Category: Customers and customer service

  • Getting a great deal on Craigslist: Strategic concessions

    If you’ve ever used Craigslist, you know that costly transactions with complete strangers are now totally normal. From cars, to boats, to diamonds, even luxury items are now transacted online. Yet, ubiquity does not imply simplicity, as intransigent online parties often make unreasonable demands, then fail to find common ground. Online deals are difficult, but…

  • How to win your next dispute with the airlines

    Summer is the season of vacations and thunderstorms. With both come the possibility, or perhaps the absolute certainty of unpleasant airline experiences. With unpleasant airline experiences come the opportunity to make the airlines aware of those experiences, seeking recognition or—better yet—redress. Disputing with the airlines may be (and usually is) uncomfortable. But by describing what…

  • Four strategies to win any negotiation (especially with the car dealer)

    A few posts ago, I talked about how to out-negotiate the car dealer: by cultivating your alternatives. We’ve also tried to out-negotiate toddlers (with first offers), employers (with reservation prices), and cable companies (with targets). In all of these areas, life’s negotiable! Yet, at this point, I need to introduce an important wrinkle: To REALLY…