So letting the guy believe he had something he did not, instead of possibly giving him the info he needed to go back and confront the person who screwed him would be better?
A) OP only "thought" he might have an iPad 1. We don't know that the fellow did have one.
B) Based on the overhead conversation, if the fellow did have an iPad it might have been an iPad 2 and he was showing his companion what he didn't buy - because of the lack of the feature to make movies.
C) Very unlikely he had
any iPad because he was, according to the OP, telling his wife. He probably would used his own iPad to show her anything.
Or using the fact the guy got screwed already as an avenue to take more of his money on an iPad 2 would have been better?
Since it's unlikely that the fellow had already "... got screwed already ..." then if he was in fact shopping for an iPad, then gently moving him towards the iPad 2 is both better for the store, and preserves the fellow's dignity. Plus, later on, when he finds out that the iPad 1 doesn't have a camera he will feel even better about buying the iPad 2.
But attempting to help the guy by correcting his misinformation, THAT'S unacceptable?
When did it become a stranger's job to correct anyone's small misunderstandings of the way things work? If I have don't understand something correctly, and it is not going to impact me in any meaningful way, then - please leave me alone.
Sarcasm is so much more effective when you are firmer ground.
I don't think the OP either set out to hurt the guy's pride, nor frankly, was he responsible for protecting it either.
I agree. I don't think the OP meant to hurt the fellow's feelings. But he did so by interfering where he was not invited. He was not "... responsible for protecting [the fellow's feelings]..." , nor was the OP responsible for correcting his misunderstanding. At that point. If the fellow had attempted to buy the iPad 1 based on his misunderstanding of the camera, then the OP does in fact have a responsibility to not sell the fellow the iPad 1 until the camera thing had been cleared up.
He tried to help the guy and it just didn't work out the way he expected.
He didn't try to help the guy. He tried to tell him he was wrong. Two different things.
Everybody needs to stop inserting their own personal sensitivities and context into what the OP actually said.
Yep.
Until you have worked sales for a number of years (and I haven't - I'm not an expert in sales) it's hard to come up with a way of correcting someone gently at the moment you need to be. I can be just naturally non-confrontational (At least what I'm told) and I would have added a few extra words into that first conversation with the fellow.
"I don't' believe that the iPad 1 has a camera." Be open to being shown otherwise. When the fellow finds the light sensor, "I'm pretty sure that is the light sensor. Lets just check by putting a finger over it... and look the screen dims." Now, you are bringing the fellow along on a voyage of discovery. And you'd better hope that the screen actually dims.
At this point the fellow accepts the new information, and you have become a "wiseman" in his eyes since you taught him something new. Or he's a stubborn old coot and there's really nothing you can do, except charge him extra for a left-handed plug or something.
