DID Electrical treated me like dirt.

bagels

Nino Brown wrote: »

I think this is 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.

If you hadn't tried to haggle, and just said you were 67 cents short I think you would have had more luck. The fact that you tried to haggle first, then said you were short makes you look very cheap, and like you never had any intention of paying the advertised price. Also I guarantee you weren't the first person to try to haggle with the staff that day, I'm sure that becomes tiresome very quickly, and then for somebody to not have even brought enough money would probably set me off too.
It was unprofessional of the staff member to offer to pay, he should have said the price is as advertised, and come back when you have the money.

BTW if you can afford to buy a more expensive microwave because you don't like the colour of the cheaper rmodel, you're not living on the breadline.

Thank you for your comment.
How can you equate being calm and polite with being treated like dirt? Its anything but "6 of one and half a dozen of the other".
I appreciate your points in the remainder of your post and won't argue against them but I totally reject the content of your final sentence. You have no idea what sacrifices I make on a daily basis in order to make ends meet. I hope you never find yourself in similar circumstance.

ezopsae

"You have no right to come into an electrical retailer looking for a discount"
"You should choose a cheaper microwave, one you can afford"

That's the two "aggressive" statements the sales assistant supposedly said according to the OP. I wouldn't call either of those statements aggressive.

This whole thread seems to be a rant about the OP's own personal situation more than anything else. "You have no idea what sacrifices I make on a daily basis in order to make ends meet.".

Should DID act as a charity shop in certain circumstances?

As regards the apology, any retailer will apologise - it's the easiest course of action for any customer complaint. Yet OP sets up a thread to further damage them and someone trying to hold down their job as much as possible when he is the one who has gone into a store short of money and then thrown his toys out of the pram when he doesn't get a discount.

the_syco

masonchat wrote: »

I wouldnt wish to be a sales person of any sort not an easy job id imagine, and i know some people could would drive jesus to drink but all the manager had to do was say sorry that is the price, we have x model for so much if you'd like

As we only get one side of the story, and that is one of a disgruntled customer, who knows.

GrayFox208 wrote: »

Ah Jesus will half of you cop on!! It's embarrassing enough being short of money when you go to pay but 67 cent not even ONE euro and your man to get up in arms about it, don't be such ignorant ***** about it!

He was short money for the nice looking one, but didn't want the other cheaper model as it didn't fit in with his kitchen.

bagels wrote: »

You appear to berate people for haggling. Why?

How often do you haggle?

bagels wrote: »

You seem to think that customers are out to con shop workers. Why won't you accept that people can be genuine?

Due to experience with the general public.

ezra_pound

Rojiblancos wrote: »

Surprised the 67c wasn't just wiped off the balance. Discounts are entirely up to staff and just need managers approval in d.i.d. Workers get commission on sales but discounts look bad so each staff member tries not to discount unless it's a large sale , now in fairness 67c isn't going to make a massive difference to the guy on the till, in fact he would have been better off to put the discount through the till than take it from his own pocket if he was going to be picky like that!

This is after all what happened so...

skelligs

As said earlier - only one side of a story is here.

Why would any person, especially a sales person, suddenly for no apparent reason, start abusing a customer?

I and my family are in retail and service for over 30 years and we be considered a company to offer high end service, but there have been many times myself and other members of the family and some very good staff would like to tell some customers to take a hike in the nicest possible way due to their arrogance and attitude - especially the "I'm do you a favour by buying from you" types.

I'm not making any allegations about the OP, but really it is only one side of the story and for my own experience DID staff are very good and for some posters to say "I was going to buy xyz there today now I'm not" (yeah, I really believe that type of comment too) is ridiculous.

The OP has a bee in his bonnet and has made defamatory allegations - without anyone knowing the other side of the story or knowing what lead up to the situation. As such its unfair to make judgement especially when DID would generally have a good name.

Is it possible that the OP and the sales person both were having a bad day and they simply clashed?

Dozen Wicked Words

Hard to know what to say when you only have one sided account of what happened. My take on it..

It could be possible that OP wasn't being as civil as he thought he was. Passive aggressive display by the shop worker could well have been in response to how he felt treated. Was there a stand off where OP continued to ask for the 67c off or was it asked just the once and then the big scene.

