I have been trying to help this one particular client of mine get a sofa at a pretty good deal for the past few weeks due to a price increment from the supplier next month.
Her situation actually made getting the deal difficult because in order to enjoy the current pricing, we have to order the sofa from the supplier in Italy before the price increment, but her house can only be ready next year, so I had to get my boss to give me the greenlight to actually allow her to purchase the sofa first and then store it in the warehouse, which would incur additional cost, but my boss actually decided to absorb the cost for her out of goodwill because I spoke to him about it.
Current Price of Sofa - $25,000
New Price of Sofa - $28,000
So aside from the price increment, I actually also offered her a huge discount, which meant she will only be paying about $20,000 for the sofa.
So here is a breakdown of how the exchange I have had with her over the past 3 months have been like....
The original plan was...
Jan 2022 - She confirms the Sofa Order with my company and we send her order to Italy to start fabrication, ordering within this month would ensure she gets to enjoy the old price, and on top of that, the discount for the month of January.
Feb 2022 - April 2022 - Sofa gets fabricated in Italy and shipped to Singapore
May 2022 - We Receive the Sofa from Italy 4 to 5 months later and store it in the Warehouse for her until December 2022.
... with this arrangement, she gets to...
1. Purchase the sofa at the old price with the generous discount of the month of January.
- $8000 worth of savings.
2. Enjoy Free Storage in the Warehouse for 7 to 8 months,
- This storage would have cost her about $100 a week, that makes it about $3000 for 7 to 8 months
This 2 benefits total up to $11,000 worth of savings for her
I mean this deal alone is already insanely generous, seeing how she is only getting a single sofa and only forking out $20,000 for it.
She was happy after that, but then calls me again a few weeks later and informs me of the developer delay in handing over of the keys, so she requested for me to speak to my boss about possibly extending her free storage in the Warehouse for another 3 months, which meant that she will only get her Sofa in March 2023, my boss agrees and I tell her the good news, so this was another $1000 worth of free storage for her, to which she goes...
"But actually if you store it in the Warehouse for so long, won't the Sofa get moldy? Can you get your boss to assure me the sofa won't get moldy? If it gets moldy will your company offer a replacement piece for me? Help me talk to your boss about it because I am pretty much confirmed about getting the sofa already, I just want to make sure."
... and my boss allowed me to give her the assurance and agreed that if the sofa gets moldy during storage, we will replace it for her. My boss is like the gift that just keeps on giving to this customer, but then she calls me again this afternoon, which is when she was suppose to come down and confirm her order, and tells me...
"I just got news that my apartment will be delayed by another 3 months, I was hoping you can talk to your boss for me again and request for an extension of the Warehouse Storage, or if you can get him to hold the order from Italy for me until I am ready."
.... so I inform my boss about her predicament and he agreed to it, this is another $1000 worth of savings in storage fees. He was a bit hesitant but he agreed to it and I was just mind blown at how giving he was because I was completely expecting him to tell me that he wasn't going to anymore, that this customer is not worth the sales, but he actually agreed. He only had 2 requirements for the client.
1. She had to make full payment for the Sofa instead of just a deposit.
2. She can't use her Credit Card (because he didn't want to absorb the 2.7% service fee for her credit card payment)
I thought it was a fair trade because right now, the total amount of savings she gets to enjoy is upwards to $13,000, just for the purchase of a $20,000 sofa, so I shared this good news with my client and told her about the requirements, and I informed her that we can hold the order until she is ready like she requested because my boss has also agreed to that, but instead of being grateful and accepting the offer, she got extremely skeptical and starting asking me..
"Can I just check, why is your company willing to hold the order for me? What about the additional cost of incurred from the price increment?"
... and I told her....
"My company is willing to absorb the charges for you."
... and she just kept asking me why and telling me it was a bit suspicious. I was just flabbergasted that this was the response I was getting, after all this back and forth I had with my boss to get her those discounts and benefits, she then ask me for my boss's name because she wanted to do some research on him and then tells me she will call me back later, she never did, I mean the whole thing is just...
... I really don't know how my boss will react when he realizes the customer didn't actually get the item in the end. I am honestly quite relief she decided not to get the item in the end because I really don't think her purchase warrants all these free service we are offering her, plus the fact that it is probably going to be a logistical nightmare to have to hold on to her item for so long, and not only that, the need for us to get her a new replacement should the sofa get moldy because she has to delay the delivery.
My company has offered customers who have purchased much more so much lesser, the fact that he is offering this customer, who is only purchasing a single item, so much really blew my fucking mind, and she just looked a gift horse right in the fucking mouth.
Sure, spending $20,000 on a sofa is a crazy amount, but contextually speaking, you are buying a luxury good and $20,000 is the entry level for the particular brand we are carrying.
The amount of free shit she is getting is akin to me ordering a single $3 cupcake from a bakery and then getting free delivery, free candles, discount coupons while customers who are ordering whole cakes that amounts to $50 only getting a free candle but still has to pay for delivery.
It makes zero sense and she had such a insanely good deal but she decided to blow it. I understand the phrase "When something is too good to be true, it probably is", but in this case, it really isn't, you were offered something amazing and you decided not to take it.
I am never offering her this offer again, the next time she comes back, if she comes back, she is paying full price at minimal discount and if she wants to store her sofa in the warehouse, she is going to store it at the full price.
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