Small Bitch Session

[Gonz]

Reasonable is asking if a TV is HD, how many component video inputs it has, whether or not the HD tuner is built in. What I don't like are specific questions completely unreleated to the actual television.

That's why I hate todays lack of customer service. We made the customer happy. We knew customer service. If you don't want to play the game, find another job.

Reasonable is not asking you to take it up the poopchute. They pay you to know if DirecTV or DishNetwork or Comcast has teh best deal. You make money pointing them in the direction that makes you the most money.

 

[Altron]

so how much of that 3.5K do you get to keep?

$42.50, before taxes.

Today I tore it up with about $6500. Sold my first HD projector.

Damnit Gonz, it's not my job to know specifics about DirecTV and Comcast. By your logic, it would be alright to go to a restraunt and ask the waiter questions about buying food from the supermarket. I can tell customers whether the equipment they're buying can properly interface with a HD set-top box, but I know very little about HD broadcasts. I get questions they should be asking DirecTV, like "When I change channels on my DirecTV reciever, it has black boxes on the screen that go away. Why?"

It's my job to help the customer determine which products can fufill their entertainment needs. It's not my job to know the mundane details of service providers.

 

[Mirlyn]

Then there's the wireless speakers people. They act all disappointed when I tell them that we don't carry wireless speakers. They expect some simple solution to exist where they open the box, install the reciever, and place the speakers anywhere they want. Wireless speakers exist, but you either burn through D batteries like no tomarrow, or you plug it into the wall. They are all two channels, so you need preouts on your reciever if you want to get wireless surround. As soon as I leave, I know that they're heading across the street to bestbuy, then when they don't have them either, they wallow in self-pity because they didn't do their research and they have their hearts set on a product that doesn't exist. The engineers need to overcome the hurdle of amplification before wireless speakers will work. Class-D is a step in the right direction, with the near 100% efficency, but they still take either serious batteries or a wall wart, which defeats the purpose of not having wires.

Then there's the complete lack of anything to be interested in. The only fun toy is the Polk XM reciever in the back. Most of the TVs are stuck playing this dumb 30 minute sequence of advertisements. There's the preview for motorcucle people making a motorcycle for lance armstrong. There's the preview for the Dakota Fanning horse movie. There's the short clip of monster trucks driving through mud. There's the circuit city commercial with the chick trying to get shit off her camera into the photo album. There's the other circuit city commercial with the guy who calls his friend for TV information. There's a short clip of some rock band having a reunion and men in their late 40s jammin. There's the tennis player PowerShot video. There's the movie with the chick bonding with her parents. The only exceptions are when some guys put on the kung fu movie with the crazy surround effects (I think it's the Jet Li Hero one that I saw in the theater, not sure. They have all sorts of crazy scenes with arrows that make good use of the surround systems.) and when they pop in a DVD, during which it loops for the entire day. I was talking to the girl over in the MP3 department, which is right across the aisle from HT-in-a-box. She saw Spider Man 4 times in a row. I only saw it two, and it was boring. At least I can wander around the store, the MP3 department is like one row of shelves and on the other side of the aisle are the TVs playing the movies.

When I worked for BBY over the holidays for a few years, I was treated to 8hrs of christmas music such as the popular Singing Cats (for which a customer complained and was turned off after only three loops). Luckily, as a tech, we had our own section of the building we could hide in (equipped with our bench computer with internet and a sound system). While Ops would have been worse, I still feel for you. Sucker.

As for the Monster Cables, I don't think BBY/CC has anything high-end enough to warrant spending that much on cables.

 

[Gonz]

Damnit Gonz, it's not my jobIt's my job to help the customer determine which products can fufill their entertainment needs. It's not my job to know the mundane details of service providers.

I worked for Circuit City, Federated & Leo's Stereo for about 6 years back in the 80s. I know the job. That's why I'm telling you you're not doing it. Are you to be an expert for another company? No. You are to be knowledgable enough to answer a simple question.

