Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 10:36:54 -0700 From: Alfred Perlstein <bright@wintelcom.net> To: richard childers <fscked@pacbell.net> Cc: freebsd-mobile@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Tales From The City Message-ID: <20010412103654.B24582@fw.wintelcom.net> In-Reply-To: <3AD5B2B8.56008CF7@pacbell.net>; from fscked@pacbell.net on Thu, Apr 12, 2001 at 06:50:48AM -0700 References: <3AD5B2B8.56008CF7@pacbell.net>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
* richard childers <fscked@pacbell.net> [010412 06:36] wrote: > Funny story in connection with laptops and FreeBSD. > > When I transported into Manhattan last Saturday, one of the things on my > list of to-dos was to stop by a computer store in Grand Central Station That was a mistake. :) > Was I the subject of what are called 'bait and switch' tactics? Or was > this merely bigotry against people whom did not use Windows? You'll have > to decide for yourself. My perception was that the older salesman (not > the one whom had initially approved the sale, as proposed, that morning, > but a third one, older and balding and lacking only a cigar to fulfill > stereotypical images of a hard-bitten salesman) interpreted my > questioning of whether I needed more than 800x600 resolution as a > rejection of the add-ons, altogether. How hasty. How typically New York. > Who knows; maybe he thought I was a Hacker(tm). God forbid. > > It seemed to me that the sale of these laptops was strictly contingent > upon the purchase of additional elements which drove the price up to > close to $1000, when all was said and done; a rather high price for last > year's laptops. > > They tried offering me another laptop that was closer to $1000. I told > them I wasn't interested. > > Perhaps it was not illegal conduct but it was certainly perceived as > unethical by me and would be regarded by almost anybody, as questionable > ... insofar as it gives rise to questions, of a generally unfavorable > nature. > > It's not clear to me if I am Constitutionally required to conceal > questionable business practices of public vendors making public offers > which are privately withdrawn for unknown reasons. > > Until then, I thought I'd pass the word. > > I suppose this is widespread; if you're in the market for a laptop, > beware this practice. This is a classic bait and switch. As someone who grew up around these types of folks, I'd urge you to watch yourself when doing business with them, in fact it's probably better to not do any business with them at all. I'm not saying to avoid all "mom & pop" stores in the New York area, what I'm saying, is avoid "scarey smoking guy and scary fat guy" type of places, trust your gut and the second you feel like you may be getting swindled, thank them for thier time and leave. The second you leave the store and take a deep breath you'll feel about a thousand times better. -- -Alfred Perlstein - [bright@wintelcom.net|alfred@freebsd.org] Instead of asking why a piece of software is using "1970s technology," start asking why software is ignoring 30 years of accumulated wisdom. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-mobile" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20010412103654.B24582>