DTLongo Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Someone posted here about RadioShack. Here's my sea story about them, a disappointment. I grew up with Radio Shack (as it was known then) and frequented one of their first stores, if not THE first store, on Washington Street in Boston as a teenager in the 1950's while I was building Heathkits and such. Then RS became taken over by first who knows whom then by Tandy. Now they're "RadioShack" (one word) and, under their current CEO at least, have lost sight of what they should be. Radio Shack USED to be a friendly place and RS still has a role in providing that cable or connector that you just have to have and can't readily find elsewhere. But watch out for their marketing. They are not competitive on anything major they sell such as home theaters, amps, DVD/VHS players, UNLESS you wait for a sale and even then they are barely competitive. And if you run afoul of their rigid marketing, tough luck. Case in point: last August I purchaesed a DVD/VHS player from them on sale at $249.00. The come-on was their credit card promotion, sign up for their card and get 10% off on that day's purchses. I needed their card like a hole in the head but I bit for the 10%. But in these days of consumer identity theft, I declined to provide my Social Security number, given that I have a very well established credit rating overall and given that the RS store manager told me providing my SSN was optional not mandatory. To the great embarrassment of their store staff, who COULD NOT reach a live human being at Citibank (RS's credit card operator), and myself, I was declined. Fortunately, there were not people waiting in line since this little opera took about 25 minutes. I subsequently joined the issue first by email with RS headquarters in Texas and then directly with their CEO, one Leonard Roberts. No joy. Roberts' minions were hidebound and arrogantly negative throughout. Excuse: "Citibank owns our credit operation and you have to proceed through them", and "We will not change our position." Baloney. As I told CEO Roberts, Citibank is trading on RADIOSHACK's good name, and it behooves RadioShack to sit on them when they screw up, not I. But no, enlightnment eluded him and his worthies. They declined on direct request to offer even a 10% or $50 or $100 store certificate for my time and trouble and significant postal (certified mail) expense in bringing this screwup to their attention. And, they thereby lost a customer friend for life. Ergo, take heed. If RadioShack has exactly the widget that you want at the moment you want it at a price you want to pay, go for it. Otherwise don't waste your time. They have sunk into craven corporate short-term bottom-linism while giving their store staffs the short end of the stick. Even while their brass, I am sure, continue to enjoy the pleasures of CEOish perks. /s/ Thomas Longo, Ocean Pines, Md Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 A few years ago I had problem of similarity with a local video rental store (not a chain). After all was said and done I mailed a letter to he and his wife (joint ownership) that stated "You may be the king of your own little mountain but don't expect there to be anyone for you to rule over"; meaning he could wind up being the "King of Nothing". He went out of business a year later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Phare Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 My gripe has to do with an individual store. The manager will not come out from behind the counter. You ask him if they have an item and it is an automatic "no". I normally find what I'm looking for despite his laziness. Another store farther away has a really nice manager who takes time out to talk to the customers and help them however he can. I have made it a practice to drive a little farther to shop there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasN00b Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 the local radioshack 5 minutes away used to have a great manager i actually wound up befriending on a casual basis. then he got transfered and this lame guy was the new manager >=( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Radio Scrap or the Rat Shack as they are known rewards managers who lick a$$ and push the discontinued or on promotion stock out the door.And some good managers are replaced by real a$$ lickers who should remain salesman at the misery wage they pay. I know this since I worked for the Rat Shack while in school,part time.And a few hard working managers were fired because of tiny mistakes and in their place came a$$ licking works who gave piss poor service. No need to say the Rat Shack will not get ONE CENT FROM ME,ever. Bad service deserves BAD publicity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hofy Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 Radio Shack, You got questions, we got blank stares. The only thing they seem to be able to do now is sell cellular phones. When I do go in to find a part for something I am working on I usually end up leaving empty handed because they no longer carry the part or by the odd chance they still do the wait to check out is 15-20 minutes because they are too busy with cell phones. Cellular Shack, You want a phone, we have a long wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 The RadioShack closet to me has always given me good service. My problem with RadioShack is that there is not much they carry I want to buy. Last thing I bought was an Extech true RMS multimeter with frequency, capacitance and temperature capabilities. Only reason I went to RadioShack was because I had a gift card. Closest store didn't have one. But they looked up stock on the computer and pointed me to a nearby store with two in stock. That was nice. Took the store that had it a while to find it. The clerk could not find one in the stock behind the counter. Took her a few minutes to find it in the back. Otherwise, everything went smoothly. Last things I bought at RadioShack before werea 10' section of antenna mast and a battery charger. RadioShack certainly cannot be considered an electronics store. It must have been 30 years ago I went into one and told the clerk I needed an NPN transistor with a breakdown voltage of at least 30 volts and a beta of 50, any transistor like that. His reply was what number? Luckily, there were several real electronics stores in the area at that time. There are still at least two. One deals in new stuff. One deals primarily in surplus. Those are the places I go. And, of course, there is the internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minn_male42 Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 radio shack is like every other business.....they no longer carry much in the way of compnents..(semi-conductors, capacitors, etc.) because the demand is way down...i work at an electronics distributor and the compnent business used to be about 25 to 30 percent of our business....today it is less than 2%....supply and demand... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.