Rant!

[Trisha&ChrisPlant]

Hi all, I need to rant...

A guy's just been into the shop (we have a cookshop). 'Do you have any apple corers?' 'Yes' I said, and pointed out our Oxo Goodgrips apple corers at £5.65 each.

'Oh, I didn't really want to pay that much for one' - and off he went. I smiled sweetly and said 'no problem'.

Really, is it any wonder that small independents struggle? I should have directed him to the local Sunday market where they probably sell them for about 50p - and break after the first use.

Ahhhhh...rant over, I feel better for that!

Trisha

 

[deniser]

I'm with you. I can't bear things that don't last or don't work. I bought some nail clippers from a big well known high street shop last week - I wasn't looking for cheap but they only had one type - and when I got home, they did not work at all. Total waste of money, straight in the bin.

 

[e-vulture]

People just don't want anything to be good quality any more. Cheap, cheap and cheaper is anyone seems to want. Even if it's absolute rubbish.

 

[beasty]

Sounds like something that should be under a fiver, probably had a fiver in his pocket!

4.99 me thinks

5.65 outrageous

 

[Newchodge]

I'm sorry. What is wrong with a potential customer asking about a product and then politely explaining why he does not want to buy it?

 

[billybob99]

The fact that Amazon sell it for £5.30 not inc. delivery doesn't actually sound outragous.

 

[Leather Briefcase Company]

Maybe your apple corer should meet my voodoo doll?

 

[SAHARmarket]

I'm sorry. What is wrong with a potential customer asking about a product and then politely explaining why he does not want to buy it?

Nothing. But I think the point of the poster was that their are a lot of people who just want to buy cheap stuff these days, and they don't mind sacrificing the quality.

 

[japancool]

What's wrong with doing whatever they did with apples in the days before apple corers?

 

[billybob99]

What's wrong with doing whatever they did with apples in the days before apple corers?

You mean breaking it in half with your bare hands.

 

[AngieVA]

Just a thought....

Before we judge the customer perhaps we ought to see it from their eyes (and remembering the time of year it is). Perhaps he wanted the apple corer to make eyes in a pumpkin, so he'll only ever use it once a year? And seeing the price maybe he decided to use a knife that he already owns instead. It's one thing wanting quality when you are going to use the item regularly, but for a one off or once year event? Probably not.

Not everyone uses kitchen utensils on a regular basis - I bet most of us can open their kitchen cupboards and drawers and find things that we paid a lot for (quality) and then hardly ever used.

 

[pen2670]

I feel your pain, lots of our items don't sell until either the cheap stores have moved on to the next high volume item or customer has realised a better quality version from us would last longer.

Am always surprised though that customer's rarely factor the petrol in. Once your customer had driven to the next place on his list he will probably end up paying more! Unless I've mixed you up with someone else and you are on the high street :|

 

[japancool]

You mean breaking it in half with your bare hands.

Why, didn't they have teeth back then?

 

[dag-uk]

I think that you also need to bear in mind that not everyone is upto date with prices. How often do you buy an apple corer ? If the cusomer hasn't bought one for 5 years then that price does probably sound a lot !

You could have sold them on the benefits of buying a quality item that will last. Do you just accept the price of an item and purchase it when you ask the assistant ?

Dave

 

[kjmcculloch]

Retailing must be an angry profession. Every other post in this section is a rant about some customer or other.

Kris

 

[scm5436]

Retailing must be an angry profession. Every other post in this section is a rant about some customer or other.

Kris

We used to be happy. Then we had to deal with customers...

 

[Mayor]

Retailing must be an angry profession.

Retailers deal with "angry" on a daily basis.

Sometimes I wish I was an accountant..

or a banker...

 

[kjmcculloch]

Don't kid yourself, we deal with the angry, the stupid and the over emotional too. Then later I volunteer my time as a special constable and get a double whammy.

Sometime you just need to rise above it.

Kris

 

[herewegoagain.]

Hi all, I need to rant...

