Galactically Stupid statement for BB salesman (1 Viewer)

Rob Ritch · Nov 18, 2003

I stopped in the local best buy to pick up a new toslink cable for my DVD player. I exclusively use the AR cables. As I was reaching to grab the AR cable the salesperson stopped and asked what I was connecting. I told him a DVD player. When I told him that he reached and grabbed the $80.00 monster cable and then made the most stupid statement I have ever heard in my life. "IF you want DTS you have to use the monster cable. It is the ONLY cable that is capable of DTS". When I said that was interesting since I have used all AR cables in both of my HT's and the 3 others that I have installed for friends, and they play DTS just fine. He then said "I will bet my job and the 20 years experience that I have in the audio industry on it". He continued to explain that he had been to a demonstration by Monster and there cable was the only one that worked for DTS. Needless to say, I picked up the AR cable that I originally wanted, laughed at the salesperson and left. The sad thing is that alot of people fall for this crap and end up spending alot of money needlessly

LewB · Nov 18, 2003

'We don't work on comission' Yeah, right !

You should have asked him to prove it on the spot! And as for betting his job, you should have told him that you only make bets for things of value. Sheesh

AllanN · Nov 18, 2003

I would have asked for the manager and told him that his employee blatantly lied to you to try and dupe you into buying a more expensive product. Although I'm sure the local management pressures there employees to sell the more expensive cables because the margins on cables and other similar add-on products are very high compared to components.

Jack Shappa · Nov 18, 2003

I just hope the term "galactically stupid" catches on

- Jack

Michael Reuben · Nov 18, 2003

I just hope the term "galactically stupid" catches on

I believe it's a quote from A Few Good Men.

M.

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greg jones · Nov 18, 2003

It may not be the nicest thing to do, but I love to go into places like that and play stupid when a salesperson comes up to assist me. I ask loaded questions that increasingly get more technical to prove or disprove the salesperson's merit. I love asking a question that I know the person can't answer honestly, but will more than likely make something insane up in order to answer and save face. Or better yet, ask something like, "Is this DVD player progressive scan or does it do 3:2 pulldown instead?" It's almost comical at times to hear the person's reply.

If stores like this would only take a few minutes and train these individuals to know the basics and not make crap up on the fly, then the chance of having a dissatisfied customer would drop dramatically. I would much rather have someone who knows little about the product than someone who obviously knows squat about it, but makes stuff up along the way to make it seem like he/she knows EVERYTHING!

Drew_W · Nov 18, 2003

http://www.ihatebestbuy.com/exclusive.html

That website, while full of great stories (along with bestbuysux.org), also contains that article which is almost factually true, and does explain alot. In my experience, they value the ability to sell more than they value individuals who posess alot of technical knowledge. I was in a "boutique" HT shop yesterday, and the prices there were bang on with Best Buy prices. Guess where I'll do my shopping?

(Note: I'm not picking on Best Buy to pick on Best Buy. It's the only Canadian chain I'm familiar with that exists in the US, and vice versa...I'm sure other chains do similar things).

Ted Lee · Nov 18, 2003

lmao! that is too funny.

i'm working part time (xmas help) at bb right now. some random thoughts...

i will say this. if anyone came up to me and told me that i had to use monster, i would seriously call them on it. it may be that that salesperson was not intentionally lying to you - he may have actually believed what he was telling you. yes, it's doubtful, but possible.

on my team, it does seem like some people know their stuff (one guy there *really* knows his stuff), but others are hunting and pecking for answers. one guy there knows diddily - i don't know how he got the job.

as far as training goes, i was given none. no pk (product knowledge), no demos, nada. they literally put me on the floor. however, they know i have pk, plus prior retail experience (at gg and cc) -- so i may have been the exception. it's hard to tell because the other newbies also have previous experience. so, we were all just tossed to the wolves.

they have a pc based program that they expect everyone to take. i'm not sure if it's their main source of training and pk, but it sure seems like it. admittedly, i did learn that there are almost 900,000 mirrors on a dmd chip!

i see the other side of the coin now. i see how the employees behave, i see how they view the customers and how much (or little) they care for their job. i see how young most of the employees are and how ambivalent they are.

now i'm definitely generalizing - there are some staffers who truly seem dedicated, but that is definitely not the norm.

as a part time job, and to utilize the employee discount, the job ain't bad. but, i don't think i could handle it as a full-time career.

Garrett Lundy · Nov 18, 2003

I remember when a friend of mine was working at SEARS, selling computers and televisions and such. During his last three days of work before getting a new job at the bookstore he started lying through his teeth to any potential customer and would just make stuff up that to anyone with even a small dose of common sense could see right through.

"Why yes, this SONY Vaio computer will play your VHS tapes!"

"No sir, I don't think they will ever make a RPTV larger than 48 inches" (When the 55" RPTV was sitting two spaces away)

"That TV isn't shaped different. It just looks wider than your old TV because its so big"

"If you buy (X brand of telephone) you can call Europe for half price"

"If you don't buy a (X brand) of receiver it wont work with your (X brand) DVD player."

