Being a new home owner, I'm finding it challenging to furnish my humble, yet cute, abode.
Finding a bed has been rough. My parents were wiling to donate a mattress set, but transporting it to the mountains would prove challenging, particularly in a Miata. A friend offered to help, but the weather presented some difficulties, so I began exploring other sleeping options.
I found a "bed in a box" at Wal-Mart, once my retail idol, and now a Company whose stock I really need to sell from my portfolio. The bed in the box claimed to offer the comfort of a bed five times its price. Cool. And it could barely fit into the trunk of a Cabrio - even better.
My parents were dubious. Who has ever heard of buying a bed in a box? I convinced some other friends to pack it in their SUV, offering free holiday weekend accomodations in exchange for delivering the bed in a box.
I was excited to try it out. As I pulled back the cover to insert the air mattress, I noticed a huge stain on the underside of the mattress cover, and a stray paper towel, perhaps left by the prior inhabitant of said bed. Nasty. I unrolled the memory foam layer to find that the stain had soaked through. Super nasty. Gross. Eeew. Ick. Blah. Give me the bleach and rubber gloves nasty.
So, the mattress got packed away and transported back, where it will get shoved back into the box and returned to Wal-Mart.
In researching other furniture options, I happened upon a couch I may be interested in purchasing. Despite my preference for white and cream colors, I've decided to go with someone a bit darker to hide potential stains. So, I had to restart the futon / sofa bed search. With a decent model at a decent price discovered, I started my hunt to support local businesses and get the best deal and quickest delivery times. I found the model carried at www.peoplesfurniture.net, where they state "Lowest Prices...Period."
Here's the conversation I had when I called the toll-free number:
Me: "Hi. I'm calling about the Metropolitan Casual Convertible you have online. I found that same couch for $360.99 including tax and delivered elsewhere. Given that you state you offer the lowest prices, period, I wanted to give you the opportunity to win my business and beat that offer."
Sales person: "Well, I can't help you. I'm just a sales person."
Me: "OK. Well, is there someone there who may be able to help me?"
Sales person: "No, but I'll let the manager know you called, and I'll tell them."
Me: Pause. "So, are you going to take down my phone number, or should I call back when the manager is in."
Sales person: "Oh. You want me to take down your phone number? Um. Well. OK."
Me: "Is there a better time to call when I might be able to catch a manager in?"
Sales person: "Um. No. You can try calling the warehouse."
Me: "Thanks."
So, I dial the number and think that I should let the manager know about the lower price elsewhere and how their sales person handled this situation. If I were a manager, I would sure want to know of such a lack of initiative.
Manager: "Hello."
Me: "Hi, I was hoping to speak with a manager."
Manager: "Why?"
Me: "Well, I found your website and just called the toll-free number. I spoke with the sales person there who referred me to the warehouse to speak with a manager."
Manager: "Why? Is it about a shipping issue."
Me: Wondering whether shipping issues are quite common with this vendor, "I saw the Metropolitan Casual Convertible on a competitor website for $360.99 delivered, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to win my business by meeting or beating that price."
Manager: "Oh, we don't do that."
Me: "But your website states that you offer the lowest prices, period."
Manager: "If they can afford to offer you a better price, that's on them."
Me: "So, your tagline is actually a lie? You don't definitively offer the lowest prices or even entertain offering them?"
Manager: "Yep. In this case, it's a lie."
Me: I am truly dumbfounded at this point. "OK. Well, good luck with that business model." (Said in a tone that attempted to avoid sarcasm and intended to evoke wide-eyed, innocent bewilderment.)
Manager: Click.
One day, my condo will be furnished. You just wait and see. "Period bed" and pricey futons be damned.
Posted by christina at January 17, 2006 03:23 PM