Some people's stupidity never ceases to amaze me...

[Hossenfeffer]

Originally posted by: apoppin

I do not want to lose the business of uninformed people. There are so many.

Oh, so true Just when you think your ass is covered, some screwball comes in with a complaint from left field.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: Dyflam
Hey man... I bought a cable from you and it didn't include a printer... WTF!!

lol

 

[RSI]

Great thread...

It would be nice if the cable DID come with the printer, but it is very understandable that it does not. Think about it. People buy printers more than once. What if they're just replacing it again and again? They'd have a huge excess of cables. However, if they simply reuse the cables they have, or use a USB cable, then there's no problem.

Besides, if you really want a cable, why not just ask them to include it for you, and pay an extra few dollars? Let me guess, people like the one you described, Viper, also get pissed off when you hand them a video card in an antistatic bag, right? Oh no! What do I do? :Q

 

[Turkey22]

OMFG what is going on here? Printers for the most part don't come with cables. When I bought my first printer at best buy the salesman said I needed a cable, no big deal. I think there should be a disclaimer on a website saying no cables included. Most people are stupid. But they don't need to be in the boxes.

 

[kgraeme]

Oh the turmoil!

I understand that most printers don't come with cables. And just for the record, I agree that the person should be capable of reading a packing list and seeing that the cable isn't included; however, that doesn't change my opinion that it would be useful for the printer to come with a cable. It doesn't even have to be a good cable and I would suggest that it be a cheap 6' USB and not parallel given the options that the printer supports. Sure it won't make everyone happy, but at least the majority will be able to at least hook up the printer without making a trip to Best Buy.

My monitor came with a monitor cable. My stereo, DVD player, and VCR all came with both coax and composite cables. They were crap quality, but I didn't have to go buy them. My Jornada included a power adapter, usb cable and usb cradle. When choosing a 4-port KVM I even opted for the one that included 4 bonded cables over the one that didn't.

Heck, I bought a very expensive CD printer that only works via parallel cable. They didn't include the cable. It annoyed me knowing that they saved about .001% off the cost of the printer but that it added about $85 of my time and cost to go out and buy a new cable for it. All for a .001% margin.

Originally posted by: apoppin

I have learned in my own business when a customer makes a complaint, many others are thinking the same thing even though they say nothing. I do not want to lose the business of uninformed people. There are so many.

Yep, one market I worked in we had a statistical metric that showed that for every one complaint call we received there were roughly 10,000 customers with the same complaint that didn't call.

 

[Pepsei]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Here's a direct copy off of the web page:

what's in the box
(Brand/Model) printer, 500-sheet paper tray, power cord, toner cartridge, getting started guide, (Brand/Model) CD

Notice the lack of parallel cable?

Viper GTS

Perhaps it would be better if the web site had a large disclaimer: Cables NOT included with printer.. It is so simple to add so the customer doesn't have to think about what's NOT included.

That way - read uninformed (not stupid) - people wouldn't have a chance to be irritated and thus pass on the irritation to the CSR.

putting what's not included is stupid...

"er, when i purchased this mustang, i didnt get any whores with it"
"excuse me?"
"well, the ad shows this mustang with 2 whores in bathing suit..."
"er, they don't come with whores sir, you have to get your own"
"er, if i have to get my own whores i wouldn't buy this car, i'd get a ferrari, you should've specifically said mustang, whores not included!"

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Pepsei

Originally posted by: apoppin

Here's a direct copy off of the web page:

what's in the box
(Brand/Model) printer, 500-sheet paper tray, power cord, toner cartridge, getting started guide, (Brand/Model) CD

Notice the lack of parallel cable?

Viper GTS

Perhaps it would be better if the web site had a large disclaimer: Cables NOT included with printer.. It is so simple to add so the customer doesn't have to think about what's NOT included.

That way - read uninformed (not stupid) - people wouldn't have a chance to be irritated and thus pass on the irritation to the CSR.

putting what's not included is stupid...

