Monday, November 03, 2008

New Price $9.99

The other day I was on a mission at a major Canadian retailer, looking for something Tuffy P. saw in their flyer (which they didn't know even existed), when I stumbled upon a display for furnace filters. By chance they were the very same furnace filters we use in our furnace. I knew this because earlier that same day, I changed the filter and installed the last one. They were selling them as pairs, for $9.99, a good price for a furnace filter of that quality.

Here's the thing. They had a big screaming yellow sign set up at the display which read, old price, $9.99 (this had a big X through it), and then in bigger font, NEW PRICE $9.99. I immediately found a sales associate and pointed out that as a consumer, I expected the new price to be at least one cent, the smallest possible unit, less than the old price. The sales associate scanned the item and said, "no sir, it's $9.99...the sign is correct". So I politely asked the fellow to find a manager and tell that manager that a customer asked just what kind of narcotics the promotion people were on when they decided to sell the idea that $9.99 was a better price than $9.99. The sales associate agreed to this, and, well, I felt just a little bit better.

As I walked away, I started seeing these screaming yellow price promotion signs everywhere in the store. Maybe a quarter of them had the same problem-the price before was the same as the price after. I consulted another sales associate. "Oh, yeah, I seen these. They get generated automatically by head office. The price is correct." "Don't you think the after price should be just a little bit better than the before price?" "I never thought about it."

In all, I consulted seven different sales associates. I expected that if I kept at it, I would find someone, just one person, who would look at the sign and say something like, "Geez, that's really a stupid mistake, isn't it? I'll get it fixed right away". Nope. It didn't happen. Seven sales associates and nobody thought there was anything goofy about the signs. They all accepted that whatever "head office" did, no matter how silly, had to be OK.

Doesn't anybody care anymore?

7 comments:

Candy Minx said...

Spectacular!

What a rolling folly. Well...I bet you could find some ad exec who designed the idea that the signs represent that there isn't any inflation. "We could put prices UP, but we are keeping them at same price no inflation therefore we are terrific" or some such. I admire your shopping and interview skills.

I have to spend a lot of time looking at prices at oen grocery store we got to because everything is lke a puzzle 3/5.00 or two for one...but not unless you buy three. I dunno...

Wandering Coyote said...

Let me guess: Canadian Tire?

I would also expect someone to go "oh yeah...weird..." but, having worked retail for many a year, this is something completely out of their control. I don't think it's that they don't care; they're just powerless. But, they might not care after all. Crappy retail jobs don't inspire people to get all enthusiastic...

zydeco fish said...

Man, that's hilarious. I suppose the sales associates don't get paid enough to care.

mister anchovy said...

WC: yep

A said...

The least they could have done was raise the "before" price so you'd think you were getting a deal! I think even that would make me happy. "Head office" is such a mysterious entity that it's probably hard to argue, but I'd feel silly working in a store that operated that way.

(Yay, commenting is free and easy again!)

Gardenia said...

Hmmmm is Canada practicing the "new economics?" One of the tricks down here is to have a "sale" but mark the item up first, so that actually one is paying more than if the item had not been on sale.....now, either the people that set these things up are really dumb, or they think we are - one of the two.

sp said...

They're probably not paid enough to care.