Reader G writes in to let Home Depot know that he’s really, really tired of hearing about their “special promotion for home owners” while he’s trying to shop.
I wanted to share a recent annoyance at 2 Home Depot locations. The first occurrence I was actually a little surprised when an HD associate approached me, I assumed with would be the usual “Finding everything”. But it was an attempt to interest me in the special promotion for home owners they’re running. Apparently its some service with Trane to inspect your home air conditioning. Fortunately there was a sucker beside of me who spoke up and I moved along. A few minutes later and a few asile away who do i see coming but the promotion guy. Again I get the “did you hear about our new promotion”. Wow, yes and still not interested. Even though I was quite annoyed I didn’t think that much about it until at a second store a few days later same sales pitch. That’s enough for me, I’m not going to shop where I’m going to be bothered with these pitches.
Submitted to HD’s customer support form:
Over the last week I’ve had the occasion to be in 2 different stores in the Charlotte area several times(Steele Creek #3662 and S Boulevard Charlotte #3646). At each location while I was trying to find my items and continue with my daily life I was approached by an HD representative who wanted to tell me bout the special promotion for Home Owners. Apparently this is some attempt to sale AC services with Trane. I have to say how annoying this is that I can’t simply shop at your stores in peace, I’m going to be accosted for hard sales of services. This is not acceptable to me and will make me hesitant to return to a Home Depot store in the future. Regards.
We suspect that stores like Home Depot underestimate how annoying these sales pitches can be. Has a store ever lost your business because their sales force pestered you to sign up for membership cards, credit cards, or special promotions too often? Who are the worst offenders? Let us know in the comments and we’ll round up the best stories in another post.
(Photo: Den-Mod )
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@rmz: This is exactly. I used to work at a store and we were required to sell a certain number of “rewards” cards each and every week. If we missed quota too often, we could be fired.
@Buran: “Slow news day would be random kittens.”
But at least it would be a CUTE news day!
I dislike but tolerate the cash register pitches. They’re obnoxious, and I shop more at places that don’t use them, but I get they’re part of the corporate landscape now. Roamers and floaters, though, piss the hell out of me. Either help me, or go away, don’t try to sell me financial products while I’m trying to buy bath towels. My attention span is the length of a gnat and now I’ve forgotten which friggin’ towels I was trying to compare.
I quit shopping at Limited ages ago because of a constant “hard sell” at the register. “Do you want our card?” “No.” “No, really, you should want it! It’s aweseome.” “No.” “But it makes rainbows shoot out from our fundament!” “NO NO NO NO NO.” And they won’t finish your transaction until they’ve upsold you five times. Those places I never go back to.
No one here has mentioned Victoria’s Secret. For over ten years of shopping at their stores, perfect strangers ask to measure my bra size every ten steps AND ask if I want to sign up for their card. They ask again when I try something on in the dressing room. And the double credit card ask when I make my purchase (“Are you SURE you don’t want to take advantage of our 10% savings?” “Okay, but you’re missing a great deal.”). They lost my business a long time ago but every holiday season, it’s a mandatory shopping pit stop (Try to name a better competitor). And it’s also a mandatory headache afterwards.
Best Buy has annoyed me plenty with their Extended warranty service or Geek Squad. How many times, and in how many ways do I have to say no? No means no!
Hey at least they are marketing to the writer in english. The one by me all the overheads are in spanish.
My technique for dealing with such whoring is simple, effective, and not rude: ask them “Did I ask you for/about that?” Interrupt their spiel as often as necessary until they answer the question. They will eventually get the point unless they’re completely braindead.
If I’m in a bad mood, I will resort to a less pleasant followup, especially if they were overboard about it or stopping in front of me to block my path as I walk.
Victoria’s secret asks me every time if I want their card. Floor associates as well as cashiers ask without fail. The cashiers are usually pretty nice about it though and say something like “will you be using your Angel card today?” instead of just doing a straight pitch.
I must not look like the typical VS shopper because they seem surprised that I have their card. I use it for the points that get me coupons etc. and never carry a balance from month to month.
Winn-Dixie
aka. The Dirty Dixie
They had decent prices if you were willing to overlook the store’s overall cleanliness. That is until they decided to raise their prices slowly over about 3 months, and then offer their customer loyalty card. The card only lowered the prices back to their previous level, when the particular item was on sale. Otherwise you paid a 5-10% premium on your grocery bill.
