...I must admit that I normally like to shop at BB. I do my research ahead of time and then go and pick out exactly what I want. No point in bothering with the salespeople who, for the most part, know nothing about what they are selling.
I recently bought a Sony large screen HDTV. As I was getting ready to pay for my purchase and go home to tinker with my new TV, the cashier asked me if I wanted to buy an extended warranty. I NEVER buy extended warranties. My last large screen TV, a JVC, lasted for many years without any problems.
Anyhow, I politely refused the service contract. The kid insisted, telling me that it was REALLY a good idea to buy a service contract. Trying to make light of the situation I told him that if the TV broke, I'd just buy another one. The the kid mouths off: "We'll you must be really rich if you can afford to do that." I looked at him straight in the eye and said: "As a matter of fact, I am." "Must be nice" the kid mouths off again. "Yes, as a matter of fact it is!" I chuckle, thinking that I have diffused the situation by using humor.
But the kid is actually dumber than he looks. He goes back to telling me what a great idea it is to buy the extended service. Again I refuse. Then the kid says that Sony HDTV have a defect and sooner or later the picture tube will fail. Now I am getting pissed off. With a loud voice I ask him to repeat what he just said about defective Sony TV's. And he is dumb enough to repeat it in front of other customers.
So I ask him, loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Are you telling me that BB sells defective prodcuts?" He tries to back down, but I won't let him off the hook. I keep grilling him about his statement. Finally, a store manager shows up and I explain the whole situation to him. The store manager apologizes profusely, he is sweating bullets because his employee has stated in front of other customers that BB sells defective products.
The manager asks how he can make things right by me. I tell him that I ticked off and that I am ready to take my business elsewhere. BB can tell, by putting in your phone number, how much you have bought at the store. He now knows that I am a regular customer so he is worired about losing my business.
To make an already long story short, he took off $300.00 off the TV.
Not a bad deal. Afterward I felt bad, being such a load, but then I keep thinking about all the poor slobs who feel pressured to buy useless service agreements and then I stop feeling bad.
:rolleyes
BTW, the kid is still working at BB and, presumably, he is still selling service agreements to unsuspecting customers.
