I never do “rant” posts, mostly because I get over things pretty quickly, but after some pretty crappy shopping experiences yesterday I just need to get this out. The fact that it’s still bugging me today is pretty rare.
The day as a whole started out pretty well. College graduation for my brother-in-law, lunch with some family then off to run some errands.
The first stop was Lowe’s. We were just running into grab one quick thing for the backyard. We walk in and immediately there is a guy pitching solar. I’m pretty sure it was an outside vendor (can’t remember the name of the company), but he had a prime spot right inside the entrance. He starts his pitch about “Are you interested in solar?” and we continue walking saying “No thanks”. We’re going already turned and heading toward the section we need and he keeps going on with “But it’s free installation!”. My wife yells back “No thank you!” and we keep going. Nothing too big, but the fact that I’d already said “no” and kept going, and kept yelling after us really pissed me off. I already have solar installed, but I don’t owe this guy an explanation. Unfortunately for Lowe’s, it’s their store, and this affected my shopping experience at their store.
The next stop was Best Buy. We’re checking out TVs as we prepare to move to a new house. We’re looking at a couple when a sales guy comes up to ask if we’re looking at TVs. I explain we’re comparing different models and wanted to get a visual. He offers to show us a special deal they’ve got going on. As it turns out, he doesn’t work for Best Buy, but he’s a DirecTV rep. This part actually worked out because I was going to shop for deals on TV packages for the new house anyway. The pitch goes well enough, and we’re going through the paperwork to switch over when we move. The sales rep has to call in to DirecTV to get everything set up. As he’s giving information over the phone, I’ve corrected him 3 or 4 times on things I’ve written down (I know my hand writing isn’t the best in the world but a 2 and a 4 do not look the same).
While we’re waiting another sales guy comes up and asks if we’re doing OK. We say yes, and he explains that we look mad. I try to explain that it’s been a long day and we’re just tired. Which I never should have had to say. The fact that this guy had the balls to come up and say we looked mad is driving me nuts.
I know this doesn’t seem like too big of a deal, but I’m blown away at the crap this guy came up to say. And I realize this was a DirecTV rep, but amazingly I never had a single Best Buy employee say anything to me the entire time I was there. Clearly a great sales team.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for putting up with my ranting. Like I said, I rarely stay upset over things like this, but this all happened yesterday and I’m still really angry over this.