Retailer Salesperson Quality in Adelaide - VERY POOR!

[Edgar]

I am pretty sure most of you here are aware of the tragedy that happened to me not long ago, here, so after months of hassles and waiting, we finally received the green light from the insurance company to get price quotations for the items we want to claim and then we will be issued with the cheques.

So off I go to a couple of electronics retailer shops in Adelaide to get some price quotes for the items that I am after. I decided to get a digital compact camera, a digital SLR, a video camera, a laptop, and a new GPS Sat Nav as to what I have lost. Compared to a year back or so, I must say, these electrical and electronic retailers certainly have been very desperate in their employment source. Not only do they source cheap inexperience salesperson, but also of no quality in manners and the word 'consumers'.

My first encounter was at Strathfield Adelaide in Gouger St., I was looking to purchase a new GPS Sat Nav, and looking through 2 different models, I kindly and politely requested the salesperson who served me, Ashley (if not mistaken), to write down the price for me for reference. He said "No, I can't do that mate", and I was like why not? It is as easy as getting a pen, and write the price and the model down on a piece of paper the prices.

I know from that point onwards that he was not keen in giving me discount, which also clearly tells me that they are not the cheapest in the market, which is why they are not willing to enter the price competition. So I referred to him the exact same model on display that was previously advertised in their catalogue for the price way lower than what he quoted me at the time (even before the additional cashback offers). He convinced me that I got it wrong, so I went to my car, took the old catalogue out and proved him wrong. He finally sold the unit to me with a 'peed-off discount' price. To me, ripping the customers off is fine, you got to know what you are doing, what you are saying, and be prepared. If you lose, accept the defeat, and learn your lesson. If he wants to give me a discount, do it properly, if he was going to show me that kind of attitude, you can kindly tell me that he cannot do the deal for me, and I should go to another retailer.

Strathfield Adelaide, Gouger St - customer experience 3/10

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Second encounter, TED's Camera Adelaide, Rundle St. I was there to get the price quotes for compact digital camera, digital SLR and a video camera. The big middle-aged man who works in there, which I assume, is the manager as well, is one rude man. Before I was even served, he started yelling "Who's next, who's next? Who's got money to spend? Who wants to give me money?" , it was my turned, a bad one.

I told him my budget and the type of items I wanted to purchase and I want to get price quotes first before I made the decision to purchase. I also told him that I want recommendations for the models of said type, that will not blow my budget. He was unwilling to do so for me, he kept yelling at me "you gotta tell me what do you want which model and then I can tell you the price". Well, he clearly have ear problems, as I told him my budget and I want recommendations to suit the type of budget.

At the end, he didn't give me any recommendations, and I had to tell him the specific model myself without any recommendations. No sales attitude at all, and he is expecting every customers to walk into his store, know what they want, and purchase something within 5 minutes.

TED's Camera Adelaide, Rundle St - customer experience 5/10

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Third encounter, after I left Ted's, I went to Diamonds Camera Warehouse at the corner of Rundle Mall and Rundle St beside Hungry Jacks. There is nothing to said about them. I told him I need a price quote so that my insurance company can write me a cheque to purchase from you guys. The salesman told me to just get the cheque from my insurance company and come back when I've got the cheque.

Wouldn't even serve me at all.

DIAMOND Camera Warehouse Adelaide - Corner Rundle Mall and Rundle St, customer experience 1/10

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Fourth encounter, Camera House at Grenfell St, a more pleasant experience for the day. The sales person is willing to work with me my budget, and what I could get and what he thinks is worth the money. He said when I am ready to do business, he can give me an even better deal. Camera House is a small store, but they have stores around Adelaide. As far as I know of, they have stores in Grenfell St, beside the Aussie Disposal Store, one in City Cross Shopping Mall, and one in the market at Gouger St.

Camera House Adelaide - customer experience 9/10

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Fifth encounter, Harvey Norman Adelaide City Cross store, I was there to look for my laptop. The sales person was nice in answering all the questions I threw at him, but as soon as I started negotiating the price, here comes the old trick. When you ask them "What is the best price you can give me" , the famous line that will come out from their mouth is "Are you looking at purchasing now?" , if you say, yes, then they will give you the best price. If you say No, then this is what you get "Ok, if you ask me what is my best price, I understand that you are going to buy it right here right now. So if you are looking to purchase it now, I can talk to me Manager (bullshit) and workout a price for you. If you are not, then I cannot give you the best price."

