i am not even sure how to put this experience into words.
So i want a new safe, My current one is small and i can not fit all my stuff into it. I want to buy American and buy local if i can! Turns out there is a place in long beach that would seem to be just the fit. sportsman steel safes! http://www.sportsmansteelsafes.com
Drove up to long beach yesterday and found there fabrication shop no problem. typical fab shop with a small showroom with lots of safes. A very nice man greeted me and started to show me a couple safes that were in my range. Then the EXPERT CAME.............
We talked about my needs and what size i wanted. A mid size safe with a dial lock not the digital pad, The fact that i did not want the extra fire protection, Their base line door and lowest fire protection was fine and what i wanted. So far so good, 1250+- for the safe i wanted. MY MONEY IS ABOUT TO LEAVE MY WALLET. I just wanted to see a example of the door before i signed and paid. The now still nice man said yes we have one out back. So we start to walk about back and on the way a Dude says show him the safes we have ready to sell. I am then told about the 8 week lead time to fabricate a safe and how busy they are making vault doors, business is good! I tell him that 8 weeks is no problem for me and i can wait.
Things go south
The sales man starts to show me a few safes that are in varying states of fabrication. None are with the base line door and all are out of my price range. He tells me that i have been brain washed by the Chinese and how horrible the imported safes are. As he shows me safe after safe he tells me another 3 times that i have been Brain washed by the chicoms. At this point i tell him in a very polite voice to ease up on the hard sell. That i agree with his take on the quality of the imported safes and the reason i am at his shop is to buy a safe. I have a budget and that budget dictates that i can not afford the extra fire protection. So he says "ok im not getting anywhere with the fire protection am i" NO is my response. I still have not seen the base line door at this point. I am still ready to buy, I like the quality of the safes and its a product i want to own! i only want to see the damn base line door to make sure its ok.
HE fires at me again.... " so you are telling me it's not worth 250$ to you to buy American" in a very condescending voice
WTF???????????? ok now i am pissed off. I bark at him that It's bull crap to tell a customer that he is brainwashed and that i do not want to support American companies. I am at your shop to buy and i am not comparing your prices to any other safe domestic or import. YOU HAVE A PRODUCT i want to buy and you freaking ran me off. I was VERY OK WITH A 8 week lead time! I WOULD have been ok with a 10 week. I LIKE THE SAFES YOU MAKE. All the sales man had to do was show me the base line door and the deal was done.
I will still buy American for this purchase but to say that i will avoid this company like its got herpes at a pr0n shoot is a understatement. I just can not understand the point or reason for the sales style this man used. DUDE YOU ARE A CLOWN! if you have never seen the movie Fargo and the scene where Jerry Lundegaard forces the true coat on the customers you should. THIS IS YOU! its annoying and lame.
Ok so now where do i go? Are there any other local safe manufacturers in socal?
So i want a new safe, My current one is small and i can not fit all my stuff into it. I want to buy American and buy local if i can! Turns out there is a place in long beach that would seem to be just the fit. sportsman steel safes! http://www.sportsmansteelsafes.com
Drove up to long beach yesterday and found there fabrication shop no problem. typical fab shop with a small showroom with lots of safes. A very nice man greeted me and started to show me a couple safes that were in my range. Then the EXPERT CAME.............
We talked about my needs and what size i wanted. A mid size safe with a dial lock not the digital pad, The fact that i did not want the extra fire protection, Their base line door and lowest fire protection was fine and what i wanted. So far so good, 1250+- for the safe i wanted. MY MONEY IS ABOUT TO LEAVE MY WALLET. I just wanted to see a example of the door before i signed and paid. The now still nice man said yes we have one out back. So we start to walk about back and on the way a Dude says show him the safes we have ready to sell. I am then told about the 8 week lead time to fabricate a safe and how busy they are making vault doors, business is good! I tell him that 8 weeks is no problem for me and i can wait.
Things go south
The sales man starts to show me a few safes that are in varying states of fabrication. None are with the base line door and all are out of my price range. He tells me that i have been brain washed by the Chinese and how horrible the imported safes are. As he shows me safe after safe he tells me another 3 times that i have been Brain washed by the chicoms. At this point i tell him in a very polite voice to ease up on the hard sell. That i agree with his take on the quality of the imported safes and the reason i am at his shop is to buy a safe. I have a budget and that budget dictates that i can not afford the extra fire protection. So he says "ok im not getting anywhere with the fire protection am i" NO is my response. I still have not seen the base line door at this point. I am still ready to buy, I like the quality of the safes and its a product i want to own! i only want to see the damn base line door to make sure its ok.
HE fires at me again.... " so you are telling me it's not worth 250$ to you to buy American" in a very condescending voice
WTF???????????? ok now i am pissed off. I bark at him that It's bull crap to tell a customer that he is brainwashed and that i do not want to support American companies. I am at your shop to buy and i am not comparing your prices to any other safe domestic or import. YOU HAVE A PRODUCT i want to buy and you freaking ran me off. I was VERY OK WITH A 8 week lead time! I WOULD have been ok with a 10 week. I LIKE THE SAFES YOU MAKE. All the sales man had to do was show me the base line door and the deal was done.
I will still buy American for this purchase but to say that i will avoid this company like its got herpes at a pr0n shoot is a understatement. I just can not understand the point or reason for the sales style this man used. DUDE YOU ARE A CLOWN! if you have never seen the movie Fargo and the scene where Jerry Lundegaard forces the true coat on the customers you should. THIS IS YOU! its annoying and lame.
Ok so now where do i go? Are there any other local safe manufacturers in socal?