Thursday, August 21, 2008

A Deceitful Salesmanship

The salesman knows nothing of what he is selling save that he is charging a great deal too much for it. - Oscar Wilde

In these trying times, even OFWs penny pinch to save more to bring back home, so do we. My wife’s “radar” is always on the lookout for the cheapest stuff we need to put more premium on our hard-earned money.

Yesterday my wife heard that Danube, a mall-cum-supermarket, advertised a promotional sale. We never shop there except to bring our daughter to enjoy the rides in its amusement park. But since its on “sale”, we went there anyway and proceed directly to its Promo Section.

What caught my eye are stacks of 6-pack beer in one corner. The bold sign says “buy 1 + 1, SR11.50”. That’s cheap. Doing some math, each bottle cost less than 1 riyal considering each beer cost SR2 up to SR2.50 tops depending on the brand. I took two 6-packs and proceeded to the check-out counter. I unload the beers last because it’s the heaviest among the goods we bought. When it was scanned, it registered SR16.95. Whoa! I told the cashier to scan it again and the price is the same. I complained to the supervisor and he went to see where I got the beer, when he came back, his tagging a “kabayan” along. The “kabayan” explained I took a “Holsten” brand which cost more. What is he talking about? Even if that brand cost SR2.50 each, that’s still SR1.95 less than what they are charging me. Besides that, the sign says “buy 1+1, SR11.50”. No mention at all about “Holsten” cost SR16.95 or “Barbican” cost SR.11.50. Pissed, I returned the beers and went home.

At home while unpacking and storing the items we bought, my wife did a review of the sales receipt. She told me they cheated us on another item. The “Fairy” dishwashing liquid was on sale for SR.7.95 but they charge us SR.9, its regular price. I looked at their ads again and true enough; the Fairy was on sale but the white one. My wife took the yellow one. What is deceitful was my wife took it from the Promo Section where all the products are supposed to be on sale. I told her to forget it. I’m not going back to that place again.

I don’t mind if businesses apply selling techniques to attract more customer. But to put up perplexing ads in order to confuse consumer is tantamount to cheating.

12 comments:

  1. I had a similar experience in Seoul. The store clerk pushed the idea that the Kiss X2 he had is the same as the Canon 40D. Tanggalin ko lng daw ang sticker. Ginagawa akong tanga.

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  2. parang may similar din yung kay r-yo skin..ganun din ang nangyari,parehas lang daw ang second hand na cellphone sa bagong labas ngayon.,palitan ko lang daw ng memory..dito naman nangyari yun nung time na nagpapalod ako sa ortigas.tsk! tsk!
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    nga pala ibinoto din kita..he he he

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  3. R-yo, ever, it goes to show these salesmen doesn't know their product at all. Basta ang sa isip nila makagawa nang benta even to the point na gagohin ang customer.

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  4. false advertising. these are people controlled by money. they will do anything just to earn.

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  5. uso dito yan e. kunyari sale sya but when they scan it iba ang price na lumalabas and most often than not, mataas yung price sa ina advertise nila na sale daw.. malimit mangyari to sa mga supermarket since usually bulk ang binibili mo, hindi mo napapansin yung gimmick na ganyan not unless i review mo talaga maigi yung bill.

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  6. donG, that's the reason why I don't trust people who work on sales.

    madjik, dyan din? Parang common practice na ng mga supermarket yan ah. Dapat talaga alerto ka and always look at the price while they scan.

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  7. I was in Banana Republic shoppe last week and did pick a pants which is on-sale at AED150. I thought that was a reasonable deal and after fitting it, sure I wanted to get it. So, that was finally subjected to alteration (length a little long). But when I went to the cashier, they are charging me AED450. Ack! That's a big difference from the AED150 tag.

    According to the salesman, that item is not on sale and only the ones beside it. It's their fault. They wasted my time fitting it, etc. Of course, I didn't buy it. Why would I when I can get 2 more stuff with AED450.

    That's a good practice of your wife to recheck all the items from the receipts. I usually don't complain if it's tolerable but I already marked the store (branch) ineffective.

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  8. witsandnuts, dapat hiwalay sila pag sale, di ba, just like they do in SM. You don't know tuloy if its a trick or not paying attention to details in the part of the salesclerk.

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  9. Buti naman at hindi pa nangyayari sa akin ito.. Suplado kasi ako e....~! :)

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  10. Richard, good for you and thanks for dropping by.

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  11. Here the Malls normally triple their price on clothing and acessories and after the season they sale it 50% off,which makes the consumer believe that its really a bargain......BTW welcome back.:)

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  12. ed v., same here. They jack-up the price then go on sale at 70% off which is probably the real price when they bought it from China plus their commission.

    Thanks, it's good to be back!

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