Thread Number: 1746
POD 4-7 Frigidaire RANT about salespeople 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 62449   4/7/2005 at 09:39 (6,951 days old) by jasonl (Cookeville, TN)        

OK, I'm gonna spew some garbage about salesmen (and women). It must take a really crummy kind of person to want to trick you into buying something, take you for everything you have and make you feel good about it.

For instance.. car salesmen (and women, no sexism intended). They will try to sell you a car. OK, no problem, it's their job. But most of them step over the line when they take of control and push you into buying. I had this when I went to buy my VW. The guy was a jerk. He would not write up a price quote saying "You will take it to the other VW dealership and try to beat my price." The ordeal didn't stop there. I waited two weeks for my car. Other dealerships will pull the same tricks on you, "What will it take for me to sell you this car?"

Appliance salesmen, they're not as bad but I had a bad experience trying to get a Frigemore. The guy told me the washer was on sale for $500. Then when I showed up again he pulled a "bait-and-switch" and tried to sell me one for $699. He also pressured me into a finance plan.

Electronics salespeople are cool. Most don't make commision so they sell the product, not the sale itself.

And now my latest experience with selling my trailer. This lady came and looked at the place and loved it. She was gonna give me cash for the trailer (they depreciate and it's hard to get a loan), but her mobile home salesman father had other plans. He came over and tried to deal me into leasing the house with a SMALL down payment and a monthly payment. He made it sound like a good thing, using words like "Positive cash flow" and "Good interest". He basically took control of the whole situation and made me feel trapped. I finally told him "NO" and he started telling me I won't ever be able to sell the trailer without doing it the way he wanted me to. WHAT A SCUMBAG!

Now that leads us to the POD at hand. A young couple is in the appliance store looking to buy a washer and dryer. Notice the fat sleazy sales guy with the ugly tie worming his way into this poor guys head. I can just hear it, "You're getting the best possible deal in this town. I can finance you for $$ a month for xx years. "

The young husband's skeptical about this but after pressure from the salesman and then some from his own wife (who turns against him if he doesn't buy it), he agrees to the payment plan and winds up paying MORE for that washer with the super high interest rate. The washer breaks down in 7 years. He tries to have it fixed but too bad WCI bought out GM so now that machine is an "outmode". Too bad he's stuck in a 10 year loan. So he goes back to Mr. Salesjerk and gets jammed into another deal, this time with a WCI built wannabe machine.

It's a good thing they have a poppy agitub set to displace the nauseating salesman in that pic.

OK, that's my rant for the day. I hope no one was offended. Not all salespeople are bad, just some of them are. The lady who sold my Frigemore at Sears was very nice and helpful.

Look at the good side, I didn't get into telemarketers.




Post# 62453 , Reply# 1   4/7/2005 at 10:09 (6,951 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ)        

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Funny, I couldn't decide if the young husband's look of incredulity was due to being told that there would be no GM Frigidaire five years later, or that cross-striped pants actually would go out of style.

Post# 62455 , Reply# 2   4/7/2005 at 10:19 (6,951 days old) by mrcleanjeans (milwaukee wi)        

That set looks like a split-up "Skinni-Mini".And I can hear the husband say in his head concerning the salesman "Here's your check,you greedy, greasy grubber,now lay off,will you?"

Post# 62462 , Reply# 3   4/7/2005 at 11:15 (6,951 days old) by jasonl (Cookeville, TN)        
Here's what they're saying...

 Through the magic of Imagined Audio, we can now listen in on what's being said in the picture.

Wife: Oh aren't they wonderful? They match the laundry room.

Husband: Can you believe this guy? And my own wife of all people siding with him! I'm in debt up to my eyeballs already, another $340 won't do much more damage.

Salesman: That's the spirit! Easy credit terms and low monthly payments keeps his wife happy and me in business. (looks husband up and down). That wife of yours is one lucky gal ;-).

Post# 62483 , Reply# 4   4/7/2005 at 16:28 (6,951 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        

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In 2005 dollars, that $340 washer/dryer set from 1975 would cost $1235 today.

