Secret Shopping Part I

After my visit to what we’ll call Supplier A, I had to give the company props for being contractor-oriented—even if, as a retail customer, I was put off by the customer service.

As I mentioned last week, my roommate, Chris, and I are in the process of shopping for a new patio door and window for our den, and our contractor advised visiting Supplier A for products. So Saturday morning we headed down the road to a nearby industrial park. While the way to the building was clearly marked, upon reaching it we couldn’t figure out where to park. The lot crowded with heavy equipment turned out to be the correct side, unfortunately.

Inside I found Supplier A to have a very orderly showroom with several window products on display. A customer was waiting while the man behind the desk spoke on the telephone, and so I went to browse the window displays. There were five display windows installed into sample walls of siding products. Each window carried an Energy Star label and proclaimed in a sticker at the top that they were available in glass packages that qualified for the tax credit. Alongside each sample wall were racks of literature, including a range of brochures from the manufacturers whose products Supplier A offered and a detailed glossy on the ARRA tax credit, stamped with Supplier A’s logo. I thought that was a clever touch, and when I headed up to the front of the store I found Chris had one in hand as well as they were scattered throughout the store.

Once the other customer left the store the salesperson at the front desk asked what he could do for us. We explained we were looking for a new door and window and he stared at us for a moment and then went to retrieve a thick yellow binder.

“Steel or fiberglass?” he asked.

“Fiberglass,” I said.

“You going to put something on it, like some lace, or something else like that,” he asked, his face scrunching up at the word lace as addressed Chris.

“Yeah, we’ll probably install blinds,” Chris replied.

“How much sun does it get?” the salesperson asked.

“Just a couple hours of morning sun,” I answered. “Nothing direct for very long.”

“Ok,” the salesperson said, “then you don’t need anything like the low-E or argon-filled if you agree you don’t get much sun over there. I’ve got this problem in my house where the sun’s coming through my front door pretty much all day and burning through the door.” I didn’t think he believed my answer, but considered it a good sign that we were edging toward a real conversation.

The salesperson flipped to a page of patio doors.

“Something like this?” he asked, pointing to an open glass door. We pointed to the one next to it with divided lites.

“You want the grids on the outside, the removable grids or the inside grids?” he asked us.

Explaining that I wasn’t thrilled with the removable grilles on the other windows in our house, I suggested attached outside grilles.

“The inside grids are for easy cleaning,” he explained with a motion of wiping the glass. Obviously in addition to lacy stuff this sales guy figured I also was obsessed with window cleaning. Boy does this guy not know me, I thought to myself, thinking to the handprint that’s been on our patio door since we moved in; I kind of like the way it seems to wave to me.

“Sure, why not, the interior grilles are nice,” I said.

After deciding on the handing he pointed to the product he would offer us. “Do you have any options we can take a look at?” Chris asked.

The sales guy got on the loudspeaker and called for his assistant to come out. Knowing how long we’d been waiting initially I was a little frustrated to know there was another helper lurking in the back. But when I saw said helper, I understood why he’d been hiding.

Okay, I understood this place is geared toward contractors and the usual customers might have found the inappropriate logo on the guy’s shirt amusing. But c’mon guys, if you have a showroom and there’s the least chance you’re going to be doing retail business, let’s leave the risqué logos at home, okay?

Sighing, I began to explain the size and style of the window we wanted to match the others in our home but when I said the word “wood” the salesperson shook his head and smiled grimly. We pushed him to offer a quote on a comparable vinyl product so that we could get a sense of the price difference.

At that point another customer walked in, obviously a regular as the second salesperson greeted him. Apparently thinking that it would take me ten minutes to quickly scribble down the approximate costs of doors, window and siding, our helper excused himself to assist the contractor with what he needed. In a place geared toward contractors, I could appreciate putting the regular customer first … but it still ticked me off.

After the other customer was taken care of, our salesperson took us back into the warehouse to look at products. It was reasonably clean in the area where we walked, with wide open aisles of wood, siding, doors and windows. He pulled out an example of the door he’d guided us toward and we agreed that’s what we were looking for.

Next he took us over to a window display. As he showed us the size options, I couldn’t help but think that the large cardboard boxes scattered in front of it were a slip hazard. Chris joked that I wanted the biggest windows available—which, I’ve got to admit, is true, since I love our view—and the sales guy laughed at me and told Chris, “Boy have you got your work cut out for you.” I like to think he wasn’t intending to be rude but by that point my patience had already run out.

And then that was that. No writing down quotes. No business card. The sales guy explained that next Friday he’d be leaving for a month but that anyone at the front could help us with our order.

So you can probably guess what I’m doing this afternoon. Yup, checking out the competition down the road. I’ll keep you posted.