Agreed, labor i something i would gladly pay a premium for. time=money, and people put their heart and soul into what they do for you, so this is an arena where the phrase "you get what you pay for" is absolutely true.

Complaining about working retail is one of my biggest pet peeves. I've worked retail/food service throughout high school and college, and knowing what to expect truly helps in coping with asshat customers. if you know what you're getting in to, it just makes it funny instead of annoying. Plus, in all honesty, it's not all that challenging. I've worked volunteer/internship (read: unpaid) gigs that are waaay more demanding in terms of time and mental effort. if you hate your retail job, wait til you start a true career job (even at a retail establishment) where the amount of asshat customers, co-workers, and bosses you have to deal with is exponentially greater. trust me, i used to work at McDonalds (which was great, i personally got to sprinkle crack on the fries, shhhh). it's all about perspective.

 

I think it would be better than getting laid off to have the option of a paycut.

 

If you're paying me $20/hr, the job contract that should have been drawn up prior to me working, should have said starting $20/hr in it. If not, I would have asked that a contract be drawn up, to protect myself. If, after drafting and signing such contract, you choose to break the contract by lowering my wage, you'll be breaking the contract, which I'm sure as a business owner, you know better than I do, the legal repercussions that brings.

Obviously, a company does not need a contract to protect themselves from not price matching, but normally they'll have a price matching policy, where everything is explained.

Plus, if you noticed my last sentence, labor is a completely different matter .


What I was trying to say in my previous post, was, price matching is somewhat common, what's so hard as saying a simple "no" if the customer only asked once?

 

Corporate America vs local business

 

oh gawd... i hear this argument all the time from small business owners (my brother in law). well, of course, you make it really obvious that if we were the employee in this scenario we would say "no i would not allow that to happen", which would mean you couldn't charge lower prices. (also, not trying to pick on you, but the scenario in general) but this is the model you chose to set up. it was your choice through no convincing of anyone else, including your customers (us). just because we would not take a pay cut in this scenario does not mean a new customer should not be able to inquire about price matching. so it's confusing when you blame/ridicule/exhibit passive aggressiveness towards customers for not knowing the nuances of your business model. i'm a genuine local customer who would rather support the local shops and pay a slightly higher price (even after asking about price matching - a simple yes or no question), and if i got that kind of response from a local business, i most likely would not go back. if the shop told me simply 'i'm really sorry, but we cant price match' and went on to shoot the **** with me, i'd buy from them.

 

a simple "no" is not sure-footed enough. how else am i supposed to make myself feel better without ridiculing the customer?

 

nice!!!

 

Here's my take...

Will I price match an internet store? Nope. Will I get as close as I can without losing money? Sure. Why? Look at it this way - I can turn you away and not get any of your money, thus losing a sale and some profit OR I can offer a bit of a discount, make you happy and retain that profit (and we all agree that profit is my end goal). You're even more likely to return if we help you, thus upping customer retention. Heck, I'll even stand around and chat as long as I can at no additional charge.

A lot of people don't consider EVERYTHING involved in online sales - shipping, handling, tax (sometimes), wait time, etc. Often the item you were getting such a great 'deal' on ends up costing you MORE money in the long run. Everything has to be considered when ordering something online.

Do I buy things online? Of course I do. When I do I usually buy from Amazon or similar that has no tax and no shipping. When I buy things in person (often, despite better prices online) it's because I can touch, try, whatever the item before I buy it and to me that's worth a bit of extra scratch. Not to mention the help I get from a person actually standing there talking to me. Makes a world of difference in my eyes.

I've run many a parts department as well as the (at the time) largest Subaru aftermarket site so I have a balanced view of things (at least I think I do). In todays world finding a balance is the important bit.

I still chuckled at the story.