Showing posts with label Sales people. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sales people. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Are You Really Getting A Deal?

I consider myself a very savvy shopper. I try and use coupons whenever I can, I shop sales and match up coupons with sales. I get a rush when I get a great deal. A lot of stores do ten items for ten dollars sales that you can mix and match or buy ten for ten dollars get the eleventh free. They seem to be popular sales from what I can gather but now a warning. Be careful; make sure the deal is really a deal and not something that they put up to make you think you are saving money when you aren’t. I wanted to share with you these two instances where I was in fact not getting a deal, one of them being that I was essentially paying more.

Back when Noah was still eating baby food, I would buy him the two pack fruits and veggies. A local store always included them in the buy ten for ten dollars get the eleventh free. I must have done it ten times before, until I noticed something. The baby food was 88 cents not on sale. I am not sure why I looked at the actual price; maybe I was looking to see where a certain food was supposed to be using the price tags on the shelves. I started thinking of all the times I had bought baby food during those sales. Was I really paying 12 cents MORE during the sales? Was I really getting one free with my other items? I tracked down an employee who was as dumbfounded as I was. I mean it happened all the time that they were on sale like that. Were they sticking it to the consumers with babies and making an extra 12 cents? Noah doesn’t eat baby food anymore so I am not sure if they are still running that sale. Be sure to check the original price with the sale price to make sure you are really getting the savings it sounds like. If it something I buy all the time and don’t pay attention to the non sale price, how would I know the item was not actually on sale and inflated?

Another time I have noticed things are not on sale are when they try and say it is when it really only costs $1.00 to begin with. For example 4 packs of pudding are $1.00 and they are often included in the 10 for $10 sales. I know you can mix and match but if you are raising a bunch of pudding monsters and buy the 10 for $10 you think you are getting a deal when you aren’t. In this case you aren’t paying more but you aren’t saving either. You are paying the same as you were if it was on sale or not on sale. It makes me wonder if we put too much faith in those sale price tags. I am sure not everyone takes the time to make sure they are getting a deal. I know that some people see the sale signs and decide to stock up. I know I have been known to do that as I am sure you have at some point in time. Most of the time you do get a deal, but occasionally there is no deal in sight. You have to also make sure you are getting a good deal.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

You Can Not Solicit in this Neighborhood!

I live in a really nice neighborhood and in our most recent newsletter there was an article about solicitors. This has become somewhat of a problem in our neighborhood. We have signs at both entrances of our neighborhood that say “No Soliciting”. The article said that if a solicitor comes to your door you should call the police. It doesn’t matter if they have a permit or not. I don’t like to answer the door if I am not expecting someone. I always check for delivery trucks or the mail truck out the window before I go to the door. The doorbell ringing is almost a daily occurrence with some kind of parcel or package. Normally the solicitors are respectful but occasionally they are kind of pushy. I will write about “magazine salespeople” at another time. I have a good story to tell.

Fast forward to today. The doorbell rings, its naptime I am upstairs watching TV and texting my friends. I get up and look out the window no cars and no trucks, not even a tractor or bulldozer in sight. I thought maybe it’s a neighbor so I go downstairs and there was a girl who I would say was about 16. First she was banging on the window, which kind of annoyed me. I reluctantly opened the door. She was like hi!! Her tone was like nails going down a chalkboard. I was like yeah what do you want. She was staring at me. I was upstairs relaxing. She was like don’t worry you don’t have to buy anything, she hands me a piece of paper and started her prepared speech, I stopped her and was like you can’t solicit here. It’s illegal. We have signs posted. You are going to get to the cops called on you. I was trying to be nice. She was like well do you know where I have to go to get permission? I was like no you can’t solicit here. She said I have a permit. I said it doesn’t matter permit or no permit it’s still illegal. She said should I call my manager? I said I think you should take it up with them. She said ok and I closed the door.

It is funny because my friend Brandy and I were talking about this the other day and again on Saturday. She had quite a few strangers come to her door. I told her we normally hide from strangers. Well you can never be too careful. Remember what happened to Mary Jo Buttafuoco? She answered the door innocently and Amy Fisher shot her in the head. Oddly enough I thought about that shortly after she left. I think I have seen The Long Island Lolita Story too many times on Lifetime Movie Network or something. I love that movie though. I am very interested in true crime and law.

I really don’t like solicitors. There are also the ones that try to trick you in to their goods and services, but I will discuss that more in an upcoming post. Another trick a solicitor will try is walking around saying oh I am working on your neighbor’s yard or house and I thought you would like my services too. I am having a special on such and such. That doesn’t work with me. It sounds too much like a scam. I am less likely to get services and goods from people peddling them door to door than if I am seeking them out on my own. Of course I have nothing against kids in the neighborhood selling candy or over priced gifts and wrapping paper. I was one of those kids once. I am sure you all remember I used to sell pictures I colored out of my coloring books. What do you think about solicitors? Does your area have any laws against them?