Ed Brill

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1. 1  Simon Barratt  | 5/31/2005 8:24:03 AM

   You are spot on Ed!

   I really think we are being served by a breed of zombies!

   Ordering something as simple as coffee, is another case of 'ask the same questions every time no matter what' syndrome.

   Next time you order a coffee, try this (only works at the full service type of place though)...

   Say "I would like a white, medium (or whatever they call it!) house blend coffee, with no sugar"

   I guarantee they will ask you: what size, what sort of coffee and whether you want cream or sugar with it!!!!

1. 2  Jess Stratton http://www.mattandjess.net | 5/31/2005 8:39:09 AM

   My wireless thermometer is one thing I absolutely can't live without. Not only for the outdoor temperature (I hate watching TV, so I don't want to wait for the Weather channel), but also for indoor temperatures and humidity inside. It makes it easier to tell whether I'm justified in wanting to turn up the heat when Matt is already burning hot! :-)

   Don't forget that the outdoor wireless bit MUST be placed in a permanent shady spot for the most accurate results.

   What I have a problem with with US retail stores is the way they answer the phone when I call. "HelloandwelcometoBestBuyWhereTheBestDealsAreMyNameIsJessCanIHelpYou"?

   "Ummm. Say again?"

   If you are going to demand your employees say ridiculous things to waste time on the phone, make sure they say it slow enough so they don't have to waste more time and annoy people when they have to repeat it just to make sure you've even dialed the right number!

1. 3  Mike Brown  | 5/31/2005 8:46:45 AM

   Here in the UK, the extended warranties thing is a real curse. So much so, that the government has recently introduced new rules to clamp down on some of the unfair, pressure tactics that retails were using to sell this things - (see { Link }

   I've never bought one myself, and have never regretted. When somebody in a store does try to push one on me, I take great pleasure of shouting "no!" in his face, before he's got more than 10 words into his spiel. Either that or I ask "is this thing going to blow up in 18 months then, or maybe two years? Is it that badly made?" Then watch them squirm! They either have to admit that the product is crap or the warranty is worthless.

   When I bought my current TV set, the sales assistant got quite indignant with me when I turned down the extra two years' cover. When he asked me why, I said "in my experience, things either break down in the first year [when they're covered by law] or they just keep going". "Well, that's not MY experience", he hurrumphed.

   That was in 1998.

   Cheers,

   - Mike

1. 4  nick halliwell www.comware.net | 5/31/2005 9:08:50 AM

   I really would like one of these, cannot buy them in Thailand, so I went to the link and guess what Thailand is not the list of countries. Why is the USA so American centric? Is my money not as good as yours?. By the way I am doing this in a bar in BKK using my Treo 650, what a device!!

1. 5  Danny Lawrence  | 5/31/2005 9:14:00 AM

   Best Buy makes a lot of money on service contracts. That's the economics.

1. 6  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 5/31/2005 9:17:49 AM

   @4 - Nick, no worries -- you can find -someone- who will ship to Thailand, I think. Check this link: { Link }

   The first choice (at least as displayed to me) says they'll ship to Thailand for US$35 plus $35 "bank transfer fee". Maybe I could get you a deal... ;)

1. 7  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 5/31/2005 9:46:48 AM

   When I worked at McDonalds in high school (Where I grew up it was a badge of honor to get a job there), we were indoctrinated to the concept of suggestive selling. If we did not do it, we were dinged. If we did do it, customers got mad if it was too "in their face".

   But if we were as lucky to get the impulse buyers like Ed, we were good to go.

   Out of curiosity Ed, what was it that led you to the impulse buy? Was it keen product placement? Did you walk buy, pick it up, and say "Hey this is kind of cool"? This kind of buying is where stores really get you.

   As far as the extended warranty, when I worked for the now defunct Sun TV and Appliances in Ohio, we got a 3-5% commission for selling a product and a 40-50% commission for selling the extended warranty. There is the economics for the sales person, even though Best Buy (I think) does not pay based on commissions. And why does it continue? because much to Clark Howard's chagrin, foolish people buy them when they make little sense and don't buy them where they do.

1. 8  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 5/31/2005 9:52:14 AM

   @7 - I worked at Burger King myself...

   To answer the "what was it" question... I was planning to buy a thermometer like that sometime soon, anyway. As it happened, I walked through the aisle at Best Buy where they were located on my way from the home theatre section to the DVD section. So, it was definitely a walk by, pick it up, kind of thing. I know all about product placement -- worked in retail for four years myself, and I know how important endcaps and storefronts are -- but in this case, it was just a random walk-by.

1. 9  Jeremy Teran  | 5/31/2005 10:18:49 AM

   I was at Best Buy yesterday and the clerk said they don't work on commission. This was after he asked a guy if he wanted to get the xtended warranty for his new CRT. On the idea of fastfood workers - can someone explain the differece between a "Regular" size drink and a "Small" size? I asked for a small drink at a place that sells only "Regular" and "Large" sizes. The worker told me they don't have "small" sizes. I told my wife that the next time I stop there I'll ask for a "non-large" drink.

