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Sometimes I wonder how some folks stay in business. I went to go shopping for shoes today, and as some folks know, I am a rather small person, so this can be a bit of a challenge. Anyhow, I walk in and I find a few shoes that look good, and are the kind that I like, reeboks, so I think, great. So I pull the shoes, and ask to try one of them on. 15 minutes later, the clerk apologises, and tells me she can't find her stock in the shoe. Then I suggest that perhaps they remove the shoe from the display so people don't try to buy the shoe, thinking that you actually have them in stock.
So anyways, we go through their entire stock, and find 4 shoes that will actually fit my shoe size, and they let me try them on. They fit great, so I'm pleased. They also have a deal, advertised at 99.99 for the two pairs, which is even better. So I get the shoes, after showing the clerk that I wanted to finally use a gift card that I had been given quite some time ago.
So I go in, and try to buy the shoes with my hundred dollar gift card. Oh, but wait. They said nothing about the taxes, and forgive me for thinking that the discounts would be AFTER taxes and not before. It, of course, runs over the hundred dollars, so I ask them why they don't inform their customers that tax is on top of the price. I ask then, if I can't take the shoes home for me for paying the advertised price, that they redeem my card in cash so that I can buy cheap shoes at walmart and spend the difference on other things. By now, it was 45 minutes in this one store to buy a pair of shoes, and I was getting tired of all the hassles. We haggled for awhile, and they said they couldn't do either, so I finally walked away.
This is what I don't understand. If I am running a business and I am offering a large discount in order to free up inventory space, why not make that discount in amounts convenient to the customer? It seems to me basic customer service principles.
So anyways, we go through their entire stock, and find 4 shoes that will actually fit my shoe size, and they let me try them on. They fit great, so I'm pleased. They also have a deal, advertised at 99.99 for the two pairs, which is even better. So I get the shoes, after showing the clerk that I wanted to finally use a gift card that I had been given quite some time ago.
So I go in, and try to buy the shoes with my hundred dollar gift card. Oh, but wait. They said nothing about the taxes, and forgive me for thinking that the discounts would be AFTER taxes and not before. It, of course, runs over the hundred dollars, so I ask them why they don't inform their customers that tax is on top of the price. I ask then, if I can't take the shoes home for me for paying the advertised price, that they redeem my card in cash so that I can buy cheap shoes at walmart and spend the difference on other things. By now, it was 45 minutes in this one store to buy a pair of shoes, and I was getting tired of all the hassles. We haggled for awhile, and they said they couldn't do either, so I finally walked away.
This is what I don't understand. If I am running a business and I am offering a large discount in order to free up inventory space, why not make that discount in amounts convenient to the customer? It seems to me basic customer service principles.
And these are not supposed to be discount stores, but specialty stores where customer service is supposed to allow them to charge higher prices.
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