Does anyone here dread shopping at radio shack anymore?

[HighlanderNorth]

If I had seen this thread a year ago it would have been irrelevant because I pretty much never went to Radio Shack, and hadnt been there in years. But starting in early 2012, I have needed to go there frequently. In fact, I was just there yesterday, the day before, and one day last week! But our Radio Shack generally has knowledgeable employees. I went in last Spring and asked lots of questions of an employee in his early 20's, and this guy was on the ball. The manager there is generally very knowledgeable. Occasionally I'll ask a question about a certain product and the person might not know the answer to one product spec.

But I do have a problem with the general lack of knowledge at some Lowes and Home Depot's(and general lack of employees period!) Usually I'll go into a Lowes looking for some part to something that I'm not 100% familiar with, and more often than not, there isnt an employee anywhere within 1/8 mile of where I'm standing! That actually happens more often than not. Then when I find an employee walking by, it usually turns out to be someone from another department, who is even less knowledgeable in this department than he is in his own department... More often that not its the plumbing department or the lighting or doors/flooring departments where I have a hard time finding anyone to help me find something. To be fair though, Home Depot has gotten much better, and now its Lowes that is most guilty for a lack of employee knowledge, or a lack of employees in general.

The one annoying thing about our local Radio Shack is that they are often busy, and they try to be helpful to everyone, and that means you some times must wait a while to talk to someone, so its best if you can find whatever your looking for.

 

[Norm]

I think it used to take me months to stop browsing their newest catalogue.

I once had the complete Australian set, threw the lot out during one house move.

Norm

PS. I must admit to having worked there for four or five years, that's were a lot of the older catalogues were picked up.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

The one annoying thing about our local Radio Shack is that they are often busy, and they try to be helpful to everyone, and that means you some times must wait a while to talk to someone, so its best if you can find whatever your looking for.

As someone who has worked in the customer service field, I can identify with both sides. Yes, it stinks to wait to be helped, but when you truly want to "do right" by each individual, sometimes waiting is the only way.


There is one thing I love going to RadioShack for:

Testing barrel plug diameters. It is the one sure way to verify which size plug or jack you need for a given project.

Test it at RadioShack and pay the "I-need-it-now" fee, or, test it, thank them for their time, and order direct from China.

 

[Norm]

Remember the old Valve (Tube) tester on the back wall?

Norm

 

[HighlanderNorth]

Well, it may be true that the global IQ is increasing, mainly because emerging countries are now educating their people better, and in those countries there has been significant improvement in education, grades, and therefore intelligence, but on a country by country basis I think you may well see a general decline in average intelligence. I can think of one country right off hand where that seems to ring true these days. Lets just say there are lots of Radio Shacks in that country! It cant be denied that high school drop out rates are way up, and grades in many schools are way down. In some inner cities, you will see 45-55% high school drop out rates involving millions of kids each and every year, and its only getting worse. The thing we used to talk about was getting more kids to go to college now its just getting them through high school. The stats involving gov't dependency are simply off the charts compared with where they were just 10-15-20 years ago, and thats been increasing even while the economy was in good shape! Its a simple matter of cause and effect...


Anyway, I saw someone mention Tandy, and I remember seeing that name on products in Radio Shack years ago. I thought Radio Shack was a Tandy owned company at one point.

 

[buds224]

A little off topic but,

Doesn't Japan have streets filled with all kinds of electronic vendors selling everything
from discrete components, chips,transistors,resistors,diodes,capacitors, Xfrms,coils,chokes, leds,etc.

Radio Shack used to sell some or most of these items.
Is there no demand anymore ? I find that hard to believe.......

Maybe I'll start a business and yes brick and mortar with knowledgable salespeople.
It's not like I don't have the experience.
It would be like coming home.....

Yes, there are tons of vendors in the Akihabara (Akiba) area. Fun stuff! I'm shopping at your store if you decide to open up for business.

 

[buds224]

On a positive note, they've started carrying Arduinos and accessories for them.

+1 :thumbsup:

 

[Imon]

HighlanderNorth,

There is no may be true, it is true. The average IQ is increasing in the United States.

