Why Do Retail Assistants Get Really Defensive/Protective in Price Matching/Beating?

radicalvin on 18/02/2022 - 16:27

Hey all, I would just like to get an opinion, especially those who are working in the retail industry as to why do you get protective of your price matching/beat guarantee when they are your point of difference?

I could understand if you own or work in small businesses, but what about those in corporate like Officeworks? Pretty sure you don’t get commission on the items.

To put in context I recently got an item price beaten at Officeworks. However, they tried to trick me by saying they could only beat prices by WA stores, in which I calmly showed them the T&C.

Having worked in retail in my younger days (Myer), I was more than happy to give my customers discounts with my manager’s approval as long as they are above cost price.

Thoughts?

General Discussion

Comments

  • GG57 on 18/02/2022 - 16:35
    -2

    Perhaps Officeworks did not accept the non-WA competitor pricing as it was not a 'competitor'?

    • radicalvin on 18/02/2022 - 16:56
      +20

      Nah, I showed the person the T&C and without reading it he proceeded to price beat for me. So he knew exactly the terms

    • Hardlyworkin on 18/02/2022 - 20:47
      +51

      Democratic republic of WA is a different country to Australia. Surprised they allowed it.

    • HeWhoKnows on 19/02/2022 - 10:37

      There are always Ts&Cs with price matching to avoid scammers AND selling below cost

    • cheesecactus on 20/02/2022 - 13:31
      +1

      I've pricematched at officeworks in WA before, definitely no issue with interstate retailers.

      Subiaco and Osbourne park, no issue at all. Staff are very helpful.

      One pricematch was so good the sales assistant went and bought himself one too

      HN has been terrible with price matching. JBHIFI varies (Osbourne park is bad for example).

      • Drakesy on 21/02/2022 - 15:00

        Ditto with officeworks. My experience at Subi and Ozzy Park has been relatively painless, albeit a 10 min delay while they get their manager to sign off on it.

  • toomuchdogfur on 18/02/2022 - 16:37
    +11

    Pretty sure you don’t get commission on the items.

    When I worked at Dick Smith (RIP), we weren't commissioned; however profit was still one of our individual KPIs. So there's still some incentive to not eat into profit margins.

      • txb on 20/02/2022 - 11:53
        +21

        What?

        • Kangal on 20/02/2022 - 12:04
          +19

          He's talking in 2027 language…

          Kangal on 20/02/2022 - 12:04 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
        • bert-lifts on 20/02/2022 - 12:23
          +18

          I WORK AT DICK SMITH WELL WE WERE FREE MAKE OUR OWN DEALS I HIT MY KPI GOT COMMISSION THIS WAS POWER HOUSE SHOP I WORK TANDY SHOP WEEKDAYS AND POWER HOUSE ON WEEKEND. PRICE MATCHING HEAD OFFICE KICK MY BUTT ON SO MANY TIMES I JUST STOP DOING IT.

          Got it?

          bert-lifts on 20/02/2022 - 12:23 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
          • Scrooge McDuck on 20/02/2022 - 20:32
            +2

            @bert-lifts: Do-it-again?

            Scrooge McDuck on 20/02/2022 - 20:32 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
          • pjbargain15 on 20/02/2022 - 20:38
            +4

            @bert-lifts: Seems like he droppin some serious beats!!!

            I WORK AT DICK SMITH… WELL WE WERE FREE… MAKE OUR OWN DEALS….. I HIT MY K-P-I….. GOT COMMISSION…. (Yeh…ah.. yeh…) THIS WAS POWER HOUSE SHOP…. I WORK TANDYY SHOP…. WEEKDAYS… AND POWER HOUSE ON WEEKEND…. PRICE MATCHING HEAD OFFICE…. KICK MY BUTT ON SO MANY TIMES…. I JUST STOP DOING IT…. (Yeh…)

            pjbargain15 on 20/02/2022 - 20:38 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
          • R4 on 20/02/2022 - 22:25

            @bert-lifts: Didn't get it.

  • GG57 on 18/02/2022 - 16:41
    +1

    I've had the opposite experiences.
    Even in those stores where the sales staff are on commission basis, they regularly check if they can 'price match' a competitor to reduce the sale price. I do trust them at their word though, if I haven't researched the item myself, so they could be scamming me.

    • WhyAmICommenting on 20/02/2022 - 14:32

      Haha. Yeah, prob should do your own research too.

      • ATangk on 20/02/2022 - 21:25
        +2

        If OP was willing to buy it without price matching, then its already a win.

  • Hithere on 18/02/2022 - 16:41
    +8

    The Officeworks store local to me has always been reluctant to even price match let alone beat other stores' prices.

