Just in Case

I finally got around to buying a case for my iPhone. It's hot pink now!

I had looked at this case a week before I got my phone, but I didn't want to buy it until I had the phone in my hand and I had checked to be sure there wasn't one I liked better out there somewhere. Originally, I had wanted a silicone cover, but as the guy at the kiosk pointed out to me, silicone has a tendency to attract dust and crumbs and get grubby with time. Yuck!

I didn't like any of the hard cases I was seeing, so I decided to go ahead and get this one. Gotta protect the investment, you know! I went to the kiosk in the mall and realized I had forgotten to ask how much it was. Duh. I overheard the salesguy talking to someone else and he said something about knocking $5 off the price. Interesting.

That guy walked away and I asked the salesguy how much the case I wanted cost. He said it was $35. I asked him if he was going to give me the five dollars off that he was offering the last guy. He said, yeah, normally that case is $40. Um, yeah right. Sure it is. There was no way in hell I was going to buy a case that cost half what the phone cost. Sorry dude.

I picked up one of the silicone sleeves and asked him what the price on that one was. He said it was $25. I thought about it, and he says, let me let you in on a little secret. I looked him dead in the eye and told him, yeah, I know, I don't want a silicone case because it will attract dust and lint and crumbs when I stick it in my purse or my pocket right? He gives me this weird look for half a second and then says EXACTLY! I told him that I had been there a few weeks ago and the other salesguy had already given me the whole sales pitch.

He informs me that I'd be better off in the long run buying the more expensive case, because it will last longer. He asked me if I really wanted to blow money on cheap cases only to have to keep replacing them. I told him that actually, it would be kind of cool because then I could get a bunch of cheap cases and match them to my outfits! HA! He says to me oh no, that's ghetto, you're classier than that, I can tell. I'm like dude, you have no freaking idea.

Then he decides to change tactics on me. He asked me if I had my phone with me. I told him I did. He says let me see it. I told him no. He says come on, just let me see. He says but you have to SEE how good this cover looks when it's on the phone! I said well, your phone is sitting right there by the register, so I can see how it looks. Besides, I was here a few weeks ago, remember? The salesguy at that time showed me his since I didn't have mine yet. So I know what it will look like! He says, but mine is blue, and your's is pink. You have to see the difference. I informed him that I thought I had a pretty good idea, but thanks. He says come on, just give me your phone. I told him no again. He asked why not. I said because, if I pull out that phone, you're just going to slap that cover on it and then try to force me to buy it while you hold my phone hostage. It's just another forceful sales tactic, so no, you may not have my phone.

I can tell I'm really irritating the hell out of him at this point, because he steps in toward me and says, "Sales tactics? You really think I need to sell you this cover? I made $800 in sales today, what the fuck do I care about selling this one to you? I'm doing you a FAVOR, I just don't want you to be walking around with a crappy case!" I'm thinking, did this guy REALLY just drop an F bomb??? LOL! I said well, good for you then, we're both okay! I informed him that I was going to shop around so I could check out my options, and we left.

Now, two kiosks over was a kiosk that was selling hard covers of the teenybopper variety. I looked at those and decided that they weren't for me, so we moved on. In order to get to the next store I wanted to visit, I had to backtrack past the first guy's kiosk. He didn't have anyone there so he was free. When he saw me, he walked up to me with a smirk on his face and was all like, did you find one? Did you find a better phone cover over there?

I told him no, I did not. He triumphantly grinned at me and says SEE! I told you! These covers are the BEST covers and you need one! I looked at him and said, you are one cart in one mall. That over there was just one cart in one mall. Do you realize that we live in the fifth largest city in the country? Do you know how many malls are in this city, and how many carts are in those malls that I still need to check out? Not to mention the Apple store and online shops. I think I'm going to do more research still, but thanks!

Defeated, he says, tell you what. If I sell it to you for $30 will you buy it?

So I did. I really did like it best of all the ones I've seen so far, online and Apple store included. I made that fool earn his commission though, I'll tell you that! HA!