The powerpoint, created by a Comcast account executive and currently getting passed around inside one of their call centers, sounds a giant klaxon that the company is extremely screwed up. It warns of the perils of not addressing bad tech behavior, demoralized employees, high turnover, baroque customer service templates, and metrics that force employees to upsell additional services on top of the ones that aren't even working right in the first place. There's quotes and stories from real customers, like the one about the tech who said he had to go out to his van to get a screwdriver, and just drove off, rather than bother completing the install. Or how routine it is for techs to ring or knock and then bust out before they can even get to the door. Or how customers are getting lied to over the phone about plans and pricing. The embarrassments just keep coming and coming. Some choice quotes:

"On average, gas is $4.07 (too high for unnecessary truck rolls) and very shortly cable will go from a 'need' to an option for some people."

Comcast Quits Early

Technicians are not showing up for appointments and it appears they are not being held accountable.

* Comcast technicians and subcontractors routinely cancel/reschedule customer appointments without approving or even notifying the customer of the change when they are tired of working.

* Several of my customers have complained that the technician was rude or short with them when they refused to let him come earlier than scheduled.

Scott of New Hudson MI (01/29/07) “I made 3 separate appointments to have Comcast come out and install cable, phone, and high speed internet as part of their Triple Play deal. The first appointment came and went, nobody showed up or called. Set up another appointment, but they did call to cancel that one…”

We've got it here in Google Doc, but for the full effect with all the nifty sound effects, download the original powerpoint (right click and "save link as).

Another way to retain users is to offer lower service prices. In fact, here's one way competitors may have a leg up on AT&T, which has raised service prices for iPhone buyers as it tries to recoup the higher subsidy cost. "The operators are going to get very aggressive with pricing in the second half of the year," says Walter Piecyk, an analyst with Pali Research. "We could see 30% to 40% price cuts in the industry, [possibly led by Sprint]. If people are paying more for gas, saving $50 a month for wireless will be compelling."

"The iPhone's Impact on Rivals" [BusinessWeek]
(Photo: Getty)

First off I would have to say, I really love being a cable guy. It is a very respectable job, and I have been doing cable for just over 2 years. It's a decent job with good benefits. I love people. I love being around people. Particularly in the area I work in, I don't typically have to deal with your everyday morons. Most customers are very happy to see me arrive, and I am usually very happy to meet them as well.

Keep some things in mind though. First of all, we are human beings, and if we at any point realize that there is going to be a substantial amount of work to do in order to get your services up and running, it may and probably will become irritating.

And every once in a while, we get the one customer, and we just fucking hate you.

1. We call you to confirm the appointment and to let you know we're on the way. We get there. You're not home, so we leave, and we end up having to come back to do the damn job because you are liars and said you were home, when you weren't. We are on schedules you asshole. You can wait another day or until the evening to get your shit installed.

2. Your dogs shit everywhere in your yard. Pick that shit up, we have to work in it. Slob.

3. Your dogs shit in your house. Shoot your dog please.

4. Your children are climbing on us. Control them. I for one love kids, and love playing with them but put that bugger in the crib sometimes.

5. Your house smells like ass. Clean up your plates that have plants growing on them now. This bowl that had milk in it is molding and looks like green beans now. It's gross. Pick up your shitty diapers, and spray some air freshener or I'm coming back in with a surgical mask on (yes we have those), and I would prefer not to hurt your feelings.

6. Your router. Do it your damn self.

7. Offer us a drink, it's hot, we're probably going out of our way to make sure your shit works!

8. We're not going to assemble your piece of crap computer! We're not going to fix it either, we're the cable company, not Geek Squad.

9. We're not there to set up your surround sound system. We are not Circuit City.

10. MOVE YOUR CRAP OUT OF THE WAY!!! If we have to access your attic to change splitter configurations (or to do a wallfish), move your own shit out of the way, it's not our job to move your boxes and luggage in your closet. We're not Mayflower or any other moving company. In fact we're not there to move any furniture, electronics, computers, clothing, boxes, etc. IF ANYTHING HAS TO BE MOVED, YOU NEED TO MOVE IT OR YOU DON'T GET YOUR CABLE. If we break something we have to pay for it. Here's a solution, move your shit before we get there (ie. dressers, entertainment centers — move these AWAY from cable and AC outlets, so we have access)

11. If you are ordering Internet make sure you have a computer there for us to test it on when we arrive. common sense.

12. If you are ordering digital phone, you don't need a phone there (we have test phones), but don't expect us to run 3 phone outlets for free. the sh*t aint happening.

13. If your installation has to get rescheduled, don't flip out. Its not our fault your drop got cut and has to be road-bored, and we are only adhering to our companies policies.

14. You don't get a new box every time a new one comes out. That's not how it works. They are all designed to do the same thing. If there's a problem we'll replace it, but don't waste our time.

15. YOUR INTERNET IS NOT SLOW, YOUR COMPUTER IS!!! Take a few weeks to learn about how computers work. It's important nowadays because computers rule the world right now. 95% of the time, if the internet is slow, your computer either has too much porn/spyware/adware/virus, etc to properly function. Run the recovery disk or fix it otherwise. Because if the signal levels are correct, your internet is going to be fast. modems usually don't just go bad.

16. Dogs - A lot of us love animals but put those bitches up if they bite. It's not funny. That's why so many of my teammates hate dogs!! I love them, and most other animals but some of you idiots don't train your animals. Put the mean ones away somewhere (preferably somewhere that is not important to the cable installation).

17. Put some damn clothes on. It was your choice for you to have us there at 8am, not ours. I'd rather be sleeping still. So get your ass up.

18. Coax wiring — don't try to do it yourself, because you probably don't know what youre doing. Radio Shack and Wal-Mart coax cable sucks. It's usually RG-59 equivalent and is good for nothing. We use RG-6 or better. and the connectors, and dielectric/outer sheet layer differences on our cable make worlds of difference. Thanks for trying to help, but trust us on this one.

19. If your house is over 450 feet from the tap (or pole) don't expect premium services (digital cable, internet, or digital phone) to work well, if they work at all. You probably shouldnt even have cable.

20. If you are ordering digital cable, make sure you have a working TV there for us to test it on when we arrive.

21. Contractors are hard workers, but there are bad eggs everywhere (contractors & in-house alike). Some of us were contractors before we worked directly for the company! Don't hate!

22. Don't get an attitude, when speaking to the tech, unless the tech has one first.

23. We physically CANNOT give you free HBO. your set-top box is provisioned from the office, not from your house.
This request, although typically offered for humor-purposes, is getting old.

24. THERE IS NO CABLE SWITCH. YOUR CABLE IS NOT TURNED ON WITH ANY TYPE OF SWITCH OR SIMILAR DEVICE. IN FACT: Less than 1% of my jobs are connected properly with good parts where I only have to connect it at the tap. We almost always have to tone outlets out, sometimes run new ones, scrub old ones, add equipment to your account, correct job codes, etc.

25. If we are not assigned your installation, we do NOT want to pick it up early. Unless the tech is VERY bored with no other work, he will probably not want to do it early, don't ask.

And finally. If you feel like we did a good job AT LEAST let us know, and gratuity is nice too. You tip the Pizza man and wait staff at a restaurant right? Well they are just doing their job, and if they are nice and give you the service you want, you tip them. We work harder for our money, and we are way underpaid too, so don't be shy!! We remember these things!

We don't expect $50 or anything crazy like that, in fact we don't expect anything, but if we have to spend 3 or 4 hours crawling your house to rewire it, and hang a new aerial drop just so you can have service. Come on. And be nice to the service/repair techs too!! They have WAY more experience and they have to work just as hard (or harder) to fix an issue the installer left behind.

Somehow, this guy makes Jim Carrey's character look well-adjusted.

CUSTOMERS - WE F*CKING HATE YOU [Cable Rant Forums] (Thanks to Long Island Pc Tech!)
(Photo: Getty)

In addition, the judge also found that Dell Financial Services "has engaged in repeated misleading, deceptive and unlawful business conduct, including false and deceptive advertising of financing promotions, fraudulent, misleading and deceptive practices in credit financing and improper debt collection practices."

