Ok, what have you heard computer salesman saying before...

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: mobiusman

Originally posted by: txxxx

Originally posted by: lavagirl669
I was at CompUSA looking at the laptops and he was trying to point out something on
an HP...
I was like....dude
don't even show me an HP ok?
ha!

HP actually have good build quality, which is the more important factor in a laptop given that some of the components arent as interchangable. Oh well your loss for your naivety

HP and Compaq notebooks suck. The hardware is just horrible. They are making cheap products and selling them for cheap to gain market share. Our service department grumbles whenever we have to go near one. HP does make decent printers and PDA's. (Hp did also have a line of decent AMD towers with Asus MB's and proper ATX power supplies. They are discontinued now though.)
-Scott

*Groan*

HP does make their own printers, but doesn't make their own laptops. They actually farm out their laptop production to companies like Compal, who make high quality laptops for a number of companies (Dell, for example).

 

[spazo]

Not really an interesting story but I've noticed something about my local Office Depot. I go there alot because they usually have clearances that I find out about at fatwallet and my store will usually have them in stock. But sometimes when I ask for something, they totally ignore me while on other days I'll have like 5 representatives trying to get my business...

 

[mobiusman]

Originally posted by: mAdMaLuDaWg
A Verizon telemarketer once called me to sign me up for DSL. I told him I had cable and I was happy with it. He then went on to say, "You know with Cable, the more users there are the more slower it becomes. However, DSL has integrated servers that enable us to give you a constant speed." I knew the dude was BSing me... so I said something along the lines of "No not at all, with cable you have automatic adjusting bandwidth that will increase the bandwidth when more users get on with Smart bandwidth technology. Smartbandwidth technology exponentially increases the bandwidth depending on the number of users on the line...." The guy was like, "ok ok... I understand, have a nice day..."
I held him on the line for a few more minutes and I finally let him go... heh, that made me feel good.

Totally unrelated but this reminds me of the time a telemarketer called about a credit card. I was playing Unreal Tournament 2003 and had my Z640s cranked up. I picked up the phone and the lady was like "Hi, my name is Megan and I'm calling on behalf of your Chase Credit Card..." Right then, out of the speakers came... "DIE B*TCH" (the bot just killed someone). The lady was like, "Oh, I'm sorry!" and hung up. I was wondering what happend and after a few seconds it hit me... I cracked up so hard.

Sounds to me like the Verizon dude was correct there. I have 5 Mb/s cable service and still notice more slowdowns during peak times than when I had 1.5 Mb/s DSL. Bandwidth tests swing wildly with cable and are more constant on DSL. Cable still does have a faster average speed though.
BTW, really funny UT2003 story .

 

[crazycarl]

Originally posted by: mAdMaLuDaWg

Totally unrelated but this reminds me of the time a telemarketer called about a credit card. I was playing Unreal Tournament 2003 and had my Z640s cranked up. I picked up the phone and the lady was like "Hi, my name is Megan and I'm calling on behalf of your Chase Credit Card..." Right then, out of the speakers came... "DIE B*TCH" (the bot just killed someone). The lady was like, "Oh, I'm sorry!" and hung up. I was wondering what happend and after a few seconds it hit me... I cracked up so hard.

OMG ROFLMAO!!!!

 

[Jawadali]

Originally posted by: fsstrike
"The 9600 Pro is 95% as good as the 9800 Pro"

I've heard that from the guys that works at EBX. They think the clockspeed is only lowered by a little. He's friendly to me, though.

Also, a lot of best buy reps think that all video cards are withing 10%-20% of each other in terms of performance.

But hte worst thing I have seen is when a Best Buy rep sold an elderly gentleman a $20 Antec round cable. The man was just looking for a plain old ATA100/133 cable, but the rep said they were out of stock.

The old man said "life's like that sometimes" to the rep and left before I could tell the man that the cables are worth less than a dollar, and that I'd be willing to give him one for free.

I felt pretty bad.

Even round cables are like $2-3 online.

 

[Jawadali]

Originally posted by: nick1985
i bought some headphones at best buy a couple weeks back and when i checked out the guy was insisting that i buy the year warranty from them...did he not realize that there is a manufacturer warranty?

I think most of them really don't know about manufacturer warranties on products.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: stinger73
I really feel that all the stores try to hire the cheapest labor they can, and then when customers get the wrong item drive them away with exhaustive lines and excessive cross-examining (Eg: FRY's, CC).

On a side note, I used to work at COMPUSA in 98 as a business sales associate and had 7 years off on-phone support for an internet pc-parts company, so I pretty much was a techhead, I went to FRY's to apply just for fun, and the manager who took my application plainly said " you are to overly qualified for us and would cost us sales by selling things people need rather that what we can get them for"

LOL. It really doesn't surprise me at all.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: JBT
I was at Staples one day and this lady was all freaked out about her privacy and the government hacking into her computer and stuff :roll: so she was looking at firewalls. So she was looking at the pro version of Zone Alarm... The Staples employee started "helping her" and recommended she try out NORTON GHOST as it is a new and really good at security... I was like WTF??? she ended up not being interested in it other wise I was going ot have to step in and say somthing.

