Well, I, for one, despise it when I get called any of those patronizing names. My mother told me a story once about a customer she was helping once in her younger, retail days. He called her honey about three or four times, and she just ended up smiling at him and calling him "chief" in response. The guy blinked at her for a second, and then he got it, smiled back, and I believe he stopped with the name calling after that.
I would ask for my money back if I were you, but I doubt you'd get it. Maybe you could complain to a higher up?
See, I knew I should have just told him to knock it off, but I tend to be so non-confrontational that I just rolled my eyes and glared at him a lot and hoped he'd notice. Ah, well, we have our couches now and they're all set up and I'm only semi-inclined to complain to the store just to be stubborn about it.
I've noticed that, no matter where you get your furniture from, and no matter what they promise, delivery is crap. There will always be some sort of delay - to wit, I know someone who actually waited over a *year* for delivery of their new bedroom suite. Which they'd already paid for in full.
The sales guy probably has very little actual pull with the delivery folks, and the pet names are probably just an innocent habit; *I* call people by endearments all the time, but I can get away with it as less condescending because I'm usually talking to people in my own age range, and I'm a woman. *g* The alternative is to call you "ma'am", which makes a lot of women feel older. ::shrug::
Hmm... the always-crappy furniture delivery theory. You know, there may be something to that, seeing as we had a hard time getting our bedroom set delivered too. Oh, and that fridge, that was a mess--they didn't even hook up the water line for the ice maker or put the handles on the doors. It just makes you want to buy a big pickup truck and handle everything yourself, doesn't it? Except for the heavy lifting bits. I'll leave those to hubby. I'm all for women's rights, but hey, if he wants to do it, I'm not stopping him.
And I didn't get the feeling the sales guy was being a deliberate ass, it was just how he talks to women. Younger women, most likely, which I guess I still qualify as. It was just the names, combined with the pushy attitude that got under my skin.
(Also, a year for furniture delivery? Damn, they really do deserve their money back.)
I should have mentioned, however, that I also know someone who threatened to cancel her order and started asking how to do so (she was not bluffing, either). In order to obtain her continued patience, she convinced the salesman to throw in a free matching end table worth over $100.
I listened to her do it on the phone, and it was rather impressive and not a little frightening. (Yes, this is the woman I've fallen for. Woe is me!)
I would most definitely complain to his boss. If you don't get any satisfaction from that then show up at the store when it is very busy and make a scene. Try screaming "pinch my nipples" When they ask why you are doing that you can tell them that you like your nipples pinched when you are getting screwed. They will do whatever you want just to get you out of the store.
I now have this mental image of you standing in the middle of a store and screaming "pinch my nipples."
Please to not be giving me images like that.
(Also, come on, you know I could never do that. I could write a very pointed and cutting letter to the store, but verbally, in person, like a confrontation? Not.)
Your story reminds me of my first experience shopping for a car. My father was actually buying the car at the time, but I was going to be the primary driver, so I went along.
At the Toyota dealership, the salesperson ignored me until making the offer to let me sit in the car. He oh so helpfully popped the driver's seat forward... so that I could get in the backseat. Needless to say, we did not buy there.
On the other hand, at the Pontiac dealership, the salesman's first question was who was going to be the primary driver, and after hearing it was me, addressed the majority of his sales pitch *to* me. Now there is someone who knows what they are doing.
Buy any salesperson who calls me sweetheart or honey is going to get a strongly worded lecture on appropriate professional behaviour.
Ah, having spent a month as a car salesperson, I know that's a big no-no. One of the first questions they have us ask is who will be the primary driver, and that's who you focus on. It's tricky, though--I've caught myself actually focusing a pitch on the guy automatically, out of some habit or ingrained idea that men make the decisions, even though I know it's stupid. Sometimes it's hard to overcome the way you were raised.
I know some guys who are very careful when it comes to appropriate behavior, though. A friend of mine at the dealership, big guy named Ron, was super careful. He was very sweet, but he knew how easy it was to get accused of something, so he didn't even go on test drives alone with a female. He'd ask me to take them out instead.
I don't really mind the pet names, though. But maybe that's just because I'm not actually English and think it's quite nice if Northerners call me "love", "pet", "dear" and the like. Not condescending, just holiday-y. It's just not done much in the Netherlands.
Then again, I assume there are people from whom I wouldn't be able to take it. Intention, I suppose.
If you had to pay that much for delivery and got screwed over this much, I'd at least try and as for a (partial) refund.
Hmm, yes, intention is a big part of it. If it was just the names, I could ignore it, but it was the tone and the attitude, like I was this silly clueless kid who should be patted on the head and sent off to play.
And I dunno if getting the money back is worth the hassle of it. I think my chances of getting anything back are not good, and at this point, I'm kind of meh about it.
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I would ask for my money back if I were you, but I doubt you'd get it. Maybe you could complain to a higher up?
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The sales guy probably has very little actual pull with the delivery folks, and the pet names are probably just an innocent habit; *I* call people by endearments all the time, but I can get away with it as less condescending because I'm usually talking to people in my own age range, and I'm a woman. *g* The alternative is to call you "ma'am", which makes a lot of women feel older. ::shrug::
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And I didn't get the feeling the sales guy was being a deliberate ass, it was just how he talks to women. Younger women, most likely, which I guess I still qualify as. It was just the names, combined with the pushy attitude that got under my skin.
(Also, a year for furniture delivery? Damn, they really do deserve their money back.)
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I listened to her do it on the phone, and it was rather impressive and not a little frightening. (Yes, this is the woman I've fallen for. Woe is me!)
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I now have this mental image of you standing in the middle of a store and screaming "pinch my nipples."
Please to not be giving me images like that.
(Also, come on, you know I could never do that. I could write a very pointed and cutting letter to the store, but verbally, in person, like a confrontation? Not.)
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At the Toyota dealership, the salesperson ignored me until making the offer to let me sit in the car. He oh so helpfully popped the driver's seat forward... so that I could get in the backseat. Needless to say, we did not buy there.
On the other hand, at the Pontiac dealership, the salesman's first question was who was going to be the primary driver, and after hearing it was me, addressed the majority of his sales pitch *to* me. Now there is someone who knows what they are doing.
Buy any salesperson who calls me sweetheart or honey is going to get a strongly worded lecture on appropriate professional behaviour.
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I know some guys who are very careful when it comes to appropriate behavior, though. A friend of mine at the dealership, big guy named Ron, was super careful. He was very sweet, but he knew how easy it was to get accused of something, so he didn't even go on test drives alone with a female. He'd ask me to take them out instead.
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Not condescending, just holiday-y.
It's just not done much in the Netherlands.
Then again, I assume there are people from whom I wouldn't be able to take it. Intention, I suppose.
If you had to pay that much for delivery and got screwed over this much, I'd at least try and as for a (partial) refund.
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And I dunno if getting the money back is worth the hassle of it. I think my chances of getting anything back are not good, and at this point, I'm kind of meh about it.
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