Poor Salesmanship Rant

JohnMCA72 · #1 07-13-2010, 02:27 PM

I went to a used gear shop to pick up a smaller bass cabinet yesterday. I told the salesman which one I'd like to check out. He proceeded to hook up a head, grabbed a bass off the wall, & started noodling away. He never even handed the bass to me, or ask me to pick one off the wall to play with! Not that I was there to buy a bass anyway, but who knows? Maybe if I'd gotten one in my hands, I'd have fallen in love with it & made another purchase! As it was, I heard what I needed so I bought the cab - nothing more, not even strings (they didn't have what I wanted, anyway).

I just can't believe how stupid some people can be sometimes (although I should know better)!

jaywa · #2 07-13-2010, 03:20 PM

Wow... that's weak. Either he was arrogant enough to think he could make the amp "sound" better than you could, or he was just totally clueless.

Either way, major Fail.

G RICH 5 · #3 07-13-2010, 03:32 PM

There is a shop here in the metro Detriot area that has given me the same type of stories as the OP. The owner, for lack of a better term, when asked if one may check out an amp-will hand you the crappiest bass in the store to use. He will also plug in a high end bass into a cheap 10 watt practice amp. This dill weed has no clue about anything.

ggunn · #4 07-13-2010, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnMCA72

I went to a used gear shop to pick up a smaller bass cabinet yesterday. I told the salesman which one I'd like to check out. He proceeded to hook up a head, grabbed a bass off the wall, & started noodling away. He never even handed the bass to me, or ask me to pick one off the wall to play with! Not that I was there to buy a bass anyway, but who knows? Maybe if I'd gotten one in my hands, I'd have fallen in love with it & made another purchase! As it was, I heard what I needed so I bought the cab - nothing more, not even strings (they didn't have what I wanted, anyway).

I just can't believe how stupid some people can be sometimes (although I should know better)!

Didn't you even ask to play through it yourself?

Davidruby · #5 07-13-2010, 04:49 PM

Sounds like you had a lonely musician on your hands, not a salesman. A salesman would have wanted your money and found the fastest way to get you to open your wallet. A bass player would have done what he did and played the gear you wanted. Good story to tell.

JohnMCA72 · #6 07-14-2010, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ggunn

Didn't you even ask to play through it yourself?

No, I didn't bother. I heard what I needed to hear to accomplish my mission that day, & really didn't want to deal with the guy any more than necessary. I may go back another time to check out basses - or maybe not & shop elsewhere.

thumpbass1 · #7 07-14-2010, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnMCA72

No, I didn't bother. I heard what I needed to hear to accomplish my mission that day, & really didn't want to deal with the guy any more than necessary. I may go back another time to check out basses - or maybe not & shop elsewhere.

Don't be intimidated by any sales person. It's okay to say "Hey I really want to try that instrument out for myself." and be polite about it. If they get in a huff, walk out. I'm thinking the person you dealt with was being a bit clueless, and not so much an outright jerk. Dealing with true jerks is a whole other issue that one has to navigate carefully, before deciding to either put up with a bunch of crap to get something that is worth putting up with their nonsense in order to get, or let them know that they've just lost the sale, and tell them why they ticked you off.

jaywa · #8 07-14-2010, 10:51 AM

The salesperson is there for your convenience... not the other way around.

Too many people in the "service industries" still are not getting this concept. And they had better adopt a new mindset PDQ or the current economy will deal harshly with them.

perogato02 · #9 07-14-2010, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davidruby

Sounds like you had a lonely musician on your hands, not a salesman. A salesman would have wanted your money and found the fastest way to get you to open your wallet. A bass player would have done what he did and played the gear you wanted. Good story to tell.

yep, I rather have one of those then those greased, siliconed slaes persons that are the other side of the spectrum

BigOldHarry · #10 07-14-2010, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnMCA72

I went to a used gear shop to pick up a smaller bass cabinet yesterday. I told the salesman which one I'd like to check out. He proceeded to hook up a head, grabbed a bass off the wall, & started noodling away. He never even handed the bass to me, or ask me to pick one off the wall to play with! Not that I was there to buy a bass anyway, but who knows? Maybe if I'd gotten one in my hands, I'd have fallen in love with it & made another purchase! As it was, I heard what I needed so I bought the cab - nothing more, not even strings (they didn't have what I wanted, anyway).

I just can't believe how stupid some people can be sometimes (although I should know better)!

Having worked at a few music stores (as have many here), I think I can tell you that they usually screen potential employees very well. If they have a pulse and look half cool, they get the job. Sad.

JTE · #11 07-14-2010, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnMCA72

As it was, I heard what I needed so I bought the cab - nothing more, not even strings (they didn't have what I wanted, anyway).

So, even though he was a dork, you reinforced that behavior? I wouldn't. I'd have told him that I wanted to try the cabinet, not listen to him try it. Without that, no sale.

John

Yerf Dog · #12 07-14-2010, 11:23 AM

I would not have bought the cab.

jaywa · #13 07-14-2010, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yerf Dog

I would not have bought the cab.

