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Transformers Collectors Consumer Ethics


Goktimus Prime

TF Collectors Ethics: Price Negotiation  

6 members have voted

  1. 1. Is haggling dishonest?

    • Yes
      0
    • No
      6


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So I posted this on my FB status today and received a response from one person I did not expect. The other person's identity has been changed to protect their privacy.

 

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Goktimus Prime I went to buy Rescue Bots Heatwave the Fire-Bot today from Myer... original price $25, on sale for $16 -- but there's a small scratches on the chest and sloppy paint app around the windscreen frame. So I asked for a further discount and the lady said no because there was nothing wrong with the toy. I pointed out that the toy had imperfections in the paint apps and asked for further discount. She s...aid that it was already discounted, but I said that if this toy had been flawless, it would still be at the sale price - but since this toy has imperfections, I asked for a further discount. She said no and asked me if I still wanted to buy this toy. I said, "Okay but I'm not happy about paying full sale price for a flawed toy. I'll just have to write a letter of complaint to the management." She then offered me a further 10% discount on the toy. That's right... all that haggling for a discount of $1.60. :)

 

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Maynard MacGuffin hmmm are you trying to be "Dishonest" now?

 

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Goktimus Prime Maynard MacGuffin: Precisely WHERE is the dishonesty???

 

FACT: The toy does have physical imperfections (I can provide photographic evidence if you want)

 

FACT: It was the last toy at the store.

 

I asked for a further discount, and they gave it to me. I didn't lie or cheat about anything in order to get it - everything I told the staff was the truth.

 

I'm struggling to see where you think I've been deceitful in any of this. It's not as if I've done a price scam -- I asked the store if they were willing to give me a further discount, and they voluntarily agreed to do it.

 

This is entirely different from say this: I purchased by Transformer Kre-Os from Kmart and Target at full RRP. I later discovered that Big W are selling them for cheaper. Someone on the board recommended that I buy the Big W ones and bring them back to Kmart and Target and get refunds from them. Now THAT would have been dishonest! (needless to say I didn't do it)

 

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Maynard MacGuffin Voluntarily Agreed? More like FORCED based on "I'll just have to write a letter of complaint to the management"

 

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Maynard MacGuffin A flawed toy is not Myer's fault but Hasbro or the factory that manufactures it. She has already given you 10% discount. What more do you want out of it? Not happy then don't buy.. go to other Myer that has not got the LAST toy!

 

My point basically is... before you say something about others, please review your actions okay? Never do it doesn't mean you didn't or never thought about it.

 

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Goktimus Prime Saying that I was willing to lodge a complaint is NOT forcing. You may see it as a form of coercion - but ultimately it's not forcing. Forcing someone is when you give them no choice - she still had the choice to sell me that toy at the full discount price. Again, WHERE is the dishonesty I ask you??

 

I've never found this toy anywhere except at this Myer. And I have been searching for months in various different stores. I was honestly starting to believe that the small transformable Rescue Bots never came out in Australia until I found them at this one Myer. I'd actually given up hope finding them - so I don't know about your area, but around where I am they're HELL rare to find.

 

You're right, I did have the choice to not buy it. But I thought I'd ask for a further discount since it had imperfections. And the attendant could have stuck to her guns and said, "Sorry but the product is still in usable condition and reasonably fulfills its intended function, so we are not legally obliged to redress you." But she CHOSE to instead to fulfill my REQUEST and give me an additional discount.

 

And that's really all I did -- I **REQUESTED** a discount. She said, "I can't give you any further discount, so do you still want to buy this toy at this price?" and I said, "Yes but I'm not happy about it" <-- which is TRUE. I wasn't happy about it. Then I told her that I would write a letter of complaint - which was honestly something I was thinking about because I was that unhappy.

 

So again... where is the dishonesty??

 

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Maynard MacGuffin trying to be dishonest

 

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Goktimus Prime Yeah alright -- are you going to write up a proper rebuttal or are you just going to keep trolling???

 

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Maynard MacGuffin Well, just see above. That's all

 

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Goktimus Prime You keep saying that I'm being dishonest, and I keep asking you to explain WHY -- but you haven't. Please explain, otherwise it just looks like you're trolling.

 

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Maynard MacGuffin See above for my whole point if you don't get it. Self rx

 

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Maynard MacGuffin Self explained

 

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Goktimus Prime Evidently it's not if I'm not getting it. Elaborate. PRECISELY how have I been dishonest?? Explain this.

 

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Maynard MacGuffin Cos u said refunding is dishonest. So each have their own views. Stop thinking you at right all the time.

 

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Goktimus Prime When did I say refunding is dishonest??? I said price scamming is dishonest... that's not the same thing. And I never said other people weren't entitled to their own views or that I was right all the time... WHY are you attacking me???????

 

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Goktimus Prime You're entitled to vehemently disagree with me, but I don't appreciate the hostile tone and the way you're attacking me on things I haven't been saying in this discussion

 

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Maynard MacGuffin I'm not attacking you. Just telling you that there will be times you'll bite your own tongue. Thank you

 

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Goktimus Prime I don't even see how that's even relevant to the initial post of this discussion...

 

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...I shut the discussion down after this point.

