to think if you ask for a discount in a shop and you are refused you shouldn't be an arse to the staff?

[workshy]

over the last few years there has been an increase in the number of people asking for discounts on things which is understandable however, if the item is perfect condition, the answer in large chain stores is no

but I never mind people asking

what I do mind though is people's reaction when you politely explain that you can't discount

'I spend a lot of money in your store'
'well it was on offer the other week'
'I can't believe your prices are so high'
'well it's cheaper down the road' (if they have it in stock we will match price but if it's out of stock then no, sorry)

people can get really arsey about it -I don't make the prices up off the top of my head, I get told what things cost and we aren't in the business of haggling

arrrggghhhhh

and breathe....

I own a small furniture shop and depending on the mood i'm in the reply is either i can maybe give you £5-£10 off or if you can get cheaper from there then go and buy from them and stop wasting my time.

Probably shouldn't be in a job that requires good customer service
But no YANBU

I used to work in a shop and overheard a mother telling her child to 'haggle' with me.

I'd do it in a flea market, but not in a proper shop.

Is this common then? If I think something's overpriced I just don't buy it.

it's a daily occurance

I remember DH telling me that price you see on shop shelves isn't actually the price you have to pay - it's the price shops want you to pay, but not what you have to pay and you are within your rights to give them a reasonable offer. Anyone know how true this is? I just nodded and said something like 'Oh right ' to him when he told me. He is a serial haggler so thought it was his own little law he had made up.

Might go and fill up my trolley at M&S tomorrow and offer them £40 for the lot

Wow!

Can you tell me more? Am intrigued. I love hearing stories about badly behaved customers.

Besides, it might be theraputic for you!

he hasn't made it up thisisausername -sorry

technically we offer it for sale at a price, the customer agrees to pay that price, money changes hands and the contract of sale is complete

however shops don't have to accept the offer and very few chains will engage in any haggling at all -the number of people asking is very frustrating especially when the say they spend a lot of money in 'my' shop when they are spending £50 and I've never seen them before

He's sort of right. The price listed is 'an invitation to buy'. But if a shop refuses there's no point arguing! I used to work in a shop and hated the attitudes some customers have. Especially in big chains, it's not like the staff set the prices!

yes a daily occurance...often for me, an every few minutes occurance. I've talked about this often on MN. I run a charity shop and it is VERY fairly priced. In a poor area so maybe it's worse (the haggling and aggression). When I cover a shop in a posher area, it does not happen.
Often they are refused so come back and steal the item anyway.
I'm worn out with it all!
Their argument is...'well you got it free'..
Yes, but we have rent/wages/ rates to pay. We are a BUSINESS.
I hate how they say 'i buy here all the time You are my friend. You know me. I buy lots' kind of thing. (no they are not my friend). Yes but it could amount to maybe £1 or £2 a wk! grrr. i say to them,that I spend £60 a week and the garage never gives me a discount!
Also that my volunteers work for free and they only get 20% off.
It doesnt work though!

£60 petrol a week, that should be!!! sheesh. very long day fighting off the hagglers!

Fair enough, I knew there was some truth in it but he made it sound like you could toss a tenner on the counter and walk out leaving me wondering why he hadn't done such a thing when he saw me licking the window at Kurt Geiger.

I agree there is absolutely no need to be rude to staff when refused a discount though. We all know that the poor soul who looks like weeping behind the till isn't the one who decided on the price.

Personally I don't like the "squeaky wheel gets the oil " vibe there is now. Why should us less demanding folk be stiffed, for being polite.

I once saw this happen in a 'local' shop. The girl had about £150 worth of baby stuff on the counter and the guy who ran the shop was totting it up. When he gave the total, she started going off on one about how the presents were for 2 different women, the office has clubbed together to buy the stuff, it's worth so much, the man HAS to give her a discount. The man politely told her 'No, we are not that kind of business' before telling her fine he will take a fiver off. She went on and on about how it should be £10-20 less at least. He lost his patience at her and started putting the toys back and basically told her she pays it or get out. It was really embarrassing to watch. I don't know why she was haggling, the money obviously came from an office roundup, who was she saving money for? I reckon she was going to take the money saved and go buy herself something, she wasn't going to pass the discount on, was she?

