Why do not-so-bright people own electronics stores? (1 Viewer)

[Greg_Ritchie]

Well I guess it's my own fault for going back to a local electronics store that had pissed me off in the past. I was renting a movie and this place is just down the street so I thought I would stop in and browse for a minute.

I hate to tell people how to run a business but if you piss off a customer or insult their intelligence they're gone for good.

I am in the market for a progressive scan player to replace my current RV31. This store carries panasonic and I was interested in the RP82 so I thought I'd take a look.

1. The owner asks me why I would want the 82 (which they don't stock) when they have a great number of the 62s in store. Personally I don't think I should have to explain why I want to make a purchase but I did anyway based on what I've read here.

2. He tells me it's not worth going progressive unless you buy a Denon or Pioneer Elite (Do I smell an upsell here?). I tell him this is out of my price range.

3. He asks me what kind of TV I have (Toshiba 50HDX82) and then tells me RPTVs ARE SO INHERENTLY FLAWED YOU COULD NOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT PROGRESSIVE SCAN PLAYERS ON ONE?

4. I asked him why RPTVs are so inherently flawed and he started babbling about shitty contrast levels? The phone rang and I left.

So this guy first trys to upsell me to a $1000 DVD player and then tells me my TV is so shitty I couldn't tell the difference between two progressive players? I guess I've learned that if I want to go to a store to shop I'm better off driving 25 minutes and not being hassled.

Greg

 

[Jack Briggs]

The bought-and-paid-for we shall always have among us, Greg. Ignorant salespeople just hate it when individuals do their own research and decide for themselves what they want!

 

[Corey_ Williams]

Greg, I feel your pain :-(

I've had similar experiences in some small local shops. I agree with your point of not having to justify what you came in the store to purchase (panny 82). Furthermore, he was out of line to trash your TV. I hope that you have more purchasing options in your area.

Notwithstanding the previous, I have to agree with that "dumb A#$" assertion. Most budget progressive players only doubles the lines during output. This technique is fine. It gives you a great picture. Yet, mid to high end pioneer elite & Denon player do output true progressive video. These players video output look significantly better. Furthermore, the audio in these players is better.

Oh yeah, you can find these players significantly less than $1000 on the net. Maybe you should look at 6ave.com & crazyeddie.com. I believe that both of these sites are authorized dealers.

 

[Matthew Todd]

Send him a copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People

 

[Phil A]

There are idiots in every walk of life. When I want something, and I intend to buy the RP-82 for my brother, I just go into a dealer and order it. One has to remember that they are there to sell. There are things that they make more money on, things that they make less money on, things that you can buy at their competitors and things that they have exclusives on in their area. I've seen many shops give customers quotes on expensive systems (and knock other things and then laugh when the customer leaves) and exclude things that the customer might prefer simply due to the fact that there is another dealer 20 miles away and the customer can try to price haggle vs. selling them something that the next dealer might be 100 miles away and therefore the customer is less inclined to price haggle.

 

[Eric Samonte]

One can only think of the saying....
"It takes one to know one."
Hey, idiots have to know who the idiots are so they can sucker them into buying.

 

[John-Miles]

Bleh..... thats what i ahve to say. I had someone berate me and tell me that 1) a tv was not really a HDTV unless it was widescreen. and that 2) the ONLY company that madea direct view widescreen set was RCA.

amusing how that was a few months ago and that same store now carried the Panny 34".... which is incredible cause aparently it dosetn exist.

stupid sales people are always in existence, the only real thing i cant decide is if ti is better to have a knowledgeable dealer who berates your decisions but actually knows what you are asking for, or a dealer who looks at you with the strangest look when you ask for a dvd-a player.....

6 of one half dozen of another i guess. its just too bad that there arent as many electronics stores as there are computer stores with more variety you will eventually find someone who recognizes that you know what you are talkign about and will give you a good deal cause they fear to rip you off.

hmmmm i have gone off on a rant here, but i HATE ignorant sales people... damn its your job learn about it.

(as a side note im not talkign about CC or best buy people here, i expect them to knwo nothing and only care about the immediate sale, im talkign about the people who work in a home electronics store and thats their carrear and they know nothing....)

 

[Don Munsil]

Most budget progressive players only doubles the lines during output. This technique is fine. It gives you a great picture. Yet, mid to high end pioneer elite & Denon player do output true progressive video.

A common misconception. All progressive players output true progressive video, and all of them except a very few (specifically low-end Pioneers) produce fully reconstructed film frames most of the time.
The Denon players actually do have better deinterlacers than average. The Pioneer Elites are worse than average. The Panasonic RP62 and RP82 also have better deinterlacers, and are pretty clearly in the "budget" range.
For more on this subject, you might want to read this article written by me and Brian Florian on the Secrets of Home Theater and Hi Fi web site:
Link Removed
Best,
Don

 

[Steve_Corrick]

IMHO, Just salesman's BS to try and sell you what he carries. I worked in audio-video sales (low-mid-fi) for a few years, I found it somewhat amusing the BS or straight out lies some sales people would spew out just to try and make a sale or convince you to change your mind about a selection via any means. No sale, No commission makes some sales folks pretty mercenary when all they are doing is looking out for their wallets. I guess I wasn't very good at it, BS`ing customers just for a sale.

