TechGearNow Calls You "Very Rude" For Declining Overpriced HDMI Cables
After ordering a TV from TechGearNow, Reid noticed two notes on his account asking him to call to confirm his order. It turns out they wanted to sell him an HDMI cable and warranty for $60, which he declined. The next time he checked his account, he saw the above note.
Reid's email:
I had recently ordered a 32 inch flat screen television after seeing an offer from one of your morning deals offered from techgearnow.com. I noticed the "Call to confirm" and "left message" comments a view days later, and gave the caller a call back. The only question he asked was whether or not I would like to add on HDMI cables and a 3 year warranty for another $59.99. I told him specifically "No thank you. I already have HDMI cables." and he said that he would send the package off right away.I checked the order page again about an hour later and to my surprise I see another little comment placed. I've attached a snapshot of the order form.
"Very rude?!?" Because I bought a 600 dollar TV from your site and didn't want cables I already had?
Though we're assuming Reid wasn't being "very rude," even if he had been, it's probably not a good idea to complain about it on his account, where Reid could see it.
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Comments:
Call and complain...then ask for some free HDMI cables.
I think Steve Martin said it best:
"Well....Excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Overpriced HDMI cables are a huge ripoff and are a huge-markup item...almost as good as an extended warranty. A 6 foot HDMI cable shouldn't cost more than $20.
That's hilarious.
I'm always afraid that the private notes we leave for customers at my job will someday become public. That will be bad.
@Abusiveelusive: I was gonna post something along this vein, too. In our CRM at an old customer support job, I'd see notes like this all the time. Granted, they were "private", so they were never posted online, but customers could call us and ask for transcripts if they wanted.
I think it helps to keep notes on the customer's disposition in private note-taking areas because it helps future reps to deal with customers with sensitive, or even typically-easy, calls need to be made. Who knows what the dude actually said to them... Maybe it was "F--- NO I DON'T WANT ANY F---ING CABLES!" It's pretty rare for someone to make a "rude" comment in the database unless it was deserved. This allows future calls to be handled better, or at least for the next rep not to be blindsided by people who generally just don't get it or feel the need to be totally rude to everyone they call.
Reminds me of the time I declined a Tequila upsell for a pitcher of Margaritas and when the bill came it said "Pitcher of Margarita Made with the Nasty Crap from the Well."
FWIW, the order number is not blacked out in the navigation bar area.
He probably WAS rude...I mean I feel like there are enough actual rude customers out there that you don't need to mark the polite ones that way. Pretty hilarious that it showed up in his order - the person on the phone probably made the comment in the wrong section of his profile in their computer system
Given the phone number, which is the only clue to their location, they are in New York City. From the photo on the contact page, it appears they are one of these fly by night probably grey market less than reputable storefront electronics places that does the upsell. Best thing to do is contact the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs. In New York City they can be contacted at 311, out side of NYC at 212-NEW-YORK. They may be able to find out who these goniffs are.
Not listing a physical address is a red flag. Further hiding it since their domain is privately registered and their phone number is unlisted raises another one.
Always see who you are dealing with. If they are hiding who they are don't buy anything from them, no matter how cheap~!
Once again, the consumer is left being judged by some incompetent customer-no-service representative that was barely out of high school. I'm so damn tired of this game. We, the consumers, pay handsomely for goods/services and are then 'graded' by some phone jockey. It's a joke-- we pay, complain, or say anything deemed 'offensive' and then are reviewed. Too bad consumers can't rate the representative so the next caller can tell who they are talking to. If you can't take upset, frustrated, or anger consumers QUIT YOUR JOB! Its the reps job to calm the waters NOT light them on fire after throwing oil on them.
Honestly, is it that big of a deal?
I'm not trying to instigate or be a troll, but personally, I wouldn't care that much. Maybe the other guy was having a bad day. Either way, his/her opinion of you doesn't affect you at all.
Write back, you're customer says I am very rude. Well, he/she is very stupid.
@Triborough: Yeah, that store photo doesn't inspire confidence.
According to Whois, here's their info:
WhoIs Lookup performed by Karen's WhoIs
[www.karenware.com]
Whois Server Version 2.0
Domain Name: TECHGEARNOW.COM
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: [registrar.godaddy.com]
Name Server: NS1.RINGITHOSTING.NET
Name Server: NS2.RINGITHOSTING.NET
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientRenewProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 28-feb-2008
Creation Date: 28-feb-2008
Expiration Date: 28-feb-2009
>>> Last update of whois database: Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:20:49 EST <<<
NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the registrar's sponsorship of the domain name registration in the registry is currently set to expire. This date does not necessarily reflect the expiration date of the domain name registrant's agreement with the sponsoring registrar. Users may consult the sponsoring registrar's Whois database to
view the registrar's reported date of expiration for this registration.
