The Retail Hustle

Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game. Service wins the game.

Tony Allesandra

I recently purchased and new box spring and mattress. Truth be told my old mattress was 20 years old and should have had a decent burial long ago; but there are always so many other things I’d rather spend my money on.

Before I made my purchase I checked out two stores – a major department store and a chain of mattress stores with a stellar reputation. As a matter of fact my first mattress came from the very same mattress store. I went first to the department store. They had a large selection of beds to choose from, but not much on sale. A salesman approached me and launched into his spiel – whether I was interested or not. I wasn’t. I asked where the sale mattresses were to which he replied (and I paraphrase), No one should have to pay full price for a mattress. No one should even have to pay 50% off. You see this mattress; I can give it to your for $899 (which was more than 50% off and not marked anywhere). On the tag with the original price it said free local delivery. I asked him if delivery was included to which he replied that delivery (which costs $75) was included if I bought an extended warranty plan for $69.99. And if I wanted my old mattress removed it would cost an additional $30. I asked how long the sale price was good for and this sleaze-bag said as long as he was in the store. What a hustle! I hate being hustled!

My next stop was the mattress store. I walked into a sea of mattresses – all neatly lined up. Each had a large tag with all the mattress sizes and the original prices. When you flipped up the tag there was another tag with all of the mattress sizes and sale prices – no mystery, no hustle. A salesman approached me and asked if I wanted help or if I preferred to browse on my own. I asked for help. I told him that I was a side sleeper, preferred a firm mattress, didn’t want a pillow top and didn’t want to sell my car to pay for the mattress. He gave me a pillow and said to try each of the mattresses with the same pillow so that I would be gauging my experience on the mattress alone. He suggested that I try four mattresses based on my criteria and I found the perfect bed for me (number four was the hands-down winner). A 10 year warranty, delivery and mattress removal was included. It was a lovely experience!

The moral of the story is that there are a lot of people out there doing the retail hustle. If you feel like you’re being hustled, walk away. There are retailers who understand how to create a great customer experience. Don’t settle for less!

Don’t try to tell the customer what he wants. If you want to be smart, be smart in the shower. Then get out, go to work and serve the customer!

Gene Buckley

Make someone smile today!

Geri

Canadian Banks Running Scared of Credit Unions

The one thing that offends me the most is when I walk by a bank and see ads trying to convince people to take out second mortgages on their home so they can go on vacation. That's approaching evil.

Jeff Bezos

Over the years I’ve banked at most of the “big banks” and eventually after particularly bad service and/or a major screw up on their part (for which they accepted no responsibility) I told them to go screw themselves. After one of these episodes I had a colleague who told me how happy she was at a credit union. She gave me the contact information for the person looking after her account, and the rest is history. I’ve been a very happy credit union member for over 20 years.

What’s the difference between a bank and a credit union? Credit unions are full service co-operatives, which means that they are not-for-profit organizations. Unlike the banks whose primary goal is to produce dividends for their shareholders, the goal of a credit union is not to make a profit but to further the operations of the credit union and benefit its members. Like other financial institutions they provide chequing accounts, saving accounts, foreign currency accounts, credit cards, lines of credit, mortgages, personal and business loans, investment advice... And your money is just as safe in a credit union as in a bank. What has always differentiated the credit unions from the banks is the exceptional way that they treat their members – not customers.

Over the last few years I’ve been noticing that more and more of the “big banks” are bombarding the airwaves with commercials promoting how much they care about their customers. They’re staying open longer (some bank branches are now open 7 days a week) and each one is trying to convince you that they’re the bank that cares.

Now the banks are running scared of the credit unions. Why else would they have lobbied the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) to prevent the credit unions from using the words bank, banker and banking? The Canadian Bankers Association actually got the feds to agree to enforce an archaic regulation from Bank Act of Canada from 1871 that governs who, or what can use the words. The act has never before been enforced – until now. How can the OSFI have prostrated themselves in this way? It’s nothing short of a national disgrace.

The words bank, banker and banking have always been used generically for all financial institutions. I don’t say that I’m going to do my credit unioning; I say that I’m going to do my banking. I don’t do online credit unioning; I do online banking. These are generic terms for financial transactions. Credit unions are not trying to fool people into thinking that a credit union is a bank by using the words. People who come to a credit union are making a deliberate choice.

Banks have put credit unions in the penalty box. Canadian credit unions will have until December to remove the words "bank," "banker" and "banking" from their websites. They'll have another two years to remove the word from all signs and marketing brochures as the federal government cracks down on any institution that offers traditional banking services.

