Beware of Radio Shack

"yak" wrote:
Heh, the ONLY things I buy at radio shack are little electronics
components (fuses, diodes, transistors, switches, etc.). That's all the
store is good for.

Yep, same here, although the selection of discrete components has vastly diminished over the last twenty
or so odd years.

Jon

Wes Groleau wrote:
But I agree about Radio Shack in general. Not a great place to buy.

They *used* to be. Back in the 80s I had a Tandy Color Computer 3 and also
bought stereo equipment from them and other computer stuff (including a PC
once). They used to make good on things, packaging or not. I have noticed
recently that they have went downhill over the years though. Such a shame.
My problems were that the staff weren't as well informed about their
products as the staff they used to have in the 80s.

That is not legal for them to ask for SS#! I never was asked for my SS# when
making purchases and if I was, I'd just say "No, that's not legal and I know
it. You just lost a customer!" and I would leave. I have been asked things
like my phone # or even bank account # (at my bank) but I write those down,
for them letting them know I don't say things like that for the public to
hear! With things like Identity Theft going on, you can't be too careful.

Gnarlodious wrote:
I bought a small item at Radio Shack several months ago, and the
clerk asked the man in front of me for his social security number. He
began reciting it in public but I interrupted him, telling him she
didn't need his SS# and he should never publicly announce it. A loud
argument ensued with the clerk bringing out the manager. The manager
assured me it was official RS policy to take SS# during a checkout,
even for cash. He also told me I had no right to tell customers not
to publicly announce their SS# while in line. The argument escalated
and the manager called the police.

I got out of there real quick.

I then wrote a series of emails to Radio Shack corporate management
complaining about this "Official Policy" and the treatment this
manager had given me. The Customer Relations executive apologized and
promised to clean up the mess. I went back to the store 3 months
later and that manager was gone and the policy had been changed.

The point is, if you have a gripe get active! Radio Shack was
responsive in my case and they certainly can be in your case too.

Fuzzie Dice wrote:

Wes Groleau wrote:
But I agree about Radio Shack in general. Not a great place to buy.

They *used* to be. Back in the 80s I had a Tandy Color Computer 3 and also

!?! Back in the 80's, I bought TRS-80 model I
I also bought the schematics and dumped it
as soon as I discovered how incompetent the designers were.

Back in the 1980s was also the time when I asked for
a BNC connector, and the guy pointed at a wall that
I had already been looking at for a while. After
a little discussion, he finally pulled something
else off the hook, handed it to me, and said
"THIS is a CB connector!"

CoCo was later--and I have no clue whether it was
any good, because by then I was thoroughly prejudiced
against RS.

--
Wes Groleau

Measure with a micrometer, mark with chalk, and cut with an axe.

Jon Danniken wrote:
I used to get a kick out of telling them my name, "Jon", and then
when they asked for the last name I would say, "Doe". Most of the
time they would write down the last name before they figured it out.

No no, tell them "You spelled my last name wrong. It's D-O-H."

That'll get 'em.


--
~ Fuzzie Dice ~
Car: 1987 Pontiac 6000
Knight Dreams (Restoration of Kitt)
http://metrospectre.net/knightdreams/

Wes Groleau wrote:
!?! Back in the 80's, I bought TRS-80 model I
I also bought the schematics and dumped it
as soon as I discovered how incompetent the designers were.

My parents had a TRS-80 Model III 16K Cassette-based computer and a CGP-115
4-color plotter that used tiny pens and 4" roll paper.

Back in the 1980s was also the time when I asked for
a BNC connector, and the guy pointed at a wall that
I had already been looking at for a while. After
a little discussion, he finally pulled something
else off the hook, handed it to me, and said
"THIS is a CB connector!"

LOL! I guess I was lucky because the guys in my area were (generally) more
well informed. Except with me, I was so into the CoCo stuff, that one guy
said to another that when I walk into the store, and they can't answer a
computer question, then point the customers to ME. Gee, I don't remember
getting paid much (or anything for that matter) for my walk-in-as-I-want job
at the 'Rat Shack. But generally they were pretty cool about things.

CoCo was later--and I have no clue whether it was
any good, because by then I was thoroughly prejudiced
against RS.

