Originally Posted by
Empty_of_Clouds
I too took the time to watch the entire video, some parts of it twice, but if Brian complains about customers seeking the best economic deals
First of all, I like Brian, but I've never considered GPC as a vendor of choice for high-priced pens. I bought from Richard Binder a bunch, and I also bought from Japanese sellers on eBay. I was never that into Pilot pens, but most of my Sailors came to me directly from Japan. But I was able to watch the video without feeling defensive. I think the reason for that is that Brian doesn't actually make the argument that it's the customer's fault. The point of admitting that he
tends to shop around on price was to emphasize a non-judgmental point of view ("I'm just like you"). That is to say, he's not there to bust your balls about shopping around for the lowest price. But he goes on to lay out a case for other factors that might be taken into account in the decision-making process other than price. It's a long, rambling response, and he confesses to having some feelings about certain things in spite of the fact that he knows, and accepts, that business is business. We could argue that some of those feelings aren't really "justified", but since when do feelings require justification in order to be felt? Ultimately he argues that it's really up to the
manufacturer to police these things, as difficult as that might be. Now, in a response that long and rambling, you can no doubt reach in and pull stuff out of context to call "hypocrisy", but if there's hypocrisy there, it's just the everyday "fat doctor" sort of hypocrisy. He tells you, he tells himself. Maybe neither one of you will ultimately be able to follow that advice, but that doesn't mean the advice is wrong or that he's wrong to offer it.
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