Have You Been Snubbed?

I was snubbed by a real estate agent when I showed up at an open house on my bicycle. I later told the agent I was working with about being snubbed, and he loved the story and told other agents about it. A few weeks later when I saw a listing for another house which sounded promising, I perused the house from the outside by bike, then called the agent I was working with and we met later at the open house that afternoon. I ended up buying the house and still live in it years later.
 
sales people at one dealership kept saying "do you love the car"?
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I was also target of this same relentless question when I last bought a car. I was completely confused why they would keep asking such a strange thing. I guess I finally gave them some non-committal "sure" just to get them to stop. Curious.
 
travelover said:
My idea of luxury is shopping Costco instead of Walmart. :LOL:
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Just came back from Costco. Wife looked at the glass case, and they had a $19,999 pendant. That's plenty rich for me. And I have not been buying wine at Costco for a while. Trader Joe's has my price range. :)

rodi said:
Don't knock costco out of the luxury business. I was there today and there was a bottle of booze that was $5k. What does that work out per shot? Pretty darn luxurious. (It was in a locked cabinet). I never noticed it because I don't peruse the expensive end of that aisle.
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Forget about the $5K bottle of booze. I am still building up courage to spring for a bottle of Cognac for $1.5K for my 60th birthday, which is still a while away. I need a lot of prep time to tell myself that for once in my life, I want to see if I can tell the difference between that and the several $150 bottles I have had and still have in my cabinet. Once thought I would do that for my 50th, then even forgot about my birthday.

And speaking of shopping, have you looked at the price of beef and shrimp lately? We just dropped $300 at Costco, and our cart was so empty (well, we had some non-food pricey items, but still). Perhaps I should have put this post on the "how you splurge" thread. Soon, just eating steak and shrimp will be considered splurging for the LBYM crowd.
 
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daylatedollarshort said:
The part I find scary is that presumably the love the car line must work on some / most of their other customers or they wouldn't keep using it. This is another marketing tactic I just don't get.

I think many of the people who post here are just wired differently than the masses.
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During my very brief (~a month) career as a car salesman during the two-day training class I was surprised at what works, and what the salespeople are told to say and emphasize. All emotional, no logic. So I suppose that's what works most of the time for most people.

So you're right. That stuff doesn't work on the people who post here.
 
When I think of most designer purchases, I just look at the celebrity lifestyles in the gossip columns and look at how the famous designers live. Any dollar I might potentially spend on their purses or perfumes would be used to fuel their already over the top lifestyles and take away a dollar from my own little FI fund.

Personally, I would rather keep the dollar, use it so our kids never have to have soul sucking, life force draining jobs or donate it to an elephant sanctuary.
 
Isn't "attitude" part of a retail marketing strategy? Salesperson attitude and product exclusivity are part of the value proposition for some successful brands.
 
splitwdw said:
It made me want to go someplace else to buy the corvette that I wanted. Not what he thought I could afford or handle. Just wanted to make sure he saw the commission he lost from the "little girl". :LOL:
I'll be ordering 2015 corvette this Fall. I'll make sure I take it back there as well!

Don't mess with little girls!
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Gee I dunno, I've read quite a lot about the 2015's, and I'm just not sure that is a car for a girl. On the other hand, Toyota has some nice wheels..:D:D;);)
 
Walt34 said:
During my very brief (~a month) career as a car salesman during the two-day training class I was surprised at what works, and what the salespeople are told to say and emphasize. All emotional, no logic. So I suppose that's what works most of the time for most people.

So you're right. That stuff doesn't work on the people who post here.
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We sold a car this week and shopped it around for best offer. One dealer offered $500 less than blue book, which we rejected. They asked what price we would sell it for, accepted that, did their usual keep us waiting for 20 minutes, then when it was time to fill out the pink slip they reneged and went back to the $500 less than blue book offer. So we just left and got $500 more at the next place.

That is another marketing ploy I do not understand. Why offer more then renege on their own offer? What does that do except waste their own time? Why would this ever be effective even on non-engineering brain type buyers?
 
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daylatedollarshort said:
That is another marketing ploy I do not understand. Why offer more then renege on their own offer? What does that do except waste their own time?
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Doesn't make sense to me either. Maybe they figure you'll sell for the lower price since you've decided to sell there and won't move on if they change the terms.

