Goodwill and Discounts

Shane Wink

Shane Wink

Well-Known Member
I am looking to hear from yall about how yall handle goodwill and discounts. I have been a firefighter for 22years now at a class 1 dept and have also worked as a soldier in the Army Guard for 9 years and as a reserve deputy with the local dept for a couple years and as such I offer a discount to my fellow brothers but it is not something I promote or make known till the time of sale. I dont feel obligated but I want to do it so I do. I also am willing to help kids and church groups anyway that I can which usually means barely materials when it comes to kids but I never expect to profit from those sale where the kids are concerned.

I have written this several time but the bottomline is how do you handle soldiers, firefighters, medics, Law enforcement, judges and the like throwing their job out there and then asking for a discount. I dont like it and I find it disrespectful on many levels to do so and never ask for a discount unless it is mentioned to me by the seller and if I know they do but dont ask if I am a ...I wont bring it up. I dont believe I am any better than anyone else because of my job or status in the community and dont act that way. I guess this is why it bothers me so when I see friends and others doing so in public as well as some parents coming to me with stories about a knife for a kid and it turns out to be for them.

If its asked of me and I can help you I will even if I dont know ya, but it is looking like it is time to draw a line in the sand and close ranks on the issue.

I am open to hear form yall on this - shane
 
That's a tough one Shane. I also will provide discounts for service members, police, firefighters, etc. But I'm not sure how I would feel if they were to ask about it. It's never happened to me, so I dont know how I would react. I can see your point though. I guess it would depend on the circumstances.

I've heard a lot of people tell me something like... "If that was me I would..." Really? I dont think anyone can say how they would react to any given circumstance until they have faced it. Obviously some things are more predictable than others, but there are always unforseen variables.

Your case sounds like a respect circumstance. You give it, because you expect it, or would like to think it would be given.
It seems that when someone requests something that ought to be a gratuity, the respect is broken.
Am I off base here?
 
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In today's society it seems that everyone is brought up to expect special treatment and it really gets under my skin most of the time but I've learned to roll with the punches. I offer a 10% discount to LEO, US Service Members, and all Emergency Personnel... Like you, I don't advertise it, but make it known when learning of their "service." Having served in the military myself, I get a certain joy out of helping out my brothers in arms and rarely does it nag at me to have them ask. I think it all comes down to your perspective and how you perceive their intent. If the kid scenario came up, where a parent is asking for a discount on a knife for their kid, I'd suggest they go with a mass produced knife that would serve their budget and needs better (it may sound like bad customer service but I think that service members have payed their dues whereas a kid who wants a cool knife has not).

Do I feel that soldiers and EMS/LEO are better than others due to their career choice? No I do not. But I do feel compelled to honor their sacrifice, whether it be walking a beat daily or leaving their family a year at a time to go play in the sandbox, they all give something up for the greater good and are hardly ever compensated accordingly. Now, if some fresh boot whose never even boarded a C-130 gets on his soapbox attempting to sound like a seasoned soldier with two lungs full of silica and a left arm covered in stripes, then heck no. They don't get squat. In the end its mostly a case by case basis and everyone who doesn't fit my idea of a service member/ LEO/ EMS acting accordingly gets turned away altogether in a tactful manner.
 
Very well said gents. I do not understand our hero worship of public servants. It is a job, nothing more. I spent 22 years in LE and never placed my profession’s importance over anyone else’s. All professions provide a service that society has deemed necessary. Even the guy who cleans out porta cans is on the same level as everyone else. If you want to argue that, let one of those things turn over in your front yard and that man becomes a super hero instantaneously. That is an extreme example, but I reckon you get my point.
Getting back to the original topic, I do give a military and LE discount, but it is on a case by case basis rooted in their job function. For example, while a quarter master clerk is providing a service just as important as an infantryman, does he really “need” a knife with a 7” blade to perform his duty?
And finally, people who work in public service are not supposed to take gratuities in any form; I have yet to see a policy manual that does not state that. If they are obviously “looking” for a discount they are quoted the same price as everyone else. If they openly ask me if I give a discount, it goes up in price 5%.
Curtis
 
I have given a discount base on employment, even handed out a couple as gifts. When I choose too. No strict policy on this. I started as a support tech in the fire department, worked with police department as a cyber investigator, became the local agency security officer for PD, then when on to become the City wide Director of Technology. Never asked for or expected a discount. Thus I realize that some will ask for it. It does not bother me but, if you got to ask and if I choose to, then 5%. If given by me I have given as much as 50% off. Twice, service men, I have not charged them for my product.

This is a subject that requires you to feel good about the transaction.

On knives for kids I normally refer them to my Ace Hardware store around the corner with the reasoning that even with a discount they can still get a good value started knife there. One with which they can learn to respect thier knife at a reasonable value for quality price point. Then I tell them if they want one of my hand made ones the discounted price with sheath starts at $250 and could be a lot more based on the materials and size. So far only 1 taker.

I have donated knives as part of a funds rising event to a couple of organizations, they have given me value and exposure.

just my person view on this after working as a public servant and retiring.
 
I agree with a lot of what has been said here. My grandfather was a war hero and I have the utmost respect for our service men/women. But as someone else eluded to, although every service member plays an important role, not every one has earned their stripes in the same manner. I think that honoring that on an individual case to case basis is acceptable. As far as law enforcement and other public servants I think that some of the catalogs I have seen offering a discount have done so not out of respect to that field but as a marketing ploy to bring in more customers. And just where DO you draw the line? Do you offer that discount to the paramedic who picks the elderly lady with the broken hip up off the floor but not the surgeon who repairs the hip or the nurse who takes care of the patient for days on end including bathing and other duties not fit to mention here? I work in a hospital and my wife is a nurse and I have yet to hear a coworker talk as though they felt like they deserved a discount on something because of the job THEY chose as a career, but I have also not seen any discounts offered to them because of what they do. Just my cynical 2 cents.

Shane
 
I too have had this issue come up over the years.
When I managed s Gun store some LEO's would call on the phone to ask what their special discount was?
I hated this and thought it was a form of extortion. No discount? we will see how fast I get there when you need me? was always what I felt they were saying. The owner gave a 10% for Fire, LEO's and Military service. so that's what I said.

Someone mentioned a Judge asking for a discount and I have never had that happen and would laugh in their face if it did! They and high ranking just about anybody else make plenty of dough.

At my cutlery store & on my handmade knives I will offer 10% myself to lower ranking Leo's and especially Young Military soldiers that are being deployed and want a good knife, ether production or one of my customs for the field.

I enjoy giving it when I get to offer it and do not like when they brush their Civil servant of other employment in my face upfront and want to know what big deal I am going to give them because they made a decision to go into being a LEO, Fire, etc.

I am a knife maker & Sharpener and owner of a cutlery store. I spend long hours making sure people have good sharp knives to cut their food with! Where is my discount for all the C&@p I have to put up with?:biggrin:

Laurence

www,westsidesharpening.com
www.rhinoknives.com
 
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