NY's Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, sued Dell and Dell Financial Services for depriving consumers of the technical support they were entitled to under their warranty or service contract by:

• repeatedly failing to provide consumers who purchased service contracts promising “onsite” and expedited service with timely onsite repair;

• for pressuring consumers, including those who purchased service contracts promising “next day onsite” repair, to remove the external cover of their computer and remove, reinstall, and manipulate hardware components;
• discouraging consumers from seeking technical support; those who called Dell’s toll free number were subjected to long wait times, repeated transfers, and frequent disconnections;
• for using defective “refurbished” parts or computers to repair or replace consumers’ equipment.

The lawsuit also accused Dell's financing operation of luring customers into high interest rate financing deals by using a "bait-and-switch" tactic. Dell advertised "no interest" or "no payment" financing, but according to the lawsuit, "the vast majority of consumers, even those with very good credit scores, were denied these deals. "

In addition, the lawsuit also alleged that Dell incorrectly billed customers on canceled orders, returned merchandise or on accounts that were fraudulently opened. The AG's office says that "Although many consumers repeatedly contacted Dell and/or DFS to advise them of the errors, DFS did not suspend its collection activity and Dell failed to expeditiously credit consumers’ accounts, even after assuring consumers it would do so. As a result, many consumers have been subjected to harassing collection calls for months on end and have had their credit ratings harmed."

For more information about how this lawsuit affects Dell customers in New York state, please click here. According to the Wall Street Journal, Dell has no comment at this time.

Decision and Order in NY vs Dell (PDF)[NY AG]

PREVIOUSLY: Help New York Sue Dell By Filling This Complaint Trough
NY Sues Dell For So-Called "Award-Winning Service"

Here is the live audio and powerpoint from a recent presentation I gave called, "The 5 Things Your Customers Aren't Telling You." This is number 3, "Stop Hiding Behind Walls Of Robots." It's all about how companies think they're saving money by replacing humans with machines but sometimes machines can't do jobs as well as humans, especially when it comes to customer service. I brought the point to life with a funny little story about eBay and their wonderfully inept automated email response system. I hope you enjoy the video, including the intro and outro ditties I worked up on my girlfriend's old Yamaha synth.

(Photo: Tubes.)

First I needed someone to volunteer their Sprint cellphone number to test for research purposes. Intern Alex Chasick put out a request on his IM Away Message and within minutes Nathan (thanks Nathan!) offered up his number.

Next I went to a part on the Sprint website where you register for online account access. I filled out some account registration and then selected for Sprint to ask me a few questions to verify my identity so I could set up my PIN code. This is where it gets fun.

Alex is in his 20's and lives in the Washington DC area, so I figured that our mark is too. Just knowing that, I was able to answer all the questions correctly in the first shot. Here's what they were:

"Which of the following vehicle makes has been registered at the following address [redacted]?: Lotus, Honda, Lamborghini, Fiat, None of the Above."

I figure a college kid is not going to have a Lotus, Lamborghini, or a Fiat, so I went with Honda.

"Which of the following people have resided with you or used the same address as you at [redacted]? Jerry Stefl lii, Ralph Argen, Jerome Ponicki, John Pace, None of the above."

The extra space in Jerry's last name caught my eye. That looks like a data entry error, like the name was probably grabbed from an actual database instead of a generated fake name. So I went with that one.

"In which of the following cities have you NEVER lived or used in your address? Longmont, North Hollywood, Genoa, Butte, All of the above."

I've never heard of any of those cities being near DC, so I go with "all of the above."

And then, open sesame, I'm in.

From now on, for all intents and purposes, to Sprint I am Nathan. I can see Nathan's billing address, useful for if I wanted to conduct more identity theft. I could add services, take away services. I could order GPS tracking on his account and see exactly where he is in the world from any computer with internet access.

I could look in his call history and see all of his calls. I could change Nathan's billing to e-billing...

change his home address to a drop location,

....order a bunch of phones...

...and have them sent to my drop location, and then sell them on eBay, leaving Nathan stuck with the bill. (Sound familiar? We posted a Sprint complaint just like this, "Sprint Twiddles Thumbs While 12-Year Customers Get Scammed For $2,500." In that case, the Sprint fraud department said it was "probably someone inside Sprint" who did the exact scam above I just described to you). Remember, all I knew about this guy was his cellphone number, that he was in his 20's, and that he lived in DC. That's it. That's all it took to completely hijack his entire Sprint account.

When Jim reported it to Sprint, he says he, "called support (3 or 4 times. Surprisingly the last time I spoke with someone who realized the issue was a big deal, but she had no idea who to contact, and her supervisor only said to fill out a website feedback form. I then filled out a feedback form. Pretty sure that went nowhere. I then called the number you guys offer, 703-433-4401. I spoke with someone there who said they'd pass it on to the website team. They did mention they tested out the security question setting and found that nobody could guess anyone else's information..."

Here's a possible reason for why the hole exists. See, young people are less likely to have well developed credit histories and other public records from which to draw the possible answers for the identity verification, leading to what tipster Jim calls, "rather silly questions it's easy to guess the answers to...The point of a PIN is to identify me as a person, not just that it's someone who knows me."

Making this system even weaker, the questions seem to be based on public records. All at thief has to do is know your name in addition to your phone number and search these publicly accessible records.

In the comments on this post, a former Sprint rep says it's even worse than we thought. They say that every question about cars has three luxury models and one typical one. He says that "none of the above" for "which properties have you owned" was correct 99% of the time. And worst of all, you only need to answer two of the questions correctly to gain access to an account. I was shocked at the number of times I was able to access an account by simply guessing the answers," he writes. "Fortunately I am an ethical person, but if I wasn't I could've done a LOT of damage very easily."

Before posting this material, we reported it to Sprint. After looking into it for a day, the gave this official response:

Sprint works with an established third-party vendor that handles the customer verification process noted in your email. Currently, we are not aware of any instances of fraud occurring through the question and answer scenario that you've described; however, we continuously seek out ways to improve customer account security and we look for information from a variety of sources. Based on the information provided by the Consumerist, we immediately escalated the issue with our vendor partner so that it can make the necessary adjustments to ensure that our customer verification process remains secure. Customer privacy is a top priority and we appreciate the Consumerist bringing this matter to our attention.

Why do customers need to be stereotyped, you ask? Because some customers are good, and others are bad, and Best Buy employees need to know which ones are which.

Back in 2004, the Wall Street Journal announced that Best Buy had a new customer service strategy. The meat and potatoes of the new strategy was this: Best Buy would concentrate on outwitting pesky bargain-hunters (now known as "demons")and cater only to its most profitable customers, or "angels." This new philosophy was based on the work of Larry Selden, a professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business, and consultant to Best Buy.

Larry is all about the customer. He hates products, "...the obsessive focus on products needs to be replaced by an even more obsessive focus on the customer," he says.

One might assume that with this customer-obsessed guy directing Best Buy's strategy, there'd be an emphasis on customer service. Not so.

In fact, the first thing Best Buy did after adopting Selden's method was amend their return policy to include a 15% restocking fee. Too many "demon" customers were returning things.

The most important part this new world order is the "persona." Personas are essentially stereotypes that Best Buy's salespeople study in order to sell their most profitable services to different "types" of customers. Young urban males are called "Buzz." Upper middle class women are known as "Jill."

Each persona comes with a customized sales approach. Jill wants Best Buy to "help me find and fuel my new passions so I can remain true to myself," whereas upscale suburban Barry wants "premium brands presented as a total solution."

And what happens to those bargain-hunting demons? Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson told the Wall Street Journal in 2004 "that Best Buy will first try to turn its bad customers into profitable ones by inducing them to buy warranties or more profitable services."

"In most cases, customers wouldn't recognize the options we've tried so far," he said. Maybe this new document (which adds several new categories to the known Best Buy persona universe) can help.

NEW PERSONAS:
Meet Carrie (Young Urban Female), Maria (Middle American Female), and (Empty Nesters) Helen and Charlie!

Click on the pictures below to bring up the slides. navigate using arrows that appear (when moused over) at the left, top and right of the slide, or using the "previous" "next" and "gallery" links at the bottom.

PREVIOUSLY: Best Buy Profiles Customers

Response from Monster Cable on Article in the Consumerist

Monster would like to acknowledge and respond to the publishing of the Monster pricing from an employee at RadioShack in the article titled "Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff: 80% markups."

