Significant upgrades in hardware by LG, Samsung and Sony in 2016's line-ups means we ought to study the reviews closely to check out the differentiation across a wide range.
We didn't realise that at first - how fast things had been moving in the manufacturing world of smart TV.
Out of convenience and laziness, we simply proceeded to the mega stores - Best Denki, Courts, Gain City, Harvey Norman, Mega Discount Store, Mustafa, Parisilk - to check out the TV displays.
Wow, the sales reps sure swim around us like sharks, swooping in even before we could even lay eyes properly on any unit. Competition for sales target is apparently keen since we notice the same sale rep tailing us even though we mentioned that we were not buying - just to gain browsing time, and they probably suspect that too.
Finally, one rep gain control over the others, and before we know it, he had demo'ed to us the pros and cons of every brand across the stores.
In the end, the deal didn't go through as he turned sour when we discover the model he proposed was already replaced with a new model that is soon to come.
Fast forward to the new model's arrival.
We were merely checking out the display when there you have it - one rep swooped in again.
We asked for the actual price (which is never the tagged price), and he as good as take that to mean we are his customer already.
This sales rep claims to have given us the lowest bargain basement rate, which we very quickly found out through googling that it isn't. He admitted that it is our job to source out the lower price, then only would he go down one level to the next in price decrease. So began the rather tedious process of bargaining, which is time-consuming since their best deals are often trumped by savvy HDB shop outlets out for a bite at the I.T. pie. But price matching helps reduce the quotation tremendously.
Due to his persistance, we ended up placing a deposit for a brand we hadn't consider in the first place.
By chance, we found ourselves in the showroom of our preferred brand. We found out that his store's unit of the TV we actually wanted, somehow had its settings tweaked to deter sales. As a result, using the same USB stick of pre-downloaded movies doesn't help. At the official showroom, we were blown away by the superiority of the unit, which had earlier given a rather poor showing at the mega store. It is actually quite important for manufacturers to have their own showroom, or to send their own calibrators to all stores, to avoid the same scenario where settings are dampened unethically by their own dealers, out to steer customers to brands that provide the store better profits, and their sales fellas better commission.
Out of courtesy, we SMS the sales rep to inform that we are cancelling the order in favour of our preferred brand, and for a model that is due to arrive in the coming quarter.
We then proceeded to the store to obtain our refund, which was duly granted after some verification was made.
In the midst of the refund, we suddenly got a call from the sale rep, which we couldn't pick up as we were attended to by the cashier and there was a long and impatient queue behind us. After signing on the refund to finalise it, a flurry of SMS came from the sale rep, stating that there is no such thing as refund on deposit. We have to go down to him and buy something else with the deposit.
That was a shocker. The TV was not in limited stock situation so we had not deprived any customers. The only reason we placed a deposit was he told us we can cancel anytime. No installment plan. No delivery effected. No freebies received yet. We never even receive any invoice.
Gain City has a 8-day cooling period published on its website, which would have prevented their sales rep from having their own ruling. Although this mega store does not publish its stance on refund of deposits, it was willing to allow the same fair practice.
We are lucky then, that we had already managed to get the store to refund us the deposit, ironically because our SMS to the sales rep didn't reached him. If not for the delay in the SMS facility, he is bound to have the refund halted using similar aggressive tactics he applied to effect the sale.
There could have been many future purchases for him, but he ruled out any such possibility himself by not treating us like long-term customers. Merely something for him to hit and run. Ownself rule out ownself, is how some would put it.
We are now quits, of course.
Aren't we glad!
While helpful in driving the price down to match the other quotations, his sales tactic veers on the aggressive side, with reasons such as saying his management would have a bad impression of him if we made him push down the rate then did not go through with the sale, or he needed the sales target badly. It was all about him. Customers are just tools of the trade.
When he thought he had clinched our sale, he went round the store walking like a peacock pointing us out to his colleagues. It felt really funny to be treated like trophies.
We should have taken flight just from his way of transposing his uh-huh uh-huh so impatiently before you could even formulate the sentence. We were expressing our concerns about the unit's performance and about having to pay too large an amount of deposit. That uh-huh uh-huh was another clear sign he was bored already, just foot out the loot and get the sales over and done with willya?
We got way-laid by sales talk, but glad we didn't get side-tracked in the end.
It would have deprived us of years of appreciation for the TV we are soon to buy.
As always is the case with poor customer service, we don't want the product to be associated with the image of bad representation that stays with us whenever we use the product.