iMyst national flooring shop - Is this shop designed to torture the salesman?

I signed up for this one, and made my appointment.

Now that I'm reading the shop instructions, I'd swear the reason for this shop is to determine if it is possible to make the poor sales guy go postal and just loose it.

They even warn that you may not even get an estimate.

After what they ask you to do to the poor sales guy, I would not be surprised of some don't just pack up the samples and write this potential customer off as crazy.

It reads like a torture guide. If I sold carpet and flooring, this shop would be my worst nightmare.

I better hide that Wholesale flooring shop welcome folder before they show up. If they see that as I'm being the customer from hell, they will think I'm another flooring company and that would be worse than a shopper.

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I cant spell out the shop details, but it involves making the salesman brin in all his samples and haggling with him even after he calls his manager to get it lowered and refusing it in the end.

It's a rather nasty scenario to play out on the salesman.
I think they have trouble finding shoppers for this one, scanman. I've been seeing it on the boards for years and I get repeated e-mails begging me to take the shop. No thanks.
Well, I am sure that happens in the real world, so maybe they are just trying to make sure the guy *won't* go postal when it happens. There are people who make a living (or so it seems) out of haggling and take it as a personal challenge to try to get something for half or less of what they ask. If they only have $500 to spend and the guy wants $1000, they'll do anything they can to try to get him down to the $500.

Keep in mind, they know they will be shopped.

Time to build a bigger bridge.
I'll haggle him till he blows a gasket and gives up. The lenolium is in rough enough shape, he will not think it's a shop.

I'll smile and be nice about it though.
I was thinking about doing this shop, it seems to be the only client for iMyst but after reading your overview of the requirements I think I will pass on this one.

Big Ed
Mystery shopping in the Great Smokey & Blue Ridge Mountain ranges of Southern Appalachia (GA, NC, SC, & TN)
I had a HORRIBLE experience doing this shop recently. I had an out of shape salesperson on a hot day. You are instructed to, no matter what, ask for additional samples. So he huffs out saying his car is way down the street and why didn't I ask him earlier?

Then you say, I can't afford that. Nope. And he lowers the price. Then you say, nope, not going to do it. And he lowers the price. (of course he is sweating due to the heat and angry as you know what), nope, not going to buy even after he calls the manager. He finally rudely said, "well that's a give away price", and I actually got a little afraid of him.

My review asked what I thought of the process. I said it is extremely unfair to elderly, and others, who will accept the first bid without knowing the price could get so much less. It was unbeliveably uncomfortable. He lowered it several hundred. I hated doing it, the salesperson hated doing it, and even though it was bonused all the way up to (gasp!) $20, (normally $15), I would not do it again if I received $50 for the nightmare experience.
I don't know if I'd do that for $100! Sheesh!

Happiness is merely life's way of keeping you off-balance.
I like a challenge, and haggling is second nature. I have haggled with the store manager of big boxes on big ticket items as well as clearance electronic clearance items that were missing something like the setup cd.

What most people don't seem to understand in the USA is that the store manager can overide set prices and as long as he has enough inventory and stays within a certain profit margin, he can reduce the price.
The store drones wont even know that, or won't admit it if asked. You have to ask for the manager before you even begin the haggling process.

I have done this at Fry's Electronics, Microcenter, Best Buy, and HH Greg and managed to get at least 15% off if not much more if the item was an open box electronic. The store managers want that open box stuff out of the store and will sometimes sell it for less than I can flip it on Ebay for.

The manager of Fry's even gave me his card with his cell# on it so I could call him and go to where he was in the store when I wanted to haggle open box stuff. It was a win-win in his eyes.

