While I was at Sam's Club today I was approached by the Direct pizza guys! I was not in too much of a hurry so I took their punchlines. Man were they ever stupid! They were not even capable of selling birthday suits at a nudist colony!!! The woman asked me how do I get my TV programs. I told her, "OTA, FTA and HITS." With a puzzled look she asked, "Is that is DirecTV or Dish?" I replied, "No I have a BUD, a 10 foot Big Ugly Dish!" She went to the fellow coworker looking for help and I soon found out that it was her first day as a pizza lady. Well after running my info past the guy he replied, "Man you need some new equipment!" "NO I DO NOT!" was my response. He was saying how great their stuff is and that he never looses his signal in the rain like I used to with pizza because DirecTV has a lot of satellites up there. I asked him which satellite his dish was pointed at and he had no idea. He had no idea what a SD picture was but said he did not receive HD service. After telling of my sister's DirecTV problems he suggested that she update her equipment. I finally got it out of him that he just has the small pizza dish and says that the smaller the dish the better the thing works! When I told him that my sister had a new LNBF he asked, "What is a LNBF??" I even blurted feedhorn and I still did not get a capeesh from him. I get the feeling that he thinks that a transponder is something on Star Trek!!! He also explained to me how FTA is illegal and that I should not be doing it!!! However they were impressed with my little spew when I told them about some of the stuff up there! Well this is my 25 minutes of fun in a nutshell!!! I headed home with a grin on my face and thinking about what little they know about their product that they are trying to sell! Maybe I should get a job selling pizza!!! :eek:

Had just about the same exact experience at a Sams Club myself. These sales people are completely clueless technologically, which is to be expected. The one who I talked with kept telling me that DirecTV was better than Blu-Ray in terms of picture quality, and needless to say, I had to keep biting my lip. Not one of them knows what FTA actually is, and when some of them hear the term, they try to tell you that you're receiving signals illegally. I would imagine they've been told to say that whenever they hear the term 'FTA', or even whenever someone tells them they get their own satellite TV without the need for a "provider"...

Here is a thread (http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-shack/215865-delusional-pizza-pusher.html) about my Sams Pizza experience. I often go to Sams to buy pizza, but not THAT kind! I like my pizza with lots of vegetables and cheese, but without the contracts and monthly charges... :D

I had simular discussion at a Radio Shack with a cable guy one. He kept telling how great cable was and that satellites systems as we known them are out dated and besides there's nothing up anymore. I looked at him and said "do you have North Dakota hockey on the Fighting Sioux Sports Network?" He said "what's that? I said I didn't think so and walked away and left him mumbling to the sales clerk. ;)

I did not get high tech with these people either but I guess that I should of used terms like thing-a-ma-jig and do-whacky!!! I told them to check out this website to learn about FTA and DirecTV along with most any entertainment service, hardware and media. I also added that any system whether it be FTA, C band, pizza, cable or streaming can have issues that come up and need to be addressed and help can be found here. He acted like DirecTV never has or had any problems with anything!!!... :loco:

i had a run-in with direct tv too, ill never ever never never (still a bad taste in my mouth over those POS's) deal with those idiots again.... they even charged me for services never rendered (i recouped that loss with some heated discussion at dtv)... i had a thread goin in the dtv forum here which i abandoned after deciding some of the customers were as bad as the idiots selling the crummy services... havent been back on that forum since, i stick to this & the fta stuff or related topics

Some great stories , people. It is almost funny how fanatical some of these 'sellers' are over their brand of satellite tv. But that's what they're doing, selling. Selling you a contract, not service, and sometimes will say anything to get that signature. And, true, some of the customers are just as hypnotized about the 'service' they are receiving. The commercials and the print ads I get every week must cost them (and their customers) a fortune.

When we lived in town a guy would drive down the ally about every three months or so and ask me if I wanted him to tear down my BUB and get rid of it for me. I always just said no and let it go. So one time he stopped by and ask me again and and I told him if I tore it down what would I use to watch TV? He started laughing and said those things aren't any good anymore. I said they aren't......then why do I have 112 channels one receiver and 97 on another reciever. He started stutterin' around and I told him I had his license plate number and if he stopped and bothered me again I would call the police. I never seen him after that.

