Cappucci.....
(even before mentioning it)...With cream or chocolate syrup ma'am?
All these with a plastic smile. I definitely am sure that these folks are trained in etiquette and behavior to woo customers and how to sell a product in 5 seconds. Its so void and its obvious.
Such mundane activity like ordering a coffee has become such a big task these days. Most times its an unpleasant experience to the customer. Not to forget the extra expense incurred. You may ask whats the extra expense here in just ordering a cappuccino.Well, the cream or the chocolate syrup is not for free. They are ADD-ONS and they carry a price.
The customer is bombarded with assortment of options, he is, at the end of it all, confused!! All I want was a coffee, now why does it have to be so complicated? I dont want coffee anymore!!
Not only coffee shops, pizza corners - extra cheese and toppings, beauty saloons - pedicure, facials?, our banks as well!! Add-on credit card! As if its for FREE FREE FREE!! Even hospitals are offering add-ons!! Take that :-)
The way these options are presented to the customer makes one believe that these are included as part of the package, without realizing that it could as well dent the wallet. And if you dont specify the small, medium, large...you have bigger hole in your pocket, as the billing is done for the largest portion.
You would go to a coffee shop for a leisure and to de-stress. Well, at the end of your order, you wished you never went in there. Its irritating when you exactly know what you want and yet have to listen to the systematic order in which they present the products.
At one point, the marketing is so aggressive; trying to sell a product so hard that you forgot your primary intention!!
Tell a NO, and you are a mockery.
"No extra cheese for your burger, ma'am?"
"Dont want any drinks along with your pizza, Sir?"
"No facial? Your skin looks so tired"......
Cannot then stop feeling positively depressed!! And we get a nice HEADACHE as an Add-On :-P
All these sales people are trained to ask questions like robots without thinking. They ask if we need these “add ons” to push their products. Of course it does not come free.
ReplyDeleteAs you said they try to sell a product so aggressively. Even telemarketers read from a script without thinking. I am reminded of an incident here. Sometime ago, I got a call from a telemarketer trying to sell phone services. I told him I do not pay for phone connection because it is free for me. He immediately said: We can beat that. I asked him the only way to beat my free phones is for you to pay me whenever I make a call. The guy then realized his mistake.
What I do is I say NO whey they act too smart and irritate me. Most of the people just give in as they don't want to create scene and yes....I hate those plastic smiles.
ReplyDeletevery true... the Add on are really frustrating sometimes... just the other day I went to buy a sunscreen, the lady watched me for some time and asked if i need a tan remover also :| ...
ReplyDeleteHaha..Don't we all hate this...I've had it wid pizzas....Mam Which toppings? Crust? Extra cheese? Softdrinks?
ReplyDeleteN I feel like replying...Bhaad me jaao..I don't need ur pizza!!
Add-ons are made for customers best service but they end up getting on nerves!!
why is angry with sales people? poor souls..hahah...yes nagging ones r there..but u should see some sweettalkers..hey there is one guy i know ya in mumbai..he used to say, "if i cross the bridge from navi mumbai to mumbai, i dont return without making some sales profit." confidence...hey buddies..not that i dont agree with this post..just feeling sorry for the nagging ones who enter this line...
ReplyDeleteI hate them too...that's one reason why i go to udipi hotels coz dey dnt ask u such stupid questions...they take your order (u have to mention if u want sugar or sugarless chai etc) and get it for u.
ReplyDeleteBut like ramesh I feel bad for them too coz they r forced to do this. Most of them are college going kids who need to earn extra bucks for their education.
True. These add ons are rather irritating. Moreover, monetary wise, they make a thing of 50 Rs. 150.
ReplyDeleteHit Wicked
yeah, business tactics
ReplyDeleteagree ! I also plain and simple say NO..
ReplyDeletewe are those lot of people who are may be regulars or at least are aware of these add-ons..specially in restaurants and coffee shops...think about those who are first timers there..it's easy for waiters to sell the costliest offerings to them...or people get so confused that they feel embarrassed thinking that they know how to order...a dent to self-esteem too !
