I am a truly piss poor negotiator
especially when it comes to money. There's something excrutiatingly uncomfortable and un-english when it comes to saying 'well actually, I think that's unreasonable and I'd like this to happen instead' - when they then say no, I just say 'Oh. Well. Err. Okay then.' and just roll over and take it like a good little bitch.

Why is this?
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:50, 3 replies, latest was 15 years ago)

I don't know
but I'm the same. It's a good job I took my brother and his mrs with me the other day when I bought a van. I can't negotiate for shit, but my bro is a sales manager, and his mrs is a purchasing manager for a very large, international company. Useful stuff.

I'm shit at that stuff. I probably talked myself down in salary for my new job. But it's more than I get now, so doesn't matter too much.

At least you have a job!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:52, Reply)

Mrs Cow is the best at this
She gets money off loads of things. We got over £1000 off her car last year
( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:53, Reply)

trouble is, with the place I went to buy this van
they didn't need to offer anything. Even if they were exaggerating slightly, they still sell at least one van every day. I managed to get a years tax out of them, but that's it.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:55, Reply)

Always go for the mats!
And petrol
( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:56, Reply)

damn it!
I thought about the mats when I was driving the bastard as well. and the fuel.

cock
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:57, Reply)

We ended up getting another £200 off her car by going on the Saturday and walking away, full intending to buy it on the Sunday
On the Sunday morning we took the kids swimming and got back to a voicemail from the garage offering another £200 off the price! Woop for swimming!
( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:59, Reply)

Sweet!
In fairness I did get £600 off the price of my car by going to buy it having taken out £600 less than the asking price and telling them they could either accept the what I had in cash or I'd go home.

But they were asking too much for the car, so....
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:01, Reply)

I like it
We went in with a value that we would not go beyond and looked at more expensive cars than that, with the trade-in bit going up and up. we spoke to a mate who is a car salesman who verified how much they would give us for her car and that we had cracked a "fucking brilliant" deal that he couldn't match at mate's rates.
( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:03, Reply)

that's what was galling about the place we went to get the van
while it was a good price to begin with, particularly compared to the same vehicle down here, they had no need to sell it to me, because someone else would buy it within a week or so. No room for negotiation there.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:05, Reply)

But in other news, you do now have a shiny awesome van
for the purposes of being a surfbum.
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:08, Reply)

very true :-D

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:11, Reply)

What you have to bear in mind is that it's the guy that's talking to you now
that gets the commission, he might not be there next time somebody enquires and that commission will go to somebody else. You're there, with cash, right now. That is a powerful position to be in regardless of how hard-nosed they're being.

Don't be afraid to walk.
( Kroney, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:10, Reply)

not that sort of place
there are two guys who own the place and do the selling.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:11, Reply)

Ah gutted.

( Kroney, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:13, Reply)

we were prepared to pay full price anyway
and it's not like anything needed fixing on the van, so it's not too bad.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:18, Reply)

It's a skill, not a gift.
So you can learn it. I have been sent on endless courses because it is part of my job.

Easiest 2 tips are say exactly what you want and have a fall back position.
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:55, Reply)

True
I don't have a problem with my salary, but by starting when they want me to start I will get gypped out of £800 redundancy pay from here...all for the sake of two weeks, and they are not being particularly flexible about it.

I cannot afford to be gypped out of £800 :(
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:55, Reply)

ah, that sucks
irritating when people aren't flexible. I've been lucky in that respect.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:56, Reply)

Fucking tell them then.
How are they gypping you out of £800?

Put it in writing and give it to the Personnel monkey.
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:57, Reply)

If I stay til the end of my contract in the current place I will get £800
if I leave two weeks early to start when the new place wants me to start, I will not get £800.

I have very, very politely and apologetically put it to them that either they let me start two weeks later or give me £800.
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:58, Reply)

Fuck polite
Say you cannot start until then as you cannot afford it. If they want you (which they do as they have given you the job) they will sort it
( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:00, Reply)

Listen to Sportscow, Berk.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:02, Reply)

New job does mean attendance at your bash though
so YAY for that.
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:03, Reply)

£800 would also ensure a fucking good time there

( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:04, Reply)

GET IN!!
That's superb.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:06, Reply)

Go on, listem to his funny northern accent. It's hysterical.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:06, Reply)

Gaan fuck yersel

( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:08, Reply)

Too right.
Tell them you are contractually obliged until whatever date gives you the £800 but can secure an earlier termination for £800 of the new employers readies.

If they get funny politely tell them you are not Baron de Rothschild and are not in a position to piss £800 away.

THERE'S A FUCKING RECESSION ON DONTCHAKNOW!
(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:02, Reply)

It's ovbously not going to work out, I can sort you out a job at the cab office if you want, they pay minimum wage now apparently.

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:07, Reply)

Two weeks should mean fuck all for most places.
edit: under the assumption you're the only one starting at the same time, if they've got a bunch of people to be trained in one go then it'll cause a problem.
(PsychoChomp, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:08, Reply)

This is exactly the problem, sadly
which is why I have offered to start when they want as long as they can recompense me, even though that route is probably more hassle than starting when I wanted to originally.
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:11, Reply)

Ah, well the worst they can do is say no.
Any holiday you can use for the two weeks?
(PsychoChomp, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:25, Reply)

I, too, am the same.
I was brought up to believe that talking about money was vulgar. That haggling etc is crass.

