Comments on: Held Hostage http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/ Phil Steinmeyer's rumblings on the game biz, programming, and life Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:31:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: winter wolves http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-2584 winter wolves Wed, 12 Jul 2006 09:34:01 +0000 http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-2584 wow impressive. luckily here in europe I never met such salesmen. I guess is more popular in USA than anywhere else. wow impressive. luckily here in europe I never met such salesmen. I guess is more popular in USA than anywhere else.

]]> By: Griswel http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-2557 Griswel Tue, 11 Jul 2006 01:44:11 +0000 http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-2557 You get what you pay for. In the case of BestBuy, you pay the salesman if you buy the extended warranty, you don't if you don't. Therefore, he's indifferent to the sale, except that each gives a shot at the warranty, and he cares deeply about that. You get what you pay for.

In the case of BestBuy, you pay the salesman if you buy the extended warranty, you don’t if you don’t. Therefore, he’s indifferent to the sale, except that each gives a shot at the warranty, and he cares deeply about that.

]]> By: Phil Steinmeyer http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-1923 Phil Steinmeyer Fri, 23 Jun 2006 00:55:20 +0000 http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-1923 Yeah, but I suspect that's just AOL covering itself. The employee wouldn't be that nasty unless he was trained to be or financially or otherwise incentivized to be. Yeah, but I suspect that’s just AOL covering itself. The employee wouldn’t be that nasty unless he was trained to be or financially or otherwise incentivized to be.

]]> By: PJay http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-1917 PJay Thu, 22 Jun 2006 23:14:03 +0000 http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-1917 The employee got fired. http://news.beta.netscape.com/story/2006/06/15/mp3-recording-trying-to-cancel-aol/ The employee got fired.

http://news.beta.netscape.com/story/2006/06/15/mp3-recording-trying-to-cancel-aol/

]]> By: Phil Steinmeyer http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-1914 Phil Steinmeyer Thu, 22 Jun 2006 23:10:20 +0000 http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-1914 I was at OfficeMax a week or two ago, and the sales clerk pitched the person in front of me an extended warranty on a $15 product! True, the warranty was only $2, but if you can't afford to rebuy a $15 part, then you probably shouldn't be buying electronic gizmos at all. I was at OfficeMax a week or two ago, and the sales clerk pitched the person in front of me an extended warranty on a $15 product! True, the warranty was only $2, but if you can’t afford to rebuy a $15 part, then you probably shouldn’t be buying electronic gizmos at all.

]]> By: Stu http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-1912 Stu Thu, 22 Jun 2006 22:30:37 +0000 http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-1912 I was told by a Best Buy sales rep that they get no commission incentive to sell merchandise but they do get a commission on extended warranties. (this was in the PC department) I believe he was telling the truth. They are particularly agressive in that way. For that reason, and the fact that you can't buy anything there that doesn't include a "mail-in rebate" I don't shop there. I'd truly rather pay more and not hassle with such crapola. I was told by a Best Buy sales rep that they get no commission incentive to sell merchandise but they do get a commission on extended warranties. (this was in the PC department) I believe he was telling the truth. They are particularly agressive in that way. For that reason, and the fact that you can’t buy anything there that doesn’t include a “mail-in rebate” I don’t shop there. I’d truly rather pay more and not hassle with such crapola.

]]> By: Tide http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-1893 Tide Thu, 22 Jun 2006 16:32:44 +0000 http://www.philsteinmeyer.com/113/held-hostage/#comment-1893 Yeah, that is certainly making the rounds. The only obvious thing here is that the guy is incented for "Saves". So CSR's do everything in their power to stem churn. People often get lesser rates or different AOL packages based on how the conversations go. I think that is what's frustrating. People call in usually overheated to cancel, and they are put into a negotiation. That's not expected. I wonder if that approach would work in games? Yeah, that is certainly making the rounds. The only obvious thing here is that the guy is incented for “Saves”. So CSR’s do everything in their power to stem churn. People often get lesser rates or different AOL packages based on how the conversations go. I think that is what’s frustrating. People call in usually overheated to cancel, and they are put into a negotiation. That’s not expected. I wonder if that approach would work in games?

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