There's a lot about sales that I don't understand and probably never will. Maybe that's why I got fired.:LOL:
 
That is another marketing ploy I do not understand. Why offer more then renege on their own offer? What does that do except waste their own time? Why would this ever be effective even on non-engineering brain type buyers?
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I encountered this when buying a car as well. The deal we agreed to came back in writing slightly less than what we agreed - in their favor, and each of the three times the paperwork had to "go to finance" for processing it came back with "mistakes" in their favor. Plus long waits for no discernible reason. Maybe if customers have so much time invested they finally cave? My assumption is that this is standard operating procedure and they apologize and "fix the error" if they are called on it, but many people probably don't check and recheck such long documentation every time. A slimy business.
 
Walt34 said:
During my very brief (~a month) career as a car salesman during the two-day training class I was surprised at what works, and what the salespeople are told to say and emphasize. All emotional, no logic. So I suppose that's what works most of the time for most people.

So you're right. That stuff doesn't work on the people who post here.
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This brings back memories of my '94 Camaro purchase. Salesman was also glowing about the car, appealing to my emotional side. I told him that I don't fall in love with cars. To me a car must get me from point A to point B and I was looking for a sporty, functional car and that it would get a wash once in a blue moon. You'd a thought I kicked him in the gut based on the look on his face :LOL:.
 
I bought my new Lexus ES last year. I stopped at the dealership on a last-minute decision since I was in the area anyway. I was in jeans, probably a less-than-pretty T shirt, and hadn't shaved in 3 days (4?). The salesperson took me seriously, but when it came time to haggling dollars that was another story. Part of the issue was they found it difficult to accept that I was neither leasing or financing. It wasn't 'til I started to walk out that they then began to talk turkey in earnest.
Clearly, they "size you up" as soon as you walk in; sometimes they are wrong. I told them that I expected this treatment at "pedestrian" brands, just before I initially walked. I saw a change in their body language with that comment, and after then they talked seriously.
 
daylatedollarshort said:
We sold a car this week and shopped it around for best offer. One dealer offered $500 less than blue book, which we rejected. They asked what price we would sell it for, accepted that, did their usual keep us waiting for 20 minutes, then when it was time to fill out the pink slip they reneged and went back to the $500 less than blue book offer. So we just left and got $500 more at the next place.

That is another marketing ploy I do not understand. Why offer more then renege on their own offer? What does that do except waste their own time? Why would this ever be effective even on non-engineering brain type buyers?
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This.

I bought my new Lexus ES last year. I stopped at the dealership on a last-minute decision since I was in the area anyway. I was in jeans, probably a less-than-pretty T shirt, and hadn't shaved in 3 days (4?). The salesperson took me seriously, but when it came time to haggling dollars that was another story. Part of the issue was they found it difficult to accept that I was neither leasing or financing. It wasn't 'til I started to walk out that they then began to talk turkey in earnest.
Clearly, they "size you up" as soon as you walk in; sometimes they are wrong. I told them that I expected this treatment at "pedestrian" brands, just before I initially walked. I saw a change in their body language with that comment, and after then they talked seriously.
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And this.

Perhaps the thread should be retitled...Have you ever snubbed or been snubbed? :LOL:

omni
 
growing_older said:
I encountered this when buying a car as well. The deal we agreed to came back in writing slightly less than what we agreed - in their favor, and each of the three times the paperwork had to "go to finance" for processing it came back with "mistakes" in their favor. Plus long waits for no discernible reason. Maybe if customers have so much time invested they finally cave? My assumption is that this is standard operating procedure and they apologize and "fix the error" if they are called on it, but many people probably don't check and recheck such long documentation every time. A slimy business.
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This happened to me, too, when I went new car buying back in 1991. The Mazda dealer wasted a few hours of my time one afternoon with their nonsense. I walked out. A few days later I was at another local Mazda dealership and I happened to mention this problem I had with another dealership (I did not tell the salesman which one or even if it were a Mazda). the guy told me, "Oh, that must be XXX Mazda, We have people coming in here telling us about that all the time. We complain about it at our regional meetings because those annoyed car buyers often end up buying other (non-Mazda) cars." He turned out to be right. I bought a Geo Prism a few weeks later and the salesman and his manager did not do any of that stuff.
 
