The Gentle Art Of Shopping Self-Defense

A very dear friend of mine shared a shopping story with me that made my customer-blood boil.  My friends’ mother, a very spry and active septuagenarian, still drives, shops and does most all of her household routines herself, including work in the garden.  She still handles all of her weekly shopping needs with no assistance and can spot a bargain a mile away.  But, like many folks her age, technology can be tricky, the younger generation seems to be completely in tune with all of the intricacies of shopping for technology items but for older folks not completely up to speed with complete information there can be some potholes in the road.  Shopping for tech items is not always cut and dried and you have to do some research.  All things being equal, shopping for a gallon of milk or even looking to buy a new car is not as difficult as it used to be, but technology can be a little quirky.

So, that brings me to the subject of this yarn—cell phone shopping.  My friends’ mother decided to buy a new cell phone for the first time in 10 years, she had relied on her husband’s phone and shared its usage.  Finally fed up with the constant bickering over who erased a text message or photo, she decided she needed her own device again.  After consultation with her daughter who is up to speed on all of the cell phone intricacies, mom set out to make her purchase.  She arrived at one of the better-known stores (a Bell creation), most of the experience was uneventful as my friend’s mother made her phone and plan selection.  Looked like this would be a successful store outing with no strings.

Not quite, just as the sale seemed complete and the only thing left to do was to put the phone in the traditional complimentary company bag, the young man behind the counter saw an opportunity for more income.  The sales associate then let friend’s mother know that she would have to buy a charger cable in order to charge her new phone. Now, I am no rocket-surgeon, but I remember that cell phones include the charging cable in the box with the phone.  Unfortunately, the spry septuagenarian was unaware of this and at the recommendation of the ambitious, money-hungry, young associate she bought a $25.00 charging cable.  My friend’s anger was palpable, I completely understood it and empathize with those who go through this constant abuse of customers.

However, before we condemn the young associate to the gallows, we must look at his corporate masters to fully understand why such a thing would happen.  The people who work behind these counters aren’t paid squat, they are incentivized to push accessories and the ubiquitous, useless extended warranty.  The only way store associates make money is by being a little pushy on items that are normally in addition to the sale of a cell phone.  This is once again the symptoms of a system that only works for the few at the top and leaves everyone at the bottom trying to con their fellow citizens out of the almighty dollar.  Still, I find it hard to imagine that it could be that easy to cheat someone especially of an elderly age, but hell there are thousands of them out there trying to do it by phone daily.

And why would the young associate try to sell his unwitting customer an unneeded power cable anyway, when there are several add-on products for cell phones?  Things like the protective cases, carrying pouches, belt cell phone holders, screen covers, USB car chargers and such.  With all of these options available, why would the associate opt to sell my friend’s mother an expensive cell charger that she doesn’t need?  It could be ignorance, as the associate may be new and has little experience and didn’t know what other options are available but is pressured to sell add-ons.  I, however, believe that it was easier to convince an unsuspecting customer that they needed something that was critical in the daily use of the phone, even though the cell phone package already included it.  I also believe that even though the corporate cretins who rule our world may not have encouraged this behavior, they do little to prevent it.

There seems to be a little bit of a movement to bring back union organizing in this country and I believe its time to start working on one for customers.  There has been some effort to form consumer organizations, though those efforts rarely have any teeth and seldom get anything done except in extreme cases such as pesticides but that usually requires illness or death to get action.  We need to form a customer-union where we can demand that we get at least reasonable quality in the products we buy and the service that we get.  It has just become the “new norm” as our politicians would have you believe that this is as good as it gets.  For piss sakes, if that is true please take me back to the old norm where customers had value and meaning.

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @ 2019 All Rights Reserved