Worst Electronics

[_The Doctor__]

B&C... spent hours talking, and he does indeed have many prototypes and odd bits. He has great knowledge of some things and very little on others... a number of bad breaks came his way. I wish nothing but happiness and a tranquil life for him. Every aspect of life went from the great to a sh*t sandwich over time and can only hope whatever the outcome, that it will truly be what helps fulfill an restore the good life.

[Mclaneinc]

I'm not religious but if I were I'd say Amen to that...

[jhd]

On 7/17/2019 at 6:56 PM, Gunstar said:

Why the need of the title and description if the item number is given?

 

I have never ordered from Best (nor do I ever anticipate doing so, for reasons entirely unrelated to the limited customer service), but I do understand the requirement to provide an item description as well as the catalogue number.

 

I once worked for an organization that, among other things, sold photographs. There were more than a million different images in our inventory. The photo numbers were assigned in sequence, so they had no relationship to the image's subject matter. It was not uncommon for someone to mis-type the photo number in their order, and so receive something very different from what they wanted. This wasted both our time and the customer's.

 

Having even a brief description acted as a check -- if there was a mis-match between the catalogue number and the description, we would contact the customer to clarify before processing the order.  

 

 

[Mclaneinc]

Same here when I was at Maplin, we asked for a description and a code number (from our catalogue) that we used as an extra, customers were prone to getting code numbers wrong and more importantly the codes were used by the mail order section to pick by but the warehouse was laid out almost in code order (with some exceptions) whereas the shops were in sections like Audio, PCB etc etc Codes meant little to us other than to cross check what a customer wanted.

 

The world of high retail is a boring thing

Edited July 19, 2019 by Mclaneinc

[E474]

Hi,

 

   That's actually a classic argument for a checksum, e.g.nnnnnnnnn-nn.

[Mclaneinc]

Yup, best to be sure...

[Gunstar]

55 minutes ago, jhd said:

 

I have never ordered from Best (nor do I ever anticipate doing so, for reasons entirely unrelated to the limited customer service), but I do understand the requirement to provide an item description as well as the catalogue number.

 

I once worked for an organization that, among other things, sold photographs. There were more than a million different images in our inventory. The photo numbers were assigned in sequence, so they had no relationship to the image's subject matter. It was not uncommon for someone to mis-type the photo number in their order, and so receive something very different from what they wanted. This wasted both our time and the customer's.

 

Having even a brief description acted as a check -- if there was a mis-match between the catalogue number and the description, we would contact the customer to clarify before processing the order.  

 

 

Ok, I guess I can see that now. But beyond those two things then, it's still pointless for needing pricing from a customer in an order, you should be the one confirming it for the customer and not requiring the customer to check 3 different places (catalog, catalog addendum and website for new stuff not in the other two) when your going to double check what the customer says anyway, and then the customer would not have to go back and forth referring to catalog and addendum.

 

But it's all non-sense to me anyway with modern online shopping techniques that save BOTH seller and customer a lot of trouble. Plus the whole issue of both requiring minimum orders in how much the customer spends, and then telling the customer to cut the order down to a few items, so the customer has to then make sure WHAT they order meets the criteria, and would have to have something expensive mixed in with cheap stuff to fit requirements, not to mention different spending requirements depending on HOW the customer wants to pay. And all the back and forth required to fulfill all of this, etc. It isn't worth it to me, so I will go elsewhere and/or do without.

 

I own my own business too, and I still go by the old adage "the customer is always right" and the golden rule, and go out of my way to make it a great experience for the customer, and I don't deal with businesses that don't do the same. Period. My loss in the end or not. 90% of my business comes from customer referrals to another customer. Because of all of this and doing the job right and inexpensively as I can. After the first couple of years I didn't even have to do any advertising at all anymore because I got more business than I could handle from just referrals, and had to turn people down (contract, sub-contract work). I moved my business a couple years ago and had to start all over, but already I'm getting more work from referrals than advertising and soon, once again, won't have to spend money on advertising at all.

Edited July 19, 2019 by Gunstar

[Mclaneinc]

My adage was "The customer is usually right but don't tell them when they are not"  

 

But yes, make the customer feel special, it works as well today as it always has, probably more with the less caring attitude of folks these days. When I first went to Canada and then the states back in the early 80's it was the most far I'd ever been but when getting there, especially to Florida etc the customer service and friendliness was a little OTT to me as a Brit at first because that sort of "have a nice day" thing was never heard in the UK but I have to admit I stole it for the shop, staff were asked to say something like enjoy your day or anything that was a nice end to the sale. Eventually the shops over here actually took on the USA style of greetings etc and I'd hate to be without it now. False as it can seem it does add a little as does simply listening to the customer, they feel like someone likes them and if the product is good then they will return. Same with how you sell and deal with the person, pressure sales just pee people off as does brutal use of top up sales..Keep it smooth and to the customers point..