Er.... How can decide if I want to purchase it right there and then if I don't even know what is the final price, right? If he could have given me a good deal, enough to convince me, then I would no doubt buy it right there and then, with my cash, and then get my insurance to write the cheque to me.

So I explained to him how he is so wrong in saying that to me and it does not make sense at all, and will not work in the sales talk, and he started negotiated the price, but would not bring the price down just by itself. He has to throw in something for me, etc. carry case, surge protector power points, and 24/7 Help Line services (which is useless because HP have their own help line), just to bump up the price to the original selling price.

Harvey Norman Adelaide City Cross Store - customer experience 6/10

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Sixth encounter, Cornes Toyota Dealer, Hawthorn, Belair Rd. We went there, initially to look for an used Tarago that was advertised in the paper. But we came across the new model Tarago and instantly decided we must get them, and was the first dealership we dropped in on that day. Christian the salesperson who served us, has a mouth full of bull. Not only was his conversation packed with useless nonsense but also unwilling to quote a price for us.

When asked, what is his best price, he gave the same exact reply "Are you looking at purchasing today or right now?" , we replied no, because this is the first dealership we visited, he said the same old line "Look, if you ask me, What is your Best price, from my understanding, you are looking to buying right now. I can put through your offer to my manager (again, bullshit), and we can talk".

I told him exactly what I told the Harvey Norman guy, that if you don't tell us or even a hint of the price we are expecting, how can we make up our mind if we want to buy?

He left us with a price quote of $54,000 (round up figure), and said, "All I can say is, if you want discount, take $500 straight off from me. If you want to make a better offer, I can put it through to my manager" , yeah right! only $500? What does he think we are buying here? We are spending tens of thousands here, not a few thousands.



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So after all this lousy crappy sales services, some other retailer and dealer won our deal for their excellent services, manners and respect to us, their customers.

Those were:

The Good Guys - Pooraka, they've made many many thousands dollar worth of sales from us in just a day, as we decided have the cheque written to them. Congratulations to them for wanting to do business with us, unlike the other retailers that was previously mentioned.

And to the Toyota dealership, our thanks go to CMI Toyota of Port Adelaide. Not only did we walked away with a good deal, the salesperson was kind enough to even offer us $49,000 right there and then, even before discount and even before we started our offer. After we put through our offer, they accepted the deal for $46,800. However, considering such a good deal they gave us, we added in extra accessories and parts to push the price up to $49,000 with the lots of accessories.

So lesson to be learned here, if you, as a consumer couldn't be bothered looking around for a better price and deal, then you are a lazy-arse and an idiot.

If the sales person provides excellent services, but hold their price value, then it is an exception.

If the sales person is unwilling to give you a final price deal in fear that you will take the price and go to another store to get them to beat the price, then they are ripping you off, and in another way, they are treating you like an idiot.

So be smart, buy smart, and remember, you as the consumer deserves the very best in price deals, because at the end of the day, each sales that came out from the shop, is still a profit, and is still a sale, not a loss. They one who might be losing, is you.

[Howie]

Heya Edgar,

I understand where you're coming from. But just to let you know that Vendor Verdicts (good or bad) are generally not allowed on Australian forums nowadays because of increasing litigation.. can you edit the names and places to something like A Certain Camera Store on Rundle Street or something, that way no one gets hurt but the message still gets through loud and clear.

Cheers

Howie

[AtD]

Howie: Are you referring to the Whirlpool case? I didn't think that had hit court yet.

[Howie]

Howie: Are you referring to the Whirlpool case? I didn't think that had hit court yet.

Nope not whirlpool thread about 2clix, but there's been attempts to sue overclockers australia and one of the other websites I run (nissanexa.com). Just got to be careful we don't end up getting in trouble for comments posted here.

[crawf]

What happened to freedom of speech, todays society :wank:

[Norman]

Where I work we have great customer service IMO.

