I HATE SALESMEN!

[theBeast]

F&%*ING COMMISSION SALESMEN!
I just had a lady call me and ask what our price on Compaqs were. I informed her that, though we are Compaq Authorized, we tend to stay away from Compaqs because they're hard for us to get (it takes us over a month to get a Deskpro in from Compaq...they value their bulk customers over us). She told me that she wanted a "good" system (so I ask myself, Why Compaq, then?). She then went on to inform me that she just came back from Future Shop, and the one the salesman told her she needed had a "space saver" (LCD) monitor, and was about $4000!!!
YIKES!
I told her that LCD monitors were EXTREMELY expensive this day and age, and are bound to come down in price in the not-so-distant future. Until then, a 17" monitor would be fine for a home user...which would end up saving her $1300 right off the top.
She told me that she wanted a "good computer that won't go out of date."
I told her that there wasn't such a thing. She seemed taken aback. I explained that parts are always changing, and given time, even the highest end computer would be out of date. I suggested that she go with our PIII 800 system (with 128 RAM, 32 meg video, 30 gig hard drive, etc). But she still insisted that she wanted the absolute best.
I asked her what she NEEDED the computer for. She told me that she had two little girls, and she wanted to use it for e-mail, and using the internet. Possibly scanning in pictures to send over the internet.
I told her that she would be best with our $1700 computer, plus a $300 monitor. "But, will it handle highspeed internet?"
"Of course!"
"Will it handle a camera that slides on top?"
"Of course!"

So, I decided to do a little digging. This weiner was trying to sell this lady a Ferrari when she needed a mini-van! The system was a Compuke Per-sorry-o 7000CA. AMD Athlon 1.2GHz, 128MB RAM, 80GB Hard Drive (80 FREAKING GIGABYTES!), 32MB Video, 56K modem (likely Winmodem), 10/100 NIC, SoundMax, MS-Money, MS-Atlas, MS-Works, MS-WinME, Logitech Quickcam. The monitor he told her she NEEDED was an NEC 15" LCD.

Really, isn't this a bit overkill for the average homeuser? Sure some 15 year old kiddie wold LOVE a system like this. It'd run Quake III like a dream. I don't think that a mother of 2 pre-teen girls is likely going to be getting into Quake. And 80 FREAKING GIGS?! Isn't that a tad much for a "first time" computer? I mean, really, I've got a 30 gig at home, have about 100 CDs, have ALL of them installed at max installs...and I'm only 1/2 full! Mind you, I don't have a gaggle of MP3s, or JPGs on my system. My brother-in-law has a PIII733 with a 30 Gig hard drive, and he's into MP3s pretty heavy, and he's still got about 9 gigs free on his drive!
80 FREAKING GIGS?! Really, don't these weinies think? Or was he just getting off on the fact he was going to soak this innocent person for all that she had?

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***the Beast
- I only came for the platypus soup

[Mustang]

Hey we all have seen salesmen try and stick it to customers
I have a habit of standing next to the guy while he's trying to make the sale and just mumble things and the "customer" ends up asking what i was saying and i tell thenm the guy is trying to rape them
tehy dont need all that "fluf" the guy is trying to sell and to get a decent system that can be upgraded

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"May the force be with you ." Obi-Wan Kenobi

[This message has been edited by Mustang (edited February 05, 2001).]

[LabRat]

End users do tend to get a rough deal and at the same time they want the 24 hour support package with the 5 year or lifetime support. To that end, I might consider asking them if they want insurance for getting help, but some places automatically tack it on.

How many salesmen (yourself included) actually know what they are selling? Price tag excluded.

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If you make a smarter computer, the user will find a subtler hammer.

[Cable Modem Tech]

i used to work at a computer shop and we did not work for comission. heck we hardly even got paid.... so it was a big selling point for the customer when i told them that i made not a cent off of the sale... and would sugest a system that was right for them and they would know that i was telling them the truth insted of feeding them a line of bull just to make a sale.... you have to be honest to the customer.... sure these bums in the superstores might make an extra few bucks selling the top of the line system to everyone. but there is more money to be made when you treat someone fairly if you do then they will always come back to you for more .....repair, upgrades etc....


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Give a man a fish and tomorrow he will be back bugging you for another one!

