A pet peeve of almost any supplier is “window shoppers”.
DON’T BE ONE!
Those are people who come to the supplier asking endless questions, with no intentions of ever really wanting to buy from them.
These are people who either have no real money, or are just looking for free information because they are too lazy to do all the hard research themselves.
Now, if you put yourself in the shoes of the supplier, who are often very busy performing the duties of their trade PLUS helping actual paying customers who deserve their help… this can be very frustrating.
And while most suppliers are good natured and want to help their fellow man with simple issues that they might know the answer to but the less experienced might not… that is all well and good. But savvy, experienced suppliers can and MUST quickly weed out these “tire kickers” and “window shoppers”… those who will ask a ton of questions, but never buy.
They are simply wasting the suppliers time!
So, before you go and start asking your local supplier a ton of endless questions to save yourself the effort of finding things out for yourself with proper research (often which leads to wrong info anyway)… take into consideration the supplier.
Make sure you are serious about buying from them, and are prepared to make your purchase BEFORE you start asking a supplier a bunch of questions!
If you are just looking for information to set up your next planned purchase… and as long as you are going to be BUYING from the supplier you are asking… tell that to your supplier up front so they know how to allocate their time. Many suppliers are very busy!
It isn’t right to ask any supplier a bunch of “help me” questions if you have no intention of BUYING from that supplier. You are just wasting their time. Time that supplier will definitely feel is better spent giving help to those who actually purchased from them.
In short… Don’t be a dick!
Have some common courtesy… if you’re not going to BUY from a supplier, don’t ask him or her a ton of questions looking for free help. You’re just rude and inconsiderate if you do.
Again, most suppliers don’t mind helping a little.. but if you have no intentions of buying from that supplier you should go away and do your research yourself. It’s not fair (or right) to bother a supplier if you are not going to give them your business.
Just think if the shoe were on the other foot… how would you like people swamping you with questions on what to do, how to do it etc… all day… every day… and then they give their business to someone else? That is totally wasting that suppliers time, and that’s screwed up!
If the people you buy from are not there to answer your questions and give you proper support… maybe you’re with the wrong supplier. You should be changing who you deal with!
And it is not unreasonable for a supplier to expect that you will order from him or her if you are there asking them a bunch of questions. Especially if you have done it on more than one occasion. That would only be fair! If they are kind enough to give you the benefit of their time and experience, you should pay back in kind by giving them your business.
If you can’t and don’t see it that way… there is something inherently wrong with you and you probably need your head examined. You’re simply not seeing things right.
… rant over.
