Why would a shop be unhelpful?

[Clagsniffer]

I recently enquired with a shop about their current stock levels of a certain product. The reply I received back was to say that they didn't disclose that sort of information. Why would this be the case? I was wanting to place a decent order, but wanted to avoid all the hassle in the event of them not having the stock, then cancelling the order and having to search elsewhere. What do they gain from not giving a simple answer? Ultimately it has cost them a sale as I will not place an order on the off chance they do have the stock. I just found it very strange and not very customer friendly.

[APOLLO]

As they say in Yorkshire "There's nowt so queer as folk" !!!!

 

Brit15

[Andy Hayter]

There might be a number of legitimate reasons why you did not get a reply.

The shop worker may not know what the stock level was.  Not all shops use computerised stock keeping systems - they probably should but they don't.

If they don't know you from Adam, it may be that they thought you were from a competitive shop doing a bit of spying.

They may have thought that this was the prelude to a silly offer to buy.  "Well if you've got 50 in stock I am sure you can do me a very special deal to get rid of a few."

 

Perhaps you posed the question the wrong way.  If you had said "I am looking to buy  X of this model, do you have them in stock?", you might have got a more helpful answer.

 

In my business we never disclosed our stock levels unless we were out of stock.  The customer did not need to know the level, just whether we could fulfil the order. 

[jjb1970]

Indeed, for something like this it is better to tell a shop that you are interested in buying "X" number of a particular item and to then ask if they are able to fulfil the order from stock. I know it is increasingly normal for online shops to give some information on stock levels (although often this has an upper limit of "more than 10") but it is not something all shops do and there are reasons why they might not want to divulge their stock levels.

[Oldddudders]

Commercial sensitivity. We have no idea whether you were seeking 20 packets of rail-joiners or 20 sound decoders. But I find their response reasonable - it is an odd question. 

[Coryton]

9 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

Indeed, for something like this it is better to tell a shop that you are interested in buying "X" number of a particular item and to then ask if they are able to fulfil the order from stock. I know it is increasingly normal for online shops to give some information on stock levels (although often this has an upper limit of "more than 10") but it is not something all shops do and there are reasons why they might not want to divulge their stock levels.

 

And of course sometimes you can play games by starting online orders for different amounts and see at what point it says that's too many.

 

Although sometimes that can go wrong if it has temporarily reserved stock from previous orders.

[grahame]

I can understand them not wanting to divulge their stock level but what if they had replied "we have them in stock, how many do you want?".

Would that have satisfied you?

 

G.

[ruggedpeak]

Years ago I ran a webstore (not related to modelling). I set up an outsourced phone service for those who wanted to make enquiries and place orders offline. What I learnt (as we paid for every call over the subscribed limited) is that providing extra ways to communicate does not increase sales, but does take up more time. The vast majority of buyers just place orders. Those who ask questions rarely actually purchase in my experience - the more technical the questions the less likely to buy. From a business perspective those who make enquiries that are non-specific (i.e. not the "I need 3 widgets by Thursday, can you deliver?" type) are time wasters. As for people demanding information because they want to place a large order I just laughed.....people placing big orders either just order or send a specific request - we need 100 widgets, how much, how long, will you take a purchase order? If I had a £1 for everyone who promised a big order after i'd answered a half dozen random questions, I'd be quite well off!

 

Whilst I'm sure the OP is 100% genuine my experience as a small business is those asking questions are unlikely to purchase and are not commercially viable to service. Any loss of sales/profit is overcome by not incurring the costs of dealing with lots of questions and the minimal margin when they demand a discounted price. Things are different if you are big enough to have a dedicated sales resource, most model shops probably don't.

 

If you want an answer ask a specific question - do you have x numbers of widgets in stock? Any discount for that many if I order now (not may be later once you've rung everyone else then decided not to buy after all). Margins these days don't allow for lots of pre-sales service. Best of all, go to the shop in question. Did yesterday, had a long and informative chat at my local model shop about Cavalex and Accurscale at no cost to them, and I bought a PGA! :)

[chris p bacon]

10 hours ago, Clagsniffer said:

 Ultimately it has cost them a sale as I will not place an order on the off chance they do have the stock. 