"Yeah the BOSE 3*2*1 system may cost $999, but your ears may bleed after a few weeks if you buy a $400 HTiB."

He made more money off clueless customers than in the prior month. Not only did NO ONE complain to the manager about this, but customer ever questioned him on any of it!

He said that people were conditioned to believe people in uniforms. But even he couldn't believe when one customer bought a model-specific TV at SEARS that had to be special ordered, when the same TV was available at Wal*Mart the whole time. The Customer said he wouldn't buy a TV at Wal*Mart because "SEARS ssells higher-quality TV's" (Even though this was a mass-produced Panasonic model).

Many times I think clueless clerks were just informed by clueless customers.

Mark Murphy · Nov 19, 2003

A BB associate told me that the AR subwoofer cable I was about to buy would not perform nearly as well as the $100 Monster cable. He went on and on about how no stereo or HT set up would perform properly w/out the best Monster cables. I asked him why they carried such an inferior product (AR). He said that they needed something to compare Monster products to. What I got out of the discussion was, my old Jensen JS-1000a 100w subwoofer connected via Monster cable would outperform my new SVS 25-31PCi (tuned to 22hz) connected via AR cable.

Rob Ritch · Nov 19, 2003

This is the reason why I do not shop at BB anymore. The only reason that I even went in there was because no one else local carries the AR cables :frowning: . I usually use Tweeter now, granted they are a chain also, but at least they employ people that at least have a clue as to what they are talking about. Plus they will deal on price

Mark Murphy · Nov 19, 2003

I asked him why they carried such an inferior product (AR)

I was being extremely sarcastic when I said that too. I use AR pro cables in my HT and they work just fine. If I have a question about anything HT, stereo,etc. I always go here or AVS. I won't put my trust in a salesperson, commission or no commission. My last visit to Radio Shack for 4 ft of RG-6 was similar to BB. The salesperson said I needed the $35 Fusion coax for me to get the signal from the satellite and that the $3 RG-6 wouldn't work. Funny, I was getting the 4ft cable to replace a 12 ft one that was contributing to the rats nest behind my rack. That 12' regular RG-6 worked fine, as does the 4' RG-6 now.

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Ted Lee · Nov 19, 2003

I won't put my trust in a salesperson, commission or no commission.

i certainly won't argue that most salespeople are horrible...regardless of what they're selling. i recently posted a thread in AH about how bad (in general) i thought customer service was.

but, i will say that some sales staff are awesome. i consider myself to be one of them. even though i've only been on the floor a couple of weeks i've already received several compliments about my knowledge and attitude. i've already had customers coming back looking for me, or referring their friends to me.

i'm not defending bb, or salespeople ... i guess i'm just saying try not to be tainted. there are some good ones out there who may be helpful to you.

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Mark Murphy · Nov 19, 2003

I should have thought before I spoke, or wrote. You are right Ted. What I should have said is that I don't trust a salesperson who comes off as having an agenda. I've had only a few "bad" experiences w/salespeople, certainly not enough to go badmouthing all of them.

Ted Lee · Nov 19, 2003

I should have thought before I spoke, or wrote.

no worries mark! if everyone (including myself) thought before we wrote, this place would be a lot less interesting!

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RolandM · Nov 24, 2003

He continued to explain that he had been to a demonstration by Monster and there cable was the only one that worked for DTS.

LOL! I'm surprised he didn't also "find out" at this so-called "demonstration" other equally stuipid things. What was he going to tell you if you were buying a power bar or extension cord? "I'm sorry sir but if you actually want electricity to get to your equipment you'll have to use this MONSTER brand instead. That other kind doesn't let electricity pass through." ? :rolleyes

What a loser!

The sad part is I can see that some unknowing consumers might actually believe the guy and buy the way overpriced Monster cable.

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Neil S. Bulk · Nov 25, 2003

I'm happy with my Recoton fiber optic cable purchased at Best Buy years ago. I don't shop there anymore.

Neil

Chet_F · Dec 30, 2003

From a saleman standpoint he was galactically brilliant. Take the Blair Witch Project for example. How many millions of people fell for that one. The whole 'thing' for that movie was the aspect of seeing 'a real life story' happen on screen. Anyone with an IQ over 90 should have known it was a fictional story.

In sales you have 2 people. Those who make a great deal of sales and those who do not. Putting ethics aside(which most companies do), the salesman you witnessed is more than likely one of their better salesman. It amazes me when I think about the amount of stupid people in the world. If it wasn't for these people El Stupido salesman would not have a prayer in the world. But since there are hordes of walking sheep in the world that don't know their a$$ from a hole in the ground we have El Stupido salesman that knows damn well you can play DTS through any cable. He also knows damn well that $80 cables sold make more happy bosses than $15 cables sold.

Rant off.

ChrisHall · Jan 4, 2004

haha, the same thing happened to me. i was reaching for some AR speaker cable and the guy told me the monster cable was soo much better.

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