By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: Aggressive sales methods in China
Am I the only one who absolutely hate that?
E.g., I am in a mall's foodcourt looking for a place to eat but can't check the menus in front of the restaurants without being assaulted by employees of that restaurant who yell at me to come inside and try.
Earphones + some nice tunes solves all problems.
Eorthisio:
Yep, I usually wear sunglasses and earphones, but it looks stupid to wear the sunglasses right now as there is no sun, or inside a mall.
Scandinavian:
You can be sure that this is a side effect of extremely low salaries, people working for a pathetic commission coupled with their quest for an iPhone
Just one aspect of a country absolutely bereft of morals and ethics.
I hate it but there again, I also hate many other aspects of such rude, inconsiderate people.
Eorthisio:
Yep, and giggling at you "laowai tingbudong" when you ignore them, dumbasses.
Robk:
You should just look at them, smile and say...
"laowai tingdedong, ni bu li mao suo yi wo jiu bu xiang he ni shuo hua."
The laowai understands, you are rude so I just don't want to talk to you.
Would love to see their faces... priceless.
That is the thing I hate about going to a mall in China. I do not want to buy anything in the mall. I just want to wandering around and check out stuffs in the mall but people keep asking me if I need clothes, watches, or craps. That just drive me away.
Eorthisio:
I miss home where forced/aggressive sales are punished by law, here they almost throw the actual new overpriced products in your cart and go with you at the cashier to make sure you buy it.
I never ignore them.
They get me mostly in Supers, where I try to find the item by look or pic, 'cause can't read Chinese.
At the detergent isle:
Sales: 'something in Chinese, with bottle of her favorite soap in hand...'
Me: 'How does this detergent wash colored spots out of the white clothes?'
She: 'Tingbudong'
Me: 'Tingbudong?? Woow.....How come? ...after 30 sec. break I go: 'Nie shi laowai?', and walk away.
When they hand me Chinese flyers outside on the street, I always try to return flyer to the 2nd person handing the same flyers, with remark: 'He/she said, this is for you...'
Eorthisio:
Yeah about the flyers I also try to give them back to the other person across the zebra crossing, this drive them mad. Just today one girl handed me a flyer about a weight loss institute, I looked at her from head to feet and said in Chinese that she should go there, she didn't appreciate my remark haha.
Has no-ne realised that everything in ever store is the best product just for you. I dislike the pushy sales people it drives me nuts. I want time to just look around choose what I like, not what others what to sell me. Many of the stores are not happy for you to buy one or two items, the want you to buy the store. I often watch when my other half buys clothes, she will maybe buy 2 or 3 items and then the assistant still push and push for her to buy more and more, whether it's her style or not and everything is the best seller.
Eorthisio:
Yep, the worst are the shops where there are more staff members than customers in a day, they are so bored that 5 or them jump on you when you enter, trying to sell you any shit they can. BTW I never understood how so many empty shops stay in business in China, the capacity clearly exceed the demand in some fields, yet the shops have been here for years.
I also hate that feeling. Not also in restaurants but also in many shops, i prefer the sales methods of big chains like zara or hm that you can try on clothes touch, look etc an no one pushes you and assaults you to buy.
Eorthisio:
Not every big chains though, salespeople at Uniqlo are hellish, I have my very own style and know what I want, still they insisted on selling me ugly clothes that only tasteless Chinese people would find fashionable. On the other hand I got one cutie's number there hehe.
I have been stalked by shop assistants which has made me hate shopping even more.
It makes gift buying hellish
Eorthisio:
Yep, I hate it too when they stalk me, I never did and never will steal anything in my life, they should stalk their own countrymen instead, I strongly doubt that the 0,01% of foreigners in China are responsible for the millions of RMB of loss due to stolen items every year in this country.
No body likes it... It also happens in Thailand. There are two solutions, ignore them or only shopping on internet.
Eorthisio:
Yep, shopping on the internet is an alternative but you can't try clothes and they look different on different people.
dont forget the stalking by sales staff, following you around the entire store like you are going to make a major heist of a 6y bar of soap. lastly, the fools who check your reciept upon exiting...guess everyone is entitled to a job, LOL
Eorthisio:
It's also incredibly complicated to get a fapiao aka official stamped receipt at the customer service center, my previous employer would reimburse various stuff we needed for work but had to buy ourselves, the staff at the supermarket would ask why we need fapiao, "foreigners don't need fapiao", then ask their boss if it's okay to give fapiao to foreigners, then triple check our passports, every single time, all of this to get a stupid receipt.
Shall we mention the staff at supermarkets suggesting ME which bottle of wine I should pick?
I usually just ignore but on BCD, I can't hold a "you don't know s**t which one is good.."
Robk:
I agree, they usually don't have a damn clue. Many times I find myself educating people here on their jobs and what they should do.
Like for example, a China Telecom representative telling me it is impossible to use the ADSL connection on a router so my Chinese family in law could have wireless internet in their house. Which I promptly setup in 5 minutes and told her to get a job at KFC if she can handle the complexities of deep fried chicken.
I got some magic words for you that will make EVERY sales person (well most) leave you alone.
"Wo zai kan yi xia"
I am looking around a little. They instantly repeat... aaah... "ni kan kan ba", okay you look around and leave me alone. It works EVERY time for me. Learn that phrase and be amazed.