The doorbell should ring soon. I'll probably laugh out loud when he gives the first price.
Oh man, I could NEVER do this shop. Funny, I was considering doing it because I was thinking about getting new flooring. Thanks for the warning!
I did this one a while ago. I thought my hardwood floor was stained beyond repair, (and seemed like it would be ok to replace with laminate) but apparently the salesperson didn't think so. He kept saying it was so beautiful and gave me the name of a local floor refinisher who he knew could do something about the stains. He would not call his boss for a lower price on the laminate BC he didn't want to sell me something I didn't need. "you can refinish that floor for so much less money than new laminate!" I tell you, I felt so bad submitting that report. Hope he didn't get chewed out too much.
oh scanman, and to think I was feeling sorry for you and the predicament you had blindly gotten yourself into. Now, to find out you're actually looking forward to the experience....well, now my sympathies are totally with the unsuspecting salesperson!


I will still remain a fan of your technical posts though.....unless they involve torturing another human being. smiling smiley

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.
The salesperson flaked on me. I decided to look the company up on ripoff reports to see what is going on...

I cant say the name of the company, but if you go to [] and find the carpet and flooring company with close to 75 complaints against them from customers, contractors and salesman you will start to understand how they operate. It was entertaining enough in a bad way that I spent an hour skimming the reports.

1. All salespeople are 1099 and paid commision only. If they don't close, they don't get a penny. The higher they close for the more money they make. This causes them to start with a price that is 3x the price of a reputable contractor. This is also why the salesperson will just storm out when they realize they can't close someone. They have no reason to leave a quote. If the person calls back, they will get a different salesperson, so you mean nothing to them if they cant close you on that visit. This person who had a friend who refinishes floors was more valuable than the 1099 work that they did for this company and was actually being a human being instead of what appears to be a company that gives used car salesman a good name.

2. Any reputable contractor will balk at the shoddy stuff they are asked to install. Those are the ones that quit after only a few jobs and posted on ripoff report. Improper floor preperation, disturbing asbestos, and non payment are all a repeating story. They bid contracts early the morning of the installation to the cheapest bidder. So much for quality work.

3. Theft of jewelry came up in two reports and I only read the first 3-4 pages. This is when I canceled the shop and deactivated myself. I wont let that company on my property. Any MSC that knowingly supports a shady outfit like this is no good in my book, regardless if they pay quick. I emailed the MSC and gave them a link to this thread when I sent the email firing them as a client of mine.

EDIT: I origionally said close to 500 complaints. That was incorrect and the number of complaints of ALL the carpet and flooring companies on the site. They ONLY have about 75 of them. So 75 out of 500.
I realised this when I was closing out that tab in the browser after I posted this.

EDIT2: Bad typo's for the typo police here to frown on.

Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2014 04:12AM by scanman1.
I did this shop once. The whole sales process was so lame and tawdry that I could not understand what the client was trying to achieve in using a MS. I did feel sorry for the salesman, not for what I was doing to him but for what his company wanted him to do to me as a consumer. When I eventually got serious about a new laminate floor for my kitchen, the cost of using an independent installer was about one-third of the price quoted by the salesman.

No fee, no shop.
Watching the Wheels Wrote:
> So glad I stumbled across this thread. I "was"
> considering applying for it.

Me, too! And thanks, 57carol for detailing your experience!

Anyone do any of their carpet store shops? I am looking at one of those
because I'm going to that carpet store anyway. I just don't know if I want
to spend an hour writing narrative for 20 bucks. And I know that the
store would fail because I've been there before and some of the things
they ask about are not done.

I'm "Sandi" in the Middle!
Maybe the company with the salesman who did not sell you something you did not need values integrity? and he got a pat on the back..

This shop sounds like a nightmare.. I think I'd avoid it. I used to do sales, I have a hard enough time when I find someone in the store and they sound new, but are really trying to make the sale, they just are not asking for it.. I want to take them aside and go.. Just ask for the sale, even if the person says they are shopping around.. Worse thing they can do is say no.. They might surprise you and say yes anyways..
I did this shop a couple of months ago. It wasn't a bad experience, and the salesperson ALMOST had me convinced to buy new carpet!

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt
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