The article can be misread that consumers are paying inappropriate prices charged by our retailers for Monster Cable products. The article misleads the reader in citing retailer markups of 80% as if the retailer makes 80% profit margin on products that they sell. Anyone in retail knows that one does not calculate profit by markups, but by profit margins made on the sale as a ratio of what they paid for it. So in the example of the 19ft. HDMI-DVI cable that was highlighted as Retail $179.95, wholesale of $99.40, that's a profit margin of 44%, which is totally in line with what retailers choose to sell accessory items like Monster Cable. Also the DVI and the S-Video cable cited are both discontinued products using old cable technology. Most of the products listed in the article are 37% to 39% profit margins. This is much less than profit margins on other consumer products like clothing, jewelry, furniture, and accessories to other consumer products.

It's also misleading when the tone of the article alludes to Monster Cable ripping off consumers, when Monster cannot legally set retail pricing. This is clearly up to the retailer. However in defense of retailers of consumer electronics, it is typical that small items warrant higher profit margins, while large items like TV's have small profit margins. The consumer clearly wins in the electronics category.

We would also like to point out that Monster makes the highest quality cables in the world, but always with a variety of price points for the consumer to choose from. For example, with today's most popular digital connection, HDMI, the consumer has a wide range of performance choices with four models of Monster Advanced Speed Rated HDMI Cables, ranging from $49.95 to $99.95. The performance of each of these Speed Rated cables is independently verified by Simplay Labs www.simplayhd.com, so our customers know exactly the performance they are paying for. In addition, these prices are in line or lower than other high performance cables offered by Monster's competitors at retail locations throughout the country.

There is also a comment about digital cables not making a difference and that the only difference in digital cables is the price. This is simply not the case. HDMI Licensing, LLC, the group that develops the HDMI specification, has published two different cable speeds for the current 1.3 specification: Standard Speed at 2.23 Gbps, and High Speed at 4.95 Gbps, which is known as HDMI 1.3 Category 2. For more information, go to www.hdmi.org.

In fact, Steve Venuti, Vice President of Marketing for HDMI Licensing, LLC, stated in a recent Widescreen Review article:
http://www2.widescreenreview.com/127venuti.pdf

"...HDMI evolves as it continues to react to the demands of the marketplace. With the introduction of HDMI 1.3 in 2006, HDMI doubled the bandwidth of the specification, and with that, gave manufacturers the ability to design products that can output and receive signals at unprecedented levels...And where there is increased bandwidth, there is increased demand on the cable to deliver the HDMI signal."

This clearly states that not all HDMI digital cables are the same. Buying the best cables possible will insure that one always gets the best possible digital picture for the components they own.

For those who want to get the real facts on HDMI, please visit www.monstercable.com/HDMI/advancedhdmi.asp for the following videos:

1. The Constant Evolution of HDMI with Steve Venuti, Vice President of Marketing, HDMI Licensing, LLC
2. Certified HDMI Cable Performance with Joseph Lias, President of Simplay Labs, LLC

For those who want technical information on why there are different levels of HDMI Cables, one can reference the white paper on HDMI at http://www.monstercable.com/HDMI/whitepaper.asp, where you will learn about why different HDMI cables are needed.

For those who want to get an inside look on the testing of Monster's HDMI cables, visit www.monstercable.com/HDMI/advancedhdmi.asp for an eye opening video of Monster's quality R&D and testing.

The digital TV revolution is moving fast, as one sees from the introduction of 240Hz displays from TI and Ultra High Definition Displays from Samsung at CES this year. These advanced displays paves the way for vastly improved high definition components that will need even higher speed HDMI cables, all of which are available today from Monster's Advanced Speed Rated cables.

For those who want to know more about higher definition, Monster and Disney have partnered together on a DVD that educates customers on the various levels of higher definition and how to buy and set up for higher definition TV. The DVD is called The Higher Definition Home Theater Experience, and we would like to offer it at no charge to everyone who is visiting this site by sending your shipping address to the following email: pr@monstercable.com.

Monster has always made the highest quality products at reasonable prices. We stand behind the retailers that offer great service and advice to our customers at a fair profit and we hope that this additional information clarifies some of the confusion that the article might have generated.

1. As decided in Leegin v. PSKS, this statement, "Monster cannot legally set retail pricing. This is clearly up to the retailer..." is patently false. See "Supreme Court Allows Manufacturers To Dictate Minimum Prices, Screws Consumers"

2. Their response neatly sidesteps a giant section of the original post, so I'll reproduce it here:

The worst part isn't really the markup. Stereo equipment routinely has markups of 80 to 100 to 200% by the time it hits the shelves. It's the initial inflated price, and how gadget stores try to push the cables so hard, telling people that Monster cables offer superior picture and sound then what you would get with another cable. But that simply isn't the case. Our sister site Gizmodo ran a battery of tests and found Monster cables are for the most part, completely unnecessary. (see The Truth About Monster Cable - Grand Finale (Part III), HDMI Cable Battlemodo Resumes, The Truth About Monster Cable, Part 2 (Verdict: Cheap Cables Keep Up...Usually), and The Truth About Monster Cable).

4. Monoprice.com.

PREVIOUSLY: Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff: 80% Markups

UPDATE: Monster Responds To "Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff" Story

Some cables, like the 19ft HDMI-DVI cable, have markups as high as 80%. Retail: $179.99. Wholesale, $99.40, a profit of $80.54. Or consider the 16 ft S-Video cable, which Radio Shack buys for $61.24 and sells for $114.99. We found non-name brand versions of both on Meritline.com for under $20. It's not just limited to Radio Shack, Best Buy charges the same retail price, and, presumably, gets them for a similar wholesale price.

Here's the thing: digital cables, by definition, have no signal loss. A cable is either digital or it's not. As long as its built to HDMI standards, the only difference between a "fancy" digital cable and a no-name one is the price.

The worst part isn't really the markup. Stereo equipment routinely has markups of 80 to 100 to 200% by the time it hits the shelves. It's the initial inflated price, and how gadget stores try to push the cables so hard, telling people that Monster cables offer superior picture and sound then what you would get with another cable. But that simply isn't the case. Our sister site Gizmodo ran a battery of tests and found Monster cables are for the most part, completely unnecessary. (see The Truth About Monster Cable - Grand Finale (Part III), HDMI Cable Battlemodo Resumes, The Truth About Monster Cable, Part 2 (Verdict: Cheap Cables Keep Up...Usually), and The Truth About Monster Cable).

Our recommendation? Buy generic digital cables on Monoprice.com, Meritline.com, eBay, or other places online. If you're the type who wants Gucci-brand cables, then god bless, and at least buy them on eBay. Our tv looks fine without Monsters.

Full price list of Monster products below.