A guy's just been into the shop (we have a cookshop). 'Do you have any apple corers?' 'Yes' I said, and pointed out our Oxo Goodgrips apple corers at £5.65 each.

'Oh, I didn't really want to pay that much for one' - and off he went. I smiled sweetly and said 'no problem'.

Really, is it any wonder that small independents struggle? I should have directed him to the local Sunday market where they probably sell them for about 50p - and break after the first use.

Ahhhhh...rant over, I feel better for that!

Trisha

The trouble is they all want something for nothing, they dont care about quality, they will want it gift wrapping free, free delivery and probably a free bag of apples with it ! hugs x x

 

[herewegoagain.]

Retailing must be an angry profession. Every other post in this section is a rant about some customer or other.

Kris

It is not an angry profession, retail just seems to attract the something for nothings. Let's face it, we are all not loaded at the minute.... BUT.... the man on the street does generally not appreciate quality, or the time and costs of getting the products onto the shelves !!

I must admit to having been a lot tougher of late.... I work on the principle, of 'that is the price, take it or leave it'... I am not expensive with my goods, but it is costed enough not to be a loss leader !!

 

[herewegoagain.]

Don't kid yourself, we deal with the angry, the stupid and the over emotional too. Then later I volunteer my time as a special constable and get a double whammy.

Sometime you just need to rise above it.

Kris

Kris, rise above it is all well and good - to a point, shopkeepers are human too ! and I get more than my fair share of nob-heads... there is only so much a person can take !!

 

[kelvin1950]

We used to be happy. Then we had to deal with customers...

............and accountants, and hobby bobbies.

 

[The Byre]

Never mind apple corers, will someone please invent a garlic crusher that works. I remember the late Eric Morley lamenting this absence in the market and I mus agree. Those stupid hinged things just squidge the garlic up the sides, so I end up crushing them with a knife and putting the bits into a pestle & mortar with salt.

 

[Newchodge]

I always remember the secretary at the university department where I was a postgraduate moaning - I can't wait for the students to all go home so we can get on with our work.

I think the point is that all jobs/businesses have their problem clients. It just seems that retailers rant more than most. I haven't seen any accountants on here ranting about clients who produce a shoebox full of 'records' a week before filing date and expect their accounts to be produced on time. And for as little as possible.

 

[warnie]

I see nothing wrong in both the way the customer and the way the retailer handled it. both polite, it's just that the retailer didn't have the product at the right price for the customer.

I don't use apple corers, but if I wanted one that I would only use now and again I'd head for the pound shop:redface:. If I was going to use it a lot then I would head to somewhere like Chris and Trish's place. The customer probably thought £5.65 was a bit steep for something they weren't going to use a lot, that's all.

Or I maybe wrong and the cheeky beggar wanted a top end corer for a low end price. In that case take them out the back of your shop, tie em up and gag them with an apple place firmly in their mouth. You can then torture them at will, until they get it into their thick heads that bloody apple corers are a staple of the british kitchen and therefor shouldn't be skimped on

 

[New_Start_Construction]

Just my two cents. But what about the possibility of stocking a few of the cheaper corers for an opportunity to up sell the more expensive ones?

Ive seen this loads in the retail builders merchants where customers pick up i.e. own brand paint and at the checkout a member of staff suggest a more expensive branded paint as the quality is better. Might lose out on margin as its lower valued but is still cash in the till.

 

[Trisha&ChrisPlant]

Love it! I'll do that next time

Trisha

I see nothing wrong in both the way the customer and the way the retailer handled it. both polite, it's just that the retailer didn't have the product at the right price for the customer.

I don't use apple corers, but if I wanted one that I would only use now and again I'd head for the pound shop:redface:. If I was going to use it a lot then I would head to somewhere like Chris and Trish's place. The customer probably thought £5.65 was a bit steep for something they weren't going to use a lot, that's all.

