Poor retail buyers

[Arkaign]

Just got back from a trip to the local Micro Center, was perusing the shelves in the video card section when I overheard a customer getting some 'advice' from a representative from Galaxy. He was suggesting a $35 8400GS. I countered that the 8400GS is a value card from a series of GPUs that were released about 4 years back, and that it's not at all a great performer. Pointed to an HD5450 DDR3 card that was $21.99 Guy just wanted to play CounterStrike Source and maybe try Starcraft 2 on his little 17" LCD, so I think it was the better buy.

The funniest thing was when the actual MC guy came over, repeated the recommendation for the 8400GS, then tried to upsell the guy to an old-stock GT210 at $50. ??? WTF. Guy ended up buying the 5450 anyway though, I told him to save some bucks in the future and try to pick up a used 6850 and a decent 500w psu, he had some hp phenom ii with onboard video and stock psu.

I'm thinking part of the reason Console gaming is 10x bigger than PC gaming is because customers get confused trying to deal with the stuff.

 

[frozentundra123456]

We dont have a Micro Center close to where I live, but several Best Buys are close. If you know the performance of the cards yourself, you can get a good deal on sale sometimes. For instance, I got a 9800 GT on sale for 80.00 a couple of years ago, but really low performance cards were also sold for the same price. I would also never trust the recommendation of the sales person. And sometimes, I have seen the same card on sale for different prices at different stores.

 

[Dekasa]

I work in sales and I see this all the time. I don't even trust salesmen.

I, however, am completely honest with customers. Regrettably, I'm also the lowest income person in my department because of it. In my opinion, the guys who are the biggest geeks are probably going to be the most honest because they're not there for the $$, they're there to be around electronics.

tl;dr
Some salesmen are ok.

 

[amenx]

It sucks. Usually happens when a store has left over unmovable stock that they try to foist onto the clueless. But I have no sympathy for the clueless for not doing their homework. The school of hard knocks will eventually set them straight.

 

[Red Hawk]

And I thought Microcenter was a decent store. I've never bought any graphics hardware there though, I order all my stuff from Newegg. Oh well, at least their prices are still competitive with Newegg and blow Best Buy out of the water.

Y'know, this makes me interested in driving over to the local Microcenter, walking in and asking for a recommendation for a graphics card. I wonder what they'll try to sell me.

 

[subtraction]

And I thought Microcenter was a decent store. I've never bought any graphics hardware there though, I order all my stuff from Newegg. Oh well, at least their prices are still competitive with Newegg and blow Best Buy out of the water.

Y'know, this makes me interested in driving over to the local Microcenter, walking in and asking for a recommendation for a graphics card. I wonder what they'll try to sell me.

No, go to Frys and try its even better there at least at my local stores.

Better yet ask for recommendations on a power supply I cannot count the number of times I have seen them recommending those apparently "sweet" looking Apevia see-thru psu's.

I do have to give Frys some credit because at least I can understand what the hell they are saying. Its like going to another country when I go to Microcenter PROPER English is definitely not the first language of most people working there. I usually brush up on my Ebonics before heading to my local Microcenter by watching something like this. This is probably just due to where I live but thats my experience none the less.

 

[AVP]

Cambridge Microcenter people are cranky, old people with no communication skills that will only point out the most expensive item on their shelves if you bother to tell them what you are looking for. $50? - I wish. I avoid the store like the plague because of its employees and literally run through if they have a deal on something.

Agreed on poor customers.

 

[jvroig]

I'm thinking part of the reason Console gaming is 10x bigger than PC gaming is because customers get confused trying to deal with the stuff.

This is most certainly a great part of the appeal of consoles - they are just plug and play. You don't worry about anything else: drivers, hardware installation, compatibility, "can my PC play this?", etc.

 

[renz20003]

This is most certainly a great part of the appeal of consoles - they are just plug and play. You don't worry about anything else: drivers, hardware installation, compatibility, "can my PC play this?", etc.

I love when people ask me if there pc can handle a certain game, usually I will tell them to check out the back of the box because theres some useful information on the back of it

 

[jvroig]

Right. The problem is the people asking that may not really understand what those minimum requirements mean - in fact, they might not even know exactly what they have (integrated, discrete card? what model aside from "it has 512MB of RAM"). It's a problem that isn't answered by "look at the back of the box" - it's a problem that is answered by knowing more about hardware (CPU differences, GPU differences, etc), and that's exactly what most people don't want to be bothered about - they just want to play a game, not to be some hardware expert. Hence, the attraction of plug and play consoles, where no hardware knowledge is required.

 

[renz20003]

I agree

 

[AdamK47]

Minimum requirements listed by the publisher/developer are usually pretty useless. In a lot of cases the minimum is what's needed to get the game started and running and not what will get you over 5 frames per second.

 

[trollolo]

there's a site named something like canirunthis.com or something. if i worked retail i'd just tell them to check the site out before buying

 

[apoppin]

Poor retail buyers

Put it in perspective. They are still way better off than if they found themselves in an Apple Store, for example


Or some (clueless customers) who put themselves at the mercy of a car dealership


Just sayin' .. knowledge, discernment and wisdom are things you can always bank on
:whiste:

 

[railven]

Cambridge Microcenter people are cranky, old people with no communication skills that will only point out the most expensive item on their shelves if you bother to tell them what you are looking for. $50? - I wish. I avoid the store like the plague because of its employees and literally run through if they have a deal on something.