I am totally disgusted with federal government for kissing the asses of the Canadian Bankers Association. Enforcing this archaic regulation is the height of idiocy! If I wasn’t already a member of a credit union, I’d be joining one now.

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.

Thomas Jefferson 

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Free of the Hostage Tax at Last!

I finally realized it. People are prisoners of their cell phones. That’s why they’re called cell phones.

Spirit Science

Canadians pay among the highest cell phone rates in the world because we’ve been held hostage by the Big 3 - Bell, Rogers and Telus. These bandits operate as a cartel, supported and sanctioned by the CRTC. Not only are we ripped off on our cell phone plans, but on the actual cell phones themselves.

In Canada all cell phones are locked to a certain carrier (unless you get a Google phone). There’s no such thing as free enterprise when it comes to the cell phone industry. You can’t just go out and buy a phone in a competitive market and go to any carrier and get a plan. If you’re on Bell, you have to buy a phone that’s locked to the Bell network. And I’m sure you guessed by now that the cartel also controls the prices of cell phones which are astronomical. If you want to change carriers, you have to pay a $50 dollar fee to unlock your own phone. It’s legal extortion! This fee is affectionately referred to as the Hostage Tax or Ransom Tax.

The CRTC has finally come to the aid of the consumer, and over strenuous objections from the cartel, are removing the hostage tax. As of December 1, 2017 the hostage tax will be gone and all cell phones will be sold unlocked from that day forward. For those of you longing for a time when you could shop around for a deal on a cell phone, your day will soon be here. I can’t wait to see retailers offering legitimate sales and specials on cell phones. Bye bye hostage tax. Hello free enterprise!

We live in the era of smartphones & stupid people.

Keywordssuggest.org

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Decaf Doesn’t Mean Caffeine Free

An espresso chain in my area serves a decaf espresso. It's called the Why Bother.

CaffeinatedGuy

In spite of all the decaf jokes, I gave up caffeine many years ago. My hot drink of choice is herbal tea (naturally caffeine free) or decaf green tea. I will occasionally have a decaf latte at one of my local, overpriced coffee shops. Recently after enjoying a decaf latte I told my friend I was sure that my coffee had caffeine in it. I didn’t think much of it but the next time I had a decaf latte at the same coffee shop I felt exactly the same way. So, I decided to do a little research and the results shocked me!

I pride myself on my command of the English language so imagine my surprise when I learned that decaffeinated and caffeine free mean two entirely different things! There is no regulation around what can be called decaf. It is widely reported that the decaffeination process removes 94% - 97% of the caffeine in coffee beans. However, the reality is that the amount of caffeine you get in a cup of decaf can vary wildly and it’s next to impossible to find a cup of decaf coffee that’s caffeine free.

According to the caffeineinformer.com:

• Starbucks grande (medium) decaf coffee contains 26 mg. of caffeine
• McDonalds medium decaf coffee contains 11 mg. of caffeine
• Dunkin Donuts medium decaf coffee contains 10 mg. of caffeine
• Tim Hortons medium decaf coffee contains 9 mg. of caffeine

To put this into perspective, a cup of caffeinated green tea has 25 mg. of caffeine, less than Starbucks decaffeinated coffee! All this time I thought I was drinking coffee that at most had trace elements of caffeine, not 26 mg. You may think that’s nothing, but my body noticed it, so it’s not nothing, is it?

I’m not suggesting that you stop drinking decaf coffee (although I have); I’m just letting you know that what you’re drinking is not even close to being caffeine free. Knowledge is power and now you can make an informed decision.

The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, et cetera. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing, or who on earth they are, can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino.

From the movie You’ve Got Mail

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Does Anyone Actually Believe that Open Workspaces Increase Productivity?

The open office movement is like some gigantic experiment in willful delusion.

Jason Feifer

Why do corporations think we’re idiots? Open office workspaces don’t work! They don’t increase productivity, or anything else for that matter. They’re a colossal FAILURE! The only thing they actually do is reduce real estate costs for the corporation. So let’s cut the corporate BS and double-talk. You can’t spin this. Speak the truth please. You don’t give a shit about your employees or what’s good for them. The only truth is that open office workspaces are good for your bottom line.

Mr. Corporation, have you read the research on how open office workspaces actually affect your employees?

