Natick Mall cracks down on pushy Israeli cart clerks
By adamg - Wed, 12/03/2008 - 10:26pm.
The Wall Street Journal reports on the Israelis who seem to staff almost all the mall carts selling Dead Sea salt treatments, head massagers and remote-control helicopters and briefly discusses our own little mall:
After fielding complaints about overly aggressive vendors, some mall operators have taken measures. The Natick Collection, a mall in Natick, Mass., forbids cart salespeople from calling out to customers as they pass.
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Crazy cart clerks
I saw some crazy cart vendors at the Cambridgeside Galleria a couple of weeks ago. They were Middle Eastern looking, perhaps Israeli. They were selling cosmetics, I think - same stuff that's mentioned in the WSJ article. As I ate my dinner I watched the three vendors accost nearly every shopper that walked by. Sometimes if the person wasn't interested and tried to walk away, they would chase the person down and physically block their path while they continued their sales pitch.
assumptions lead to tragedies...
DOnt assume things you dont know... just because they seem to be middle eastern doesnt mean they are..... and even if they are it doenst mean they are israeli, check the map and tell me how many countires are located in the middle east?
Touchy much?
Touchy much?
Splendid
Spot on, Mumsy. Thurston Howell III would never tolerate being accosted by mere service persons.
I think this is the first
I think this is the first positive thing I've ever seen come out of the Natick Collection. Wow!
And those dudes at the Cambridgeside Galleria are insane. I never thought there'd be the real-life equivalent of pop-up ads, but these kiosk people are. But you know what works? iPod earbuds. Oh yeah! Perfect for those antisocial times. Just pop in the earbuds and stare right past the kiosk folks. Bob your head in time to the music. Or don't even play music. Your call.
And if they do still try to make contact, take out the earbuds and loudly bawl them out because they just made you miss the best part.
We actually wrote a post
about a week ago on this very subject over at Labelscar, and we also pointed out the bit about Natick Collection.
I got caught by one of these demonstrators at a Dead Sea Kiosk at a mall in suburban Philadelphia four years ago, and the woman there polished my fingernail and made it smell funny. It bothered me for days!
I am loving the article you linked to
This one. It almost reads like an Onion story:
Just. Wow.
Maybe these people are more
Maybe these people are more aggressive then the average cart person, but Ive found the easiest way to shut them up after you got yourself engaged is to ask them for a card and promise them if you buy something it will be with that particular sales person. I never say Ill be back because they work on commission who cares if I come back and they arent there, take the card it makes life easier.
Lesson learned
"....polished my fingernail and made it smell funny. It bothered me for days!
Now you know better. Don't let a stranger polish your fingernail by sitting on it.
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who and the what now?
I dont really mind the cart
I dont really mind the cart people, for me it adds to the festive atmosphere of the mall and makes it feel a little less "pefect". I love the energy all the cart people bring to their jobs and the evangelical zeal that they have for their products, its entertaining really. The products are pretty much not worth more half of what they are trying to sell them for, and Ive only bought items from carts a total of three times in the past 10 years, but I do tend to stop and see what these people are hawking. Once you figure out where they are coming from culutrally you can stop and actually get a pretty damn good deal from these guys, stop ask a few questions, and when the price is revealed step back a bit and show some shock, many of these guys will come down a bit, you can he haw a bit and cut it down a few more pegs as well.
But not everybody wants to
But not everybody wants to enjoy a good haggle when they go to the mall, and not everybody thinks that being actively chased down by the salesperson when they refuse to stop and chat is acceptable evangelical zeal.
It's good to be an enthusiastic salesman, but some of these tactics are going well beyond respectful and acceptable. There's something about respecting one's right to enjoy a shopping day unmolested, not to mention one's right to say "no", "no goddamit", "I said no now leave me alone", and "touch me again and you'll be eating floor tile."
You got taken
If you got them to agree to a price, you paid too much. Guaranteed.
I can find anything they sell in their carts online for less than anything they'd be willing to accept because they need to clear their markup for commission and cart rental.
Thats why I only have bought
Thats why I only have bought a few items. What you just said could be said about any store, its always cheaper online, but Im in this mall right now and I need something for someone for this evening and I know they would love this thing Im looking at on this cart. If I can get them down 30 percent from the asking price Im getting a decent price, sure I could get it for 50 percent off on some random website but its all about the here and now. Sometimes I even buy books in a store instead of on Amazon and have actually bought CDs in a store as well, I know that makes me a sucker but sometimes you just want things in your hand.