Their big push to get the customers to sign up was some gift card deal that was going to be an on going thing for the foreseeable future. Well that foreseeable future was only about a month. The program was replaced with subsequently less rewarding offers until the entire program was essentially nerffed.
Before I signed up for the card I received zero junk mail addressed to me. Sure I got the “Postal Customer” and “Resident” junk, but nothing specifically to me. After the card it started to show up, and hasn’t stopped since. I quit the Dirty Dixie about a year after the card (5-6 years ago) and became a Publix customer. No problems, no price gouging to offer a “Sale” and no junk mail.
@IphtashuFitz: It’s been done. It’s called the “Carwash: Yes/No” tactic. The only gas station around here that still pulls that crap is Shell. It’s pretty scammy since it pops up right after the “Receipt: Yes/No.” I’m always worried the Yes button will register twice (it happens with me since my hands shake). I figure the checkout pitch is a similar idea, and the Reservation Rewards scam is really just a lateral move from the concept.
@cyborg5001: sigh Publix. Makes me miss Florida. We don’t have those here.
Cash register pitches (for warranty, magazines, or charity) don’t bother me so much, but I quit going to a Kroger’s grocery store which is otherwise convenient afer I got hit on the way in by four different vendors (newspaper subscription, bank, samples of local wine, and some kind of continuing ed program), and a homeless guy on the way out. It just seemed like more of a gauntlet than necessary of get milk and produce.
I wonder about the “if they didn’t work the stores wouldn’t do them” argument because I suspect it does not account for type-II errors, counting subscriptions and bonuses but not customers who leave early or don’t come back. Surely there is some kind of metric.
Every place asks if I have a store card when im checking out, and when I say no they ask if I want to sign up. That gets pretty old.
@friendlynerd:
I used to get harassed by the vinyl siding woman every time I walked into the store, which was often as my high school boyfriend worked there.
Every time I had to remind her that I didn’t own a house, and also, I was in high school. Every. Time.
Eventually she disappeared.
A few years later I went to a BJ’s and guess who was standing at the door with a clipboard and vinyl siding brochures.
I literally turned around and ran out of the store.
Just say NO! It’s simply really and the more forceful they are the ruder I am. My time is valuable, to me, and I won’t waste it with BS… Oh, and I frequent my local independently owned hardware store or lumber yard for 90% of what I need. Sure I pay a bit more but I receive better service and am supporting a local business. The big box stores are an unsustainable business model they just won’t admit it yet…
Some guy at home depot corporate to a Store Manager at HD in Charlotte : Great, I just want to tell you that 2 of your associates are doing a good job promoting our service for Trane, keep up the good work.
Seriously they aren’t going to stop now, you just let them know its effective and now that you blogged about it. It is super effective
@thufir_hawat: wonder about the “if they didn’t work the stores wouldn’t do them” argument because I suspect it does not account for type-II errors, counting subscriptions and bonuses but not customers who leave early or don’t come back. Surely there is some kind of metric.
Seriously they need to. I think that actually would be a very important metric for the stores to have. Unfortunately the only metric you have is complaints to corporate and customer traffic based on customers who purchased something.
When I worked at lowe’s One of the things they wanted the specialist to do is keep track of all of their interactions with customers that day and state if they purchased a product.
@chrisjames: Those do shut up if you say “no”, though, and it’s just a machine asking a simple question, unlike a human that can get nasty at you if you say no to the pitch. And enough people do buy carwashes with gas that I can’t see a problem with the prompt as it keeps you from having to walk in to pay separately for the wash.
@Eyebrows McGee: I wear a hearing aid. I sometimes pretend not to hear them (and sometimes actually don’t hear people who are trying to get my attention and don’t find out til they run into me again later… this usually happens when it’s someone I actually wan to talk to, grr).
And now I actually want kittens. :p
I need to let you all know that as a vendor for the HD, that guy is probably one of the independent contractors that they hire to do installations, just like the cabinets, flooring, or anything else that is installed. They are under so much pressure from regional and national managers to get sales right now that they are forced to do just about anything they can to get at least an appointment. With the economy the way it is and sales down, not just in HD, the numbers are coming in very low. HD puts the pressure on the independent contractor to get creative and show a commitment to the team. It is bad that this one seemed to be a little over the top because most of the contractors are good at what they do, they are just doing their best to appease their biggest customer in most cases and more importantly, get sales which are lagging at the moment.
