I used to work for a UK retailer, in the day when camcorders cost that much. I sold one chap the model that was on display in the window that he was going to use at a wedding. Before packing it up I let him have a good look so he could see it was unused and in new condition.
The following week he came in demanding a refund, claiming I'd sold him one with a hole in the side
Knowing that he'd used it at a wedding and had probably imbibed a quantity of alcohol I refused to accept his story or his threats about me to the manager for selling him damaged goods. Eventually we wore him down to confessing that he'd accidentally smacked it against a brick wall. :brick:
Eh, if we're gonna share funny camcorder/retail job stories.
...
I used to work for an electronics chain called Silo (long gone now, at least in this part of the country), back when camcorders had the following tape formats
VHS, which you could just pop in a VCR and watch...
VHS-C, which required an adapter that looked like a VHS tape, but you popped it in the adapter, popped the adapter in the VCR and it played like a regular tape...
8MM and Hi8MM, which looked far better than VHS or VHS-C, but required you to plug the camcorder into a VCR or TV's inputs to watch (or buy an 8MM VCR, which were rare and expensive).
And this was at a time when camcorders were rarely less than 500, and those were bare-bones, point-and-shoot, a little zoom focus piece of medicority. Getting features that are now pretty much standard would jack the price up to at least an 800-dollar range.
So, a guy came into Silo's and had to have the best camcorder in the joint, nothing else would do. Didn't want a sales shpiel, didn't have time, just wanted the best camcorder, a whole lot of tapes, tripod, case, extended warranty, just give it to me and give it to me now, he had to go go go.
So we sold him a Hi8 camcorder, extra battery & plenty of tapes. The sales rep who finalized the sale, having a bad couple of weeks anyway, finally had a decent commission (great commission, actually). Goodbye, Prince Macaroni & Cheese, Hel-LO Kraft kind of commission.
Aaaaaand a few weeks later, the guy came back into the store demanding a full refund on the camcorder, battery, tripod and bag. It never worked! The pictures looked like garbage! He was threatening to sue us for "ruining his vacation memories!"
At this point, we knew what the deal was, he essentially "borrowed" the camcorder for the vacation, and now that he was home, he didn't need or want this 1200-dollar camcorder. We also noticed that he didnt return ANY of the tapes, but hey the return policy was 30-days, no questions asked. The unit was in OK condition, and he had all the packaging It totally screwed up his sales rep (who also essentially had to "return" his commission), but store policy was story policy. We gave him his money back and he left...
And then came in an hour later, looking to buy the "adapter" for the tapes. You know, the tapes that he already knew looked like crap. The tapes that would remind him how much the P.O.S. 1200-dollar camcorder we sold him ruined his vacation memories. He wanted to watch him.
The wheel of justice turns slowly, but it turns.
We told him there was no such "adapter" to allow someone to play Hi8MM tapes in a VHS VCR. Different tape formats, apples and oranges. You have to plug the camcorder, which he returned, into the VCR to watch the tapes. He started complaining that nobody told him this when he bought the damn thing, we reminded him that he was adamant that he didn't want a tape shpiel, he just wanted the best camcorder in the store, no questions asked. Had we been allowed to talk to him, we could've told him this. Besides, why did it matter? The camcorder was crap, right? The tapes were awful anyway, right? Why would you want to watch such awful tapes? :lol:
Knowing he was caught trying to scam us, and that had absolutely no leg to stand on in the argument, he started getting redder and redder, filled withembarrassment. We then let him off the hook, and, off the record, agreed to copy his tapes for him. It would only cost him the price of the VHS tapes...AND the commission his sales rep lost when he returned the camcorder and accessories. He balked a little, especially when we showed him how much money the sales rep lost through his attempted duplicity. But I promised him, with the sheer volume of tapes he used on that awful AWFUL camcorder, our price was comparable to what a "dub house" would charge to make copies of the tapes, but he was free to shop around, it's not like we weren't sick of looking at him. He agreed, the sales rep could make his car payment that month and we all had a good laugh at this Doo Schnozzle's expense.
Sorry for rambling, but the one story reminded me of the other.