[scout970]

i can sympathize with the end users to some extent on this i walked into a "chain" pc parts store here in cadillac girlgeek you probably know which one they have a high turnover rate on tech's and salespeople go figure anyway i was trying to find a ps2 to at keyboard adapter got a ton of them but they seem to run away at the most inoportune times anyway this darned fool starts trying to sell me a mobo then tells me that such an adapter doesn't exist then tries to tell me that i need a new keyboard after about 30 min of this i blew supervisor hears me going off sticks his head out from behind the counter and proceeds to run the salesman out the door i mean we all have to make a living but come on before this the same moron sold a lady a agp vid card for a old 486 assured her it would work perfectly

[aubreypaul]

I'll sympathise with some of them but not those customers that go in acting like they know everything. Trying to make you believe that they know everything about computers. Using the wrong terms or making up terms. These guys deserve to get ripped off.

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Damn Windows 3.1 runs fast on a P3 800.

[AlienDyne]

All I want to say, is that I really HATE salesmen when trying to act as if they were Techies! I REALLY HATE THAT!!!

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"Matter is passive. In spite of its power, it can't be controlled without the human mind." - Sokrates

My Hardware Info, Hardware Media and Computer History page (http://www.geocities.com/alienhardware)

[jaeger]

Techies acting the part of salesmen is allright and I think that the customer, for the most part, would be in better hands. But if a dumb@ss salesman ever tried to come behind my bench...

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Life isn't one damn thing after another, it's the same damn thing over and over.

[Darren Wilson]

I used to have exactly the same thing. In the end it caused the company to go bust as Joe Public would rather buy a PB or Compaq thinking they were getting a better deal than a system that was a little faster for less money from me. I used to sell more Celeron 600/633 machines than any other as most people only wanted a system to surf the net. I could have sold them Cyrix MIII's like some of the big chain stores where for peanuts but why should I have to suffer the comebacks when the system locks 99% of the time when using the net??? The amount of arguements I had with my Boss after talking someone out of buying a 800Mhz + system because they wanted to type letters and send e-mail was unbeliveable. Over here in the UK we now have supermarkets selling PC's and people think they are getting a good deal from Tesco's (Fujitsu systems), but the amount of Motherboards I have changed from these I have lost count of!!! One of the systems had non matching brass standoffs and everytime you turned the system on 1 out of 10 times it worked. This had been back to Fujitsu 5 times b4 it came to me!!!! They said they couldn't see what the problem was!!!!!! One company even had the gaul to tell the customer that he would have to buy a new system as there was nothing that could be done!!!! Everything worked fine after changing the standoffs for matching ones http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smile.gif The customer was that happy with the fix (and I didn't charge him either as he is a friend of my next door neighbour) that he gave me a Dual P-Pro 200 system that he never used!!!!! http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smile.gif http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smile.gif

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Darren Wilson
Webmaster
The Carpers Lodge.net (http://www.carperslodge.net)
The Webs Number One Resource for Today's Carp Angler.

http://cwm.ragesofsanity.com/s/cwm2/piss2.gif FLAMERS http://cwm.ragesofsanity.com/s/cwm2/piss.gif

[theBeast]

I try to push more people to the Celeron way also. Most of these people aren't going to be having LAN parties, and playing the latest 3D shmups. The vast majority of these people are going to be surfing the net, writing e-mails and probably playing Solitare. Hell, a Pentium 200 would be great for them!
When a customer comes into the store the first thing I ask them is if the system is for home or business. If they say "home", I ask them if they have teenagers. If they do, I point them in PIII800 way. If not, I point them in Celeron 633 way. I explain that the main difference is that the P3 will handle the highest end games better than the Celeron, but both will be able to play all the games on the market today. It's 3 years from now that makes the difference in the systems (for what the average customer...NOT power gamer). If some hot-shot kid comes in, I'll point him to the P3-866, or P3-933. He'll more than likely use it's full potential, or learn how to use it.

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***the Beast
- I only came for the platypus soup

[CPUMan]

The first thing I do whenever a customer asks me to build them a system, is ask what are you planning on doing with your system?? Next, I show them a building checklist of all parts and I go over it with them at least twice. Finally, with a bit of help they pic what the really NEED.
http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smilies/cwm35.gif
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"What we have here is failure to communicate"

[Jvaguy]

yes and the fun part is about us tech's they figutred out i had higher sales then the salesman did cause everytime i walked across the floor to get something i would end up selling a system and then they said hey you need to work on the floor .. then they took one of the salesman who know some about puters and let him fix them .. well needless to say customers are doing better about their systems they buy .. but now tech support is shot .. and im working on the floor .. its nice making twice as much money but im also doing twice as much work .. and now im doing both jobs ..

the sad part is our company is doing restucture and ive been cut to part time .. and yet those cheating salesman cant sell and im out of my full time job .. its not fair .. i do the job right but it seems scaming is the right thing to do .. yet i dont have it in my blood .. and how was your week

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1,2,3,4,5,6,7 all good children go to heaven

[captpackrat]

I used to get stuff like this all the time at CR. "I want a computer to send e-mail. Nothing else, just e-mail. My friend says I need a Pentium III, 256M of RAM, absurdly large hard drive, etc. etc." I'd show them this system, and then show them the price tag (~$3000). Then I'd say, "If all you want it for is e-mail, we have this used Pentium for $300. It'll be more than enough for what you want, and it's even got an ethernet card for a high-speed cable modem!"