Evangelical Zeal???
That's called hunger. LOL
I was accosted by one of these cart folks a few years ago at the Skank One Mall. The salesgal did the whole buff the fingernail bit too. For 99 cents at CVS you can get an identical nail buffer too. And no funny smell.
i have to pass one of these
i have to pass one of these at south shore plaza all the time. i don't mind the being asked but i don't like the attitude they give when you reply with a polite 'no, thank you'. now i pretend to be on my cell as i pass by.
Since When?
When did Natick start enforcing the "no calling out" rule? I was just there this past weekend and the cart people were still pestering us as usual.
On a side note, isn't this whole thing promoting the stereotype of Jews as pushy, shady salesmen who can't be trusted?
No, not Jews
But it doesn't say all that much about Israelis in-between their IDF service and the rest of their lives ...
Rite of passage?
The Mormon "Elders" (if these are the elders, who are the youngers?) go to the third world and try to talk campesinos into a lifetime subscription to Funny Underwear Quarterly.
Maybe it's a rite of passage for Israelis to go to American Shopping Malls and talk housewifes into putting outrageously expensive imported salt in their hair. If you can do that, maybe you're truly ready for the Holy Land.
A couple years ago they were selling a cheap Chinese toy car set with a track that snaps together. That actually ended up being a pretty good deal, as the kid continues to play with the track long after the battery-powered cars bit the dust. And the Ingrish on the box was to die. Hours of diverse fun self-interchange indeed!
Well, except for the religion part
They're just being capitalists, attempting to apply Middle Eastern bazaar bargaining to pliant American noobs so they can make some money before settling down (the Journal article ends with some Turkish kiosk guy thinking about learning Hebrew so he can learn their techniques).
The only real proselytizing Jews are the Lubavitchers (yes, as in the poor Mumbai rabbi and his wife), and they only go after other Jews, not Christians (and no, I don't count Jews for Jesus as real Jews).
Luvabitchers
Go after... anybody who even looks Jewish. Youjewish? youjewish youjewish? Only when they receive confirmation that the target is not Jewish do they stop. "What's it to you?" is not sufficient confirmation.
Salt Lake Salt?
Maybe they also hawk Salt Lake Salt for health and beauty benefits from small carts near tourist areas?
I prefer the Wet Exit Practice beauty treatment for my locks ... surf the kayak around in the ocean a bit, load up the car, and drive home to rinse the salt off. Likely cheaper than the dead sea stuff, my hair and skin look great for days, and it is much more fun.
Can I ask you a question??
You gotta love when they ask Can I ask you a question? my reply is you already did and walk away
Or even better please touch this (a scarf) Noo thanks how many people have touched that ewwww
My reply to that would be...
touch THIS, buddy.
Does anybody here remember carts with Scientologists accosting everyone who walked by, basically checking that Diuretics book at anyone who would listen? I think it might have been in the ARSEnal mall. Those guys were annoying and amusing at the same time.
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who and the what now?
I was with a friend when we
I was with a friend when we were in our early teens in the early 90's and she stopped at the Dianetics table and took the test. Now Im a skeptical person so didnt like their whole set up to begin with and tried to drag her with me to go to Spencers or some place similar to Spencers, but she was convinced they were nice people. She signed up for some mailing list and is STILL on the list to this day, he mother dutifully takes any mail from them and rips it up whenver it shows up, but it still shows up looking for her. I still laugh everytime I hear her mother complain that she doesnt even live there any more and the Scientology mail still finds its way into her mailbox.
Dead Sea vendors
Today I was approached at the Mall by a nice looking girl. Without even asking for my permission she slapped some gook on my hand! Upon questioning she told me it was the Dead Sea lotion.
I AM ALLERGIC TO THE DEAD SEA COSMETICS.
When I tried it in Israel I swelled like a pumpkin! I almost suffocated! This time after the prompt removal of the gook I ended up with burning sensation but no allergy attack. I think this gook was a far cry from the real MacCoy!
Once a girl approached me in London Hithrow Airport offering to try the Dead Sea cream. When I told her about my allergy, she admitted that a lot of people are allergic to it.
Aren't malls afraid of the law suits?
I just sent a letter to my mall, telling them I would shop elsewhere if they don't bting to heel those pushy people.