I've seen salespeople who still dress like that today...

Post# 62486 , Reply# 5   4/7/2005 at 16:37 (6,951 days old) by jasonl (Cookeville, TN)        
GEEZ!

 So how much would a full size 1-18 set would've costed in today's dollars?

So the price actually has come down on appliances, such as you can get a set for about $700. Of course, the quality has gone way down as well.

I could never be a salesman, I'm too honest and nice. I wouldn't have the heart to mess with people like that. Anyway, I did my rant already. All is peace now.

Post# 62491 , Reply# 6   4/7/2005 at 17:01 (6,951 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

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I'd love to sell appliances.

Post# 62495 , Reply# 7   4/7/2005 at 17:36 (6,951 days old) by repair-man (Pittsburgh PA)        
That's just it. . .

Washers and dryers have not gone up much at all. In recent years most have gone down. Just look at Sears, they have had a 399.99 washer in every ad for 20 years. $399 today buys a washer with features close to a Lady Kenmore of 20 years ago. A $399 BD Kenmore in 1985 is $299 today! (Same options)
The retail price of a Maytag A606 was about $350 in the sixties. What would that be today? More recently, it wasn't untill the Performa came along in 1996 that Maytag had anything under $400. The difference is you were making a long term purchase back then.
$400 over 15 years = $27/yr.
$300 over 5 years = $60/yr.

Ed

Post# 62509 , Reply# 8   4/7/2005 at 20:00 (6,951 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        

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We have a unique retail enviornment here in Omaha, extremely competitive and prices that shock many visitors. We bought a Maytag BOL washer in 1981 for $279 at Nebraska Furniture Mart, probably a value leader item at the time.

The retail price of a Bendix washer in 1941 was $189 which comes out to $2511 today. A huge investment when a wringer washer cost 1/2 or less. Still, people bought them in droves for the "Workless Washday" as advertised. I'll bet a lot of people made payments on them for a long, long time which coupled with the fact that they were bolted to concrete made for many great vintage finds now...

Post# 62519 , Reply# 9   4/7/2005 at 21:18 (6,951 days old) by partscounterman (Cortez, Colorado)        
Not all salespeople are bad!

 I have been in the retail end of appliances for a while and I always found the HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY! I hate the hard sell- I feel that my job is to ask the customer what they want and present them with the facts they need to make a descision. The main reason I left Sears was the constant pressure to push, push push those rip-off service contracts (this and the fact that here they contract their deliveries with a bunch of bumbling idiots!)

I think PRICE should only be one factor to consider before buying an appliance-here are some other things to consider-

Who does the delivery? Is delivery handled in house or is it contracted out (the more layers of people the more chance for a screw up!)

How am I treated by that dealer? Can I call and talk to a real person or am I put on hold for 15 minutes? Just try this with one of the big boxes!

Does the dealer have its own service deptartment? Surprisingly, just because someone is selling appliances doesn't mean they service what they sell. No service department? Welcome to 1-800-HE-doubletoothpicks!

Don't mean to flame anybody, but it kinda get a little sick about hearing on this board about purchases from Lowes, Sears, Best Buy etc. because I feel that independant dealers can treat their customers better. Anyway, thats my opinion and of course everyone is entitled to spend their money with whomever they wish. Just check out you local independant dealer before assuming that the big gray box store is better...

Post# 62521 , Reply# 10   4/7/2005 at 21:29 (6,951 days old) by partscounterman (Cortez, Colorado)        
Oh-PS

 I know some one here will say to me "but Sears has their own service dept" Don't know how its going on the mainland, but here Sears service is AWFUL! How do I know? Because people would get sick of dealing with that silly 1-800-4-My-Home and call the store to complain about missed appointments, no appointments available for a week, etc, etc, etc. My favorite was when they would call and ask what the local number for the service dept is. THERE IS NO LOCAL # FOR THE SERVICE DEPT! Even the appliance dept. Manager had to call someone over on O'ahu to connect with the techs here on Maui. How F*%@ed up is that?

