Warranties. How many times must I say no?

@chyna I’m not as nice as you. I’ve only said no twice. They get the point after the first one usually.

They’re usually too scared to ask me more than once.

No I have no warranty stories. I just admire the business model. Buy this insurance because I know you will forget you have it or lose the paperwork. It is the crowning achievement of capitalism.

They’re on a script, and there’s virtually no way to stop it without being very direct. It’s not about commission; it’s about the instructions they’ve been given. Since being direct in these situations often violates social norms, most people will sit through the endless repetitions. The corporate office knows this and takes advantage of it. Only by undermining the sales technique can we change anything.

In one particularly maddening case, I simply left in the middle of the transaction. I said, as nicely as I could while still being firm, that I did not want the item I was attempting to purchase so badly that I was willing to endure constant attempts to sell me something on my way out the door. I then made sure to speak to the manager since it was neither the sales associate’s fault that she had been given these instructions, nor was it in her power to change anything.

@SavoirFaire I want to be like you in my next life. I’m too polite.

When people ask me questions I don’t want to answer I simply say nothing, it’s my opinion silence speaks louder than words if used properly. “questions I don’t want to answer” includes stupid and/or unnecessary questions, there is one person in my life who repeatedly asks such questions, suffice to say she is not my favourite person.

Depending on my mood I might have played along to get them to describe it about six more times to wear them down and show how silly it is to ask more than once.
It is nothing more than paying an insurance policy for the store and make them more money.
Maybe next time a polite “F NO” might suffice.

Did you ask why you needed a warranty on a brand-new item? That’s one of my favorite questions.

I say, “Why, do you think it’ll break?”

Just once is enough for me. If they mention it again I’ll say “If you mention the warranty one more time I’m leaving here without buying the product at all.”

I look them straight in the eye & say in a firm & steady voice, “no thank you, now stop flapping your lips about, sounds are coming out that aren’t appealing to me.”

@gailcalled – That is my point as well I always tell them the damned thing better not break so no I don’t want a warranty!

I worked at an electronics store (MicroCenter) and had to try to “upsell” warranties. In many cases the store bought warranties are a huge source of income for the store (in some cases a warranty might be the only money they make on an item, especially big ticket items). We were required to sell X number of warranties a day, and unfortunately when you’re dealing with cashier-qualified workers… you’re not always dealing with people who have the “penash” (spelling?) or skill to offer a warranty, but not push a warranty. If you didn’t sell those warranties, you got fired… so there was a lot of motivation to sell them.

Side note: Don’t ever buy the warranties. Nine times out of ten the company that made the product covers it with a warranty that covers the same time frame (or a larger one), and all the same issues. Rarely if ever will an extended/store-bought warranty really be of any use to your average buyer (they do have some practical uses for some buyers).

Meh..it’s their job to push the warranties, and are expected to put on a little pressure to see if you’ll cave and submit to the hard sale tactics. I just keep saying ‘no thanks’, and let it go.
Or, instead of getting upset just say ” No, please don’t ask me again, my answer won’t change.’

It is what it is, don’t sweat the small stuff. ;-)

I just give them the evil eye and they usually just shut up and rush to get me out of the store.

If they’re selling it really hard they may not be doing this for commission, but doing it to make quota so they don’t get in trouble.

There’s a few horror storries about stores like Gamestop who force their employees to make a quota by upselling their $10 membership. Failing to make that quota means disciplinary action by “retraining”, if they still can’t produce more suckers, they get fired. :|