I'm not sure I would have in that situation, either. But maybe the OP really needed the cabinet, and/or the sales dude's behavior didn't upset the OP enough to make a difference.

sarcastro83 · #14 07-14-2010, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ggunn

Didn't you even ask to play through it yourself?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnMCA72

No, I didn't bother. I heard what I needed to hear to accomplish my mission that day, & really didn't want to deal with the guy any more than necessary. I may go back another time to check out basses - or maybe not & shop elsewhere.

If you find communicating with other people to as tiresome as you make it sound, consider shopping online from this point forward?

Thunderthumbs73 · #15 07-14-2010, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarcastro83

If you find communicating with other people to as tiresome as you make it sound, consider shopping online from this point forward?

+1,000.

Both sides failed here. The OP failed to ask for the instrument to try it for themselves. The salesperson failed for not asking the OP if they would like to try it for themselves. Equal responsibility, if you want my honest opinion.

dwm74 · #16 07-14-2010, 02:09 PM

Similar thing happened to me at Sam Ash when shopping for a bass combo. I asked the sales guy if I could try out a certain amp and he goes and finds their 'bass specialist'. Nice enough guy, but he grabs a Jazz bass and starts playing some slap with scooped mids and other stuff that I don't play. I mentioned I'd be playing metal/hard rock on a P-bass through it, assuming he'd realize it's a different animal than the J, but he didn't seem to care. he just wanted to keep showing me the licks he knew. Then the sales guy who was standing there acting like the 'specialist' was truly awesome, didn't want me to turn up the amp past 4. It was a Monday night, and not another soul in the store, so it wasn't like I'd be disturbing another customer. But he TOLD me this amp would rock. (I guess that was supposed to be good enough for me <roll eyes>.) Needless to say I wasn't about to buy an amp that I couldn't try out firsthand.

Against Will · #17 07-14-2010, 02:31 PM

So you, instead of asking him if you could play it yourself or not buying the amp, you sat like a meek church mouse and bought it anyway, then come on here to complain?

No Sympathy!

jaywa · #18 07-14-2010, 02:43 PM

I wonder how these music store salespeople would react if they went to buy a car and the guy at the dealership said, "well I can't let you actually drive this car, but I'll take you for a ride." Probably would be a no-sale.

Different degree of investment I know, but same principle.

JohnMCA72 · #19 07-14-2010, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Against Will

So you, instead of asking him if you could play it yourself or not buying the amp, you sat like a meek church mouse and bought it anyway, then come on here to complain?

No Sympathy!

Honestly, I didn't really care. I found out what I needed to find out about the cabinet, & took care of my business. If anything, I avoided a distration from my business. Like I said originally, I wasn't there to audition basses. And, I don't have any need to spend my day showing off in a guitar store. The point that I apparently failed to make was that the sales guy didn't know that, & even a mediocre one would have tried to "up-sell" me by making a point to put something else into my hands on the off chance that I'd like it & want to buy it too (or instead). It just annoys me when people can't or won't do their jobs.

To be fair, maybe the store has a policy about not risking having any joker off the street cranking away on their speakers? If so, maybe the guy was doing what his boss said.

No "sympathy" was sought here, at least not for me (maybe the shop manager?). Sounds like the "right" thing to do would have been a choice of:

- Waste the rest of the day noodling around on basses that I didn't intend to buy.
- Leave in a huff & come back another time to complete my business, wasting even more of my time.
- Leave in a huff & not come back at all, never buying the cabinet that I wanted in the first place.
- Spend the money I'd planned to spend on the cabinet on a bass that I didn't go there to buy, & leave with a bass I don't need & without the cabinet I did need.

bassplayer8953 · #20 07-14-2010, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnMCA72

Honestly, I didn't really care. I found out what I needed to find out about the cabinet, & took care of my business. If anything, I avoided a distration from my business. Like I said originally, I wasn't there to audition basses. And, I don't have any need to spend my day showing off in a guitar store. The point that I apparently failed to make was that the sales guy didn't know that, & even a mediocre one would have tried to "up-sell" me by making a point to put something else into my hands on the off chance that I'd like it & want to buy it too (or instead). It just annoys me when people can't or won't do their jobs.

To be fair, maybe the store has a policy about not risking having any joker off the street cranking away on their speakers? If so, maybe the guy was doing what his boss said.

No "sympathy" was sought here, at least not for me (maybe the shop manager?). Sounds like the "right" thing to do would have been a choice of:

- Waste the rest of the day noodling around on basses that I didn't intend to buy.
- Leave in a huff & come back another time to complete my business, wasting even more of my time.
- Leave in a huff & not come back at all, never buying the cabinet that I wanted in the first place.
- Spend the money I'd planned to spend on the cabinet on a bass that I didn't go there to buy, & leave with a bass I don't need & without the cabinet I did need.

Judgment call, you made it, now you have the cab, business has their $$$, everything's cool...

...but I'd think twice about considering them for the purchase of a bass...if I couldn't play a bass I was considering, there's no way I'd be parting with my cash...