Sometimes its better to stay silent

[Nikhil]

I had to share an experience I had this afternoon which if anything taught me something new.

My father's computer speakers have been falling apart and we talked about getting him some replacement speakers soon. Earlier this evening, I stepped out to get some errands done and I happened to pass by one of the busy computer stores here in the Secunderabad area. Walked in and was promptly met at the door by an enthusiastic sales guy. I told him that I was looking for a generic 2.1 speaker setup.

I like the offerings from Creative and wanted to have a further look. Straight away he told me that there were facing some problems with the new Creative products. A little disappointed, I asked him for some more options.

He walked to the back of the store and showed me a box which looked a little worn for wear. I suspected this was a leftover stock of a generic brand which he was looking to flog. Initial price Rs 1800/-. Its been a while since I've bought computer hardware so I was surprised at the price. i was expecting something like Rs 3k at least. Before I could say anything more, the sales guy brought down the price to Rs 1,200. I was even more stunned. It didn't occur to me that I was silent but I think he thought that I was not ready to pay this price. He reduced it further to Rs 1,000. By this time I was having too much fun and smiled at the guy.

I asked him if I could "demo" the system. He immediately unpacked the box, hooked up the cables got a cell phone to connect to the setup and we were in business. The sound was not bad at all but more than enough for a computer. I wasn't really that impressed and I think it showed on my face. He dropped the price to Rs 800. Picked up the setup and walked away from the shop shaking my head in disbelief.

And by the way my dad was more than happy with his new speakers. The suckers sounded pretty good in my dad's computer desk area- in fact much better than they did at the shop earlier.

Lesson learned: Keep your mouth shut and let the salesman do the talking.

 

[ajay124]

A few years ago, while enduring the torture of shopping for Diwali gifts in a crockery store, I came across a dinner set which instantly caught my eye. It seemed to have been abandoned on the least prominent shelf of the store, where no one probably ever looked at it. From the salesman's behavior I could judge that it had been lying unsold and unwanted for a long time. Among the sea of cheap, vulgar, plasticky products which managed to get sold during the Diwali fervor, the exuberant red, gold and white of this fine porcelaine set caught my eye. I checked each plate for flaws or defects (a habit I formed during my catering days) and found none. It seemed to have been made in Spain by a company called Harvick. The plates, bowls, serving dishes, soup tureens, ladles, salad plate, salt, pepper shakers had a distinctly old world grace and grandeur. It was beautiful. And it was h-e-a-v-y! Which is why it had probably been rejected by the plastic brigade. I acted mildly interested and allowed the salesman to go into most persuasive mode. The original price of 4800 had been marked down to 2400! But the store seemed to be in a hurry to get rid of a product which they deemed unsellable. I finally bought it for 1500 rupees. The salesman probably had a good laugh because he had managed to sell me a white elephant. And back home I had a good laugh when I uncorked a Rioja and cooked my version of a paella to celebrate the Spanish acquisition

 

[Nikhil]

...
The salesman probably had a good laugh because he had managed to sell me a white elephant. And back home I had a good laugh when I uncorked a Rioja and cooked my version of a paella to celebrate the Spanish acquisition

LOL! Its going to feel right at home when you move to Goa!!