 

But what I basically did was haggle - which I should add is something I VERY RARELY ever do. I usually either accept the price or just don't buy it - but as I said in the discussion, these toys have been hell rare to find, and when I finally did find one it was flawed. And as I said, the store attendant could have just kept on saying "No" and stuck to her guns. I already had by credit card out ready to pay the full discount price when she changed her mind and offered me a 10% discount.

 

Maybe I was a bit coercive in my bargaining posture... but I don't think I was dishonest. Or have I missed something here and does Maynard MacGuffin have a point??

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i think the only time i would ever haggle for something is if the packaging was damaged or i could see visible damage on the product itself, and it just so happens to be the last thing on the shelf but really don't feel like driving to another store or resorting to e-bay for it. For instance, when it came down to buying an ROTF Jetfire. This was perhaps the last one I saw on a shelf at Target. The Targets in my area are well spread out. Now when I saw this thing, it was thrown in the back of a pile of Optimus Primes and Megatrons. I looked at the package and noticed the factory tape had been sliced, 2 of the corners were damaged with tears wide enough to stick your finger in, and the plastic display window was slashed and showed stress marks. Now, knowing that this figure was a hot commodity and I searched the other stores in my area only to find this one at this particular Target, I had to have this one. I took it to the register and it rang up $44.99, with tax it ran to $48.47. That's where I stopped the cashier and said, "I don't think I should be charged full price for that." She asked why, and I told her about the package damage. She called her floor manager over and I explained to him that I wasn't going to pay full price for a figure in a damaged box. He then tells me, "You're going to give it to your kids anyway. What's the big deal?" BAM!! Rock in my pond. I asked for his manager right away and told him to hold his thoughts till the manager arrived. Manager arrives, situation explained on my behalf, floor manager explains his side, store manager hooks me up with a %30 off. What warranted that? It was the assumption the floor manager made about me as a customer. He thought that I have kids at home, and that I was going to just give this Jetfire to them to wreck and destroy. In my 9.5 years of retail and customer service, I learned that assumption equals insult and insult leads to complaint. Bottom line, the consumer has the hidden, but well-known, right to haggle if the product they are getting is damaged.

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Hardly see haggling as "dishonest", especially for majorly damaged / mangled toys.

 

But generally, I don't try it unless I'm unsure about the product, or think nobody else is going to buy it. (I've only done it twice. Once on some Cybertron figures in really mangled packages, and a plush tiger missing it's eye. I think I did try it at TRU once, offering to clear out a whole batch of toys they had sticking around for ages if they gave me a discount. Didn't fly, didn't buy. Nothing more was said.)

 

However, the haggling over Heatwave could of been left at "no". Not every toy is going to have perfect paint apps, and the way they're packaged, it's expected that they'll be scratched. I think the "I'm writing a complaint" to get your way was somewhat pushing it.

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However, the haggling over Heatwave could of been left at "no". Not every toy is going to have perfect paint apps, and the way they're packaged, it's expected that they'll be scratched. I think the "I'm writing a complaint" to get your way was somewhat pushing it.

Pushy perhaps, but dishonest??

 

Besides, at the end of the day, it was only a measly discount of one dollar and sixty cents. :P

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Depends on the motivation for haggling. If haggling were dishonest, I'm going to Hell for all the vehicle transactions I've made over the years :tflaugh

 

In your case, the blemishes are equal to a 'scratch and dent'. However, retail rules make things convoluted. Sure, they give discounts for defective items, but what your situation called for was a stacked discount, which is usually a big no-no for a cashier. You basically asked her to violate her company's policy. You probably didn't realize that. Being a retail cashier twice in my life, I know that entering multiple discounts (outside of sale+coupon) puts a flag on your log. She likely applied the second discount knowing she would be queried about it and have to chalk it up to 'customer satisfaction'.

 

To save both of you grief in the future, just ask once. If she says no, ask to speak to a floor manager and explain the situation to them. No use getting two people flustered. ;)

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Yea, those toys are packaged so kids can "demo" and then nag to their parents about it. i couldn't expect for all of those figures to be perfect and clean. If i plan on buying something, i'm doing it knowing well that the price on the shelf is what i'm going to pay at the register. if that figure is not worth it, i leave it on the shelf. I live in an area where i can more than likely go else where and find what i want in the condition i want it in. There's no point in fighting for a 10% discount to save $1 or $2. Not worth it to me anyways.

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yeah..you was definitely coersive there goki...i really see that as the only wrong thing you did...threatening her is probably something you shouldnt have done.....and like blitz ive worked retail twice....so i know hes correct about what he is saying....you most likely got her in trouble just to save a buck or two...not good karma man....

 

now ive done this one i think....when the 25th anniversary reissue of armada unicron came out....i already had an original one open....and i wanted one MISB.....well i went to 6 different TRU to find one....at the 6th one i finally found one...and the box was mangled to hell....the minicon wasnt in his hand..it was rolling around on the bottom of the box....the corners was smashed in...and the plastic window had a dent in it.....i think at the time he was retailing for close to 50 bucks.....and it was the only one on the shelf....i asked if they could go check in the back to see if they had anymore....no such luck....so this was literally the last one in my area cuase they said they was not going to restock them either.....i asked talk to the manager...

i told him my story....so he knew right off i was a collector....and i told him i wasnt willing to pay full price for it seeing as i wanted to keep it MISB....well he went and called someone or the other...and he came back.....15 bucks...thats all paid for it.....

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