" Could I just ask ."...

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What is it about modern marketing that I am unable to enter a bank/building society/supermarket/dog food supplier eyc without the checkout assistant being compelled to go through an endless litany of " could I just ask if you have a loyalty card/ would like me to set up a consultation/financial review with one of our consultants ( sales team ) / have renewed your house,car,life insurance recently. It doesn't matter that I'm in the bloody places every sodding week buying the same items and dealing with the same checkout/counter staff. Just PLEASE give me some peace !
Rant from grumpy old duffer over ... the arthritis is bad today.

JohnnyO. o/
 
What is it about modern marketing that I am unable to enter a bank/building society/supermarket/dog food supplier eyc without the checkout assistant being compelled to go through an endless litany of " could I just ask if you have a loyalty card/ would like me to set up a consultation/financial review with one of our consultants ( sales team ) / have renewed your house,car,life insurance recently. It doesn't matter that I'm in the bloody places every sodding week buying the same items and dealing with the same checkout/counter staff. Just PLEASE give me some peace !
Rant from grumpy old duffer over ... the arthritis is bad today.

JohnnyO. o/
It twists my mellons too, if I had a loyalty card I would have presented it to you wouldn't I ? And no I don't want cash back, I would have asked for cash back if I wanted it! Makes my blood boil!!!!
 
I was in a grumpy mood in the Bull Ring in Birmingham when I was "accosted", by a Sky TV representative,...I gave him a verbal full swing of the bat and he replied very politely and I walked away with my monthly bill more than halved, a free Sky Q system installation date and free upgrade to Fibre Broadband for an extra 95p, all fixed for two years.
Maybe you should have a listen next time Johnny:)
 
Don't really need to listen to the same staff members I deal with every week asking me the same things endlessly. My insurance agent ( independent ) gets my insurance sorted ( I get special trade rate because of my previous occupation ), my pension is paid into the bank and I haven't had any signifigant improvement in my income since my last review by an independent advisor, rather than a bank employee without financial qualifications who can only offer services provided by that bank and associated companies. We have freeview which is seldom watched and I don't want any retail company building up a ' customer profile ' of this OAP's meagre buying habits.

JohnnyO. o/
 
The pressure is coming from the powers that be to increase “wallet share”. Of course the onus is placed on the lowly counter staff to harass and harangue the customer (or is it ‘guest'), who are usually among the lowest paid employees. But it doesn't stop there: whenever I have my car serviced, or I contact my bank, etc. I receive a questionnaire asking how my “experience” was. I have great sympathy for the poor front line employee who has to confront the public, as usually their performance assessments are dependent, in whole or in part, on how many “guests” they have touched. Only yesterday I had one such person following me in the grocery store asking me if I had a loyalty card, housebrand credit card, etc.; after telling her politely three times that I was not interested I finally asked her what part of NO she didn't understand. Bloody annoying!:mad:
 
I experienced this "potential customer" treatment in the USA first, many many years ago and I hated it.... if I need any help I'll ask for it...in the mean time I prefer to be left alone..... it seems I've been an old fart since me teens lol.

Maybe 25 years ago, my wife and I were shopping for a video camera... so we entered Comet and ask for this Sony xyz... "right away" said the sales assistant. ... then my wife said "please sell him the camera but don't offer him any insurance, I've already been to Dixons and Currys" to wich I added "yes, I don't need any insurance" 5 minutes later, as I was handing over my card, the sales assistant automatically said "would you like to add some insurance protection?" :mad::mad::mad: I literally took the card from the sales assistant's hand, said "no thank you" and left the store.
I believe this is American invention :mad: ... just try to order something from godaddy and you'll be bombarded with a million different things to add... so annoying.
 
When I bought my phone I was offered: a SIM card, an extended warranty and an Argos store card which I could use to pay today and get a 10% discount. At this point I mentioned that what I would really like was to just pay for the phone and go home, ideally without then being pestered to review it and / or my “shopping experience”.