The overriding sentiment I've been able to pick up from this thread is basically "young people don't have a clue" or to put it another way "get off my lawn"
Ok, so posters in this thread may defend themselves by saying they didn't specifically address age but it's clear that's what is meant in the middle of this nostalgia fest. I would recommend that some of you re-read TEEJ's post about the progress of technology and how information that may be important for one generation is much less relevant for another. I doubt that most of us in this thread could fashion a spear out of wood, twine, and rock and use it to hunt big game but that doesn't make us stupider than prehistoric man - our life style has changed.

As for the topic of electronics - if you are a hobbyist, or it's your profession, that's great you have the know-how. Most people aren't hobbyists or trade professionals - it's not like Radio Shack can afford to be picky with how they hire their employees. They are a nationwide franchise with thousands of stores across the country. Imagine you started a business with only a few operating store and knowledgeable staff - now increase the number of store exponentially. Kind of hard to fill all those stores with knowledgeable people isn't it? As for staff training, like I said earlier, I have had lots of retail experience in my teenage years and training with these nationwide franchises is minimal if nonexistent. Employee turnover is high, motivation is low, and wages not good enough. The next time you run into a clueless employee try to keep things in perspective and try to be less cynical about the direction of our nation's youth. Things do get better despite all the protestations the other way.

 

[HighlanderNorth]

HighlanderNorth,

There is no may be true, it is true. The average IQ is increasing in the United States.

The overriding sentiment I've been able to pick up from this thread is basically "young people don't have a clue" or to put it another way "get off my lawn"
Ok, so posters in this thread may defend themselves by saying they didn't specifically address age but it's clear that's what is meant in the middle of this nostalgia fest. I would recommend that some of you re-read TEEJ's post about the progress of technology and how information that may be important for one generation is much less relevant for another. I doubt that most of us in this thread could fashion a spear out of wood, twine, and rock and use it to hunt big game but that doesn't make us stupider than prehistoric man - our life style has changed.

As for the topic of electronics - if you are a hobbyist, or it's your profession, that's great you have the know-how. Most people aren't hobbyists or trade professionals - it's not like Radio Shack can afford to be picky with how they hire their employees. They are a nationwide franchise with thousands of stores across the country. Imagine you started a business with only a few operating store and knowledgeable staff - now increase the number of store exponentially. Kind of hard to fill all those stores with knowledgeable people isn't it? As for staff training, like I said earlier, I have had lots of retail experience in my teenage years and training with these nationwide franchises is minimal if nonexistent. Employee turnover is high, motivation is low, and wages not good enough. The next time you run into a clueless employee try to keep things in perspective and try to be less cynical about the direction of our nation's youth. Things do get better despite all the protestations the other way.

Actually, if you read my 1st post here, I have had mostly good experiences at Radio Shack with generally knowledgeable employees, and there are no new radio Shacks opening up anywhere near us. The same ones open now have been open many years, and thats true at least 20 miles radius. I agree that people learn different skills depending upon the need for those skills. We didnt learn jack about computers in school in the 80's, because computers werent yet a universally owned device, so we learned typing on IBM Selectric typewriters.

But I dont see how people are getting smarter if grades are down, dropouts are way up, and overall percentages of kids going to college is undoubtedly down. Not to mention the general lack of knowledgeable staff at most stores, regardless of what they are selling. Sure there are some very knowledgeable staff, but I just had to go to 3 stores yesterday before I could get someone who knew what a USB adapter is(the type that adapts a circular Dell keyboard plug to USB). That computer is only 6 years old, so there's no excuse for electronics store employees to have no idea what I'm talking about because these kids were supposedly better educated in computers and electronics than I was. One guy didnt understand the word "adapter" for God's sake! They should by all means know more about this stuff than I do, because not only did I not learn about computers in school, I dont work with them every day....

There is lots of propaganda out there right now about "how wonderful everything is", and "how much better everyone's lives are right now", but all the real, factual stats unfortunately prove that America isnt quickly becoming quite the utopia some would have us believe it is. I try not to believe the hype, especially if it isnt true, because to deny our problems will lead to them never being fixed. We have serious issues that need addressing if we ever are to improve them.

 

[JCD]

To be fair, I dread shopping in any brick and mortar store. Never mind the traffic, the crowds, and the inflated prices. What I really hate is having to get dressed just to go shopping for something!