"er, when i purchased this mustang, i didnt get any whores with it"
"excuse me?"
"well, the ad shows this mustang with 2 whores in bathing suit..."
"er, they don't come with whores sir, you have to get your own"
"er, if i have to get my own whores i wouldn't buy this car, i'd get a ferrari, you should've specifically said mustang, whores not included!"

:Q

 

[apoppin]

putting what's not included is stupid...

For INFORMED people. Give the customer the benefit of the doubt - SOME printers DO come with cables. IF the box says "no cables" the web site should also.
Car dealers rarely include whores in the purchase price - if ever . . . pick a better example.

Uninformed people will get angry and next time go elsewhere. But who really cares? . . it's not MY company.

 

[PCHO]

The only printers that come with cables are those that use the unusual C type. Viper is right. Trust me its not that the printer manufacturer doesnt want to, its that the retailers who sell those printers want to sell the cable therefore the manufacturers dont include them.

 

[XMan]

When I bought my Xerox laser printer, it came with a parallel cable.

They ALL do.

 

[ThePresence]

You should have an option on the website to include a cable or not. You'd actually make some more money that way, as the clueless would check the box, and buy a cable for $19.99.

 

[WarCon]

Personally, not getting a cable with a printer was a major piss-off for me. I guess it still bothers me somewhat, all printers use to come with them and then they just stopped.

Just another take advantage of consumers that don't have any real choices. Like those cheaper models of Inkjets that some manufacturers have been putting out on the market. You know the ones that take the "different" cartridges. "Different" means like 1/3 the amount of ink in the cartridge for about the same price.

Damn disposable society.......

 

[dude]

Originally posted by: kgraeme

Originally posted by: Viper GTS If you don't mind paying more for the printer, sure we'll toss one in. We do sell them in our online store.

Yes, but if you were to include them with the printer you would obviously be buying them in a much higher volume with a much lower per-transaction processing cost and the cable would be significantly cheaper to both parties. Not to mention that it is a pro-customer way of running a business. Selling a product that includes what is needed to make it work as opposed to making the customer dink around makes the customer's life that much easier. But I gather from your rant that happy customers are less important than the bulk cost of a cable.

So when I buy a monitor from you, should i expect the computer to come with it? If I buy a DVD disk, should I expect a drive to come with it?

Same with consumer electronics... Not all TV's come with A/V cables. Not all VCR's come with Coax cables. Not all DVD players comes with Toslink cables. Not all HDTV's comes with them neither. If they did, they'd all would cost a few bucks more.

 

[Hossenfeffer]

So when I buy a monitor from you, should i expect the computer to come with it? If I buy a DVD disk, should I expect a drive to come with it?

"Please choose a valid answer. Thanks for playing"

And, dear lord, the "whore" defense... what the hell was that? "Survey SAYS? BUZZZZZZ

 

[Soybomb]

I agree, why include the cable, I've got about 10 and don't want to pay for anymore. Do I expect a cable with new hd's? No. Do I expect cat5 with nics or switches? No. I don't think its out of the ordinary nor a bad thing, I'd rather save $3 on my purchase quite honestly then get a junk cable to throw away.

Where are you at now viper, I thought you were doing ISP work?

 

[dude]

Originally posted by: Hossenfeffer

So when I buy a monitor from you, should i expect the computer to come with it? If I buy a DVD disk, should I expect a drive to come with it?

"Please choose a valid answer. Thanks for playing" And, dear lord, the "whore" defense... what the hell was that? "Survey SAYS? BUZZZZZZ

Ok, I went for all out stupid with the monitor and dvd. ...

