If you have plans to shop for an appliance or furniture, don’t just walk into a store and expect to get what you want. Even name brand chain store are not that reliable, and there are few things you should consider:

Reputation – Some name brand stores are well known to be notorious. If you talk to some folks online, basically nobody would shop at any of these stores anymore. There is a reason why these stores would receive rating like one star out of five, or having the lowest customer ratings. If you read all those one-star reviews and still determine to shop at these stores, you are either overconfident or pushing your luck.

Salespeople – Salespeople who look friendly are not your friends. They are like vultures looking for tasty meals, i.e. the money in your pocket. When you walk into the store and salespeople swarm in to greet you, it is not that you are a valuable customer. They only want your business and close the deal as soon as possible.

Research – Usually, there are many products in-store, you cannot expect a salesperson to remember every little detail of each product. Most of the time, salespeople would steer you towards products they want to sell you, not the product that would fit your requirement and budget. Sometimes, job titles are misleading and intimidating, and a so-called senior sales consultant might not be able to help you. You can always ask questions, but you might not get the right answers, or you don’t know what to ask. There isn’t uncommon that the salespeople don’t know what they are selling.

Product Specifications – Key specifications might not be available in-store, online store, or even the packaging cardboard box. If you purchase an appliance online hastily, you might regret later, oops, too bad, no returns! You will be amazed that most of the time, you can only find the correct product details at the manufacturers’ websites, but not the appliances’ store website.

Name Brand – It’s easy to look for name brand appliances, but not furniture. Most furniture, especially those very affordable ones, are the non-name brand, it’s hard to find their track record. Remember the old saying. If something is too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. From many reviews that I read, many cheap furniture tends to break after a while, or even during delivery. But too bad, if you purchase from somewhere that specifies all sales are final, you won’t have a say.

All Final Sales Policy – If the price is dirt cheap, there is always a catch, product quality could be a problem. Some stores have an all final sales policy, under no circumstances will they offer a refund or credit to you.

One Time Only – In the past, there is a saying “The customer is always right”. It isn’t always true nowadays. When the world is getting more competitive, honest companies are getting fewer and fewer. When there are quarrels in stores, you could hear the angry customer yelling “we are not coming back!”. The fact is that those disreputable businesses don’t care; they only want a one-time transaction.