circuit city ignorance

[CalBoy]

Please remember that there are Best Buy and Circuit City employess on these forums too. (I'm one of the former.) I'll admit that most of my coworkers are ignorant, but please remember that sometimes your friendly salesperson is just a college student trying to pay for textbooks. I try to give customers my honest opinion and good advice, but I'm still human.

I realize that for the most part, retail box stores are staffed by poor college students...and that's why the customer service level is where it is. Sure there are some great employees (as I'm sure you are) but there are plenty of students who bring only minimum experience into the job. I actually don't blame the employees for this; I blame Best Buy/ Circuit City. Minimum wage (or close to it) is naturally going to attract less talent. Now you can make the argument that those stores need large numbers of staff in order to perform inventory and keep the shelves stocked, but that's just bull. FRYS (I don't know if you've been to one before) has lower prices on most items than Best Buy or Circuit City, has a greater variety of products (they've also had Apple products for much longer than the other two), and has excellently trained customer service reps. How's the possible? They pay better. There are many college students at FRYS, but, unlike Best Buy or Circuit City, those employees are interviewed for their technological skills as well as their people skills. It's a good thing that a FRYS is only twenty minutes from my place, or I wouldn't know where to buy my stuff, because I certainly can't stand Best Buy or Circuit City.

 

[comebackdwn]

What?

Besides the fact that your entire post was rather nonsensical(can you say runon?), its content is kind of, shall we say, immature, both on your's and everybody else's part. Beating up a guy because he has a negative opinion about a particular brand of hardware and software? It doesn't sound like its the most refined thing you have ever done.

it was just a random thing to say. and i believe your sig says randomness rocks? right? so why give him a hard time?

 

[dukebound85]

Please remember that there are Best Buy and Circuit City employess on these forums too. (I'm one of the former.) I'll admit that most of my coworkers are ignorant, but please remember that sometimes your friendly salesperson is just a college student trying to pay for textbooks. I try to give customers my honest opinion and good advice, but I'm still human.

oh i know my issue is not with them but rather at anyone who spouts off info as if fact when they have no idea what they are talking about. these people do influence what people buy

i will say i was at best buy and i was looking at a tv tuner for the mac. i have the hybrid and i guess there is another similar device that works with macs. i was reading the box and was trying to compare the device with the hybrid. then a best buy rep (the mac salesman) says the thing was really cool and can do hd. i told him well only ota hd not cable hd since it has the wrong tuner and etc.


the circuit city guy was just well stupid in my opinion.

note that each of these guys most likely make the same amt i would assume. no excuses there
well he walked off and about 5 min later came back to me and asked me to tell him all i knew about the device. i tried as best as i could and told him about the capabilities of the hybrid and said as far as what i can read on the box, it looks like it performs the same as the hybrid.

i like it when people try to learn more about what there posision consists of, no matter what career. i thought that was pretty cool

 

[jessep28]

Big box stores are meant for the less informed members of society, and as such, they(and their wage scale) attract less informed employees (ironic, seeing as how ignorance usually is cured with wisdom, not more ignorance). The funny thing is, those who have basic needs and just want a computer for web surfing and family photo sharing are much better served by a Mac.

Well when all they sell are the $40 kashmir fabric encased USB cables with gold connectors when a pack of 3 generic ones on Newegg goes for like $6 that work just as well, then its obvious who they cater to.

 

[FrankBlack]

Local consumer reporter checks out computer services at big box stores.

I was going to start a thread on this, but it might as well go here.

The consumer reporting team at Boston's WCVB TV decided to check out computer repair services at Best Buy, Circuit City, and Comp USA. They took a PC laptop, and had their own Tech person simply disable the internal drive in the BIOS. The results of the report are interesting, to say the least. Three different answers as to what the problem was, and three different repair bills.

Have a Link.

 

[theman]

that reminds me of that prank call i heard a while ago by a radio station pretending to be an auto repair shop. they called this woman and they were like,

"we noticed a few more problems with your car. for one thing, your headlight fluid is looking a little low.."

and she's like, "oh, how much does that cost?"

"$50. Per headlight."

"ok."

and then they were like "oh, and one other thing: we just checked, and it looks like the transmission is just gone. yep not even there. maybe someone took it out when you were parked at the store or something?"

