34. How do you respond to a bait and switch?
Retail stores often advertise fabulous but fake bargains just to get you to come in so they can sell you something more expensive. This scheme is commonly referred to as "bait and switch."
It is simple enough: they advertise some item at a price low enough to lure you into the store. But here is the switch: the advertised item is not for sale. The salespeople may give you any number of reasons why you cannot or should not buy it.
"There are not any left. . ."
"Many customers who bought it are dissatisfied . . ."
"The product is not any good . . ."
"You cannot get delivery for six months . . ."
The truth is that these salespeople never had any intention of selling the advertised special. They kill your desire to buy it and instead try to get you to buy the item they had in mind from the beginning.
"Bait and switch" is an unfair practice and is against the law. Although you cannot always spot bait ads in advance or know that the switch is going to follow, there are a few steps you can take to avoid the trap.
First, realize that a good salesperson may try to persuade you to buy a better quality item or a different brand with more features at a higher price. There is nothing illegal or unethical about this. The important thing is that you are given a choice without undue pressure.
Keep in mind, though, that if a product or service is advertised at a price that seems too good to be true, this may be a bait ad. Then, if the merchant refuses to show you the advertised item, to take orders for it or deliver it within a reasonable time, disparages it, or demonstrates a defective sample of it, take this as a sign that you are probably being "switched."
For example: You go into a store to buy a computer you saw advertised. It was out of stock, but when a salesperson tells you a faster model is available for an additional $100, you purchased it because it was available immediately.
The deliberate use of stock outages of a featured, low-price bait brand in hope of persuading customers to switch to a more profitable substitute brand is a form of bait and switch.
If you want to see the bait and switch used, visit any car dealer. After you find the car you want you may be surprised to find your low offer immediately accepted. After getting you to commit yourself to a price the salesman will say something like, "Well this looks good." All I have to do is run this by my sales manager for approval and the car is yours:”
As you are sitting there congratulating yourself on getting such a good deal, the sales manager comes in to review the price with you. He says, "You know, Joe was a little out of line here. This price is almost $400 under our factory invoice cost." He produces an official-looking factory invoice. "You cannot possibly ask us to take a loss on the sale?"
Now you feel a little embarrassed. You are not quite sure how to respond. You thought you had a deal and Joe's bait and switch tactic just shot it down. If you stick to your guns and talk the sales manager into meeting your price, he will eventually cave in and tell you that since he is selling it under factory invoice he will have to get his manager's approval.
This game will continue as long as you can hold out against a battalion of managers.
Understand that it is a matter of perspective. While you may view this process as underhanded and deceptive, it is a time-honored negotiating tactic used everywhere in the world, from the Middle East bazaars to Mexican street markets.
Comments:
It is funny how this works to our advantage. I am in the produce business and customers regularly tell me that there are A,B,C grade produce available. I tell them that all my customers from the taco truck who picks up product every morning to the white tablecloth fine dining establishments get the same product. I tell them to come see the warehouse anytime. There is only one slot per product and it is all Grade A. There is no Bait and Switch. If that is what they have experienced give me thrity days. It will be a real eye-opener.
Dave Ferren
Bait and switch is a popular tactic used by chain appliance and electronics stores. Years ago in New Orleans I was looking for a new television. There was a locally owned chain appliance store that was always advertising items on sale. I remember several times seeing a 19 inch TV advertised at that store for $99 and in the small print it said brand would vary and 3 per store location. I went to the store just to check it out [I had already assumed it was probably a piece of junk but was curious]. When I asked a salesman about it he replied “You don’t want that TV, it’s a piece of junk. I do have a nice Sony on sale for $380 that you would be much happier with.” He was honest at least about the low price TV being a piece of junk and I wouldn’t have bought it anyway but the tactic turned me off so much I left the store. I ended up buying a TV at a different store later on.
Cary McAfee
My personal opinion is that although bait and switch is a long standing sales strategy. It is still under handed in my view. I would never use this tactic to sell a product. I feel that if this is used in your sales strategy then you may not have a product you believe in and shouldn’t be selling it to begin with. Bait and switch can do nothing in the long run but damage your Company’s and your reputation as a leader in your field
Brian Spraggins
Another problem with the bait and switch is that they trick you into thinking that they are looking out for your best interests, saving you from purchasing the lesser item. I heard on the radio the other day a local car dealer offering SUV’s for 12,000 dollars, and then at the very end they said they only had two on the lot for that price. At least they admit to the bait and switch before you get there!
Morgan Frazier
I agree that most sales people do use the bait and switch. The most common place I have seen this is in the retail industry and it really depends on if you are buying for the price, or for the need. If you need the item you may opt to buy the higher priced item that is substituted. If you are buying a luxury item you may be a little more cautious. Shopping around before making any substantial purchase can usually help avoid a bait and switch.
Kathie Luttrell
I have always heard that car salespeople use this on a daily basis. This tactic was used on me at a dealership about eight years ago but in the legal way. The type of car I wanted was advertised at a price to entice any buyer to the dealership. Of course, this was the base model. Once all of the options were added, my monthly payment would have been $80 more per month. I contemplated for 2 days. The salesperson finally said, “Why don’t you come and get your car”. What are you going to do? I caved but I got the car I wanted.
Gregg Nixon
Bait and switch is not a tactic I would advise using in staffing, to be quite honest. The relationships we build with our clients are generally long lasting so it would do us little good to try and use a bait and switch tactic for a short term sale if we are trying to gain the long term business. Customers would not appreciate being duped.
In fact here in Beaufort it has done us good NOT to use that type of tactic. One of our competitors tried to lowball us by approaching our biggest customer and saying that they were less expensive. Our customer took the bait, and then when they received the invoice they discovered that while the markup was indeed lower than ours, there were several added fees that were not included in the markup (they were not informed of said fees) and it ended up costing more than us in the long run. Needless to say, they don’t use that agency anymore and have been loyal to us for years. In fact they had enough trust to impart that story to us!!
Marquesa Ortega
I love it when a competitor uses a bait and switch on one of my customers. I inform them that they have fallen pray to a tactic used by some sales people and I apologize for my professions sleazy side. I then inform them that what the competitor did was give them an inferior product at a reduced cost. I show them that we also have cheaper products but that they have always purchased high quality products and I did not for see them wanting to lower their quality.
Patrick
I've worked for companies that thrived on the bait and switch. The jewelry industry does this on a daily basis and usually calls the bait a "loss leader". They will lose money on the advertised item(in hopes that you can switch)just to get you in the store. A skilled salesperson can make the switch;others sell many of the loss leaders. According to which side you're on,it can be a good tactic.
Rick Hughes
My daughter and I went to a clothing store recently. This article reminds me of what we encountered. This store had big red signed hanging all over the store that said “BUY ONE GET ONE FREE ON ALL CLERANCE”. So my daughter and I said great, we could by get more for our money. So we picked out several items that we liked and went to check out. When the cashier started ringing up our items they were not ringing up “BUY ON GET ONE FREE”. We asked the cashier what was going on and she said that the items we picked out were not included in the buy one get one free. We asked why and the excuse was that because they were considered blue jean material they did not count in the sale. So we argued that the sighs all over the store did not say that jeans were excluded. She then called someone else, and then the manager. We did not get the answers we were looking for so we told the manager that they could keep their merchandise and we would go to another store that did not have misleading sales signs everywhere. This was defiantly a “BAIT AND SWITCH”.
Laura Rice
"Buyers sometimes use the bait and switch by asking for a price on a large quantity and then order a smaller quantity trying to get you to agree to your first price."