You are precisely what I piss & moan about when I go shopping. Inattentive, underwhelmed, bored box pushers posing as customer service personel, or worse, salesmen. Typically I walk in knowing more about the product I'm buying than the staff. Why? Because I can't get simple questions answered. Thank god for the internet. I've walked out of many stores not buying goods because of lame excuses.

You sell TVs. Great. Learn about them. The first thing peopel care about is watching it. Take an hour or two & familiarize yourself with the things people want. I guaran-fucking -tee you'll make more money. If you aren't willin gto put yourself out you'll just be another slug in the self-service sector.

 

[Altron]

I worked for Circuit City, Federated & Leo's Stereo for about 6 years back in the 80s. I know the job. That's why I'm telling you you're not doing it. Are you to be an expert for another company? No. You are to be knowledgable enough to answer a simple question.

You are precisely what I piss & moan about when I go shopping. Inattentive, underwhelmed, bored box pushers posing as customer service personel, or worse, salesmen. Typically I walk in knowing more about the product I'm buying than the staff. Why? Because I can't get simple questions answered. Thank god for the internet. I've walked out of many stores not buying goods because of lame excuses.

You sell TVs. Great. Learn about them. The first thing peopel care about is watching it. Take an hour or two & familiarize yourself with the things people want. I guaran-fucking -tee you'll make more money. If you aren't willin gto put yourself out you'll just be another slug in the self-service sector.

I'm not talking about the "Will this TV work with HD satellite?" or "Do I need to get a special cable box for HD cable?" questions. I occasionally get asked very specific questions about troubleshooting the service provider's products. I try to be as helpful as I can, but for the most part, I don't know anything about how or why they work. The extent of my training pertaining to HD broadcasts was "You can either have a DirecTV HD reciever that connects via component, or a HD digital cable box that connects via component, or a HD antenna and tuner that connect via component, or some have the HD tuner built in and you only need an antenna". I can tell someone whether the TV is HD-ready, whether it has component inputs, whether it has the HD tuner built in, but I don't know the specifics. "Will I need a new directv dish for HD?" [what I think - erm, I don't even know whether HD needs a certain dish, much less whether or not you have that dish] [what I say - "You'll need to call DirecTV, they can find out for you. But this TV is HD-ready and has the component video inputs you need in order to hook up both your DVDP and your DirecTV HD reciever"]

There offical Circuit City training licks the sweat off of a dead man's balls. It's beyond useless. All of the product knowledge comes from spending time on the floor selling them, and asking more experienced salesmen questions. At this point, I know very little about HD broadcasts, because I just started this month. Will I be able to do better in two months? Of course. Hell, I only figured out how to properly log into the registers this morning. I'm a far cry from an experienced salesman, and the only way I'm going to get better is through time. Don't be so critical of me. Fuck man, you're more critical about me than either my department boss or the store director is. Usually you go to work, get grilled by your boss, and you post it at OTC and they're nice to you. My boss is like "Hey, you just sold two CityAdvantage plans, nice! We're $8,000 away from our goal for ____, so keep it up!" and you're like "You're an idiot who should be fired."

 

[Gonz]

I didn't say you're an idiot. I said you're lacking. Why do I say that?

I don't even know whether HD needs a certain dish, much less whether or not you have that dish

Find out. Customers rely on salemen to know crap so they don't have to. The more you know, the better you look.

You just keep coming back & saying "It's not my job man".

 

[PT]

Sorry Altron, but I'm with Gonz here. I'm not asking you to know what channel ESPN is on with DirecTV, or Dish, but if you know that both offer ESPN in HD, but that DirecTV does a better job with less interuptions in service, that's a bonus. Especially find out if I need a special dish to make it work. You may think that telling a person that yes, they do need a special dish might break a sale. You may be right, but then again, when you can tell them exactly what they'll need to make the $1500 purchase work the way they want it to work, you will sell more. I agree, you will get some silly ass questions from customers that may seem like a moronic question to you, but learn to answer them, and answer them honestly and you will sell more.