Thanks, parents, I'm fucking skint.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:54, Reply)

Shy bairns get nowt
99% of people dont ask for something, so be the 1% who does and chances are the price will drop, extras will be given, etc.

Also, when complaining on the phone, ask for £5 rebate to cover call charges. Mrs Cow does this all the time and it works!
( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:58, Reply)

Whilst I know this to be true
and am in no position to be a snob about it, I just cannot bring myself to do this, it just seems a bit pikey to me. I am well aware that this is ridiculous.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:01, Reply)

I got a really good deal on my current car
The ticket price was £1000 above book price. I got them down to book price, got a good trade in for my old heap, got a set of mats, full tank of petrol, got almost a whole year's worth of road tax back for my trade in, and got the alloys on my new car replaced under warranty due to a very minor imperfection.

The next time I went in I discovered that the salesman I had dealt with had 'left' not long after I'd bought the car. I suspect he maybe wasn't cut out for that sort of thing.
(Reverend Fister "a disciplined fuckwit", Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:04, Reply)

Ditto
When we were in Marrakech a couple of years back I spent the first couple of days paying hand over fist for stuff that, whilst still cheap by British standards, probably cost the seller a fraction of what I was paying. When I finally got the hang of it and started paying more reasonable prices I felt awful about it.
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:58, Reply)

Oh god, this
I was exactly the same in Turkey. The guilt. THE GUILT. Even though I knew they were asking outrageous amounts and totally screwing me over, I could still easily afford the price they were asking so it felt deeply wrong to be arguing them down.
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:59, Reply)

I started to feel like that in Turkey
but then I decided I didn't want any of the fucking shit they were trying to sell me.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:01, Reply)

Nah, I got a couple of nice bits of pottery and jewellery
I do agree that a great percentage of the stuff was utter tat, though.
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:02, Reply)

we went (for some reason that now escapes me) into the market full of genuine designer fakes
it was hellish. I got out of there sharpish and went for a nice stroll around the harbour instead.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:03, Reply)

That sounds truly horrendous
I preferred the spice market, personally. At least you know they can't fake herbs (well, I suppose they can, but what'd be the point?)
Was it Istanbul you went to?
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:06, Reply)

No, Constantinople

( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:07, Reply)

I like this very much
but no, I was staying in Bitez, the market was in Bodrum
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:12, Reply)

Ahhh, my colleague went there
I have heard about the fake designer market. Bodrum is meant to be very pretty, though.
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:14, Reply)

it is nice
the harbour bit is particularly good, and there's the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, which was one of the Seven Wonders. That was pretty good.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:17, Reply)

Ms Foxtrot kept reminding me that they categorically would not sell anything for a loss
So I was haggling them down from "outrageous profit" to "profit". I was overthinking it too, working out currency conversion mid-haggle and trying to decide if I'd pay that much in pounds back home for the same thing.
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:04, Reply)

Ah but the rich dont stay rich
By paying full price for things.
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:59, Reply)

Me too. I get around this when buying cars, for example
by saying "I'll pay full asking price if you get this, this and that fixed." etc.

Since they can usually get stuff fixed at trade prices and since you probably won't be able to haggle enough off in order to get stuff repaired at retail rates.
( Kroney, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:00, Reply)

Those 3 year servicing plans are a fucking rip off though
as they always manage to find something that isn't covered
( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:01, Reply)

Yeah, servicing means just that, consumable items you'd replace in a service.
stuff that breaks generally isn't one of those.
( Kroney, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:04, Reply)

Amazing how they manage to "find" the problems though eh?

( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:07, Reply)

And that's precisely why I started learning how to spot and fix problems myself.
Garages don't get away with it anymore.
( Kroney, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:12, Reply)

OH BOY ! SECRET CODED MESSAGES ! OH MAN !
Hello berk, have you decided to move to north london yet?
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 10:57, Reply)

I'm moving to Leamington Spa my dear
It's a whole half an hour closer to Marylebone than I currently am...I'm doing it in stages you see.
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:00, Reply)

I just looked that up on the map, I had to press 'zoom out' 3 times to see where it was in relation to london. It's very far away, I don't think there is a nightbus there so I'd have to stay around yours, or you stay around mind. Eaither way, I don't mind
Are you _sure_ you don't want to move to north london? I can get you a job in the cab office where I used to work, I hear they're paying minimum wage now. Plus, I can make my own pasta now, which means instead of paying 99p for 500g some penne, I can make double that for about £5 in about 2 hours. I'm not very good at maths, and I can't make penne, but I thought I'd throw this fact out there to sweeten the deal.

Is Lawn Ping Pong Bloke coming with you?
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:06, Reply)

He is not, he's staying where he is
but I will be working in Oxford, which is much closer to London. I'm only living in Leamington so that it's easier to see him.
(berk, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:13, Reply)

Oh that's good, the first part, that is, not the second part, well, for me anyway.
Seems a bit much uprooting your entire life just to see him, 48.1 miles according to google maps, it won't be easy. You can't just nip in for a cup of tea on the off-chance he's in, have to arrange things in advance, won't be as spontanious. Doesn't seem like a good idea to me, probably best to call the whole thing off, I mean, him, not the job. Where as my part of north london, it's 65.5 miles, which I admit is further, but it's not real miles like where he is, I can't really say why, because I'm making it up on the spot, but I'm sure everyone here would agree that it's closer.... because the only reason we count distance to something is to work out the time it would take to get there, so distance doesn't really count.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Tue 2 Aug 2011, 11:21, Reply)