Trying to purchase something you don't have enough money for seems a bit odd, when trying to live within means.

No reason to doubt OP would have bought in the 67c, but to expect a modern chain shop to accept someone will come back with any owed money on an item, is not really likely is it?

Good luck OP, hope you get your completely insincere apology from the shop worker. Doubt it will make you feel any better though. You have voted with your feet and they won't have you as a customer again, move on.

Cabaal

One persons "sneering" and "demeaning" is another person just being told "no", over the years I've heard numerous customer's claim they were treated this way and that way and yet when you get down to it and actually see what happens the customer just didn't get their way so they decided to exaggerate the situation. The customer also wasn't nearly as "nice" as they claimed they were.

Very suspect about hearing one side of the story here and how its being portrayed, no staff member is going to go out of their way in relation to 67c. They may however say that the customer should choose a cheaper model etc if they don't have the money, which of course some people might see as demeaning etc.

Even if what apparently happened did actually happen, looking for a personal apology from a member of staff is just silly. Any apology will come from the company, not specific staff members like you are requesting.

Mousewar

bagels wrote: »

When I went to pay I found I was 67 cents short of the asking price. I asked for their best possible price, hoping I'd be able to afford it, but no discount was offered. With a smile on my face and being very polite, I handed over the money I had and tried to negotiate a discount of 67 cents so that I could buy that microwave that we'd chosen. The <SNIP> responded in an aggressive manner and no matter how politely and calmly I tried to negotiate, even communicate, with him he wasn't having any of it. I could hardly get a word in but he was able to say such things to me as:
"You have no right to come into an electrical retailer looking for a discount"
"You should choose a cheaper microwave, one you can afford"

Those comments in themselves seem harmless but you'd have to be there to see how he deliberately tried to demean me in front of others. His voice was sneering and his body-language was intolerant at best and aggressive at worst. Throughout our exchange he made other comments that may seem innocent on paper but were actually derogatory and sarcastic in the manner in which they were spoken.

When he said that neither he nor the shop were charities I gave up at that stage and turned to walk away.
He then said out loudly for all to hear that he'd pay the 67 cents out of his own pocket and then he made a big show of taking some coins from his pocket and threw them noisily into the till, all the time repeating that he's paying my bill.

Firstly, this clearly sounds like the person at the till who is usually some teenager and not a salesperson. Only the salespeople out on the floor usually have the ability to give discounts.
Secondly, if we strip away all of your subjective interpretation of the event we are left with a till worker who made two statements to you:

"You have no right to come into an electrical retailer looking for a discount"
"You should choose a cheaper microwave, one you can afford"

Both of these statements are of course true and very much have my sympathy. I mean, it's fine to ask for a discount but you make reference to "no matter how politely and calmly I tried to negotiate, even communicate, with him he wasn't having any of it" which strongly implies that you refused to take his no and continued to push for something you had no entitlement to. As such, I imagine his comments and perceived attitude were a response to you badgering him for a discount that he couldn't, as a till worker, give you. But of course, that's just speculation as this is so one-sided. But I have to say that everything you've written strikes me as having a lot of extra colour that may not have been there in reality.

So too your reference to him putting his own cash noisily into the till. Was it that loud? Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. What he did do though was pay the balance of the microwave you insisted on getting because it matched your colour scheme out of his own pocket.

Sorry, you had a bad experience but I'm struggling to have too much sympathy here.

petes

ezopsae wrote: »

"You have no right to come into an electrical retailer looking for a discount"
"You should choose a cheaper microwave, one you can afford"

That's the two "aggressive" statements the sales assistant supposedly said according to the OP. I wouldn't call either of those statements aggressive.

Just on this, would you be happy with a sales person in a shop commenting on your personal circumstances in front of other customers of which the sales person knows nothing about?

Cabaal

petes wrote: »

Just on this, would you be happy with a sales person in a shop commenting on your personal circumstances in front of other customers of which the sales person knows nothing about?

