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Radio Shack ask the "DIY Community" for Input

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by KJ4PKO, May 20, 2011.

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  1. KI4YRH

    KI4YRH Ham Member QRZ Page

    There are several RS stores in this area and no matter which one you go into the sales associates haven't got a clue what they are doing! They know nothing about electronics and have no idea what they have in their store. I went to one in particular for a section of antenna mast and was told they didn't have any. I finally figured out he didn't know what an antenna mast was. I escorted him back to his own "back room" and showed him what it was and where it was located. What a waste of good store space!
    I do wish they would get back into the 2m and 10m radio business. I have one of their old 2m HT and a 10m mobile unit that only puts out 25W, but it kicks butt on the air.
    What RS needs more than anything is employees that know what they're doing
     
  2. K1MMI

    K1MMI Ham Member QRZ Page

    Time and time again Radio Shack has come thru for me with parts. I was troubleshooting my Treadmill motor control board and the fuse blew - RS had the fuse. I needed tips for my 40 year old solder gun - RS had them. I needed a MPF-102 FET for a microphone project - RS had it. I was troubleshooting a VGA monitor and needed to jury rig 15 pin connectors so I could put a scope on the different signals - RS had the connectors. I needed a din plug - RS had it. I needed silicon grease - RS had it. It amazes me RS quite often has a part I need even though it has no where near as many parts as they did years ago. Before I go to Radio Shack I know what part(s) I need and I know the part number and know if the part is in stock before I head there - so all I need is someone at Radio Shack to ring up the sale.

    When I'm working on something I want the part now. If I can't get the part I have to put the project on hold, mail order for the part and pay $7 to $10 shipping to get $3-$5 in parts. There is an Electronic Store that is 35 miles away and I can get my $3 part and pay about $15 in gas.

    In 2011 there are very few experimenters so I don't see Radio Shack stores selling a lot of parts. For a planned project I always buy the parts mail order because they cost 25% to 50% of what Radio Shack charges and the mail order parts are of higher quality. I only go to Radio Shack 4-5 times a year so with customers like me they will go out of business.
     
  3. W7YLO

    W7YLO Ham Member QRZ Page

    I have worked for Radio Shack for 4 years now. I wish they had more Ham Radio gear and accessories. I have been a Ham Radio operator since 2003 so I understand everyone concerns. I will continue to talk the powers that be about this matter.
     
  4. KD6KXR

    KD6KXR Ham Member QRZ Page

    Radio Shack indeed

    What if Radio Shack actually knew what it takes to build and operate a "radio shack". Wouldn't that be something!
     
  5. W0BTU

    W0BTU Ham Member QRZ Page

    You have to admire Radio Shack for doing that survey. I just added my $0.02 worth. But something tells me that nothing really good will come out of it. I hope I'm wrong.
     
  6. N7SBU

    N7SBU Ham Member QRZ Page

    I would love to see Radio Shack begin to stock Ham Radios once again and not just a catalogued items.
    HF, VHF and UHF radios mobile and base stations with some accessories would be nice.
    I would love to be able to walk into a Radio Shack and look at radios.
    This would take some training so the employees would have a basic understanding of Ham equipment which would not be all
    that hard as they have in store training any way
    With the sun spot numbers getting better and as people get tired of playing on children's band and would like to really work DX this may be a way for them to get into the Amateur service.
    People walking into a Radio Shack and see a Ham radio might spark more interest and help our ranks grow.
     
  7. N0BOX

    N0BOX Ham Member QRZ Page

    Why would you expect a kid who is qualified only to work in a retail sales position to have an amateur extra license, the ability to build a car subwoofer box from scratch, enough know-how to wire a corporate phone system, the ability to set up a church public address system with wireless microphones and 200watt PA amps all in a 19" rack, the experience needed to find some obscure vacuum tube or record needle cartridge in their extended replacement parts catalog, memorize all of those messed up cell phone plans, and how to sell a 42" HDTV or some computer system with specs that change every month? Also, you should realize that a lot of these employees are only around long enough to pay for college.

    You might be angry that the kid can't help you with your ham radio gear, but then someone else will be angry about hooking up 15 audio/video devices to their TV, while the manager needs them to sell cell phones to make numbers that month. On top of that, ham radio brings in about $3 a month in sales to the store. Now RadioShack doesn't even pay commission, so none of the employees have to know anything, because there is no incentive to sell anything (unless they still offer "Spiffs", which were bonuses for signing people up for credit cards, cell phones, Extended Service Options, or DirectTV systems).

    In any case, there was too much stuff to know to be able to help everyone. When I worked there, the store I was in had 'expert' employees... that is, each of us knew a lot about one 'field' and we would pass customers to the person who knew that stuff better if that person was working that shift. I knew audio/video, computers, and phones, one of the guys was a General class ham, we had a girl who would flirt with college guys long enough to convince them to sign up for a cell phone contract or a RadioShack charge card. We all still had to know as much as we could about everything else, though, since there were at most 3 people manning a store at a time, and usually only 2.

