The Glade 4.0

Completely irrelevant. I wasn't asking that he divine knowledge of my system from thin air.

I ask that he know that the product he is handing me has a requirement that, if not met, will render said product useless to me and point out that my system needs to meet that requirement.

Not everybody is an expert on what they are buying. That is the job of the salesperson, to help guide the consumer to a purchase.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

I have never, when purchasing a 220v appliance, had the salesman ask, "do you have a 220v outlet?"

Let alone had them ask me what amperage my service was, and what kind of load the rest of my house put on it.

If I paid for installation, they send a guy out to measure and check outlet types for them, so they get it right. Otherwise, installation and supporting infrastructure is my responsibility.

If you're buying an individual computer component, and not bringing your computer in to have the upgrade performed for you, you've already placed yourself into "power user/hobbyist" territory. Thus, the base assumption is you know what you need and what you're doing, and will ask specific questions if you know you're behind on the latest tech.

Now, if you paid for installation, and they threw the card in without paying attention to the wattage, and tried to sell you "well, we installed the part you wanted to buy," yeah, they're being lame. They should have called you when they got to installing it with a "Sir, the part you've selected is not going to receive adequate power to function properly, if at all. Would you like to select another part? I can recommend this, this, or this as sufficiently compatible with your system. Or, I can suggest upgrading the power supply, as well, with this or this."

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Ok, so not being an electrician, would trying to power a 220v appliance on a lower voltage service cause damage?

If so, then the sales person is truly an idiot because that opens him and his company to potential damages for repair to the electrical system in the customer's house.

When I bought a new washer and dryer, what it the salesperson did not ask to specify whether I wanted a gas or an electric dryer and the wrong one was selected and delivered to my house for installation?

A good salesperson is going to make sure that any product that carries a requirement has that requirement met before letting that product change hands.

It is impossible to be a 100% informed consumer about each and every product you buy. Sure, you can research and know what you are buying, but sometimes details are missed. Any details that may be missed by a less than informed customer can and should be addressed by a salesperson. After all, they do not want to jeopardize the sale, it's their job to sell...It's in their name.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

Since the plugs don't match, no.

No it doesn't.

That would be your fault. It's your house. Are you installing it, or did you purchase installation?

That depends entirely on what the expected proficiency level of the purchaser is. If you go to buy a car, the salesman doesn't care if you don't know to get an oil change every so often.

While that's true to an extent, there's a price point where you are expected to have some idea of what you're doing. Otherwise, you pay extra for a professional to do it.

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Yes it does. In our litigious society, people will look for someone to place the blame on to win a cash settlement.



Once again, irrelevant. An oil change is not an absolute requirement of making the car run. If the consumer doesn't know that an oil change is good maintenance, that will not impede their ability to use the car. Right up until the engine seizes.



Having a professional do it wouldn't change a thing if you were originally sold something that isn't going to work. In that case, the professional installer will then inform you that what he is trying to install doesn't fit/meet requirements, etc.

How hard is it to see that a person selling a product that has an absolute requirement ensures that said requirement is met so that the product is useable to the purchaser.

To quote myself in the clearest example I think I can present:



As the salesperson who knows the product, why wouldn't I make sure the customer knows it is an expansion and requires something additional to be played. This isn't just a made up example, I am certain I have had this exchange with people when I used to manage a retail game store.

This isn't about who is to blame or asking a salesperson to have ESP and answer questions I haven't asked. It is about what makes a good salesperson and one who doesn't ensure the product can actually be used by the person purchasing it is not good at their job. Plain and simple, cut and dried.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

So basically, you're just looking for validation that it wasn't your fault and you didn't do something dumb? The fact that nobody so far has provided this should tell you something.

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Did they give you **** about exchanging it?

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Nice try though.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

Personally, I don't rely on any salesman to know what he is talking about.

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And yet you're still going on and on about what the salesman should have done, from your point of view.

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No, going tomorrow to make an exchange. I know they are going to have no problem with it as I did specifically ask both the salesperson and the cashier if I could return it if there is any reason it would be incompatible. They said that regardless of whether it was open or not, I could exchange it as long as the UPC is not cut out.

As a matter of fact now that I think of it, I do believe that the salesperson did say to me that there was no reason it shouldn't work

Not to you Kaffis, but everyone else... As my last clear example of what I think a salesperson should do as part of their job:

Someone goes to ABC Computer software store to pick up the hot new computer game for their grandchild/niece/son/daughter etc. and has a salesperson direct them to it. Should the salesperson then inform the customer of it's requirements to run (PC or Mac, what graphics card do they have, How much memory)

That is what I am trying to get to the heart of. I am not asking to be babysat by a salesperson, but they have a job to do, and that is to sell product and be sure it stays sold. Otherwise, they are just step-and-fetch people.

