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{RANT} when the guy at the store is a total idiot... what to do?
vegas-steven
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
so the other day i was in frys here in las vegas.
I actually like frys... usually the guys there have an idea of what is going on, and most of the time i dont feel like they are pushing any one item over another.
Yeah, i understand they work on comission and they want to sell whatever is most expensive, but most of the time the store here isnt too bad for that.
so i am looking for a gaming notebook. completely understanding the concessions i will have to make in order to get the portability i want, i went in there expecting to find something that would suit my needs.
enter david (name changed to protect his ignorance)...
david and i started to talk and he seemed to understand all the different desktop technologies... but when i asked him about the notebook world i started to feel that he was a little lost.
first thing he wasnt sure on was whether or not the centrino2 line was the new smaller pynryn(sp?) chipset. i later read that it is and this is part of intels centrino2 branding - reduce power consumption and keep the chips powerful.
ok, you get a pass on that. that is sort of an oddball question and i cant expect you to know everything.
then i asked him about graphics processors. the wheels fall off here:
me: what sort of graphics chip would you recommend
him: well the ati radeon HD 4870 is the same as an nvidia 260 so go with that
me: well were talking about mobile... does ati make that chip for mobile market?
him: umm, no. go with nvidia for notebooks
so i asked him, what is the main difference between the 9600-9800 line of products
he told me there was no difference.
the main problem is that here in am in the store without the internet and i want real answers from this guy.
then it came to the games i would play, and i mention the basics like spore, COD4, starcraft2 etc.
i also mention crysis.
so he tells me that crysis requires more than a desktop 8800 card and that nothing will run it. period.
"but wait" i interject, "i was at CES 2006 when micosoft officially showed off vista with directx10 and just 8800 cards running the game"
he went on to tell me that the 8800 will run it on 1024x768 but only on the LOWEST settings.
what an idiot.
should i go back and show him the benchmarks for the notebook i am buying? the one that is of course ONLY AT BEST BUY so i have to buy it from them and deal with even more retarded (sorry, specially abled) people than him?
the ones that say that crysis runs just FINE on medium-high with some nice settings?
this is the same guy that told me that he has THREE nvidia 280 cards running TRIPLE SLI and he cant get crysis to look good with very high settings and 2xAA... i asked him if he knew that the update for crysis would have to have triple SLI and he just sort of stumbled for a second and said "uh, well hell yea. stupid crysis people" and i asked him "you mean crytek?"
yes that is right. according to him the ati 4870 is just as good as the nvidia geforce 260 and he also has $1500 of video card in his rig.
he must also have one fuck of an electric bill too.... i guess that he also has a huge surround sound system to drown out the sound of the jet engine that his machine puts out.
of course he probably doesnt even own a pc, only an xbox 360. likely it isnt hooked up to an HD set either considering what a shitty job he did of selling ME ANYTHING.
where do they find these fucktards? do they really think that people will NOT go home and check the internet?
do they even understand what they are selling? i work on comission myself and if i dont know my product i lose sales.
so anyhow he lost me. here i am in this stupid situation where i am way over my head chosing technology with nowhere to go aside from here.
i just cant believe it. why is it when i call over to the philippines for tech support on my netgear router the poor guy getting paid like.... $5 a day knows his shit, but these people in america cant get a fucking clue?
and bestbuy wonders why they are losing money? because newegg isnt actually insulting. it isnt going to lie to them and make them feel like an asshole when the go home and plug their new shit in and find out that "surprise surprise, minumum wage dude knows nothing!"
so yeah... whatever. retarded monkeys.
they should put internet terminals in these stores JUST For people to look up what they want to buy. guess though they would somehow catch their own employees jacking it to porn like, every day instead of using it to research people's questions....
thats all i have to say.
I actually like frys... usually the guys there have an idea of what is going on, and most of the time i dont feel like they are pushing any one item over another.