I got SOOOOOO many customer referals....

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Captain Troy D. Pack Rat
`akbar Press

If you're furry and you know it, hug the mouse! (http://captainpackrat.dynip.com)

[theBeast]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by captpackrat:
I used to get stuff like this all the time at CR. "I want a computer to send e-mail. Nothing else, just e-mail. My friend says I need a Pentium III, 256M of RAM, absurdly large hard drive, etc. etc." I'd show them this system, and then show them the price tag (~$3000). Then I'd say, "If all you want it for is e-mail, we have this used Pentium for $300. It'll be more than enough for what you want, and it's even got an ethernet card for a high-speed cable modem!"

I got SOOOOOO many customer referals....

</font>

But, according to Future Shop, you NEED a 1.2GHz computer with an 80 Gig hard drive to access high speed internet. http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smile.gif
When I mentioned to this woman about the Pentium III we had for $1900 including monitor she was like, "Well, will it handle high speed internet?"
"Yes ma'am,"
"Will it handle the video cameras for the Internet?"
"Yes ma'am,"
"Will it handle a scanner?"
"Yes ma'am."

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***the Beast
- I only came for the platypus soup

[CREEPINGDEATH]

preach on brother beast!

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Now Doctor would you say that It's time for all citizens to crack open thier neigbors heads and feast on what flows forth? "Hmmm yes I would Kent."

[Danrak]

Well I must say the sales people at our store do a decent job. Then again it's usually the two owners or the techs doing the sales (gotta love that small family store where you have 5 different jobs). If a customer wants an e-mail system, we've got used systems. On average we still sell a lot of AMD K62-500/550 and Duron 650s. Unless the customer wants a game/graphics system.

You still have to be careful though, my boss gave me a computer to rebuild, first he gave me a case that was too small for the motherboard and wrong type of motherboard. Then I got the right case and a motherboard he was "iffy" about which I found out that someone had let the smoke out of it.

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.·°Danrak°·.
I possess a mind not merely twisted, but actually sprained.

[slkdprk]

Had a lady last night that wanted a box for e-mail etc. gateway to hell, hehe, sold her a 3000 dollar box, she then talked to her son who is an aspiring tech and he told her to go get her money back and buy a puter from our store. we got her into a nice box for 1300 that will handle all of her needs and then some. score one for the light side of the force.
/SLK

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It's a Jeep thing you wouldn't understand.

[cyberhh]

When wearing the Hat of a salesman I always approached the new computer question a little different. I had qualifiers:
1. What are you planning on using the system for?
2. What accessories do you need?
3. How often are you going to use it?
4. How much do you want to spend?

By asking these qualifiers I was normally able to tell what computer the customer needed and if they were even close to what they wanted to spend. I always loved telling people that I could save them $xxxx from what they were quoted by choosing for them a machine more in line with their needs. Also giving them an idea of what the machine that they are looking for will and will not do seems to have helped. All in all an informed customer is a happy customer, and a salesman working for happy customers is a better salesman.

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Death is lighter than a feather - duty heavier than a mountian.

[cyberhh]

P.S. I hate snake oil salesmen.

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Death is lighter than a feather - duty heavier than a mountian.

[J189]

where i am from (canada) Future Shop is one of the worst (some of the guys are good, but then there are some who are know-it-all putz's), most of those guys would sell you thier mothers kidney if they thought they could, i hate going in there, and wouldn't if they didn't have good prices on some stuff, one guy was insisting that all you needed was about a P133 to put a cb burner in, i laughed so hard i thought i was going to die, but usually they like to sell you the latest best most expensive model, and you really have to know what you want, otherwise they will A. trick you, or B. confuse the heck out of you

[jaeger]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by J189:
where i am from (canada) Future Shop is one of the worst (some of the guys are good, but then there are some who are know-it-all putz's), most of those guys would sell you thier mothers kidney if they thought they could, i hate going in there, and wouldn't if they didn't have good prices on some stuff, one guy was insisting that all you needed was about a P133 to put a cb burner in, i laughed so hard i thought i was going to die, but usually they like to sell you the latest best most expensive model, and you really have to know what you want, otherwise they will A. trick you, or B. confuse the heck out of you</font>

Uhhhmmm... My mothers computer runs a 8x4x32x burner at full speed and its only a p120 32mb ram, so maybe that tech, in rare form, wasn't talking out his ***.


