I almost got into it with a RS salesman

[Bent]

Maybe I was a bit irritable today, but I've been aware of the local Radio Shack having a pair of Wharfedale "loud panels" (speakers that look like a picture frame) in stock for over 4 years.
Being the gentleman that I am, I thought I'd do them a favour and see how long they wanted to keep hanging on to them for. It seems that the MSRP was over 800 dollars CDN for these flat anomolies (Nothing like the snowball girl on another recent post) and that they were only an an accoustic "novelty", IMO. They (the assistant manager and a sales associate ) scoffed at my generous offer of 200 bucks and brought out a clearance special of a pair of on-wall Pioneers that had a goofy back-plate that could be used as a diffuser if you wanted to mount the speakers facing the wall (but I digress). The assistant manager (who is also a friend) asked me why I was interested in the wharfedale loud panels - I told him I was thinkin' of adding a pair of side surrounds to my theater and that the loud-panels just might work in my application. He boldly stated that my reciever (H-K AVR 525) wasn't likely up to the task of driving the loud-panels... I was letting this big me a bit, and then he asked why I would chose H-K over Yamaha for a AV reciever? (now I'm starting to reel a bit) I mentioned to him that I won't ever buy a Yamaha until I stop using Paradigm speakers (see my profile) and as I have been conditioned to believe, Paradigm and Yamaha go together like oil and water (I would have used a more colourful phrase involving two races of people from the middle East, but this is not the place). He (asst. manager) then started to ballyhoo how Paradigm has such an effective marketing dept. that it's no wonder so many people (like me) are led down the "path" to believe that there is nothing better than their loudspeakers
and life would be better if I were just a little more open minded. (I asked him how much he likes his accouti-mass system...) He then started in on how much better PSB was as a speaker manufacturer (I have always held PSB and Paradigm in the same level of esteem, terrific value right across the board).
I know I am not going to be able to conclude this post and have it make any sense, but thanks for the opportunity to vent. 8)

[Sonnie Parker]

:T for PSB speakers.

Our Radio Shack is fairly tough to deal with. I know the owner and stopped by to have him order me the Delphi XM Home Kit and thought nothing of it. He calls me a couple of days later and tells me it's in. I mosey on over to his store and he tells me the total is $93. 8O Ouch! MSRP is $69. I ask him was he serious and that I could have ordered it online for about $65 and very little shipping. He stated it cost him $69.

Bottom line is that although he was advertising as a dealer for XM he was not a Delphi dealer and he did exactly what I ask him to do.... he ordered me the unit just as if I'd ask any of you guys to order me one. lol He probably ordered it from Crutchfield. hee hee... stupid me! Anyway we settled on $69 + shipping + tax.






SONNIE

Cedar Creek Cinema

DVD Collection

BFD Comprehensive Setup Guide

[Chris D]

I've found varied experiences with Radio Shack. My local one has been fairly helpful with my small tinkering stuff for my home entertainment installations. The owner is a prior Navy communications guy, and pretty decent and competent. Good experience. Other RS I've been into have had teenagers working that have had NO competent knowledge and were quite snotty to boot. More than once I've asked if they had an item or where something was, and the standard answer was "We don't carry that". I took the time myself to look around and found the exact item I was looking for, then pointed it out to them. They were astonished, like I had parted water or something.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[Andrew Pratt]

I used to really like Rat Shack since they carried all the neat little toys you couldn't find anywhere else but now they're just another low end store selling consumer gear at inflated prices. I mean I can buy the exact same adapter at some where like canadian tire for half as much and as little as 1/4 as much if Princess auto has them.

which store was this Bent?

[Aeromos]

I have to say that I'm not impressed at all with RS. I can't remember the last time I purchased anything there. There's a lot of franchises here in Toronto and I've found that the knowledge is pretty much the same. I've yet to find one where someone works there that actually knows what they're talking about. Just like Chris, I often have to search myself to find something. One time I went in and asked if they carried an SPL meter and didn't know what I was talking about. Even when I simplified it and said that it was a sound level meter, they still had no clue what I talking about (which btw happened in 3 stores).




Aeromos
Enjoy life, it's too short to waste!!
My Collection

[George Bellefontaine]

For me RS is always a last resort. Because they work in an electronic atmosphere they think they know it all. As Andrew said, you can usually find accessories or what have you at Canadian Tire or Walmart. A good example is a battery pack from my GE cordless phone. RS wanted $24.95 while the same battery pack under another name was $12.95 at Canadian Tire.




My Homepage!

[Jsapp]

Too true

I tried to buy a computer there not too long ago.

Firts they couldn't tell me anything about the hard drive (72-5400 rpm) becuse the internet was DOWN.

Then they took 15 minutes to see if they had one.

Then when I went to buy it the dign said 729 and they rang in 802. I asked why and they said oh you only get the rebate if you buy a monitor. I went over and ripped the sign off the wall and said this clearly asy "you CAN purchase a monitorfor $150" but says nothing about it being tied to the rebate.

Then the guy looks and says oh maybe let me check the rebate code ohh I think that rebate expired last week.

At this point I'm getting ticked and say well is it or not.

The guy says I'd check but (guess what) The internet is down!
He tells me if I want to go home and find out the rebate myself on the internet he will "hold" the computer for me until I return. I should have told him to hold the computer AND his breat until I come back.

Needless to say I bought something from Staples instead.

Actually I find not only RS has lacking knowledge. Some FS guy saw me buying a Matrix DVD (and he was a very nice guy) but he says "If you really want to see what that DVD is about we have it playing in surround sound in the back on a BOSE system . I said that is OK I have a Rotel Paradigm system at home he was like OH is that good?