Page 4 of 28 FirstFirst ... 2345614 ... LastLast
Results 46 to 60 of 410
  1. #46
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switchesto Verizon

    Javier wrote:

    > What do people buy at The Shack these days?
    > etc.


    Well that's the whole problem with Radio Shack these days. As fads
    either end, or become mainstream (in which case every other store sells
    the same products), Radio Shack loses out.

    If you're buying new wireless service these days, the best place to buy
    it is at Costco, for a lower price, and better warranty than the
    carrier's own stores or from Radio Shack. And Costco dedicates about 75
    square feet to do high volume sales from three different carriers. Radio
    Shack has high cost leases and the expense of stocking a huge number of
    low price SKUs that few people buy.

    Radio Shack is adding wireless-only kiosks in some places, but it's too
    little too late.



    See More: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switchesto Verizon




  2. #47
    Philip J. Koenig
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switches to Verizon

    On Thu, 06 Apr 2006 08:49:48 -0700, in article <4435389b$0$70812
    [email protected]>, SMS writes...

    > If you're buying new wireless service these days, the best place to buy
    > it is at Costco, for a lower price, and better warranty than the
    > carrier's own stores or from Radio Shack. And Costco dedicates about 75
    > square feet to do high volume sales from three different carriers. Radio
    > Shack has high cost leases and the expense of stocking a huge number of
    > low price SKUs that few people buy.



    I was at Costco recently to look at cellphones/service for a
    friend who was attracted to their "replacement" warranty. (despite
    the fact that, in general, I despise that place)

    First of all, Costco rents the kiosks to a 3rd party who actually
    operates them.

    Secondly, they have (as is usually the case at Costco) an extremely
    limited collection of devices and accessories.

    Thirdly, the salespeople are on commission and pushy.

    Lastly, other than the Costco loss/damage warranty, the prices
    on phones aren't that great, in many cases higher than the
    carrier's company stores.

    I also doubt that if what you want is "great service", you will
    find it there, other than the replacement warranty, which I hear
    has (unsurprisingly) a healthy list of qualifications and limitations.

    Oh, and there is no way to call anyone there on the phone, you
    have to make a trip down there if you want to talk to anyone.

    No thanks. Personally I think I'd rather patronize Radio Shack
    than Costco for a cellphone.



    --
    * Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which *
    * differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are *
    * even incapable of forming such opinions. -- Albert Einstein *
    * *
    * To send email, remove numbers and spaces: pjkusenet64 @ ekahuna27 . com *
    * Simple answers are for simple minds. Try a new way of looking at things. *



  3. #48
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switchesto Verizon

    Philip J. Koenig wrote:

    > Secondly, they have (as is usually the case at Costco) an extremely
    > limited collection of devices and accessories.


    Yes, this is true. The handset selection is limited.

    > Thirdly, the salespeople are on commission and pushy.


    Hmm, which Costco was this. I've been to Mountain View and Sunnyvale,
    and didn't experience this.

    > Lastly, other than the Costco loss/damage warranty, the prices
    > on phones aren't that great, in many cases higher than the
    > carrier's company stores.


    The price on the V276 I bought there was $25 less than the Verizon
    store. -$25, versus $0 at the store (for a renewal under new every two).
    Plus it includes a car charger, case, and headset, all low quality, but
    similar to the Verizon after-market accessories.

    > Oh, and there is no way to call anyone there on the phone, you
    > have to make a trip down there if you want to talk to anyone.


    Not true. Call the main store number, and they'll give you the phone
    number for the wireless kiosk. I did this.



  4. #49
    Malcolm Hoar
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switches to Verizon

    In article <[email protected]>, Philip J. Koenig <See_email_@ddress_below.This_one_is.invalid> wrote:

    >No thanks. Personally I think I'd rather patronize Radio Shack
    >than Costco for a cellphone.


    My personal anecdote... Radio Shack is the *worst* place to buy
    a cellphone. As best as I can tell, Radio Shack refer every
    phone problem back to the cellphone manufacturer (even when the
    Moto phone is packaged with a Radio Shack branded manual and
    warranty statement).