1. 10  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 5/31/2005 10:36:03 AM

   Clark Howard on "Ripoffs: Extended Warranties":

   { Link }

1. 11  Brian Benz http://www.softwaresoapbox.com | 5/31/2005 11:59:00 AM

   It's true, Best Buy salespeople are not on commission for extended Warranties - but they do get a bonus based on how many they sell. They will tell you there is no commission, but the bottom line is that they are compensated for you buying a warranty - and they are encouraged to deceive you about it. It's semantics but still deceptive.

   If you want to really piss them off, ask for the extended warranty, but tell then you don't want them to put anyone's name in the "salesman" spot on the form. They don't get anything anyway, so it shouldn't make a difference, right?

1. 12  Tom http://www.TomsRant.com | 5/31/2005 12:11:30 PM

   YES YES YES YES! I don't think the suggestive selling at the point of purchase is a bad thing, the problem comes when it is done with absolutely no thought about the item being purchased, the individual buying it, or the circumstances surrounding the purchase. It's harder to teach someone to actually look for clues about what might be suggested (like your batteries), but that can actually make for a better customer relationship.

   Also, when a suggestion is made based on actual brain activity rather than a script, it's pretty obvious and is not likely to be taken as offensive.

   Tom

1. 13  Jon Raslawski  | 5/31/2005 1:09:42 PM

   Ok -- now wait a second --- Ed, you have not yet experienced what creative and inventive things can happen to a $75 CD/MP3 player in the hands of an 8-year-old female and/or a 14-year-old male. My "small" investment in the BestBuy extended replacement program (I won't even call it a warranty) has now paid for itself 2-3 times over. Not everything I buy there falls into that category, but when getting something for my kids or my niece/nephew -- It's worth the few extra bucks.

   Grin,

   Raz ...

1. 14  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 5/31/2005 2:10:12 PM

   @13 - why are you even putting a MP3 player in the hands of an 8-year-old child anyway? If something breaks for that reason, I would call that a rip-off of the company:-)

1. 15  Ben Rose http://www.jaffacake.net/bensblog.nsf | 5/31/2005 3:00:03 PM

   Ed - Wireless thermometer? In my younger years ( I guess when I worked in McDonalds ;O) ) these things used to contain mercury or alcohol based liquid.

   It's funny how these things come about again in new technology. My grandmother used to talk about listening to the "wireless" and now I'm about to purchase a "wireless" myself { Link } in the form of a Sonos box.

   Extended warranties? Whenever you're offered one, decline and put the cost of them into a savings account. Whenever anything breaks, take money from the pot. You'll find you come out on top.

1. 16  Kevin S.  | 5/31/2005 3:21:22 PM

   I worked at Radio Shack in the early 1990s. I was a good salesman because I knew computers and electronics from a technical view, but I was lousy at most of their service packs, known as TSPs (Tandy Service Packs).

   It made no sense to sell someone a TSP on a $5.99 headphone for $19.99. I'm not making up the price; that's what it was. The headphone cost the store $1.99 and the one time I sold one, the lady went through them like M & Ms at a kids' party - at least one a week.

   As Clark Howard (see above link) has stated, I can vouch that TSPs are a way to make extra profit on an item. It's like a crap shoot; the company is betting that something doesn't go wrong with the product, so as to increase the profit margin.

   Add-on sales are key to padding the ticket. What's a toy without batteries? Why sell a battery burner DVD player or personal CD player without rechargeables? The sales coaching guides actually suggested add - on items to most things over $100. In those days of selling 8088s, V20s and 286s running on BIOS - based MS-DOS (with a shell program over it) a hard drive was an extra. Memory above 128K (yes; remember those days?) cost about $200 per chip; maximum addressable was still 640K.

   I digress.

   So... yes. Service contracts are a huge waste of money, unless you're buying something of questionable quality or where the cost of downtime is unacceptable (such as with production servers).

   By the way - the "savings cards" that every supermarket (and other retail outlets) want you to carry is used to create a demographic of your personal needs. The coupon that your friendly market spits out is based on what you bought and paid advertising by the

1. 17  Colin Williams http://www.guttedgeek.com | 5/31/2005 5:09:01 PM

   Great gadget - whats the range like?

1. 18  tonyo - the new implants work very well thank you  | 5/31/2005 5:29:20 PM

   so.. what ever happened to opening the door and sticking your head out to see if it's cold, hot, wet, dry or that a big space alien has just eaten your neighbors house?

   Find out that with your wireless thermometer ! :)

1. 19  Joe Litton http://joelitton.net/ | 5/31/2005 6:24:51 PM

   I do plan to buy one of these wireless thermos. The attic areas here in Florida can reach 150F, and so I am going to be installing a couple of solar-powered attic fans. This wireless thermometer will be just the ticket to allow me to gather some stats for a couple of weeks before installing the fans and then have good data after the install to let me know whether I made a wise investment in the fans or was a total clod and simply added some holes to the roof ...Looks like I need to head to Best Buy (which is *always* dangerous).