Post# 62528 , Reply# 11   4/7/2005 at 22:27 (6,951 days old) by cybrvanr ()        
Take it from a ex-Sears technician!

 I worked for Sears for about a year or so in the home electronics service department, and the management of their service department was absloutely AWFUL!!! The way it worked was you were issued a small computer that would receive calls either via the telephone line, or over the cellular phone network. The computter was also where you put in the information concerning the call, and it would also run credit cards, and bill the customer. In theory, it was a pretty nice setup, but it didn't work properly most of the time.

The computer would download the call lineup you were to run the next day. Upon starting the workday, you would arrive at the Sears service center, and call the customers to tell them when you would be coming by.

Behind the computer was a server that issued service calls to the technicians. The server would attempt to group the service calls together that would be in a particular area. It was not bad at estimating travel time, and setting up good routes, and giving the proper amount of time for the specific repairs that would be done. The problem was that the dispatch operators would always meddle with the technician's call lineup througout the day, re-arranging calls, tweaking the times, etc. Remember those customers you called in the morning? Well, you only got to two of them before the dispatch operators re-arranged your schedule! So, what about those other 3 service calls that were on your list? Did those people get served by another tech?

I would end up with new calls on my list, and end up arriving to homes that the customers weren't in. Why? because I just received new calls, and they were originally scheduled for another time and date! After the call times were meddled with by the dispatch operators, we would end up not having enough time to perform the work, or drive to the customers location. how would you like trying to install a picture tube in a TV in one hour, at a site that's over 60 miles away, and you've got less than an hour to get there! On top of that, you've got 3 more calls to do just like that one! There was absloutely no way one could spend the time to develop a relationship with the customer, and do the job right!

One of the worst things that I absloutely hated about Sears was that there was no provision in their system for a customer to request a specific technician. The other problem was that if a repair needed parts ordered, you were never the technician that came back to install those parts, and some of the calls you received for the day were jobs that other technicians started!

Don't get me started on the parts problem! Our vans were stocked with a bunch of useless parts that I rarely touched, so I ended up having to order out most of the parts needed for repairs. Ordering parts took forever, in the 2-4 week range, and then it was another 2 weeks or so after the part came in for the call to get re-scheduled! Our tools were inadiquite...try repairing modern television sets without an Oscilloscope...IT DOESN'T HAPPEN!!! Especially when you are not even equipped with tech manuals, schematics or any other literature.

Pricing for most parts and labor were way too high. In fact, the labor rate at Sears for home repairs is actually MORE than it is at the company I work for now performing on-site service to Professional audio-visual equipment!!! Parts pricing was severely marked up. I remember looking in parts catalogs and seeing the same parts I had to charge an arm and a leg for at a fraction of the cost. For instance, a high-voltage transformer to a Sony TV was $45 in the MCM electronics catalog, but Sears charges over $150 for the same part!!! Most simple repairs would end up getting priced right out of the market for most people. I guess this was designed to get people to buy new equipment, versus reparing the old stuff.

I got so frustrated with the entire system, and left to work at a locally run company. This was absloutely no way to run a service department. You don't make people wait weeks and weeks for repairs to take place. You don't re-schedule calls after customers have taken off work to meet the technician! You give your technicians the necessary tools, material, and technical literature they need to do the job. I got sick of dealing with angry customers that had waited weeks to get a technican scheduled for their call, only to have them re-scheduled at the last minute. You need to develop a relationship with your customers, and those customers should be able to count on that tech to meet their needs whenever a malfunction occurs.

Post# 62549 , Reply# 12   4/8/2005 at 01:08 (6,951 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        
Independent Dealers all but gone...

