PS Nystrom
Second Unit
- Joined
- Jan 27, 1999
- Messages
- 444
Not that anyone needs me to convince them that the sales reps at Best Buy and Circuit City are by and large fools, but here are my stories anyway:
First, as the resident 'computer guy' where I work I was asked to escort our secretary through the painful process of going to Circuit City to purchase a computer. All went quite smoothly save for the printer. I'd always thought printers came with cables to connect to the computer, but lately I've noticed that none of them seem to any more. So when the youngster asked if we wanted a cable I said sure with a fair amount of confidence he wasn't lying. Then he asked if I wanted ink. I asked him point blank, "The printer doesn't come with any ink?" He said, "No, printers don't come with ink anymore." So he hooked us up with the proper carts (not cheap as I'm sure you all know) and we were off. Cut to setting up the computer and of course the printer comes with ink! Bastard.
Second, I bought a Samsung HDTV decoder this week. It's the SIR-T150 that only decodes OTA signals. During my research I made the mistake of asking a Best Buy rep about the unit and she said it was basically worthless. "If you want true HD you'll need a satellite dish." "Huh? Why?" I ask. "Because if you don't it'll be rebroadcast from the East coast and the quality won't be as good - it won't be true HDTV." If I had been drinking milk, I would have snorted it out my nose from spasmic laughter. I asked, "What about OTA HD?" The rep told me there was no OTA HD. I said, "So you're saying no one in the LA area can receive HDTV over the air?" First she said no, then I asked, "So what is this rebroadcasting from the East coast stuff you told me about? You said it wasn't as good as satellite, so I assumed you meant it was over the air." She came back with something along the lines of "Yeah, because everything is made and broadcast from the East coast." I said, "What about Leno, that's shot in LA?" Her reply was - wait for it - "Leno isn't in HD." After that the conversation just confused me even more. OK, that's not worded correctly; the conversation confused the rep even more as she kept leading herself into contradictory statement after contradictory statement. I tried to educate her in hopes that she would then be able to educate future customers, but I doubt I succeeded.
Well, thanks for reading,
Pieter
First, as the resident 'computer guy' where I work I was asked to escort our secretary through the painful process of going to Circuit City to purchase a computer. All went quite smoothly save for the printer. I'd always thought printers came with cables to connect to the computer, but lately I've noticed that none of them seem to any more. So when the youngster asked if we wanted a cable I said sure with a fair amount of confidence he wasn't lying. Then he asked if I wanted ink. I asked him point blank, "The printer doesn't come with any ink?" He said, "No, printers don't come with ink anymore." So he hooked us up with the proper carts (not cheap as I'm sure you all know) and we were off. Cut to setting up the computer and of course the printer comes with ink! Bastard.
Second, I bought a Samsung HDTV decoder this week. It's the SIR-T150 that only decodes OTA signals. During my research I made the mistake of asking a Best Buy rep about the unit and she said it was basically worthless. "If you want true HD you'll need a satellite dish." "Huh? Why?" I ask. "Because if you don't it'll be rebroadcast from the East coast and the quality won't be as good - it won't be true HDTV." If I had been drinking milk, I would have snorted it out my nose from spasmic laughter. I asked, "What about OTA HD?" The rep told me there was no OTA HD. I said, "So you're saying no one in the LA area can receive HDTV over the air?" First she said no, then I asked, "So what is this rebroadcasting from the East coast stuff you told me about? You said it wasn't as good as satellite, so I assumed you meant it was over the air." She came back with something along the lines of "Yeah, because everything is made and broadcast from the East coast." I said, "What about Leno, that's shot in LA?" Her reply was - wait for it - "Leno isn't in HD." After that the conversation just confused me even more. OK, that's not worded correctly; the conversation confused the rep even more as she kept leading herself into contradictory statement after contradictory statement. I tried to educate her in hopes that she would then be able to educate future customers, but I doubt I succeeded.
Well, thanks for reading,
Pieter
