• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Just applied to local computer store...

R

RSI

Diamond Member
Yesterday my dad was driving me around and I was picking up application forms from various stores, and I stopped at the local computer shop and asked.. he said to bring in my resumé. So I left today, and went to the computer shop first thing with my resumé along with four certificates from brainbench.. High IT Aptitude Professional, English Written Professional, Master Keyboard Typist and Master Power Windows 98 User... I think those impressed him at first sight, hehe.

Well I am pretty experienced with computers (6+ years, I'm 16 years old), and I think I could tackle anything they threw at me...

The salesman at that place doesn't know what an ATA66 pci controller is... I tried explaining to him more clearly, because he's French (and I was speaking English), but he had no clue what it was! That really surprised me.. I mean, he IS only a salesman, but he's often upstairs with whoever else is there, where I assume they test systems and hardware/software, etc..

Well hopefully I'll get this job... it would be nice to have a computer related job, since I think I would find it easy enough, and not too boring... as opposed to some clerical work in a clothes shop.

Wish me luck 😉
 
Good luck RSI, hope it goes well for you. I'm constantly amazed by the stupidity of computer sales assistants. Not knowing what a ATA66 pci controller is nothing! I went into a store 6 months ago, and the sales assitant literally DID NOT know what a hard disk was! He thought it was a monitor!?!? Oddly enough, that shop closed within 3 months of opening. How strange.
 
OMFG! 😛

How can they sell anything if they don't know what everything is??? Surely the salesman should know what to sell... lol 🙂

I hope I get this job... I'm probably smarter than anybody there 😛

But seriously, I could really help them out, I don't think they have many people... I walked into the shop, and it was all open, not a SINGLE PERSON IN THERE...
 
RSI,good luck.
Don`t talk to me about salesman I had the same sort of thing happen in a Hi-fi shop, I wanted a certain cd model & the guy only had the normal version(no special edition) with all the extras like headphone socket etc.He said "it`s better with all the extras", so I had to explain that they had taken all the extras out to improve the sound quality,also they had tweaked & modified the transformer by the time I left he had a crash course on real hi-fi, of course I took my business elsewhere.
 
I was in a Compusa in Texas about 6 months ago, trying to get a new IDE cable for my Uncle's CD-ROM. I couldn't find them, so I asked one of the guys try to push the compukes, this is what he told me "They stopped making that kind of cable over 4 years, ago"
So I say "No they didn't, you know Hard drive or CD-ROM cables?"
Then he said something like "They don't use cables anymore, they have a specail switch box, which we don't sell"
Me "You're an idoit, nevermind."

So I finally found the cable myself and left.
 
Yes i hate it when computer sales people think they know everything. Then when you ask a technical question, they just nod and stare blankly at you.

For example....i was looking for a AT to ps2 keyboard adapter. So i asked a salesman for a ps2 keyboard adapter. After staring blankly at me for a couple of minutes he finally says "...oh you mean PLAYSTATION 2 ADAPTER...."...hahaha playstation 2? hahaha what the hell?
 
RSI,

Welcome to the world of the bench tech... where you work for too little and the salesmen you support don't have a clue.
 
Maybe all computer salesman(those who don`t have a clue)should come to the Anandtech forum for a year ,thatway they might learn something.
 
I thought about joining the local huge chain for a decent job. I know some guys who make 2000 in commission a weekend from selling sh|tty comps to unsuspecting ignorant shoppers. My conscience made me stop, I couldn't live with myself.
Scope!
 
Well, not all salespeople are ignorant (easy there, because I am one). BUT, I will agree that most are. The underlying problem seems to be undertraining and greed (especially true for those who work on commission). Here are some observations I've made after working for Best Buy for almost a year and making frequent trips to Circuit City and Fry's Electronics:

YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW CRAP TO SELL: It would seem that the opposite is true, but remember, good BS artists make great salespeople from a profits standpoint. The majority of customers will not know what they're buying because they assume the salesperson possesses at least some knowledge of what they are selling. Therefore, the customer just nods his/her head and dumps junk into the cart. Commissioned salespeople are NOTORIOUS for this. Watch out! The lack of product knowledge just multiples itself when more and more new salespeople are trained.

SALES PRESSURE: Commissioned salespeople are usually the most pushy with their sales, because their livelihood depends on the sales they make. With non-commissioned stores (like Best Buy), something similar happens. In these types of stores, the management gets on salepeoples' asses to sell a certain percentage of service contracts and high-profit items (makes the store look better for interstore competition....rather sickening if you ask me). Because of this, salespeople will tend to focus on selling larger items (in the case of computers, these would be complete systems and major peripherals) and ignore the accessories and upgrades for which they gain little or no product knowledge. Either they do this or they get jipped on work hours.

SALESPEOPLE IN GENERAL ARE VERY OPINIONATED: Like stated before in this thread, salespeople (especially of the commission-paid brethren) tend to think that they know everything. They pride themselves as being product specialists, while most computer salespeople, for example, don't even know what a SCSI bus is.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
So, in the end, stores end up being polluted by ignorant salespeople and stressed-out, underpaid bench techs that get to deal with all of the headaches caused largely by salespeople who recommend inappropriate products for their customers.
 