    I've walked out when they've even refused to match the price of another store which was less than 1Km away.

    Maybe the staff, instead of getting a commission on individual goods, get rewarded for meeting storewide sales income targets for the year?

    • radicalvin on 18/02/2022 - 16:58
      +2

      Interesting, back when I was working in Myer, I get commissions on certain items (no matter the sale price) and total sales that I made. So, ensuring that the customer bought for me would be win win

    • timthetoolman on 18/02/2022 - 19:53
      +12

      If it's only 1km away, why not buy from the shop originally selling the product at the better price?

      • Hithere on 19/02/2022 - 07:14
        +14

        Because OW was closer than the other store, and in true OzBargain spirit I wanted to get the item even cheaper than advertised.

        • Ahbal on 20/02/2022 - 21:07
          -5

          Is it really cheaper if you have to spend time getting it price matched??

          • ATangk on 20/02/2022 - 21:26
            +5

            @Ahbal: OW has price beat, not price match.

          • OZKap on 20/02/2022 - 21:26
            +1

            @Ahbal: How long do you think it takes to price match?

            Last time I got something price matched in Officeworks it was as easy as bringing a printout of the competitors site to the counter with the item I was buying. Checkout staff verified the price on their computer. Done in under 2 mins

            • Ahbal on 20/02/2022 - 21:27

              @OZKap: Depends on the store, I was responding to a comment where they said the price match failed, hence sunk cost and imo not cheaper.

              I would prefer to support the business that is making the good deals.

          • Hithere on 21/02/2022 - 13:34

            @Ahbal: You sound like a Whirlpool member, on a 6 figure salary and driving the latest Tesla.

            Cheaper is cheaper, and a few minutes invested in saving 5% or 10%, off a $1000 item, which was what I wanted to buy, is worth it to me.

        • SierraBMel on 21/02/2022 - 07:38

          I’ll usually drive further to get something from Officeworks at the same price because they’ve got better after sale service than most alternatives. Exchanges or returns aren’t a hassle.

      • radicalvin on 19/02/2022 - 08:46
        +1

        I’d certainly do that. However, the price matching/beat stores I’d normally go for would either be online or interstate.

        In fact my OW is the store that is 1km away haha.

        Although, there are also many factors to consider for others, e.g. the fact OW have physical stores, stocks, they take amex, flybuys, etc

    • jrvb42 on 19/02/2022 - 11:07

      Rewarding staff for sales doesn't make sense. The store is in business to make money. Got to reward profit generated. Margin X sales! So happy to employ someone who sells product at lower margin if they sell more stuff, but better to pay someone who sells less product for higher margin. Profit, bottom line, not top line revenue. Yes, there are exceptions.

      • Sleeqb7 on 19/02/2022 - 11:32
        +2

        This is why half the sales jobs I've had that pay commission pay it based off profit, not revenue. It's very common.

        • T1OOO on 21/02/2022 - 10:44

          Ermm has anyone told the manager that a smaller profit on a sale is still better than no sale and no profit ?

          And is that really enough to break the law ??

  • Gregors510 on 18/02/2022 - 16:45
    +16

    I just tell them " oh well, I'll buy it from them then!" and walk out!

    • provision on 19/02/2022 - 20:40
      +24

      Wow, you really showed them; I'm sure they were devastated!

      • parsimonious one on 21/02/2022 - 07:52
        +2

        isnt that the point of the OP's post?

        trying to figure out why staff would rather lose the sale by squabbling about or denying the pricematch?

    • cashews on 20/02/2022 - 06:41
      +8

      I used to have people say that to me when I was a 14 year old working at Big W.

    • crysomemore on 20/02/2022 - 15:50
      +4

      Can promise they don’t care when you say that in any way. More than likely they’ll have a laugh about you and get on with their day.

    • deadset on 20/02/2022 - 17:51
      +1

      When I worked retail I heard this a lot and it was always said in a manner that implied that I should care or be troubled by it. Which was confusing to me. I can guarantee you that they don’t care. In fact, they’d probably prefer you go elsewhere if you’re being difficult or insisting on something they don’t feel they can do.

  • tallkid123 on 18/02/2022 - 16:59
    +12

    I don't price match often but when I do, I don't get emotionally invested.

    I'm direct, ask for a price match and if they decline, I just walk out.

