I was kinda justifiably ignored :)

[Cajunrider]

Last Saturday I was in Houston. I took the opportunity to visit one of the largest landscaping nurseries in the area. They have acres and acres of trees from very large to small. I spent quite a bit of time walking around. In the beginning, I was kind of glad to be left alone to explore, but then after a while I started to feel ignored (human psyches is weird isn't it?) I had a question to ask about a tree with a $29 price tag. I approached one guy and he brusquely told me: "Please wait, I have to take care of a customer." Then he walked away to catch up with a guy who was walking around the big trees looking... kinda just like me.

Naturally I was curious as to why that guy got so much attention so I followed them from a distance. I observed the customer pointed to one huge tree after another and said: "I want that, and that, and that...." The nursery guy was busy taking notes. After a while the customer stopped and said: "What am I up to?" The nursery guy said " Around 95". The customer said: "Good. Deliver them to the address and my crew will tell you guys where to plant them."

$95,000 sale sure as heck beats $29 potential sale, doesn't it?

 

[LanceMac10]

AND EVEN THEN, YOU'LL BE HAGGLING OVER A COUPLE DOLLARS!! cheapskates sometimes have a certain swarthy-ness that sticks out.....

 

[AZbonsai]

cheapskates sometimes have a certain swarthy-ness that sticks out.....

That must be why I can never get any help......anywhere!

 

[BobbyLane]

so what was the question you wanted to ask about the tree??
i kind of like being left to my own devices without pressure. i already know what im looking for and dont need any help unless i want to haggle on the price, which can be done at the till.
you see how Ryan neil does it, walks in, sees what he wants, leaves with a van load of goodies, simple?

 

[Morax]

Oh yeah... looks play allot into it... an example... cute lil 5 foot tall blonde walks to jewelry counter... nothing. 6 foot leather clad biker walks up beside her. Nothing. 3 salespeople look up but don't move.. fall all over themselves when a stack of cash is slapped on counter... "thank you is there anything else we can do today sir? " yup go f yourselves...

 

[Morax]

I don't care if you got .01 or 1.5 mil. I am sure he was not the only guy working there and that's just bad business. Treat them all the same.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Maybe he was up to 95 plants?

 

[Cajunrider]

Maybe he was up to 95 plants?

Fewer than that but he was buying large trees worth quite a few thousand each.

 

[Cajunrider]

I don't care if you got .01 or 1.5 mil. I am sure he was not the only guy working there and that's just bad business. Treat them all the same.

I think it's just a matter of him responding to a good repeating customer. I'm OK with that.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I only want to know...if you took it home with you?

 

[Cajunrider]

I only want to know...if you took it home with you?

No. I went to a different nursery. I wasn't mad at them however.

 

[Cadillactaste]

No. I went to a different nursery. I wasn't mad at them however.

Anything follow you home from there? Our nurseries are closed up this way. So...curious. Seems to not stop me from aquiring trees this winter though.

 

[penumbra]

I think it's just a matter of him responding to a good repeating customer. I'm OK with that.

Ditto. The guy was doing his job, why feel slighted?

 

[Carol 83]

I kind of understand where the guy is coming from. I work in an office with 5 phone lines, and 2 people. People walking in to buy stuff, getting gas at the pumps, trucks pulling on the scale. You can only take care of one customer at a time.

 

[Cajunrider]

Anything follow you home from there? Our nurseries are closed up this way. So...curious. Seems to not stop me from aquiring trees this winter though.

Well I bought a 3 gal Double take flowering red quince and a 1 gal Japanese black pine.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Well I bought a 3 gal Double take flowering red quince and a 1 gal Japanese black pine.

Well done!

 

[Forsoothe!]

I don't care if you got .01 or 1.5 mil. I am sure he was not the only guy working there and that's just bad business. Treat them all the same.

Our value in life is measured by how well we can be of service to others. Those people who don't want to be used will be paid accordingly. The guy who knew that the Mr. Big was going to use his services to the nth degree knew which side of the bread had the butter on it. He should have treated the party of the second part a little better, maybe if a smile or wink accompanied his hurried exit it would have been more acceptable, but maybe he had special instructions to make sure Mr. Big was treated well, or else. Walk a mile in his shoes...

I think Cajun understood, completely, and provided an interesting narrative. I like stories with a lesson learned.

 

[substratum]

@Cajunrider - Did you buy the $29 bush?

 

[jimib]

One time I was in Vegas and stepped into the Armani store. I was looking at an $1800 shirt. One of the sales people came over and asked if I would like to try it on. I was wearing an iron maiden T-shirt, jeans, and Chuck Taylor Converses. I looked at the guy and said “do I look like I can afford an $1800 shirt?“ jokingly. He looked at me and said “I don’t care it you’re wearing that or a Hugo Boss suit. I treat everyone like they just hit big at a table”.

 

[Cajunrider]

@Cajunrider - Did you buy the $29 bush?

No but I still will come back to that nursery. They have a lot of stuff at decent prices.