The best one was when I went to buy a TV from Currys and the guy was trying to sell me an extended warranty. I explained that if he was saying that the TV was going to break after 12 months then I didn't want it. “No” he said “I'm sure it'll be fine.” “Good” I replied “I don't need an extended warranty then do I?”

It's a pain in the arse, when I buy something I've already decided what it is that I want, all I want the shop to do is take my money and give me the thing.
 
What is it about modern marketing that I am unable to enter a bank/building society/supermarket/dog food supplier eyc without the checkout assistant being compelled to go through an endless litany of " could I just ask if you have a loyalty card/ would like me to set up a consultation/financial review with one of our consultants ( sales team ) / have renewed your house,car,life insurance recently. It doesn't matter that I'm in the bloody places every sodding week buying the same items and dealing with the same checkout/counter staff. Just PLEASE give me some peace !
Rant from grumpy old duffer over ... the arthritis is bad today.
Sometimes those checkout staffs didn't have a choice. They were told by their managers that they MUST ask the same question to every customer because there is a XX% drop in people signing up for the company's loyalty program compared to same quarter last year and it's the checkout staffs' fault. (for not asking the damn question)
 
I just detest these attempts to be 'brand tied'. I just want the freedom to not be accosted while browsing or being up-sold if I purchase. If I want assistance I like to ask for it. If I want more or better I will do so.

Consumer choice I think they call it.

I am in the market for a another car soon and I know I will hate every minute of it.
 
Sometimes those checkout staffs didn't have a choice. They were told by their managers that they MUST ask the same question to every customer because there is a XX% drop in people signing up for the company's loyalty program compared to same quarter last year and it's the checkout staffs' fault. (for not asking the damn question)

Indeed it's not the staff (that's) to blame. Years and years ago I worked at a call centre, calls were monitored with key questions that were to be asked, and promotion of other products and services was a key area.

That said the bloody Post Office do this now ! After literally queuing out the door watching while they chat to “customers” they know about the cat having a dicky tummy, etc etc, or the lazy one that walks up and down between customers for no apparent reason. When it is my turn to then be asked if I have broadband ? No thanks !

Not forgetting to cap it all when someone walks up to the foreign currency, while the queues out the door and gets served next !!!!!

Apologies, rant over !
 
Sometimes those checkout staffs didn't have a choice. They were told by their managers that they MUST ask the same question to every customer because there is a XX% drop in people signing up for the company's loyalty program compared to same quarter last year and it's the checkout staffs' fault. (for not asking the damn question)

I do appreciate that the ' face to face ' employees have no choice in the matter, whivh is why, in my original post, I stated that they ' were compelled ' to go through this endless, irrelevant litany of unwanted, intrusive and annoying queries.

JohnnyO. o/
 
I do appreciate that the ' face to face ' employees have no choice in the matter, whivh is why, in my original post, I stated that they ' were compelled ' to go through this endless, irrelevant litany of unwanted, intrusive and annoying queries.

JohnnyO. o/

It's the “Did you find everything you wanted”, would I not of asked is the reply that springs to mind !

Thankfully at our local Tesco we are regulars and most the staff recognise us so we are spared a load of the BS.
 
Indeed it's not the staff (that's) to blame. Years and years ago I worked at a call centre, calls were monitored with key questions that were to be asked, and promotion of other products and services was a key area.

That said the bloody Post Office do this now ! After literally queuing out the door watching while they chat to “customers” they know about the cat having a dicky tummy, etc etc, or the lazy one that walks up and down between customers for no apparent reason. When it is my turn to then be asked if I have broadband ? No thanks !

Not forgetting to cap it all when someone walks up to the foreign currency, while the queues out the door and gets served next !!!!!

Apologies, rant over !
Have to agree about the Post Office. You end up losing your lunch break just to send a package.

Decent call centres e.g. HSBC / First Direct only tell their operators to give marketing spiel when volumes are low and even then it's optional.

The PO could do with issuing a similar common sense edict

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