Or I maybe wrong and the cheeky beggar wanted a top end corer for a low end price. In that case take them out the back of your shop, tie em up and gag them with an apple place firmly in their mouth. You can then torture them at will, until they get it into their thick heads that bloody apple corers are a staple of the british kitchen and therefor shouldn't be skimped on

 

[fairdealworld]

I haven't seen any accountants on here ranting about clients who produce a shoebox full of 'records' a week before filing date and expect their accounts to be produced on time. And for as little as possible.

That's because accountants rant on about them to those clients who send in their records on time and have sorted them out properly before doing so!

 

[Hunnie]

Quote
'Just my two cents. But what about the possibility of stocking a few of the cheaper corers for an opportunity to up sell the more expensive ones?'

I agree with this.
We sell ballet tights, among other dance wear, and if anyone suggests they are too expensive at £4 a pair I produce the 'economy' version at just £2.50 which do look obviously thinner and invariably the customer then sees that the first ones are in fact good quality for that price and buys them after all.

Regards
Hunnie

 

[arcon5]

Non-issue if you ask me, other than a retailer spitting their dummy out because they couldn't make a sale on this occasion. Not everybody is your customer, this guy wanted cheap, you go for quality - he isn't your target market!

To come on here and moan about this customer is ridiculous - he's done absolutely nothing wrong!!!

 

[Trisha&ChrisPlant]

It was just a rant really, and done on the spur of the moment.... I'll keep quiet in future.

Non-issue if you ask me, other than a retailer spitting their dummy out because they couldn't make a sale on this occasion. Not everybody is your customer, this guy wanted cheap, you go for quality - he isn't your target market!

To come on here and moan about this customer is ridiculous - he's done absolutely nothing wrong!!!

 

[Mayor]

It was just a rant really, and done on the spur of the moment.... I'll keep quiet in future.

No don't - come and have a rant - we don't really mind, and it's so much better than you having a Basil Faulty style meltdown in your store..

 

[pen2670]

For those of you non-b&m retailers who have commented on this thread I don't think it's really about "the customer" more a result of wider issues.

As a b&m store you have to choose very carefully what you stock.

Many popular items are devalued as bedroom sellers or huge corps sell them online for miniscule profits. Supermarkets and the like are also able to negotiate much lower prices for their products. All of these places are able to sell at much lower prices than your average b&m store with its high overheads. The customer, in general, is very savvy and spurred on by MSE type consumer shows / forums will often check online before buying instore. If our prices are much higher the average customer tends to think they are being "ripped off" and doesnt return or leads to us becoming a showroom for people to look and try before buying online.

Frustratingly suppliers who care about their products being devalued in this way and want to keep prices at or close to their RRP have their hands tied by the competition laws.

So we, and I suspect Trish and Chris too, get around this by being as selective as possible with our products. Whenever possible going for quality products or something different that is less likely to be slashed by the "box shifters".

Having gone through the above to find, display and sell items that are good quality, value and competitively priced to have a customer like Trish mentioned. Well the easy answer is to say he was never going to be a customer, so isnt a lost one, and I love the suggestions of also stocking the cheaper products to see the difference and upsell, but it's easy to think for a moment, "What more can I do? Customers are still not happy. What do they want from me!?!?!" And have a little rant. And where better than "A forum for 'bricks and mortar' retail businesses." where people understand the issues.

 

[SillyJokes]

Seriously, apple corer? what the heck is that? ditto garlic crusher.

Why don't people spend money on a proper set of knives and learn how to use them?

 

[Trisha&ChrisPlant]

Thank you Pen, your post was very helpful and put into words what, really, is the wider issue. Life in retailing is difficult at the moment. Perhaps it was because he was one of only very few customers I had had through the door that day, I don't know. If course it didn't matter a bit that he didn't wish to buy it, that's his perogative and I was kind and polite to him, as I am with all of my customers.
Yes, we try and source something that little bit different. We opened in August 1998 in our shop which was originally conceived to sell Aga and Rayburn cookware as an add-on to our range cooker/plumbing & heating business. We then expanded into other cookware for all types of appliance. In 2007 we moved to bigger premises which enabled us to hold Aga and Rayburn cookery demonstrations from time to time. We also added Esse cookers to our range. Sales of Rayburn and Esse have been amazing over the past few months and continue to increase. I'm thinking it might be time to just go back to range cookers and the associated cookware, but it's nice to do all the other stuff. I also have a separate business selling bears and dolls - which keeps me on my toes - but that's another story completely!