[jk1237]

Must say I had quite a variation in cust service when I bought my camera a few months ago. I bought it at the shop in City Cross (underneath the escalator) simply because the cust service from the sales lady was sensational. She could have sold me anything. I agree about Teds on Rundle St, they were not at all helpful, and the guy in that Grenfell St (near Adl arcade) was snorting and splutering in my face (i think he had the flu or something). I couldn't get out of there quick enough. And Myer didnt seem to know I was there. Harvey Norman was way too expensive

By the way I work for Telstra. Cust service in Telstra (ie call centres) ranges from absolute rudeness and pathetic to excellent cust service. I work in a call centre, and our centre gets paid about $8 per call, regardless if its wrong number or even if its for a second. An average we take about 6000-7000 calls a day. However, shorter calls means more calls means more money, so theres no incentive to help someone, and to keep your talk time down you just simply handball (transfer) on to other centres.

[Ho Really]

...I went to Diamonds Camera Warehouse at the corner of Rundle Mall and Rundle St beside Hungry Jacks. There is nothing to said about them. I told him I need a price quote so that my insurance company can write me a cheque to purchase from you guys. The salesman told me to just get the cheque from my insurance company and come back when I've got the cheque.

Wouldn't even serve me at all.

DIAMOND Camera Warehouse Adelaide - Corner Rundle Mall and Rundle St, customer experience 1/10

I know the owner of Diamonds and their (older) experienced staff, with whom I only deal with. I know these people very well and have dealt with them for over 20 years, they give the best service and price bar none. Maybe you had a younger (unexperienced) employee, I don't know. I also don't know the circumstances and the reasons why that salesperson said and acted the way they did. I wouldn't mind knowing who served you that day. If you wish, you can e-mail me.

Cheers

[Cruise]

What happened to freedom of speech, todays society :wank:

IMO If you sell a product that you believe is of a high standard you should not feel so insecure about people bagging it, you must have something to hide.

[rev]

Crawf, part of Edgars post is defamation.

Freedom of speech is over-rated. This is an internet forum, you cant post whatever you want, you have to abide by the terms of service of not only the forum, the software maker, but also the host company of this forum. And obviously stay within the limits of your local laws.

[Edgar]

Sorry I didn't really catch up with this thread.

The main reason I wrote this was to show my personal experience with the service level of the retailers in and around Adelaide.

I personally have never seen such way of sales service ever in my life.

It is like, "I won't tell you the price if you do not have intentions as of now, to purchase from my store"

What they fear is that if they give us a price, we would take it elsewhere and get them beaten.

So what? If you cannot join the competition, roll up your store.

If you think your price is correct and you stand by it, then why wouldn't you let me know the price? Simple as that.

It's fine if you call this defamation, but if I generalised my experience, it is not fair either, so, rather than doing that, I think I would just jot down the real case I experienced. I am not writing this up, this is real, I wish I had a voice recorder with me, you would be as pissed as I am.

[tybalt]

I recently bought a Sat-Nav from Electric Bug on Torrens Rd and found their service to be top notch... I was served by Anthony who was very professional and definitely knew what he was talking about. He was more than happy to take the time to explain the difference between each brand and model and was extremely helpful. I'd highly recommend you give them a go if you're after a Sat-Nav system.

[Edgar]

It's always great when you receive excellent customer service, don't you think?

I would even be sold away if someone provided a top notch sales service, and treat you like a true genuine customer with the interest of doing sales with you. I have found myself paying more at times when compared to other places just because I was sold by their excellent services, and I never regretted for paying that extra bits.

Myers can be expensive, but at least their sales person treats you with more respect even though most of the time they hardly have any ideas of what they are selling.



Again, replying to the post where someone had an excellent customer service from Camera House at City Square, you are correct, that store is the best place to go in the CBD. They may not carry a wide range of stocks in their store because they cater mainly for photo printing, but they have stocks in other stores which they are more happy to deliver it to you if you are interested.

If you ever need a good service, and someone who can really advise you, talk to Lindsay, the tall guy who works there. highly recommended.

[Omicron]

What a sad reflection on the retailers of today who take legal action upon those who criticise their service in some way. It's a shame that the retailers who offer excellent service are often those who have to accept smaller profits and limited growth given their expenditure on better sales staff rather than grandiose marketing and staff cutbacks.

[.::G!oRgOs::.]

Crawf, part of Edgars post is defamation.

Which part is defamation?
If these events really did occur, then he has every right to say it here.