 

What if the others you contact won't tell you stock levels ?

[melmerby]

IMHO the wrong question got the right answer from the shop.

[Bernard Lamb]

Quote

 

 There could be a number of reasons for not wanting to give out information. How many of X do you have in stock? Twenty replies the shopkeeper. Thank you says the punter. That night the shop is broken into and the items stolen. I know of one model shop where this did happen.

I would say the shopkeeper is running a tight security system and is aware of time wasters, con men and worse. Better to loose the odd order and be safe.

Asking if an order for a certain quantity can be supplied from stock would be a better way of putting it. If the response is negative follow it up with a question regarding how soon an order could be delivered from the wholesaler.

 

Bernard 

 

[hayfield]

I agree whilst perhaps a more polite reply would have been better, retailers can be in a difficult position, they may have been in the middle of serving customers who were spending money at that time. You could be accessing whether it would be profitable visiting the store after hours, or simply fishing for a large discount.

 

Perhaps if you stated that you were in the market for X number of the items. Then ask, can you supply from stock, request a price, then if acceptable all is acceptable ask for them to be reserved whilst you arrange for payment. 

 

As everyone has said, there may be several genuine reasons for the reply

[DCB]

15 hours ago, Clagsniffer said:

I recently enquired with a shop about their current stock levels of a certain product. The reply I received back was to say that they didn't disclose that sort of information. Why would this be the case? I was wanting to place a decent order, but wanted to avoid all the hassle in the event of them not having the stock, then cancelling the order and having to search elsewhere. What do they gain from not giving a simple answer? Ultimately it has cost them a sale as I will not place an order on the off chance they do have the stock. I just found it very strange and not very customer friendly.

 

The most likely reason is they don't have any in stock.   A secondary reason is the lack of common sense shown in asking  "What is your current stock position?" when if you want 10 you could have asked " I need 10, do you have 10 in stock?"       There is a thing called economy of scale, and another called inefficiency of scale.. If you want a printer today you can get 10' of 1000's virtually everywhere.  100 identical printers, tricky, a few wholesalers, / on line suppliers, you want 10 000 identical printers today, well it ain't happening.    Model shops want to sell their stock,  you want a Hornby BR black short frame late logo M7?  a good salesman will send you away with a Jamieson kit for a 02 they have had on the shelf since 1968.  Its quite normal for Model shops to lie about stock levels, take deposits for items which take 5 or more years to deliver, you just have to learn how to deal with them. I had 12 years of a District Council Planning committee and some of the lies folk got away with were truly Oscar winning standard.

If you want a batch of stuff say "I'm coming through town this afternoon have you got 10 Horbby P2's in BR blue with centre headcodes?" or similar  (Quite a few will say yes) and the honest ones will say "No only 6 and we don't know when / if we will get any more."

Its why people shop on Amazon and eBay.

Rany over.    My local shop is Cheltenham Model centre and they are very good.

Edited February 20, 2019 by DavidCBroad

[Clagsniffer]

Fair enough. General consensus is I’ve asked the wrong question. Next time I enquire I’ll ask in the manner suggested.

 

Apologies for not having the ‘common sense’ to do this in the first place.

[Andy Hayter]

Nothing to do with common sense C.

I posted above that we never gave stock levels out to customers unless there was no stock.  We nevertheless had lots of customers asking what our stock levels were - and some persisted even when told they would not get the numbers and the reasons why they would not get them.  They would come back a few weeks later and ask again.  Only to get the same response from me.  Customers in general do not understand the sensitivity of giving out stock levels and therefore do not understand why they are not usually told what they are.