Item | Retail Price | Wholesale Price | Profit Margin

MONSTER 19FT HDMI-DVI | $179.99 | $99.94 | $80.05
MONSTER 8M L 26.24' | $137.99 | $73.49 | $64.5
MONSTER 19FT HDMI-HDMI CA | $169.99 | $105.5 | $64.49
"MONSTER 21' STRAIGHT 1/4""" | $149.99 | $88.87 | $61.12
MONSTER HTS 950 | $149.99 | $90.89 | $59.1
MONSTER SLVR FLAT MNT-37I | $149.99 | $91.44 | $58.55
MONSTER 16FT DVI-DVI CABL | $149.99 | $93.08 | $56.91
MONSTER 13FT HDMI-DVI CAB | $149.99 | $93.08 | $56.91
MONSTER 6M L 19.68' - COM | $114.99 | $61.24 | $53.75
MONSTER 8' DIGITAL FIBER | $114.99 | $61.24 | $53.75
MONSTER 25' SUBWOOFER W/R | $114.99 | $61.24 | $53.75
MONSTER 16' S-VIDEO CABLE | $114.99 | $61.24 | $53.75
MONSTER ULTRA 8FT HDMI CA | $119.99 | $69.3 | $50.69
MONSTER ULTRA 4FT HDMI CA | $99.99 | $49.5 | $50.49
MONSTER 8FT COMPONENT CAB | $91.99 | $41.6 | $50.39
MONSTER 50' GOLD XLRS | $119.99 | $71.1 | $48.89
MONSTER 4M L 13.12' | $103.99 | $55.25 | $48.74
MONSTER 8FT HDMI CABLE | $99.99 | $52.23 | $47.76
MONSTER FLAT SCREEN HDMI | $99.99 | $55.7 | $44.29
MONSTER 20' GOLD XLR | $129.99 | $86.05 | $43.94
MONSTER HTS1000 MKII SURG | $149.99 | $107.04 | $42.95
MONSTER THX V600 4' HDMI | $79.99 | $38.23 | $41.76
MONSTER THX 600 4FT COMPO | $68.99 | $27.52 | $41.47
"MONSTER 12' STRAIGHT 1/4""" | $99.99 | $59.24 | $40.75
MONSTER 4FT HDMI CABLE | $79.99 | $41.78 | $38.21
MONSTER 3FT HDMI-DVI CABL | $99.99 | $62.04 | $37.95
MONSTER 3FT HDMI-HDMI CAB | $99.99 | $62.04 | $37.95
MONSTER 36' PIECE 10.97M | $84.99 | $47.1 | $37.89
MONSTER 16' SUBWOOFER W/R | $84.99 | $47.1 | $37.89
MONSTER 19' RCA ADV AUDIO | $89.99 | $55.83 | $34.16
MONSTER 8' RCA AUDIO INTE | $74.99 | $41.38 | $33.61
MONSTER 30' GOLD XLRS | $79.99 | $47.39 | $32.6
MONSTER THX V500 CV-8 | $54.99 | $22.41 | $32.58
MONSTER 24' PIECE 7.32M | $67.99 | $36.47 | $31.52
MONSTER 6FT HDMI-HDMI CAB | $89.97 | $58.57 | $31.4
MONSTER 10' GOLD XLR | $74.99 | $44.42 | $30.57
MONSTER 18' PIECE 5.49M | $57.99 | $28.13 | $29.86
MONSTER 8' DIGITAL COAX C | $99.99 | $70.31 | $29.68
MONSTER 16' RCA AUDIO INT | $99.99 | $70.31 | $29.68
MONSTER HTS800 HP SURGE | $99.99 | $70.31 | $29.68
MONSTER 4M OPTICAL CABLE | $64.99 | $35.66 | $29.33
MONSTER 12' PIECE 3.66M | $64.99 | $35.66 | $29.33
MONSTER 24' PIECE 7.32M | $79.99 | $51.27 | $28.72
MONSTER RADIOPLAY 300 | $59.99 | $31.9 | $28.09
MONSTER THX V500 CV-4 | $45.99 | $18.35 | $27.64
MONSTER 500 SPEAKER CABLE | $64.99 | $37.47 | $27.52
MONSTER 19FT AUDIO W/RCA | $54.99 | $27.53 | $27.46
"MONSTER 6' 1/4"" AUDIO CAB" | $54.99 | $27.53 | $27.46
MONSTER 3FT DVI-DVI CABLE | $69.99 | $43.05 | $26.94
MONSTER GAME TO GO MOBILE | $99.99 | $73.15 | $26.84
MONSTER 6M 19.68' | $51.99 | $25.28 | $26.71
MONSTER 13' RCA ADV AUDIO | $69.99 | $43.43 | $26.56
MONSTER 18' PIECE 5.49M | $69.99 | $44.87 | $25.12
MONSTER 4' DIGITAL COAX C | $62.99 | $38.14 | $24.85
"MONSTER 21' ANGLED 1/4"" P" | $59.99 | $35.54 | $24.45
MONSTER 1000 SPEAKER CABL | $59.99 | $35.54 | $24.45
MONSTER FLAT SCREEN F-PIN | $49.99 | $25.69 | $24.3
MONSTER HT800 SURGE | $79.99 | $56.24 | $23.75
MONSTER PC800 HP SURGE | $79.99 | $56.24 | $23.75
MONSTER 4M 13.12' | $45.99 | $22.42 | $23.57
MONSTER 13FT AUDIO W/RCA | $44.99 | $22.22 | $22.77
"MONSTER 21' STRAIGHT 1/4""" | $49.99 | $29.61 | $20.38
"MONSTER 21' 1/4"" PLUGS " | $49.99 | $29.61 | $20.38
MONSTER 15' GOLD XLRS | $49.99 | $29.61 | $20.38
MONSTER 50' PRECISION XLR | $59.99 | $39.7 | $20.29
MONSTER 4FTDIGITAL OPTIC | $35.99 | $16.25 | $19.74
MONSTER SIRIUS HOME ANTEN | $49.99 | $30.31 | $19.68
MONSTER HDMI TO DVI ADAPT | $34.99 | $16 | $18.99
MONSTER DVI TO HDMI ADAPT | $34.99 | $16 | $18.99
MONSTER 6' RCA ADV AUDIO | $49.99 | $31.01 | $18.98
MONSTER 2M DIGITAL COAX | $49.99 | $31.01 | $18.98
"MONSTER 1M 1/4"" SEND&RETU" | $39.99 | $21.08 | $18.91
MONSTER GAMELINK 450 COMP | $69.99 | $51.2 | $18.79
MONSTER AV800 | $39.97 | $21.42 | $18.55
"MONSTER 12FT ANGLED 1/4"" " | $44.99 | $26.65 | $18.34
MONSTER 6' PEICE 1.83M | $34.99 | $16.91 | $18.08
MONSTER 6' RCA TO 1/8 MIN | $49.99 | $32.04 | $17.95
MONSTER 8M L 26.24' | $40.99 | $23.08 | $17.91
MONSTER 12FT SUB | $39.99 | $22.32 | $17.67
"MONSTER 4M STEREO 1/4"" PL" | $39.99 | $22.5 | $17.49
MONSTER 4M XLR CONNECTORS | $39.99 | $22.5 | $17.49
"MONSTER 21' STRAIGHT 1/4""" | $49.99 | $33.07 | $16.92
MONSTER 400 STEREO RCA TO | $32.99 | $16.51 | $16.48
"MONSTER 400 1/4"" .75M " | $32.99 | $16.51 | $16.48
MONSTER INSTRUMENT 12'-1/ | $39.99 | $23.69 | $16.3
MONSTER 12' 1/4 PLUGS | $39.99 | $23.69 | $16.3
MONSTER 10' GOLD XLRS | $39.99 | $23.69 | $16.3
MONSTER 500 SPEAKER CABLE | $39.99 | $23.69 | $16.3
"MONSTER 10' STRT 1/4"" PLU" | $39.99 | $23.69 | $16.3
MONSTER 2M OPTICAL CABLE | $44.99 | $28.83 | $16.16
MONSTER 1M S-VID | $29.97 | $13.93 | $16.04
"MONSTER 4M 1/4"" RCA " | $34.99 | $19.51 | $15.48
"MONSTER 4M RCA-1/4"" " | $34.99 | $19.51 | $15.48
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 4M 1/4 | $34.99 | $19.51 | $15.48
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 4M RCA | $34.99 | $19.51 | $15.48
MONSTER 500 SPEAKER CABLE | $34.99 | $19.51 | $15.48
MONSTER 100 SPEAKER CABLE | $44.99 | $29.76 | $15.23
MONSTER 3FT ADV AUDIO W/R | $39.99 | $24.8 | $15.19
MONSTER 1.5M L 4.92' | $28.99 | $14.05 | $14.94
MONSTER TYPE A MALE TO TY | $34.99 | $20.55 | $14.44
MONSTER 6M L 19.68' - COM | $39.99 | $25.62 | $14.37
MONSTER 4M TRS-TRS CABLE | $34.99 | $20.72 | $14.27
MONSTER 4M XLRM-XLRF CABL | $34.99 | $20.72 | $14.27
"MONSTER 6' STRAIGHT 1/4"" " | $34.99 | $20.72 | $14.27
MONSTER 13FT HDMI-HDMI CA | $99.97 | $85.74 | $14.23
MONSTER SIRIUS ANTENNA EX | $44.97 | $31 | $13.97
"MONSTER 2M 1/4"" SEND/RETU" | $44.99 | $31.09 | $13.9
