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

[1Tanker]

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.

I was in Best Buy a few weeks ago and overheard a sales person explain to a customer that AMD was better because their cores were linked by by a Token ring. Bwahhhaaahhhaaaa....

JackI think the salesperson was Token.

 

[Julian33]

LMAO, I can't quite believe that! :lol:

Seems to me like it was someone whose done a little bit of Computing at school and thinks they know what they're talking about. Classic!

 

[powerbaselx]

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..
(...)

Replacing old broken material for new one is also one of the favourite sports...

 

[CCODEZ]

1 place i know in the uk has a bozeyed dude, a dude with black teeth, and a dude with a lisp, and those are the ones they show you and let serve you!

8O :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: used to be you could tell from the thick rimmed glasses and pocket protector.

how very dare you... its a compass! 8O

 

[AMD_Rulz]

Most of the local computers stores in my town (I.E., PC Club) are pretty good... the guys there keep up w/ the latest news. But big box stores like CompUSA still suck donkey balls.

Omg I couldnt resist telling of my experiece with PC Club. For starters back when I was an extreme beginner I would buy computer components from them and ask their opinion Big MISTAKE ! I went in to buy a video card and all they carried was made by Gainward. I asked them if Gainward was any good, and their managers response to me was, "Gainward is the Mercedes of Video Cards." So because of his confidence I bought it and as soon as I put it into my PC all I got was pink and green pixels all over the screen. I immediately took that P.O.S back down there and the manager said, "Yeah, we had a bad batch of cards come through recently." I couldnt believe that he would sell me a card that he knew was going to be defective.

In addition, I was going to build a PC for my grandfather, and was going AMD, as I always do. They sat there and told me that if I go AMD I will be back in there in a month needing maintenance, and if I go Intel ( the more expensive route) that I wouldn't ever need to come back in for maintenance. PC Club is in my opinion lower than the Wal-Mart personell that work in the Electronics dept.

Buyers Beware of PC-Club

IDIOTS I TELL YA.

 

[Truekeeper]

Yeah, in my country most of the employes are idiots.

They don't even know what thermal grease is !

In my experience i can tell companies contracts idiot people just
to pay them less money.

In the other hand, sadly i had never got a job because of that since 4 years ago i still unemployed 🙁 despite my knowlegde.

Yeah, thats the real situation.

 

[mad_murdock]

Though there should be some limit or requirement, the fact is most computer stores pay a minimum wage. Once most people learn enough to be useful, they run off and get a job that's worth while.

Plus I'm sure it's also the 80-20 rule. 80% of the sales are to certain types of people, and those people just need to feel like you know what you're talking about. So you can talk about phase invertors, Warp Core manifolds and flux capactiers, as long as you can say it in a way that you seem really knowledgeable.

The other 20% of the people probably already know what they want and are just looking to get the best deal they can, which is why they are getting a pre-configured system over a BIY.

For mom and pop stores that aren't technically savey. hey there are bad Plumpers, electrcians and Mechanics, no reason why there shouldn't be bad Tech people

 

[nategarst]

so she helped you dump your cache?

Oh man,
She bumped my voltage and overclocked my CPU.

As long as you didn't get the BSOD.

 

[dasickninja]

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...

ARGH!!!!!!

Same reason this site is full of idiot members. Most of them are little nerd boys who think they know everything about computers so they get loser jobs at compusa where they make $7 per hour.
Starting with you, eh?

 

[CCODEZ]

fortunately most bad plumbers and electricions dont last long as a lot rely on word of mouth for there living... Computer supermarkets *lets face it, theyre supermarkets* rely on the millions they spend advertising showing a micheal jackson rip off hand floating around and handing boses of crap out, then shaking the "sales reps" hand, who cares if a few get scarred along the way.

shame... big shame..

 

[sirheck]

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...

ARGH!!!!!!

Same reason this site is full of idiot members. Most of them are little nerd boys who think they know everything about computers so they get loser jobs at compusa where they make $7 per hour.
Starting with you, eh?


that name fits her perfectly.

 

[axilon]

In the past 2 month's ive visited my local CompUSA several times.. to find games, a router, and look at some laptops before i make decisions.

During this time, i sold a 100 port switch. I saved three people from dropping 100 dollars extra on video cards/sound cards... and I sent someone to buy a laptop online 'an apple laptop' because their daughter could get a student discount. I've helped countless people only to hear them say 'Do you work here? Oh, you don't.. I guess that makes sense.. because you can actually help me'

same sad song, different day..

I win @ consumerism. Now, will someone give me the commissions i rightfully deserve.

Forgot to say I sold someone a linksys router and told him he would need to call bellsouth to help him set it up!


To make you all cry, I saw a noob walk out with a Radeon 7500... god only knows why CompUSA still carries that.. but he was all smiles about getting a good graphics card. I held my tongue on that one, some people deserve to suffer.

