Dealing with people who thinks they know better than you

[momopi]

Last weekend I went to a kitchen/gourmet supply store to buy a new kitchen utility knife. If you're picturing Stanley knife, that's not it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_knife#Utility
"A utility knife is between a chef's knife and paring knife in size; generally too fragile for heavier cutting tasks, and not well suited to fine tasks, the utility knife has declined in popularity. They are usually between about 10 cm and 18 cm (4 and 7 inches) in length."

I was taught to cook with the chef Knife, utility knife, and pairing knife. The utility knife I prefer is 6" in length, and good for trimming fat off lamb and chicken. Although it's not as strong as the chef's knife, it's still good enough to cut lamb into 1" cubes. IMO the chef's knife is too large for some jobs and the pairing knife too small, so the utility knife fits perfectly in between:




Wüsthof sells the knife as the "Classic 6-Inch Sandwich Knife", they also have a 6.3" utility with hollow edge, which I don't like because I prefer classic blade style and handles.

So I walked up to the store's knife counter and asked to see the 6" utility knife. Lo and behold, I get a sales guy who insists that there is no use whatsoever for the 6" knife and, in his opinion, I have no reason to buy one. I explained that I prefer to have a medium knife in my knife block, and he demanded that I justify myself for buying such an useless knife.

Uh, excuse me? Hello? I'm the customer and you're the sales guy?

This is the typical American as*hole behavior where people don't appreciate you for buying something from them, or giving them advice for free. Instead, they want to argue and demand that you convince them that your suggestions or opinions is superior.

Hey as*hole, I'm doing you a favor for just stepping into your store. Which idiot hired you anyway?

Many thoughts went through my head. I could stand there and argue with him, ask to speak to another sales associate, complain to the manager... but what's the point? If he thinks it's a good idea to bitch-slap customers, then he's not going to last long at the job anyway.

So I said, never-mind, and voted with my feet -- I took my business elsewhere. F*ck off, adiós.

I took my business to Chef's Toys:
http://www.chefstoys.net/

I told the guy at the counter what happened at the other shop, and he just shrugged and said "you're the chef, you choose whatever knife you want to use".

Now there's a man who speaks my language.

[globetrotter]

This is the typical American as*hole behavior where people don't appreciate you for buying something from them, or giving them advice for free. Instead, they want to argue and demand that you convince them that your suggestions or opinions is superior.

It did not used to be like this.

Somewhere between 1980 and 2010 the American business populace changed and became intolerant and so hopped up on HGH replacement therapy, Prozac and high self-esteem that they now know better than you. Over the past 3 years I found myself having more and more interactions like this with service personnel, customer service, bank reps, real estate people, efc.

Basically when it gets to the point where I state "I think you are confused here. In this situation I represent revenue and you represent overhead and expenses." They simply do not care, they won't comport, and they won't do what is best for the customer. The only recourse is to pull all business from them, cease and desist. I informed them that if they did not do what I requested that I would close my account that was being debited. They did not care. It has gotten that out of hand in the USA.

Even then, there were two occasions where they would NOT stop spending my money and would NOT stop the contract. This is similar to the Bankstas attitude since 2008 that the money in the bank is THEIRS and they just let you use your money when it is convenient for them. Basically your money is not your money any more. Be careful out there, the self esteem and business culture of entitlement has gotten to the point where it is outright theft and scammery.

Ya know what? I NEVER encounter this type of bullshit in Mexico, Asia or elsewhere.