Infuriated by Target's Uneducated Salesperson

I ahree with a lot of the other posters here. You are being a little
hard on the "kid" and to call him uneducated is not fair. You said you
checked and the item had not been released, so why did you think that
Target would be currently stocking it? I think you should return the
item and speak to the manager. Perhaps you could get a coupon for a
percentage off when the item is in stock, to compensate for your
trouble. But PLEASE, do the right thing and don't rant about the
"kid" being uneducated. It was an honest mistake and obviously, the
same one that YOU made too.

Target is expected to educate thousands of $8 an hour employees? Why
didn't you just look up the release sate yourself? There have been
TONS of new stories about the new Ipods!

Unfortunately, mass retailers such as Target, Wal-mart, and K-Mart
don't really cater to in-depth product knowledge. The employees don't
receive any sort of product training, but how could they? In stores
so large with so many products and employees it is nearly impossible
to complete. And for likely $6/hour, I wouldn't want to bother with
all of that training.

Mass retailers are simply a place where many types of different
products are sold so the customer doesn't have to go out of his/her
way to shop. However, there is a reason some specialty stores still
do exist. They have a better level of customer service and are much
more knowledgeable in their products because they don't sell
everything.

All of that said, it's best to cut out the 3rd party. I think you
would have been better off going directly to an Apple store. It might
have been far away, (ours is about an hour away) but you would have
received stellar service from an employee that would have been
thrilled to help you because he/she is getting commission. You could
have also ordered your product from the Apple website, which lists
specs and has videos of their products. You would have had to wait
until it came in the mail, but it would have been the product you
wanted. Because it was purchased from a 3rd party, you have to try to
get your money back from Target. Apple has a great service department
and probably would have rectified the situation already.

Stick to Target for food, clothes, DVDs, etc...but for electronics I'd
say to go with a specialty store. It's worth paying more for in the
long run.

It sounds like you're going to solve the problem yourself by returning
it. All Target owes you when you return the item is your money back.
Nothing else. This is your fault as well that this happened. You
were unsure, yet you bought it anyway.

Certainly, people selling a specific range of merchandise should try
to take any downtime they may have to become more familiar with what
they're selling, even if nobody higher up the chain takes the time to
teach them. And certainly, the higher-ups should ensure that the
front-line sales staff have time to improve their product knowledge in
between other tasks they may be assigned. Workers who are rushing
from opening shipments to shelving merchandise to helping customers to
maintaining their sections to opening shipments all day don't have
time to become the kind of knowledgeable salespeople customers want to
talk to. I don't know what Target's track record on this is like,
although I do suspect that whatever downtime their employees get is
usually not spent learning about products, and that that's a pity and
a valid complaint.

But wouldn't it be nice if Target paid workers enough money that the
people in the electronics department would know about the second
generation iPod Touch was like because they had investigated it for
themselves? That's really the best way to become familiar with a
range of merchandise: to consider using it, to use it and to know
people who use it. And to do that takes money. Money which workers
don't have in part because people who shop at Target for the low
prices -- and who would go elsewhere if the deals were better --
ensure that they don't.

If you weren't totally sure you were being given the correct thing by
the "kid" (you seem to fault him for this right out of the gate)
working there, you probably shouldn't have went ahead with buying it.
I would have gone to Best Buy or Circuit City- somewhere that is a
little more electronic-oriented as opposed to Target who has a little
bit of everything...

I've been there and been frustrated by the inexperience and lack of
education of associates at stores like Target and Wal*Mart. My
sympathies! However, the best advice I can give is to be careful when
making expensive purchases like that... if your gut tells you
something is not right about the situation, look more carefully for
yourself (ie: call the Apple customer service while still in the
store) before you spend the money. Target can take some responsibility
for your experience in the store, but they are not responsible for the
gas you used to get there, or what time your daughter gets out of
school. I agree it can be frustrating to deal with an associate who
doesn't know what they are talking about, but it is difficult to keep
quality people in a minimum wage job.
It's important to keep things in perspective: we're talking about an
i-pod... is it really worth getting FURIOUS over? Before you get
angry, decide what it would really take for Target to make you happy
again. How much is it really their fault that you paid for something
you felt pretty certain wasn't the right thing, and you trusted this
"kid" over your own instincts? If you really believe they are to
blame, go in there with an idea of how they can make it right,
otherwise nothing they will say or do for you will be satisfactory and
you will only succeed in making someone else have a bad day too.
There's no need to spread the negativity.

