Bait and Switch

Apparently Bait and Switch is Legal in this country.

What is bait and switch you ask ?

Thats when you advertise one price to get them into the store and then actually sell it at another , much higher price.

Thats when I look at the dell website and see I can get a brand new computer , with monitor and everything , for only 22$ a month. But when I phone them up she goes through all this rigamarole as if she was doing me a big favor , and then tells me it's 37$ / month. Umm...thats quite a jump from the web site price.

Well the website price doesn't include taxes , doesn't include this or that ...

Taxes are 15% in this country , tops. Thats 3$ on a 22$ / month computer. I told her to forget it and I hung up on her.

Thats obviously not the first bait and switch I've ever had pulled on me. I last fell for it when I was mid 20's , a long time ago. The elements are always the same. Pull them in with one low price, pretend to do a lot of work and dickering with someone , the computer, your manager, whatever , and then quote a much higher price, with a pocket full of excuses at the ready why they can't have it at the advertised price. A practiced salesperson has answers for everything you say.

Except for the part where you just hang up on them without even letting them getting started.

My advise is always the same. If there's a long delay , if they have to fight with their computer or talk to their manager or something silly about something their manager was advertising in the first place, brace yourself for bad news. When they come back and the price is double, or triple, don't argue with them. They're the master of arguing , every single sale they make involves running that argument they have you beat ten ways from sunday on it.

Just walk out the door. Or hang up the phone. Or whatever. Get out.