It's not hard to see, but I have a feeling there is a little too much pride here for anyone admit to being wrong.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

No, I am going on and on because I can't believe a group of, what I assume to be, fairly educated people seem to think that what I am trying to explain is NOT a part of a salesperson's job.

I have worked retail and I know the management pushes people hard to make sure the product isn't coming back. That is all I am saying.

I am going back to the store to make my exchange a little wiser and a little more informed. I know I missed something that was vital to the purchase. I also know that the salesperson made a mistake that contributed to this failed purchase.

I am partly at fault, I can admit that; so is the store though. What I am amazed at is the fact that no one else seems to think a salesperson has a job to do other than pick a product and hand it to the customer.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

No. It's on the box.

Explaining it to someone who isn't going to be the player would likely do no good (say, Grandma), and the person who is actually going to use should just look at the box. You think the salesperson should go over every requirement with the consumer? "OK, now before I sell you this game, do you have Windows 7? Are you sure it's Windows 7, and not Windows Vista? What does your start bar look like? Your start bar. Your start bar. No ma'am, the thing at the bottom of your screen. OK, do you have 2 GB of RAM? Are you sure you have enough hard drive space?" If the customer isn't knowledge enough to know whether or not the game will run on his system, he's not going to be knowledgable enough to even answer those questions.

Farsky:

At first "I don't know" from the customer, a good sales person would then know who he is dealing with and explain:

"OK, since you aren't sure if this is going to run on your %giftrecipient%'s computer, make sure they don't break the shrinkwrap and have them check the requirements. If it won't work, as long as the shrinkwrap is still intact and they have the receipt, we can return it with no problems."

I would know. I have done this.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

If I purchase an oil filter from an auto parts store, I don't expect the salesperson confirm that my make and model is appropriate for the part. without my explicitly asking. If I buy an appliance I don't expect the salesperson confirm that plugging it in won't overload the circuit I'm plugging it into, without my explicitly asking. If I buy a computer component, I don't expect the salesperson to confirm that it's the right part for my rig, without my explicitly asking.


I think you nailed it right there.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Again......how could the salesperson know your PS rating, when you didn't even know?

How would a hardware salesman know what size pipe fitting you need, if he didn't know what size pipe you had in your home? Sure, he could tell you that the fitting he was selling your fits a 3/8" pipe, but if you don't even know yourself, what good does that do anyone? Then you go back home and find you have 1/2"........

If you told the salesperson you have a 300w power supply, then it would be on him to suggest a card that fits that demand. If he sold you something that needed more power, you would have a right to be upset at him. As it stands, he did what he could with limited knowledge of your hardware.

Have you read any of my responses? Because I believe I addressed this multiple times. Since I have repeated this many times, I'll say this one more time and then I am done. Better yet, instead of retyping it, I will just quote myself.



Salesperson does not need to know anything about my system. His job is to know the product that he is about to sell. If that product has a absolute requirement in order for it to be functional, I would make sense for him to find out if the customer can meet that requirement.

I don't get where you people think I am asking the salesperson to read my mind. I am suggesting that the salesperson know his product before attempting to sell it.

If a salesperson sells a product that may not work for the customer because he didn't take the time to find out if it will actually work/fit etc... then that is not a good salesperson. IT IS THEIR JOB.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

Um, yeah. Think I'll just move along on this one. Apparently explaining where you were wrong is doing no good, since you don't take to criticism well.

Good luck with that whole "I'm right and everyone else is wrong" thing you got going.

Amazing. You continue to act as if I am looking to blame someone else when I have said no fewer than three times that I accept some of the blame.

I am not going back to requote myself.

Have you read ANYTHING at all I have posted? A word? I am talking about the job responsibilities of a salesperson. I have accepted that I had a part in the failed purchase, but you have chosen to ignore that part and instead take a potshot at me.

How many more times do I need to spell it out for you? How many times to I have to repeat it? Can't understand the point I am getting at, so lets just insult the poster.

Nice.

MODS - I would now appreciate this thread locked. Since my point is being ignored and I am being insulted, I have nothing more to say here. I have kept this impersonal and have tried to address the subject, but some posters obviously can't keep to the issue and instead make it personal.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.