Demo Oddity

My brother is temporarily working in the Philippines. He's been using the Volkl Tour10 for years and was excited to try the new G2. He got word about a shop in Manila that had the T10G2. When he got there the guy at the shop said that he wasn't supposed to release demos unless the customer guaranteed to buy a frame, any frame. Apparently the supply is limited and past demo users abused the store's good will. My brother offered to give them a credit card, but they wanted him to sign a form guaranteeing that he would buy a frame at the end of the demo session(s).

My brother said no, and then asked if he could just hold a strung T10g2. He just wanted to get a sense for the swingweight and stringbed response against his hand. The shopworker said no, then nodded toward a surveillance monitor and winked.

At this point, my brother, fed up, turns and starts to leave. However, before he gets to the door, the worker intercepts him and whispers "do you still want to hold the racquet". My brother was kind of freaked out, but he had nothing to lose, so he whispered "yes". The worker said "come back at 6:30pm, I'll be in my car behind the building. Come alone".

I know this sounds completely whacked, but my brother was looking forward to the new Volkl and he was going crazy with curiosity. He wanted to hold it, and besides, he was stuck in the Philippines. He literally had nothing better to do, and remember: he is a tennis junkie and sometimes junkies go to extremes.

So my brother comes back at 6:30pm and goes behind the building and gets in the car with the shopworker. My brother notices a tennis bag in the backseat and asks to see the volkl. The shopworker was very nervous and kept saying that he could lose his job, and asked if my brother told anyone about their meeting in the car, with the volkl. My brother said "no -- please, just pull the thing out".

So the guy pulls it out -- a freshly strung Volkl Tour 10 Generation 2. My brother almost started crying. He grabbed it and asked if he could get out of the car and swing it in the air. The shopworker said "no, no, no. God no. no". So my brother just sat there for about 10 minutes performing compressed swings and pounding the stringbed with his hand. He finished and the shopworker asked if he was interested in making a purchase tomorrow. My brother proceeded to explain that he couldn't buy a frame, any frame, until he played with it. He said he was very, very grateful but he just wasn't in a position to buy it. The shopworker seemed sad, deeply sad. He didn't say a thing, he just sat there. At this point my bother got out of the car and walked away. As he was walking away he turned back to see if the shopworker was ok. To my brother's surprise, the kid was still just sitting there, motionless.
 
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