Adieu, Radio Shack... - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jcyuhn · #31 02-06-2015, 11:01 AM

It's Lance Armstrong's fault!

BTW SPD, Frys isn't just on the west coast. We have several stores in the DFW area. They are mind boggling.

aklim · #32 02-06-2015, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sloride

That hits the minimum wage issue right smack in the face. Pay someone $10.10/hr they will make at most 20k/yr. Then on the other hand let the employer and employee negotiate the terms, then the worker has a actual chance at of improving without the Gmans help.

I have wondered about that myself. Yes, we bumped your wages from $5 to $10. While that is wonderful, the question I have is whether that will raise the employer's cost and he passes it on to you. While a high tide raises every boat on the water, it still keeps us on the same level so will it change much? If it it took me $5 an hour to make a living and now you raise the employer's cost and he raises the product cost will my $10 be more than cosmetic? Take my $10 and bring it back to $5 days and the answer is "yes". But when everyone is $10, won't the cost also come up to about the same?

sloride · #33 02-06-2015, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

I have wondered about that myself. Yes, we bumped your wages from $5 to $10. While that is wonderful, the question I have is whether that will raise the employer's cost and he passes it on to you. While a high tide raises every boat on the water, it still keeps us on the same level so will it change much? If it it took me $5 an hour to make a living and now you raise the employer's cost and he raises the product cost will my $10 be more than cosmetic? Take my $10 and bring it back to $5 days and the answer is "yes". But when everyone is $10, won't the cost also come up to about the same?

That is what is more than likely to happen. The living costs increase will be due to greedy business owners, and the wage increase due to the governments helping the little guy.

As reported by MSNBC.

tbomachines · #34 02-06-2015, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

I used to build my own till I went to laptops but now it is hard to justify buying a tower over a laptop.

Depends what you use it for, I built my current rig for about $500. It has the spec of a $2k laptop and then some. I do data modeling and music production on it which is pretty dependent on high specs and expandability. It's also great for gaming and upgrades are component based rather than full-box based like a laptop. For everyday surfing and work I just use a cheapo laptop.

Sent from an abacus

aklim · #35 02-06-2015, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sloride

That is what is more than likely to happen. The living costs increase will be due to greedy business owners, and the wage increase due to the governments helping the little guy.

As reported by MSNBC.

Like I said, I'm not sure if it is just smoke in mirrors or whether it works in the long run

kmaysob · #36 02-06-2015, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spdrun

More like Fry's on the West Coast, except smaller and with a truly crappy selection.

I wouldn't give them that much credit. Radio shack has been worthless for at least 10 years. However, the one in Heber, Az is a trip back in time. The shelves are fully stocked with components.

Fry's electronics has most everything you would need. If I need something special locally that fry's doesn't have, Circuit specialists is the place to go.

10+ years ago, Radioshack bought tech america and turned it into a store called radioshack.com , once that went under, I pretty well stopped shopping at radio shack.

aklim · #37 02-06-2015, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbomachines

Depends what you use it for, I built my current rig for about $500. It has the spec of a $2k laptop and then some. I do data modeling and music production on it which is pretty dependent on high specs and expandability. It's also great for gaming and upgrades are component based rather than full-box based like a laptop. For everyday surfing and work I just use a cheapo laptop.

Sent from an abacus

Did you recycle the OS? Windows 8.1 is $120 by itself. When I did build I believe my last ASUS board was like $200. Chip, video card and it probably bumps that figure past $500.

tbomachines · #38 02-06-2015, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Did you recycle the OS? Windows 8.1 is $120 by itself. When I did build I believe my last ASUS board was like $200. Chip, video card and it probably bumps that figure past $500.

I had an win7 copy through my school that I used (pretty easy to come by). The microcenter cpu and motherboard was about 300 iirc, ram was about a hundred to start (have since added quite a bit), power supply was about 40 bucks. Graphics card was recycled but is probably 4 years old at this point. I remember being surprised at how cheap it ended up being. I still barely run into any hardware limitations despite the old vid card.

Sent from an abacus

SwampYankee · #39 02-06-2015, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbomachines

They have motherboard/processor packages that are usually priced very well (essentially the motherboards are free with the processor at a decent price) I've done a few like that. Building a PC is a lot of fun and pretty straightforward if you do your homework! If he has any questions, usually it's been asked and answered on tomshardware (all things diy computing forum) and if you want to shoot me any questions id be happy to help too.

Thanks, TC! I'll keep that in mind.

That stuff just seems to come naturally to him. His work ethic, whether it's school or working for me, hardly measures up by any of my metrics, but it's an entirely different world now than it was 28 years ago

when I was his age. It's not that I let him off the hook by any stretch, just that I know his interests and aspirations are much different from mine and that his skillset will probably suit him just fine.

SwampYankee · #40 02-06-2015, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Don't be. Things change. At one point, the horse was important and the blacksmith was king. Today, you'd be hard pressed to find one. Guy who bought a car should be embarrassed driving it past the dying out blacksmith. Paradigm changes.

I know I shouldn't be.

Speaking of fossils likely near the end of the line, we actually have a guy that comes in and services typewriters in our warehouse!

aklim · #41 02-06-2015, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwampYankee

I know I shouldn't be.

Speaking of fossils likely near the end of the line, we actually have a guy that comes in and services typewriters in our warehouse!

My Wife also feels sad for businesses when they close. WTF. When they were open she never bought a tattoo. Now you feel bad when they are closed?

For what? I have not seen one for ever.

davidmash · #42 02-06-2015, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBeige

My RadioShack experience has been very great. Customer service, go with RS. Parts, go with Fry's.

Fry's customer service… oh wait, they don't even know what customer service is. At least, the store in Anaheim doesn't.

I have not darkened Fry's door for over 3 years and I have no intention of ever going there again. They screwed me over on a warranty and I have never been back since.

Never had any issues with Radio Shack.

elchivito · #43 02-06-2015, 03:29 PM

The RS near me has been nothing but a glorified cell phone store for years. The one in Camp Verde AZ is like the one in Heber. A true blast from the past. Must be a lotta Ham radio enthusiasts around there or something.

MBeige · #44 02-06-2015, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Could the problem be simply because of a lack of "upsell"? For instance, I went into Batteries Plus today for an ATV battery. I have been there before and they were ok. Today, this girl (not cute) was about as good as the rest, gets me what I want, recommends the product based on whether I need it all year round or just summer months, tips, etc, etc. HOWEVER, she also asked if I needed batteries because they are having a sale. Also mentioned several other things I might need. Didn't really need them. So I was being checked out while looking at their LED light bulbs. Happened to mention them and she went on to explain the product, etc, etc. Got me thinking and I bought a couple of them to test out against the Home Depot ones.

Was her customer service really any better? I can't say so. What she did was to try upsell and not just give me what I wanted but to get me to buy as much as she could. Ended up with me trying a couple of bulbs.

Lets face it. We talk customer service all day long but Wal*Mart proves otherwise. When it comes down to it, most of us shop price. With the internet, we don't have to drive here and back and all over the world. I can go to my favorite store, print off a price and they will match it. So maybe the ticket is in the "upsell" where you change the oil and get the customer to buy a bulb change for $5, trans flush for $100, rear axle service for $100, etc, etc.

I honestly don't know why. It's just a depressing place to be, imagine being there for work and having to upsell somebody with a good chance of being rejected.

If you know what you're looking for and you know they have it, there is no reason to be upsold.

MTI · #45 02-06-2015, 04:16 PM

The future of retail . . .

Chain tests new concept in mattress shopping: Stores with no employees