"if" the following was even said exactly as the OP claims then lets look at them another way

You have no right to come into an electrical retailer looking for a discount"

It's true, you can of course ask but no customer has any right to any discount. Nothing demeaning about this comment, its merely a statement of fact.

"You should choose a cheaper microwave, one you can afford"

This is merely a comment about what the customer can afford to buy, its a perfectly reasonable comment when the customer doesn't have enough money to buy the item they want.

You don't go into McDonald's looking for an item that they have priced at 3.50e when you only have 3.00e. The same goes if you go into Tesco, you don't pick up break that costs 30c when you only have 20c and then expect the checkout staff to sell it to you. You buy within your means.

If the OP didn't have the correct amount they could have easily put the purchase off to another day or simply purchased a different model.

bodhi085

I worked as manager for a family run business for 12 years where it was possible to give a little discount now and then. Keep customers happy etc. yeah you had the cheeky chancers who if they approached asking for a discount in a "I'm entitled to one" kind of way they probably wouldn't get one. The owner himself gave discounts like I've never seen. Now the likes of the big stores like D.I.D and tesco,homebase etc is that it's rare you get any discount. The prices are set and that's it. The staff have to answer to managers and head office if anything like an unauthorised discount takes place. The amount of times I had customers saying I deserve a discount because I'm always in here baffled me.. I often thought that imagine if I went into tesco and demanded I get a discount just because I'm always in there buying milk and bread.. Would I get a discount..most defiantly not. It's thanks to tv consumer programmes that keep telling people to haggle is the reason why shop staff get abused when they are not authorised to give discounts. It's not a flea market in London ffs. These big boys are always gonna win hence why they have the market sown up and the small family retailers are struggling or closed down. As a matter of fact the shop I worked in closed down last year because the owner wasn't making enough money.
I'm sure the did assistant was only doing his job in that he can't give discount even a cent and to humiliate the customer is totally wrong,but trying to get a personal apology is difficult. He represented the company so it's them who issue the apology. Nothing personal but you would have long been out of his mind by end of that day.

Honestly op, it sucks you felt that you were treated so badly but neither comment is very vicious or cutting. All we have is your side and it could be a case you taking him up wrong and assuming there was something else to his comments.

You knew there was a cheaper version if the microwave but you opted not to get it. Yet you state that you accepted the cashiers 67 cent as beggars can't be choosers. Obviously the can as long as the product fits in with their other items.

I was in Tesco on Monday and realised that I'd left my wallet at homes and as such only had about €4 in change. Rather than head home I simply get a few things I needed but made sure that it didn't cost more than I had with me. I kept within my means and didn't get something I couldn't afford and assume I'd get a discount.

mikom

bagels wrote: »

you can appreciate that we're on the breadline.

mikom wrote: »

You should have bought the microwave in white and saved yourself a lot of trouble.
Virtually the exact same Thor model, only white, and cheaper at €49.99...... http://www.did.ie/microwaves/where/dir/asc/order/price

bagels wrote: »

A white microwave wouldn't have looked appropriate in our kitchen where all of the other appliances are either black or silver and black.

A breadline is where very poor people stand in a line waiting for free food provided by the government.
Colour coordinating your kitchen appliances is not living on the breadline.

I wonder how many other liberties have been taken with this whole "story".

bruschi

bagels wrote: »

I recently had a terrible experience in the Galway branch of DID Electrical.... Read on, I'll bet you've never come across a story like this before, and I hope it never happens to you.

I was expecting a whole lot more out of that story. To say I have heard worse would be a massive understatement. Mountains and molehills come to mind.

The Diddakoi

bagels wrote: »

Several customers and staff members witnessed this disgraceful behaviour by <SNIP>and his treatment of us. My Wife and I were absolutely mortified.

I'm surprised one of the other customers didn't feel sorry for you in this situation and offer to pay up the 67c. On more than one occasion I have paid the few pence extra for someone in a queue who found themselves short, and have been lucky enough to have the same done for me. Maybe you weren't coming across the way you thought you were.

L1011

bagels wrote: »

Thank you for your comment.
As you've made nasty and inaccurate assumptions about me without any foundation whatsoever and have wrongly accused me of making one hell of a scene, I assume you'll comprehend why I decline to engage in discourse with you.