    • Iwantthebestprice on 18/02/2022 - 17:00
      +30

      I’m the opposite, when I try to price match I get every emotional invested.
      Ain’t no one seen a meltdown like when I can’t get apple AirPods price beat by $150 at office works lol

      • Kangal on 20/02/2022 - 12:06
        +6

        Username checks out

    • radicalvin on 18/02/2022 - 17:02
      +2

      Likewise, the reason for this post is more to understand the other side’s reasoning :)

      • zrmx on 19/02/2022 - 12:52
        +1

        I'm guessing that the staff might feel a bit flustered/annoyed as there is usually a list of procedural steps they have to follow to see if the items is eligible for price matching/beating, which means it might take a while and probably add stress to serve other customers timely or do whatever tasks they have timely.

        For some they might also bit stressed in anticipating what if the customer (ie the person requesting price match/beat) is impatient/abusive, eyeballing them, and the customers waiting behind eyeballing them, etc. Some employees might be bit flustered because they aren't familiar with what they need to check or do.

        I've had price beat done every now and then and have seen calm ones, flustered ones, and yea ones that'll try everything to avoid PB.

    • Never Pay RRP on 21/02/2022 - 14:54

      I get confirmation of the price match over the phone. No walking involved.
      Generally I need to call them anyway to confirm they have the item in stock, so confirming the price match isn't really that much extra time spent anyway

  • Muzeeb on 18/02/2022 - 17:28
    +16

    Don't price match.

    Just honour the original source.

    • plmko on 18/02/2022 - 18:01
      +4

      Exactly this, unless it's impractical to travel to that location there's zero reason to support a store like Officeworks who can't even make their own deals despite their record fat profits.

      And also it's (profanity) nuts that someone even tried to neg you.

      • rfarlz on 19/02/2022 - 23:43
        +11

        I like the sentiment, but there are a lot more than zero reasons to do a price match other than not being able to travel to the other store.
        -Officeworks is a price beat, that 5% can be a lot on larger purchases.
        -You have the product in your hand rather than waiting for shipping etc
        -OW will match some pretty sketchy online retailers, items such as SD cards are way less likely to be fakes from somewhere like officeworks.

        A few months back I bought some new AC systems for the house. Most of them I bought from a local business, however the largest unit was also stocked by Bunnings at a higher price, I would have been mad not to drive the 5 minutes down the road and have them (very reluctantly) do their price beat to save ~$160 on that unit.

    • stickyfingers on 22/02/2022 - 03:31

      I tried to price match a hair trimmer set the other day at Myer. It was $10 cheaper at Harvey Norman, a store I (and most here) refuse to support. The Good Guys also had it for $10 cheaper but there was no stock around me. This was the everyday regular price, no sale.

      Myer said it was below their cost price and they could only do it $5 cheaper.

      Obviously I don’t want to support that poor behaviour from Myer (if it’s below cost price and other retailers list it as their normal price then that is an issue you need to discuss with your supplier, not a customer); but, I don’t want to support Harvey Norman.

      What do you do in this case? I ended up giving in and purchasing from Harvey Norman comforting myself in knowing that if Myer were to lose money at that price than hopefully Harvey Norman wouldn’t make more than a few cents.

      Also, 18 staff alone in a what was a huge electronics section at HN and only 5 customers within all departments of the store and despite my partner and I getting lost for the trimmers for a few minutes nobody even greeted us or offered assistance. Wtf. Hopefully the demise of HN is near.

  • elgrande on 18/02/2022 - 17:39
    +5

    Thats just standard WA anti Eastern Australia sentiment.. nothing to do with the price!

  • tonyjzx on 18/02/2022 - 17:40
    +31

    some retail employees have way too much company loyality for minimum wage

    • CrowReally on 18/02/2022 - 18:00
      +4

      Yeah, it's not like they could possibly like the job they have, I mean, how could they, the money isn't nearly good enough.

      • tonyjzx on 18/02/2022 - 18:39
        +5

        yeah talking to them they certainly love what they do!

        so much job satisfaction with retail, they all say so.

        that's why everyone is moving from their high paid professional work to retail, you should too!

        • CrowReally on 18/02/2022 - 20:17

          You make a good point, which is exactly why retail is only filled with people in their late teens and twenties because everyone else has moved on to work in other, better, sectors.

      • jrvb42 on 19/02/2022 - 11:11
        +2

        Minor point, but if you've been unemployed for a few years because of age and overqualified, ANY wage, even minimum, is good.

      • greatlamp on 20/02/2022 - 06:38

        Being loyal to Officeworks deserves to be called out, regardless of the pay. They treat their employees like trash.

        They hire juniors part time, and ensure they get just enough hours to earn under $450 a week so they don't have to pay superannuation.

        • Vote for Pedro on 20/02/2022 - 09:22
          +5

          Well, the government has been brought kicking and screaming to fix this issue. Bills passed parliament this month.

