recession? what recession?!

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bb12

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I'm currently in the market to buy a stove for my new house build. the models i'm interested in cost circa €2k. So i rang a large stove company in carlow to get information and prices for the model i'm most interested in. They took down all my details and phone number and said they'd call me back straight away with a price. Three days later no word from them!

Then i rang a large stove company in wexford. again they took down my details and said they'd be back onto me with a quote. Two days later...no word from them either!

Obviously these companies are not looking for new business in this climate!!

I've since rang a stove company in Newry, who were much more helpful providing me with all the info I was looking for and who were able to give me a quote there and then on the phone...

Guess where my money will be going?!
 
I'm hearing this kind of thing all the time and have expereinced it myself too.

If I were you, once you have your Newry stove, I would phone back both companies to explain why they didn't get your custom.
 
was browsing in soundstore yesterday in Cork - spent about 5 minutes browsing tvs etc and not one salesperson in sight. Nobody asked did I need help and nobody in the dept. Thats the second time that happened... I expect them to go to the wall if they keep that up
 
galleyslave said:
was browsing in soundstore yesterday in Cork - spent about 5 minutes browsing tvs etc and not one salesperson in sight. Nobody asked did I need help and nobody in the dept. Thats the second time that happened... I expect them to go to the wall if they keep that up
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I would guess stores are stretching their employees to the max to cut down on wages, but run the risk of this happening.
 
galleyslave said:
was browsing in soundstore yesterday in Cork - spent about 5 minutes browsing tvs etc and not one salesperson in sight. Nobody asked did I need help and nobody in the dept. Thats the second time that happened... I expect them to go to the wall if they keep that up
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I actually hate it when salespeople approach me in the shop. If I need help or I want to buy something, I will ask.
 
Sunny said:
I actually hate it when salespeople approach me in the shop. If I need help or I want to buy something, I will ask.
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I dislike it also if they rush you immediately, but if I've been there a while I'd expect somebody to come and ask.
 
I spent 25 minutes walking around a car showroom last year and no staff approached me; they were all busy chatting and laughing at a desk. They were on the Belgard road in Tallaght and have since gone bust. Good enough for them.
 
I have to say I hate it when a salesperson comes up to me while browsing in a store; if they come up to me and usually give them a brush-off 'just looking' comment. After all browsing is just that; browsing not buying at the moment. If I am interested in something I approach them. It prob depends on store policy; maybe somebody involved in the game could explain what the tack is for salespersons?
 
In fairness it can be a difficult call and is very product dependent.

E.g. in a techie IT store, there is a strong likelihood that the person may not even know what they are looking for and personally, I would gently approach them after a few minutes.

In Purple's case, a car is a big expense and a decision not to be rushed so I would be much more soft sell and would hold off approaching them for a while. When i did approach I would do far more listening than talking - unless specifically invited to 'sell' as it were. But 25 minutes is way too long anyway IMO.
 
Caveat said:
In Purple's case, a car is a big expense and a decision not to be rushed so I would be much more soft sell and would hold off approaching them for a while. When i did approach I would do far more listening than talking - unless specifically invited to 'sell' as it were. But 25 minutes is way too long anyway IMO.
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In this situation it would be usual to greet a person and ask if they need help. If they said they were just looking the salesperson should keep watch and if they look over they should seek to make eye contact.
 
Sunny said:
I actually hate it when salespeople approach me in the shop. If I need help or I want to buy something, I will ask.
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I actually like it when they simply acknowledge the fact that I am in the shop and say something like, "If you need any help just give us a shout"
 
Purple said:
I spent 25 minutes walking around a car showroom last year and no staff approached me; they were all busy chatting and laughing at a desk. They were on the Belgard road in Tallaght and have since gone bust. Good enough for them.
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We all have moments when a great story is being told etc, its not professional but it might have been the exception rather than the norm.
Sales can be a confidence killer in that when times are quiet you can find yourself wary of another rejection and therefore avoid contact, defeats the purpose of the job but everyone can go through a lull.
 
RonanC said:
I actually like it when they simply acknowledge the fact that I am in the shop and say something like, "If you need any help just give us a shout"
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Thats the approach I like. Ask if you need help and let you browse if you don't but hate seeing staff huddled together chatting as if it is an inconvenience to serve the customer!
 
But what excuse can these stove companies come up with? I'm a customer with cash ready to splurge and they just did not seem one bit interested in taking it off me!
 
bb12 said:
But what excuse can these stove companies come up with? I'm a customer with cash ready to splurge and they just did not seem one bit interested in taking it off me!
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Is it the company or the staff member who isn't interested? One bad staff member can give a company a bad name unfortunately.
 
RonanC said:
I actually like it when they simply acknowledge the fact that I am in the shop and say something like, "If you need any help just give us a shout"
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That is the approach I like also. Re the OP, I would definitely let the companies know why my hard-earned cash hadnt gone their way.
 
I went to a Southside Citroen dealer yesterday to have a look at the new Citroen model. When nobody came near me I approached an individual in an office in the showroom to enquire as to the price of the model. "Havent a clue" was the answer " Talk to xxxx" As there was no sign of xxxx I hung around for about 10 minutes. When xxxx returned after dealing with another customer I asked him who the tosser in the office was. "Ah he's the accountant" was his response.
Now there was no sign on his door to say "accounts". I wasn't to know he was the accountant. He didn't even lift his backside off his chair to offer me any help whatsoever.
 
Purple said:
I spent 25 minutes walking around a car showroom last year and no staff approached me; they were all busy chatting and laughing at a desk. They were on the Belgard road in Tallaght and have since gone bust. Good enough for them.
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I went in there twice and the same thing happened. About 3 years ago as car sales were good I presumed it was a contributing factor. Went in last year and spent half an hour walking around and not one person came near me. It doesn't surprise me either that they went bust. I phoned them some years ago about a problem covered under warranty and their customer service was appalling. Rang another Mazda main dealer and their approach was the exact opposite.
 
Since the recession I find the quality of service in shops seems to have worsened. I was recently in a major chain store with a friend who was returning to work following Maternity and wanted to buy some basic but smart workware, budget E400 to 500.

She is standard size 14 and they had only one matching pair (top and bottom). Many size 12 tops with 14 bottoms and vice versa. We were at least 20 minutes searching and took the size 14 matching set to the fitting room and was quite happy with it. Cost E130.

Nobody offered any assistance or even acknowledged our presence. The shop assistance continued to move hangers along rails in a very noisy and aggressive manner. On paying for the items we mentioned to the assistant the other items required and the budget and how she would have wished to obtain all the items to-day. No offer was made to obtain these items from another branch while there is a very notice in the shop stating items can ve ordered and delivered to your home.

Will not be shopping there in future
 
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