"ahh, don't you need that?"

"well, it improves gas mileage..."

 

[FrankBlack]

Heh, yeah I've heard that. It was posted on-line somewhere. The frightening thing is that people would actually fall for it.

Everyplace wants to be McDonald's, I guess. Pull someone off the street, spend ten minutes training that person, get two or three months of work out of said person. When he / she quits, repeat the process. Wages and benefits are kept to a minimum, and everyone is happy. Except the customers, that is.

I was just amazed that it was Comp USA, one of the places that most of us "love to hate" that found the problem.

 

[cycocelica]

It's Circuit City, what do you expect?

 

[notjustjay]

I worked at Canadian Tire for a few months. It's a venerable Canadian retail establishment that sells tires and auto parts, power tools, nuts and bolts, camping equipment, household supplies, TV and mp3 players, lawn and garden etc. Think Home Depot with an automotive parts and service department. My experience there was eye-opening, to say the least.

Their hiring procedure speaks to the "disposable" nature of most employees. It was literally an IQ test! When you inquire about hiring they direct you to come back to their weekly hiring seminar. About 20 of us were ushered into a room, shown a video test and asked to shade in the little bubbles on the Scantron answer sheets. I received a call back the following week and was hired on the spot for a position in Hardware. "But I know nothing about hardware!" I said. I was much better suited to sell, say, TVs, mp3 players, cordless phones, as I have a fairly good knowledge of electronics. "Don't worry", they said, "we'll train you."

Training consists of sitting in front of a PC and flipping through computer-based-training sessions which are essentially PowerPoint slide shows dressed up with animations and voice overs. You do a little multiple-choice quiz at the end of each unit. After completing a full unit you receive a little "Gold Star Certified" pin, proclaiming that you're an expert!

So, one day I knew nothing about power tools, the next I was Gold Star Certified to sell everything from compressors to compound miter saws! I did the right thing by always saying "I don't know" when I didn't know something, and asking for help from another associate, but some customers just didn't have the patience and got really angry that I didn't have instant answers for everything.

I realize now that the average sales person is often a fish out of water, just looking to make a few bucks, wishing he could be posted in the department he REALLY knows something about instead of the department that most desperately needed to fill shifts. I also realize how incredibly demanding we have become as a society -- we can inform ourselves of the basics thanks to Google, so we have more advanced, specific questions, and we want instant answers, and we want it all at a cut-throat price. Who's stuck in the middle? The poor minimum-wage sales kid. (Granted, there are always a few idiots, but for the ones that are genuinely trying, I've learned to cut them a lot of slack.)

 

[floriflee]

Please remember that there are Best Buy and Circuit City employess on these forums too. (I'm one of the former.) I'll admit that most of my coworkers are ignorant, but please remember that sometimes your friendly salesperson is just a college student trying to pay for textbooks. I try to give customers my honest opinion and good advice, but I'm still human.

I'm sorry, but is that really a good excuse?? Just because they're college students just looking to pay for their textbooks doesn't entitle them to giving poor service. I know that pay often reflects the level of service given, but that really shouldn't be the case. They agreed to take the job for the pay they're given, and they should be expected to do their job decently. I know that's idealistic and asking a lot of people these days, but I'm tired of people making excuses for poor work. If they can't or won't do it, then let 'em go. They don't deserve special treatment if they're not willing to work to improve. Do your job, do it well, and don't waste my time.

 

[samuraikiss]

I'm sorry, but is that really a good excuse?? Just because they're college students just looking to pay for their textbooks doesn't entitle them to giving poor service. I know that pay often reflects the level of service given, but that really shouldn't be the case. They agreed to take the job for the pay they're given, and they should be expected to do their job decently. I know that's idealistic and asking a lot of people these days, but I'm tired of people making excuses for poor work. If they can't or won't do it, then let 'em go. They don't deserve special treatment if they're not willing to work to improve. Do your job, do it well, and don't waste my time.

I was not offering that as an excuse. It's simply a fact of life. Those with expertise or degrees in computer science do not work at any of the retail stores being discussed, since those skills provide better opportunities and wages. Our training at Best Buy consists of, as a previous poster mentioned during an anecdote about his retail experience, a series of slideshows about basic computer knowledge following by a multiple-choice test. After maybe three days of tests, you are released onto the sales floor. I'd like to think that I provide good service to my customers, regardless of my peers' performance, but I am still human.