The thing is he wanted me to give him the dish so he could scrap it for cash. As I think back I wonder what he would said if I told him I would sell it to him.

I don't think most of the sales (and even installers these days) have had any technical training, that would be way to expensive, and wages for a trained experienced technician would be higher than they pay. I had one of the northern DSS providers install here (one I used to work part time for) a couple years ago. The fellows that came to do the install were well versed on customer relations and did their best to be friendly and accommodate our directions on where to put the dish, cables, etc. I was surprised how many times they had to call to figure out how to hook up the system though, a basic installation consisting of a dish with two LNBFs , SW44, and power inserter, even though instructions were printed on the box. Then the HDMI wouldn't work on the receiver, they said the TV was at fault... even though the other receiver worked fine on the same HDMI port. They did replace the receiver a week or so later...
I re-aimed the dish after their last visit, it was out pretty bad and had loose bolts on the bracket and switch...

They were intimidated by my dish array outside but gave me the whole schpiel about illegal FTA. I told them the dish was for receiving NASA telemetry. :) I didn't see any point in arguing with them.

C.

Radio Shack guys are told to sell cell phones...and thats about it. Sadly they have changed from what they were when I worked there (mid 90's). But thats for a whole different story :)
I guess when those folks ask me questions like that (be it cell phone, satellite, bank etc) I usually say "already have it" and go move on. Cell Phone is "I'm in a contract" :)

But I guess some people must feel real good about themselves when they talk like that to people when most either havent heard about free to air or they think its stealing because for a few years the two were synonymous with each other :rolleyes:

Salespeople sell things, they don't care what they are or how it works - well, at least good salespeople are like that. :)

just droids that all they know is "to watch TV, it's required to pay someone." I remember being in Rshack once, and the salesperson (college student) didn't even know what a TV antenna was used for. Another time, they tried to sell a a guy a 5 watt potentiometer to slow an AC motor. (I had to stop that one.)

Sadly they have changed from what they were when I worked there (mid 90's). But thats for a whole different story :)Radio Shack became irrelevant about the same time they stopped printing their catalog. They remain a fallback for many important components, but the hired help is no help.

They remain a fallback for many important components, but the hired help is no help.

Agreed, but they never have the corrrect cap, ic, or resistor needed when we call.

Yeah, I was at Ratshack a couple of months back and was surprised at how little electronics type components they carry now? Only a shadow of what was there 10 years ago and you guys are correct too that the ppl that work there know zip about zilch!

LMAO a pot to slow an AC motor... ignorance is not a virtue...frequency will vary speed on an AC motor, voltage on a DC

im a master motor tech, i would have laughed in his face

Some great stories , people. It is almost funny how fanatical some of these 'sellers' are over their brand of satellite tv. But that's what they're doing, selling. Selling you a contract, not service, and sometimes will say anything to get that signature. And, true, some of the customers are just as hypnotized about the 'service' they are receiving. The commercials and the print ads I get every week must cost them (and their customers) a fortune.
I told a friend of mine 18 months ago to go online to get the service. He called and was sold a bag of junk. Installer showed up with several "things" different from the phone sales person stated. I went online with Dish and got everything I ordered.


just droids that all they know is "to watch TV, it's required to pay someone." I remember being in Rshack once, and the salesperson (college student) didn't even know what a TV antenna was used for. Another time, they tried to sell a a guy a 5 watt potentiometer to slow an AC motor. (I had to stop that one.)
I think I would have enjoyed watching that motor start up at a distance!:eek:

Just a short story from yesterday-I was in the local wallyworld looking for one of those dvd-cleaning disks for my dvd drives, and while I was pondering the meager dvd/cd related merchandise , an older lady asks "which of these do I need to transfer pictures from my computer so I can save them". She was looking at the 'memorex' cds, cd-rws and dvds. Since those are a pet peeve of mine I sort of launched into a rant about the poor quality of memorex-anything, then I noticed a couple of spindles of Sony-branded dvd-rs, and suggested them for reliability and quality. Before I finished with that customer, another lady stops and asks me nearly the same question and how hard it would be to get the disk she used to work in other computers-had to explain all that lol. Shoppers in this country are missing real customer service.