But not all items comes with what you want. My tv didn't come with $89 monster cables. Why should your printer come with $30 best buy cables? (of course, printer cables can be had for cheap, we buy them in retail package for $1 and gold plated ones for less than .15 cents more) and it would be nice if they were included but they aren't.

don't blame the person selling them, blame the manufacture! For all we know, it might be the retailers and manufactures doing this to sell and make more on the cables! :Q

 

[CocaCola5]

It should be included, especially for entry level printers where the typical end-users are newbies and would not have a spare parallel or USB like more advanced users.

 

[kgraeme]

don't blame the person selling them, <STRONG>blame the manufacture!</STRONG> For all we know, it might be the retailers <STRONG>and</STRONG> manufactures doing this to sell and make more on the cables! :Q

I blame the manufacturer. Knowing a little of how business works, the manufacturer probably isn't in cahoots with the retailer so much as they see a way to shave .01% off the manufacturing costs of the product. (Assuming a $2 cable on a $200 printer.) That .01% may save the company $200,000/year (assuming 100,000 units sold), but it's at the expense of the consumer. The consumers end up spending a 400% markup of $8.00 costing consumers $800,000/year, not to mention time and frustration.

BTW Viper GTS, I know you aren't the one making these decisions, and I'm not blaming you for the situation. I just get rankled when I see blatantly anti-consumer crap.

 

[aka1nas]

<Sarcasm>I love the way BB marks up cables.</Sarcasm> With my discount I pay like 1/5 of the normal price sometimes. I once bought a DIN-->PS2 adapter for an old keyboard that normally was 7.99 and It costed me 83 cents!

 

[CocaCola5]

Originally posted by: kgraeme

don't blame the person selling them, <STRONG>blame the manufacture!</STRONG> For all we know, it might be the retailers <STRONG>and</STRONG> manufactures doing this to sell and make more on the cables! :Q

I blame the manufacturer. Knowing a little of how business works, the manufacturer probably isn't in cahoots with the retailer so much as they see a way to shave .01% off the manufacturing costs of the product. (Assuming a $2 cable on a $200 printer.) That .01% may save the company $200,000/year (assuming 100,000 units sold), but it's at the expense of the consumer. The consumers end up spending a 400% markup of $8.00 costing consumers $800,000/year, not to mention time and frustration.

BTW Viper GTS, I know you aren't the one making these decisions, and I'm not blaming you for the situation. I just get rankled when I see blatantly anti-consumer crap.

Not including the thousands of support calls the consumer calls in asking about the missing printer cable.

 

[Celstar]

I think the only reason why some people don't think much about not getting the cable is because they've become accustom to it. I've always hated that printers didn't come with the cable... especially if I need one. But of course, if it meant that the price of the total package is lower without the cable, then I'll go for no cable included.

 

[Format C:]

Retailer A:

His stupidity was not proven by him not knowing there wasn't a cable in the box, but by his reaction.

Retailer B:

I have learned in my own business when a customer makes a complaint, many others are thinking the same thing even though they say nothing. I do not want to lose the business of uninformed people.

I know where I'd rather spend MY hard earned dollars.

 

[chickendinner]

I hate stupid people in general. If a stupid person called me about that cable, Id tell them that the were getting one in 4-6 weeks then laugh hella hard and hang up.

 

[GiGoLo]

omg... it amazes me how stubborn people are. when you buy a pair of home speakers, does it come with speaker cable? NO. when you buy a tv, does it come with s-video cables, rca cables, cables to connect your cable box? NO. should microwave popcorn specifically say "MICROWAVE NOT INCLUDED" on it? should washing machines come with their own detergent? just because the box doesn't specifically say "NOT INCLUDED" doesn't put the responsibility on the manufacturer. its the consumer's job to read the label to determine what features it has, what it comes with, compatibility, whatever.

 

[dude]

On a packet of celery seeds: Consumer Warning! Product does not come with any dirt, water, growth hormone, or sunlight. Please refer to section 4574 SubSection H92 for more info. Seeds may not be compatable with all temperatures. Please conduct with meterologist before planting. Warning! Induce Vomiting if Swallowed!

Sorry, couldn't resist!