The best way to purchase electronics is to first do your research, whether looking online or asking technologically savvy friends, and then come in to the store or just buy it online.

 

[FrankBlack]

I worked at Canadian Tire for a few months. It's a venerable Canadian retail establishment that sells tires and auto parts, power tools, nuts and bolts, camping equipment, household supplies, TV and mp3 players, lawn and garden etc. Think Home Depot with an automotive parts and service department. My experience there was eye-opening, to say the least.

Their hiring procedure speaks to the "disposable" nature of most employees. It was literally an IQ test! When you inquire about hiring they direct you to come back to their weekly hiring seminar. About 20 of us were ushered into a room, shown a video test and asked to shade in the little bubbles on the Scantron answer sheets. I received a call back the following week and was hired on the spot for a position in Hardware. "But I know nothing about hardware!" I said. I was much better suited to sell, say, TVs, mp3 players, cordless phones, as I have a fairly good knowledge of electronics. "Don't worry", they said, "we'll train you."

Training consists of sitting in front of a PC and flipping through computer-based-training sessions which are essentially PowerPoint slide shows dressed up with animations and voice overs. You do a little multiple-choice quiz at the end of each unit. After completing a full unit you receive a little "Gold Star Certified" pin, proclaiming that you're an expert!

So, one day I knew nothing about power tools, the next I was Gold Star Certified to sell everything from compressors to compound miter saws! I did the right thing by always saying "I don't know" when I didn't know something, and asking for help from another associate, but some customers just didn't have the patience and got really angry that I didn't have instant answers for everything.

I realize now that the average sales person is often a fish out of water, just looking to make a few bucks, wishing he could be posted in the department he REALLY knows something about instead of the department that most desperately needed to fill shifts. I also realize how incredibly demanding we have become as a society -- we can inform ourselves of the basics thanks to Google, so we have more advanced, specific questions, and we want instant answers, and we want it all at a cut-throat price. Who's stuck in the middle? The poor minimum-wage sales kid. (Granted, there are always a few idiots, but for the ones that are genuinely trying, I've learned to cut them a lot of slack.)

Holy Crap! That sounds like the makings of a good consumer report!
We've got National Tire and Battery. Their Website Sounds like the same kind of operation. I've been told that Sears is the corporate muscle behind NTB, and Jiffyboob.

Note: If you visit NTB's website with Safari, you'll get an error message, saying that your browser is incompatible. But that's okay. It's a chance to set "User Agent", under the debug menu, to MSIE, and fake them out. Heh, I just love doing that. (Insert evil grin here.) And yet another offer for a free turkey,,,,

 

[notjustjay]

I'm sorry, but is that really a good excuse?? Just because they're college students just looking to pay for their textbooks doesn't entitle them to giving poor service. I know that pay often reflects the level of service given, but that really shouldn't be the case. They agreed to take the job for the pay they're given, and they should be expected to do their job decently.

There are two things you want to see in a retail sales person: good customer service (smiling, friendly and helpful attitude), and good product knowledge (ability to answer all your questions, tell you where everything is).

As I mentioned in my other post, I was easily able to give friendly, attentive service, but because I am not a contractor or a handyman, my personal knowledge of power tools and hardware was pretty limited. I learned a bit through the "training", and I learned a LOT more "on my feet". For the average Joe Homeowner, this was fine. When a real contractor or handyman or someone who knew his stuff came in and asked technical questions, I was clueless, and we both knew it. That's why I always referred them to someone else on the floor, and made sure to stick around so I'd hear the answer and know for next time.

I think I did my job as best I could. About the only bad thing you could say about me was "this guy doesn't know crap about hardware, get him off the floor!", but I reiterate that (a) *I* already felt that way, and (b) this is the fault of the store for their hiring and training practices, not the employee.

That's why, as I said, I have a new respect for store employees that try hard, but just don't know. I've been there. BUT, if you're rude, if you're not paying attention, if you're ignoring the customers, if you're NOT being helpful and attentive, then I have NO sympathy, because that's the EASY part.