I let them pitch my husband.
I have been practicing my “look-over-the-top-of-my-eyeglasses-stare” with “mad-face”.
On more than one occassion the “sales associate” has just tucked tail and walked away with a look of total dejection.
What I hate is the purfume sprayers in the front of department stores. Yea, we still got a store doing that stupid offensive marketing of purfumes.
Cellphones… grab it from your pocket, put it up to your head, they wont bother you. If they do then you have a perfect reason to snap at them. Everytime I enter a store like that Im like a gun slinger with my cell phone to keep this to a minimum.
What’s preventing you from giving them a completely fictional address for the appointment?
I just play dumb and stubborn.
Sales person: “Can I interest you in blahblahblah”
Me: “Oh good, can you take me to the whateverIamreallylooking for”
Sales person: “I don’t really work here, I am here as a rep for blahblah”
Me:”So you can’t help me find whatever, you just going to try and sell me something I’m not here for? F*ing worthless, where’s a manager ” Walk away b*tching to myself. They have never once followed me.
@chrisjames: @chrisjames:
What did you say?
my favorite thing when anyone tries to sell me something not related to my purchase is to respond to whatever they said with ‘yes, i am looking for dried bats. can you help me with that?’
they are never sure they heard me right and they don’t want to find out if that’s what i really said. generally i get a blank stare and a jaw drop before i walk away, smiling. no one has EVER followed me to try again
@bluemarble: Agreed. Those things drive me nuts.
@post_break: iPod earbuds are also useful in that regard. You don’t even have to have an actual iPod attached to them – just stick the end of the wire in your pocket.
@ChrisMike624:
The problem is that you’re usually *harrassed* with these pitches.
The last time I went into Circuit City to buy something, I was asked if I wanted to buy a service plan no less than five times between picking an item off the shelf and leaving the store.
There are right ways to do this and wrong ways. Stores almost universally pick the wrong ways.
It doesn’t help that the stores always tell employees to “address the customer’s concerns regarding , but don’t pressure them,” and then turn right around and tell the employees that they must make an X% sales quota or be fired.
My local bar has a TV that blares Fox news very loudly. It gets switched off (automatically) when you put money in the Juke box.
Weird and annoying? yes. effective? for sure.
Here’s a story for your round-up. I went into VCS, I needed batteries. As it happened, they had Duracells on sale, 8-packs of the sizes I needed were only about $1 more than 4-packs. I took them to the counter & the cashier rang them up, but not at the sale price. So I told her about the sale and she said I needed to have (whatever they call their Big Brother card, I don’t remember) and asked if I wanted to sign up for it. I said no & left the store.
I walked 1 block to the Jewel/Osco, figuring they’re all in collusion with their sales anyway so batteries are probably on sale at Jewel too. And it turned out, yes, Jewel had the same deal except on Energizers instead of Duracells. When I took them to the register, the cashier asked if I had their Big Brother card, I said no, and she typed a number into the register for me so I got the sale price.
It’s ok if CVS doesn’t want my business, there are plenty of other stores nearby.
@vladthepaler:
Er, that’s CVS, not VCS. Sorry.
@vladthepaler:
I hate the “discount cards” that places offer as much as the next guy – the discounts you get are not a fair exchange on the value of your personal information – but calling them “Big Brother cards” just makes you sound like a wacko conspiracy nut.
My hate is reserved for the pushy people at those rolling kiosks at the malls. You know, the ones who shout “Hey you!”…. Wearing shades and iPod earbuds usually helps.
@vladthepaler: I had to chuckle over your name for the affinity cards. I’ve got ones for 4 different stores on my keyring (2 of those chains not located in my state, btw). Call me cheap for enjoying the member savings, but they add up. Any merchant e-mail pushed by these programs is not a hassle because it goes to a tertiary e-mail address I set up, including “Happy Birthday” wishes and coupons sent on my fictional birthday, which was strategically chosen for pre-holiday shopping convenience.
Ah, you say … what about the capture of your personal information if the keys are lost/stolen? All they’d get assuming they could guess my name is a mailing address, not a physical one.