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Does more expensive mean better? Some companies sure hope you think so! Otherwise, they wouldn’t sell any of their products!

In this story, one retail worker at a sports store explains that no, more expensive does not always mean better; however, one dad who came into his store with his son refused to believe that. He simply looked at the most expensive price tag and assumed it was the best.

This customer interaction has stuck with this retail worker for quite awhile, not because of the dad choosing the most expensive gear but because he felt bad for the son. He could relate to how the boy felt about baseball.

Keep reading for the whole story.

Father came into a sporting goods store and talked for his son the entire time, only allowing his son to get the most “expensive” equipment. His son ended up coming back with his older brother to apologize for his father and talk to me about baseball.

I worked at a sporting goods store about a year and a half ago. It was a fun job I only worked a few hours per week their since I had another retail job at the time.

I mostly worked in the baseball section since baseball is my favorite sport.

I had a good time overall, until I had to quit when I went off the college.

A father and son were shopping for baseball gear.

One day a dad and son (14 if i remember right) came into the store and where checking out all new gear for the season.

I ask his son his position, what level he plays at and what hand he throws with.

The dad answers for him, kinda snobbishly “he plays elite travel ball as a right handed short stop.”

I thought nothing of it at first. I played travel ball and know the bats allowed, and also know the type of parents that get their kids into it.

The dad won’t let the son make his own decisions.

So I take him to the gloves first, he grabs a “lower” priced infield glove, maybe 170 or so. Its the glove I use, so I recommend it to him, it really is a great glove.

Than the dad sees the $300 A2000, and says “we will take this one” before his son even tried it on.

I could tell his son was not thrilled, and this was probably not his first rodeo with his dad making choices for him.

The dad doesn’t seem to care about what equipment is actually best for his son.

Than we move over to bats, now this is where things get a bit interesting, I ask his son his height and the dad again answers. I recommend a bat size and they browse for a bit.

His son follows my recommendations and picks out one that he likes, again not the most expensive but it does look cool. Honestly at his age, the bat does not make much of a difference since regulations are tight on what is allowed in the league anyways.

His dad than picks up a bat 2 inches two big for his son. he should be swinging a 31 inch, he might be able to get away with a 32 if hes strong, but a 33 (what the dad picked up) is too big for his son until he hits his growth spurt.

I explained this to the dad, he did not care he just wanted the “most expensive bat.”

Father and son clearly had different goals when it came to choosing equipment.

It was kinda clear to me that it was not even about his son at this point, it was about the dad gearing him up to appear better than the other kids.

I still am trying to explain to his dad, from my own personal experience being a smaller kid that a large bat is not the best idea for him.

His dad says “I know whats best.”

His son looked upset, I felt so bad for him. I could tell he was passionate about baseball, he was not in it to look cool, but genuinely did research on what is best for his use case. The products he gravitated towards are all great for him.

The son really didn’t get to make any decisions himself.

The last thing before they got cleats (out of my department) is batting gloves. His son asks me what gloves I like to use, so I go to tell him before the father cuts me off and says “these ones look good.”

Guess what they had the highest price tag as well. They are great gloves, but its not worth the extra price in my opinion.

They walk away to get the cleats and ring out with me. Their total was hundreds more than it had to be, and the son did not even get to pick out what he wanted.

When the boy came back, he didn’t bring his dad.

He came in a few weeks later with his older brother to get another bat, since the one his dad picked for him was too big for him. Him and his brother where both very grateful for my help, and apologized for their father.

I talked to him a bit about baseball, and he really was just in it for fun. He told me his dad puts a lot of pressure on him and spends tons of money for him to get a spot a expensive travel team, but he just wants to go out their and have fun with his friends.

He also told me that the pressure has made him think about quitting. he said “I love baseball I really do, but my dad wants me to be the best and im not that, I just want to have fun with my team.”

I gave him a pat on the shoulder and told him hes the best player he can be, looked to his older brother who told him the same thing.

This was a customer interaction he’ll never forget.

Not going to lie, I got a bit emotional after they left.

That moment has stuck with me for over a year now and it really does suck how much parents dump money into their kids sports instead of just letting them play and have fun.

In my time working their I have seen lots of parents similar to his father, only wanting the most expensive products while not even critically questioning if those products are the best ones to buy for the use case.

More expensive doesn’t always mean better. It’s sad that the dad wouldn’t let his son pick out his own gear especially when the gear he picked out was better suited to him.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This is true.

At least they came back.

This person says it could have been worse.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a disabled driver who gets revenge on a woman who took a handicapped spot.

At least his big brother understands.

It’s too bad to have all the fun taken out of your favorite sport because your dad is too competitive. He only cares about appearances instead of actually caring about his son.

I’m glad the teen has his big brother to help him out.