You sound like a smart consumer. The only thing I would of done in
hindsight was if you had so much doubt why you didn't make that call
from inside the store to check on that information from Apple prior to
buying it. Also if you discovered this in the parking lot the smart
thing to do would of ran back inside and demanded a refund on the
spot. That way you would not of had the credit concern with your
husbands card, loss of gas for a second trip. Target refund counters
are pretty fast. I can't imagine the delay would of been but a few
minutes.

Target has thousands and thousand of items. I doubt any one person is
a total expert on any product. Electronics of all things are so
complicated these days.

You had researched the product and even say the web site said they
were not available as of yet. You had better info than the sales
person. So you sort of knew you were not getting what you wanted in
my opinion.

I have made purchases from Best Buy and was told wrong information by
their sale staff. I normally have them pull the items up on their
screens and read the info myself.

I helped a neighbor buy a computer recently and they totally mislead
or mistakenly gave her bad information about what she was getting.

it's fine and good to say this team member was "uninformed." It is
not, however, OK to say he is "uneducated." You don't know if he is
or isn't and just because he is not as well versed on this as you are
does not make him stupid. For all you know, he might have been
covering for someone in that department and doing the best he could.


And when exactly would you suggest they do all of this training to
make these $7 an hour employees experts on every electronics item they
carry? Are you willing to suffer with less service because employees
are off the floor watching a training video in the backroom?

I still stand by my point that if you were so worried about getting
the absolute newest iPod out there, you should have gone to directly
to Apple. You can't get 5 star cuisine at Taco Bell and you won't get
expert advice on electronics at Target.

I hope you take time to calm down before returning the item. I think
the salesperson made a mistake, as sometimes these new iPods and
players that come out all look the same and whatnot. (isn't there a 32
gig iPod for 1st gen?) I don't think he intenionally meant anything. I
dearly hope that you don't take your frustration and anger out on
him.

I think you should definitely let the manager of this store know or
hopefully Target forwards this letter to the store. Management needs
to know so they can correct the issue.

Most importantly, always trust your gut instinct! :-)

I would have also asked the associate why Target.com says the product
isn't available (as you stated in the letter). That would have clued
him in that he was making a mistake...I think of it as a clue in, the
nice way. Instead of telling him straight out that he's wrong, you
give him an opprotunity to research the issue and admit his mistake.

I wish you the very best of luck!

The poorly trained employee is incompetent at selling electronics. Its
pretty obvious. It is good that you have brought this to their
attention, as it is not his fault that the management has either not
trained him properly, given him enough information to educate himself
about the merchandise, and monitored his performance.

Secondly, I find it demeaning that you refer to him as a "Kid" and
"Salesboy". Humans make mistakes, and just because somebody is young
does not mean that they are a bad employee or automatically make them
incompetent based upon one error. He could have been a bright young
student working part time who is knowledgeable about electronics, but
got confused.

However, if Target gets back to you let us know what they say.

that if you are an informed purchaser, you will know what size storage
it has...the originals had a lady with a black fur hat or
something...the slightly larger storage versions had a picture of John
lennon, and I'm not sure of the newer ones. I would have seen the
picture on the box and knew straight away that this was not the I pod
the op wanted.

While I agree that the "kid" should have been better informed, I don't
think he deserves all of your outrage. It sure sounds like he thought
he was selling you the second generation, which means no one at Target
trained him on the product. So ease up on him - I doubt he
deliberately deceived you. And I agree with the other posters who say
that since you had all these doubts, you shouldn't have purchased the
item without doing further research.

The salesman may have been more correct than you believe. The first
generation ipod touch was released as a 8 or 16 GB model. Then a new
model was released at 32 GB, which he may have confused as the second
generation.

