Saturday 17 July 2010

The Hard Sell

So I take advantage of Clarke’s shoes mega sale and treat myself to another pair of proper sensible shoes.

As the sales woman wraps my purchase she asks if I want to buy the “special polish treatment” cream to protect the shoes’ leather from scuffing.

I say no thank you.

She then tries to sell me the spray form equivalent.

Again I say no thank you.

She then talks about another spray for waterproofing my shoes.

I say no thank you.

Then she points to a shelf full of bags and says “I think that bag will go very nicely with these shoes”.

Guess what I replied, dear bloggie friends?

Charlie says: I hope you were polite.



Have a wicked Saturday everyone! :-)

32 comments:

Beth Zimmerman said...

ARGH! Pushy sales people are the worst!

Beth Zimmerman said...

ARGH! Pushy sales people are the worst!

Beth Zimmerman said...

ARGH! Pushy sales people are the worst!

Beth Zimmerman said...

ARGH! Pushy sales people are the worst!

Deborah said...

That was very funny but true!
Have a nice weekend!
xxoo
Deborah

Anonymous said...

I used to work in a shoe shop, so here are my sage pieces of advice:

1 - Staff get commission - or certainly used to - on product sales, not shoe sales.

2 - That protector really does work and I spray all my shoes with it, even though I stopped working in a shoe shop over 20 years ago!

penandpaints said...

I know it's so irritating. A friend worked in a shoe shop ( not clarks but similar) and she said the manager was always on at them to sell 'sundries'. She hated badgering people into buying stuff they didn't want but if the manager was there she had to, or else.
Apparently they were told the shop made more money on the creams and stuff than the shoesies!
At the end of the day they'd tally up who sold the most or least, and they would get a telling off.

Sigh. My friend doesn't work there any more, she's happy to say!
All you can do is say a polite 'no thanks', but it is annoying.
Did Charlie approve of your sensible shoes?
x

Brian's Home Blog said...

Oh my, my Mom has lots of boxes with that name on it, well, she did until we wore them out! I'm sure she was quite polite Charlie!

laughingwolf said...

lol... i can just imagine!

Katnip Lounge said...

Oh, our Mommy would have been rude! She can't WAIT to get a cane and start whapping people with it.

Ann Best said...

Charlie: I hope she wasn't!!

Sounds so familiar.

Have a lovely weekend, says Jen. I say so, too.

fairyhedgehog said...

And all we get to see is the box? I demand shoe photos!

Kea said...

Oh, my favourite sandals were a pair of Clarks. I wore them for *years* before I had to trash them, walked everywhere in them, and I've never found another pair so comfortable, not even other Clarks' styles. *Sigh*

I'm sure the salesperson has a quota to make, or perhaps also gets a commission. I know that decades ago, when I worked in retail (women's business wear), I had a weekly quota to make...which I seldom did, not caring a whit for sales. (It's a wonder I wasn't fired. LOL.)

Anyway, I hope they are comfy for your feet!

Smooches to Charlie; have a wonderful weekend!

dArtagnan Rumblepurr/Diego Hamlet Moonfur said...

Charlie sure seems to approve (of the box at least!)

Theresa Milstein said...

I hope these shoes treat you better than that last pair!
Where's a picture of the actual shoes?

I don't like when salespeople try to sell extras. Who knew a shoe store had so may products to push besides shoes? If it was a cute handbag, I may have been tempted...

Susan Fields said...

I never buy the shoe protector either, and I probably should, as I'm pretty rough on my shoes. Oh well!

DJ Kirkby said...

Lucky you, I love Clarke shoes! as for the pushy sales person well, almost worth it for a pair of Clarkes!

Talli Roland said...

Don't tell me about any shoe sales! I don't want to know - I may have to be tied down.

hehe, pushy shoe sales people. I worked in Aldo and I refused to do the hard sell. I just felt so awkward doing it!

Summer Frey said...

Oh, Clarks....sigh....I do love those shoes. And I do un-love those salespeople...

Hannah and Lucy said...

Looks as though Charlie is eyeing the box up and saying take them out then the box is mine! Hope these sensible shoes are kinder to your feet than last weeks pair.

Marg said...

Very strong of you to say no every time. But so typical of silly sales ladies. But you were very good Jenn. Charlie must have been whispering in your ears.
Charlie, go get that bag. Have a great week end.

Bossy Betty said...

Mom didn't grab a plastic bag and place it over the head of the salesperson and hold it there, did she? No, I didn't think so.....

umi_e said...

Hi... That happened to umie when she at the Clark store!

* Umie just say NO... THANKS... but the sales girl keep showing other things so umie said - SORRY... I AM NOT INTERESTED... ermmmm umie is unpolite :(

Jacqueline said...

Hope your shoes are comfortable and you love them; sales people can be very irritating=many times it seems they are too pushy or no where to be found!...Give precious Charlie many kisses from us!...Enjoy your day and your new shoes!...xoxo...J, Calle, Halle, Sukki

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

One more reason I love to shop online :).

Musings of a Mother said...

This same thing happened me last week when I was buying L new shoes from Clarkes. They tried to sell me one kind of protector and I said no because, there really is no kind of spray that can stop kids shoes from scuffing. Then at the till they tried to sell me something else, I think they were stickers that you put on the toe of the shoe (I'm sure they're for kids only because I'd say they'd look quite funny on adult shoes) and again I said no. I didn't get the handbag pitch though thankfully. All they were short of doing was asking me if I wanted lifetime insurance on them too!

Anonymous said...

I'm so tired of this! They even do it in my bloody bank (which has already *got* my money, what else does it want?) :)

But they all have these scripts they have to follow and they're worried you might be the mystery shopper who's going to report on them to hq and make their mates miss out on a bonus....

Beth Zimmerman said...

I see that Google chose to publish my comment 4 times! Sigh! I didn't do that on purpose ... I promise!

Anonymous said...

good woman! its much harder to say no than "okay rob me altogether", or, "if the shoes will be that bad at keeping my feet dry give me two plastic bags instead"!

Karen Jones Gowen said...

She must be getting paid on commission. But I really wish you had bought the bag and given us a picture of it because I love bags. And shoes. And my shopping budget is zilch this summer.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

I'm sure I would not want to be in retail and have to try to convince a customer to purchase something they did not want. I'm glad you held your ground and kept being polite!

Amy & the house of cats said...

I hate pushy sales people! I remember when I worked retail - I hated having to try and upsell stuff. So annoying!