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I agree 100% with trying to use the independent dealers whenever possible. However, as I mentioned before, I live in a rather unique retail market that is dominated by one major retail store and Sears, Best Buy, Sam's Club, Lowes, etc. are tagging along for the ride. There are exactly three independent appliance dealers left in a market of approximately 750,000+. One sells GE and high-end products such as Sub Z, Thermador, etc. another has Miele and the third sells Gibson and low-end Maytag Performa. With few dealer choices and the majority of consumers shopping for price before service, most end up at NE Furniture Mart for their major purchases. Despite the negative side, the store is really something to see, 450,000 sq. feet of shopping and 500,000 sq ft of warehouse. You can see a couple of small pics of the appliance dept. at the link below. We'll plan a visit to NFM during the convention activities for those interested.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO gansky1's LINK
Post# 62561 , Reply# 13   4/8/2005 at 08:50 (6,951 days old) by jasonl (Cookeville, TN)        

Well, like I said, the only independant dealer I tried to go through was the slimeball that did the bait and switch. And he wasn't friendly at all in the first place.

Post# 62564 , Reply# 14   4/8/2005 at 09:49 (6,950 days old) by Kevintpreston ()        
Just some more thoughts on Sears

 Sears was a really wierd place to work. Several years back, they had "Sears Business Centers", which sold business computers. This was not to be confused with the computers sold in their retail stores, althought, customers certaintly were confused.

When we took over the Western US SBCs, we had to rebuild their service department. The guys that worked there mostly had been appliance repair people with little computer knowledge, except for a few guys. They were a good group, but hamstrung by Sears "processes". We rented a huge space that was unused over aSears store, and although the Sears store manager was getting a big rent check from our division, he treated us horribly. Succenly, we were "mall employees" and had to park 1/2 mile away "behind the yellow line" of the parking lot, and all other rules dropped onto us. Let's not go into their ripoff automotive centers.

SBC was bought out by Inacom on the cheap, Inacom was bought by Vanstar that ran it into the ground. They all went belly up about 6 months after I left them.

Strange company...I have a Kenmore Washer and Dryer from 1994 and they run very well--a few services on the washer but nothing major, dryer no service ever needed. Nice appliances, but I would not want to work there!

Post# 62565 , Reply# 15   4/8/2005 at 09:52 (6,950 days old) by Kevintpreston ()        
Oh and another thing...

 I used a local firm for the repairs when needed!

Post# 62576 , Reply# 16   4/8/2005 at 16:44 (6,950 days old) by maytagmom ()        
jasonl's rant......

 I am allllllll too familiar w/what he wrote. Here in the Houston area we have a large store called, appropriately enough, CONN'S....and that is just what they do....CON you into buying, making high interest payments...etc....mainly because alot of folks can't get financed because of bad credit, etc, through any other retailer, so they have the cap on that market. Unfortuneatly I was one of those fools, and bought a new dryer (Frigidaire), a new Amana refrigerator (bottom freezer, love it! But have problems with the door gaskets...have to get them repaired before the warranty runs out...and home theater system...)
When I thought my lil Maytag A606 was croaking, I went in to pay my bill and looked at their appliances...found another Maytag for $399.00, but really didn't have the money to go into more debt. I came home and found this site, and all that was wrong was my lid switch...Saved myself alot of money through this website. Thanks to all of yall!!!! :-)
I don't shop Sears...or use their appliances anymore...having a "career" *cough cough* IN the retail market right now...I hear too much crap about them, along with Lowe's, Home Depot, etc...
www.retail-sucks.com..., www.retailworkers.com...
Just another board I occasionally look at to see who is pissed at what and whom...(includes Sears rants about company policies, procedures, etc..)
Ok, Ive ranted enough for today...Time for a few beers..it's hot here in Texas!

MaytagMom/Carol




Post# 62585 , Reply# 17   4/8/2005 at 18:48 (6,950 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

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MaytagMom, I tried to buy a Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer from AABC in Houston. Called ahead, yes, we have them in stock. The salesdoid failed to mention that the WAREHOUSE closes at 3 PM on Saturday, and yup, I got there a bit after 3. He was all apologetic, wrote up a sales order, said he'd call about delivery. Nobody ever called. I went elsewhere.

