A few days back, I went to a small shop of mobile accessories in Sector-12 Noida, Uttar Pradesh. I was putting up in a hotel just opposite to that in Sector-22 and had forgotten my mobile charger at home. It was morning time and I was in a bit of hurry to get the mobile charger so that I could carry it along to my workplace and charge my mobile phone there.
However, something very surprising was about to happen. Because my mobile phone was fully depleted of its battery, I kept it in my hotel room. When I asked the shopkeeper to give me a charger, he demanded that I must have the mobile phone with me. I was a bit taken aback because I could not understand why he needed my mobile phone when I was giving him the model number. He simply refused to sell his mobile charger!
Because I was new to this place, lots of thoughts flashed in my mind at that time. Is buying a mobile charger in Noida screened by police? Is there any censor on mobile accessories and that’s why this shopkeeper is not selling it without checking something? What can I do with a mobile charger if I have to do anything disruptive?
I again protested that I was comfortable with buying it and why he wasn’t he agreeing. He simply rebuked me and said that he won’t sell the mobile charger unless I have the mobile phone with me.
This incident could have put me off severely but I wanted to find out the truth behind this behavior of that shopkeeper. Shopkeepers do not like to send off their customers especially during morning times. Why he was? Why he looked so unconcerned about getting one of his products sold?
I went back to my room and brought my mobile phone. He picked up a mobile charger and tested that it was working with my mobile phone. Now, I asked him why he refused to give the mobile charger to me without having a look at my mobile phone.
He revealed the story: “Lots of people take a charger and after charging their mobile phones for like 2-3 hours come back and say that it is not working. So, to avoid this fraud, I demand that you test the mobile charger here and take it.”
Very funny! Customers do a lot of things to trick the shopkeepers.
As an entrepreneur or being in business, have you faced similar incidents where you have to make some standards in order to avoid confusions with your clients? Though it may not be on similar scale, but have you experienced any incident where you learned a lesson and had to implement a standing policy where you can go on to refuse selling your products or services to your clients?
Share your points with us.
