Service with a Sneer (from the Main Blog) Question

[VltGrantham]

If any of you have read the "Service with a Sneer" entry on the main blog, I'd be interested in knowing what response, if any, is polite.  This type of thing seems to happen alarmingly around here and I actually had a very similar experience with my rings.

My Mom gave me her engagement ring and my Grandmother's engagement ring a couple of years ago.  We needed to add them to our insurance policy, which meant getting them appraised.  Since I knew I was getting both rings, I never saw the need for my husband to buy another diamond.  I'm quite happy with my wedding band and gemstone engagement ring.  We took them to the recommended shop, but the saleslady was SO RUDE.  She made all kinds of condescending remarks about both rings and indicated that I obviously knew nothing about the "good stuff" based on my own wedding set.  My Mom was nearly in tears!

We ended up leaving, but later I called the manager.  However, I really wanted to say something right then and there.

Is walking out always the best response?  Is there something else you can say?  I've had this same sort of thing happen in restaurants, clothing stores, etc.  It'd be nice to have a polite, but pointed, response to give.

[WillyNilly]

I think walking out is the best response, but I don't think its at all inappropriate or rude to icily stare them down and say "I'd like to speak to a manager now please."  And then calmly to the manager explain what happened and how insulted you felt.

[camlan]

A Volvo salesman once told my brother that he'd do better at the Subaru dealership down the road. My brother was speechless and just left the lot.

After he purchased his new, fully-loaded Subaru, he wrote a nice thank you note to the owner of the Volvo dealership, in which he mentioned the salesperson who gave him the referral to Subaru by name, crediting said salesperson with helping him find just the car he wanted and needed.

[HonorH]

Honestly, I think that, in these cases, walking out without a word says everything that needs saying. Asking for a manager is good, too.

[Outdoor Girl]

A Volvo salesman once told my brother that he'd do better at the Subaru dealership down the road. My brother was speechless and just left the lot.

After he purchased his new, fully-loaded Subaru, he wrote a nice thank you note to the owner of the Volvo dealership, in which he mentioned the salesperson who gave him the referral to Subaru by name, crediting said salesperson with helping him find just the car he wanted and needed.

That is priceless!

As for the person in the OP, 'How DARE you.  These items are priceless to me because they were given to me by people I love, which is infinitely more important to me than than the material cost.  Get me your manager NOW.'

[MrTango]

To the rude saleslady: "I'd like to speak with your manager please.  Immediately."
To the manager: "Due to the rude, demeaning, and unprofessional behavior of [Employee's name], I have decided that I will be taking my business elsewhere.  Good day."

[Amava]

A Volvo salesman once told my brother that he'd do better at the Subaru dealership down the road.

...
Why?? How did he even work that one out in his brain? He sells Volvos! Why would he send  a potential customer to the competition?
I wonder how long that one lasted as a salesman.

[VltGrantham]

After he purchased his new, fully-loaded Subaru, he wrote a nice thank you note to the owner of the Volvo dealership, in which he mentioned the salesperson who gave him the referral to Subaru by name, crediting said salesperson with helping him find just the car he wanted and needed

I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall when the owner called that particular salesperson in to his office.

[Take2]

That kind of service once cost a salesperson thousands of dollars on my watch. A friend of ours invited us to vacation with him at a very high-end timeshare. We went to hear the sales speech. We loved the place and wanted to buy...but we had made a couple of rash decisions before and agreed to never decide on the spot on any purchase over $1000. So the salesguy started pressuring us. This surprised us, as this is a very high-end brand and pressure sales are something we associate with lower quality merchandise. Anyway, we said we needed to think about it overnight, and we would decide the following day.

The sales person mustered his most condescending look down his nose and grandly told us that's OK. "Look, some people are [high-end brand] people and some people are not. If you are, you don't need to think about it. If you need to think about it, you just aren't [high-end brand] people." Wow. At that very moment, he convinced me that I was, indeed, not THAT kind of people. You could not have paid me to take a timeshare there. We widened our eyes, excused ourselves, and left the sales building. Our host was furious that we were treated that way. He wrote a letter, we all received a healthy portion of the vacation cost in a refund. And that salesman convinced me to never buy a timeshare from anyone, ever.