MONSTER PRINTER HIGH SPEE | $39.99 | $26.45 | $13.54
MONSTER KEYBOARD 12' -1/4 | $39.99 | $26.45 | $13.54
MONSTER 30' PRECISION XLR | $39.99 | $26.45 | $13.54
"MONSTER 8"" ANGLED 1/4"" PL" | $29.99 | $16.52 | $13.47
"MONSTER 2M STEREO 1/4"" PL" | $29.99 | $16.52 | $13.47
MONSTER GAMELINK 350 S-VI | $49.99 | $36.55 | $13.44
MONSTER GAMELINK 400 COMP | $49.99 | $36.55 | $13.44
MONSTER 3FT AUDIO W/RCA | $26.99 | $13.65 | $13.34
MONSTER 2 HIGH RES VID CA | $34.99 | $22.43 | $12.56
"MONSTER DJ CABLE 4M 1/4""-" | $29.99 | $17.76 | $12.23
MONSTER DJ CABLE 4M RCA-R | $29.99 | $17.76 | $12.23
MONSTER 4M ANGLED RCA-RCA | $29.99 | $17.76 | $12.23
"MONSTER 8"" ANGLED 1/4"" PL" | $29.99 | $17.76 | $12.23
MONSTER 1000 SPEAKER CABL | $29.99 | $17.76 | $12.23
MONSTER GAMELINK 300 S-VI | $44.99 | $32.9 | $12.09
"MONSTER 2M 1/4""-RCA " | $24.99 | $13.52 | $11.47
"MONSTER 2M RCA-1/4"" " | $24.99 | $13.52 | $11.47
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 2M 1/4 | $24.99 | $13.52 | $11.47
"MONSTER 1M STEREO 1/4"" PL" | $24.99 | $13.52 | $11.47
MONSTER 500 SPEAKER CABLE | $24.99 | $13.52 | $11.47
MONSTER LCD POWER PROTECT | $29.99 | $18.78 | $11.21
MONSTER 2M L 6.56' | $29.99 | $19.2 | $10.79
MONSTER GAMELINK 300 S-VI | $39.99 | $29.25 | $10.74
MONSTER 2M TRS-TRS CABLE | $24.99 | $14.79 | $10.2
MONSTER 12' 5 PIN DIN | $24.99 | $14.79 | $10.2
MONSTER PRINTER HIGH SPEE | $29.99 | $19.82 | $10.17
"MONSTER 4M RCA-1/4"" CABLE" | $29.99 | $19.82 | $10.17
MONSTER 100 SPEAKER CABLE | $29.99 | $19.82 | $10.17
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 1M 1/4 | $19.99 | $10.54 | $9.45
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 1M RCA | $19.99 | $10.54 | $9.45
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 1M RCA | $19.99 | $10.54 | $9.45
MONSTER GAMELINK 200 A/V | $34.99 | $25.58 | $9.41
MONSTER MALE DVI-FEM HDMI | $29.97 | $21.06 | $8.91
MONSTER 2M XLRM-XLRF CABL | $24.99 | $16.51 | $8.48
MONSTER 2M XLR CONNECTORS | $24.99 | $16.51 | $8.48
"MONSTER 21' STRAIGHT 1/4""" | $24.99 | $16.51 | $8.48
MONSTER 15' PRECISION XLR | $24.99 | $16.51 | $8.48
"MONSTER 2M RCA-1/4"" CABLE" | $19.99 | $11.83 | $8.16
MONSTER DJ CABLE 2M RCA-R | $19.99 | $11.83 | $8.16
MONSTER 1M TRS-TRS-CABLE | $19.99 | $11.83 | $8.16
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 2M RCA | $19.99 | $11.83 | $8.16
"MONSTER 8"" 1/4"" PLUG " | $19.99 | $11.83 | $8.16
MONSTER GAMELINK 200 PS2 | $29.99 | $21.92 | $8.07
MONSTER LIGHTWAVE 100 FIB | $29.99 | $21.92 | $8.07
MONSTER OUTLETS TO GO | $19.99 | $11.97 | $8.02
MONSTER SIRIUS CAR ANTENN | $39.99 | $32.13 | $7.86
MONSTER ICARPLAY 200 | $49.99 | $42.46 | $7.53
MONSTER 10' PRECISION XLR | $21.99 | $14.53 | $7.46
MONSTER 1M XLR CONNECTROS | $24.99 | $17.78 | $7.21
MONSTER 1M L 3.28' | $19.99 | $12.79 | $7.2
MONSTER LCD SCREEN CLEAN | $19.99 | $12.95 | $7.04
MONSTER HTS850 SUR | $67 | $59.97 | $7.03
"MONSTER DJ CABLE 2M 1/4""-" | $19.99 | $13.2 | $6.79
MONSTER 2M ANGLED RCA-RCA | $19.99 | $13.2 | $6.79
MONSTER 1M XLRM-XLRF CABL | $19.99 | $13.2 | $6.79
"MONSTER 8"" ANGLED 1/4"" " | $19.99 | $13.2 | $6.79
"MONSTER 12' STRAIGHT 1/4""" | $19.99 | $13.2 | $6.79
MONSTER 100 SPEAKER CABLE | $19.99 | $13.2 | $6.79
MONSTER 6' 5 PIN DIN | $19.99 | $13.23 | $6.76
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 1M 1/4 | $19.99 | $13.31 | $6.68
MONSTER 2M S-VID | $26.97 | $20.45 | $6.52
MONSTER DJ CABLE 1M RCA-R | $14.99 | $8.87 | $6.12
MONSTER 1M ANGLED RCA-RCA | $14.99 | $8.87 | $6.12
MONSTER 3' 5 PIN DIN | $14.99 | $8.87 | $6.12
MONSTER PLX12 AC POWER CO | $19.97 | $14.03 | $5.94
MONSTER GAMELINK STD 100 | $19.99 | $14.6 | $5.39
MONSTER GAMELINK STD 100 | $19.99 | $14.6 | $5.39
MONSTER GAMELINK X-LINK E | $19.99 | $14.6 | $5.39
MONSTER GAMELINK STD 100 | $19.99 | $14.6 | $5.39
MONSTER 7' USB | $12.97 | $7.83 | $5.14
MONSTER DJ CABLE 1M RCA-1 | $14.99 | $9.9 | $5.09
"MONSTER DL CABLE 1M 1/4""-" | $14.99 | $9.9 | $5.09
MONSTER 7' USB CABLE | $19.99 | $14.97 | $5.02
MONSTER 6FT HDMI-DVI CABL | $69.97 | $65.08 | $4.89
MONSTER ICLEAN SCREEN CLE | $14.99 | $10.5 | $4.49
"MONSTER 3' STRAIGHT 1/4"" " | $12.99 | $8.58 | $4.41
MONSTER GC COMPOSITE CABL | $19.97 | $15.82 | $4.15
"MONSTER 8"" STRAIGHT 1/4"" " | $9.99 | $6.59 | $3.4
MONS AUDIO W/RCA | $19.97 | $16.73 | $3.24
MONSTER MINI-AV | $19.97 | $17.91 | $2.06
MONSTER PATOL 49MH | $19.57 | $17.97 | $1.6
MONSTER PATROL 27M | $19.02 | $17.97 | $1.05
MONS 1M COMPONENT | $29.97 | $28.94 | $1.03
MONSTER IEZ CLICK | $9.97 | $9.97 | $0
MONSTER DVI400 2 M DVI CA | $29.97 | $29.97 | $0
MONS 1M OPT CABLE | $19.97 | $19.97 | $0
MONS 2M COMPONENT | $29.97 | $29.97 | $0
MONSTER SNOWBOARD (D) | $0.97 | $0.97 | $0
MONSTER PATROL (D) | $19.97 | $19.97 | $0
MONSTER TRUCK SPEED BOOST | $0.97 | $0.97 | $0
MONSTER TRUCK TIRE/WHEEL | $0.97 | $4.09 | $-3.12
MONSTER PWR PS2 | $4.97 | $9.82 | $-4.85
MONS 1M DIG COAX | $8.97 | $22.32 | $-13.35
MONSTER 360 COMPONENT AV | $29.97 | $43.88 | $-13.91
MONSTER 360 VGA VIDEO CAB | $9.97 | $29.97 | $-20
MONSTER SIRIUS RADIO/TV C | $29.97 | $52 | $-22.03
MONSTER ICASE TRAVEL PACK | $6.97 | $42.16 | $-35.19
MONSTER MP AVS2000 | $1499.99 | $909.12 | $590.87
MONSTER MP HTS7000 | $1299.99 | $787.9 | $512.09
MONSTER MP HTS5100 | $699.99 | $453.5 | $246.49
MONSTER MP HTS3600 | $499.99 | $355.27 | $144.72
MONSTER BLACK TILT MOUNT- | $249.99 | $152.43 | $97.56
MONSTER SILVER TILT MOUNT | $249.99 | $152.43 | $97.56
MONSTER HTS2600 SURGE | $349.99 | $253.43 | $96.56
MONSTER MP HTFS500 SURGE | $299.99 | $211 | $88.99
MONSTER FLAT BLK MOUNT-60 | $199.99 | $121.94 | $78.05
MONSTER FLAT SLV MOUNT-60 | $199.99 | $121.94 | $78.05
MONSTER BLK TLIT MNT-37IN | $179.99 | $109.74 | $70.25