Dave

Returning and exchanging electronics is a tricky matter. I really
hope they don't charge a restocking fee or insist on store credit, or
anything short of a full refund, based on your purchasing a high-end
electronics item because of faulty information from an employee in
that actual department.

I think you are entitled to a refund, however I agree with others that
have said this is a little bit your fault.

Apple products are cheap and when you are dropping that kind of money,
you shouldn't have a "bad feeling" will you're at the store about to
buy it. Actually that goes for any product, not just an Apple product.
If you weren't satisfied with the answer(s) that you received you
could have politely asked for someone else or just not bought the
iTouch that day.

Maybe she was afraid her husband would change his mind about buying it
for her!

Y'know, I'm actually on Georgia's side on this one.

She asked. She was given an incorrect answer. If the salesperson
didn't know, or didn't understand the question, he could have said
"I'm not sure" or "I don't know." But he said, and it sounded like
with confidence, that this was the new model.

In particular, because Georgia kept pressing the point. She suspected
something and have opportunity for the salesperson to say "let me
check."

As for remedy, I think that they need to accept back the iPod and give
her a complete refund of her purchase price, including the warranty.

This all said, the point about not buying electronics at Target... I
buy electronics at places like Target for the simple reason that I'm a
techie and I research beforehand. I know, walking in to a store,
exactly what I want and I don't need or want any help from the
salesperson other than to unlock the case and take my credit card.
So, if Target has the best price or happens to have an
difficult-to-find item in stock, I'll go there.

But that's me. For anyone that's unsure or needs help, Target is a
terrible place to go because the people there are not experts in
technology. While they should know some very basics of what they are
selling, I'm under no delusion that they'd know a first generation
Touch from a second generation one.

But that's me.

And, from the way that Georgia kept questioning things, I suspect
that's her too. She walked in knowing exactly what she wanted and was
assured that what she was asking for was what was in the box. She was
mislead, although, I honestly believe, because the salesperson didn't
know. Not as a result of an intentional lie.

If Georgia, who clearly knows her stuff, was taken in, just think
about the person that doesn't know enough to ask a bajillion times.
Think of the person that went to Target to buy this item a gift, only
to find out weeks later, when the gift was given, that it was the
wrong item.

The only "fault" I'd place on Georgia was paying before she confirmed.
But that should not have been necessary.

I really do think some of this is on you. Your gut kept telling you
that this was not the iPod you wanted but you purchased it anyway. I
also have to ask why you waited until after your purchase to call
Apple? If I suspected the item was not what I wanted, I would have
called prior to purchasing it.

It may just be me but I don't expect the employees in places like
Target, WalMart or KMart to be super knowledgable about electronics.
I'm not saying it's right, I just saying that it's been my experience
that they are not.

It is unfortunate that the CSR did not give you the right information.
Nobody likes wasting gas. This appears to just be a mistake on the
part of the CSR.

Throughout this experience, you were well aware of the features of the
new iPhone. You ignored the fact the box didn't look right and you
ignored the fact the box didn't display the features of the new
phone.

You should have handed the box back to the "salesboy [kid]" (I don't
understand why people are so condescending) and left.

If you had a gut feeling things did not look right, why didnt you call
Apple before you made the purchase instead of waiting after the
purchase. I am sure the sales person could have waited a few minutes
while you verified the serial number with Apple?

Target.com has online inventory of many of their popular items online.
You can even see which other stores may have the item if one store is
sold out. If the system said they didn't have it, then they didn't
have it.

That being said, I have to wonder where you get off being all
"furious" when you ignored all the warnings and purchased the iPod
anyway. You basically set that "salesboy" (how rude!) up to fail.

Furthermore, if you're looking for a cutting edge piece of technology
like this, Target should NEVER be the first choice. They are great
for values and low prices, but if you wanted knowledgable technology
staff, you should have been at Best Buy, or better still an Apple
store!

And as for your refund, it goes back automatically to the tender it
was funded from, so long as you have your original receipt. You won't
be out anything.

