Who teaches how to deal with Customers?

[Woodde]

I currently deal at a local Mom and Pop store, because they have always been up front and honest with me in the past. They have provided me with excellent direction in the past when buying and selling used equipment. That honesty has gone a long way towards keeping my business. On a few occasions I even purchased items from them when I could save a few dollars by going else where. I recently made a purchase of a guitar with them for roughly $1400 and the owner told me a case came with the guitar and went to fetch it. Well, I was talking with the owner when he returned and a new sales associate ( he was maybe 19 years old) was ringing me out on the register so I kindly asked the owner if anything else came with the guitar ( as I thought maybe a truss rod wrench or a cord for the electronics) and the sales associate says Yeah you get a smile with it, what do you expect!!
So I respectfully requested the associate to stop cashing me out, then continued to explain to them that I can get a smile a home for nothing, I then asked him how many weeks pay it would it cost him to purchase this guitar, I then reminded him of a few other guitar shops in the area that would really like my business. I told him I work pretty hard for my income and I guess I should just be a little wiser when it comes down to deciding where I should spend it. He looked kind of dumb founded at the owner not knowing what to say when he realized he lost the sale. The owner was also at a loss for words not really knowing what to do
After the encounter I talked with the owner off to the side and told him I would still like to make the purchase. I told him I would come back tomorrow when the associate was not working. I still have great respect for the owner but he did agree that the associate needed a valuable lesson on how to deal with customers.
What it really made me wonder was, why does a young man think he could talk to someone who is spending their hard earned money like that? Was he never taught respect? This could have been a once in a lifetime purchase for someone and his attitude would have definitely killed the enjoyment of the experience.

[HHP]

Sounds like he was being flippant and you overreacted.

[00-28]

I might be missing something in the translation, but all I can say is, "Woodde, lighten up." Was something else bugging you? Did you really expect more? I thought the kid was kind of funny, but I see humor in just about everything. ........Mike

[Woodde]

I may have over reacted some, I agree. I by all means am not saying what I did was the correct action to take. But it just seems to me over the past 40 years or so that customer service has really taken a nose dive and people stand by and do nothing. Rude behavior by sales people are becoming more and more of the norm. Where did customer service go?

[Dr. Spivey]

Sounds to me like you made a big deal out of nothing and made an extra trip for yourself. You really showed them.

[futboljim]

Why?

Because he's a 19 year old that you caught in a moment of being silly. Maybe he is like that all the time, or maybe he thought he was being (harmlessly) clever.

I agree that his comment is not proper, unless he knows you very well and it would be a normal part of your relationship/conversation.

Unless there is something else at play here, I wouldn't have walked on the purchase. My preferred method of sending a message would've been to have a word with the owner away from the kid, rather than handling it openly in a way that caused embarrassment to the kid.

Just my two cents

[brian a.]

Originally Posted by HHP

Sounds like he was being flippant and you overreacted.

Based on the limited information provided, I would have to agree with HHP.
I have found asking specific questions yields better answers than asking open-ended vague questions. Had you asked, "Does the guitar come with a truss rod wrench and/or a chord?" the sales person may have answered one of the following:
"Yes, let me get that (those) for you."
"No, is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Let me check with my boss, the owner, because I don't know."
"No, but it does come with a smile."
These are all totally speculative responses. I wasn't there and didn't hear the exchange for myself. Maybe he was trying to be friendly, cute or funny (but failed) and with his lack of experience needs a gentle hand to guide him in the right direction.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

I think the kid was just trying to be funny but the owner does need to have a talk with him. Although I think you were wrong for canceling the sale, you are the customer and the kid should learn to keep it more professional.

[Guitar1083]

Just call all customers dude

[tseliot]

I could understand the first part about the smile but the "what do you expect!!" remark was a bit indelicate. Maybe (being inexperienced) the guy really had no clue as to what could possibly come with a guitar but still...

[roylor4]

I agree that he needs training and apparently has a poor grasp of boundaries in customer/employee relations. That said, I don't think he meant to be disrespectful but probably was feeling a myriad of things:
1) The general awkwardness of being between child and man and not knowing exactly how to speak to a grownup.
2) Not wanting to be perceived as weak or as a doormat by the owner for making concessions to a customer that he likely had no authority to do.
3) Has been a wise-acre for much of his life and just hasn't been taught any better.
4) May or may not have thought you were serious and was simply making what he perceived to be a cute or glib response.

I also know that despite the fact I worked full time, had my own place and payed my own bills at that age that I was a LONG way from being a man. I thought I was though and thought I was beyond cool too (I most definitely was not).

Keep in mind that a kid that age can only be disrespectful if he was taught how to be respectful in the first place. We both know that continues to diminish every year.

Its good that the kid learns this lesson now rather than later. Its also good that you are going to complete the transaction with the owner you respect. I'm sure the kid will get a good talking to by the owner.

The ability to put himself in others shoes is a long ways off still. This will probably give him a boost in that direction.

[BoneDigger]

Not meaning to be rude but, I think you just became a learning experience for an inexperienced young man. When you left that store I bet the owner had a short talk with his employee, saying, "Remember in the training how we told you that occassionally you have to deal with difficult people?"

Todd

[Oldguy64]

Not every one has seen "Pretty Woman".

And there are people that believe that their poop don't stink.
I don't know what category this guy fell in.
But if he was getting a commission on the sale, I would have had him stop the transaction, and had the owner ring me out IN FRONT OF HIM, so he could see his commission going to someone else.

I might have then explained, that when I'm spending big money, I expect respect, and while your question was a tad cheeky...it was a serious inquiry considering at that price point there is often considerable "case candy".

I figure if I'm gonna "smack a pup on the nose for peeing on the floor," it needs to be as soon after the act as possible, so he'll learn not to do it again.

It might mark me as a jerk. But I've been bait and switched, I've been hurried when no one else was waiting, ostensibly because I didn't look like the usual clientele. I've been ignored by salesmen that have passed me by, to wait on someone that just walked in, while I'm obviously waiting for someone to help me.
I'm usually patient, and I try to understand. But sometimes...certain things set my teeth on edge and I react in kind.

That said...I've never had a bad experience with a guitar deal. It sounds like you were both failing to communicate effectively.
Not everyone gets "tone of voice" not matching commentary and sending the wrong message.
Or they don't hear in their tone what you hear.
I guess before I went "Falling Down" on someone, I'd try to sort what they actually meant.

[Jack Orion]

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[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by tseliot

I could understand the first part about the smile but the "what do you expect!!" remark was a bit indelicate. Maybe (being inexperienced) the guy really had no clue as to what could possibly come with a guitar but still...

To the exact point of the issue are the "what do you expect" comments. That was a lack of common courtesy that some call flippant, while others call it rudeness. That lack of respect is probably his norm and as the OP suggests, part of a much larger norm that spans generations and socio-economic factors. Mostly seen in younger people probably because they are the servers and customer reps we meet in almost every business we frequent, due to overhead costs.

You were right to teach him something his parents neglected to address. Probably because their parents neglected to address it either.

You were right to teach the store owner what his customers should expect in his place of business.