For those of you non-b&m retailers who have commented on this thread I don't think it's really about "the customer" more a result of wider issues.

As a b&m store you have to choose very carefully what you stock.

Many popular items are devalued as bedroom sellers or huge corps sell them online for miniscule profits. Supermarkets and the like are also able to negotiate much lower prices for their products. All of these places are able to sell at much lower prices than your average b&m store with its high overheads. The customer, in general, is very savvy and spurred on by MSE type consumer shows / forums will often check online before buying instore. If our prices are much higher the average customer tends to think they are being "ripped off" and doesnt return or leads to us becoming a showroom for people to look and try before buying online.

Frustratingly suppliers who care about their products being devalued in this way and want to keep prices at or close to their RRP have their hands tied by the competition laws.

So we, and I suspect Trish and Chris too, get around this by being as selective as possible with our products. Whenever possible going for quality products or something different that is less likely to be slashed by the "box shifters".

Having gone through the above to find, display and sell items that are good quality, value and competitively priced to have a customer like Trish mentioned. Well the easy answer is to say he was never going to be a customer, so isnt a lost one, and I love the suggestions of also stocking the cheaper products to see the difference and upsell, but it's easy to think for a moment, "What more can I do? Customers are still not happy. What do they want from me!?!?!" And have a little rant. And where better than "A forum for 'bricks and mortar' retail businesses." where people understand the issues.

 

[Nuno]

Seriously, apple corer? what the heck is that? ditto garlic crusher.

Why don't people spend money on a proper set of knives and learn how to use them?

Seriously, Little French Maid costume? What is this? Ditto Pirate costume.

Why don't people spend money on a decent sewing machine and learn how to make their own fancy dress?

 

[Dymo King]

I haven't seen any accountants on here ranting about clients who produce a shoebox full of 'records' a week before filing date and expect their accounts to be produced on time. And for as little as possible.

That's because they still get paid. And if they don't like it they can increase their fees for that customer so that they either get more compensation for the hassle, or 'encourage' the customer to go elsewhere.

Perhaps if they had lots of potential customers come in, day after day, ask lots of questions, take up lots of their time, then bugger off to a cheaper accountants then they'd be on here ranting about it.

Talking of variable pricing, I do know of one shop keeper who doesn't put price tags on any of his stock, and his prices vary depending on the customers manners...

 

[SillyJokes]

Seriously, Little French Maid costume? What is this? Ditto Pirate costume.

Why don't people spend money on a decent sewing machine and learn how to make their own fancy dress?

Lol, I'd rather cut up an apple with a knife in a minute than spend three hours struggling to make a costume from fabric that costs more than buying one and getting it delivered in two days.

 

[arcon5]

That's because they still get paid. And if they don't like it they can increase their fees for that customer so that they either get more compensation for the hassle, or 'encourage' the customer to go elsewhere.

Perhaps if they had lots of potential customers come in, day after day, ask lots of questions, take up lots of their time, then bugger off to a cheaper accountants then they'd be on here ranting about it.

Talking of variable pricing, I do know of one shop keeper who doesn't put price tags on any of his stock, and his prices vary depending on the customers manners...

What makes you think accounting practices don't deal with potential clients and trouble clients? Their business doesn't just appear from nowhere.

Your comparing apples and oranges here (excuse then pun - )

 

[groovyjon]

We sell ballet tights, among other dance wear, and if anyone suggests they are too expensive at £4 a pair I produce the 'economy' version at just £2.50 which do look obviously thinner and invariably the customer then sees that the first ones are in fact good quality for that price and buys them after all.

We try to do that - have a quality and an economy option at two different price points.

However, some customers still aren't satisfied. They'll say "I really want something like this (pointing at the quality option) but more at the price of this (pointing at the economy option)"