First let me say that I've had very good experiences with Relax The Back in the past. I've purchased a Zero Gravity recliner, a Tempurpedic mattress, a topper, a foundation, an electric elevating base and a lot of accesses. I lost count of how many thousands of dollars I've spent at the Southlake location. I purchased there because I was treated with respect and care by people who earned my business, but I'll go elsewhere in the future.
I've been looking online for kneeling chairs, but I thought I'd stop by Relax The Back in Southlake to see what they had to offer. I was greeting by 2 salesman, one was very young and the other was middle-aged.The older of the two tried to be very helpful. I was surprised to see a chair (Roni Jazzy Kneeling Chair) that I almost purchased online sitting on the RTB showroom floor. As I began to sit in the chair, the young aggressive salesman asked if I had another chair because I wouldn't be able to sit in the one I was looking at for more than 45 minutes. He paused and said that was as long as he could sit in it without getting sore. I thought his comment was a bit odd since I've used kneeling chairs for several years and I've never has an issue. His first question should have been "do you have any experience with kneeling chairs?" This was the beginning of my encounter with a cocky young salesman that was focused on himself rather than me, the customer. I chucked to myself and let the comment slide. I told him I found the chair to be comfortable; I then enquired about the price.
This is when things began to spiral. He told me the chair was $399. I had seen it online so I asked if he could match online prices. He said sure, and did a Google search and immediately found it on the same site I had seen it on yesterday. He quickly said, $271, I can match that. He then said no, it's $299 and then you'll have to pay shipping. I paused and looked it up on my phone and politely asked what site he was looking at. I was the same site I was viewing and it was $271, not $299. I showed him the price with free shipping and he said it must be a different chair. Again, I showed him the chair and the description which was the exact same chair he had on the floor. I could tell he became a bit frustrated when I was able to assure him it was the same product. He said he would have to call the owner to see if he could match the price. I decided to walk through the store to see if there was something else I might be interested in while he tried to contact the owner. After 5 minutes or so he said he could sell it (the floor model) to me for $299
Lets recap - The salesman told me he would match the $271 price. He then said $299 but he'd have to call the owner. He then said he would sell it to me for $299. Aside from small convenience items, I don't buy a lot online. I own a local business so I like to support local business, but I this became such a runaround that I decided to take my business elsewhere. I politely told the young salesman thanks but I'd make the purchase online and started towards the door. He said, it's only $20 more here and you can take it home today. His math was off, but that's not the reason I decided to buy online. I understand the value of brick and mortar stores and I also understand the overhead involved, but this wasn't about the money, it was about the very poor manner in which this young salesman conducted himself. He was more interested in winning than selling. I didn't walk into this store to participate in a contest. I've been in sales for over 30 years, contradicting yourself and patrons is not how you win customers. I won't even go into how many times he contradicted his fellow salesman, who quite frankly, would have gotten my business based on his pleasant nature alone.
When I returned home, I went online to purchase the chair from houzz.com, but found it for even less on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/BetterPosture-JAZZY-Kneeling-Chair-Back/dp/B006ARUFKC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462669937&sr=8-1&keywords=jazzy+kneeling+chair read more
