Saturday, October 09, 2004 :: 4:07:00 PM

Song of choice: Futureshop was PWN3D - Kyle Eyers

Alright, so that's not a real song, but it should be!!!!

Here's the deal. Gather around kiddies, and I'm going to teach you how Unkie Kyle and Unkie Cory SCREWED FUTURESHOP..

Episode I - The Sales Rep Menace

I woke up yesterday morning ready to go to class. I pop on MSN and talk to Cory, a guy I know in rez here, briefly before I get dressed. He tells me that he's heading out to Canada Computers later that afternoon to buy a set of speakers for his SUPER AMAZING COMPUTER RIG that he and I went out to buy last year. Until now, he hadn't found a set worthy of his setup... Enter Logitech. Model z-680, to be exact. 5.1 surround sound (for those who dont know what that means, it means there's 5 speakers and 1 sub woofer - 2 speakers in the back of the room, 2 in the front, and 1 in the center front.)

Amazing. 500W RMS power (that's average power.. Peak power is over 1000W!!!!) To give you an idea - the upper-middle class of home entertainment sound systems weigh in at a thunderous 400-600W peak. 1000W is HUGE.

I go to have my shower, Cory goes to eat.. When I return to my room, it hits me. Why pay 330 bucks at Canada Computers? Why not find a store that will price match them? I hop onto Futureshop's website and low and behold, they have them going for $499...

499?!?!?!

Futureshop's price match policy is they'll match the competitor's price, then beat it by an extra 10% of the difference. Brilliant.

I meet up with Cory because I told him I wanted to tag along. I explained my pricematch plan, and he agreed it was the best thing to do. We then head to Futureshop.

Ready to laugh?

We get there, and you know how futureshop is. The sales guys get commission on what they sell, so they practically are nipping at your heels when you enter. We stood in front of these speakers for what had to have been 10-15 minutes before we had to approach a sales guy to come help. He comes over, and we mention that we'd like to hear these speakers, so he plays us a sample.. and we were right - Rich sound, huge bass.... they really are awesome speakers.

He walks off for a second for some reason, and Cory and I head to a computer with internet access to pull up Canada Computers website. The sales guy takes longer than expected so we start roaming around the internet for other sites to match with, not really hoping to see if we come up with anything better but it gave us something to do. We head to www.infonec.com, and we were glad we did! they had them on for $305.. a huge grin comes over Cory's face. I looked up the speakers that I was looking to buy... $153... $150 less than futureshop... so I decided to pick up a set of the less expensive ones.

The sales guy returns.

"We would like to price match those speakers with this store right here *points to the monitor*."

The clerk: "oh wow.. umm... that's a difference of almost 200 dollars, I'm going to have to call my manager."

we allow him to do so, and he returns and tells us that it's store policy not to price match with competitors who have prices that are so low.

for those of you reading, I'm going to write that one again... in caps letters... in bold... in an attempt to draw a smile across your face.... oh yea, underlined...

HE TOLD US IT WAS STORE POLICY NOT TO PRICE MATCH WITH COMPETITORS THAT HAVE PRICES THAT ARE MUCH LOWER THAN THAT OF FUTURESHOP'S.

Can you believe that? Cory and I burst out laughing, literally, right in front of the guy. He calls his manager again after we request him to do so, and Cory and I go read all the fine print that explains the price match policy. It clearly states, over and over again, *any authorized canadian retailler*.

We explain to the clerk that he has to match that price. He calls Infonec to ensure the website is correct - it was - and he calls his manager again and asks him to come down.

By this time the computer that has Infonec's website up on it is now surrounded by 5 futureshop sales guys, who are quickly joined by the manager and assistant manager. They're in absolute awe.

Now for those that aren't familiar with stores other than futureshop, and think the bug red and white store is the be all and end all of electronics stores - it is also one of the largest sources for price gouging I've ever seen. Moreso than gas stations, if you can believe it. The wholesale price, which is the price that stores buy product for so they can sell it, is about $270 bucks. This just gives you an idea.

Anyway, while the managers and employees are huddled around the computer, the original sales rep spends what was nearly a half hour trying to convince us to go to the other store (infonec) to buy them. And I quote: "Are you sure you dont want to drive to the other store and buy them from there?"

Again, my buddy and I burst out laughing at the sales guy. We explained to the sales rep, many times, that he's getting paid regardless. If he makes this sale, he adds to his commission for the day. He said he didn't want this commission because it was ripping off Futureshop. Cory looks at him and says.. well.. I'll just copy the paragraph from cory's blog:

"Sir, we came for the price match, future shop is much closer than the computer store in mississauga, plus i get the discount because your price is outragously large. of course i have a problem with it. I don't know why you are trying to talk me out of a sale as you get paid commission, i know that if you do the price match you will not get as much commission but you'll still gain money from this, plus you get an hourly wage, i don't understand why you want to let this sale leave your store."

They agree to let us have the discount.

But oh it doesn't stop here. Then a manager and the sales guy come over to the two of us to try to sell us their "extended warranty". We, very politely, say "no sir, that 80 dollars is better suited going somewhere else. like 4 cases of beer, for example."

again, to copy a paragraph from Cory's blog:

so after 10 minutes of trying to tell us that there is an amplifier in the speaker system that might break down or blow a fuse, that will be covered, we respond simply by saying... you are talking to two electronic students here (even though Cory is a programming student) so we finally get the guy ready to cash us out.

After seeing such an attractive price, I just had to put away the original set that I was going to get, and picked up the last one of the Z680s... (kyle got a new toy!!!)

We bought them, and to add insult to injury, asked the poor original sales guy to walk us to the door. He does.

We then get out to Cory's Cavalier. I ask how big the trunk is, he replies "what trunk?" he cant open the trunk. So after spending 10 minutes trying to get the two boxes into the back seat, I come up with the brilliant idea to have a box sit on my lap.

Lets think about this - the speaker box is 2 feet by 3 feet... and it weighs 70 pounds... suffice to say, the drive home was rather funny. The box kept hitting the shifter and putting him into neutral.

so.. $500+tax speakers for $285+tax!!!! that's not bad at all.... they're professional speakers, and sound brilliant.

Now Cory had a lesson of the day on his blog, so I might as well have one.

If you want to buy something, unless you can convince upper management to pricematch, NEVER go to Futureshop..

I'm going to go listen to my speakers now. =D

Until next time.......
*fade to black*

:: Eldorado ::