Registrant:
TechGearNow.com
6 W 14th St
Manhattan, New York 10011
United States
Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. ([www.godaddy.com])
Domain Name: TECHGEARNOW.COM
Created on: 28-Feb-08
Expires on: 01-Mar-09
Last Updated on: 28-Feb-08
Administrative Contact:
Gear, Tech info@ringitinc.com
TechGearNow.com
6 W 14th St
Manhattan, New York 10011
United States
8772577187 Fax --
Technical Contact:
Gear, Tech info@ringitinc.com
TechGearNow.com
6 W 14th St
Manhattan, New York 10011
United States
8772577187 Fax --
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.RINGITHOSTING.NET
NS2.RINGITHOSTING.NET
WTF who cares??? OMG IM GONNA SUE U, U BETTER GIVEZ ME FREE $H*T CAUSE U SAID I WAS RUDE OMG HOW COULD U MY LIFE IS RUINED NOW.
Maybe you're reading it wrong.
Maybe it says that he didn't want "anything very rude". As in, he only desired to be spoken to nicely?
I mean, that's all I generally ask for.
@☠Grяrяrяrяrяrяrя. All new for 2009 and available with 0% f...: Actually, you can get a 6' HDMI cable from Monoprice for under $10.
@nicemarmot617: Suppose the salesman offers the sale, the customer says "no thank you", and the salesman pushes the point. Usually, this involves insulting the consumer's intelligence ("Forget your research, *I* know the extended warranty is good value, your sources are wrong") or outright lying ("But these HDMI cables will give you a better picture!").
At this point, I would interrupt the salesman, reiterate that I am not interested - firmly and politely - and hang up without further comment.
I have done this several times, and I would have done this here - I imagine I would get a "very rude" comment too. But I was forced to be terse and impolite by the pushy salesman who wouldn't take no for an answer, and either lied to me or insulted my intelligence in the process.
He may have taken the guys tone of voice to be rude, or he may have wanted ammunition to use against him when the order magically 'disappears' into thin air in 2 days time. Happens everyday.
@tkozikow: That's where I got my six foot cable from, I believe it was something weird like $8.47. It still blows me away how much markup there is on these things.
@Charles Mousseau: That's the one thing I can't stand with salespeople is the "this cable gives you a better picture" or "this TV looks like garbage without these cables." So, you mean to tell me that Samsung/Toshiba/Sony/whoever - multibillion dollar international corporations - don't know how to make a decent TV picture? Why are you selling these "garbage" TVs in the first place? Why are you pushing me to buy a "garbage" TV? Where do you keep your good TVs? I'd like one of those instead please.
@nybiker: TechGearNow is legit, they have been around for a while. They just have the unfortunate fly by night web design.
@hellinmyeyes: I used to do this all the time when I worked in tech support. If you were rude or unruly I put your demeanor in the notes section. Customers can always request their transcripts so we'd have to keep them politically minded. "Rude" is not something terrible that they will treat you poorly. It simply gives the agents you are calling a heads up to ensure they don't press your buttons.
@banmojo: If I were gonna "disappear" an order, I wouldn't want anything incriminating like thinking the customer was rude
In this economy not helping a company in need is rude.
Best Buy needs lots of help. In fact, not shopping there is now rude and they're working on a way to charge people a BSP (BestBuy Shopping Plan); the less you shop there the more protection you pay for.
@banmojo: To what ends would I have to go to have someone from NYC think I was "very rude", shoot them?
@Microshock: I'm sure they are required to upsell, and not take no for an answer. By placing the "rude" comment in, it's the built-in excuse for the failure to upsell. Probably said to the boss "Hey, I tried and he was rude about it and pissed off and I didn't want to push him any harder."
@blazenbu: Hello pot, meet kettle, I believe you have much in common.
You're complaining about this supposedly incompetent representative whom you have had zero contact with. Customer service has every right to note your behavior as they percieve it. If you don't want "nasty" notes on your account don't be nasty. I've also seen some angry representatives in my day but let's not judge them all by one accoung of which we have half the information.
Some times beind rude is necessary when people just don't take no for an answer. The price was hardly any good as it was, should have just canceled the order when you found out the only reason they wanted you to call was to sell you stuff.
Hey folks, this is Erik from Monster Cable. If you want to verify that I am who I say I am, please email esross (AT) monstercable (DOT) com.
A lot of the problems out there surrounding HDMI cables stem from the fact that the people doing the selling are ill-equipped to give you the best information for your situation. Heck, this is endemic of retail everywhere -- I was at a health food store this morning asking about an organic sunblock (I'm from California :P) and the person helping me basically started reading the boxes to find the organic one, then picked one out and said "This one is organic -- it has titanium instead of aluminum" WTF? Ever heard of an alloy? Guess not.