 

[Adil M]

It's OK Steve, I'm shit at it. If you give out good information and solid rec'ds and still can't make a decent number of sales, well you just have to go home and not worry about the people being bent over, b/c they consistently come back to those who screw them over on purpose or unknowingly. In some ways it's bad to be in the "this" minority.

 

[RussKon]

as someone already mentioned, there are alot of idiots out there....including alot of people who come into shop for electronics....now i know that every person reading this forum and/or posting on here is an expert in the field of electronics .....lol....i work at an elctronics distributor that also has a retail floor....here are some of the comments that come from some of our "expert" customers..

1.."I need wire...you know...industrial wire.." I asked what guage..."Well ...you know...industrial wire..."

2..."I need a power supply...3 to 5 amps"..I asked what voltage?..."120 volts...it plugs into the wall"

3...."When are you guys going to stock some high end audio really cheap?"

i don't work on commission....i don't have a degree in electronics...and i don't know everything...but i try not to put my foot in my mouth like many of my customers....

 

[MickeS]

Russ, those question, while maybe uninformed, seem perfectly valid to me. Especially the first one, it's not the customer's job to know about gauge. Ask him what he needs it for and you figure out what he should buy.

What I don't understand is when salesmen do what Greg said - start badmouthing the equipment the customer oqn. Suck up to them instead - tell them they made good choices, that what they have would be even better if they bought what you have to sell. If you tell them what they have is crap, that tells the customer he didn't make a good decision last time... and makes the customer think "Hey, maybe this is a bad decision too". What's the point in insulting the customer?

 

[Matt Jesty]

Yes , there are idiots in this buisness, like any other.Yes, it's a shame that I work in a store with a few.On the other hand I hear them talk to people and say things that are soooo bizarre and indechiperable that I can't fathom why the customer doesn't scream " DO YOU EMPLOYEE SOMEONE HEAR WHO MAKES SENSE?!!!" I don't understand why someone would buy from them (fortunately there are more examples of good salespeople than bad where I work). However, most sentient people should be able to determine the relative knowledge, intelegence, and sincerity of another person in a prolonged face-to-face encounter.....but many ,unfortunately , come in with the ingrained belief that all salespeople are out for the short con, and are too stupid or self concerned to actually be of any help.......
I HAD A CUSTOMER COME IN TODAY who had purchased a small mini-monitor set from a well known company based on advice he had received on-line.While I have heard these speakers before nicely set-up in a friends bedroom, and had liked them well enough (I don't carry this line), I tried "delicately " to explain to the customer that they had a nominal efficiancy of 4 ohms and could ,besides, be a difficult load to drive ,so he may want to re-think his recent purchase of the strde885 (which, while I carry, would not reccommend).He rolled his eyes at me and said that I didn't need to be concerned he had received all the advice he needed. A customer who owns the same brand of speakers as this gentleman, was returning another set of speakers from a week long in-home trial and he stated that indeed they sony rcvr was inadequate for the task.Alas , to no avail...The customer with the mini-monitors then asked if our installation crew could install his system and I started to price the instalation ...as I was doing so ,I found that he wanted his mini-monitors to be hung from the wall yet did not want any bracket to be drilled into the cabinet, a reasonable request considering both the weight and lack of sufficiant room on the back of the cabinet (due to port placement).So, I asked him if he had found any clamping brackets that swivelled enough for corner mounting that would be small enough yet, support the weight. He said "I don't know, don't you have something?".....I found a set that might work but well see how good all the advice he received previously will translate to his music, in his particular room, with his particular speaker placement.....I'm sorry I'm such an idiot....

 

[John-Miles]

See thats the difference Matt, your customer obviously went in assuming he was going to be conned, and so he decided to trust implicitly what he ehard online. there is not much you can do in that situation. But i think the general ranting in this thread is more refering to the real IDIOTS, i mean come on like with my experience, can you really imagine a TV salesman telling a customer that RCA makes the ONLY widescreen direct view. its that kind of idiocy that we are complaing about. Hell that salesman look me straight in the face and said no im sure you are wrong when i said i had SEEN the toshiba panny and sony models in other stores. he told me i had obviously mistaken widescreen and non widescreen.

 

[Matt Jesty]

Well, I don't know the state of affairs in Canada, but down here the only retailers (in the exclusive A/V buisness) who carry rca are BB and CC and their employee turnover is well documented....If they don't pay their salespeople decently then they are unlikely to attract (or keep) decent salespeople. I work in a store where the highest earning commisioned salesperson will out earn the lowest paid commisioned salesperson by a factor of 3. The largest reasons for that differance in income is knowledge, passion, and the willingness to build longterm satisfying relationships with clients..... I seek these qualities out in other salesmen in other fields but fail to understand the reason that people don't approach important buying situations in the same fashion...
I am an AUDIO/VIDEO salesperson , A/V comes first and salesperson second...if you feel that the other guy is a salesperson first , find another....