    Cingular/Verizon/TMobile stores as well as most small independent
    will provide vastly better service in the event of a bad battery,
    broken antenna or other common problem, based on my albeit
    limited experience.

    Radio Shack seem to think it's acceptable to tell the customer
    to return the phone to the manufacturer for 6 weeks just to
    get a warranty replacement of a bad battery. Fortunately,
    other stores, from whom I had purchased nothing, were very
    willing to help me out in the face of Radio Shack's refusal.
    And yes, even the Shack's store manager and regional manager
    steadfastly refused to help.

    --
    |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
    | Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
    | [email protected] Gary Player. |
    | http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



  5. #50
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switchesto Verizon

    Malcolm Hoar wrote:

    > My personal anecdote... Radio Shack is the *worst* place to buy
    > a cellphone. As best as I can tell, Radio Shack refer every
    > phone problem back to the cellphone manufacturer (even when the
    > Moto phone is packaged with a Radio Shack branded manual and
    > warranty statement).


    In terms of obtaining service, Radio Shack is the worst. If you take a
    Radio Shack purchased phone to one of the carrier's stores that has
    level 2 service (where they can fix minor things like antenna
    replacement, etc.), they won't touch it. You might find a Radio Shack
    that has parts for the most popular phones, but it's unlikely.

    The carriers give Radio Shack a sweet deal on pricing, because of their
    volume, but they don't want their own stores to be servicing Radio
    Shack's phones.



  6. #51
    Malcolm Hoar
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switchesto Verizon

    In article <[email protected]>, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
    >In terms of obtaining service, Radio Shack is the worst. If you take a
    >Radio Shack purchased phone to one of the carrier's stores that has
    >level 2 service (where they can fix minor things like antenna
    >replacement, etc.), they won't touch it. You might find a Radio Shack
    >that has parts for the most popular phones, but it's unlikely.
    >
    >The carriers give Radio Shack a sweet deal on pricing, because of their
    >volume, but they don't want their own stores to be servicing Radio
    >Shack's phones.


    My experience is different. I've had no problems find non-Radio
    Shack stores that will service Radio Shack sold phones.

    I was just never able to get Radio Shack to service a Radio Shack
    sold phone. And that sucks. Sending a phone back for factory repair
    which may take 6 weeks also sucks. Therefore, don't buy a phone
    from a store that doesn't offer a loaner in such situations.
    Many do, but needless to say, Radio Shack is not one of those.


    --
    |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
    | Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
    | [email protected] Gary Player. |
    | http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



  7. #52
    Philip J. Koenig
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switches to Verizon

    On Thu, 06 Apr 2006 17:56:37 GMT, in article
    <[email protected]>, Malcolm Hoar writes...

    > In article <[email protected]>, Philip J. Koenig <See_email_@ddress_below.This_one_is.invalid> wrote:
    >
    > >No thanks. Personally I think I'd rather patronize Radio Shack
    > >than Costco for a cellphone.

    >
    > My personal anecdote... Radio Shack is the *worst* place to buy
    > a cellphone. As best as I can tell, Radio Shack refer every
    > phone problem back to the cellphone manufacturer (even when the
    > Moto phone is packaged with a Radio Shack branded manual and
    > warranty statement).



    In general, I think Radio Shack service sucks, not least
    because the caliber of their employees tends to be pretty
    low. Unfortunately, my experience with cellular retailers
    as a whole is *worse*, in general. With Radio Shack, there
    are vast differences from store-to-store. Some are actually
    pretty great, others are pretty abysmal. Unfortunately the
    abysmal side is more common - but like I said, cellular
    retailers (particularly the independents) are pretty damn
    low on the retail evolutionary scale in my experience.



    > Cingular/Verizon/TMobile stores as well as most small independent
    > will provide vastly better service in the event of a bad battery,
    > broken antenna or other common problem, based on my albeit
    > limited experience.
    >
    > Radio Shack seem to think it's acceptable to tell the customer
    > to return the phone to the manufacturer for 6 weeks just to
    > get a warranty replacement of a bad battery. Fortunately,
    > other stores, from whom I had purchased nothing, were very
    > willing to help me out in the face of Radio Shack's refusal.