Marketing is the key these days. That is the fact of life. Coffee shop and Telemarketing use very direct marketing and more annoying. These days bollywood stars use all kind of marketing tactics too. Did you read my old post on SRK.
ReplyDeletehttp://arealblogger.blogspot.com/2010/01/why-does-srk-tweet.html
Hahaha... :D Experienced the same thing. But we once did something nasty, and after that whenever we went there, they never troubled with their "toppings/droppings". :D :D
ReplyDeleteHave you ever drunk coffee in saucer? Making that awesome "slurp-slurp" noise? In CCD? We did that, you see. 5 of us. After that we never belonged to "that" league of customers. Hence we were never bothered. :P
I'm sure there are solutions for other things you mentioned too. :))
:)
ReplyDeletethe add ons come with life ! Every thing is an add on. In the frentic paced life, everybody has to make a living !
With customer service doing the rounds of major corporations, it becomes imperative to give the customer some degree of choice !
Extra cheese !?! LOL !~
Nothing, no add on--is free.It is all costed for.
ReplyDeleteAmongst other points, we were taught in marketing--
Salesman must not give time to the buyer to think again.
I appreciate such salesmen and they climb the ladder fast.
Someone like us may get irritated--but he has sold the coffee to us which is right a per RESTAURANT needs.
SG,
ReplyDeleteYes. True. They are 'trained'. But I feel sad for them
chitra,
ReplyDeleteYeah thats one more trait. Saying NO, they leave you in such a way that either you are irritated or feel miserable. And most of us dont want to make a scene so we give in.
Rajlakshmi,
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha..Maybe she thought you did need a tan remover :-D
Jaunty,
ReplyDeleteHehehehe at the end of it all, you just want to be left alone.
Ramesh,
ReplyDeleteNo sir. I am not angry with sales man or telemarketers. In fact I handle them with so much patience and respect that my friends chide me for being sweet. But its their job, they might have the same frustration in handling irate folks as we are irritated with them. Cant help. I in fact feel sorry.
What I am peeved at is this aggressive marketing strategy. :-)
Gayathri,
ReplyDeleteOh yes....Fast and self service. Heeheheheh.
Yes, I feel sorry for the sales folks. They are helpless, I am just irritated by the marketing strategy.
Hit Wicked,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to B Log. Yes, they are :-)
Thanks for your comments. Keep visiting.
Chandana,
ReplyDeleteYeah :-)
Nu,
ReplyDeleteTrue. How about those first timers? They have to save the embarrassment as well. Rightly said. :-)
A,
ReplyDeleteOh yes. The more direct, the more annoying. Now let me read your SRK post :-)
Thanks for sharing.
Karthik,
ReplyDeleteEeeewwwwwww..You folks really did that? Hahahahaha. Solutions yes...but of this sort?? :-P
Kavi,
ReplyDeleteSome degree of choice is what customer prefers, but not at the cost of being pushed upon :-)
As you said, its most people's bread and butter :-)
Extra cheese! :-P
Chowla sir,
ReplyDeleteYes. No ethics here. The sales person has done his job. Is the customer happy, satisfied or irritated? Who cares!
I have faced this selling many times..in parlours..mam go for this gold facial, or for that tan removing one.
ReplyDeletethen in restaurants..have some salad or raita...and then sweet?
sometimes its so irritating.
Robot people playing their recorded tasks in a business world. Can't blame , u see! Anyone could be put in such an act for life.
ReplyDeleteWELL SAID. DEEPLY FELT what you wrote..
ReplyDeleteall the time we have to remember
ReplyDeletenothing comes free
nice article
Spot on!!! I hate this extra American 7/11 type of friendly nature that these fast food joints impose upon us. A fake smile, followed by a "nice-day-wish" that they don't even mean in the slightest possible way.
ReplyDeleteHere's a small story: At this recently opened KFC, after placing an order for a chicken snacker, the options that I was given was "with single cheese" or "with double cheese". I smartly replied "no cheese at all", to the dismay of the counter operator. He was trying to con people into ordering for one of the options that costed, by trying to skip the free option altogether.