Agreed on poor customers.

Second this. I try never to let my friends/family go there without me (or me on the phone.) Had some a-hole try to sell my mom a $500 HP when all she wanted was a web browser/word processor. They had a flyer for an AMD V150 or something for like $200, perfect for simple word processing and wifi net surfing.

They are also very pushy and bust out the lingo that clearly they don't even know what it means.

 

[AVP]

pushy

I have been over there twice in the past 6-8 months, first time looking for a pci wireless-n card and this guy walks briskly over around two isles leaving me behind, grabs the most expensive one and throw it in my hands. I spent the next ten minutes looking for and comparing two $30 ones while he glared at me. #)*)!!$hole. Next time I came for the sale on ram I saw online ,and lo and behold there he is, asked him about it and he said NOPE and walked away.

Yeah, I need a ten ft vga cable and something to extend my usb devices to 10-12ft. I will be looking elsewhere.

 

[Red Storm]

I go to Microcenter if I need something and can't wait for shipping. As far as I'm concerned the only purpose their salespeople serve is to tell me if they have an item in stock, and where it is located in the store.

 

[Red Hawk]

there's a site named something like canirunthis.com or something. if i worked retail i'd just tell them to check the site out before buying

No, canyourunit.com is terrible. It literally only goes by the generation of the graphics card. Thus, a Radeon HD 6450 meets a requirement for a Radeon HD 5850, a Geforce 210 meets a requirement for a Geforce 8800 GT, etc. It's terrible.

Much better is the Game-o-meter at yougamers.com.

 

[PingSpike]

We dont have a Micro Center close to where I live, but several Best Buys are close. If you know the performance of the cards yourself, you can get a good deal on sale sometimes. For instance, I got a 9800 GT on sale for 80.00 a couple of years ago, but really low performance cards were also sold for the same price. I would also never trust the recommendation of the sales person. And sometimes, I have seen the same card on sale for different prices at different stores.

Yeah, best buy is terrible. I've noticed the same thing when browsing, where there are sometimes midrange cards with an OK price but low end stuff (which people are probably desperate for in case of a repair or system failure) is just a major ripoff.

Worse, I think they still had a radeon 9200 PCI for sale for like $50 last time I was there. Isn't that card like 10 years old now?

 

[MustangSVT]

I don't remember the last time I spoke with those "tech sales" ppl.

well often, they are doing something more important anyways.

like "testing the xbox setup" or something.

 

[Keysplayr]

Micro Center is an awesome retail store. They usually have incredible deals that blow away online retailers. Just last week I had to replace my wifes mobo, CPU and RAM. From Micro Center, I bought a Phenom II 840, 4GB DDR3, ASUS Mobo, small tube of thermal compound and a SATA DVD drive. 164.00. Basically got the mobo for free (59.00 mobo with 50.00 off because of the Phenom II purchase). Great great deals to be had at that place. But you know, it's like any other store. If you rely on salespeople to tell you what you need, then you're pretty much at their mercy. They most likely will move the items that net them the most commision, or however they make their money these days.
It always helps to at least do a bit of online research before trucking to the store.
I know I become quietly annoyed when a salesperson suggests something that is just plain old wrong. I try not to give them a hard time unless they're persistent.
So, it's not really the store, it's the people working there. Some sales people really know their stuff though. Occasionally I am pleasantly surprised.

 

[amenx]

Minimum requirements listed by the publisher/developer are usually pretty useless. In a lot of cases the minimum is what's needed to get the game started and running and not what will get you over 5 frames per second.

Yep, the lower the specs they state, the more sales they can make. Not just games, but all software basically. Windows 7 min requirement is a 1ghz CPU, 1gb RAM. Sure it will run, whether you will be happy with it is something else.

 

[railven]

Next time I came for the sale on ram I saw online ,and lo and behold there he is, asked him about it and he said NOPE and walked away.

I personally hate how they slap their sales ID on your item. Asked one clerk where I could find the fans from their flyer and before answering my question slapped his sticker on the motherboard I painstakingly picked out.

Yeah, I need a ten ft vga cable and something to extend my usb devices to 10-12ft. I will be looking elsewhere.

For all my A/V wire related projects I've found monoprice.com to be a great source. Good prices, good products, and overall great service. Check them out.

It always helps to at least do a bit of online research before trucking to the store.
I know I become quietly annoyed when a salesperson suggests something that is just plain old wrong. I try not to give them a hard time unless they're persistent.
So, it's not really the store, it's the people working there. Some sales people really know their stuff though. Occasionally I am pleasantly surprised.

The store itself is great, and their prices are great for a quick fix, and not sure who they are dealing with but you can't beat their processor prices on launch. Course, they jack up the price on the accompaning motherboard haha.

I found the most useful employees are the repair guys. I guess since they actually know their stuff and aren't fluffing the specs they aren't put on the sales floor too often.

 

[djnsmith7]

I've been shopping at Fry's since the 90's & I can't even begin to tell you guys how many times I've heard their sales people giving false information & terrible advice.

I've even intervened a couple of times & let them know they flat out lied to a customer.

 

[ElFenix]

i was at fry's watching some dude give his friend worse advice than the sales monkeys would have. he had his friend buy a 1366 board [expensive dead end] and triple channel ram [pointless unless you have a 990x] after figuring out his friend had no where near high end computing needs.