Yeah, i understand they work on comission and they want to sell whatever is most expensive, but most of the time the store here isnt too bad for that.
so i am looking for a gaming notebook. completely understanding the concessions i will have to make in order to get the portability i want, i went in there expecting to find something that would suit my needs.
enter david (name changed to protect his ignorance)...
david and i started to talk and he seemed to understand all the different desktop technologies... but when i asked him about the notebook world i started to feel that he was a little lost.
first thing he wasnt sure on was whether or not the centrino2 line was the new smaller pynryn(sp?) chipset. i later read that it is and this is part of intels centrino2 branding - reduce power consumption and keep the chips powerful.
ok, you get a pass on that. that is sort of an oddball question and i cant expect you to know everything.
then i asked him about graphics processors. the wheels fall off here:
me: what sort of graphics chip would you recommend
him: well the ati radeon HD 4870 is the same as an nvidia 260 so go with that
me: well were talking about mobile... does ati make that chip for mobile market?
him: umm, no. go with nvidia for notebooks
so i asked him, what is the main difference between the 9600-9800 line of products
he told me there was no difference.
the main problem is that here in am in the store without the internet and i want real answers from this guy.
then it came to the games i would play, and i mention the basics like spore, COD4, starcraft2 etc.
i also mention crysis.
so he tells me that crysis requires more than a desktop 8800 card and that nothing will run it. period.
"but wait" i interject, "i was at CES 2006 when micosoft officially showed off vista with directx10 and just 8800 cards running the game"
he went on to tell me that the 8800 will run it on 1024x768 but only on the LOWEST settings.
what an idiot.
should i go back and show him the benchmarks for the notebook i am buying? the one that is of course ONLY AT BEST BUY so i have to buy it from them and deal with even more retarded (sorry, specially abled) people than him?
the ones that say that crysis runs just FINE on medium-high with some nice settings?
this is the same guy that told me that he has THREE nvidia 280 cards running TRIPLE SLI and he cant get crysis to look good with very high settings and 2xAA... i asked him if he knew that the update for crysis would have to have triple SLI and he just sort of stumbled for a second and said "uh, well hell yea. stupid crysis people" and i asked him "you mean crytek?"
yes that is right. according to him the ati 4870 is just as good as the nvidia geforce 260 and he also has $1500 of video card in his rig.
he must also have one fuck of an electric bill too.... i guess that he also has a huge surround sound system to drown out the sound of the jet engine that his machine puts out.
of course he probably doesnt even own a pc, only an xbox 360. likely it isnt hooked up to an HD set either considering what a shitty job he did of selling ME ANYTHING.
where do they find these fucktards? do they really think that people will NOT go home and check the internet?
do they even understand what they are selling? i work on comission myself and if i dont know my product i lose sales.
so anyhow he lost me. here i am in this stupid situation where i am way over my head chosing technology with nowhere to go aside from here.
i just cant believe it. why is it when i call over to the philippines for tech support on my netgear router the poor guy getting paid like.... $5 a day knows his shit, but these people in america cant get a fucking clue?
and bestbuy wonders why they are losing money? because newegg isnt actually insulting. it isnt going to lie to them and make them feel like an asshole when the go home and plug their new shit in and find out that "surprise surprise, minumum wage dude knows nothing!"
so yeah... whatever. retarded monkeys.
they should put internet terminals in these stores JUST For people to look up what they want to buy. guess though they would somehow catch their own employees jacking it to porn like, every day instead of using it to research people's questions....
thats all i have to say.
Las Vegas Youtube page with lots of useless videos:
http://www.youtube.com/vegassteven
http://www.youtube.com/vegassteven
vegas-steven on
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Most people don't. Want to know how bad it is nowadays? I've gotten several compliments on my crew being more knowledgeable than sales staff at big box electronics stores. And I work at Walmart.:P
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
The salesdrone came over and started trying to sell us on the one that cost two hundred dollars more, of course. You know what his best line was? "Well, that's a Sempron, so it doesn't support 64-bit. The next version of Microsoft Office is going to be 64-bit only. It won't run on that computer, seriously."
At that point I started laughing in his face.
(Oh, and the other real punchline is that it was one of the 64-bit Semprons, too.)