Who is the mysterious dog— and why, oh why, is he on fire?

10. The hiring process doesn't actually have any qualifications required beyond you saying you know what you're doing. Most techs that are hired know little more than the basics, and learn as they go. You can't really have an experienced tech work on your machine, because once you leave, it may sit there for a few days, and who knows who will work on it then. I was required to take my Microsoft Certified Professional exam, but when I failed the first time, that was okay too. I never went back to take it again, and no one said a word.

9. "FD COURTESYCHECK" isn't a real SKU, it means the customer was good looking, and the tech should check to see if they have any "personal" pictures worth keeping. One customer was a professional nude model, over 2,000 images got backed up on to the tech work machine.

8.Nothing they will offer you for installation is worth it. The standard package includes Norton Internet Security, Webroot Spysweeper, and Microsoft Office Home and Student as well as the creation of recovery DVDs and an "optimization". Norton isn't as good as AVG Anti-Virus, available for free. Webroot isn't as good as Spybot Search and Destroy, which is also available for free. The recovery DVDs are made in a few clicks, and could be done by a three year old. Optimization consists of uninstalling some junk programs, and deleting icons off of your desktop. All of this takes about 45 minutes to an hour, and could be done just as easily by you, at home.

7.Protection plans don't always cover anything special. Batteries, for example, are covered by most manufacturers warranties, but are often used as part of the sales pitch when buying a laptop. "If your battery goes out, we cover that too - all you need to do is bring it in and we will replace it free of charge." Often times, this process can take a month and is generally faster to just order it through the manufacturer.

6.Your computer may well sit around for days without anyone looking at it. If we were low on computers to work on, we would often drag repairs out for days past when they should be done, just so we looked busy. If we weren't working on a machine, we would have to go help out on the sales floor. I've seen machines sit for as long as three weeks because of a lack of customers

5.Don't always expect a new part if you try to rush them on a repair. Sometimes, when we had a customer that kept bugging us because a part on his computer was taking forever to come in, we would just swap the part out with one off of a display computer to "expedite things". When the new part would come in, we would just return it as used.

4.Don't expect a call back. The techs don't care about your repair, and it's rare that they will call you for much of anything but to pick it up when it's done. If you want status updates or anything else, even if they tell you they will call, they more than likely won't. Call the store and ask for the tech on duty, you don't need to talk to the one that you turned it in to - they won't necessarily work on it anyway. Also, it's company policy to have a tech on duty, so if someone tells you that they aren't there, chances are they're lying.

3.99% of all software repairs can be completed in a day. There is next to no reason that your repair will take a week, and if you ask for it to get it rushed, they will charge you an extra $20 or more, and put it in line with everything else. Unless you demand same day service, you won't see any special treatment. Even then, it's unlikely to be done the same day.

2.The salesmen know absolutely jack about the computers they sell. Most of them are just high school or college kids that may or may not have any interest in computers at all. A few of they may not even own a machine. The sales training that Circuit City requires everyone to take is 100% about how to pitch things, and 0% how things work or what they do. Do all your homework before you make your purchase, and don't listen to anything they have to say. Many of them will say anything they have to to get you to buy whatever it is they want you to buy. One of the worst I ever heard is that if one woman didn't buy the protection plan the salesman was offering, she wouldn't be able to get any updates for her software. Another man didn't want to buy our anti- virus software, and the salesman told him that he would contract a virus as soon as he plugged it in to the internet if he didn't install one first.

1.Circuit City takes no responsibility for your data. If somehow a tech magically wipes your entire harddrive, the waiver that you sign when you check it in clears them of any wrongdoing. They could quite literally just reformat for the fun of it, give it back to you, and there is nothing you could do about it. Always back up your data before taking it in.

(Photo:wingless girl)

You're probably convinced that there's a huge conspiracy going on to get you to pay for a bunch of crap you don't want.

You might be right. According to the American Cable Association (an organization that is obviously quite biased toward the cable industry) it's not your cable company's idea to force "Lifetime Movies" on you, it's the big media companies themselves that dictate cable line-ups through a technique called "tying and bundling."

According to the ACA, big media companies "tie" certain less desirable channels to the "must have" channels. For example, if you're a cable company and you want to offer ESPN, Disney says that you have to also offer a whole menu of other channels in order to get ESPN for a reasonable price. Big media companies will also mandate that these other channels be placed on the "basic" tier, regardless of how many cable subscribers are actually interested in the channel.

ACA says that in order to get the 13 most "desirable" channels, cable companies are obligated to distribute over 60 other channels. They say that this is preventing or limiting the cable company from offering more customizable options to the consumer. For example, if a cable company wanted to offer an expanded tier of kids programming, it might be prevented from moving certain stations away from the "basic" tier, because they had been bundled with a popular channel like Nickelodeon or The Disney Channel. The smaller the cable company, the harder it is to stand up to big media.

Here's a few examples of bundled channels from the ACA's FCC filing:

If you want: Disney Channel
You get: ABC Family, SoapNet, Toon Disney, ESPN Channels

If you want: USA
You get: MSNBC, CNBC, Sci Fi, Comedy Central, Bravo, Olympics surcharge

If you want: ESPN
You get:ESPN2, ESPN News, ESPN Classic, ESPN 360 (Internet), ESPNU

If you want: USA HD
You get: Chiller, Sleuth

If you want: Disney Channel HD
You get: ABC Family HD, Toon Disney HD, ESPN News HD

If you want: Fox Sports
You get: National Geographic, Fox Soccer, Fox Business, Fox Sports College, Fox Reality, Fuel, Big 10 Network, Fox Movie Channel

If you want: Food Network
You get: HGTV, DIY, Fine Living

If you want: CNN
You get: Headline News, TBS, TNT, WTBS

If you want: MTV
You get: TV Land, CMT, VH1, Nickelodeon, Noggin, VH1 Soul, CMT Pure Country, MTV Jam

If you want: Discovery Channel
You get: FitTV, Animal Planet, TLC, Travel, BBC America, Discovery Kids, Science Channel, Discovery Channel, Discovery Health, Discovery Home

The ACA argues that they'd be able to offer more cost-effective and consumer friendly cable packages if big media was forced to offer reasonably priced single channels and was prevented from dictating which channels they had to place on which tier.

What do you consumers think? Would you like to see more themed tiers? Do you trust the cable industry to provide more consumer friendly packages? Do you think things are fine the way they are?

Public Comments on the Review of the Commission's Program Access Rules and Examination of Programming Tying Arrangements (PDF) [FCC]

Note: This is not a rant or venting session. I was laid off after the holidays, and I have no hard feelings about it ( Layoffs happen to everyone these days) . This is simply a guide to shopping at RadioShack ( henceforth known as RS) for any consumer who likes or buys electronics,written by someone who's sold far too much of them.

This of course begs the question: Why would an informed consumer have anything to do with RadioShack? Well, for one, RS does have some pretty good deals on some items from time to time. You won't find them in the circular or on some huge ad, but they do exist.

For example , we sell on clearance Ultimate Ears Super Fi pro 3 earbuds ( think iPod headphones on steroids) for the price of $49.97. Amazon and many other e-tailers sell them for about $60 before shipping. I use the above as a precise example that RS is not completely useless.

So, if you do find a good deal on something ,or if you're an RC car nut, here's how you shop at RadioShack with your wallet and mental health intact.

First: Know what you need and how it works.

