Comments on: Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

By: VV

VV — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:33:43 +0000

It IS strange. Though one time when visiting LA a friend of mine wanted to shop on Rodeo Drive. Since we were wearing jeans and t-shirts, I thought we’d get the cold shoulder, but the salespeople were awesome. I guess they can’t tell if you’re a movie producer or not by your grotty jeans. :)

I do dress nicely when I shop, because I work at home and get sick of being in shorts most of the time, but I do drive a beat up Honda. And I have enough money to buy any new car I want.

By: Ana

Ana — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:54:25 +0000

Well, yes, that keeps happening. A couple of years ago, my husband and I (we are both hispanics)went to Gateway in Rt 22 NJ (it is not there anymore, I wonder why…) to buy a computer in CASH. Long story short, as everybody has been telling here, we waited over 30 minutes (which is a long stretch for my husband who gets annoyed if we are not greeted almost inmediately), we looked around, we aproched the salespeople (who were chatting in the back, there were barely any customers) and nothing… but there comes a blonde, white lady (dress in the same kind of clothes as we were, so not nicer) and ALL of the salespeople jump in to help her and she was only asking for directions or something, NOT buying or looking to buy… come on, that is no way of treating customers. Obviously we left and bought the computer somewhere else. People here keep thinking that because we look as hispanic as we are and talk to each other in Spanish, that we are not gonna understand what they say, that we don’t have the money to pay for stuff or that we should get used to being ignored… Come on, give me a break…

By: Envy is the enemy of frugality - Smart Spending

Envy is the enemy of frugality - Smart Spending — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:29:08 +0000

[...] so maybe this woman’s life isn’t as great as it seems. (To read more on this subject, check out Kristy’s post at Master Your Card about how sometimes the shabbier-looking customers at her bank have tons of money, and sometimes [...]

By: Kristy

Kristy — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:49:18 +0000

I’m glad to know that so many people have moved beyond making assumptions about others. You just never know what their situation really is, and most people with money don’t feel the need to flaunt it. Grace, I think that’s an awesome story about your lawn guy. I’m sure most people assume that because he’s hispanic and working in the yard that he’s illegal. Good for him that he made his first million!

In fact, everyone’s stories have been fantastic. It’s funny to me how people in sales base their decisions on how someone is dressed. As a personal anecdote, a friend and I went into Jared’s to pick out the ring he was going to propose to my best friend with. We were dressed in jeans and t-shirts as it was a weekend. We stood there for almost an hour and not one person greeted us, acknowledged us, or offered to help us. Everyone else, including those walking in after we did were dressed nicer and helped first. My friend was ready to leave, but me being me butted in on someone who walked in after us and politely told the saleslady that she had just lost a sale which would have been made in cash because she assumed that because he was hispanic and we were in jeans that we weren’t worth her time (she had looked us up and down once or twice, which is why I chose her). She looked at me a moment and I repeated the word cash and then proceeded to tell her for an engagement ring. The couple sitting down were laughing at the astounded look on the woman’s face. She tried to apologize, but we left and went to Kay’s. The couple she was helping left too. They said she was rather snobby when they told her they’d need financing options.

Just goes to show….you can’t judge a book by it’s cover!

Keep ‘em coming guys!

By: Grace

Grace — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:23:05 +0000

This seems to be the topic du jour, and an apropos one it is, too. As I commented in another blog this morning, I was discussing the high price of London with my lawnguy (yes, he’s hispanic and no, he’s not here illegally) who had just returned from a vacation there. When I asked him why he picked London, he said it was a promise he and his wife had made to each other as to what they were going to do when they saved their first million dollars!

I’ve never seen the guy in a suit, but I’m dang sure he can afford one better than I can.

By: J

Sun, 11 May 2008 02:42:43 +0000

Haha. I had this happen to me too. I saved up for a new car (first one ever, I had some good fortunes that year) and had $30K sitting in my checking account. I knew which car, what options and what price it was going for. I walked in on my Saturday (with my “rough” weekend wear and weekend “beard”). I wait for almost 45 minutes while the sales guys kept telling me “Just one minute, I need to take this other customer first” [that came after I did, but happened to be a nicely dressed couple or some guy in a suit].

I went somewhere else and made some lucky sales guy a good commission for 10 minutes of “easy” no-haggling work.

By: Jade

Jade — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:19:16 +0000

You know something kinda similar happened to my dad once. He was doing some work around his apartment building (which he has paid off the mortgage for, along with our house) and ended up having a little issue with a trespasser. Anyway, he had a little gash on his head but wanted to make a big deal out of it (long story) so an ambulance comes out to take him to the hospital.

The paramedics at first weren’t doing much for him, I mean he was in his dirty t-shirt and jeans since he was just working around the building, but the paramedics seemed to think he was just some homeless guy. Well, then they found out that he owned the building, and packages started flying open left and right, they had him in a neck brace, and couldn’t get him to the ER fast enough!

I’ve heard similar stories from coworkers as well. I do taxes seasonally, and you’re always getting clients coming in with fancy manicures, fancy hairstyles, and expensive clothes and they’ve got 3 kids and their income is so low they get a ton of earned income credit and they qualify for food stamps. And then you get the little old lady who’s wearing this coat that looks like it’s older than me, and she’s making $100K+ in interest and dividends from investments. Go figure…

I’ll have to remember this if I end up going car shopping soon. Even better, bring my dad along after he’s been working all day!

By: Daily Links: Technical Difficulties Edition | Totally Miscellaneous

Daily Links: Technical Difficulties Edition | Totally Miscellaneous — Fri, 09 May 2008 05:35:27 +0000

[...] Kristy at Master Your Card has an awesome piece about not judging a book by its cover (where book means: “dude in a bank”). She works in the banking industry, and has [...]

By: The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Best Money Saving Tips Edition | Rich Dad Poor Dad Blog

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:49:39 +0000

[...] Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover The people who look rich aren’t always necessarily rich. (@ master your card) [...]

By: Eivind Kjorstad

Eivind Kjorstad — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:37:07 +0000

I do it on purpose even, dress down in situation where my REAL position is strong. It frequently exposes sellers and/or financial people which leaves me in a good bargaining-position as the other part is confused and/or trying to get back on track.

It’s fun walking into a car-dealership, unshaved, wearing a pair of dirty shorts, a cheap and old t-shirt with “Free the Cows!” on it, and say you’re interested in a new Avensis. (a $75.000 car here)

Then, when the seller comes to the topic of how you plan to pay for this (which he invariably does quickly as his main suspicion is you can’t at all, and you may not be a “customer” worth spending time on, I say that I don’t like to carry that much cash on me, so perhaps it’d be more convenient to just swipe my card. Not a credit card (I don’t do those), direct debit. Cash. This minute.

Car-salesmen have a hard time negotiating effectively with their jaw on the floor.

Plus, it’s good fun.