Spill the beans... Shop assistants, what's your haggle policy?

Bonniew86

I once bought a replacement iPhone 4 in the Apple store as mine was damaged but out of warranty. They wanted £119 (if I remember rightly). I had built quite a good rapport with the sales guy so I asked if he could give me a better price seeing as the damage (in my opinion) was a design fault (the main button had become unresponsive, which going to happen when it gets used so much being the only main button on the phone) and he knocked 20% off for me. He told me that the staff were allowed to give a maximum discount of 20%, no more than twice per day. Not sure how truthful he was being, but I saved nearly £24 so I was happy!

burns863

Bonniew86 wrote: »

I once bought a replacement iPhone 4 in the Apple store as mine was damaged but out of warranty. They wanted £119 (if I remember rightly). I had built quite a good rapport with the sales guy so I asked if he could give me a better price seeing as the damage (in my opinion) was a design fault (the main button had become unresponsive, which going to happen when it gets used so much being the only main button on the phone) and he knocked 20% off for me. He told me that the staff were allowed to give a maximum discount of 20%, no more than twice per day. Not sure how truthful he was being, but I saved nearly £24 so I was happy!

Things work a little differently on the Genius Bar but I'm pretty sure that's incorrect. They have the ability to "CS" items and waive repair charges in certain circumstances but I don't recall there being a "20% discount twice a day" rule.

If you argue enough though, you'll likely get a manager to authorise discount on service part replacements like that because Apples no.1 focus in retail stores is to keep the customer happy. I've seen some managers go to incredible lengths to keep people happy.

jamesy4894

I work for a (albeit small) shoe shop chain and although I'm only a part time sales assistant I have the power (mwah ha ha) to discount. I've been told by a colleague that I'm weak when it comes to refusing discounts but I generally give them where I deem the sale to be exceptional, for example if the shoes are particularly expensive and perhaps very slightly imperfect (£150 +) or if 3 or more pairs are purchased. The main reason might give a discount is that I'm competitive about my sales figures (even though I don't earn commision) and I don't want to lose a sale.

In terms of the qualities of the customer, I usually give a discount if we've built up a rapport or alternatively if I dislike serving them and I want to get rid of them and move on to someone else. I find it's better to enquire 'Do you offer a discount for...." rather than demanding a discount as it opens a dialogue and I feel more obliging.

Bonniew86

burns863 wrote: »

Things work a little differently on the Genius Bar but I'm pretty sure that's incorrect. They have the ability to "CS" items and waive repair charges in certain circumstances but I don't recall there being a "20% discount twice a day" rule.

If you argue enough though, you'll likely get a manager to authorise discount on service part replacements like that because Apples no.1 focus in retail stores is to keep the customer happy. I've seen some managers go to incredible lengths to keep people happy.

It actually shocked me how easily I got a discount. I didn't kick up, I didn't see a manager, all I did was ask on the off chance and it worked. I wish it was a more spectacular thing, but really it wasn't. Like I said, I'm not sure how truthful he was being, but I just paid up the reduced price and left before they changed their mind!

happyinflorida

I used to work at a jewellers in Cardiff - it had a Welsh name but had been taken over by H Samuels but they kept the old name as people trusted it more! I felt this was really dishonest especially as they didn't want any of us to tell customers the truth! I usually did as I don't like being made to be dishonest. We were allowed to give 10% discount and I sometimes did, especially if people seemed to genuinely be struggling - I've always been sympathetic with the hard up!!

I now live in Eastbourne and the best jewellers I've found here is Brufords - which sell very good quality things and they have given us extremely good discounts. When we went there to buy a watch for our son's 21st - we got over £300 off the price of £1555! So this worked out at a bit over 20%.

They've got a new manager now so I don't know if they're still the same, haven't bought anything there for quite some time!

atmospheric77

Great topic and I feel the need to contribute. I'm an Assistant Manager at the Factory Shop of a major retailer and the nature of our products (ex display, discontinued lines, damaged packaging etc) leaves us with plenty of scope to discount.

Our pricing strategy is based mainly on Supply & Demand....if we've got too many of any one item, the price goes down, when stock levels drop, back up it goes. General rule of thumb is "Buy it while we've got it" don't come back next week and expect to see the same stock.

However it is fair to say that the prices we display already reflect substantial discounts, but this doesn't stop a lot of customers asking for further money off. Generally, like one of the contributors above, we'll only discount further if the spend is considerable and there is a benefit to us. We're in the fortunate position of knowing that we can sell our product and don't necessarily have to "give it away".

Again, as stated above, politeness is key. I remember one gentleman making a serious nuisance of himself, demanding to speak to the Manager, being rude to the staff, refusing to take "No" for an answer. Eventually I said to him "I understand that if you can't afford it Sir, I'll put it back. He quickly quietened down and took his item without further ado.

The public are generally not aware of targets that are set for stores. One of our main Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) is Basket Spend and UPT (Unit's Per Transaction), so a customer haggling over one item is less likely to get a discount from us than one who is buying lots of different things.

Finally, a good Manager will know how much money he needs to take to achieve his targets, so the closer to the end of the month, the better chance a customer has in achieving a discount

Nina10

burns863 wrote: »

Things work a little differently on the Genius Bar but I'm pretty sure that's incorrect. They have the ability to "CS" items and waive repair charges in certain circumstances but I don't recall there being a "20% discount twice a day" rule.

If you argue enough though, you'll likely get a manager to authorise discount on service part replacements like that because Apples no.1 focus in retail stores is to keep the customer happy. I've seen some managers go to incredible lengths to keep people happy.

My experience with Apple has been fantastic. When I managed to drop my Ipod Touch and smash the screen within two months of receiving it as a gift I went to the Apple Covent Garden store to see if I could pay for it to be repaired. The gentleman told me the glass could not be replaced on its own but instead replaced the whole Ipod for free, even though accidental damage is clearly not covered under the warranty. Needless to say I was very happy, and my partner (who had bought me the Ipod) was a tad more forgiving of my clumsiness!

[Deleted User]

many years ago now i worked for a furniture retailer,all the price tickets were in code and had a top and bottom price,but where as we might only get 1% commision we would get 10% on the difference between top and bottom
eg top price £500
bottom price £450
sell for £500 get £4.50 plus £5
sell for £450 get only the £4.50

DarkLumen

landsker wrote: »

Has anyone had a deal with SCS sofas?
I'm trying to do a deal on a Gplan suite.

Yup, got one a couple of weeks back. I ordered a sofa and carpets which came to just over £2800 and offered £2600 paid in full from debit card which they accepted.

Savvy__Shopper

I work for WHSmith's, we can give customers 10% on damaged goods at our discretion; pages torn in book, file box damaged etc, so it is worth asking if its the last item we have in stock, however this doesn't apply on already discounted items or magazines. chocolates are often discounted when they're close to sell by date (who don't eat a chocolate bar straight after buying it anyways?!)No we don't do student discount, sorry.

I highly recommend you buy a newspaper (or something cheap) to get the vouchers that are printing out for this week. You can often save up to 25% on stationary/books/everything in store if you use the voucher when its valid (check the date) which is often the next week. £5 off a £10 book is huge saving!

Newley released harback books are usually half price in the first week & there are always 'buy one get one half price' book offers. no you cannot buy one now and get a half price one later - it has to be the same transaction.