This is crucial. I've seen firsthand what happens when a hapless soul comes in wanting a 'thingy that works with my iPod' .If you walk in the door knowing that you're getting an FM transmitter, and that you need it to work on 88.5 FM will prevent you from getting bilked into taking home the auto-seek, kitchen sink edition $100 model + Service Plan.( More on that later)

Second: Ask a floor associate where something is right away.

I worked in my first store 1 year continuously, and I still didn't know where some things were. Oh, it wasn't because we sales guys were lazy: it's because just when you got the whole store kinda-sorta mapped and memorized there was some new and unnecessary POP and merchandise rearrange that sent us floor guys back to square one every other week. So if us part and full time employees barely know where stuff is, chances are you won't even be in the right side of the store of what you need.

Third: Cell phones and other pitches.

Because RS depends on an ancient business model , you will run into these sales pitches at least once no matter what you're buying. The new plan from corporate before my departure was to ask every customer who purchased something what cell phone plan/company/phone/accessory/family plan/contract they used. And write down why they said no. So what do you do when you're confronted with a seemingly silly cell phone pitch when you're buying a $2 capacitor?

Don't get angry. Don't get defensive. Understand that as disgusting as it may be for you, savvy customer, to be pitched a cell phone, its doubly repulsive for us sales guys to have to ask over the span of 8 hours every senior citizen and high school kid what cell phone they use. And if you yell and complain to corporate, a DM might congratulate the store for "Persistently offering the Customer Wireless" . Bottom line: It's nothing personal.

As far as service plans are concerned, this is where knowing what you buy counts. Since you know what you need and why , you'll also know whether a service plan ( extended warranty) is a good idea or not. I don't agree with the maxim that " All Service Plans are Bad". There are some things that need it, and some things that don't . The bottom line: You should know about the service plan before the associate offers it. And since you have 30 Days from the date of purchase to decide to buy it, if you're feeling pressured and you're on the fence , grab a pamphlet and hoof it. If you still want the service plan after reading the pamphlet, well, at least you cant claim ignorance.

The NO-NO's

Heres a list of things NOT to do at RS :

1. Buy a cell phone.
Unless you're buying a mobile computer, there's no reason why a consumer should pay anything more than $5 for a decent , midrange cell phone with a 2 year contract anywhere . Any retail establishment (online or brick and mortar) that charges cash+ mail in rebate should be cross shopped heavily. I recommend that ,if you're in the market for a new cell phone, unless you have a relationship with an RS (for example, knowing an associate who is knowledgeable) employee , check the internet first.

2 Bringing a cell phone bill and demanding a fix:
While one detail of our duty at RS is customer service, cell phone problems are the type of issue that makes us look very awful.
This is because, of the companies we sell ( Sprint and AT&T) we control not one iota of anything besides selling and activating the phone. Which means if you break no-no #1 and buy/upgrade a cell phone and your bill is wrong( or worse) , you could be in for some aggravation. Believe me, at RS we will do whatever we can to fix your issue. Catch is, if ( strictly hypothetical) Sprint tells us they can't help with a billing issue, then everybody's hands are tied. And you'll end up at the cell carriers corporate store anyways.
So if you got to an RS store and they say that there's nothing that store can do, well, its not because RS likes to piss you off. Its cause they can't do it.

3. Buying batteries.
If you have to choose between going without and buying batteries at RS, go Zen and do without. Otherwise youll blow your top when you go to Target and find name brand batteries that cost half of what you paid.

Final thoughts.

I hope this helps you consumers who are completely befuddled by RS. Believe it or not there are some good reasons to shop there. Just stay away from the parts drawer, the cell phone display, the satellite radio counter, the iPod accessories area, and the cable/ battery row , and you might even have a good time.

Yours
Former RS employee.

(Photo:dalvenjah)

Police Blotter: Can Circuit City techs legally peruse files? [ZDNET]
(Photo: jadakatt)

(Photo: quentinr)

Already:
New product shipments have ceased, what's already shipping and in the warehouse is it.
TAP Warranties are run by Assurant and so they will probably all be valid.

Monday/Tuesday:
General Managers get told what's going on:

Tuesday:
Last day to check in your computer for repairs.
Tuesday is the last day for returns.
Employee discount ends.

Wednesday:
10% off sales start
Repairs get shipped to Blue Raven
All sales final and if a return is accepted, it will be on a case by case basis

After Wednesday:
10% is only the beginning. Prices will be dropping weekly.

PREVIOUSLY: CompUSA Will Close All Stores After Holidays

(Photo: quentinr)

I had worked for Geek Squad for over a year, and Best Buy a year and a half before that and was recently let go. Back when they started scanning computers, they said they found downloaded music and movies on our machine and we were to send them the hard drives. So we boxed them up and sent them out.

A month or so later the interrogations happened. We all had our turn, and when it was mine, I walked into a room with the table pushed against the wall and two chairs in the middle of the room sitting two feet apart with nothing in between.

Our store's loss prevention manager and the district loss prevention manager was there, and I reached out to shake his hand. He shook mine, looked me in the eyes and said "I already know if you are going to tell me the truth or not," with an intimidating grip on my hand still. Then we sat down, our knees inches apart. He asked me how long I had worked there, and how many hours a week I worked, why I liked working there. He didn't really care why, he just wanted to tell me why he liked working for Best Buy. He told me, "Well, I used to be a cop, and when you're a cop everything you do is reactive, you can't really stop people from committing crimes. Here I normally get to come in and make sure processes are in place so we don't have problems. But here we have a problem, and now I have to be reactive and be a cop again."

From there he asked me all sorts of questions about why there was music on our computer and where it came from, which was mostly us backing up customer's music because they paid us to, and my coworkers and i bringing in our iPods, which was ok with all the levels of management in the store. He even made a joke about how that wasn't "SOP" (the Best Buy bible), but he knew that our store LP manager was ok with it. It was ok because they trusted us. I was asked why we had Linux isos, which made me laugh. Also, during the interview anytime I was asked a question, I don't know wasn't an acceptable answer. At one point I stopped answering him because I was just sitting there saying I don't know. Then he had me write down everything I knew about in the precinct and sign it at the bottom. The district manager told me he would read it over afterwards to make sure it was "what they needed." I filled out the paper, signed it and gave it to him. Then they told me if I talked to anyone about what happened I would be fired.

Then the interesting began. My supervisor immediately started looking for another position at one of the 3 new stores opening in our area. He got one and put in his two week notice and stopped caring about his job. Everything started falling apart, then he left so we had no supervisor. So I put in my two week notice and found another job. The thing was our supervisor didn't know anything about fixing computers. All he card about was "selling our services" to people so he would meet his budgets and then tell us techs to fix whatever the customer wrote down which more than once included "retrieve deleted files" which yes we could have done if we were allowed to use the software, but we weren't. So he left and everything got better. And I talked to my general manager about staying, and he told me he saw how I had helped being a leader once our supervisor left and he was impressed and would like to see me move up in the company. A few days later we had a new supervisor who was a really nice guy and knew his stuff about computer fixing.

Now, I know you guys know about Jonny Utah (internally Geek Squad drops the 'h' so they don't get sued). Well I despise JonnyUtah. The entire time I worked there we were given goals of a certain number of computers which were to be fixed by JonnyUtah each week. The goal was seven. Most of the time we didn't hit our JonnyUtah goals because we were able to fix all the computers we brought in ourselves without needing help. I disliked it because:

1) I didn't get to work on the customer's computer
2) Someone in another country that does not have the same privacy laws as the United States was fixing our customer's computers.
3) Anytime we asked where the JonnyUtah guys were located we were told either it was "Top Secret" or "An undisclosed cave in a mountain on a remote island." Seriously.
4) We did a much better job than Jonny ever. We had so many people bring computers back that those guys "fixed" still having problems or hardware issues that you can't really fix over a remote connection.

On October 18th, the day after my birthday I came into work early and the entire district staff (probably 6 or 7 people) were hanging out in our area where we fix computers talking to my friend who was one of the other full time techs. I went into the break room to eat my lunch and my buddy came in and told me the district guys were asking him if he would be offended if he had to go out on the floor and sell Geek Squad services instead of fixing computers, and having JonnyUtah fix more of the computers. I clocked in and five minutes later was told by my general manager that I was being let go for having music and movies and unapproved software on the computer.

