I was shopping around for a gym membership a couple of months ago. It's got down to a choice of 2 - one had the opening hours I liked, the other had the group class schedule I liked. The second gym gave me a really good deal, so I joined them.
A few days later I got a call from the first gym, asking if I'd made a decision on membership. I told them I'd gone with the other place and the girl proceeded to tell me all the horror stories she'd heard about them and to make sure I checked a,b and c on their contract etc. Because, clearly, the best way to get me to join your gym is to be unprofessional enough to talk smack about the competition!
Thank you! It boggles my mind that people would do this. If your product/shop/people are so great. Talk about that, not smack about your competitor. That makes me think poorly of YOU
We were shopping for a new car, test driving a Toyota 4 Runner. We wanted the rear window open/close option, but didn't want a Sequioa, a and I had remembered the front seats feeling tight/closed in on the older 4 Runners, so we wanted to see if the newly remodeled ones felt more open. The saleswoman asked what else we were looking at, and we mentioned a few other vehicles. She started bad-mouthing each and every vehicle we stated-the quality was bad, too many recalls, poor customer service, etc.
In my defense, I had just returned from a business trip overseas and was tired beyond belief but needed to get back onto USA time, so I was out and about so I wouldn't go to sleep. We had no intention of purchasing a car that day. But, we knew we would be needing a new car within the year, so it wasn't just a "hey, let's test drive vehicles"-we were trying to narrow down what we really liked and disliked.
I turned to the saleswoman and asked her why I should buy a Toyota when they had-and proceeded to list all the vehicle quality issues they had with their trucks and SUVs (that I knew of, at least). Now, at the time, I was working as a design engineer for Toyota, and knew they had not passed quality checks with some of their suppliers for the latest model year that was going into production. I also knew of the current model year truck/SUV quality issues. I didn't get mention I was a design engineer before she interrupted me to tell me those issues were totally untrue and I shouldn't believe everything I read on the internet.
Yes. The saleswoman told me I didn't know what I was talking about. I looked at DH, in total shock, and we simply turned and walked a way.
On our way out, another salesman asked why we decided to not test drive the 4 Runner. Apparently, he saw us walking towards the cars and turn around before we test drove the vehicle. We explained our conversation with the saleswoman, and mentioned that the sales associates might not want to tell their customers they didn't know what they were talking about. By this time, the original saleswoman caught up to us and asked why we were leaving, we didn't test drive the car, here's my card for you to request me when you come back. So, I turned to her and told her that I was a Toyotal design engineer and did know about the quality issues the vehicles were having, here's MY business card, she would not get a sale from us because of the way she treated us, and she should really learn what to say and not say when she's looking to make a sale/earn her commission. The salesman apologized profusely, but the saleswoman, well, I've truly never seen anyone frozen speechless with their mouth hanging wide open.
We did not buy a car from her. We did email the manager, who did promptly apologize and offer to set us up with his top salesman, but since we weren't planning on buying a car that day, we never did take him up on that offer.
We did wonder what her motivation was. Did she felt she had to "prove" herself because she was a woman (and I hate that some people have that mentality-that if you're a female, you know nothing about cars)? Was she new and just really pushing for a sale? But, seriously, who honestly thinks this is a way to get business?
