The Pinged Hobbit

One thing I hate is being lied to. I like honesty, tell me the truth and I might be a bit upset but I will appreciate you for it. You will go up in my estimations for your honesty. Tell me a lie that I find out about and well, you’re in for a quick route to my most hated list. One thing is for sure I won’t do any kind of business with you. I’m not the only person with this point of view I am sure, everyone hates being lied to and in this day of search engines it’s much easier to be caught out than you would think.
Recently an organisation I deal with asked me to help them in sorting out the situation regarding their point of sale equipment. They have 5 terminals connected back to a back office PC. The original system was purchased over 10 years ago, but the terminals have been replaced since then (within the last two years). The software on the back office PC however is the same as the original install and it’s running on an old Windows 98 PC. This PC is even older than the point of sale system.

The PC is on it’s last legs truth be told and needs replacing with something newer. However they don’t hold a copy of the software that runs the terminals. I contacted the suppliers (its all still under maintenance) to see if it was possible to either move the software to a new PC or to get a newer version that would run the terminals they had.

I ended up with the Account Manager for the organisation. He told me that the whole system would need upgrade, basically his words were that the company that built the terminals and provided the software had gone bust. That it was no longer possible to maintain the hardware or get software updates from them. He came and demonstrated a new system to them. And again he told us that the suppliers of the old system were no longer in business. He ended up quoting them £15,000 for a brand new system

That turned out to be a big mistake. The terminals had the name of the manufactures printed on them. It was but a matter of a quick Google search to come up with their website which showed that the company was still in operation. Then it was only a matter of 5 minutes to find their UK based reseller and contact them.

With 10 minutes work I had managed to find this information. Following this with an email I was put in touch with the relevant people who could help me. They told me that the terminals were fine and would work fine for at least another 10 years. Then to really make me happy they also told me the software had been replaced by a newer version. With the installation and training the price came down to £1500. Wayyyyy cheaper than my original price.

Let that be a lesson to you, don’t take what a sales guy tells you at face value. It’s always worth doing a little of your own research. At the end of the day while it might appear he is friendly he’s still a wolf in sheep’s clothing, looking for the oppertunity to make a quick buck on you (Yes I know not all sales guys are like this, heck I do some sales work and I know I’m not like that, but its the exception rather than the rule I’m afraid).