Well, I finally did it. Been wanting to buy that new dewalt dual bevel CMS but could not justify the price. So when I hear that Dewalt is phasing that out, I think “Hmmm…” I end up in Home Depot (I hate that place) and there is the floor model, regularly 399., but they will give it to me for 325. Course, it is missing the manual, the fences, the guard, and the extension. So, I mosey on over to Lowes, ( I love that place) and there it is. The floor model, marked at 379. “Lynn” I say…(thats the salesmans name in tools) ” I can get this floor model from HD for about 300., what’ll you take for yours?”
Five minutes later to find a cart and check out and I got my new saw with ALL the parts for 280.00
Ben is a happy man.
Replies
So the HD one was 325, but you told the Lowes guy that it was 300.
Does Lynn know that you lied to him to leverage him into a better deal for you?
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Go easy on him, after all if it works for Karl & W, who are we to disagree;)
I thought I did go easy. I was thinking bad thoughts when I wrote that.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Just trying to make a funny;)
Who's Karl and W?
Karl is Kark Rove, political hack works for W...George W. Bush
Rich, just the other day didn't you go off on someone for infusing politics into woodworking? Someone with the other political perspective, perhaps an NRA member? Hows about we keep the political discussion to the cafe. I'll be glad to meet you there if you'd like.
Steve
First, I did not "go off" on anybody! The exchange in this post was an attempted joke, you know humour... It missed it's mark and the person asked for an explanation; end of story.
Small joke , for those engaged in this thread:-
Schoolteacher to little Reuben: "Reuben, what is 3 percent?"
Reuben: "You are right, what is 3 percent".Philip Marcou
Rich, I'm sorry if I mistook you for another Rich. Like you said, end of story.
Steve
No problem:)
It is funny, I am often mistaken for other people in real life; and I thought it was my face...guess not;)
Sensing some bad karma, for the savings might not have been worth it.
Ouch!!!
Sorry all, should have explained more, but I was trying to keep it short. So, here I am explaining it in detail anyways.
In my conversation with HD, I asked them what would happen if I went to lowes and they offer me a better deal. The HD guy said the lowest he could possibly go would be 300., and if Lowes could beat that, go for it. So, he is selling it for 325., negotiating down to 300., but thinks if lowes could go lower to do it. So, over at lowes, i tell him the situation with the 325 down to 300. Lynn says that there is no way he wants HD to best him so he asks if I will take it for 280. How could I argue? Besides, I have a great relationship with Lynn....been buying from him for a couple years.
It was not my intention to set out some bad karma, look like a liar, get blacklisted, thought badly of, disassociated of, or any of that stuff. Next time I will not worry about giving too many details.
Piffin........hope those bad thoughts have melted away.......go build something, it helps. :)
Whew!I feel all better now. Hate to think the fine folks I hang with at Fine homebuilding and fine woodworking are anything less than fine and honest wheeler dealers.All I could picture from your first description of events was a couple low lifes I've known who would sell their own mother into slavery and then brag about it. Sorry for jumping too quick
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Sure spoil our fun by expaining it all;)
It's all a question of rounding up or down...
Don't trip over your piety.
David C.
Actually, his piety has nothing to do with this. If the whole story had been told, there wouldn't have been any comments made. I was thinking the same thing about whether truth was lacking when Lynn(if that is his real name) was told that the lowest HD price was $325 but Lynn was told $300. Knowing that the HD person said they could go down to $300, it's not an issue. Having been in retail for most of my life, I have strong feelings about how people lie to get the best price, and is many cases, lie to make the most money. IMO, lies for either purpose are just not worth it as far as decency is concerned. "I'm sorry, but my Karma has run over your Dogma."
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Hey Piff,
If you ever get into business, better hire one hell of a sales guy, as you are way too honest and will never make it on your own :-)
Actually, Willie, Piffin is a professional contractor who seems to be doing quite well. Check out Breaktime.
Regards
Willie
I believe Piffin is in buisness for himself!
Doug
If he is in CA, let me know, he will get my business.
