Why are local computer stores full of idiot employees!?!?!?

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Theres something i dont understand. If you dont like computers, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WORKING IN A COMPUTER SHOP?! I can see people at bestbuy not knowing anything, but they sell alot of different stuff, CD's, stereo's, tv's, hell, my local bestbuy even sells washers and dryers! But if your working in a store that just sells computer stuff, you would think the majority of the people there would know alot about computers.

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Also, they (stores) have gaming lineups.. They boast Nice CPUs, 2GB RAM, Nice high model GFX cards, etc etc etc.. But what the customer doesnt know, is that they get crap quality RAM from dodgy manufatcurers, unsofisticated MoBo's and weird branded GFX cards..

Im not saying all stores do this, but i know of a few that do.. And the customer pays top dollar to get, what they think, are high end goods...

I think people should educate themselves before buying.. Lots of people dont do this..
 
When a store owner weighs the marginal benefit of a com.sci graduate vs. a dumbass with sales experience and good social skills - the dumbass wins.

Because he can lie with these and those features of that and this to the general public, AND, do it with CONFIDENCE. Hence - sell more.

Guys like you and me are a rare customer at those places
 
Also, they (stores) have gaming lineups.. They boast Nice CPUs, 2GB RAM, Nice high model GFX cards, etc etc etc.. But what the customer doesnt know, is that they get crap quality RAM from dodgy manufatcurers, unsofisticated MoBo's and weird branded GFX cards...
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Don't forget the PSU. Most stores cheap out on the PSU and that is what makes components fail. Insufficient/inconsistant power.
 
They prolly think they are helping the graduates by not hiring them. The argument would be: "they don't deserve a $h!tty job like this, they deserve better". :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
I am trying to source the E4300 cpu locally and every shop I call has never heard of it. These are techno-dork computer shops and they keep insisting that a 4300 HAS to be an AMD number...
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I don't know what kind of shops you're calling but here we have 2 types of shops: shops for the masses and shops for experts.

In the first type that sutuation occurs a lot. Workers there just care about what they have to sell, or what really might sell a lot, and their target buyer are the common people that do not have much expertize and just want to buy a PC or a simple component they heard or need, like a wireless ADSL router or a printer. Why care about an upcoming new CPU if they still have 10x 830 in stock to sell?

The second type are the ones that usually sell expensive material or brand new high performance components to the minority that understands PC architecture in detail. These are the ones that are up-to-date and to the E4300 they answer you that "that will be a good CPU but you have now a 6400 that will cost just about extra $20 and is a little better, and so why wait?..." ;-)
 
Listen to this story (personal experience):

In 2004 (i didnt know jack about hardware at the time) i saved up to buy a gaming rig.. I went to a pc store and told the salesman which components i would like, and my budget..

Heres the rig i proposed:
- AMD 64 3000+ Socket 939
- Asus MoBo (any 939)
- Nvidia GeForce FX 5700 256MB
-512 MB RAM

The salesman then said that Socket 939 asus boards wasnt so good, 754 was better.. I didnt know any better, so i agreed.. Then he said that an Ati radeon 9550 (super graphic) would be better than the 5700.. Then they sold me a case with a puny 300W PSU.. 2 months later, the card failed coz of power issues.. When i returned the card, they first said i can choose a new card, and then just pay the difference (if it was more expensive).. The manager then insisted that a Geforce 5500 LE was better than the FX 5700 because it was newer.. I smelled the rat tho, i did a bit of homework after i was robbed the first time..

After a huge hassle, they eventually gave me a 9600XT as a replacement.. (no charge)
 
Remember that story about a guy who applied to become a cop (that was in the U.S.) and got turned down coz his I.Q. was too high?

Same thing.
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The same thing happened to me when I went back to college. I applied for a job at the local 'Electronic stores' to help with the bills and was told I was to qualified based on my previous college and work experience.
Granted I don't know everything about computers or electronics, so I got worried about even shopping there if I was overqualified.
 
Theres something i dont understand. If you dont like computers, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WORKING IN A COMPUTER SHOP?! I can see people at bestbuy not knowing anything, but they sell alot of different stuff, CD's, stereo's, tv's, hell, my local bestbuy even sells washers and dryers! But if your working in a store that just sells computer stuff, you would think the majority of the people there would know alot about computers.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '' ' ' ' ' '' ' '
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Some of us take to computers like a duck to water you may go to your local computer store assuming they are knowledgeable but in truth you may already know 100 times or more of what they do, now some of them are quite learned and seem to want to learn more, but they are rare.

Those that really do know don't mind sharing knowledge, usually, but to the rest theres a fear you'll find out they don't really know squat and if you keep asking questions you'll find that out, and from that point they're intimidated by you every time you enter the store, its just a job to them but still a job they want to keep, they could just as well be working in an auto parts store.

They're not interesting in learning just doing what the store owner expects and keeping him sales pleased, and its easier to shovel B/S if you don't know any better.
 
There's a store in the UK called Maplin, They really are the most fool-ass computer shop employees you ever met. Not only do they lack all the fundamental knowledge to even be near a computer, their prices are rediculous too £100 ($190) for an 80GB IDE drive.
 
Listen to this story (personal experience):

In 2004 (i didnt know jack about hardware at the time) i saved up to buy a gaming rig.. I went to a pc store and told the salesman which components i would like, and my budget..

