Never Take "No" For An Answer!
There are certainly times when "no" means "no" so don't misunderstand what I'm about to say. That being said, never take no for an answer when the truth is on your side, or when there is hope you can get what you want if you hold firm and are persistent. Knowing the difference makes all the difference. Some people persist when they are not in the right and/or when there is no glimmer of hope at success. But I regularly get what most others give up trying for. No force is used. I'm never obnoxious. I don't even raise my voice. I just hold firm and am persistent, if needed. The more I'm in the right and the more I want something then the more often I get what I want. Actually, I succeed so many times I cannot remember one single failure when these conditions are met. This is one of the keys to who I am, so let me explain by recounting a trip to a store today on Black Friday.
I decided to experience Black Friday, you know, the sale of the year where people scream and claw at others, and even trample on them to get great deals on products they cannot live without. I had never experienced this mayhem before, so with it being on my bucket list of things to do before I die (or die in the process), I went out at 2 AM to see what trouble I could get into. I didn't really even plan on buying anything, although I had made my mind up I was going to get a Google Nexus 7 tablet sometime this holiday season for $199. The price and the suitability to my needs was a good choice.
I had planned on going to Staples and wait in line for the 5 AM opening, even though I could just as easily buy a Nexus 7 tablet online for the same price. As I was driving there I decided to stop at one of those 24 hour a day mega stores just to see what was going on inside. I found there was a line of just five people in the electronics department and I asked about the product they all wanted. It was an iPad 2. The price? $399. The discount? A $100 gift certificate to that same store. The time it will be offered for sale? 6 AM.
So I meandered around the department looking at the iPad in the glass display and thinking about getting one of them, asking questions of others in line. While I was doing so another person got in line. So now there were six in line.
So I thought, for $100 more I could get an iPad and experience the mayhem. Cool. Game on.
That was at 2:10 AM.
At about 4:40 AM we were told, now get this, that they only had six iPads available. I was the 7th in line. There were plenty of people behind me. We were all stunned. The clerk who told us this apologized and repeated himself several times so we got the point. He only had six of them. As others were lining up he told them they were all sold out of iPads. He even counted heads and asked how many iPads each person was planning to buy. When he got to the sixth iPad buyer he said he didn't have any for the rest of us. He was emphatic. Things got worse for me in the count though, because the first person in line was going to buy two iPads. Now I wanted the 8th iPad when they only had six of them.
As the news sank in, one by one the people behind me left, some grumbling. The person directly in front of me also left. Now I wanted the 7th iPad when they only had six of them.
If only I could get the first person in line to just buy one iPad then I could get mine, I thought. According to the ad I saw in the store, there was a limit of one per customer. But she was saving a place in line for her husband.
What to do?
I asked the clerk if I could speak to the manager.
About ten minutes later he showed up. What was I going to say?
I said that given the circumstances they should only sell one per family, but that didn't work since the ad says "one per person."
I thought I was done at that point. So as a parting shot I politely but firmly said, "The ad you placed is a fraud. You cannot place an ad like that and only have six iPads to sell."
And guess what? He agreed. But he said it wasn't his fault.
At that point I had him. I knew I was in the right.
So I sank my teeth in a little deeper. I politely but firmly said, "I'll write a letter to the editor to the newspaper telling people about this." I knew the last thing any store wants is bad press. "Or," I said, "you could give me a rain-check."
Even though the store never offered anyone else in line a rain-check, I got one. And I didn't have to wait in line any longer. I'll get mine in a week.
So again, never take no for an answer when the truth is on your side, or when there is hope you can get what you want if you hold firm and are persistent.
[The reason I'm not identifying the store is because I told the manager I wouldn't.]
I decided to experience Black Friday, you know, the sale of the year where people scream and claw at others, and even trample on them to get great deals on products they cannot live without. I had never experienced this mayhem before, so with it being on my bucket list of things to do before I die (or die in the process), I went out at 2 AM to see what trouble I could get into. I didn't really even plan on buying anything, although I had made my mind up I was going to get a Google Nexus 7 tablet sometime this holiday season for $199. The price and the suitability to my needs was a good choice.
I had planned on going to Staples and wait in line for the 5 AM opening, even though I could just as easily buy a Nexus 7 tablet online for the same price. As I was driving there I decided to stop at one of those 24 hour a day mega stores just to see what was going on inside. I found there was a line of just five people in the electronics department and I asked about the product they all wanted. It was an iPad 2. The price? $399. The discount? A $100 gift certificate to that same store. The time it will be offered for sale? 6 AM.
So I meandered around the department looking at the iPad in the glass display and thinking about getting one of them, asking questions of others in line. While I was doing so another person got in line. So now there were six in line.
So I thought, for $100 more I could get an iPad and experience the mayhem. Cool. Game on.
That was at 2:10 AM.
At about 4:40 AM we were told, now get this, that they only had six iPads available. I was the 7th in line. There were plenty of people behind me. We were all stunned. The clerk who told us this apologized and repeated himself several times so we got the point. He only had six of them. As others were lining up he told them they were all sold out of iPads. He even counted heads and asked how many iPads each person was planning to buy. When he got to the sixth iPad buyer he said he didn't have any for the rest of us. He was emphatic. Things got worse for me in the count though, because the first person in line was going to buy two iPads. Now I wanted the 8th iPad when they only had six of them.
As the news sank in, one by one the people behind me left, some grumbling. The person directly in front of me also left. Now I wanted the 7th iPad when they only had six of them.
If only I could get the first person in line to just buy one iPad then I could get mine, I thought. According to the ad I saw in the store, there was a limit of one per customer. But she was saving a place in line for her husband.
What to do?
I asked the clerk if I could speak to the manager.
About ten minutes later he showed up. What was I going to say?
I said that given the circumstances they should only sell one per family, but that didn't work since the ad says "one per person."
I thought I was done at that point. So as a parting shot I politely but firmly said, "The ad you placed is a fraud. You cannot place an ad like that and only have six iPads to sell."
And guess what? He agreed. But he said it wasn't his fault.
At that point I had him. I knew I was in the right.
So I sank my teeth in a little deeper. I politely but firmly said, "I'll write a letter to the editor to the newspaper telling people about this." I knew the last thing any store wants is bad press. "Or," I said, "you could give me a rain-check."
Even though the store never offered anyone else in line a rain-check, I got one. And I didn't have to wait in line any longer. I'll get mine in a week.
So again, never take no for an answer when the truth is on your side, or when there is hope you can get what you want if you hold firm and are persistent.
[The reason I'm not identifying the store is because I told the manager I wouldn't.]
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