 

[Julian33]

To make you all cry, I saw a noob walk out with a Radeon 7500... god only knows why CompUSA still carries that.. but he was all smiles about getting a good graphics card. I held my tongue on that one, some people deserve to suffer.

Ouch 8O

I reluctantly had to use PC World to get a new graphics card last year.... I built a machine for one of my Mums friends a few years back now, and at the time it was built just as a basic machine, since all she wanted was to browse the net etc. so I got her an AXP based machine, with a Geforce 4 MX graphics card. Anyway, come this time, she'd got her son AOE3, and of course it crawled along on this machine. She'd gone and bought this graphics card from PC World - was a Radeon 9200 I think, unfortunately it was PCIe. I was landed with this a couple of days before going back to Uni, so there was no time to order better, cheaper parts online. So reluctantly, I exchanged it for an AGP Geforce 6200 at PC World and ended up getting her another 256 meg RAM stick from maplin :?

 

[diplomat696]

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

Because idiots need to work too.

Minimum wage = minimum knowledge lol

I feel the pain from everyone messaging on this thread 😛

All i can say is thank god for the internet...never have to deal with a retarded sales kid again at least face to face

 

[advcomp2019]

I like telling people about free software that does the same thing as some of the paid software. I hate it went some sales people tries to sell me the wrong hardware when I tell them the right hardware.

There is at times that I listen into some of the sales person and they are trying to says that there is no difference in DDR and DDR2. So I have to tell them wrong. Then the sales person starts walking away.

There was another time they was trying to sell SATA HD to someone. This was back when SATA first came out. So I started talking to the people that was looking at HDs, I asked if the computer had SATA or IDE. The people did not know. So I asked how old the computer was. They said that it was about 2 to 2.5 years old. I said that most likely it is IDE not SATA. The sales person said that there was no difference. Then I said there is a difference, then I left.

I have other stories, but it would take to long to type.

 

[samir_nayanajaad]

I've helped countless people only to hear them say 'Do you work here? Oh, you don't.. I guess that makes sense.. because you can actually help me'

AHHH that reminds me of a funny Best Buy story. I was in there to buy Oblivion a few days after it launched. And of course me being dumb, decided to poke about a bit to check out some big a$$ flat screens seeing how im not ever gonna get one untill i get a real job and im out of college.

So there I am just wondering about checking out this and that and seeing how overpriced stuff is and this middle age lady walks up to me. But she seems all on edge and asks me "can you help me? Please don't tell THEM I need help."

I mean she was acting like she had been kidnapped at gun point and she desperately needs someone to help her get away. So I say sure ill help her she repeatedly thanks me and finally gets to her question. It was just a simple question about printers, she didn't know if she needed a laser or inkjet.

We were just looking at the different printers and I was explaining some advantages and disadvantages of the printers and then around the corner walks a bust buy person. She looks at him then looks at me with this face. I thought she just saw the four horsemen of the apocalypse or something and says to me "Oh my God no!"

When this guy come up to us he asks if we need help, and she acts all nice and starts to explain her question. I just stop her mid sentence and say, "Actually I know I know more about this than you, so just go back to the counter and work the cash register." the guy politely says ok and was on his way.

then this lady says to me the most unusual thing. She said its good to know there are people like me in the world. Like im freaking superman or something. it was at this point I decided that it was a little too freaky for me to be around so i got my game and got the hell outta there.

from now on i don't go into best buy alone.

 

[WizardOZ]

Mistaking .... or any large chain retailer that sells computers and computer parts for a "Computer Store" is the heart of the problem. Snipped - WizardOZ

Explain this one then.

ONLY 2 weeks ago I went to a store called Incredible Connection. (widely known throughout South Africa as Incredible Corruption :twisted: ) They do only pc stuff for the record.

I just wanted to buy an AM2 mobo. I spoke to 4 different people each referring me to the other before I spoke to the manager (He does the tech support if the others are incompetant). It took him and 2 of the previous 4 half an hour (going thru every mobo in the storeroom) to tell me that they don't sell any AMD products 8O

WTF. He was like "if i had told him that it was an AMD mobo he could have saved me my 30 minutes".

Which part of "large chain retailer" was unclear?

Here in Canada and the US, we have a number of such establishments. Some, like Tandy / Radio Shack / Circuit City-The Source are still in business. Others, like Computer City are no longer with us. And then there a chains like TigerDirect, which have semi-competent staff. TigerDirect sells OEM stuff, unlike any of the others which are limited to retail-packaged product.

But even the best of these establishments are faced with two very critical concerns. First, of course, is just getting enough warm bodies available to staff the stores as "fully" as the owners / management deem necessary. Knowledge depth and skill are in a very distant second to willingness to work, especially when the second factor is raised. This would be the really low wages these establishments are willing to pay the front-line staff.

It is trite but true: usually, you do get what you pay for.