• 95% of workers say working privately is important to them. (Steelcase research)
• 62% increase in extra sick days taken in open-plan office. (Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 2011)
• 50% of people with a completely open office floorplan are dissatisfied with their sound privacy. (Professors at the University of Sydney)
• 32% drop in workers' well-being and 15% reduction in productivity. (Exeter University study)
• 31% of workers had to leave the office to get work completed. (Steelcase research)
• Office workers lose an average of 86 minutes per day due to distractions associated with open-plan offices. As a result, many employees are unmotivated, unproductive, and overly stressed.  (study funded by Steelcase)

Do people communicate more in an open office environment? “Open offices increase communication, but not all communication is a good thing,” said Jennifer Veitch, an environmental psychologist with the National Research Council of Canada. “A lot of the time, the conversation is more about what’s on TV than about actual work.”

Open office workspaces significantly decrease productivity and are probably costing more than corporations are saving in real estate, even in high rent cities. So Mr. Corporation, what on earth were you thinking???? All you’ve accomplished is that you’re pissing away money and pissing off your employees – not a good combination. Who’s making these decisions anyways?

An open plan can easily fit 300, 400 people in one room -- it’s a little bit like chicken factory farms. These are not places you want to spend much time.

Organization Psychologist Matthew Davis

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Starbucks, Wifi Squatters Are Driving Away Paying Customers

I saw a guy at Starbucks the other day. No iPhone, no tablet, no laptop. He just sat there drinking coffee like a psychopath.

imgrum.club

How many times have you gone into Starbucks and left before you made your order because all of the seats were taken up by people not drinking coffee or eating food, but fixated on their laptops, tablets or Smartphones? This problem exists because Starbucks gives unlimited free Wifi. So for a $2.00 cup of coffee you can rent a virtual office for the day. This is ludicrous beyond words!

I understand the original idea; Starbucks brought Wifi to its stores in 2002 when many people still connected to the Internet via Ethernet cable. Starbucks idea was to turn the company into what they referred to as a “third place” – somewhere people could go to socialize, work, or relax outside of their home or office. Great idea for 2002, but now in 2017 everyone around the world – even in third world countries - has Wifi. And most data plans come with more gigs than we need or use. Unfortunately Starbucks has created a culture of Wifi squatters who drive paying customers away.

Starbucks should start limiting the amount of time that you can have free Wifi, or limit the free Wifi to non-peak hours. After all, Starbucks is actually a coffee shop, not a free virtual office or a library. Believe it or not there are still people who go to Starbucks for an overpriced coffee and we’re the ones you’re driving away. Wake up Starbucks before all that you’re left with are Wifi squatters.

It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity. 
Dave Barry

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Geri

How I Almost Became a 62 Year Old Fashion Model

The leading cause of death among fashion models is falling through steel grates.

Dave Barry

A few weeks ago I was out shopping on a Sunday afternoon with my mother at The Bay – a major department store in Toronto. I was having a look through the racks when I was approached by two people wearing credentials around their necks and carrying clipboards. Immediately I assumed that they were fundraisers (they all have credentials and clipboards) because you can’t walk on any downtown Toronto street without being asked to donate to one charity or another. I’d never seen fundraisers in a store before, but there’s always a first time. Needless to say I tried to dodge them, but short of breaking into a trot (in heels) in order to escape, I decided to hear what they had to say.

As it turns out they weren’t fundraisers, they were representatives of a well-known modeling agency scouting potential models for a new campaign. I actually burst out laughing at this point because as those of you who know me will attest I’m a short, slightly dumpy, 62 year old who could never be mistaken for a model. They explained that they were looking for real people who had a unique style for a billboard campaign for a major shopping centre owner. I still couldn’t stop giggling and was preparing to walk away until they told me that if chosen I would earn $1,500 for four hours work. Suddenly I found this discussion interesting. They took a few photos and my contact info and left.

A few days later I got an email inviting me to a casting call. It was an entirely pleasant experience. Truth be told the other people waiting were all quite boring except for one chap who turned up with a jewel encrusted motorcycle helmet. When my name was called I was ushered into a studio with enormous lights. A very lovely photographer introduced herself and took several photos of me. And, that was it – my 15 minutes of fame. They were doing these casting calls from 9am – 7:30pm so I have no idea how many people were being photographed or how many would ultimately be chosen.

I never got a call back so I so my modeling career ended as quickly as it began. I guess I’ll have to continue to earn my living as a writer.

Inside of you there’s a fashion model just waiting to throw up.

Robin Williams

Make someone smile today.

Geri