Heres the rig i proposed:
- AMD 64 3000+ Socket 939
- Asus MoBo (any 939)
- Nvidia GeForce FX 5700 256MB
-512 MB RAM

The salesman then said that Socket 939 asus boards wasnt so good, 754 was better.. I didnt know any better, so i agreed.. Then he said that an Ati radeon 9550 (super graphic) would be better than the 5700.. Then they sold me a case with a puny 300W PSU.. 2 months later, the card failed coz of power issues.. When i returned the card, they first said i can choose a new card, and then just pay the difference (if it was more expensive).. The manager then insisted that a Geforce 5500 LE was better than the FX 5700 because it was newer.. I smelled the rat tho, i did a bit of homework after i was robbed the first time..

After a huge hassle, they eventually gave me a 9600XT as a replacement.. (no charge)
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You can't really blame the store for your lack of knowledge, they sell what works for them and rarely do they have problems with the product lines they carry, thats why they carry them.

They probably classed you as installing the thing wrong in the first place, they are after rock solid Timex Watch style machines, most of them don't even know what it takes to put together a high end gaming rig, because its not something common to their store.

You learned your first lessons the hard way, like most of us did, the only thing I buy from the most knowledgeable walk in computer store where I live is Artic Silver 5, I still haven't figured out why or how it got in their sales lineup, they don't use it themselves.
 
I have a software engineering degree and I applied to PC world twice and was rejected both times. Overqualified I guess...
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I do too, and I applied to a few tech stores (Currys, Maplin etc.) for temp work, and got rejected. I came to the same conclusion that the managers think that either:

a) Your overqualified and they expect you to leave soon after starting

b) Your overqualified and your going to be after their jobs in 6 months time

What can you do? :roll:
 
Yep, i agree.. Thats why i said in a previous post that people should do their research before they buy so that they dont fall into the same trap.

And believe me, ive heard of some serious "con" jobs with regards to pc component retailers.
 
Seen in the backroom of COMPWORLD:Joe high 5's Bob at his sale of 1 'new' 965 pressler pata 6700 gpu KILLER computer. Secretly both Bob and Joe envies the buyer, waiting for their meaningless raise so they too can go out and spend 1000 dollars for their very own pressler
 
Theres a local computer chain store called Canada Computers, and there always out of stock :evil:, but they are cheaper then most computer store in Canada. Asus P5B Deluxe, P5B-E, Gigabyte DQ6 all sold out at 6 Different stores!!!
 
I went to Compusa with a printout from the web site showing they had the part in stock at that store and the clerk searched and searched and told me he could not find the part, so I ended up going home empty handed.
 
logainofhades wrote:
... Many of these business that sell pc's prey on those types all the time. I once heard a guy at best buy say a celeron would perform just as well and costed a whole lot less than a pentium 4 and did not even show them the athlon systems. I waited for the guy to go away and told the poor misinformed person that I would not buy it and showed them what to buy that performed much better and was similar in price to that celeron system. Needless to say they took my suggestion instead.
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I was at Best Buy once looking for blank cds, when I heard the sales guy telling this woman that the DVD-Rs were much better then the DVD+Rs and that most places don't even sell players/writers that accept DVD+R discs. (At the time DVD-R format was less advanced then +R not to mention more expensive).

Another time I was strolling through the computer section of Best Buy while there buying dvds, and heard this elderly couple talking to the sales guy about buying more memory because their computer became slow last night after getting on the internet. It had never been slow before until the night before, but it was now so they needed memory. The guy was trying to sell them the the most expensive sticks they had of course, and when he walked away, I politely told them that it was far more likely they had gotten a virus or some sort of spyware, and that they didn't need memory. I told them I worked on computers, and I would take a look for free. Low and behold that was the problem. I cleaned it out and I made the $$ not Best Buy. Yet sadly, I applied there while inbetween jobs and was denied, so I feel no remorse about taking customers from them.

I work on computers as a side job, and have found that 95% of all problems people have are viruses and spyware, mostly because the computer they bought 4 years ago came with a 90-day trial of virus software and when the expire notice popped up asking for $$ they just clicked 'never remind me' and ignored it, until far far too late.

I also enjoy logging on as Administrator, renaming the account, changing the password, and deleteing all other accounts then logging out.

To be fair though, I have worked in retail, and it gets old really quick. People complaining to you about high prices is not cute, its not funny, and its not original. Nor is when people get pissed off because someone else didn't order enough of XX product, or the warehouse didn't send the order at all, and even though you know there aren't any, they want you to look in the back. Guess what, they go out of sight, stand there, then come back out and say nope, we're out. It only takes a few bad people to deaden a retail worker to where they don't care at all.
 
one of each of us should avow to get a best buy job this year and oc all the floor pc's as much as possible.install cpuz and bring the screen shots in here. :twisted:

first one to smoke a new pc looses. :twisted:
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Management running around...."why the hell can't the A/C cool this place down....and why are the lights dimming?" 😀 😀
 
verndewd


I was refering to the floor computers at best buy, i would never mess with the accounts of my customers...

All they do is reload it to default anyway. I just like seeing how long it takes them.
 
verndewd


I was refering to the floor computers at best buy, i would never mess with the accounts of my customers...

All they do is reload it to default anyway. I just like seeing how long it takes them.
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oh well,in that case,,,,,,,,its not so bad;if the dumb bastards want to work in tech,,,let em work for it.nothing wrong with giving them a pop quiz. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: almost as good as a wedgie but only as satisfying if you get to watch how they react :wink:Give em' a wedgie, and mess up the comps. :wink: Double pain in the ass. :lol:
 
when i want to watch people, i just make a passworded .zip file with the name of '(insert popular female) nude xxx pics' and watch guys try and guess the password. but that was back when i didnt have a job and had waaay too much free time.
 
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