It was a pretty good machine for it's time. Especially if you were a
hardware hacker and wanted to really expand on it. I also had OS-9 Level
II, C compiler, Multi-Vue, DeskMate 3, TONS of stuff, dual disk drive with
3.5" 720K and 5.25" 360K drives, hacked Multi-Pak interface, Hacked DC Modem
pak (made into a serial I/O card), tons of stuff. I gave it all up after
awhile though. By the early - mid 90s I already was migrated to the PC area.

But those days sure were a lot of fun!

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 12:39:10 -0500, Wes Groleau
wrote:

Fuzzie Dice wrote:

Wes Groleau wrote:
But I agree about Radio Shack in general. Not a great place to buy.

They *used* to be. Back in the 80s I had a Tandy Color Computer 3 and also

!?! Back in the 80's, I bought TRS-80 model I
I also bought the schematics and dumped it
as soon as I discovered how incompetent the designers were.

Back in the 1980s was also the time when I asked for
a BNC connector, and the guy pointed at a wall that
I had already been looking at for a while. After
a little discussion, he finally pulled something
else off the hook, handed it to me, and said
"THIS is a CB connector!"

CoCo was later--and I have no clue whether it was
any good, because by then I was thoroughly prejudiced
against RS.

Radio Shack started going down hill back in the early 70's when they
finally dumped all of the Archer line(British) of electronic
components.
Used to be able to get just about any Cap/Transistor/SCR or any other
electronic component there.
Hasen't been that way for nearly 3 decades.

On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 02:45:08 -0500, gothika wrote:

Radio Shack started going down hill back in the early 70's when they
finally dumped all of the Archer line(British) of electronic
components.
Used to be able to get just about any Cap/Transistor/SCR or any other
electronic component there.
Hasen't been that way for nearly 3 decades.

Seems strange that they should have depended on a UK sourced range, but we do
still have that kind of product range over here at other retailers (Maplins for
example) and the amateur constructor still lives here too.

Peter

--
Peter & Rita Forbes

Engine pages for preservation info:
http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel

Fuzzie Dice wrote:
Wes Groleau wrote:

But I agree about Radio Shack in general. Not a great place to buy.


They *used* to be. Back in the 80s I had a Tandy Color Computer 3 and also
bought stereo equipment from them and other computer stuff (including a PC
once). They used to make good on things, packaging or not. I have noticed
recently that they have went downhill over the years though. Such a shame.
My problems were that the staff weren't as well informed about their
products as the staff they used to have in the 80s.



My biggest problem with Radio Shack is that I happen to be female, so
they automatically assume that I don't know what I'm talking about. I
happen to have a degree in Sound Technology (audio engineering), and I
know more about computers and electronics than a lot of men. Yet every
time I go in there, they act like they don't know what I'm talking about
and then they try to talk me into buying something else. Recent
example: I needed an RF converter to hook an old game system up to an
old tv that wasn't cable ready. I figured I could get a simple A/B
switch type converter for a couple of bucks at Radio Shaft. WRONG! The
guy had NO IDEA what I was talking about (I'm thinking, "this guy is a
moron!), so I explained the usage, and he tried to sell me this $60
converter that has inputs for Cable TV, Satellite dish, and video games,
etc., but STILL won't hook-up to the antenna. I suppose he was too
young (he was EARLY 20's), so maybe he doesn't remember that TVs used to
have antennas or that video games ever used anything besides an A/V
connector. At any rate, he couldn't seem to figure it out, and I
couldn't find what I was looking for in the store, so I drove 30 minutes
to the local True Value Hardware Store and found exactly what I needed
for approximately $2.

In article ,
says...
On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 02:45:08 -0500, gothika wrote:

Radio Shack started going down hill back in the early 70's when they
finally dumped all of the Archer line(British) of electronic
components.
Used to be able to get just about any Cap/Transistor/SCR or any other
electronic component there.
Hasen't been that way for nearly 3 decades.

Seems strange that they should have depended on a UK sourced range, but we do
still have that kind of product range over here at other retailers (Maplins for
example) and the amateur constructor still lives here too.

Peter


There was absolutely no correlation between Archer components and any
particular country of origin, including the UK. "Archer" was just one
of countless RS store brands, like Micronta, Realistic, Optimus, etc.

-- jm

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