[Frog24]

Same thing happened to my dad at a Subaru car dealership (funny, huh?) .  He took his friend's older Subaru to the dealership to order a specific part, but thought to take a test drive as he and mom were looking into a second car.  After ordering the part, he walked over to a new Forrester, and asked to try it out.
The salesman said: "We don't have any cars available for a test drive at this time." 
"Okay," said dad. "What about one of the cars on the BMW lot over there."
"No sir, I don't think you understand. We have absolutely NO cars available for you to test drive."

You should've seen the look on the guy's face when he drove back a few days later to pick up the part in his brand new Volvo station wagon.  Honestly, after the dot.com boom... don't sales people know that wealthy people don't always dress "wealthy"?

Anyone else remember the episode of "The Cosby Show" where Cliff (the dad) goes to the car dealership in his grungy sweats and is about to make a great deal when someone who knows him shows up and blows the fact that he's a doctor and his wife's a lawyer?   

[That Anime Chick]

A Volvo salesman once told my brother that he'd do better at the Subaru dealership down the road. My brother was speechless and just left the lot.

After he purchased his new, fully-loaded Subaru, he wrote a nice thank you note to the owner of the Volvo dealership, in which he mentioned the salesperson who gave him the referral to Subaru by name, crediting said salesperson with helping him find just the car he wanted and needed.

That reminds me of the time DH was looking for a new car because the one he had died. We were at a local rental car lot that also sells cars and the sales person told him that he could never find a nice car for how much he was willing to pay (I think it was in the 7-8k neighborhood).

Interestingly enough, the Nissan dealership around the corner from us had a car right in his price range and he bought it that day. I wish I'd thought to send the manager of the lot we left a note along the same vein.

[JeanFromBNA]

I own a business, and if we don't perform at the level that we have promised, you don't pay.  I've given refunds and credits, offered apologies, and made what changes were necessary to get things back in order. 

Voting with your money and your feet is the ultimate answer for the customer.  I was horrified at the way we were treated recently at a cruiseline's "Guest Services" desk, and I posted some honest reviews (Cruise was disappointing, but the ultra-rude Guest Services person was the nail in the coffin).  That cruiseline will never get another vacation dollar from us.  G-d willing, and the creek don't rise, that is another 30 or so years of vacations. 

[shadowfox79]

You should've seen the look on the guy's face when he drove back a few days later to pick up the part in his brand new Volvo station wagon.  Honestly, after the dot.com boom... don't sales people know that wealthy people don't always dress "wealthy"?

One of DH's friends liked to tell the story of the time he went to get his new Porsche.

One of his businesses rented supercars for the evening, so he showed up in the company Ferrari and wearing a suit. Despite this, he was left sitting in the waiting area for half an hour without being offered so much as a cup of tea.

The salespeople were rather peeved when he came back a month later to pick up a part and told them why the shiny new Porsche he'd arrived in had been bought elsewhere.

[ShanghaiJill]

I remember my brother saying to some "difficult" waitress, "It's so hard to get good help these days."   He said it in a resigned tone of voice.

[Barb3000]

That kind of service once cost a salesperson thousands of dollars on my watch. A friend of ours invited us to vacation with him at a very high-end timeshare. We went to hear the sales speech. We loved the place and wanted to buy...but we had made a couple of rash decisions before and agreed to never decide on the spot on any purchase over $1000. So the salesguy started pressuring us. This surprised us, as this is a very high-end brand and pressure sales are something we associate with lower quality merchandise. Anyway, we said we needed to think about it overnight, and we would decide the following day.

The sales person mustered his most condescending look down his nose and grandly told us that's OK. "Look, some people are [high-end brand] people and some people are not. If you are, you don't need to think about it. If you need to think about it, you just aren't [high-end brand] people." Wow. At that very moment, he convinced me that I was, indeed, not THAT kind of people. You could not have paid me to take a timeshare there. We widened our eyes, excused ourselves, and left the sales building. Our host was furious that we were treated that way. He wrote a letter, we all received a healthy portion of the vacation cost in a refund. And that salesman convinced me to never buy a timeshare from anyone, ever.

They ALWAYS say something like that as part of the spiel. I think it is in the book. Time share sales are the WORST IMO.