Samvedna,
ReplyDeleteIts everywhere that we go through it more often than not.
It is irritating. :-)
ET,
ReplyDeleteWow!! nicely put. I pity them but what I am irritated at is the aggressive business strategy.
WD,
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot. :-)
sm,
ReplyDeleteYes true. Thanks much :-)
stillbutmoving,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to B Log.
Oh yeah...they dont mean it any way.
But poor them, they are forced to do that and put up fake hospitality.
Oh my!! So they dont mention an option of NONE. Thats bad.
Thanks for sharing your views. Keep visiting :-)
Very true, Thats why i order espressos or 'latte without topping' these days.....though espresso is as bitter as 100 bitter guard juice reduced to one coffee cup....yea, with-cheese is a way of making extra money....we are living in an increasingly convoluted world.
ReplyDeletemy husband calls me super rude :-|
ReplyDeletereason - I say a plain and firm no to those waiters..I prefer certain things certain way only..i prefer juices without sugar or ice; i prefer coffee without ice cream or chocolate syrup, i prefer a burger with two cheese slices and so on..things I like a particular way and if somebody tries to be over-smart; then i become "rude" as Mandar says :P
extra vidrathu nu tamil collocial language la soluvanga... athu ithu thaa!
ReplyDeleteZB,
ReplyDeleteThank you, Yes we need to be firm in asking what we need, nothing else, nothing more :-)
Neha,
ReplyDeleteHmm...thats fine. As long as you want it that way, no issues remaining 'rude' :-)
Hary,
ReplyDeleteExactly!! :-)
totally agree with you.. add ons carry the extra baggage of confusion and some wat u get doesn't turn out to be wat u wanted in the beginning...
ReplyDeleteooops i am late hee :) by the way would you want this comment to be in bold.. coloured decorated..
ReplyDeleteA Add on to the comment .. woh bhi freee main...
and and i could add some pictures or two if need be.. Add on area pain.. if they are ad on why dont they just give it .. why make such a big issue
I remember ordering coffee, i said plain,white two sugarss. EASY peasy where the hell does the cream, black.. etc etc come into it .. i actually asked the guy DID HE HEAR WHAT I SAID... which part did he not understand ..
The worst thing i hate is when you ask a question , esepcially the mobile phone deals you ask.. and then you say i will think about it .. they say Whats there to think.. why dont u take it .. what dont i like .. deal is only for next SECOND AS IF...
I actually turned back and said I want it FREE.. Can he.. if not then they shud SHUt UP...
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh they get on my nerves ....
Sushobhan,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to B Log :-)
True, confusion, frustration and irritation are all what we get.
Thank you for your views. Keep visiting :-)
Bik,
ReplyDeleteAdd ons for comment....that too for free...Oye Oye....waadhiya ji! :-)
Oh yes, these folks try to be somehow sell the product. And in turn makes us irritating.
good one
ReplyDeleteI read this on friday & I thought I'd left my comment too. Oops.
ReplyDeleteThe point you made initially is bang-on. Such myriad options leave me completely flummoxed & unable to decide !! I can't understand why they just go on and on. Have to admit that sometimes its good (when we are ignorant) but most of the times, its a headache!! :)
All robotic and programmed to say:)
ReplyDeleteHuman emotion is a farce.
Take the simple sms smiley for example. It works because we're so used to it now.. It's as though we've 'programmed' our mind to accept fake etiquette
Velu,
ReplyDeleteThank you :-)
lostworld,
ReplyDeleteRight, very true. It always leaves me perplexed and irritated.
kish,
ReplyDeleteYeah. Human emotions are being programmed off late. I had written in the post "My world" - do we really smile when we type this :-) on our chat window?
Its fake.
i guess ration shop is the answer.or tasmac.free
ReplyDeletesoin,
ReplyDeleteTASMAC!!! yeah!!! :-P
HAHHAA!!!!!!! OMG ...toooooooooooooooooooooooo.....goooooooooooooood.....
ReplyDeleteRupam,
ReplyDelete:-) Thank you :) Glad you liked this one.