 

[StarHalo]

But I dont see how people are getting smarter

The volume and availability of data in our culture is unprecedented; it's just a given that any major event that happens globally, you will be aware of it within minutes, complete with multi-source analysis, multi-source footage, statistical calculation, and viewer feedback. You are able to interpret that event through a variety of political views, and then have the option to receive information about that event through only that interpretation, to the exclusion of others. How you relate that event to other events is also available in a miasma of critical theories (which includes the option of not relating it to other events at all.) And so on. All of which was essentially impossible for most of the three-television-networks/channels 20th century.

And the adapter you're talking about is a PS/2-to-USB adapter, which you should be shopping for on Monoprice, not Radio Shack.

Your last bit is a frequent topic Underground, where it belongs..

 

[Vesper]

Honestly now, there's a lot of "get off my lawn"-ism going on here, and I'm old enough to remember the free 4xD flashlight coupons from Radio Shack in the 70's. Focuses and pastimes change. There is no epidemic of moron-ism. People's fond memories of Radio Shack are equivalent to more modern fond memories of overclocking your new Asus with the latest parts from Newegg. Also, I don't blame Radio Shack for trying to stay afloat by selling phones instead of resistors and soldering guns... To their credit though, they've been trying to somewhat maintain their DIY roots by catering to the instructibles/maker crowd.

 

[nicvri]

To be fair, I dread shopping in any brick and mortar store. Never mind the traffic, the crowds, and the inflated prices. What I really hate is having to get dressed just to go shopping for something!

Couldn't agree more!

 

[Norm]

I'm old enough to remember the free 4xD flashlight coupons from Radio Shack in the 70's.

I'm old enough to remember handing them out , don't forget you battery card.

My old Tandy Tie Clip

Norm

 

[subwoofer]

This is untrue and I don't know why people continue to spout this nonsense, it's been well known to sociologists for a long time that the average IQ of the global population is increasing - it's called the Flynn effect.

And cars are getting faster and more fuel efficient, but it doesn't mean the standard of driving has improved, if anything it has got worse.



Unfortunately for at least the last 10 years, if not more, I have found that I can no longer be advised by a customer adviser in any shop I have been into, as I always know more than than they do.

Is it an age thing, or does the high turn over of staff in shops mean they never gain the knowledge required to advise customers?

 

[AnAppleSnail]

Is it an age thing, or does the high turn over of staff in shops mean they never gain the knowledge required to advise customers?

Perhaps being an active member of a specialist forum, or having great interest (And certainly more than a minimum wage college-going kid) in the field puts you above a good slice of the population. There are so many more things to know about than there used to be. Are you able to glance at a street plan or a parking lot and tell where there are likely to be standing-height tunnels underground? I am. But I can't look at a rock face to determine the best route up.

 

[thedoc007]

But I dont see how people are getting smarter if grades are down, dropouts are way up, and overall percentages of kids going to college is undoubtedly down.


There is lots of propaganda out there right now about "how wonderful everything is", and "how much better everyone's lives are right now", but all the real, factual stats unfortunately prove that America isnt quickly becoming quite the utopia some would have us believe it is. I try not to believe the hype, especially if it isnt true, because to deny our problems will lead to them never being fixed. We have serious issues that need addressing if we ever are to improve them.

from the Wiki on educational attainment (I know, not an unimpeachable source, but I don't have the time right now to cite every article referenced):

The educational attainment of the U.S. population is similar to that of many other industrialized countries with the vast majority of the population having completed secondary education and a rising number of college graduates that outnumber high school dropouts.

In 2005, the proportion of the population having finished high school and the percentage of those having earned bachelor's degrees remained at an all-time high, while the growth in both categories has slowed down over the past two decades. The vast majority of the population, 85.2%, had finished high school and nearly a quarter, 22%, had earned a Bachelor's degree. The percentage of both college and high school graduates continued to increase since 2000.[2]​
Since 1983 the percentage of people graduating from high school has increased from 85% to 88%. The greatest increases in educational attainment were documented in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. In the 1950s and much of the 1960s high school graduates constituted about 50% of those considered adults (25 and above). For young adults aged between 25 and 29, the percentage of high school graduates was roughly 50% in 1950 versus 90% today.[2]


Since the 1980s the number of educated Americans has continued to grow, but at a slower rate. Some have attributed this to an increase in the foreign born portion of the workforce. However, the decreasing growth of the educational workforce has instead been primarily due to slowing down in educational attainment of people schooled in the United States.[125]​
​

At the very best, your statements are misleading...our educational systems definitely need a lot of work, but you make it sound like all the news is bad. Although there has been a minor decline in the percentage of people going to college since 2008, that is more related to economic hardship than to intelligence, and a couple years of data do not make a long term trend. It is quite obvious that educational attainment is very high compared to historical data.

