In fact, we have a quota for how much in discounts we’re supposed to give every month (but not for sales, although we have goals for that). It’s weird. As a specialist, I can mark down just about anything up to $50 off as long as it’s not more than 25% of the total price.
For appliance sales, that typically amounts to the cost of our haul-away service for an old appliance or the vent kit and plug for a dryer.
Not really. We’re supposed to be free to give discounts for all sorts of legit reasons like stuff that’s in damaged boxes, etc. In appliances, however, that’s never an issue since everything is shipped from a warehouse for delivery and installation. Rarely do we sell anything on the floor, so Appliance Specialists have an abundance of discounts to hand out. Also, we process checkouts through a separate system set up for processing orders that have to be delivered and may need additional parts and installation staged called OrderUp— not the standard POS checkout system you encounter when walking out of the store when you’re leaving with cart of random stuff on a typical visit.
So, we, as a department, have a pooled goal of discounts we’re supposed to give for whatever, but the need for legit discount is far out weighed by the company’s demand that we do so. It’s very weird. So, most people working there just… don’t? I thinks that’s shitty.
Instead, I find creative ways to give people discounts. And I do it secretly to people who I think need it so they don’t feel they need to ask. I do it most often to people who either express or it seems are in financial difficulty. And I’ll do it openly if it’s a deciding factor in their purchase or a factor between them purchasing a piece of crap and a slightly better model. Find lots of ways to give that discount to lots of people.
I also do it to push landlords from not fucking their tenants so hard. This is another place I work VERY HARD. Landlords suck. They only want the cheapest garbage for their tenants, not matter how snazzy the place is. Fuck them. So I always do my best to convince the landlords not to buy whatever is cheapest, regardless of the appliance. And I’m pretty good at it, too. I’m very good at convincing landlords that investing in, at least, reliable, mid-range appliances will both save them money in the long run, add value to their rental units, and not make their tenants hate their fucking guts at the same time. And I’m doing that for every one of you out there who has has too small a fridge, a shitty, plastic-lined dishwasher that leaked everywhere and never got your dishes clean, and every one of you who had to deal with that shit GE wash tower that never worked right and ripped your delicates apart. I fucking hate landlords.
The Robin Hood of hardware stores! As a middle aged dude this impressed me more then the iPhone thing we spoke about earlier. This is careless heroism if anything.
I fucking hate landlords and I do my best to keep them from fucking over tenants with shitty appliances by doing whatever I can to get them to buy something slightly better. I even fib sometimes and tell them that whatever we have that’s cheapest is backordered or somehow not available in the timeframe they need in order to cajole them into buying something just slightly better. I know it’s a little dishonest, but it outweighs their fuckery my miles.
In fact, we have a quota for how much in discounts we’re supposed to give every month (but not for sales, although we have goals for that). It’s weird. As a specialist, I can mark down just about anything up to $50 off as long as it’s not more than 25% of the total price.
For appliance sales, that typically amounts to the cost of our haul-away service for an old appliance or the vent kit and plug for a dryer.
That’s interesting - thanks for explaining. I guess this is baked in, and designed so people feel like they are getting a great deal?
Not really. We’re supposed to be free to give discounts for all sorts of legit reasons like stuff that’s in damaged boxes, etc. In appliances, however, that’s never an issue since everything is shipped from a warehouse for delivery and installation. Rarely do we sell anything on the floor, so Appliance Specialists have an abundance of discounts to hand out. Also, we process checkouts through a separate system set up for processing orders that have to be delivered and may need additional parts and installation staged called OrderUp— not the standard POS checkout system you encounter when walking out of the store when you’re leaving with cart of random stuff on a typical visit.
So, we, as a department, have a pooled goal of discounts we’re supposed to give for whatever, but the need for legit discount is far out weighed by the company’s demand that we do so. It’s very weird. So, most people working there just… don’t? I thinks that’s shitty.
Instead, I find creative ways to give people discounts. And I do it secretly to people who I think need it so they don’t feel they need to ask. I do it most often to people who either express or it seems are in financial difficulty. And I’ll do it openly if it’s a deciding factor in their purchase or a factor between them purchasing a piece of crap and a slightly better model. Find lots of ways to give that discount to lots of people.
I also do it to push landlords from not fucking their tenants so hard. This is another place I work VERY HARD. Landlords suck. They only want the cheapest garbage for their tenants, not matter how snazzy the place is. Fuck them. So I always do my best to convince the landlords not to buy whatever is cheapest, regardless of the appliance. And I’m pretty good at it, too. I’m very good at convincing landlords that investing in, at least, reliable, mid-range appliances will both save them money in the long run, add value to their rental units, and not make their tenants hate their fucking guts at the same time. And I’m doing that for every one of you out there who has has too small a fridge, a shitty, plastic-lined dishwasher that leaked everywhere and never got your dishes clean, and every one of you who had to deal with that shit GE wash tower that never worked right and ripped your delicates apart. I fucking hate landlords.
The Robin Hood of hardware stores! As a middle aged dude this impressed me more then the iPhone thing we spoke about earlier. This is careless heroism if anything.
I fucking hate landlords and I do my best to keep them from fucking over tenants with shitty appliances by doing whatever I can to get them to buy something slightly better. I even fib sometimes and tell them that whatever we have that’s cheapest is backordered or somehow not available in the timeframe they need in order to cajole them into buying something just slightly better. I know it’s a little dishonest, but it outweighs their fuckery my miles.
It’s honestly an admirable struggle.