You detailed what you did in the shop - that's sufficient foundation to see that you made a scene and are now trying to blame someone else for it.

You expected a salesman to use his own money to subsidise the colour co-ordination of your kitchen - there's no other side to this.

petes

Cabaal wrote: »

This is merely a comment about what the customer can afford to buy, its a perfectly reasonable comment when the customer doesn't have enough money to buy the item they want.

You don't go into McDonald's looking for an item that they have priced at 3.50e when you only have 3.00e. The same goes if you go into Tesco, you don't pick up break that costs 30c when you only have 20c and then expect the checkout staff to sell it to you. You buy within your means.

If the OP didn't have the correct amount they could have easily put the purchase off to another day or simply purchased a different model.

It's more the second statement I was thinking about. If it was said as is and in a confrontational manner I'd have issue with what they had said had they said it to me. They have no idea if I can afford this or not but I do get what you mean. But seeing as I wasn't there and it wasn't me can't really say any more

vibe666

i think the OP has more than proved his ability to stay calm and reasonable in the situation he was in, if nothing else purely by his refusal to let any of the comments here get a rise out of him and i can see that several have tried.

i think he's probabloy the calmest, least offensive person i've ever encountered on boards.ie so for someone to have upset him this much in a face to face encounter that he would post his response to it online, he must have taken dogs abuse in the store and lets not forget, that it was by <SNIP>of the store who really should know better.

Rubberchikken

disgusting behaviour from a person in retail.
why didn't he have the cop on to say you could bring in the 67c the next day.
presonally i would have left without the microwave, and if up to it, would have demanded a manager there and then.

i wouldn't be asking for the shop assistant to pay the tiny few cent it was from his own pocket, just as you didn't, but these people are dealing with people all day long and this is how they behave. shame on DID electrical for employing someone like that too.

maguic24

OP, you do know that if the store is short at the end of the day the staff have to make up for this out of their paycheck? You didn't have the full amount, you shouldn't have chanced your arm. The majority of retail staff only earn minimum wage.

Imagine if that staff member let people off all the time with a couple of cents here and there? He/She would be paying back a small fortune in no time. You should have just got a cheaper microwave.

Saying that, it doesn't justify the staff being abusive towards you.

nc19

The way i see it is you made 2 mistakes

1 you went to DID

2 you picked a machine a good 20e more expensive than needed for someone on the bread line

Dubl07

If your other appliances are colour coordinated, that implies you have a cooker or hob and oven. A microwave is an unaffordable supplement for many. It's usually a convenience item for those who can afford it or purchased instead of the more expensive cooker for others.

If you truly needed a microwave that very day, why not purchase the one within your means. To attempt to insist on a discount on a more expensive item because of its trim or finish is more than a little unreasonable. If I'd seen been in the shop behind someone buying a basic microwave, down on their luck and a euro short, I'd have opened my wallet. If they were buying a luxury item, I'd stay quiet and seethe.

Shelflife

Lets picture it from the sales assistant pov.

Its a busy day, youre on the go all morning, could do with a cuppa but the queue is building up.

Op approaches, you scan in product and inform him of the amount, op then starts to count out all his money (assuming theres alot of coin) all the time the queue is building up. Op is short 67c and starts to haggle on the price, youve been told that no disounts on items under €100 and if the till is short you will get a warning and be expected to make up the short fall.

You give op his options, sorry full price, we have cheaper models or you can come back later, sorry cant give discounts.

Op continues to plead his case, ill drop it in later (yeah how many times have you heard that before) sorry cant give credit thats not the way we do things here.

Op continues to stand there, queue building up big time behind op, manager looks over and gives you the hurry up and get on with it look, op still stands there not listening to you regarding his options.

Eventually you give up, fine ill pay the 67c myself considering hes prob on min wage and will take home slightly more (if at all) than the op after working a 35hr week.

Op still not happy after getting his discount and holding up the queue for ages.

maybe not accurate at all, but after 21 years in retail its prob a reasonable devils advocate position to make a point.

Sure you can haggle and look for a discount, but youre not entitled to one. and if you dont have enough then you leave the product back and come back later. you cant keep haggling and hold up everyone else.