If you watch some of those money saving expert things on the telly, the number of people that come on and say, yes, you should haggle, you can get the price down, is unbelievable.
If it's cheaper somewhere else, that's where I'll by it.
I'm not a haggler though, I can't do it abroad, it always reminds me of Life of Brian.
I certainly wouldn't do it in a High Street shop,
How the Hell can the assistant be made to make such a decision.

lololizzy Asking for a discount in a charity shop? FFS.

I have been known to haggle in chain stores, but would never give the shop assistant any grief if they said "no".

I love the "What'll you give me for cash?"

Uhm your items and the change.

Or the old chesnut "I'm very friendly with the owner"

Implying of you don't do what they want they'll be on the phone trying to get you the sack.

I think it's awful the number of times I see people trying to haggle in charity shops. They seem to have totally the wrong idea about what a charity shop is, ie selling stuff to raise money for a charity - not being charitable to people who want to come in and buy cheap stuff!

Sometimes people get quite nasty too. Even worse, they always seem to pick on elderly women volunteers - I have intervened a few times myself in that kind of situation. I doubt they'd ever be so insistent or abusive to a male assistant.

I used to get people trying to haggle when I worked in a hippy type boutque...as though it was frigging Marakesh and not bloody Manchester!

olgaga a lady in our local charity shop had a woman try to swap the coat she was wearing for one off the rack! Apparently the coat this lady had on was a cheap and worn thing though the ladt was rather posh...and the coat she wanted was designer and she was outraged!

My dh is a born haggling kind of person. He's had some success as well! The bedroom units we wanted were in the
bargain basement bit of Ikea, ex display and already discounted. He got another 16 quid off them just by asking!

He also got up about a years worth of finish when purchasing our dishwasher. A lot of the big stores can't take much off but might add a freebie. After spending ages over the price of our car he got a tank of fuel and got them to pay for transfer of our private registration!

yes olgaga....one of my volunteers (nearly 80 and worked FULL TIME for free (and by that, I mean 9-6 each day, between 5 and 7 days a week) for 15 years...got called a c**t

I get so wound up by these pi

I get so wound up by these people. HAVE SOME DIGNITY. I think my favourite one was "is there any discount on this?" "er...no...why would there be, it's not faulty?" "But it's the last one so can I have a discount because it's the last one in the shop?" "no sorry". In my head I was screaming "no you can't you cheap shameless mess"

If goods are damaged its worth haggling. My new belt has been used on a display I suspect as its clearly been done up hard on one hole. I don't care, but £5 instead of £12 was a nice surprise.

I got a chunk of a ski anorak for a top pocket press stud, almost certainly why it was in the sale to start with

I do haggle with car dealers.

Also I'm getting my dentist trained to minimum visits and clean them while I'm there, rather than another 10 mile round trip for the hygienist.

I hate people asking for a discount, because usually they are very rude when told no. I work in a second-hand bookshop, and our policy is not to discount (we sell on behalf of lots of dealers who price their own stock).

The worst ones are those who buy really cheap stuff, I had a bloke the other day say "£2 is rather expensive, do you think we could do a deal?"

No, we can't, because the book is reasonably priced at £2.

Dh has is own business. He has owned it for 18 months. We still have people coming claiming to be very regular customers. Yet they are surprised it has changed hands. When they have give us the 'we get a discount because we come so much' then I point out they haven't been in, in 18 months they all claim to have been 'down south' for a long time
Its become a running joke, my dad works there and beats them to it. When someone claims to be a regular dad asks them if they have been down south. :)
they all get really shitty when they are refused a discount.
dh will always ask if there is anything that can be done on price. But usually he will shop around and buy it in the cheapest place anyway.

'Yes, we give discount for volume' is a good response, 'how many would you like?'