Thank you,I'm on an island in Maine, and my honesty is stock in trade. I do close to a million a year for very wealthy folk and much of it on a handshake. There is no business done without trust that is worth doing, as far a s I am concerned. Trust gets earned on both sides and piety has nothing to do with it. Trust is a basic principle of business.I just read a book called The Money Masters written by John Train, a summer neighbor of mine here. He touches on the most masterful investors of the past hundred years or so, men who have been entrusted with billions of dollars of other peoples money for investment. One common theme amoung all of those money managers was that they sought out businesses to invest in whose managers were trustworthy, honest, full of integrity. While there are certainly places where an unscrupulous man or woman can rise to a position at or near the top, he is less likely to hold that position than an honest man.an example of this can be seen in the management of Enron. Ken lay took that once fine company to ruin through his own scheming ways based on a severe lack of integrity or concern for people. Compare him to a man, R. Kinder, who had been groomed for the top position and who is his exact opposite. Kinder left Enron after being passed over, and formed his own oil and gas pipeline company, KMR which is one of the most highly regarded companmies in the world today, based more than anything else, on his honesty and his relations with people. Look it up.One of my first really good customers when I was simply trying to aim for a basic one-man handyman service business asked me if I had to get paid cash like so many others. My answer was that it mattered little to me, since I keep book on every penny earned or spent and pay taxes on my fair share. That millionaire ended up honouring me with work amounting to about a quarter million a year for several years after that, based at least as much on the intefgrity he saw in me as on the quality of my work.In hiring practices today, managers are looking for two things that are more important than skill sets. They consider skills to be something they can teach in house, but the qualities that are hard for them to find are dependability and good attitude. Those are matters of character and unlikely to be added to a persons traits after hiring them. They must first be part of the person.I think that one of the first times I gave serious thought to this subject, I was about seven years old. I could not find my good shoes for going to church so my family drove on ahead, and let me catch a ride with the neighbor for a later mass. ( I was Catholic back then) I found the missing shoe, and went to knock on their door to ask the ride. Tjhe burly husband met me at the door and listened while I explained my plight. He studied me for a minute and replied, " I suppose the old woman can give you a ride easy enough, but what I want to know - do you take your shoes to church, or your soul?" That question hung in my mind for weeks while I realized that folks are made of something deeper than what people see on the outside, and that whatever it is, that is what motivates us to the actions we take in life.sorry if this is too wordy. my wife sometimes says that if you ask me the time, I will discourse on how to build a clock, or the history of time-keeping, or some such related subject. Hope I didn't bore anyone who isn't concerned about htings like trust.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Thank you for giving us that insight. One of the problems we all face is that the people with no character get most of the headlines and can, over time, lead people to believe that their actions are somehow respectable simply because they are seen so often. How refreshing and great it is to hear from someone that is truly to be admired and emulated.
Thank you.
I didn't 'specialy mean myself, the world is full of admirable people when you know where to look, and sometimes it includes business managers, sometimes carpenters and woodworkers.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Piff,
Enjoyed your long post.
Consider yourself a very fortunate man, perhaps I would consider you a little naive.
I have turned up to $750 million a year in a public company, at the moment around $85 million in a private company. This is not my money, but I treat it better than my own, I only work for a salary. I have more business friends than I can count without making a list, but I don't have a single one, who I can truly trust the way you describe. Perhaps I have been in the real business world too long, but that's the way it is, there is always a hidden agenda and everyone chases Dollars, the only thing that really matters.
Amongst my private friends, I have a few who I can truly trust with my life, only a few.
Consider yourself fortunate for the way you live, I have about ten years of career left and after that hopefully I can indulge in making furniture and share your experience.
Willie J Martins
PS. Amazing how a bargain at Lowes, could get us into such a serous discussion.
"Consider yourself fortunate for the way you live"
Hmmm.
Maybe it's the way he lives, that makes him so fortunate?
(i.e. chicken/egg/chicken - which comes first?)DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
yeah, only a 24 dollar 'bar-gain'...
but if you watch the pennies, the pennies will watch out for you.I do consider myself fortunate, but also believe that some degree of fortune is created by our decisions and attitudes as well as our actions.you were not handed those salaried positions strictly based on your good looks or your grrades in school, were you?There was something about you that led those in power( authority over you) to believe ( trust) that you would behave in a certain manner with the opportunities they placed before you.So by who we are, and who we decide to be, we make out own destiny, starting with the little things, and working on up.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I suppose if people waited for the whole story and didn't react so quickly there would be a lot less misunderstanding in this world.
I am just amazed that so many people in this string can make judgements about a person's character based on one off-hand comment made in passing on a public forum.
I always feel I need to get to know people a bit more before I can do that.
I've never met a person who was all bad, or all good. I don't expect I'd want to.
Don't criticize your neighbor until you've walked a mile in his moccasins.
David C
My goodness!
Who would have thought that posting that first one would bring on such a discussion. However, it is good to hear what people have to say deep down every now and then.
Thank you all for your thoughts and insight. I feel very strongly towards integrity and honesty. I see it fall short all to easily in people's lives today and it really is a shame. It is so easy to compromise now a days that we just don't see anything wrong with it. I on the other hand disagree. Once we lose those two things, well, what else is there to lose? Next stop, hell.
seems that several here have missed the fact that you and I are getting along fine since you filled in the blanks.be well and enjoy your saw - keeping your fingers out of the way. It can be hard to pick your nose with stubs;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
OTOH, if the whole story had been told in the beginning, I don't think there would have been any judgements, either.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Well that's true, glad everyone is playing nicely together now :-)
I'll hush!
David C
on your suggestion, I ordered "The Money Masters" from amazon. It was an heaping $3. It came today,I let you know in a week.
What a deal.You know , if memory serves , I think they are supposed to match the price plus 10%.Shouldn't that have made the saw $270.
Oh! Unclepaul beat me to it. So 270-280 sounds good.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled