I had a similar experience when shopping for a car where the agreed on price is a few hundred dollars more expensive when we showed up at the dealership. My husband and I complained, got two bottles of wine, and left. Then we came back 3 hours later, paid the price they wanted, but also got a $300 cargo cover. But we still end up paying $600 more than the agreed on price. But it was still cheaper than the other dealerships we called.

The facial sales consultant kept telling me that is the student package and as if I shouldn’t take it because it would make me look cheap or look like a loser. Well, I ended up taking the more expensive option which I’m still not so happy about when looking back because it really wasn’t necessary!

Then a few sessions down the road, they sent a senior consultant or “senior sales girl” from Singapore to upgrade and close me on a bigger package. All this while having the original sales consultant beside her. It’s a sales training session I tell you.

The had the guts to ask me to upgrade to something double the price AGAIN! So I had to inflate their statistics on failed sales cases. Hopefully they know that customers don’t like it. I just want to have a good weekend facial, is that too hard to ask?

Well, hope this adds to your post on underhanded selling tactics. 8D

Don’t even get me started with utilities. A few months ago, I was on the phone for more than a hour trying to clear the charges off of my water bill. One of the pipes broke outside the house and our water bill went through the roof! I think utility customer support tries to wear you down with the indirection and the waiting. My water bill was close to 500 bucks!. I must admit though, if my water bill was only 20 bucks or so over, I might not have done anything about it. After all, is 20 bucks worth over an hour of my time? I have better things to do, principles or no principles. It these 20 dollar overages kept occurring though, there would be hell to pay.

I have adopted the same policy. I now ask whether there’s an extra charge for almost everything. Occasionally things catch me off guard like the water incident but for the most part, I’m much more careful now. Especially now during the downturn, I think we all have to be on the lookout for the secret upsell. It’s annoying but it pays to be a little more attentive.

Sorry to hear about your Tires Plus experience. I’ve had much worse experiences shopping for a car. I once drove close to an hour to go to a dealership where we had “agreed” on a price. When I got there, he said he couldn’t find the car, but there’s was another similar one available for just 500 more. I was pissed and it was one of the few times I lost it. I started pretty much yelling at everyone in the dealership. Wasn’t pretty and I don’t really like it when that happens. I tried my best to give this place bad reviews on the web, but I doubt that anything ever became of it.

Most car salesmen are slimeballs. Clearly their tactics work otherwise, they would have changed their strategy long ago. I wish something could be done to change the way we buy cars.

-Miguel

@Steve – Yes, I think its does break the high-end image if a luxury hotel (or restaurant, etc.) tells a guess the extra charges. However, I bet they count on the fact that customers want to protect their high-end image more so and thus can get away with an extra charge. I have adopted the practice of simply asking whether a certain service includes an extra charge. And if they say yes, then I ask how much. Hotels should put up a simple sign about valet parking, etc. Imagine if they didn’t have a price list for the mini-bar in the room, but then charged people for the items. Folks would be pissed!

Basically, I think things like this should somehow be communicated clearly. Doing it tactfully is the key to getting past the confusion of assumed expectations. I believe Oprah had a show about this, except the subject was tipping – How much do you tip whom?; and how do you keep from ending up tipping everyone, etc?

I understand there will be charges, but when you ask for a quote, give the whole thing over the phone. I have a warranty on the tires, but I am considering going to another store even when they are still in warranty. Just out of principle.