Would you be one of those people who go to a restaurant and if the meal comes out cold/wrong//not cooked right, you'd just let it go?.....if i ain't getting value for money i'm gonna let the seller know about it, maybe that way they can amend the price and it would be good for all consumers. Also i doubt the sales guy was on minimum wage tbh.

Well the difference in a restaurant is you have a direct line of communication between you and the chef. If your meal isn't up to standard do you leave the restaurant, go next door, go back after your meal and tell the waiter about how crap the restaurant he works in is?

Like I said, well done for shopping around. I've worked in retail though and while I never dealt with a similar problem (back in the good aul' Tiger years) I can spot a problem customer a mile away. I use the word customer lightly - you didn't even buy anything in the shop yet you think that this salesperson owes you some sort of apology because the price he didn't set wasn't up to your standard.

tommy21

Rojomcdojo wrote: »

Well the difference in a restaurant is you have a direct line of communication between you and the chef. If your meal isn't up to standard do you leave the restaurant, go next door, go back after your meal and tell the waiter about how crap the restaurant he works in is?

Like I said, well done for shopping around. I've worked in retail though and while I never dealt with a similar problem (back in the good aul' Tiger years) I can spot a problem customer a mile away. I use the word customer lightly - you didn't even buy anything in the shop yet you think that this salesperson owes you some sort of apology because the price he didn't set wasn't up to your standard.

I'd think the salesperson is better placed to direct complaints to head office. Should he/she be blamed for the price? Of course not, they didn't set it. They do however represent the company and should have the common sense to be at least polite to the customer and agree to forward any complaint to head office rather then telling the "problem" customer to sod off.

actuallylike

Just sounds like you had a beef with the company and the salesperson got the brunt of it. If they're a rip off, so be it but the extra cash doesn't go in the salesperson's pocket. A simple, "they're selling it cheaper next door" would have sufficed.
Now I'm just going on the tone of the original post here, also just speaking from experience of working minimum wage in a shop and dealing with irate customers who seem to be venting their anger about prices on you personally.

tommy21

tommy21 wrote: »

I'd think the salesperson is better placed to direct complaints to head office. Should he/she be blamed for the price? Of course not, they didn't set it. They do however represent the company and should have the common sense to be at least polite to the customer and agree to forward any complaint to head office rather then telling the "problem" customer to sod off.

Trust me, the customer in this place was definitely not being polite to the sales person and was certainly not the saint that he is portraying himself as in the OP.

smelltheglove

I think he certainly was not in the wrong however his complaint would have been netter lodged with pricing department, management or head office. As I previously worked in pricing I have experience of this, one time a customer approached me about pricing of a particular product, the price she gave me was a fair bit lower than on the shelf in the store I worked at. I would always write a note of such circumstances and when back at the system check up on it. That particular product that was highlighted was being solld elsewhere for less than our cost price, which meant I brought it to the store owners who were then abole to address the suppliers as to why they were charging us so much more than other stores. The margin wasnt even great on it either so it had to be justified by the supplier rather than the store. Obviously there were other cases similar but this particular one always stuck out in my head about the huge difference. Sometimes store managers or pricing departments are unawares of the extremity of price differences and a heads up by a customer is what they need.

actuallylike

smelltheglove wrote: »

I think he certainly was not in the wrong

You're right, I'm sure they welcome feedback so they can price their stock more competitively. I don't think anyone's denying that, it was just the manner in which it was said

Bandit12 wrote: »

let them know i was'nt happy and i would be letting people know they are ripping customers off

Could have had a bit more tact to be fair, I mean they may be sourcing the product from different wholesalers who charge differently.

Dublin_Gunner

In fairness, the OP was already on bad terms with the shop due to the price of a particular product - but it was only that product that he knew of.

Now, due to the salespersons' attitude, the OP has 2 reasons not to go back there (salesperson being the bigger issue IMO).

Bandit12

actuallylike wrote: »

Just sounds like you had a beef with the company and the salesperson got the brunt of it. If they're a rip off, so be it but the extra cash doesn't go in the salesperson's pocket. A simple, "they're selling it cheaper next door" would have sufficed.
Now I'm just going on the tone of the original post here, also just speaking from experience of working minimum wage in a shop and dealing with irate customers who seem to be venting their anger about prices on you personally.