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Life isn't one damn thing after another, it's the same damn thing over and over.

[Kendall]

I like going into a superstore and asking questions to the salesman about a system he has for sale just to test him. 99% of the time I can tell THEM a few things about their own system they didnt know! LOL http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smilies/cwm27.gif

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"The Customer Is Always Right" -In a world Parallel to Ours.

[MacGyver]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by J189:
where i am from (canada) Future Shop is one of the worst (some of the guys are good, but then there are some who are know-it-all putz's), most of those guys would sell you thier mothers kidney if they thought they could, i hate going in there...</font>

I was at a Future Shop on Boxing Day (A big shopping day the day after Christmas in Canada with lots of big sales, for those not inclined as to Canadian customs) waiting for the store to open so we could get the good deals inside... While we were waiting we could hear the employees inside doing some sort of sales pump-up session being led over the PA system by somebody.... "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?" Employee response: "SELL!!!"

Another time I was in the same store and somebody says over the PA: "The cat is dancing with the flower." I AM NOT KIDDING! This must have been some weird secret code. http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smilies/cwm25.gif Scary.

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sHIFT hAPPENS

[theBeast]

Future Shop gives me the willies. I bought a VCR from them a while ago, and the guy was trying to upsell me on some stuff I didn't need. I kept having to tell him, "I want a 4-head stereo VCR. I'm only going to spend $200. I want a 4-head stereo VCR. I'm only going to spend $200."
My parents bought us a 25" TV for our wedding. Before we went anywhere, I researched the TV and decided exactly which TV I wanted. I checked all the prices on-line, and found that Future Shop was the lowest price for the TV we wanted. We went to the first one and asked if they had that TV. Not in stock. So, we asked if they knew if the other store had it. He said he didn't know, and just starred at us. We insisted that he call the other store (on the other side of town) to find out if they did. Grudgingly he did. The other store had a couple, so we thanked him, and headed off. He seemed really cheesed that we didn't buy from him.
I also noticed that their software prices are screwed up. I've seen Diablo sitting on the shelf for $39.95, and right beside it is the Diablo package (with Diablo AND Hellfire) for $29.95. Simcity 3000 goes for $59.95. Simcity 3000 Unlimited goes for $49.95.
I also noticed that Electronics Botique right across the road from them is a bit cheaper than FS.

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***the Beast
- I only came for the platypus soup

[J189]

i should have specified more, but this particular burner the guy said would work in a p133, said right on the box that you need at least a p200, and recommeded way more, and the twit still was saying it would work, i guess you don't have to be able to read to work at future shop

[J189]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Kendall:
I like going into a superstore and asking questions to the salesman about a system he has for sale just to test him. 99% of the time I can tell THEM a few things about their own system they didnt know! LOL http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smilies/cwm27.gif

</font>


that is a fun game to play, you can usually tell if they know what they are talking about, or are just making stuff up, or another fun game is to confuse them (usually not hard) you just keep asking dumb questions that you know the answers to, like, "Would this 2,000 moniter look good on this 500$ e-machine??" usually good for a laugh, but you have to get the right guy waiting on you

[MacGyver]

http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smilies/cwm27.gif I don't think I could do that, I would be ROTFLMAOSHIPMP in front of the socalled sales guy! http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smilies/cwm27.gif http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smilies/cwm27.gif

If you don't know what that means, then go to www.acroynmfinder.com (http://www.acroynmfinder.com)

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sHIFT hAPPENS

[kennethstarrfp]

I can remember there was an old lady next door to us who could get a *SPECIAL* offer through her church. I asked her want she wanted. She said, look up gardening and email. I told her I could build her a Pentium for $300 while saving you $2200. She said the Pentium is out of date already while this one isn't, bull****, the $2500 was a Celeron. Then I got her onto wanting a Pentium, then she says $300 is too expensive. God they never learn.

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I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it.

[theBeast]

I'm very tempted to go in and ask really dumb questions. "How many DMA channels does this have?" "Is the IRQ Controller FULLY 32 byte?" "Does the IP take T3s at 96Cs?" (LOL...that last one is from a FedEx commercial if you didn't know). "How many Dual Overhead Processors does this have? I want one with 3!"