    I actually purchased a (SprintPCS) phone from Radio Shack
    some years back. The experience was fine, although I must
    admit that I didn't go back to them very much for support,
    and when I really needed something, I went directly to the
    SprintPCS store. (who were glad to help me out and didn't
    care who I bought the phone from - despite the fact that,
    in general, SprintPCS service overall was sucky.)


    > And yes, even the Shack's store manager and regional manager
    > steadfastly refused to help.



    That's a shame. No surprise you got soured on them.

    These days many if not most national "tech retailers"
    seem to be pretty bad, which is why I try to do business
    with a good local company if I can. (A friend recently
    had a crappy experience trying to buy a car stereo from
    BestBuy, which led me to do some research on local dealers,
    where we found basically the same unit for the same price
    from a company whose service quality and overall attitude
    were stellar by comparison.)

    These days if I have a need to make a retail purchase of
    a relatively common computer item and for some reason need
    to patronize a national chain (ie they are closer, or have
    an item in stock, or open at an hour when other choices are
    not), I generally end up at an office-supply store like
    Office Depot or OfficeMax where at least the staff tends to
    be courteous and available and the store policies and
    atmosphere are halfway-decent.



    --
    * Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which *
    * differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are *
    * even incapable of forming such opinions. -- Albert Einstein *
    * *
    * To send email, remove numbers and spaces: pjkusenet64 @ ekahuna27 . com *
    * Simple answers are for simple minds. Try a new way of looking at things. *



  8. #53
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switches to Verizon

    [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

    In <[email protected]> on Thu, 6 Apr 2006
    22:33:09 -0700, Philip J. Koenig <See_email_@ddress_below.This_one_is.invalid>
    wrote:

    >These days if I have a need to make a retail purchase of
    >a relatively common computer item and for some reason need
    >to patronize a national chain (ie they are closer, or have
    >an item in stock, or open at an hour when other choices are
    >not), I generally end up at an office-supply store like
    >Office Depot or OfficeMax where at least the staff tends to
    >be courteous and available and the store policies and
    >atmosphere are halfway-decent.


    YMMV -- I've had some pretty dismal experiences at the big office supply
    stores in this area (East Bay, Tri-Valley), so I now tend to avoid them.

    --
    Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
    John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>



  9. #54
    Rico
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switchesto Verizon

    In article <[email protected]>, Javier <[email protected]> wrote:
    >SMS wrote:
    >> Scott wrote:
    >>
    >>> Not even close. Try again and use facts this time. Can you say
    >>> Brightpoint?

    >>
    >> Remember that much of Radio Shacks business was in contract renewal, not
    >> in new sales. And even when it was in new sales, the customer had
    >> already decided which carrier to go with, and was simply looking for the
    >> best deal, or the most convenient location at which to buy.
    >>
    >> The sales that Verizon lost are the ones where the Radio Shack sales
    >> person is able to convince the customer to change carriers away from
    >> Verizon, over to Sprint or Cingular, or the rare new wireless customer.
    >>
    >> No doubt that Verizon would have more net additions with Radio Shack
    >> than without it. But the cost of these additions was not worth acceding
    >> to Radio Shacks demands.
    >>
    >> Furthermore, as Radio Shack continues to close stores, their value as
    >> channel decreases. They're closing 480 stores this year, a little less
    >> than 10% of their company-owned stores.

    >
    >Just a random anecdotal data point.
    >
    >It seemed that when I visited the Radio Shack store nearest to my house,
    >I was the only one buying non-cellular phone products. The rest were
    >milling about the cell phone displays, asking questions about cell
    >phones, buying cellphones and calling plans, buying cellphone
    >accessories, etc.
    >
    >What do people buy at The Shack these days?


    Batterys, or at least the last time I was there that was what the bulk of
    the 'crowd' in the store was there for. Again no claim of this being an
    accurate survey of the typical client at the shack. I still use them for
    the occasional part etc especially on weekends when some of the bigger
    parts houses are closed (locally). I personally am hoping the store near me
    isn't one of the 480 that are mentioned in this thread.

    > I used to go for parts,
    >tools, browse their sometimes interesting books on electronics projects,
    >etc.
    >
    >-jav


    fundamentalism, fundamentally wrong.