"Beef with the company"? "Got the brunt of it"? I told the sales guy that they where ripping people off for the product (almost double the price of the shop next door) i did'nt shout at the chap,i did'nt raise my voice,i was'nt a lunatic looking for payback, i walked in and told him the price they are charging is obviously a rip off and i would be spreading the word on the rip off. The sales guy is the public face of the company and is there to represent the company and issues the consumer may have. I had an issue with the price and let him know to which he could of responded in a more positive manner. He did'nt so i'm here telling my story.

cute_cow

I think the OP did right. And in the same position, I would have done the same, and have done so in the past. No point in writing a letter to some stranger in head office over something that he can deal with then and there, advising the sales assistant that he got it chepaer somewhere else, at least you know then someone has heard you instead of wondering if no one even read your letter!

To be honest, so many people have this happening to them and do nothing but come on here and complain. OP was proactive and went back and said it to the sales assistant, and because of this, he is accused of being rude and taking it out on the sales person, seems you can't win with some people!!

Fair play to you OP, if more and more people did this, maybe, just maybe (a long shot i know), some people would lower their price!!

Bandit12

cute_cow wrote: »

I think the OP did right. And in the same position, I would have done the same, and have done so in the past. No point in writing a letter to some stranger in head office over something that he can deal with then and there, advising the sales assistant that he got it chepaer somewhere else, at least you know then someone has heard you instead of wondering if no one even read your letter!

To be honest, so many people have this happening to them and do nothing but come on here and complain. OP was proactive and went back and said it to the sales assistant, and because of this, he is accused of being rude and taking it out on the sales person, seems you can't win with some people!!

Fair play to you OP, if more and more people did this, maybe, just maybe (a long shot i know), some people would lower their price!!

Thanks what i'm hoping in the long run. Think the country as a whole needs to stand up and be counted when it comes to price rip offs.

actuallylike

Bandit12 wrote: »

"Got the brunt of it"? I told the sales guy that they where ripping people off for the product (almost double the price of the shop next door) i did'nt shout at the chap,i did'nt raise my voice,i was'nt a lunatic looking for payback, i walked in and told him the price they are charging is obviously a rip off and i would be spreading the word on the rip off.

In my experience, the term 'rip off' can be taken the in a very negative way. It implies that they are purposely putting the highest price possible. As I mentioned before, maybe the place has a higher rent than next doors, maybe they source from another wholesaler that is overcharging them.
You say you went in to advise them? Well advice would be put simply "just to let you know, next door is selling it for cheaper" but no your 'advice' branded them a rip off and involved you threatening to tell everyone you know about how bad a service they were doing, doesn't sound like the most polite advice to be honest. By saying it to them politely, they may react better, find out where their costs can be cut and act on it. I'm not surprised you got the reaction you got, I wouldn't personally do it, I know there is an element of professionalism in the job, but dealing with people day in day out who take their anger out on you means a breaking point may be reached some day.

cute_cow wrote: »

OP was proactive and went back and said it to the sales assistant, and because of this, he is accused of being rude and taking it out on the sales person, seems you can't win with some people!!

You're absolutely right, spot on, I am accusing him of been rude. Perhaps if you reread the first post and if you still think that the OP wasn't rude and could have been a bit more polite well then I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree on our definition of rudeness.

tommy21

Rojomcdojo wrote: »

Trust me, the customer in this place was definitely not being polite to the sales person and was certainly not the saint that he is portraying himself as in the OP.

I'll give the trusting you a miss thanks, you weren't actually there were you? No, I didn't think so.

tommy21

I don't get why everyone is assuming the OP was rude. He does not indicate it so unless you were beside him in the shop, not much point of accussing him of anything. He is here telling his story and I think all the retail assistants with a chip on their shoulder need to go get some counselling instead of attacking him for a valid complaint.

butter13222

Rojomcdojo wrote: »

Well congrats on the saving, but you shouldn't have taken it out on the salesperson.

He/she has probably been hearing the same thing from a lot of people for the last few weeks and 1 - can do nothing to change the price - 2 - is taking all the abuse for it..(not like they can just quit and get another job handily)

A calm letter to the head office would have been better than going back in the heat of the moment and having a go at someone who's trying to get by on minimum wage....and people wonder why some people would rather sit at home on the dole..

totally agree sales person didnt set the price

cute_cow

actuallylike wrote: »

I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree on our definition of rudeness.