Now let us factor in a third, absolutely critical, detail. That would be the composition of the largest segment of the customer base these stores serve. The descriptor "knowledgeable enthusiast" is definitely not applicable. The correct descriptor is "average citizen". Most of whom are niether interested in, nor care about, even the gross details of what is in the computer they are about to buy. Indeed, many of them not only don't understand computers, they are frankly scared of them. You would be shocked at how many of these people call mass storage devices (hard drives) RAM or "Memory" and get very angry when you try to gently educate them about the difference.

Even the most minimal levels of knowledge on the part of the staff in such an establishment are way more than sufficient to deal with such clientel. As a further detail, you should keep in mind that many if not most of the "sales associates" in such stores are paid by a combination of really low base wage combined with commisions. Have you never wondered why so many of the staff you deal with are so insistant on ringing up any sales they may have made to you directly on a sales terminal in the "computer department"? Where they have to log-in onto the system with an ID number, instead of just sending you along to the main bank of cash registers?

And, even when I go into a computer store that I know has truly expert staff, I do my best to make what I need and am shopping for very clear up front. First, this saves them time, second it saves my time, and third, I am being courteous and respectful by not assuming they are mind-readers.

 

[plankmeister]

I think people should educate themselves before buying.. Lots of people dont do this..

Exactly... I spent 2 months researching my build. I hate it when I see a thread with a title something like "I'm a hardware n00b. Tell me what to buy!" Find out yourself! Use Google, and READ, you lazy-ass n00b! Argh!

 

[AKJ]

LOL! No, dont be like that with the noobz..
We've all been there, and i think most of us are still noobs in certain hardware categories..

 

[Dade_0182]

Which part of "large chain retailer" was unclear?

Have you never wondered why so many of the staff you deal with are so insistant on ringing up any sales they may have made to you directly on a sales terminal in the "computer department"? Where they have to log-in onto the system with an ID number, instead of just sending you along to the main bank of cash registers?

I wasn't talking about no "computer department" in no "large chain retailer" with no "main bank of cash registers". It is just a PC shop (one big computer department) where I was looking for an AM2 mobo.

There has been said they only know what they are selling(stuff on the shelves) but no details about it. I wanted ANY AM2 board, that's all. How could they not know if they stock it or not. Making me wait 30 minutes for it.

 

[plankmeister]

But there's absolutely no excuse! It doesn't matter what consumer object it is you're buying. A washing machine, a car, a PC (or parts thereof), a TV... Using the internet you can pretty much make yourself an expert in most fields. Ok... please, understand me correctly... When I say expert, I mean you can research a product, or line of products, well enough to make informed decisions on which one to buy, rather than leaving it to the salesman to decide that for you.

In my adult life, since I started having to use my own money to buy stuff, the internet has always been there, so I've never made a purchase without doing a lot of research first. The only exception to this rule is when I bought a 56k modem from PC World when I lived in England. I needed a modem, fast, so I actually went inside a PC World, picked up the most expensive internal modem they had and bought it. (Some unknown brand, big lightning bolt graphic on the box. Damn! I thought. It must be a good one!) Of course, it only lasted 6 months before it died. Lesson learned.

IMHO, if you don't research what you're buying and it turns out to be a piece of $hit... well... You made your own bed, sonny...

*EDIT* As an example, the exhaust snapped in half on my car (it's lowered... FAR too low it would seem! Damn speed-bumps! Grr!) so I took it to the workshop to get a quote... 2500 Kroner to get it replaced!!! I was like... WTF? So, I did a bit of research... Found a "do it yourself" workshop near me. Bought the parts myself, used an hour taking off the old one and putting the new one in. In the end, I spent 750 kroner to achieve the same end result. I have no experience with cars or being a mechanic, but I know how to use a spanner and read... It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience from beginning to end... If I'd paid over-the-odds for someone else to do it, all I'd have was a griping feeling that I'd been ripped off, rather than a cosy inner glow of a job well done 😛

 

[gondo]

If they don't have an AM2 board in stock they should order it for you.

 

[Dade_0182]

Vern, I'm as you stated it, a supporter of the underdog. This was an emergency fix and the C2D is a bit out of my range for this month anyway (christmas was taxing on my account).

I had lots of work to do when my Barton 2500+ went up in smoke. Can't wait for a couple of months for enough for a C2D otherwise it would have been me and my E6300 all the way.

Anyhow @gondo, they don't sell AMD products at all. When I asked for a mobo they were supposed to know that they don't sell them. Anyhow, got one at another shop for like $70. Just wish I had enough to go dual core. I'll prolly sell my 3500+ in a month or 2.

 

[Dade_0182]

The Cheapest E6300 that I could find (that was in stock at that time and relatively close was about $250. Then the mobo and ram...my budget came up a bit short. After all I wasn't saving up for it. It was emergency money.

 

[Guest]

You must live near Toronto then.