The sad part is we have millions of educated people unemployed yet the GED morons get the jobs.

At Staples today the clerk tells a customer that they have to buy an extended warranty because the item was made in China. :rolleyes:

At Staples today the clerk tells a customer that they have to buy an extended warranty because the item was made in China. :rolleyes:

:doh::facepalm:eek:

Im a cable TV installer, and I see a big dish every now and then. I ask them about it of course and they are all surprised that there is still plenty to see on them with an FTA receiver. Tell them about news feeds, international news sources, wildfeeds, etc, and they are surprised there is still anything left to see on them.

Now if I had the room, I could of added maybe 4 more dishes anywhere from 7.5 to 10ft in diameter that they would of gave me for free. Seen three 6ft mesh dishes and just the other day came across two 5ft solid dishes with a C band feedhorn on it. One of them had its own little stand that just sits in the yard.

And I also have my eye on several primestar dishes too :)

I have a buddy who's a Radio Shack manager, so I shouldn't trash 'em, but ...
I met him 20 years ago, when he was a new manager.
Back then, my ears perked up when he actually gave a customer good advice! ;)

Anyway, one of his sales people sold five iPhones yesterday, or this week, or some recent time frame.
She didn't manage to sell any Apple Care, the only kind of extended warranty you can get on those.
His boss, the District Manager, threatened to fire her for her poor performance.
They don't make diddly on cell phone sales, and need accessory and warranty sales to make a buck.

Sounds like a bad business plan to me! :)
Maybe they should go back to selling blank CDs, DVDs, and those 5w pots! ;)

I worked for Radio Shack a few years ago and, yep if you don't push the crap warranties down peoples throats you will be let go.

Here's a "funny" for you all. I don't know if this happened at my place of employment during an actual interview or if one of the interviewers were just relaying the story. But anyway, this is how the story goes...

INTERVIEWER: A 3-phase motor operating a conveyor from point A to point B has failed. You look up the data plate for the motor and find a direct replacement for it. After you have completed the installation of the new motor, you find that the conveyor is running in the reverse direction. What do you do to correct this.

APPLICANT: (pausing to contemplate)...... "I'd turn the conveyor around the other way".


LOL!!!! Thought you'd like that one.

Gordy

At Staples today the clerk tells a customer that they have to buy an extended warranty because the item was made in China. :rolleyes:

Well, of course, Bob! We have to pay off the debt that our politicians bought from China somehow. They cannot seem to do it on their own, so we have to individually pay our creditors for our government's debt obligations. If anyone thinks I am joking, just wait around a little while and watch what happens. I am a very positive and optimistic person, so I must tell you... We are screwed, we are bankrupt, we are broke, we are going down the drain. And that is the positive side of the situation. The pessimistic side of me says that this is not the worst yet. The worst yet is that we will be taking everyone else down the same drain in tow. We shot a torpedo in the water (our politicians did anyway) and that torpedo was aimed right at us. They have sunk our own ship. Sorry for being so positive, but the negative side is so much worse.

Gordy

And when the ship goes down we will find out a forgotten skill. We are all capable of swimming. :)

And when the ship goes down we will find out a forgotten skill. We are all capable of swimming. :)

He he he! To quote Bill Cosby's "Noah"... "How long can you tread water?"

Magic, you hit on a very valid point... We must revisit past skills and become self sufficient once again, seriously.

RADAR

Radio Shack guys are told to sell cell phones...and thats about it. Sadly they have changed from what they were when I worked there (mid 90's). But thats for a whole different story :)

I went into a Radio Shack yesterday, since I was already in the mall trying to get some last minute shopping done, and the store was right there.