Neither of us were there so I don't know if he was rude or not, and I guess because this is a public forum, I don't expect everyone to have the same opinion. From a post that someone wrote, you are never going to know if they were rude or not. Personally, I don't have a definition of rudeness, as what is rude for me may not be rude for everyone.

I've worked in retail before, and its a pain in the arse when someone says something its a ripoff, or that something is cheaper in another store, but thats part and parcel of the job. Well it was for me anyway. 9 times out of 10 I said it to my manager and got on with the job, it should be water of a ducks back for them, its probably not the first time the sales assistant had heard it to be honest.

ejmaztec

I've gleaned from this thread that BTW, whoever the hell they are, are a bunch of robbers, who will close down shortly thanks to their sales staff advising people to go up north, and at same time setting themselves up to join the unemployment queue.

the groutch

I don't get why the OP had to go back in and berate the sales assistant?
it's not like he bought it at the higher price or anything
every shop is free to charge what they like, people should just vote with their feet and leave it at that, rather than verbally abuse the staff for no reason

actuallylike

cute_cow wrote: »

Neither of us were there so I don't know if he was rude or not

Bandit12 wrote: »

went back into BTW to let them know i was'nt happy and i would be letting people know they are ripping customers off

You don't think this is rude? Seriously?!? I don't think I need to be there to hear the tone of his voice to come to a conclusion.

cute_cow wrote: »

thats part and parcel of the job.

I've worked retail as well and I was sick of people saying,"ah a$$hole customers is just part of the job", the only reason customers are so rude is because they have this attitude that the employee will just do everything they say and agree with everything. Balls to that, if a customer's rude I'll be rude back, if aggressive, I'll be equally right back at them. Have no time for people berating staff just cause they're in a unifom and then using the old line "well the customer's always right" as an excuse to just be a príck!

cute_cow wrote: »

9 times out of 10 I said it to my manager and got on with the job

What ya do the other 1 time?

Joey the lips

Hi OP. Your baseing the fact that you were rippped off on the cheaper price in the tile shop next door. A couple of things spring to mind(and I am in the business years)

You cannot compare prices without giving the brand. For example. Larsen green is 11 euro but larsen Orange is 25 euro. They look identical but they are totally differenct products. What product did you buy and what color was the bag.

The shop where you bought the adhesive by passses irish importers and sources direct so they have an unfair advantage.

Ask any professional tiler about who's tiles they like to check because of batch problems and they will tell you

Lastly BTW is operated as an independent franchise in most stores. Its a higher cost brand than the shop you went to.

I am NOT and have never been a fan of BTW's prices but I think you are being unfair to them not knowing the whole truth,

Lastly just to finally advise you correctly

What tile are you sticking
What surface are you sticking it on
What exactly does it say on the bag of adhesive and did it EXACTLY match in both shops.

cute_cow

actuallylike wrote: »

I don't think I need to be there to hear the tone of his voice to come to a conclusion.

My point again, you don't know, as I don't, so neither of us can say!! Repeating myself again, whats rude for me, maybe not be rude to you!!

actuallylike wrote: »

What ya do the other 1 time?

Dealt with it myself, no reason not to I guess, was trained in customer care, so no point in not doing it. Probably should have dealt with the other 9 too :rolleyes:

Back on topic, I still agree with the OP, he did the right thing to mention it to the sales assistant. If he came on here and said he didn't go back, he would have been berated for not pointing it out, so its a no win situation. Think I will leave it there, as I will just be repeating myself

nmesisca

Good on you OP. I would have done the same.

If nobody in the country would do the same the OP did we might as well close these forums, bend over and pay whatever price we are asked, right?

I ve had plenty of rude customers but I have NEVER been rude in response. Its not professional and doesnt do any good to either your career, the customer, the business and ultimately your stress levels.

ejmaztec

nmesisca wrote: »

Good on you OP. I would have done the same.

If nobody in the country would do the same the OP did we might as well close these forums, bend over and pay whatever price we are asked, right?

I ve had plenty of rude customers but I have NEVER been rude in response. Its not professional and doesnt do any good to either your career, the customer, the business and ultimately your stress levels.

Isn't that supposed to be one of the main rules of retailing, not retaliating in any way to a customer?

It used to be that people who ignored the rule, ended up with a P45, whether the customer had been an arsehole or not.