Bottom line: these people work on commission. Even if they did know their shit (they don't), they're going to make up whatever they think will work to sell you on more expensive hardware.
It's pretty much a given that you're going to know more about the subject then they are.
Very few staff know their shit anymore, and they mainly reside in specialty shops/chains that aren't as widespread as the huge chains.
It's gotten to the point where if you bitch about it to non tech people, they'll all reply with a sentimental "Layoff, he/she is working retail. He/She is just trying to get paid". All while thinking you're the jackass, not them.
I never shop at Radioshack, I just find myself wandering in there on a mall expedition every now and then. Sometimes I get pretty good entertainment.
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
At this point I find it best to just not talk to the store employees. To quote one of my college professors from a few years ago, "If you have a problem with them just put them in their place and then ask for a manager. Not the area manager the store manager." This guy worked in computers since the start of the game and would have problems with people at Best Buy thinking he didn't know anything because he was an old man. The student who asked him for advice was a female who was tired of being treated like she was a no-nothing idiot by the young punks Best Buy hires.
I've actually tried to get a job at Best Buy a few times over summer during class. They would turn me down yet none of the employees they had could ever answer any of my questions. Me: Is this cable Cat5e? BB employee: Yes it's cat5. It was an old box of cable they were trying to get rid of, it was even covered in dust. The price wasn't bad I would have bought it if I hadn't heard the supervisor tell him to just tell me it was cat5e.
I'm just glad I have a local Tigerdirect outlet store since the only Fry's in my area is a 25 minute drive one way. So during sales, price matches, or the fact that I can order something online and pick it up in store I tolerate Best Buy. Just as long as I can avoid talking to the employees until I reach the register.
They work on a special kind of commission, known as a "sell x amount of stuff or we'll fucking fire you" commission.
For the most part... the majority of people in the department do actually know their stuff. But, there's also a few who just read off the cards along with you.
I can't really speak about Best Buy in the States but up here believe it or not technical knowledge is secondary when it comes to hiring you. Yes, you're required to know the barebones basics but what they really want is someone who'll always hunt down customers in the department and make contact, doesn't blow off customers, does their best to answer customer questions & does his/her research, doesn't pressure customers (we're non-comission so it really doesn't make a difference), and is just customer savvy in general.
Of course, the managers will put a shitload of pressure on us (the sales guys) to sell service plan, service plan, service plan. That's where the store makes most of their money and that's where the managers really push you to sell. Especially in computers where the margin is incredibly slim on core products so they're always on our ass to sell service or accessories or whatever.
I've been working there for a year now and... I'm tremoundously sick of it. My very first retail job and now I understand perfectly what people mean by retail hell. BTW, this is very much a 2-way road as well. We've gotten people in the store as well who don't know shit but stick to it as stubbonerly as some bullshit salesman as well. So, yeah.
I'm not defending it by any means; just saying I know where you're coming from... working on the inside and all. I'm desperately trying to get transferred to the media department which is just games, movies, and music. At least all you do there is just organize shit and don't have to worry about selling any shitty service plan or sucking customer cock.
Yeah, they both hire idiots, but tbh, there are some diamonds in the rough.
I know the feeling. I worked at a Gateway retail store, when those still existed.
Knowing about computers was great, but it's a retail store. The primary goal is to SELL them, not know about them. And then, when selling them, you also wanted to attach as much "extra" as possible to make some profit. Warranty, training classes, printer, digital camera, mp3 player, ANYTHING you could get.
The only full year I worked was 2003...I was hired in late '02 and they closed all the stores in '04...but in '03 I had (as a part time employee) over a half million in sales. My customers loved me because I didn't bullshit and I configured & sold them exactly what they wanted/needed. I was quick and efficient, I explained things in ways customers could understand, and sold more units than anyone.
The guy who had the highest total sales lied and BS'ed his way through every sale, attached as much as possible, and his customers often came back angry when things he told them turned out to be untrue. Funny, how he always managed to be off on the days his angry customers came back to the store.
Naturally, he was praised and rewarded by management many, many times.
Naturally, I had to have meetings with the manager many, many times to discuss my poor performance.