Well I don't mind fixing the stuff, it's not bad... I've spent hours upon hours fixing my own computers, and that's how I gained most of my knowledge... if I never messed anything up, I wouldn't evne know how to install windows, let alone a peripheral.

But ignorant salesman in a computer REALLY get on my nerves.. probably because I know alot more about computers than they do.

I bought a mouse adapter there once, to make a PS2 mouse to serial! The mouse/adapter combination WOULD NOT WORK.. it is KNOWN. But the guy just sold it to me anyway... bastard.
 
MOST computer sales reps are poorly informed when it comes to product knowledge. If I am bored and have nothing to do I go to Best Buy, CompUSA, and Circuit City for entertainment. What is funnier though are the customers who have enough knowledge to be dangerous but think they are experts on everything. The ones that crack me up are those who are living in the past and think that 32MB of RAM is enough for Win98 SE. ROFL 🙂
 
RSI - I worked at a computer store (Compucentre - your comment about the salepeople speaking French while you do not makes me believe that you're from Quebec as well, of course, you could be Flemish, of German Swiss, or a million other combinations) when I was in college.

I learned that knowing the products didn't really help me sell at all. Being confident and listening to the customer made tons of sales. I was the #1 salesperson in the store every month and I wasn't working full time.

You will have trouble with your co-workers if you think that you know much more than them. Take the time to learn how to be a good salesman. It is an important people skill, even if you go into a more technical career.

Trust me, knowing what an ATA66 card is and just over $3 will get you a cofee at Starbucks. Knowing how to close a sale will get you much more in the long run.

As for sales help in computer stores, the local shops tend to have better help. I have not yet found a store, however, that didn't "think" what they had was better.

ATA66 is a perfect example. In general, a 7200 drive is faster than a 5400 drive. ATA66 to ATA33 makes very little difference as the data really isn't saturating the ATA33 interface.

Michael
 
Well try talking computers w/my Grandparents. WOAH. I don't even wanna do that again. I go over there bring there hardrive from their old comp and place in the new comp and copy the files over to the new one. Because previously they were using Floppy Disks to transfer the info. Then I said why don't I just take put the harddrive in the new comp and copy it to the new harddrive. They were like ok in kinda a skeptical way. Then I finished and they were all happy and proud of my idea. Then my Grandma takes all the credit for it. UGH. She was like. I was thinking about doing that. That kinda pissed me off😉
 
I forgot about old people. They crack me up sometimes. They are either the most difficult to deal with, or the easiest. Unfortunately, most of them are difficult it seems.

I had one old guy yelling at me a few weeks ago because I couldn't sell him a Pentium MMX 200 system. He swore up and down that was all he needed for what he wanted to do. This of course, was according to his "friend" who is a "computer expert" and so on. I told him that his "friend" should have explained to him that he was looking for 3 year old hardware. I priced out a cheap Celeron system and he said "I am not a rocket scientist who needs something that fancy."
 
easy does it hubbs 🙂 Just your grandma. 🙂 Like come on, grandma + technology = broken stuff. No matter what. Do not let yourself be out done by your grandma...like..ahhh..come on....ahhhh..yeah..ahh.





🙂
 
sales and knowledge don't always go together... i used to work at best buy... I heard the dumbest things before. And then the crap about gold that we're suppose to sell ppl on? grrr....
 
Yeah I speak English primarily and I've got alot of French in me, and the salesguy was more friend than english... but we understood each other well, he really didn't know what an ata66 controller was!
 
Server at work fried a Adaptec 2940U2W. I didn't want to skip a backup set I though I'd replace it ASAP. CrapUSA was the closest place to find one so I want. The following scenrio:

Scene 1: Windogg wades his way through the lines and lines of Comqraps and Apple iCraps to the peripherals section. Lo and behold the 2940UW Pro is not among the other SCSI cards. Windogg makes beeline for bored looking sales people....

Windogg: Excuse me, do you have the Adaptec 2940 in stock?
Salesleech #1: Adapters are in the the back with the cables
Windogg: No no, I'm looking for a Adaptec Scuzzy card. Its not a adapter. Adaptec is the name of the company.
Salesleech #1: Uhhhhh..... hold on (Diverts attention to salesleech #2)
Salesleech #2: Ohhh.. Uhhhh... is that like a sound card?
Windogg: A Scuzzy card is for hooking up devices like hard drives, CD-ROMS, and tape drives.
Salesleech #2: Oh that thingy, its in upgrades.

The journey is on the the Land of Locked Display cases. We arrive shortly....

Salesleech #2: Just curious. what will you be using it for?
Windogg: A DLT drive
Salesleech #2: BLT? Like the sandwich?
Windogg: Uhhh.... no... it a.... nevermind... How much?
Salesleech #2: (fumbles with box) $399.99 plus tax
Windogg: HUH?!? Come again? I thought I heard $399!!!
Salesleech #2: I did say $399. With tax it comes to $419 and for only $40 more you can buy the extended warranty, it covers....
Windogg: Forget it, I can almost buy 2 cards for that price.
Salesleech #2: I believe you are mistaken, no one beats (Crap)USA on pricing. Uhh... sir? Where did you go?

Windogg peels out of parking lot into the sunset....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top