 

[Inkara1]

Count me in with Gonz and PT.

If you've been working there for less than a month selling stuff without knowing your shit but the bosses have been praising you, just wait a while. Once returns against you start piling up, their tune will change. And if these "idiot customers" doesn't fully understand what they're buying and they can't get it to work, they WILL take advantage of the store's liberal return policies.

I've actually sat on the floor and drew diagrams with a customer for hooking things up when I was working at RadioShack. Know why I wanted to be able to explain stuff to people so they can get it to work the way they want it to? Because that's the best insurance policy against returns. See, at RadioShack, if someone returned something I sold, the company lost the money they had, so they turned around and deducted it from my sales total. If someone returned a cell phone, I lost the sales total and the spiff. It would be possible for me to sell $1200 worth of stuff but only show a $700 total because someone returned a $500 purchase from a few days prior. I assume CC does something similar; if not, I'm surprised they're still in business if they're paying commission.

You might think we're being mean, but we're actually trying to help you. I can personally guarantee you that if you continue with the status quo, a lot of the stuff you sold WILL come back, the number crunchers WILL notice the high rate of returns against one particular salesman (you) and your bosses WILL get pressured from their bosses to fix the problem.

And for the record, yes, you need a special dish for HD programming with both services. They both keep the HD content on a separate satellite from the regular content. That requires the oval, three-LNB dish; the standard single-LNB DirecTV dish isn't wide enough to focus all three satellites' signals into that one LNB.

 

[Winky]

Oh and Altron
don't mind these guys
there are 100% right but...

ever one knows retail "SUCKS"!

just try to imagine if the more you knew
the more you accomplished

the more you'd make?

Well stay in low end crap jobs
and believe that it 'isn't my job'
long enough and you will be programmed
for a life of mediocrity

now have the can do spirit
and prepare yourself for something more
(and get @ least a 4 year degree)
and you might have half a chance
on this: "the greatest Nation on God's green Earth"!

 

[Mirlyn]

Count me in with Gonz and PT.

If you've been working there for less than a month selling stuff without knowing your shit but the bosses have been praising you, just wait a while. Once returns against you start piling up, their tune will change. And if these "idiot customers" doesn't fully understand what they're buying and they can't get it to work, they WILL take advantage of the store's liberal return policies.

I've actually sat on the floor and drew diagrams with a customer for hooking things up when I was working at RadioShack. Know why I wanted to be able to explain stuff to people so they can get it to work the way they want it to? Because that's the best insurance policy against returns. See, at RadioShack, if someone returned something I sold, the company lost the money they had, so they turned around and deducted it from my sales total. If someone returned a cell phone, I lost the sales total and the spiff. It would be possible for me to sell $1200 worth of stuff but only show a $700 total because someone returned a $500 purchase from a few days prior. I assume CC does something similar; if not, I'm surprised they're still in business if they're paying commission.

You might think we're being mean, but we're actually trying to help you. I can personally guarantee you that if you continue with the status quo, a lot of the stuff you sold WILL come back, the number crunchers WILL notice the high rate of returns against one particular salesman (you) and your bosses WILL get pressured from their bosses to fix the problem.

And for the record, yes, you need a special dish for HD programming with both services. They both keep the HD content on a separate satellite from the regular content. That requires the oval, three-LNB dish; the standard single-LNB DirecTV dish isn't wide enough to focus all three satellites' signals into that one LNB.

Theres one problem here....at RadioShack, you could be the one they return stuff to. At bigbox retailers such as CC and BBY, you are not. Thats one of the biggest reasons I left BBY was because a salesman isn't tracked by a specific sale...thus, they wouldn't have to deal with returns. The customer would return a product, and it would show against the store count, not the department or the salesman. Then it would be in my field; I, as a tech inspecting the returned product for malfunction, would have to be the one to tell the customer that things would not work unless you had part X. Guess who got to the customer's response? Guess who had to set the customer straight. Not the salesman.