 

As Gunstar says, referrals MATTER, its some of the best business you can get because there's already an area off trust established with that customer off the bat...If the customer likes you as a business they WILL come back... 

 

[E474]

Yes, repeat business counts for a lot!

Edited July 19, 2019 by E474

[toddtmw]

Best Electronics?

More like Worst Electronics!

Amiright?

Amiright?

[+kheller2]

1 hour ago, Mclaneinc said:

that sort of "have a nice day" thing was never heard in the UK but I have to admit I stole it for the shop, staff were asked to say something like enjoy your day or anything that was a nice end to the sale. Eventually the shops over here actually took on the USA style of greetings etc and I'd hate to be without it now.

 

My current pet peeve is "have a good one!"  Have a good one what: Day? walk to the car? Bowel movement?   ?  At least a "Thank you and have a good rest of your day" or something that has context.

[Inky]

1 hour ago, kheller2 said:

My current pet peeve is "have a good one!"  

Quote

I already HAVE a good one. Now I'm looking for a LONGER one! - George Carlin

 

[Gunstar]

2 hours ago, Mclaneinc said:

My adage was "The customer is usually right but don't tell them when they are not"  

 

 

The honest truth is, in my business anyway, the customer really is almost always wrong, If they were right, they would be DIY'ers and not hiring me as a contractor to do the work, because they don't know how, but the adage isn't about truth, it's about treating the customer as if they are always right, even when they are not. But if a customer thinks I'm doing something the wrong way, and insist on doing it their way, I remind them that I will only guarantee my work and redo it for free if I do it my way, and that I would be happy to do it their way, but that I can no longer guarantee the work. The same thing if they want me to use different supplies and materials than I choose to use. For example, If a customer wants to go pick out their own paint for me to paint a house, that's fine, but I will only guarantee the job if it's a paint that I trust and know is good quality. 

 

Though in retail sales it's different and what you said is more true, @Mclaneinc

Edited July 19, 2019 by Gunstar

[flashjazzcat]

When I'm standing in a restaurant in the UK and I hear a British person ask for a cup of coffee with the words 'Can I get a coffee?' (instead of 'Could I have a coffee?'), I'm pretty sure I wince visibly. The former sounds perfectly natural when spoken by Americans, but with the English twang I immediately assume the customer has spent too long sitting in Starbucks quaffing Soy Lattes with his Macbook Air conspicuously on show.

[Gunstar]

16 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said:

When I'm standing in a restaurant in the UK and I hear a British person ask for a cup of coffee with the words 'Can I get a coffee?' (instead of 'Could I have a coffee?'), I'm pretty sure I wince visibly. The former sounds perfectly natural when spoken by Americans, but with the English twang I immediately assume the customer has spent too long sitting in Starbucks quaffing Soy Lattes with his Macbook Air conspicuously on show.

Something like that, even for us Americans, is usually a matter of education and command of the English language. I would never say "Can I get a coffee" as it is improper and I minored in English in college. Not that I am perfect with my English, and once in a while, after being around some people too long, I accidentally pick up bad English habits, but usually, I make myself wince as soon as I hear myself say it! I might say that in a self-service situation of course. That's one of the reasons why most of my posts are edited, because I'm typing with train-of-thought, and when I'm done I often click the post button right away, but then I re-read my post and see all the grammatical errors, spelling errors or typos or just mis-use of English and so I go back and edit it all. 

Edited July 19, 2019 by Gunstar

[Flojomojo]

29 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said:

his Macbook Air conspicuously on show.

Maybe this is another UK-US difference, but the MacBook Air is the low-end laptop of choice, carried by zillions of American students. Yeah, they're cheaper over here.

 

Consolation: even though we don't have your level of taxation or VAT or things like that, we also lack your very civilized socialized medical system. 

[flashjazzcat]

Don't misconstrue my remarks as containing any implicit criticism of the USA (to which I would love to emigrate) or its dialects.  Only of people with affectations in the UK.

[+DrVenkman]

1 hour ago, flashjazzcat said:

Don't misconstrue my remarks as containing any implicit criticism of the USA (to which I would love to emigrate) or its dialects.  Only of people with affectations in the UK.