 

[HighlanderNorth]

Honestly now, there's a lot of "get off my lawn"-ism going on here, and I'm old enough to remember the free 4xD flashlight coupons from Radio Shack in the 70's. Focuses and pastimes change. There is no epidemic of moron-ism. People's fond memories of Radio Shack are equivalent to more modern fond memories of overclocking your new Asus with the latest parts from Newegg. Also, I don't blame Radio Shack for trying to stay afloat by selling phones instead of resistors and soldering guns... To their credit though, they've been trying to somewhat maintain their DIY roots by catering to the instructibles/maker crowd.

I used to be a member of Radio Shack's battery club, and their batteries were decent quality back in the day(late 70's and 80's), and they were pretty cheap too. I remember they would give you a free battery or two every once in a while for being a battery club member. They used to have bins of batteries in the store, not just 6-10 packs of each type hung on a shelf. As someone else previously mentioned, they had LOTS of DIY geared electronic parts to choose from, so you could buy all sorts of individual electronic parts like a capacitor, a transistor, a diode, etc. They still have drawers filled with electronic stuff, like switches, buzzers, etc., but not quite the selection they used to have. These days space is limited because now you've got much more computer stuff, cell phone accessories and the like, so if 1/2 the store is filled with that stuff, unlike 25 years ago, and the stores are still the same size, then they simply dont have the space for all the stuff they used to carry.

 

[HighlanderNorth]

And cars are getting faster and more fuel efficient, but it doesn't mean the standard of driving has improved, if anything it has got worse.



Unfortunately for at least the last 10 years, if not more, I have found that I can no longer be advised by a customer adviser in any shop I have been into, as I always know more than than they do.

Is it an age thing, or does the high turn over of staff in shops mean they never gain the knowledge required to advise customers?

I think if you were to ask these question of a group of people in their 60's to 80's, the majority would tell you that the quality of customer service in general has gone downhill compared with how it was 25-50 years ago. I tend to agree. There have always been examples of poor cust service, but I think its obvious that people used to take more pride in their jobs back in the day, even if they werent paid like kings. Also, the general rules of clerk-customer etiquette have decreased to some degree. I dont think people of previous generations would have tolerated the lack of cust service at some stores that we some times see today.

However, the final store I went to to find the USB adapter was a large appliance store, and the young clerk there, who was in his early 20's, was very knowledgeable and helpful, and respectful. So there are many good clerks out there, they just arent as prevalent as they used to be. Just my opinion.

 

[arn357]

Yup I remember Canal St selling radio parts even before the 80's, also down Chamber St and City Hall area, radio alley. Used to stop by Dave's Corner for a chocolate egg cream too.

I remember in the 1980s one of the local Radio Shacks employed someone with whom I got into a discussion with about PCB design rules. And he was pretty familiar with most of the DIY parts. I actually bought a fair percentage of my parts there because often the prices weren't much higher than mail order, plus I had the part in my hands immediately. Nowadays the only time I might walk into Radio Shack is to buy something like a 6-position rotary switch, or some other part I need right away and know they still stock (I always check their website first). If this is once a year it's a lot. Still, I dread going into Radio Shack because every time without fail the staff will try to push a new cell phone on me while I'm paying for my parts. I hate aggressive sales tactics with a passion. IMO, they turn more customers off than actually sell products. I calmly have to tell them nearly every single time that I don't have a cell phone, don't need one, don't want one, and can't afford one. Same goes for any other electronic toys they may be pushing. If I actually did want any of these things, Radio Shack is the last place I would be buying them anyhow.

While we're talking about retail places going downhill, anyone remember how Canal Street in lower Manhattan was a DIYer's paradise until maybe the late 1980s? And then all of the stores selling odd surplus parts which you literally couldn't find anywhere else one by one became run of the mill electronics stores selling car radios, stereos, etc. Thank goodness for the Internet, eBay, and all the niche suppliers, or a DIYer would be out of luck.