    RadioShack, as a parts store, was only able to carry the parts, not expect all of their employees to know what every part was. A do-it-yourselfer should be able to walk into the store and find-it-themself if they know what they are doing. The stories about employees who can't use the computer to look up a part is a sign of poor training, but expecting an employee to know whether they have a specific part is too much to ask. Now that computers exist, it should be easier for an employee to tell you what you need to know if you can give them the right information to find it out and if the system is set up to give the employee the ability to do the search. Before computers (it sounds like many of the complainers here haven't visited a RadioShack since the early 80s) you shouldn't have expected an employee to be able to find anything.

    Suggestions should be that RadioShack give the employees a search utility that is easy to use and can find the parts that RadioShack intends to carry for the DIY crowd, possibly including a way for it to tell the person where in the store to look for that part. Then give the employees the training they need to use that system. You might even suggest that they put a kiosk in the store so that the DIY people can search for the items themselves.
     
  8. K1SWR

    K1SWR Ham Member QRZ Page

    Their site doesn't seem to be working, so I'll post this here.

    Every Single Time I go to Radio Shack, even if they have the component I'm looking for, I have to wait 20 minutes because their inept employees are too busy selling cell phones.

    Buying and activating a phone at a store with a great process and competent employees, like the Apple store, takes at least 10 minutes. You can't have your one or two employees tied up for that long on a single transaction.
     
  9. W0BTU

    W0BTU Ham Member QRZ Page

    I experienced an initial delay too, but the site is working OK now.

    Regardless of whether we say anything here, let's post our views there. Radio Shack is likely not going to read this thread.
     
  10. KK4AMP

    KK4AMP Ham Member QRZ Page

    Why? Because I did it when I was a kid, save for the HD TV part and the actual number of messed up cell phone plans. I even got in some bench time repairing stuff, because at a RS franchise store or dealer store, there was more opportunity for geekage to bloom. Helping the boss to put up 40' masts with VU-190 antenna + pre-amp, Channel Master 10' dishes, selling, installing, and sometimes repairing TRS-80 model I, II, III, 4, Color, Color, Tandy 1000, Tandy 2000, Tandy 1200HD computers, were all on the agenda. Component repair on audio and some radio stuff, car and marine audio installations, and more were part of my work week.

    I expect no less from the next generation.
     
  11. K3DAV

    K3DAV Ham Member QRZ Page

    I worked for Radio Shaft about 12 years ago. Back when they were still good old Radio Shack and sold radio stuff. Being a radio freak, I enjoyed my job. You had questions, I had answers. Mainly because I took the time to learn about the products, and my electronics background gave me an advantage to better understand and explain them to customers. I didn't push the highest priced, I sold them what they needed. But the company it self was horrible to work for. They didn't give a crap about us employees. All they cared about was our sales numbers.

    I remember setting up the wall of stereos, the wall of TV's, the wall of radios, scanners, CB's, ham equipment. I remember the walls full of parts for the hobbyist, audio stuff from pro mics to replacement speakers of all sizes. The back room had spools of every kind of wire and coax. For a radio freak like me, I was working in my dream store.

    That was then, this is now.

    Today, there are walls of cell phone crap and crap accessories. The stereos are cheap crap, TV's have to be ordered through the internet, parts are now in a few small drawers with verry little selection left, the sales people are idiots including the managers, you have questions, we have DUHHH I DON'T KNOW....... I don't know how they stay in business. I used to go into RS quite often for all kinds of things. Now, I haven't been in an RS store for a few years. The internet has become my radio and parts store. They need to be honest and change their name to "Crap Cell Phone and the Magic Jack Shack". An era has passed and gone forever.
     
  12. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    You guys should assume there are hams in management.And they are asking you for ammunition...The SHACK morph didnt work.

    73
    Chip W1YW
     
  13. W0BTU

    W0BTU Ham Member QRZ Page

    Take a look there at the comment by Harry Latterman K7ZOV. Wow! He hit the nail right on the head.

    If only Radio Shack will listen...
     
  14. KB3TZK

    KB3TZK Ham Member QRZ Page

    If RS had its act together, I'd go there for more than just ham stuff. It is the whole DIY crowd which is under-served. The vast majority of parts I've bought for ham projects were not specifically ham parts. They were parts that folks working on cars, audio, home automation, or HVAC systems would also use. (I'm talking about light HVAC repairs.)

    The last time I set foot in their store was to try to buy a temp-regulated soldering station. The girl at the counter told me that it was temporarily pulled off the shelves by corporate. I visited the store three weeks in a row (it is located right next to the grocery store where I get my weekly groceries) and for three weeks, I got the same answer. I gave up and they lost the sale.
     
  15. N0BOX

    N0BOX Ham Member QRZ Page

    Not everyone is 'gifted'. I was able to answer just about any question asked, too, and was certainly able to find any part we carried, but the vast majority of people who came through the door looking for employment were just average kids. They liked cell phones and money, and that's what RadioShack wanted when it came to employees. You can't expect any business to hire 18,000+ exceptionally smart people, especially when those people may not have to work to get through college or can get a much more rewarding job. I had to work to pay for college, gas, and car insurance because my parents expected that much from me, and living in Appalachia isn't the place to be for a good internship at a research institution. In the corporate stores, all repairs were sent to a repair shop and all installation services were taken care of on a contract basis with local businesses, so I didn't get to do anything of that nature.

    Maybe you should suggest that RadioShack revise its hiring practices, then.
     
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