REWahoo said:
It doesn't always waste their time. Some fraction of those they try this on will cave and take the reduced offer.
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$500 for 1 hour of extra work by finding a dealer willing to pay blue book is like making $1M a year (2,000 hours X $500 per hour) after taxes and without commute, overtime or job stress.

That is not an amount I would ever pass up!
 
TrvlBug said:
...Salesman was also glowing about the car, appealing to my emotional side. I told him that I don't fall in love with cars. To me a car must get me from point A to point B and I was looking for a sporty, functional car and that it would get a wash once in a blue moon. You'd a thought I kicked him in the gut based on the look on his face :LOL:.
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I dunno.

I have been hangin' around here long enough to see many threads on cars, and so many posters are fairly passionate about their cars.

Just sayin'... :hide:
 
NW-Bound said:
Forget about the $5K bottle of booze. I am still building up courage to spring for a bottle of Cognac for $1.5K for my 60th birthday, which is still a while away. I need a lot of prep time to tell myself that for once in my life, I want to see if I can tell the difference between that and the several $150 bottles I have had and still have in my cabinet....
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High $$$$ hooch has never lived up to the price for me, good but not logarithmically great. $1.5K on ten bottles along with the chance to discover new favorites would win for me..... birthday last longer too.

Armagnac, Armagnac Brandy and Vintage Armagnac, Brandy Classics, UK - Buy online Vintage Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados, Eaux de Vie from Brandyclassics
 
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springnr said:
... $1.5K on ten bottles and the chance to discover new favorites would win for me..... birthday last longer too.

Armagnac, Armagnac Brandy and Vintage Armagnac, Brandy Classics, UK - Buy online Vintage Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados, Eaux de Vie from Brandyclassics
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As $150 is as high as I have gone (actually my wife has been buying for me mostly), that $1.5K will buy more than 10 bottles. I can line these bottles up and count them, when I get tired of counting my ducats.

But still, should I go to my grave wondering what that $1.5K bottle tastes like? Should I have regrets over something so easily settled, even if it goes against my LBYM? Decision, decision...

Either one cares, or one doesn't. About that expensive bottle, I mean. I can't seem to be able to make up my mind.

And people are spending a lot more money than that for booze. Incomprehensible!
 
springnr said:
Exclusive Cognac Collection - Andre's Las Vegas Restaurant & Cigar Lounge
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From that Web site:

Jacques Hardy, Private Reserve, Vintage 1777, at $35,000/bottle (there are just 4 bottles in the world)
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Wow, a Cognac older than the French Revolution! What a steal compared to the World Most Expensive Cognac at $156,700 according to the Guinness Book of World Records in 2011.

Even if they sell by the shot, I wonder if they take payment by installments? What's the interest rate they charge?

I would be snubbed for sure in these places. Worse, even after paying up to get a shot, I still would not know for sure whether that Cognac is supposed to taste like that, or if they have cheated and poured me some off-the-shelf XO that I can pay $5000 for the whole bottle. I could never be sure, could I?
 
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NW-Bound said:
As $150 is as high as I have gone (actually my wife has been buying for me mostly), that $1.5K will buy more than 10 bottles. I can line these bottles up and count them, when I get tired of counting my ducats.

But still, should I go to my grave wondering what that $1.5K bottle tastes like? Should I have regrets over something so easily settled, even if it goes against my LBYM? Decision, decision...

Either one cares, or one doesn't. About that expensive bottle, I mean. I can't seem to be able to make up my mind.

And people are spending a lot more money than that for booze. Incomprehensible!
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I don't wonder what the $1500 bottle tastes like. I don't care. It may or may not taste better to me than a 20/50/100 dollar bottle, and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that I would have buyer's remorse pretty quickly. Instead I delight in finding the bargain that punches above its weight class. I was pretty happy the day I found a bottle of whiskey from y favorite distillery on the closeout shelf for $5. Only problem was it was the last one...
 
Have not noticed if I've been snubbed yet. But now that NW approaches $4M and investment accounts top $3M, and the fact that I dress for comfort whenever I can, it will be fun to be snubbed. If that happens, I can laugh myself silly.


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