Sorta back to my point, the world of HDMI is getting pretty complicated. For example, with bigger displays now supporting 120HZ and increasing color depths, those bog-standard $6 HDMI cables that served you so well in the past aren't going to give you the bandwidth you need to get true 1080p. A lot of sales reps won't know when NOT to sell you the expensive stuff, and a lot of people won't know whether or not they need it.
There's a fundamental disconnect at both ends that could be solved with a little research. Monster has some information on its site if you want to educate yourself -- that's at http://www.monstercable.com/hdmi/HDMI_Cable_Information.asp
Oh, and for the person who inevitably says "it's all digital and cable quality doesn't matter" please see this video from Monster's own Ketch Rogers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-zbIBERGk4
@nybiker: Thanks for that. That allowed me to find the name of their bricks and mortar store, Best Value Of 14th Street Inc. They are licensed by the NYC DCA as an electronics store and have license 1136295. The BBB shows they have a lot of issues as well as some of their aliases, although it doesn't mention their edulgence.com site, which is just a domain placeholder, but if you look it up on the BBB site you'll find a similar track record and lists an additional address on Avenue M in Midwood, Brooklyn in an area filled with shady electronics and camera dealers. No doubt they switch up the name of their online site to snooker even more people.
Is the site legit, well as legitimate as any of these gonifs can be when they engage in shady business practices. When it takes a lot of digging to find out who the hell they are, it isn't worth it. Who and where they are is something that you expect any reputable company to be rather upfront about!
@Charles Mousseau: I didn't say he was unjustifiably rude - rude's rude, whether it's justifiable or not. I'm rude to pushy salespeople all the time. It's rude for them to call you unsolicited anyway, in my mind - but it doesn't mean that the salesperson in question wouldn't see YOU as rude too. That's my point.
It could also be that the CSRs are pressured to upsell, and the person who took his order is going to get yelled at for not convincing the customer to buy the overpriced cables. Saying the customer was a jerk is probably a lot easier than actually trying to upsell.
@downwithmonstercable: Bernard Madoff's firm has been around for awhile, but they hardly were reputable. This outfit is just another bunch of gonifs. If you look at my comment above you'll discover that I was able to find their previous online venture which (thank you wayback machine!) [www.edulgence.com]">had a "a corporate reorganization" towards the end of 2006. That website was basically identical, although their contact page actually lists the addresses. The phone numbers, however have been reassigned as they are disposable items like domain names for these guys.
@ShadowFalls: I think I would be rude if someone was holding an order I had placed and delaying shipping so they could try to sell me something else I hadn't ordered.
Just a question... but the Consumerist calls it's readers stupid when they buy from a place that looks like this and gets scammed, but they list them on the deals page.... Double Standard anyone???
@pmcpa2: The Consumerist simply lists those deals as a convenience to it's readers. I highly doubt they have the time or resources to inspect each website and order from them to see how reputable they are. As a reader of Consumerist, one should be able to pick out such shady websites, and know to stay away from them.
And possibly even email The Consumerist to let them know the place sucks, and to not suggest it again. It certainly wouldn't hurt to lend a hand to The Consumerist, since it helps us so much for... what's that word.... FREE.
@Abusiveelusive: Oh, absolutely.
I've written horrible things about horrible customers on the systems at work. Granted these are private systems, but it's certainly not impossible for a customer to end up seeing the wrong screenshot, with notes like:
"Can't control children"
"Puts things wherever the hell she's standing if she changes her mind"
"Self-important, tries to weasel out of fees once a month."
"Really loved Meet the Spartans and Twilight."
"Rented Bratz Babyz."
Then again, I think those might all be valuable notes for the person dealing with him/her next.
I bet if he calls and complains he get's another note saying he's being rude.
@Abusiveelusive:
Oh man, I used to work in a CompUSA repair shop ... some of the private notes we had were great. but if a customer got hold of a printed "internal" copy, (which sometimes happened at equipment pickup) they could see everything ... so we had to make sure that it well ... didn't happen.
I really don't have any problem at all with being rude to anyone trying to upsell me. Quite honestly they deserve what they have coming. Just like out-bound telemarketers.
Don't like how you are treated in one of those jobs? Don't work it.
But then they'll say "But I'm just doing my job..." and so were the Nazi's.
@smokinfoo: Did you really compare the agents of the regime responsible for the massacre of nearly 6 million Jews to a customer service agent whose job requires that they read a script verbatim?
Seriously?
Those are equal horrors in your mind? Geoncide and Upsells?
Really?
I think the problem is that you're using internet explorer..
Or you just could've been rude? It's still ridiculous he left that note, you should call and complain.