Oh trust me - we have plenty of people with affectation in the USA. I live in an area where the population was growing at the rate of 100 per PER DAY for the last couple years, and even before that, it's been growing much faster than the national average for 20 years. In and around a city that styles itself "Music City USA", we have substantially than our share of douchey wanna-be's and pretentious hipsters.  

Edited July 19, 2019 by DrVenkman
typos

[_The Doctor__]

flojomo said:

Consolation: even though we don't have your level of taxation or VAT or things like that, we also lack your very civilized socialized medical system. 

 

dunno, I've met at least 17 or so folks from the UK who came to America because they could not wait for 'civilized socialized' health care. This is the result of my wife working bio medical, and a life long pal working in biotechnology. You will find you can end up far worse off when being forced to wait and or being denied, sometimes this results in your becoming a corpse ... Seems they came for an extended life, getting more immediate care usually has that affect and bends the odds to full recovery or being cured of what ails you.

 

while some like to call everything atrocious or bad in the USA, for some reason it sure seems like the whole world can't wait to get here for all of these atrocities!

Edited July 19, 2019 by _The Doctor__

[Albert]

Let's keep discussion of the absolutely atrocious US healthcare system off this topic. 

 

Thank you,

 

 ..Al

[Flojomojo]

Sorry @Albert, I didn't mean to suggest anything political. I was only taking issue with @flashjazzcat's assertion that MacBook Air was only for rich folks (at least in the US). 

@flashjazzcat each place has its pluses and minuses, obviously. ??????

[Albert]

Just now, Flojomojo said:

Sorry @Albert, I didn't mean to suggest anything political. I was only taking issue with @flashjazzcat's assertion that MacBook Air was only for rich folks (at least in the US).

That's fine, I just didn't want the discussion to degrade and get significantly off topic. I will say that I have ZERO interest in any of Apple's current laptops since they all have a terrible and unreliable keyboard.  I'm really tired of their quest to make everything thinner at the cost of usability.  I'm using a 2015 MacBook Air right now, and it has passable keyboard (not a fan of chiclet keyboards, though) and usable ports.  I have a relatively new Thinkpad (with a rather nice keyboard) I purchased that I need to try installing macOS on.

 

 ..Al

[Flojomojo]

PSA: All the currently available MacBooks (including the new Air) have redesigned keyboards, and all the older ones are under a 3 year extended service offering. They're still good for what you get. It's going to be a PITA to get MacOS on a Thinkpad because of messing with kernel extensions. You'd have a better experience with Linux IMHO. 

 

Back on topic - I'm not handy enough to refurb old electronics, but if I were, I'd find a way to shoehorn classic Mac OS into the Atari ST, just for the perv factor. 

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=9216

But I don't think I'd buy the hardware from the store in this thread. ?

 

[Albert]

3 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

PSA: All the currently available MacBooks (including the new Air) have redesigned keyboards, and all the older ones are under a 3 year extended service offering. They're still good for what you get. It's going to be a PITA to get MacOS on a Thinkpad because of messing with kernel extensions. You'd have a better experience with Linux IMHO. 

It's actually not difficult, the only thing I need to do is buy a different wireless card, and those are fairly inexpensive. All of the currently available MacBooks still have an unreliable keyboard that Apple still hasn't redesigned.  Yeah, they've made minor tweaks to several times now, but it's not helping.  It is a BAD design.  No way in hell I'd take a chance with one of them.  Also, they are just terrible keyboards for typing on.  Apple is also excelling at stripping away all the useful ports these machines used to have.  My MacBook Air has two USB 3.0 ports, a Thunderbolt 2.0 port, SD card slot, and a dedicated MagSafe power connector.  The current MacBook Air has only two USB-C ports, one of which you have to use for charging.  Need to use non-USB-C devices or want to plug in more devices simultaneously?  Dongles and hubs.  Fuck that.  Apple has really jumped the shark.  The new Mac Pro is nice, but it also has a starting price of $6,000.

3 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Back on topic - I'm not handy enough to refurb old electronics, but if I were, I'd find a way to shoehorn classic Mac OS into the Atari ST, just for the perv factor. 

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=9216

But I don't think I'd buy the hardware from the store in this thread. ?

Yeah, running any version of macOS on an Atari ST is pretty much an impossibility. And I don't say that lightly.

 

 ..Al

[flashjazzcat]

42 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

I was only taking issue with @flashjazzcat's assertion that MacBook Air was only for rich folks (at least in the US). 

@flashjazzcat each place has its pluses and minuses, obviously.

I asserted no such thing. I made fun of UK hipsters who sit in Starbucks with Apple laptops, drink poncey coffee and use Americanisms. Perhaps I shouldn't have specified the low-end model; it was just illustrative.