A sucker born every minute

I popped into the local Godfreys outlet to have a squiz at their huge vacuum cleaner sale, last weekend. Huge savings to be had, the TV said so.

For those that don't know, Godfreys is a vacuum cleaner shop.

I didn't really want a big vacuum cleaner, just a light one that could sit downstairs here and do 20 minutes work twice a week. And I wanted it bagless.

So in I goes and right beside the door is a nice little one, about the same size as the Kambrook one we use that Reg found on the side of the road and all it needed to make it go was a new plug (that's a whole other story); it was bagless; it was $69.

In the words of the disgusting immortal Billy Connolly, that'll do me.

I played around with it for a while and eventually picked one up and offed to the counter where this guy in a suit has magically appeared and the conversation went something like this...

"I'll have that, thanks" sez I.
"How big is your house?" sez Suit.
"Quite large", I sez.
"This'll blow" sez Suit.
"This'll what??" I queries.
"It's too small. You need something more like this" he confided.

Good salesman. I pity him.

"This one is good. It has this dust filter box on the side of the wand that catches all the dust before the main bag." he enthused.

(Picture hard plastic 4 inch diameter see-through cylinder clipped on one side of the wand)

"Oh" I sez
"I want bagless" I sez
"But this catches all the dust so the bag takes longer to fill up" he explains.

(insert white powder on red carpet sucking demonstration here)

"It does catch it in the dust filter, doesn't it", I agree.
"How often do you change the bag" he asks.
"Once a week to 10 days" I sez.
"How much are the bags? I asks
"$15".
"For how many?"
"3"

(imagine what I was thinking, go on, try)


"Three??"
"Yes" he confirmed.
"So, I would use less bags that cost $5 each compared to the current $1.36 in a vacuum cleaner that costs $110 compared to the $69 one better suited to my needs except that it can't keep up with a 5 year old, clapped out old Kambrook Jaguar?
" "

(a key mistake - he did not ascertain what his potential client already had)

"I like that little one that you say will blow up and I don't like the Hoover that is everything I didn't want for more money than I wanted to spend so I don't think I will buy anything here. Thank you." I concluded.

(and he never actually asked me what I wanted, he told me what I needed)

I'm glad they don't sell them door-to-door any more, oh the cliche.