Forum Moderators: buckworks
I had a customer email me about the price on a widget I sell. He said he wanted to buy it, but my price was too high. I told him that I thought my price was fair, and left it at that. I didn't expect to hear from him again.
Instead he kept sending more emails. His first email said that the price of the widgets had dropped. He knew that because the manufacturer had changed the Suggested Retail Price on their website. They did change it, although I don't know why. But they didn't lower their prices to their retailers, they raised them as of January 1st. I explained this to the customer.
He shot another email back with a link to a site that had the widget priced $15 less than I do. I suggested that, if he's comfortable buying from that site, he should do so. This should have been the end of the conversation, right?
Wrong. He emailed me back and said I was in denial about the manufacturers lowering prices, and that he would buy the widget from me if I lowered my price.
At this point I realized I was dealing with someone who's a couple of cans short of a six-pack, so I didn't reply to his email. In fact, I don't want him as a customer, as I can only imagine the problems.
Where do these people come from?
I also periodically get absolute misers who want to beat me about the head on shipping. I have a flat shipping rate for about 150 of my widgets of $3.50, which includes first-class plus delivery confirmation in a rigid cardboard mailer that protects the widgets from being crushed by the post office's sorting machines. I will get someone emailing me offering to buy one widget if I will send it in a regular envelope with a first-class stamp on it. I tell them "Go ask [Major Ginormous Widget Seller Inc.] if they will do that for you and see what they say. If they will send you a widget for that, so will I." Some will still try to argue. One guy emailed me for a couple of months. The weirdest thing was that other people were selling the same widget he wanted and their shipping was more than mine! Sheesh.
Luckily I don't get too many people like this. They can try one's patience, that's for sure.
About 2-3 times a week we get an email from someone that wants us to match a price on some other website - with a price that has not been updated since around 2002.
On one occasion with a rather persistant pest, I asked why he did not just buy it from that other company. The answer was that when he called the phone was disconnected.
You would think that might be a clue, but not to some people it seems.
I asked why he did not just buy it from that other company
People who try to negotiate prices are usually working the system. That is, playing stores off against one another trying to get the price lowered.
One reason why you should never lowball prices in writing. The email becomes evidence they submit to the other store with the low price guarantee!
He got more and more irate when I kept telling him that we would not open a new package (thus making it used)since it would never fit his truck anyway. He them told me he was a machinist and "could make anything fit". I then asked if he was a machinist, why couldn't he simply drill two holes where he wanted them?
I then told him quite clearly that I didn't want his business and that he should go somewhere else, said goodbye and hung up. He called back immediately, and asked if we were near a major intersection (we were), and then said he would be by the office in 20 minutes to beat me up and drive his truck through the front window. And I had better be there or he would take it out on the employees.
So then I had to file a police report and have an officer wait there for a couple of hours to make sure this looney wasn't actually coming. I traced back his phone number and name, where he lived (15 hours drive away) but the police wouldn't/couldn't do anything about it since the call was not recorded.
Aren't customers fun sometimes?
Those are kind's of people I picture when customers do stuff like that online. Some people just obsess over stuff.
Usually, this is all I need to do; these crazy customers have no intention of contacting another business and allowing me to follow-up. Occassionally, I do end up price matching when they do as requested -- but I don't mind as they have proven to me that they are indeed choosing to do business with me as opposed to anyone else. However, if I still get the feeling they are shady in some manner, I suggest they do business with the other company as they have already done all the leg work.
