[Viffermike]

I posted early in this string with one thing ... but I'm posting again because I'm one of those people who "boxes above his weight" regularly and has throughout his careers, and this thread seems to have devolved into a discussion about attitudes and profiling.

Background: I spent the first part of my working life as an arts journalist and music critic. Went to gallery and museum functions all the time, rubbing elbows and befriending many wealthy types, both old money and new -- on a very middle-class salary. I am now an advertising editor in luxury retail, so I deal with the same types (but a much broader cross section), and know many of the ins and outs of selling to them. I make more, but not that much more.

In a nutshell: If you're savvy and observant, you can tell who is well off and who isn't quite that way simply by watching them, no matter how they're dressed, what their skin color is, or whatever the heck else. The flip side of that is that the wealthy are often conniving, cheap, highly competitive, and have a superiority complex simply because they're wealthy. Sales persons at car dealerships rarely have the proper training to recognize or deal with either, and those that do figure it out constantly have to weigh one side with the other when serving a potential customer. It is not easy. Trust me on this.

As for the case of the Vuitton store in NYC, well, it's in NYC, which introduces several more levels of customer profiling to the equation. Think about it. It's very likely the LV staff was simply following a protocol. Like it or not and agree with it or not, a store like that in that city hedges its bets, and HAS to.

Yes, there are extremes. But the bottom line is that if a lot less consumers visited dealerships with an attitude, a lot less SAs would have to assume attitudes to match.