A Lot Of Places Are Losing My Business
Alex_Svenson
Posts: 1,224 ✭✭✭
I find it ironic that Walmart, Best Buy, Home Depot and Target are making such a huge and heavy push for taxing online sales. What is ironic is the campaign is centered around "protecting the mom and pop" model... the very people they have been at odds with for decades. I just went onto to bestbuy.com to purchase an HP printer. Listed price, $300. I went to the HP website to buy direct from the manufacturer... $150. I think, well Ill call them to see if they will match. Automated system which took me saying operator no less than 30 times before I was told there would be a 20 minute wait to speak to someone. What ever happened to offering a fair price and great service. I could care less about the sales tax. Someone should tell them if they are going to charge double everyone else, sales tax may not be their biggest issue.
These companies built their business on "watching out for the customer" and the "peoples champion" mentality. Now they want me to pay more taxes? That doesnt sound like they are looking out for me at all. Then they finance this anti-amazon campaign which is really an anti ecommerce campaign and talk about supporting local business as they hide in the background. I am so disgusted. I will no longer do business with any of these folks and any retailer that signs on is also going to lose my business. Maybe the ironic thing is that I didnt really use amazon before. I used to use these sites or visited their stores and gladly paid the taxes but now I am going to use amazon because they just completely proved to me that they dont give a crap and their whole "best prices and great service" pitch was just lip service.
Sorry, I just had to rant. Maybe if instead they focused all this money on fighting for lower local sales taxes (which may actually yield more total sales tax revenue) it would be a win for everyone. At least maybe try a little harder and focus on simple business fundamentals like humans answering phones and fair pricing. AAAAAARRRRGRHHHHHHH
These companies built their business on "watching out for the customer" and the "peoples champion" mentality. Now they want me to pay more taxes? That doesnt sound like they are looking out for me at all. Then they finance this anti-amazon campaign which is really an anti ecommerce campaign and talk about supporting local business as they hide in the background. I am so disgusted. I will no longer do business with any of these folks and any retailer that signs on is also going to lose my business. Maybe the ironic thing is that I didnt really use amazon before. I used to use these sites or visited their stores and gladly paid the taxes but now I am going to use amazon because they just completely proved to me that they dont give a crap and their whole "best prices and great service" pitch was just lip service.
Sorry, I just had to rant. Maybe if instead they focused all this money on fighting for lower local sales taxes (which may actually yield more total sales tax revenue) it would be a win for everyone. At least maybe try a little harder and focus on simple business fundamentals like humans answering phones and fair pricing. AAAAAARRRRGRHHHHHHH
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Comments
*Le Sigh*
The stores have poorly trained staff, rude customer service, poor product selection, and some of the worst pricing on the market.
And it seems many companies are following that model.
I honestly have to blame lazy management and poor career training for employees.
Whenever I need something I don't even consider BestBuy an option. I'd rather just get it from amazon or ebay.
As for other companies, I keep a mental list of places not to do business with.
California has just passed a law saying all mail order will be taxed. Amazon has called their bluff and left the state. Thanks Alex. You're real, dude.
On-topic: Did anyone really expect anything different? Best Buy has been in the business of ripping people off for more than a decade; Amazon's been the go-to place for price-checking for the last 10 years at least. Anytime I need something, I check for it on Amazon, then look for it at WalMart - sometimes I can save $20 on Amazon, sometimes they're the same price, sometimes WalMart has it cheaper and I can save on shipping.
The days of walking into a store and trusting them to give you the best price have never existed - it's always been the consumer who needs to look out for themselves and find the best price, but with the internet, it's easier than ever. Honestly, I don't really have any complaints - with pricing information on everything from a hammer to a yacht at my fingertips, there's no reason NOT to get the best price on something.
"Long ashes my friends."
If the only info you get is from people who frequent walmartwatch.com or some union/anti-walmart website, you're going to be misinformed.
Once companies become large politics seem to take over the culture of the business, to the customer and the employees. As businesses grow so does the overhead, the monster must be fed. Instead of growing on customer service and loyalty, through good business practices, they start to buy up the competition or open in their neighborhood, cut operating costs any way they can on the wrong levels, buy less expensive raw materials, etc. Bigger is better. This ultimately affects the customer in service, quality and pricing and they will probably go elsewhere, if they have that option.
Rant back at ya Alex, I feel your pain
Now that I think of it, most if not all stores in my area (walmart, fred meyer, bby, target) all sell about the same stuff in the electronic field. Mostly crappy cheap tv's at prices that you could get better tv's and electronic, well almost at other outlets (local shops or online). I think it all has to do with what they can sell. I mean you can get a 300 dollar computer now. They truly do suck though, I mean I work on computers all day long and 80 percent of the computer problems I run into is a cheap 300-450 computer lagging or locking up. Places like dell and compaq use the crappiest components and then when people buy them for a "great" deal they expect them to work well. I guess you can't blame the companies I mean they make what can get sold, of people have little money then it works.
Back on topic, yes, I agree all these box stores can stick it. I shop at mostly all local shops except for food, as I bargain hop between two stores. I also find myself buying more stuff online than I use to. I imagine that states will all push for a online tax soon, in fact I do believe I have heard of some bills being drafted or even voted on in state houses. Not sure if any have passed but I remember hearing something about it. Either way we are all getting played and gouged.
Most for the big stores I only go into to window shop and maybe look through the sale rack.
I dont think this has passed or taken effect.... there are ways around it if you do buy mail order i do believe...... You know what I say........ F*#^ um all! Wally world Included!
Not that uncommon helps the company recover some of the costs associated with training and such.