Yeah, retail sales...the hell with that.
Fry's is at least a grade below Best Buy. Best Buy is at least a store. Fry's is a swap meet with sliding doors.
You shouldn't go to Fry's unless you already know exactly what you want. Don't rely on the staff to do anything but tell you what general area an item might be located.
This is exactly what I was thinking as I read the OP, and I do know my tech stuff.
I see it as being so outraged that you got mild sauce instead of hot sauce and no napkins with your Taco Bell that you had to go online and post about it.
I guess it's a more expensive decision but at the same time that makes it more your responsibility to know what you want, too.
And I didn't really sell anything either. I'm a shitty salesman, but I was one of two people in the entire computer department that actually knew anything about computers other than how to turn them on. They mostly kept me around to answer technical questions.
God, this is the TRUTH. I fucking hated working at best buy. The other employees were fucking brainwashed. Me and two other guys in the computer department were standing around talking one night near closing, around 10. There was NO ONE in the department, and this asshole comes over and says "Whats with the blueberry patch? Break it up." This fucking lackey was hired the same time I was, three weeks prior. I mean really man, fuck you. The management there somehow got people making minimum wage to sincerely care about making Best Buy more money.
I was also told by a manager to lie to a solider who was shipping out to Iraq THE NEXT DAY that the extended Best Buy warranty would cover sand damage to his laptop. Talk about a heartless bitch. I honestly couldn't believe what she told me, I had to ask her to repeat herself.
They push warranties so hard. 100% profit. Never, ever talk to the BB employees. They will sell you shit you don't need to make their profit margin for the day.
They're not 100% profit. I don't know the numbers, but I'm willing to guess it's below 35%. That being said, whoever told you that it was a good idea to lie to a customer is a douchebag. I can tell that you probably left your job with a bad taste in your mouth, but it's really no different than any other chain in some respects -- you will see terrible douchebag people mixed in with some who are pretty decent.
While he may have outperformed you in total profit, you actually probably made the best sales. The kind that keep customers coming back to your store and bring in new customers. "Ask for so and so when you go" sort of deals.
It's nice to be able to bring in $200,000 a year in profit but if you only stay in business 2 years, what's the point?
Meanwhile you may have only brought in $89,000 you have happy customers that will come to your store to buy things like printers, cameras, TVs, and whatever else. Also, your store will stay in business much longer.
Not lying to your customers is the absolute best thing you can possibly do in retail. My former boss made that mistake and lost 10 of his clients because he lied to push a sale, or promised something he couldn't deliver.
However, it's totally a dickish thing to start having a nerd boner conversation with a sales drone and call him on shit repeatedly if you know more than he does. If the OP were concerned about laptop performance and features and architecture, you should've done your fucking research before you got there. It comes across as obnoxious and condescending and doesn't really do anything other than piss them off. Ooohp, suddenly you have to pay a 40% tax, sorry.
I've worked in retail that requires quotas. I would flat out tell the customers if something was garbage or not. I would barely make the quota but I we had a base of mostly happy repeat customers and I moved a lot of smaller product selling it to people who came in drunk. My 2 friends would cover for me by exceeding their required non-commission sales and I in turn handled the "customer relation issues."
The same thing happened to me when I was still in banking, which I will never go back to. I had the least amount of account sales. Yet because I was honest and would tell people when I just didn't know and still manage to get their problems resolved I had a lot of people come back to me to the point that my gross intake was 4x the branch average.
You lost me at "fry's".
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
On the other hand, before I bought my blackberry, I called ATT sales to inquire about all their different plans, because at the time they had several very confusing plans for the blackberry. The woman I talked to knew nothing about the plans, I would ask about one and she would say--"Oh yeah, you'll need that"--, and then I would say, "well, what about this other one, it seems to offer internet only?". "Oh yeah, you'll need to buy that as well." It quickly became clear she didn't know shit about shit, I quickly ended the conversation and thanked her for her time. She was actually offended I didn't buy a new service plan, it was amazing. I was astounded someone in the sales dept. didn't know a damn thing about what they were selling.
i hate my job