Post# 62594 , Reply# 18   4/8/2005 at 20:34 (6,950 days old) by maytagmom ()        

DADoES,

I don't blame you! I have never done business w/AABC...There is another store on the SE side called Proven Products, but I have not bought from them, but did hear good things about their prices, etc. from friends/family.
I did not even get approched at CONN's when I went in last month, even tho I have spent alot of money in that store. Usually they are awaiting you like vultures!
They just don't make appliances like they use to...(or anything else for that matter). And customer service has just really gone to hell.
The older I get, the more I long for the good old days. :-)
MM

Post# 62596 , Reply# 19   4/8/2005 at 20:50 (6,950 days old) by kenmore1978 ()        
Maytag lid switch

 So it WAS the lid switch. So how did you go about repairing it? What did it require?

Post# 62600 , Reply# 20   4/8/2005 at 21:02 (6,950 days old) by jasonl (Cookeville, TN)        

Maytag lid switch on the classic maytags are easy enough. My mom thought hers was conking out but I bypassed the switch and itworks fine. I can watch it spin now :-D



Post# 62601 , Reply# 21   4/8/2005 at 21:08 (6,950 days old) by jasonl (Cookeville, TN)        

I'm kinda glad the days of the pushy salespeople are about over. I hate being stalked and cornered by salesmen. It's like "What part of 'I'm just looking' do you not understand?"

Car dealerships should be like Wal-Mart. There should be a huge lot full of autos and the sticker price is as low as possible without being profitable. And when the salesman finds you, he doesn't work on comission so he doesn't pressure you. He demonstrates the car and it's features and if you like, then he takes you in for financing and all that. Of course, that's where they sock it to you anyway.

Post# 62607 , Reply# 22   4/8/2005 at 21:55 (6,950 days old) by maytagmom ()        
That Pesky Lid Switch

 Ummm, my bad, I haven't repaired that lid switch yet. Haven't had the time during the week w/work, etc.. Still using a screwdriver and a plastic template thingy jammed in there for clotheswashing. LOL
It looks funny the way I have it rigged up, but that baby runs. Will have to reread the old posts on the repair. Hopefully soon I will have some free time and daylight.
I will probably bypass the switch, seems like that is what most folks suggest...I feel as tho I am mechanically challenged, but if its just a couple of wires, I can handle it. I'll let ya know what it took to repair it. (How many beers, lol)
Have a great wkend!
MM

Post# 62632 , Reply# 23   4/8/2005 at 23:22 (6,950 days old) by jasonl (Cookeville, TN)        

Well, that switch is easy to get to. IIRC Take out the screws at the top and the control panel flips down. The switch is right there. Either you can replace it or do what I did >:=)

Post# 62663 , Reply# 24   4/9/2005 at 09:49 (6,949 days old) by Mayken4now (Panama City, Florida)        
Super Glue!

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The easiest way to override and fix one of the old maytag lid switches is with Super Glue. After opening the two (2) screw panel , get you some super glue or the likes and take a small allen screw driver, after placing a rather good amount of glue on the white switch that is sticking out about 1/8" press in with the screwdriver till it clicks and hold for 15 seconds. Will last forever!

Steve

Post# 62750 , Reply# 25   4/10/2005 at 07:37 (6,949 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions)        

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I worked for Sears service in the early 80's. I took care of the service vans.We had a demon for a Manager,but the rest of the people were very friendly,and helpful,worked well together.That's when you called Sears service,you actually got the local Service Center.Had a lot of Sears "Lifers",who had 35-40 years with Sears.It was a good place to work.

Concerning salesmen,anytime I go to buy something major,amd the salesman wont tell me the price,but brings up "You can buy it for XX a month" BS,I walk away. And if a car salesman won't deal,but insist's on getting his mamager involved,I walk away.

kennyGF

Post# 63088 , Reply# 26   4/13/2005 at 11:59 (6,945 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
Yeow! After reading all the horror stories about repair service, I'm pleased to report my local Frigidaire/Maytag dealer (he also does the repairs) gets to my house the same day I call him, or the next morning at the latest. One of the few benefits of living in a very small town, I guess.


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