          From 1 July 2022, all employers must pay superannuation guarantee contributions on all earnings, no matter how little each month.

        • AgentXKnight on 20/02/2022 - 10:46
          +1

          I pretty sure you are completely wrong about hiring juniors part time and only giving them enough hours to to not pay superannuation because 1 it is $450 a month for the requirement to pay superannuation and 2 even at the absolute minimum hours of 36 hours over 4 weeks at %60 pay rate for part time employees they would earn at least over $450 a month.

          If you are going to attack a business you should get your facts correct first. There are some issues with employees getting hours and this has nothing to do with treating their employees badly. They are generally to do with operation requirements ie the need for casual workers to work in high demand periods such as back to school and that stores have operation budgets which sometimes encourages hiring junior staff due to being cheaper to hire where they do role that not necessary difficult and having causal or part timers who fill in shifts when their budgets allow for more staff hours. This is just the nature of retail in Officeworks a business cannot just pay staff additional hours when there is no productive work for them to do, especially when you have people on ozbargain and retail shoppers who are always whining about the prices of products and do not want to pay extra for good service to fund more staff.

          • greatlamp on 20/02/2022 - 12:57

            @AgentXKnight:

            under 18 years old, being paid $450 or more (before tax) in a calendar month and work more than 30 hours in a week.

            https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Other-languages/In-detail/Inf…

            You can check the ATO source yourself if you think I am wrong

            My source is I used to work there. What is your source for why Officeworks needs to be defended?

            • AgentXKnight on 20/02/2022 - 13:13
              +1

              @greatlamp: Sorry looks like I was wrong sorry did not realise superannuation was worse and discriminates harshly against under 18s note you were still wrong about $450 per week requirement.

              Though this is really not Officeworks fault that are you are unfairly blaming on them considering that it superannuation laws which applies to all companies that make it so under 18s are harshly discriminated against for super because most under 18 would not be able to work more than 30 hours a week if they are at school which is almost full time work so it would be unreasonable to employ under 18s at more than 30 hours a week.

              If you have problem with superannuation laws you should place the blame at government and the SDA for not pushing harder in the award discussion to not discriminate against under 18s and not Officeworks which is one of many companies that follows the award agreed to and laws they are complying with.

        • CrowReally on 20/02/2022 - 13:59
          +2

          I'm sorry you had a bad experience working at Officeworks. Your $450 super a week thing is absolutely wrong however (as others have pointed out), and a personal anecdote is not workforce data.

          As the poster above me pointed out, the super rules were designed to exclude the requirement for under 18s working less than 30 hours a week - which given they should be in school or whatever makes it an extremely niche edge case for "Hi I'm 16 and want to work a 40 hour week". The rules (as they were) were designed to benefit the majority of society (remove the red tape on employing casual workers, etc).

          Right now your smoking gun is "officeworks applied the ATO superannuation rules that all companies are required to follow, any company that was employing me on that basis would have done exactly the same thing, but this is really an officeworks issue".

    • baskinghobo on 20/02/2022 - 09:28

      Agreed. I hate when employees get defensive at the slightest criticism about their company even if it's not directed at them.

  • djones145 on 18/02/2022 - 18:34
    +5

    thry don't price match international stores,

    WA is not part of Australia any more.

    • radicalvin on 18/02/2022 - 19:00

      Hahaha not for long, we are reintegrating in a couple of weeks!

      • mdavant on 20/02/2022 - 06:05

        Yep so he can blame the reopening though it has escaped now anyway.

  • DemocracyManifest on 18/02/2022 - 18:48
    +8

    People are terrified about getting into trouble over discounting products, that’s basically it. Price matching is a relatively new phenomenon. I used to get harassed regularly working at Liquorland about not matching prices from every other retailer inc boozebud…

    • tonyjzx on 18/02/2022 - 18:55

      good lord

      people ask to price match grog ?

      fmd. i thought it was a purely good guys JB, HN type shit, ie. consumer durables, electronics

  • [Deactivated] on 18/02/2022 - 19:02
    +4

    I've always had requests for price match/beat accepted at OW/HN/TGG/BL - maybe it depends on the store or even how it is requested.

    I recall an incident in a HN store where the customer indicated her 'demand' for a price match/beat by throwing a competitor's paper catalogue (this was some years ago) at the salesperson and then yelling that HN were obviously NOT monitoring the prices of their competitors products very well. It was obvious that she was weirdly enjoying putting on a show and embarrassing the salesperson who looked to be in his late teens/early twenties and maybe first day/week in the role. An older salesperson/manager quickly walked over & told her that they were refusing to serve her due to her 'belligerent' attitude & told her to leave the store. A few customers even started clapping as she was escorted out and you could tell by the look on her face that she had totally underestimated the situation. I know HN isn't well regarded here however I was impressed by the fact that they didn't give in to that type of customer.