   Oh, and Jess, tell Matt we all think he's burning hot ;-)

1. 20  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 5/31/2005 6:39:30 PM

   @19 I wondered when someone was going to pick up on Jess's phraseology :) (oh, and Joe, that's a GREAT application for the thermometers)

1. 21  Mike Lazar  | 5/31/2005 6:57:38 PM

   I got a wireless weather station from the Sharper Image. Yes, I know I could pay less. Yes, I know I'm paying for a name. Don't care. I even believe The Onion (read it immediately if you don't already) had a blurb recently along the lines of "Hammacker-Schlemmer refuses to be oversold", stating, "If The Sharper Image has an item more expensive than us, we'll charge more, or your money back!" Anyway, his weather station had a remote rain gague as well that tells you rainfall in past day/week/month/season. Invaluable info for a gardener. It also has the temp, humidity, highs/lows, yada, yada. Great gadget. Now, for the part on maintenance contracts. I bought one for this (not the cheapest wireless weather station out there). Turns out, the rain gague isn't functioning properly. I called Sharper Image, and I IMMEDATELY was talking to a person. No voice prompts, no numbers to punch in, a live person. Something to be said there for that. I told the rep the issue, and she immediately issued a RMA for me. No questions asked. Under standard mfg warranty I would have been hosed since it was a 90 day warranty, and I got the gift for Emily at Christmas and I didn't discover the issue with the rain gague until May. So for me, an extended warranty was worth it. I normally get the extended warranties on big purchases. Then, if the slightest thing goes wrong in that time frame, I bitch up a storm and get a new one. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, right? OK, far too long a posting. Back to my beer.

1. 22  Nathan T. Freeman  | 6/1/2005 3:58:33 AM

   @7 - "When I worked at McDonalds in high school..., we were indoctrinated to the concept of suggestive selling."

   I think you'll love this as a controls story then, Chris. When *I* worked at McDonalds, a friend and I practiced what we called "mandatory upsell" at the drive thru. If a customer drove up and said "I'd like a burger, fries and a Coke," he got a cheeseburger, large fries and large Coke. I think in a year of doing this, we got called out exactly once on why the price ended up being so high.

   You might recall that store managers occassionally listen on the drive thru intercom. And you might, therefore, wonder why we never got asked "why didn't you ask what size?" The answer is that we did, once, by the most astute manager we had. We explained the practice. She said "what are you going to do when someone complains?" "Well, we've been doing it for 4 months and not one complaint."

   She kept quiet.

   In the meantime, our store got several district awards for drive thru performance and sales figures. :)

1. 23  Jess Stratton http://www.mattandjess.net | 6/1/2005 7:51:46 AM

   @19, @20, yeah, that was one of those *click send* "dammit!" moments. :-)

   The only service contract I've ever bought and will always continue to buy is the Road Hazard contract for tires from Sears. $8 per tire, and for the life of the tire, if you ever get a flat, all you need to pay for a new tire is another $8 to include this new tire on the same plan.

   But if the tire was $120, I probably wouldn't go for it if the plan itself wsas $150. :-)

1. 24  Ben  | 6/2/2005 7:00:10 AM

   @3

   Yeah, I live in the UK too and it used to drive me mad. We have very few proper electronics shops on the high street - the places you'd go to buy things like Palm handholds or an ipaq or whatever are all owned by the same group anyway so it's a no win situation. You'd get all excited about your new purchase but dread having to take it over to the sales guy as you *knew* you'd get the extended warranty hassle - a real pain.

   That's one thing that really annoys me. It never seems to be enough for the retailer for you to go into a shop any buy one thing. They always seem to push something else at you.

   It seems to be the golden rule of sales - "The customers buying something, make them buy as much else as possible".

   Well, surely the golden rule should be "The customers buying something - be friendly and polite". Simple.

   I know which shop I'd go back to.

1. 25  Hosun Lee  | 6/4/2005 12:06:26 AM

   CompUSA had (may still have) a great warranty. If you buy their warranty, you can return it within the life of the warranty for full store credit.

   In other words, buy a $200 hard drive now. Two years later, you return it, buy a new extended warranty (~$40) and get $200 store credit to use on that new graphics card.

   A friend of mine's been running on the same warranty since 1995, I believe. He has had no problems repurchasing the plan every time he goes back.

   I don't know if every CompUSA offers this plan.

   Otherwise you could always stick with Costco's lifetime warranty on any electronics equipment they sell. I've heard of people returning HD TV's after 2 years.

1. 26  Sam  | 6/29/2005 4:33:47 PM

   Here's a good one - I phoned Applebee's last week to place an order for pickup and was greeted with a single run-on sentence announcing their "new" drive up/pick up service where you sit in your car and they run the food out to you for pickup. After this breathless greeting I said, "Hi, I'd like to place an order for pickup"; she replied, "Okay, but you have to come into the bar to get it, we don't bring it out". uhhmm.....