It is sad to see that nearly a third of the store is now devoted to cell phones and accessories for cell phones.

yep our local Rat Shack moved a couple months ago from the "mall" (which sadly is now a shell of what it was 10-15 years ago) to a strip mall. I went in the other day to get a part and in the old spot the cell phone stuff was off to the side when you walked in. Now you have to go through it when you walk in

switch any 2 wires on a 3 phase motor to reverse rotation.... on a single phase exchange the start windings usually numbered 5 & 8... if no numbers then the motor shop will insruct u on which are the start windings... in my case i use red, black for run windings

The one who I talked with kept telling me that DirecTV was better than Blu-Ray in terms of picture quality, and needless to say, I had to keep biting my lip.


LOL! Did any of that require stitches? I'm assuming you had to bite down quite hard in order not to keep from ROFL. I couldn't have contained the laughter myself. I don't know how you kept a straight face thru that. If it had been me, i guarantee you that everyone in Sam's club would know I was in the house that day, since I would likely be laughing hysterically, Maybe even literally ROFL, tho I've never actually done that in public. But of course, no one has ever said anything to me in public as funny as that before.

I must admit a smirk did form across my face, but I kept thinking about serious things, and after awhile he was just a muttering talking head.

switch any 2 wires on a 3 phase motor to reverse rotation.... on a single phase exchange the start windings usually numbered 5 & 8... if no numbers then the motor shop will insruct u on which are the start windings... in my case i use red, black for run windings


That was the correct answer... "Swap any two of the three phases". But, the comedic part was the job applicant's answer to turn the conveyor around. Yeah, we want to hire this guy!

Today, try going into Rat Shack and when they ask you if you need help, tell them you are looking for a power trench MOSFET. I think it would be amusing to record the responses we get from the RS clerks here for such a simple request. Anyone game to play along? Next time you have a few minutes to spare and passing close to RS, just drop in and ask them to see their stock of MOSFETs and post their exact words of reply here. I think it might be a fun exercise.

RADAR

That was the correct answer... "Swap any two of the three phases". But, the comedic part was the job applicant's answer to turn the conveyor around. Yeah, we want to hire this guy! RADAR
Yup! And put him in a bootleg FTA radio factory in China!:D

RT.

At Staples today the clerk tells a customer that they have to buy an extended warranty because the item was made in China. :rolleyes:

Not sure if I entirely disagree lol!

I have a buddy who's a Radio Shack manager, so I shouldn't trash 'em, but ...
I met him 20 years ago, when he was a new manager.
Back then, my ears perked up when he actually gave a customer good advice! ;)

Anyway, one of his sales people sold five iPhones yesterday, or this week, or some recent time frame.
She didn't manage to sell any Apple Care, the only kind of extended warranty you can get on those.
His boss, the District Manager, threatened to fire her for her poor performance.
They don't make diddly on cell phone sales, and need accessory and warranty sales to make a buck.

Sounds like a bad business plan to me! :)
Maybe they should go back to selling blank CDs, DVDs, and those 5w pots! ;)

Oh man, do I remember that. I worked there in the late 90s, and it was all about Sprint! Their land line long distance that is. Helping the customer find what they came in for was secondary to schlepping Sprint long distance. It was great if you sold a computer, but they didn't make any money off the computer sale. The extended warranty (which really didn't cover anything) and the overpriced accessories were the things they insisted we push. I hated that place. I also hated how they told us over and over that we "were not clerks, we were salesmen" Except, we weren't given the tolls that salesmen in competing stores were given, namely the ability to negotiate prices.

That was the correct answer... "Swap any two of the three phases". But, the comedic part was the job applicant's answer to turn the conveyor around. Yeah, we want to hire this guy!

Today, try going into Rat Shack and when they ask you if you need help, tell them you are looking for a power trench MOSFET. I think it would be amusing to record the responses we get from the RS clerks here for such a simple request. Anyone game to play along? Next time you have a few minutes to spare and passing close to RS, just drop in and ask them to see their stock of MOSFETs and post their exact words of reply here. I think it might be a fun exercise.

RADAR
Sorry for the multiple posts.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNHrZZ1tyGo