How would you handle this customer service story?

[maylips]

Saturday, DH and I went to a local furniture store. I am in the hunt for an upholstered bed (we inherited my grandparents' bedroom set and I'm too cheap to buy a brand new group, but don't like the bed that came with it). I was mainly wanting to research what a bed like that would cost and if any came as the entire bed, as I've only ever really seen upholstered headboards.

Anyway, they didn't have any on the floor, but the saleslady found a couple in a book that they could order for us. She pulled the pricing and a king bed that I liked was $419. What a great price! I wanted to double check on the fabric I was choosing to make sure it went with the decor, so I didn't order that day, but went back yesterday to purchase.

So, yesterday, we meet again. She completes the invoice, then says she wants to double check the price just to be safe. She disappears, only to come back later and sheepishly say, "Oh no, I gave you the wrong price. It's actually $962." I think what happened was she gave me the dealer's price and didn't add in the local shop's fees.

I understand misquoting - she's only been there a month, so I'll give her that. My real beef was, she offered me a small discount, but I'm 95% sure it's the standard discount they give anyone buying furniture, nothing more. She didn't even throw in free delivery! I was willing to pay cash and everything. So, I told her I had to discuss with DH and I left.

The longer I thought about it, the madder I got. What would you do now? Would you just go somewhere else (that would mean out of town for us, as there aren't any other good furniture stores locally) and just never get back to her? Call the manager and tell her the story, hoping for a better discount offer? Or call her and tell her why I'm upset and give her the opportunity to give me an additional discount? I am a people pleaser by nature so I didn't say anything to her yesterday as she kept apologizing, but I'm really pretty angry that she didn't try to help me out anymore after she made such a huge mistake in the original quote.

[mommy111]

I would call the manager only because a new employee may not have the power to offer you that good a discount. And, for sure, I wouldn't complain about the employee, she made a genuine mistake (we all do) and was trying to rectify that best as she knew how.
I would call the manager, but not with a 'I want to complain about this employee' tone, but rather a 'I loved the bed and was ready to buy it for that price but the price you have currently is out of my budget, can you give me any additional discounts.' This is a buyer's economy and if the dealership price really was around $500, they should be able to give you a better discount.

[irie i]

I completely agree with mommy111. Ask the manager and you are likely to get a better discount. Most larger furniture stores would give you the price that was originally quoted...or a discount not far off from that price. But the difference between $419 and $962 is pretty huge and a big mistake on the salesperson's part. That difference would make most people, unless they are totally in love with the piece and money isn't an option, look elsewhere. There is no harm in asking him...you should at the very least get the piece for $750 + free delivery.