# What Will Change Your Mind



## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

What changes your mind on purchases that even a cheaper price or loyalty will not matter as much.

The thing that kills it for me is when I am dismissed when I bargain. I once made an offer to buy a van that I thought was reasonably priced at a dealership and was told it was not accepted. Understanding this I made an offer very close to the asking price and was told no right away. At this point I am annoyed and walk out. They call me back a few days later and I said I didn't care about anything they had to say or offer and hung up.

Last week I went to my Credit Union for house insurance and thought they quoted a high price. So I found a better price and went back to the Credit Union and said can you help me with this and they said no that is it without trying. This again ticked me off so I pulled my business right there and went with the cheaper price. I might have paid a bit more and stayed with them but now I am turned off by this service.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

Wasting my time...

I will leave a store and never come back and avoid shopping there ever and knowingly go and pay more. There are two really horrible offenders I know of

1- Walmart

2- Ikea

Now I know that both of these chains stores have developed very serious tracking of purchases and know almost exactly how many boxes of Kleenex they will sell on Tuesday. It seems they have also figured out how long you will wait before throwing your crap down and walking out. In my case they have dreadfully miscalculated. 

The only time I will shop at these stores is to buy a loss leader or in the case of IKEA I buy kitchens there for work. It is always an ordeal. 

Another pet peeve is mismarked prices at the shelf. Some stores are so bad it can't be a mistake. Then you go back a week later and it still mismarked. Now I have no problem getting free stuff with the scanning code of practice but can you imagine how many time the store gets away with this and how much profit is in it.


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## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

Berubeland for me Costco is on top of my list for ticking me off. I buy most of my stuff at Superstore rather then Costco. I don't know about others here but their practice of making you wait in line to buy a membership and making you bring letters if you are with a business and even then not letting you get it until the business has renewed first.

Then you can only use their credit card to buy stuff and then you have to get screened on the way out. It is beyond me why people put up with this place unless you have to go there if you are in business to get bulk products.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

IKEA ticks me off for a similar reason.
If I can't get into a store, pick up what I need (which I know exactly where to find) and be out of there in minutes, I'm not interested in shopping there.
This strategy of forcing me to go through all the chambers of Shaolin just doesn't work for me.
Which is why I like Wal*Mart, Home Depot, etc. (most of the time, at least)

Equally turning off is when an article of frequent use is hidden (or made hard to find) among other conspicious consumption junk that the store wants you to buy.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

I'm another Ikea hater. I've gone there three times: twice here and once in San Francisco to pick up a futon for my brother, and that was three times too many. The absolute worst shopping experiences of my life, starting with the 15-minute wait for a parking space and finishing with the hours of frustration at home assembling (and reassembling) things based on wordless diagrams. Some of their stuff can be ordered online, so if I really wanted something from Ikea that's how I'd get it in future.

In general I find all big-box stores depressing, so I've never bought anything at Walmart, occasionally buy things at Home Depot. I prefer the smaller hardware stores where you get to know the people who work there.


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## houska (Feb 6, 2010)

Interesting. I've always rather liked Ikea - when I need something, I march through quite quickly and take some of the shortcuts, but still there's always something interesting to look at from an interior design point of view. I've generally been lucky that they have had the boxes for what I've wanted in stock, and it's surprisingly ingenious how it's put together and therefore - I find - rather fun. You do occasionally curse when you discover you crucially missed the important indicator in the diagram, but I find it doesn't happen that often.

In fact, when I was moving to Chicago, before Chicago had an Ikea, I bought nearly all the furnishings for my apt in Canada at Ikea before leaving. I had the movingco ship them still flat packed and put them together with a friend once I got there.

Now, I don't really shop Ikea now - their furniture is made of inexpensive materials and works well for a few years, but is not "lifetime furniture" that my wife and I are now slowly acquiring. And my free time has value now, unlike when I was in my 20s.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

Most of my house is furnished with IKEA stuff. What is better than a sofa with an entirely washable cover for someone with a two year old and 2 dogs? Same with my coffee table, sturdy, inexpensive, great for a 2 year old. it is great furniture for my life at this point. 

I buy kitchens at IKEA and I have bought 14 of them so far. We have put them in the 24 townhouses I manage. I save about $400 per kitchen IKEA is the cheapest. But it is absolutely an ordeal. First I use their kitchen planner and print out my order, then I bring it to the store and then they have to process it which takes about 30 minutes. Then I have to go downstairs and pay for it. If during the payment process something goes wrong (which it did one time) then you have to go back and get another order. Then you have to take the paid for order to the shipping department and wait there for 45 minutes to one hour. The whole process can take up to 4 hours. 

Now I could order the kitchen but it takes 3 weeks for delivery and we usually have the place rented for the next month. 

Now the kicker to this whole story.... the same owner has 48 apartments that he is converting to condo. I think if I have to do this 48 times I will shoot myself.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

Berubeland said:


> I buy kitchens at IKEA and I have bought 14 of them so far. We have put them in the 24 townhouses I manage. I save about $400 per kitchen IKEA is the cheapest. But it is absolutely an ordeal.


Yep, IKEA is great for stuff that you don't have to use i.e. it's great for stuff others will use.
I find their designs awkward and clumsy.
Maybe I'm old-fashioned, I expect things to be square or round or whatever shape they're supposed to be.
I don't like my beds and sofas to be Russian rag dolls with secret nooks and compartments within others just to "maximize space".
But that's me. YMMV


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## wealthyboomer (Feb 1, 2010)

Berubeland said:


> Most of my house is furnished with IKEA stuff. What is better than a sofa with an entirely washable cover for someone with a two year old and 2 dogs? Same with my coffee table, sturdy, inexpensive, great for a 2 year old. it is great furniture for my life at this point.
> 
> I buy kitchens at IKEA and I have bought 14 of them so far. We have put them in the 24 townhouses I manage. I save about $400 per kitchen IKEA is the cheapest. But it is absolutely an ordeal. First I use their kitchen planner and print out my order, then I bring it to the store and then they have to process it which takes about 30 minutes. Then I have to go downstairs and pay for it. If during the payment process something goes wrong (which it did one time) then you have to go back and get another order. Then you have to take the paid for order to the shipping department and wait there for 45 minutes to one hour. The whole process can take up to 4 hours.
> 
> ...


Have you ever talked to the store manager about your troubles?
When that doesn't work, then head up the ladder to Corporate.
I have often gone this route with retailers and generally get a positive response. Plus most retail management like to know where they can be most effective with the customer.

After all it is actually the CUSTOMER that pays their WAGE!


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