[Andymsa]

I can see both points of view here but my experience yesterday was a complete opposite. I wanted two 2 packs of tortoise point motors, I checked the online site of this shop which showed 4 in stock. As I needed them quickly and I wasn't going to be around for the courier I phoned them to confirm stock levels which they happily confirmed. I went to store and purchased my two packs and even had a good browse around the shop as this was my first visit there. 

[SM42]

Ah yes but that is a slightly different question

 

They have the stock you need showing on line. Confirming what is already known, and they haven't just sold them,  is not he same as asking for information  blind. 

 

Andy

[Ross34]

I wonder why the shops first thought wasn't "why are you asking?"

 

Ans .. "I want X number"

 

Shop.."We have enough in stock to fill your order"

 

...or am I being too simplistic?

 

You can observe all the social niceties you like but business is business and as model shops are closing faster than ever I would be horrified to lose a sale...and a potential repeat customer.

[DCB]

4 hours ago, Ross34 said:

I wonder why the shops first thought wasn't "why are you asking?"

 

Ans .. "I want X number"

 

Shop.."We have enough in stock to fill your order"

 

...or am I being too simplistic?

 

You can observe all the social niceties you like but business is business and as model shops are closing faster than ever I would be horrified to lose a sale...and a potential repeat customer.

Question. How many do you have in stock?

Correct response  How many do you want? /Are you looking for? / do you need?

That should sort out the other traders trying to find how many of any particular slow moving item you are still lumbered with.

 

 

[tomparryharry]

4 hours ago, DavidCBroad said:

Question. How many do you have in stock?

Correct response  How many do you want? /Are you looking for? / do you need?

That should sort out the other traders trying to find how many of any particular slow moving item you are still lumbered with.

 

 

 

Said with a 'Jack the lad' voice..

"Cor, I've got millions of 'em, guv'ner! 'Ow many 'jer want? Just let me 'ave yer card details!"

 

Or... It could be the Monty Python cheese shop sketch...

 

Ian.

[Ross34]

6 hours ago, DavidCBroad said:

 

That should sort out the other traders trying to find how many of any particular slow moving item you are still lumbered with.

 

 

And do they do that?...really?

[Andy Hayter]

I could not say if it happens with model shops.  It certainly happens in other businesses.

And in some cases, disclosing stock levels to a competitor might be considered as an anti-competitive action and leave you liable to prosecution, though I doubt a model shop would be brought to book for such an action regarding one single item.  It does show the sensitivity of such numbers.

[Coryton]

2 hours ago, Andy Hayter said:

I could not say if it happens with model shops.  It certainly happens in other businesses.

And in some cases, disclosing stock levels to a competitor might be considered as an anti-competitive action and leave you liable to prosecution, though I doubt a model shop would be brought to book for such an action regarding one single item.  It does show the sensitivity of such numbers.

 

Some shops do seem quite happy to reveal stock levels to all and sundry (which I presume is fine from a legal point of view since anyone can find out).

 

As an example: https://www.track-shack.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=points peco&PN=Peco-ST-241-00-H0-No.2-Radius-Left-Hand-Points-Peco-ST-241.html#SID=96

[ruggedpeak]

On 19/02/2019 at 22:55, Clagsniffer said:

I recently enquired with a shop about their current stock levels of a certain product. The reply I received back was to say that they didn't disclose that sort of information. Why would this be the case? I was wanting to place a decent order, but wanted to avoid all the hassle in the event of them not having the stock, then cancelling the order and having to search elsewhere. What do they gain from not giving a simple answer? Ultimately it has cost them a sale as I will not place an order on the off chance they do have the stock. I just found it very strange and not very customer friendly.

Out of curiosity have you bought the items you were after?

[Buckley Wells]

Surely the easy answer is: "how many do you need/want" and if busy with another customer just ask the person inquiring to call back in a little while or offer to ring them?

 

After all, when I ask, either in person or on the 'phone, if a retailer has a Colas Class 37 or Hornby 9f, it would be odd to be told, I can't tell you that.