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Review content:
The saga of having to outfit our new house with appliances continues in this rivetting review of our local HH Gregg store. With fear and trepidation in our hearts, my husband and I bravely entered the world of commission-based appliance sales when we opened the door. There only to shop, we were surprised to find one great deal after another, and soon learned that even "evil" commission-based salesmen have their uses, too.
Ok, stop me if you have heard this one. We went into the store only to compare prices, and ended up walking out with not just one appliance, but two. Cliche? Probably. But in the end, I found that having a salesman that can work with the pricing, as opposed to fixed pricing at stores like Best Buy, can be handy.
We walked in, and for the first ten minutes, we were not on the salemen's radar. This was nice, as we had the opportunity to walk around and compare various models of stoves. As it happened, we managed to walk into the store right during the end-of-year model clearance sale, and a lot of the floor models had special pricing on them to clear them out. When my husband and I stopped over one particular Kenmore model, it was at this moment the leeches sensed our presence, and once slid over to introduce himself.
"Shopping for a stove? Anything in particular you are looking for?"
We blinked, hesitated, and finally decided to come clean. We told him our budget, what we were looking for, and that frankly, we were looking for pricing rather than a purchase at the time.
It went rapidly downhill in that regard. We were directed to many models, most of them way out of our price range. And the sales pitch to open an HH Gregg account ("I used to have one"... "Well, why did you close it?"... "It was a joint account with my ex".... awkward silence....). Finally, we walked back to the super deal on that floor model Kenmore stove, and the salesman smelled the blood in the water.
"Nice stove, that. Have one in my house. I bake bread, and let me tell you what I do..." Of course, I am an uninitiated ninny, so I obviously have no idea how to operate an oven. I bit my tongue and pretend to care.
After the twenty minute story, and pulling the stove out (with tons of rabid dust bunnies behind it) and doing a thorough inspection, we finally signed the little red slip and proclaimed our stake on the deal (a $700 plus stove for $389? Even without the salesman, I would have taken it anyway). Then... the next painful question.
"Didn't you folks say you were in for a fridge too? We have some lovely models over here."
This was the part I dreaded. Another round of things way out of our stated budget. Then: a light. The exact same model fridge we had seen at Home Depot earlier that day (see that review... please... that was a disappointment). We mention this to him, and that the price is the same. Home Depot had a free gift card offer with theirs.
I was actually getting a sick satisfaction watching him squirm a bit. Then, the part that caught me off guard:
"If I can get the price of the fridge down to the stove's, would you walk out of here today with it?" That would be a discount from $425 to $389. That was pretty tempting. He walked away so my husband and I could discuss it.
It was hard. We honestly were not there to buy both appliances that day. The stove I could justify, but the fridge could have waited. In the end, we decided to go for it.
"Great!" Insert big, cheesy smile and cartooney money-symbols-for-pupils. "Come this way and we can complete your sale". We were escorted to a small table, and then the fast-paced warranty sales. Which we declined, much to his chagrin.
After a few more minutes, setting up pickup times and dates, signing the sales slip, and slipping us a business card with his work schedule and asking for our patronage in the future for those alluded-to laundry items, we walked out of the store, $800 deeper into debt (NOT on an HH Gregg account, btw, he didn't get that commission satisfaction).
Overall, it was high pressure. I really hate someone following me around and trying to force me to buy things so they benefit. However, after getting a decent discount on the fridge too, it made it worthwhile. If you can tolerate being followed by a pouting dog, then come here. The prices are comparable, if not better than other stores, and they are negotiable, a big plus.
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