So whatever I don't work there anymore, I'm not crying. But I wish people would realize that Geek Squad isn't worth what you pay. Best Buy's rules kept us from being great computer techs. They wouldn't let us use linux in the store to do data backups because that required an extra $1500 (not exaggerating) from the customer and we had to UPS the drive to California. We weren't allowed to do laptop repair in the store, even though I'm capable of handling a soldering iron to reattach people's DC power jacks. And they'll tell you this is because they are sending them to the "laptop techs" or whatever, but most of the time that stuff would come back broke anyways and customer's would yell at us. It was a horrible situation for everyone and I think shows that not everything can work on a large scale. For someone like me computer repair is easy. I could have done so much more than they expected of me and brought in so much more money for them and made customers a lot happier not having to wait two days for a guy to put his laptop on the UPS truck. But that's the thing. Geek Squad doesn't want me. They want someone who will take your money and have someone in another country actually do the work. To sell you a $59 diagnostic fee to call you the next day and say "yeah, your laptop is completely dead just like you told us, com buy a new one."

I hope people start realizing that Geek Squad is nothing more than marketing. You see the tie and the white shirt and you assume that the agent knows what they're talking about. The truth is most of them don't. There are no tests. There is very little training and that is mostly on how to sell things. In fact my old supervisor had a motto I heard him use way too often: Perception is reality.

I've enjoyed reading your site since before any of this ever happened, and although in some round about way I ended up getting fire because of an article that was posted on your site, I'll forever support you guys because it's sites like this that can make a difference (and you guys have) in how companies do their business and treat their customers.

Cheers,
Agent Zero

PREVIOUSLY: Leaks: How Geek Squad Investigated Its Own Porn Thieves
Best Buy's Geek Squad Scours Stores In Person For Stolen Porn N' Stuff
VIDEO: Consumerist Catches Geek Squad Stealing Porn From Customer's Computer
(Photo: Victor Chiu)

The start of the internal Geek Squad investigation began this summer as all of the locations throughout the country were entered through remote connection and scanned for violations. The Geek Squad "precincts" that had bench machines containing serious violations had their hard drives removed and shipped to the corporate office. All of this was done rapidly and under the watchful eye of salary managers who had their jobs threatened if this was not executed properly. My store was lucky enough to have scored well enough on the remote scans to keep our hard drives. I knew at this point that there was serious cause for concern if Best Buy was willing to spend the kind of cash necessary to execute remote scans throughout ALL of its stores in one day.

A couple weeks later, the general manager of Best Buy informed me that the remote scans were phase one of the investigation. Phase two was a physical check of policies and procedures done by corporate geniuses. Phase three was called an "interview" and I will come back to that term in a moment. My general manager volunteered our store to go as soon as possible in the "interview" phase because we had nothing to hide, which we didn't. For those who are not aware, Geek Squad has received negative media attention for the way they handle customer data, and these events are what I believed triggered this internal investigation.

The "interview" phase was not an interview. The correct word starts with the same letter; it was an interrogation and nothing short of it. There are a couple different corporate interrogators going to stores through the nation. Stores who received bad scores on the remote scans were flagged to be interrogated; the last number I heard was over 300 stores would be interrogated. Many of these interrogations have not yet occurred to date. My interrogator was named Wayne. I was pulled into the Lost Prevention office, which is a small closet sized room normally used for security and interrogating thieves. I immediately voiced my concern for the way my employees had been interrogated before me, and that I did not believe this was ethical practice for our business. Wayne assured me that this event was necessary to repair and clean up the image of Geek Squad. He stated that this "interview" was not to get everyone fired but to gather information critical to correct procedures on the way we handle customer data (entrapment). As Wayne and I talked he informed me he had been interrogating people for years and he would know if I was lying. He stated, "If you begin to lie to me, the mood in this room is going to change very fast". Wayne made a few other subtle threats throughout our chat. He stated that our store was red flagged before my arrival as supervisor, and this interrogation was going to take place regardless of the results of our remote scans. Wayne called me a liar in our interview and tried to trip me up on my own words. After Wayne left the room, the witness informed me that he also does these interrogations and that his are nothing more than a casual conversation. I had one employee out of town during the interrogations, so when they came back for him, his interrogation was a little different. It was different because I called HR and voiced my serious concern. His interrogation was an interview, it was done in a large meeting room, and where mine lasted almost two hours his lasted thirty minutes. Oh by the way, he kept his job, I didn't. He admitted to me later that he kept his job because he lied and that he felt bad.

There were three Geek Squad members fired from my store including myself. The first two were fired for burning a non-copyrighted CD for another employee on a non company issued blank CD-R. I admitted in my interrogation that I was aware of this, and that I stopped these events after that occurrence. I was fired for being aware of this non copyrighted CD being copied. To quote, I did not provide the proper example of leadership. Keep in my mind I removed over 100 illegal tools and pirated discs upon my arrival as supervisor, as well as some remnants of an internal porn scandal. I had one Geek Squad employee that had a copy of customer related financial material on his flash drive that was confiscated during the investigation, by the way he kept his job. To back track this investigation was intended to address the way we handle customer data, and the one major infraction went unpunished. Supposedly, these results from the interrogation are plotted on a matrix by the corporate office and assigned the appropriate punishment. If I was fired for knowing about a non-copyright CD being burned, then remaining employees should start looking for a new job. The punishments are just beginning to be handed out throughout the country. One neighboring store lost nine Geek squad employees and two salary managers. To top all of this off, other Best Buy employees knew about my termination before I did. Apparently, my General Manager is not intelligent enough to know how to fire three people with the entire store finding out first.

The three Geek Squad employees were by the book ethical employees. The employees remaining employed remained because they lied. Best Buy believes that by launching this investigation they will repair their image. They have betrayed theirs customers for years, and now they are starting to betray their employees. They are terminating young men because they (Best Buy) lacked the ability to clearly define and structure policies in the beginning.

Regards,

The Betrayed

Thank you for contacting us regarding our Warranty policy as it pertains to the condition of your PLAYSTATION 3 console.

After consultation with legal counsel, SCEA has determined that the photographs of your console as returned to our service center are neither confidential nor private. Consequently, we may lawfully release these photographs to you. Because the photographs are not confidential, we may also release them to media who inquire about your recent internet postings concerning the console.

Regards,

Cindie Smith
Sr. Manager Technical Support, eService & Security
Sony Computer Entertainment America
Consumer Services Department

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PREVIOUSLY: Sony CSR: What? No! Dust Doesn't Void Your PS3 Warranty!
Dust Voids PS3 Warranty

wheres the bathroom

EVERY DAY AND I WANT TO KILL MY SELF (NOT REALL) EVERY TIME CAUSE THEY ARE ALWAYS RIGHT NEXT TO THE FUCKING SIGN.

DUMB ASS BITCHES

I was standing in the middle of Media and a customer asked me where the CDs were (they were directly behind me, and in her direct line of vision), I threw my hands in the air and like a Magician shouted "Behold!"

A lady came into geek squad while i was at LP slammed an insignia vcr dvd combo on the desk and said Lady: IT DOSENT MAKE TOAST!!!!! My budy took the player flipped open the vcr slot and there was 2 slices of bread crammed n the slot and a piece of bologna n the dvd slot.

"I am just trying to help spread the truth about how screwed up Comcast is," the insider writes in their first post. "I am not trying to hurt Comcast's reputation or bad talk them, I think they do a good enough job themselves...You will find a lot of good information here. The information you want to see as a consumer and they don't."

We'll be watching, and Comcast will as well.

Inside Comcast
(Photo: cmorran123)

BEFORE YOU GO: WILL YOUR PHONE WORK IN THE OTHER COUNTRY?

Read "Use Your Cellphone Abroad" for a quick description of the difference between GSM and CDMA phones, or just trust us that what you really, really need is a phone that will work in your destination country. If you're looking at traveling to Europe, a quad-band GSM phone will probably do the job.

Japan's network can be more problematic for U.S. travelers. As of August 2007, there are only a handful of phones you should look at if you want to make calls in Japan:

Now that you've got a phone that will work in the other country, here's our advice on how to prepare it for roaming. (Trying to map out all the options is like trying to draw the entire human circulatory system, so other suggestions are always welcome.)

ADVICE FROM OTHER READERS

Real world experiences from other people are invaluable on a subject like this, so here are some posts that have contain great reader-submitted advice on the best ways to set yourself up for calls when you go abroad: