I have been interacting with a lot of online vendors in the last two months. My experience, in short, has been very unexciting. Most of the time, I am left wondering if some people really even know what it means to run a business. I mean, if I'm being honest, I don't exactly know what it means to run a successful business. But I know how important it is to be able to "interact" well with customers.
No, the customer isn't always right. Sometimes, actually, the customer can be obnoxious and deserving of slap. What the customer is always right about, as the full quote states, is in matters of taste. So, of course, if they prefer to look like tetracyclin with their combination of colours, heck, they're right! But this isn't even about the customers.
I reached out to a seller today online. At the end of the not-so-useful conversation with the individual, I was left confused. I couldn't fathom how the seller couldn't care less about his communication skills.
Might sound as though I am ranting, but I think if you're starting up a business, then there are certain things you're actually signing up for. I don't mean annoying customers, which is sadly inclusive, but I mean the basic responsibility of running a business effectively.
I do understand how many people simply show up and only ask about price and leave. It can be frustrating, indeed. But then, can't someone just know the cost again? Vendors just get angry as though everyone's out to prank them by simply asking them for prices. In reality, if they had simply put the price up, I wouldn't need to come all the way to the DM to ask for the cost.
This one had a price, however. But, of course, I was going to negotiate. I stated how much it was that I had with me. The reply I got was, "Sold."
Now, that reply was ambiguous. To my brother, it was an "Okay. We have a deal." To me, it kind of sounded like "It's out of stock." The former sounded more probable, and so I proceeded to ask for where to come inspect the item and make payment. The reply was, "!! That's not even the price."
Confused and taken aback, I asked, "So what's your point?" I really didn't even understand what he meant by that. I wondered if he didn't realise the product he was selling, wasn't aware of the cost, or... I couldn't even fathom.
Fast forward to two seconds later, and "sold" actually meant, "It's no longer in stock."
Total waste of my time. And this was similar to many of the same sellers on the platform. They act nonchalantly. Also, for some reason, it's a crime to negotiate prices with them, which makes them feel arrogant.
Anyway. I usually only need some of these online vendors to do my research and figure out the cost of things. It just baffles me how some of them act sometimes. Or maybe it's just me
Image credits: Olujay
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