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***the Beast
- I only came for the platypus soup

[jimmr13]

Amen Brother !
In our shop who ever is free at the time helps customers so no matter who is out front the do know what they are talking about! We Almost hired a sales person She was smart, young 20, Pretty, (total hottie)
But didn't know computers so sorry Kim! We are going to do as we have always done who ever is free, or not at a critical point at there bench helps Customers out front!

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If all else fails read the directions !

[Cable Modem Tech]

they are just out to make a buck, they usually know very little about what they are selling cept for what they read off of the spec sheets...... it is fun to mess with them though..... either ask them fictorus questions to see what they will say ( how big is a kilohertabyte? )or jumble them with your superior technical know how


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They get mad when they come to raid my pad and i'm out in the nine duece cad.

[carrienscott]

Users are stupid so regardless of the OS or hardware they will always need us...

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http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/Admin4.gif http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/Admin4.gif It's a dog eat dog world out there and I'm wearing milk bone underwear. http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/Admin4.gif http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/Admin4.gif

[corelogik]

whats fun is to go into CompUSA when they have reps there from various companies. Talk to the reps.

I went in one day to buy a new USB cable and ended being approached by this "Tech. Rep." from intel. he was (of course) bragging about how their chips were superior to all others.

i asked him to explain 3 things,.
1.) what makes your chips so special, i.e; why do the athlons have more on-die cache? 2.) why are your celerons locked at 66Mhz FSB when amd's are using a 100Mhz FSB? and
3.) why are your chipsets limited to 512Mb of memory?
this was all pre-P4, in fact the P3 was relatively new then and the Athlon was still in its Slot A form,

but damn it was funny watching him Squirm in front of the small collection of customers that had gathered to hear what he had to say.
http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smilies/cwm7.gif

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CoreLogik - "I Control Your MotherBoard"
Emotion Is Irrelavant
Dale Earnhardt (1951-2001)
May He Rest In Peace

CoreLogik@Dreamsoft.com

[NTTECH1]

I ask for their spec sheet from the mega stores worst Buy ShortCircuit city, then I proceed to take apart the system item lines ie..
Onboard vGA No you dont want that do you?
comparasion to the old 8 track, Record player, cassatte player all in one does the trick.
Add value for the components that we sell.
ATI 32 or 64 MB AGP vs thier on board VGA.
Rockwell or 3 Comm Modem vs. on board modem & lan.
3 comm NIC card .... Well you get the picture.. Love those Salesmen that are not tech's at all in fact I enjoy going to the Mega Stores just to see how much they dont know? try it youll like it!
The best as an computer shop owner I can offer is Better Service, Better Support, Quality components, Good Advice, Warranty on Parts for One year. and some free software support with a new sysytem as long as they dont abuse it.

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Computer Shop Owner A+ COMPTIA Lifes a Beach

[SirSmackdown]

Most of you guys are right. Most salespeople are just out to make the most money they can. I hate to play devils advocate, but can you blame them? Now, I do not agree with selling someone a mustang when they need an escort, but look at it from their perspective. Most of them are on commision, which sucks. That means, YOU NO SELL YOU NO GET PAID!. Most technicians are either paid on a base salary or per hour. How does that compare to fairness? I did sales for a long time, and I often talked people out of buying stuff that they did not need. But, think about it this way. I could spend a hour talking to someone, and they not buy anything, meanwhile other customers walking in and calling on the phone, buying things from other salespeople. Did I make any money? NO! Meanwhile, on the other hand a technician is getting paid regardless if he sells anything or not! Also, I had to know just as much as the techs at my store, if not more sometimes. So, Dont be to harsh on a salesperson, most of the time they have just as many bills as you do, and don't always know how much their next check will be for!

[Auric]

Radioscrap and "Staples" have the most incompetent sales guys I have ever seen. I frequent radioscrap for all my cabling/connector needs (for audio gear) as they ARE in fact the cheapest place n town for that. but I just like to laugh when I'm in there and one of the guys is tryin to sell a PC to some poor old lady. "You mean I need all this just to get on the internet and email my daughter?" same goes for staples...i like to stand around listening to their 'sales guys' answer customers questions... "How upgradeable is this HP PC" is the best ..Reply "Well extremely, you can upgrade it all you want" ...lol yah right most propetary systems go to the ****. we added a new HD into somebodies IPC last week and he had to replace his video card? LOL

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"Knowledge belongs in the hands of the people"