  10. #55
    Rico
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switchesto Verizon

    In article <[email protected]>, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
    >Javier wrote:
    >
    >> What do people buy at The Shack these days?
    >> etc.

    >
    >Well that's the whole problem with Radio Shack these days. As fads
    >either end, or become mainstream (in which case every other store sells
    >the same products), Radio Shack loses out.
    >
    >If you're buying new wireless service these days, the best place to buy
    >it is at Costco, for a lower price, and better warranty than the
    >carrier's own stores or from Radio Shack. And Costco dedicates about 75
    >square feet to do high volume sales from three different carriers. Radio
    >Shack has high cost leases and the expense of stocking a huge number of
    >low price SKUs that few people buy.
    >
    >Radio Shack is adding wireless-only kiosks in some places, but it's too
    >little too late.


    Did you know Costco is not all over the country (US)?

    fundamentalism, fundamentally wrong.



  11. #56
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switchesto Verizon

    Rico wrote:

    > Did you know Costco is not all over the country (US)?


    Sadly, I realize this. Still, they're in most metro areas. I have also
    been to Costco in Taiwan (GSM) and Korea (CDMA). The Korea Costco's have
    the best food and drink samples, including Korean beef and kimchi, as
    well as beer (hof) and Korean rice wine (SoJu). The food sample servers
    are also very different than in the U.S..



  12. #57
    Malcolm Hoar
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switches to Verizon

    In article <[email protected]>, John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
    >YMMV -- I've had some pretty dismal experiences at the big office supply
    >stores in this area (East Bay, Tri-Valley), so I now tend to avoid them.


    Ditto for me. In recent years I've had a lot of success with
    Walmart. They carry more products than one might expect.

    Recently, I needed urgently a miniDV head cleaner. No luck
    at my local Fry's, Radio Shack and several other stores but
    Walmart had 'em on the shelf.

    --
    |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
    | Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
    | [email protected] Gary Player. |
    | http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



  13. #58
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switchesto Verizon

    Rico wrote:

    <snip>

    > I personally am hoping the store near me
    > isn't one of the 480 that are mentioned in this thread.


    Not sure where you are, but in the Bay Area they are closing six out of
    122 stores, in Hayward, Alameda, Newark, San Jose, Richmond and Marin. I
    think what helped keep the total down is that so many of their Bay Area
    stores have closed already. Near my house, we've lost four out of six
    stores in the past ten years or so. Unless Radio Shack finds a way to
    get Verizon back, the 480 stores is just the beginning.



  14. #59
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switches to Verizon

    [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

    In <[email protected]> on Fri, 07 Apr 2006 17:52:23 GMT,
    [email protected] (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:

    >In article <[email protected]>, John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>YMMV -- I've had some pretty dismal experiences at the big office supply
    >>stores in this area (East Bay, Tri-Valley), so I now tend to avoid them.

    >
    >Ditto for me. In recent years I've had a lot of success with
    >Walmart. They carry more products than one might expect.


    Yep. And Home Depot, for cabling and accessories.

    --
    Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
    John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>



  15. #60
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: Nayas Admits Errors, Promises to Be Honest Going Forward, Switches to Verizon

    [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

    In <[email protected]> on Fri, 07 Apr 2006 16:18:48
    GMT, [email protected] (Rico) wrote:

    >In article <[email protected]>, Javier <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>SMS wrote:


    >>What do people buy at The Shack these days?

    >
    >Batterys, or at least the last time I was there that was what the bulk of
    >the 'crowd' in the store was there for. Again no claim of this being an
    >accurate survey of the typical client at the shack. I still use them for
    >the occasional part etc especially on weekends when some of the bigger
    >parts houses are closed (locally). I personally am hoping the store near me
    >isn't one of the 480 that are mentioned in this thread.


    Cables, especially odd combinations (e.g., 15' male stereo mini jack to male
    RCA plugs) that aren't readily available locally someplace else. And yes, the
    occasional cellular accessory -- couple of friends got great deals on
    Bluetooth headsets in Radio Shack sales.

    --
    Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
    John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>



  • Similar Threads




  • Page 4 of 28 FirstFirst ... 2345614 ... LastLast