 

[tommyj27]

i'm with the vocal majority on this one too. when i take the time to go to a store with a question, i had better be able to get a reasonable answer from the first person i talk to working in the proper department. if i don't get that answer, guess what, i walk across the street and repeat the process. a friend of mine has been in sales for years and loves it (i don't understand why), he has gotten to where he is, internet sales manager for a motorsports company, by taking the time to know the ins and outs of the products he sells, including all the peripheral inane knowledge that people want to know.

 

[Professur]

just one question. When you buy a car, do you expect the salesman to be able to tell you about the gulf coast refineries? The maintenance intervals? Cost of an oil change and a set of tires? The MTBF of the ball joints? crash test ratings for the vehicle in question? Crash test ratings as compared to all other vehicles in the same class?

A few you said yes to, a few no, and a couple you don't even know what I asked, right? IMHO, a salesman may or may not know all these things .. but he'll be more likely to get my money if he makes any effort to answer these questions, instead of just answering "that's not really my dept." But I've never known a salesman to be able to answer the MTBF question.

 

[Gato_Solo]

just one question. When you buy a car, do you expect the salesman to be able to tell you about the gulf coast refineries? The maintenance intervals? Cost of an oil change and a set of tires? The MTBF of the ball joints? crash test ratings for the vehicle in question? Crash test ratings as compared to all other vehicles in the same class?

A few you said yes to, a few no, and a couple you don't even know what I asked, right? IMHO, a salesman may or may not know all these things .. but he'll be more likely to get my money if he makes any effort to answer these questions, instead of just answering "that's not really my dept." But I've never known a salesman to be able to answer the MTBF question.

That's because the rest of the car would suffer from catastrophic damage before the ball joints fail...

 

[Winky]

free advice is worth everything you paid for it

 

[Professur]

That's because the rest of the car would suffer from catastrophic damage before the ball joints fail...

Really? funny how I've changed several over the years. 'Bout every 5 years, actually, with the tie rod ends and (on front wheel drives) the CV joint boots.

 

[Winky]

WTH are you doin' to them?
Are you one of those folks that has pull all the way in
til you boink into the curb when you park?

 

[Professur]

Roadsalt and sand are murder on rubber. A few pinholes and you've got caustic munching on your grease. And saltwater is fantastic for disolving grease and spalling bearings. And since most new joints don't have re-grease fittings, it's cheaper to cut them off and replace them all at once at the same time as I have the new tires installed and the alignment done. I'd just replace the boots, but you can't get replacements for them like you can for CVs.

 

[Winky]

Oh Crap that is right!

I've got an 87 Mustang bought new with original
ball joints but then you guys also have cars that
get cancer and rust away three times over in that
length of time Right?

It's better to burn out than to rust?

 

[Professur]

Let call it preventative maintenance. I've seen too many people on the side of the highway with ball joints and tie rods burst to not make it a regular maintenance thing. And the CV's will last forever .... if the boots don't let in.

But here in Quebec, they're lousy with the salt. The politicians must own the mines or summat. Never mind that there are less caustic alternatives (which work better under -15c). Never mind that sand and good winter tires are better than salt and 4 seasons. Just throw more salt at it.

 

[Gato_Solo]

Let call it preventative maintenance. I've seen too many people on the side of the highway with ball joints and tie rods burst to not make it a regular maintenance thing. And the CV's will last forever .... if the boots don't let in.

It's a lot more rare in the US I guess, as my 1988 Audi is still running on the original CV joints and ball joints. I've had to replace boots, but naught else.

But here in Quebec, they're lousy with the salt. The politicians must own the mines or summat. Never mind that there are less caustic alternatives (which work better under -15c). Never mind that sand and good winter tires are better than salt and 4 seasons. Just throw more salt at it.

Salt is relatively cheap compared to sand and gravel. Plus it has the added benefit of not having to be cleaned up at the end of the season.