Works both ways.

bagels

ezopsae wrote: »

Pretty pathetic that someone deliberately goes into a store short of money. When they don't get what they want, they post online to damage the business as much as possible. The mind boggles at the entitlement attitude of some people.

bagels wrote: »

Thank you for your comment.
I didn't deliberately go into the store short of money. I'm not like that.
I won't dignify your second sentence with a response. But you don't really want a response, do you? You just want to denigrate me.
Just because I believe I'm entitled to an apology doesn't necessarily mean I possess an entitlement attitude.
I believe I'm entitled to common courtesy and I believe you have the same entitlement. Its a sorry day when a person has to complain in order to secure that most basic of entitlements. Because of my insistence that I be treated with courtesy and respect, even you will hopefully benefit from my efforts. I hope some day you'll come to comprehend and appreciate that.

ezopsae wrote: »

"You have no right to come into an electrical retailer looking for a discount"
"You should choose a cheaper microwave, one you can afford"
That's the two "aggressive" statements the sales assistant supposedly said according to the OP. I wouldn't call either of those statements aggressive.

This whole thread seems to be a rant about the OP's own personal situation more than anything else. "You have no idea what sacrifices I make on a daily basis in order to make ends meet.".

Should DID act as a charity shop in certain circumstances?

As regards the apology, any retailer will apologise - it's the easiest course of action for any customer complaint. Yet OP sets up a thread to further damage them and someone trying to hold down their job as much as possible when he is the one who has gone into a store short of money and then thrown his toys out of the pram when he doesn't get a discount.

I gave a comprehensive reply to your earlier offensive post but you've conveniently avoided addressing those issues.
Instead you've come on here again with the sole intention of causing further offence by repeating your nasty remarks.
I assume it's obvious why I now decline to engage in any further discourse with you.

BrianBoru00

bagels wrote: »

I gave a comprehensive reply to your earlier offensive post but you've conveniently avoided addressing those issues.
Instead you've come on here again with the sole intention of causing further offence by repeating your nasty remarks.
I assume it's obvious why I now decline to engage in any further discourse with you.

...Oh the irony.
OP - you still haven't commented on the very well made points suggesting your not anywhere near the "breadline" as you suggested.

dixiefly

bagels wrote: »

Thank you for your comment.
I didn't deliberately go in short. It was only when I counted my money at the checkout desk that I discovered I hadn't enough. I asked my Wife for the balance but she didn't even have a cent.
I wanted to tell <SNIP> to keep his microwave and his fake generosity but beggars can't be choosers, as the old saying goes.
Aside from pointing out my failings, do you think it was ok for <SNIP> to treat me in the way he did?

Sorry to hear of your financial difficulties and your difficulties in the shop.

As stated here you probably should have been more careful when running tight financially.

However, once he made an initial indication of refusal I would have asked to cancel the transaction and then would have decided later whether to come back and purchase then. It has happened to me where I didnt have enough or the sum total is beyond what I was prepared to pay and I have given stuff back at the till.

He was an a$$ of course but, like myself, I think you are old enough to realise that there are an awful lot of people like that out there and i wouldnt give them the satisfaction of doing that to me.

FishHook

Certianly seems like rude behaviour by the sales person, but could the OP not have asked his wife for the 67cents, as she was in the store with him?

vibe666

FishHook wrote: »

Certianly seems like rude behaviour by the sales person, but could the OP not have asked his wife for the 67cents, as she was in the store with him?

he did.

bagels wrote: »

I asked my Wife for the balance but she didn't even have a cent.

Moneymaker

No offence, but seriously; get over it.

It sucks you had a bad experience but such is life. You meet good people and you meet assholes. I'm astonished that 3 months later you still make such a big fuss about this. I might be upset for a day or two but life goes on.

And this is coming from someone on the bread line too. Life is too short to worry about one obnoxious asshole.

mikom

How much is a sixer of Brazilian lager these days?........... and does it go well with bread?

bagels wrote: »

on 01-05-2014

Looking for Brahma (a Brazilian lager) in Galway city and Tuam.

Would appreciate help please, thanks.

67 cent?
.
.