 

[floriflee]

I was not offering that as an excuse.....

I realize that this is how it is, and unless the big companies wise up and a) start providing better training and b) start providing more ways of motivating their employees to do better it won't get better. My problem with all of it is that this kind of service is acceptable by both the employee giving the crappy service and the employer that hired the crappy employee. The fact that we just brush it off as "it's just the way it is" only perpetuates the notion that this is somehow okay. I don't expect the customer service reps to know everything, but I do expect them to try their best to give me a good experience by not being rude, offering input where they can, and pointing me to someone who can help when they don't have the necessary expertise to help me. If it is expected that I do all the research (the hubby and I usually have some knowledge about what product(s) we're interested in) and just come in and buy the product then why even bother hiring customer service reps in the first place? That may be the way to avoid any unpleasant customer experience, but the onus should not be on the customer to do everything. That may be the way it is, but that doesn't make it right.

There are two things you want to see in a retail sales person: good customer service (smiling, friendly and helpful attitude), and good product knowledge (ability to answer all your questions, tell you where everything is). <snip>

Exactly! I don't have a problem if you don't know everything about whatever it is that I'm asking about. I'm not going to fault you for that, and even more kudos if, after you've pointed me to someone who can help, you stick around and try to learn a thing or two so you can help the next customer. I will be annoyed if you act like you know everything and offer rude/unhelpful input.

 

[FrankBlack]

I realize that this is how it is, and unless the big companies wise up and a) start providing better training and b) start providing more ways of motivating their employees to do better it won't get better.

They can begin by paying the employees better wages and job benefits. I do not believe this philosophy that in order to keep prices down, you have to pay the employees poorly and keep turnover high. I cannot believe this when I read that the CEO's and top executives of some of these outfits are paid seven figures, then get severance packages worth hundreds of millions. Example. Of course, that's one for another thread.

I like the rest of your posting though. It does seem that we (consumers, customers) have grown to accept poor service, and frequently, poor goods as "just the way it is".

 

[ChrisA]

You have to realize that some people inherently loathe macintoshes for whatever reason. It's like racism..crazy stuff.

They see Mac OS X is a threat. They know they have invested years to learn the proper care and feeding of MS Windows. Now they are a "True Expert" because they can perform feats of magic like install applications and set up a shared folder on a network. They are one of the few, an Elite User.

But if they moved to the mac world they know they would loose their "Elite User" status. So rather then admit that they just say "macs suck"

It's also a matter of cost. There are no $399 Macs

 

[ChrisA]

My best story is whaen I went in to one of these huge big box stores to buy a monitor. I found two I like and asked the salesman what was the differenrce between them. I was at first impressed because he said he's have to ask his boss. Off he went. But then he comes back and says that one of them has "more kilohertz inside and has a faster co-processor". I figure out that he meant "horizontal scan frequency". But even after asking his boss he still thought that CRTs had "co-processors in side and some of the co-processors have more "KHz" then others.

In the same store more recently I saw another customer ask about some computer component that was in a box. He had a fairly general question and asked the guy who was stocking the shelves. The "salesman" took the box, turned it over and read aloud the description printed on the box. Very helpful if the customer was blind or illiterate but otherwise useless.

 

[FrankBlack]

"More Kilohertz inside"?? Heh. You should have told him, in your most disappointed tone, that you really wanted something in the terrahertz range, and could he please check with his supervisor on this. Then just stand back, and watch the antics. Who knows, it could even be better than going into McDonald's, at the height of the lunchtime rush, and demanding unsalted fries.

My first experience with a true Mac Basher was in 1985, when the the wonderous little beige macs had been on the market for a little more than a year. I was working at a pretty big place, the the little macs were turning up on desks everywhere.

One low-level IT supervisor would not permit them in HIS DEPARTMENT!! When asked why, he would get all flustered, and blurt out "Because they're so stupid!" That's all he'd say. Finally, someone cornered him in an argument. These guys get nasty when they get cornered. He finally blurted out "They make it too easy!"

That about sums up everything about Mac Bashers. It's 22 years later, and the Mac Bashers have not really changed at all. Heh, it's funny, but at this point, some of the original Mac Bashers are not even in the work force anymore. I'd guess they have "passed on their knowledge", such as it is.