    • DemocracyManifest on 19/02/2022 - 00:23

      It is surprising to people that you as a worker actually have the power to ask them to leave in situation like that 😂

      • [Deactivated] on 19/02/2022 - 08:38
        +1

        Customer is not always right.

        • bmerigan on 19/02/2022 - 21:30
          +1

          Customer is always right AND salesperson gets to decide who is a customer.

    • bloom on 19/02/2022 - 07:00
      +1

      Did she looks like one of the chicks from Bellissimo mattresses?
      Sorry Mr Harvey, we make them, you don’t!

      • [Deactivated] on 19/02/2022 - 08:57

        lol - older & nasty

  • mitt on 18/02/2022 - 19:57
    +19

    Because people that roll up demanding absurd price matches on what are usually price error/ebay/out of country/no warranty listings are universally absolutely awful people that make retail the hell it is.

    They are bracing for having to deal with yet another (profanity).

    • NotSureIfSerious on 20/02/2022 - 13:56
      +2

      I used to have people try to price match liquor from international online only shops that don’t include import taxes in their prices. Then you would see them come in the next day and try it again with another worker.

      I agree if it was just people doing the right thing, workers would not hesitate to beat/match your price

    • KapitaneXtreme on 21/02/2022 - 16:07
      +2

      Worked for OW for 5 years. This is the correct answer.

  • rektrading on 18/02/2022 - 20:03
    -2

    Why Do Retail Assistants Get Really Defensive/Protective in Price Matching/Beating?

    Because they really 😡 their job?

  • USER DC on 18/02/2022 - 21:38
    +2

    When I work in retail, I am always very careful of what I say to any customers,

    I always treat myself as I am representing the company. (EVEN THOUGH I KNOW I AM CLEARLY NOT)

    I myself have personally encountered similar situations at bunnings, where one team member says they can reduce price, or like refund me, and honor item at lower price etc. but then another team member just 2 mins later says totally different scenario, even says I was never told what the last team member told me. (May be the first team member said words under her own personal opinion, but when the other guy contacted the higher management they refused to agree with that), and hence dont want to honor me lower price, regardless of whatever the last person in the same store (even if it was the same person just 2 mins ago).

    I dont want any situation like this ever, hence being extremally careful of what I say, I always redirect price sensitive talks to higher management from the first instance, while letting customer know, I am not too sure on this, and I just do whatever my supervisor/manger tells me to do.

  • Eeples on 18/02/2022 - 22:02

    Office works over the phone has always been very polite.

    Online Jetstar chat very polite too.

    BCF were mostly polite.

    I think mostly they need to be sure of the match… or their supervisor will get them in trouble.

    (I am also nice as pie when I seek a pricematch because I will benefit from…..less 5% or more or less delivery charges or less credit card fees; so I am bound to be in a good mood)

  • ColtNoir on 19/02/2022 - 10:04
    +2

    Officeworks are a punish to price match at, however heaps better than JB.
    I just go prepared with the URL’s of both the OW item and the match item including the product codes (ensuring they match, because the they can ‘never find them’).
    If it’s an online retailer I’ll go a step further and put it in the cart showing postage fees. I’ve recently price matched using Amazon Prime.

    Realistically most retail employee are one of two buckets, they are lazy AF and can’t be bothered doing it, or they don’t want to get in trouble for not crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s

  • Zaphod42 on 19/02/2022 - 12:59
    +4

    I was looking at a TV at The Good Guys last weekend. I told them Videopro had it cheaper and the salesperson responded with “Well why didn’t you buy it there then?” I said “ Because I have a gift card and there’s a big sign on your wall that says you’ll match it”

    • moo on 20/02/2022 - 10:44

      How did they respond when you said that?

      • Zaphod42 on 20/02/2022 - 11:52
        +1

        He accepted it, reluctantly. He went to check the Videopro website by opening chrome, typing google.com into the address bar and then he typed Videopro. I didn’t have the heart to educate him. The outcome was that if I didn’t have the voucher I would have gone elsewhere. I just bit my tongue and let him mutter.

        • ntt on 20/02/2022 - 23:24

          Those a**hole the good guys always ask me if the price is better there why didn't I go to that store to buy it.

        • parsimonious one on 21/02/2022 - 07:56

          Could you kindly educate me? whats the issue with googling videopro for the price match?

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join