While I agree employees should be educated about the products they
sell, it also sounds like you were mentally second-guessing this was
the product you wanted. You even said the box didn't look "quite
right" to be the 2nd generation iPod. Next time, listen to that voice
that tells you something may not be correct. It has saved me several
headaches in the past.

"I have to figure out a way to get the credit back on my husband's
card because that is what he used to pay for it, his debit card and he
will be at work out of town."

If you have the receipt, you should be able to take the receipt in
without the card. In most cases, Target can just scan the receipt and
give a credit back on the card, without the physical card. You also
have 90 days from the purchase to return it.

While I agree employees should be educated about the products they
sell, it also sounds like you were mentally second-guessing this was
the product you wanted. You even said the box didn't look "quite
right" to be the 2nd generation iPod. Next time, listen to that voice
that tells you something may not be correct. It has saved me several
headaches in the past.

"I have to figure out a way to get the credit back on my husband's
card because that is what he used to pay for it, his debit card and he
will be at work out of town."

If you have the receipt, you should be able to take the receipt in
without the card. In most cases, Target can just scan the receipt and
give a credit back on the card, without the physical card. You also
have 90 days from the purchase to return it.

I honestly believe all employees should be trained in the area(s) they
work so they can assist the customer.
But, I also believe that you wanted this item so badly that you
ignored all "warnings" going off in your head and purchased it anyway.


The packaging did not read it was "2nd Generation IPod" yet you
purchased it anyway.
You searcbed online at Target.com and when you saw it was not
available there I do not understand why you did not continue on to the
Apple website and try to locate a retailer/dealer nearest your area
that was selling this item. The website would have listed exacttly
when the item would be available also.

Its so important to save time, money and yes aggrevation when shopping
now days. Its up to us to be one step ahead of the retailers and be
smart shoppers.

I doubt that this young man would do better in the stockroom. All
retailers should train their employees to work in their respective
departments.

You wrote "we quickly went BACK to electronics and I ONCE AGAIN asked
the salesboy if he was absolutely sure this was the second generation
ipod that just came out because the box didn't look quite right to me.
He again nodded and said yes so we left.

When I got in the car I called Apple and the lady on the phone was
gracious enough to look up the serial number and let me know what I
had feared all along "that is a first generation iPod touch ma'am, is
there anything else I can help you with?"

Now, much to my chagrin, I have to not only take another trip all the
way to Target in the morning to return all this"

If you called Apple when you got in the car, weren't you close enough
to Target that you could have just done the return that same day?

Nothing is more frustrating than being given conflicting information
by a store employee.

It's really too bad your initial excitement about a new product has
been beaten into submission by the very company where you chose to
spend your money.

Here's hoping they get back to you.

Thanks for using PlanetFeedback!

You said you knew the Ipod wasn't available yet.

You kept asking the "kid" and you even admit you were never satisfied
with his answer.

You said the product looked different.

And you still bought it?

You were uneasy about the purchase, even going back one more time to
ask the "kid" again.

Most likely you will get your refund, but some of the error falls on
your shoulders as well. With the research you did, you should have
known better imho.

Uneducated indeed!

Georgia, while I understand your frustration, I think you have to take
some of the responsibility here.

My son wanted the new iPod Touch, so together we did some research
before actually purchasing it because this is not something that
should be bought on a whim. The first thing we found out was that it
is not yet available in stores. That information alone would have
saved you from this entire ordeal. With minimal research, you would
have known that the 1st generation 32g is $500, and even discounted,
it still would not be $400, the price of the new one. Also, the
packaging is completely different, and the new one has a built-in
speaker.

Although you should be able to rely on an employee's information, I'm
sure you realize they are not always completely informed and updated
about every item in their department. I agree that educated employees
are an asset, but being an educated consumer is equally important.

After spending $400 for a 32g iTouch, plus the cost of the extended
warranty, complaining about the price of gas seems picayune. That's
just my opinion, and it's really none of my business, but it does
sound petty.

The only thing Target needs to do is process the return, which should
be doable without your husband's card.