The Ethical Optimist

I took a terrific negotiation class one time; it taught me that time is a negotiation tool.  If you want someone to move quickly, tell them they’re out of time, even if they’re not.  Not ethical, but often effective.

I was reminded of this last weekend during a visit to a Direct Buy.  I was thinking of remodeling my kitchen, saw the commercials and decided to look into it.  I’m an avid bargain hunter and thought it might save me a few bucks.

I should have known I was in trouble when my initial call was met with a bit of a high pressure from the fellow who answered the phone and made the appointments.  I felt like I was asking for admission to Fort Knox.  What’s up with that?

Anyway, after my honey and I sat through the sales pitch, we were told we could meet with a rep to learn how much it was to join the club.  I’m thinking it’ll be a bit more than my BJ’s membership.  Wowza! They wanted me to fork over $8,000 on the spot!

Flag on the play!  They have books of items all over, but no prices.  How do I know I’m getting a bargain? I said I wanted time to think it over and do some research.  I was told, make the decision now or you can NEVER come back.  Huh?

When was the last time you plunked down eight grand without knowing what you were going to get and without the opportunity to comparison shop or do research?

Well, intrepid PR gal that I am, I wanted to know why I couldn’t have 24 hours to think about it.  The manager (of course I insisted on speaking to top banana) explained that once I left the building I would tell all my friends about the great bargains and disclose their pricing.  You’re kidding right? I told him I’d be happy to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Now, in the face of my very reasonable argument, he said, accusingly I might add, “What, you don’t trust me?”  Ahhhh….NO….I don’t know you…why on earth would I trust you? I countered with, “Why don’t you trust me not to give up the secrets of the fraternity when I leave?”  That one stumped him.

So, these folks are asking me to give up eight thousand bucks for access to a price list I can’t see, and telling me I have to pay it on the spot, or I can never set foot in a Direct Buy again, and I’m supposed to take it on faith that this is an ethical sale?  Yeah, right.

It’s been a long time since I’ve faced such high pressure tactics.  I was, frankly, shocked.

As the ethical optimist, I know that if you have nothing to hide, you let people do their research and come back to you.  A company can say all it wants about its products/services, but the community will still police them and share information.  In today’s transparent world, you can run, but you can’t hide.

Hopefully, others who plan to spend time at Direct Buy will read this blog and think twice before they do.