Member-only story
Deal … Or No Deal?
A not-so-cool sales tactic
R C Hammond in his series WWYD (What would you do?) reminded me of a time my husband and I were buying new joggers.
We were serious distance runners at the time.
Bear in mind it was a long time ago but the cost of those joggers is still firmly embedded in my psyche, an outrageous amount of money.
Still, they felt so good.
Two pairs of shoes would have seen as parting with $500.
“Would you like some nicer shoe laces?” the assistant asked.
I have to say the laces were ordinary in the extreme and didn’t quite match the shoes, so I said yes.
“So that’ll be $510,” she answered brightly,” to which, after making quick eye contact with my better half I said, “No don’t worry about them.”
“So no shoe laces?”
“We’ve changed our minds,” I answered. “No shoes and no laces. I assumed, given the cost of the shoes, and the cheap laces on the shoes, that the replacement laces would be thrown in.”
“Oh they can be,” she answered all too quickly.
“Thanks all the same,” I answered sweetly. “but we’ve still changed our minds,” and headed for the door just in case my husband caved in.