Wierd, maybe the Staples associate was slightly mis-informed. There actually is an "anonymous" surfing web-proxy software package called "GhostSurf", maybe that's what he thought he was talking about.

 

[bluewall21]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: JBT
I was at Staples one day and this lady was all freaked out about her privacy and the government hacking into her computer and stuff :roll: so she was looking at firewalls. So she was looking at the pro version of Zone Alarm... The Staples employee started "helping her" and recommended she try out NORTON GHOST as it is a new and really good at security... I was like WTF??? she ended up not being interested in it other wise I was going ot have to step in and say somthing.

Wierd, maybe the Staples associate was slightly mis-informed. There actually is an "anonymous" surfing web-proxy software package called "GhostSurf", maybe that's what he thought he was talking about.

I doubt that you could confuse the two, and if they had GhostSurf there.

 

[sharq]

Here's one from Tech Support:

I called Toshiba tech support (offshored to India, what a surprise!) concerning problems that I was having with their router. I told the guy that I was having trouble with the router and that it was not assigning an ip via DHCP (I guess I was too technical for the guy). He asks me for the serial number, I give it to him. He then says it doesn't show anything, he asks me for model, I give it to him, that doesn't show anything. He asks me then when I bought my Toshiba computer, I tell him its about a router not a computer. He asks if I have a Toshiba computer. I made the mistake of saying yes (I do have a laptop) and he then wants the serial number of it. I ask him why, he says so that he can help me with the problem I'm having. I tell him the problem is not with the computer, its with the router. I went back and forth on that for a little while and then just told him I wanted to speak to someone in the USA. His manager came on all concerned, went back and forth with him. Finally they took my info, and passed it up to 2nd level tech support which is based in the US. Finally I got someone who knew about computers, could speak english, and knew what a router was!

Not sure if that applies in this category, but I had to share

 

[jessieqwert]

Working at BestBuy was horrible.

The computer sales managers were constantly forcing us to sell the most useless crap.
The UPC units were the worst. They told customers that they had to get a UPC or their computer would constantly crash.
They sold really poor quality APC units for three times what they were worth.

:disgust: - Best Buy
:heart: - Discounts

 

[bigbird656]

The Salesman at frys the other day was a retard. We started chatting about socket 754 mobos, and he told me "well, i think this ASUS K8V SE Delux is the best motherboard we have here for the socket 754, mostly because it is one of the few that supports dual channel RAM, you can tell because the RAM slots are different colors!" I soiled my pants and left.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: mAdMaLuDaWg
A Verizon telemarketer once called me to sign me up for DSL. I told him I had cable and I was happy with it. He then went on to say, "You know with Cable, the more users there are the more slower it becomes. However, DSL has integrated servers that enable us to give you a constant speed." I knew the dude was BSing me... so I said something along the lines of "No not at all, with cable you have automatic adjusting bandwidth that will increase the bandwidth when more users get on with Smart bandwidth technology. Smartbandwidth technology exponentially increases the bandwidth depending on the number of users on the line...." The guy was like, "ok ok... I understand, have a nice day..."
I held him on the line for a few more minutes and I finally let him go... heh, that made me feel good.

Exponentially-increasing bandwidth due to demand? Well... OK, if you say so...

It's true though, consumer broadband is oversubscribed, bandwidth-wise, no matter if you are talking about DSL or cable.

Originally posted by: mAdMaLuDaWg
Totally unrelated but this reminds me of the time a telemarketer called about a credit card. I was playing Unreal Tournament 2003 and had my Z640s cranked up. I picked up the phone and the lady was like "Hi, my name is Megan and I'm calling on behalf of your Chase Credit Card..." Right then, out of the speakers came... "DIE B*TCH" (the bot just killed someone). The lady was like, "Oh, I'm sorry!" and hung up. I was wondering what happend and after a few seconds it hit me... I cracked up so hard.

LOL. That's just SO awesome, coming from someone else who dislikes telemarketers and also plays UT.

 

[Alastria]

A few years ago, I was in BB and saw a HP ScanJet 3400C for $30 (I think it was on clearance), while a similar model next to it (3500 maybe?) was $75. I looked the boxes over, trying to see why that one was so cheap. A sales rep saw me studying these things, and asked if I needed any help.

ME: "What is the difference between these two scanners?" He looked at one scanner for a few seconds, then the other. He then pointed to the display tag of the first one, and began reading aloud the bullet points on the tag to me, as though I can't read.
REP: "Well, this one is a flat bed, has 300 dpi, and a USB connection. This other one is a flat bed, has ... uhh 300 dpi, and has a USB connection, too."
ME: "Yea, I'm capable of reading. Does the more expensive one throw in some extra software, or a longer USB cable or something?" REP: After more studying, "Oh, I see, this one has 2400dpi interlooped [how he said it], and this other one has 4800dpi interlooped."
ME: "Do you even know what dpi stands for?"
REP: "Uhh .. I think it has something to do with how much memory it takes up or something. I have to say, I don't normally work in computers. I usually work in the stereo department."

I just said, "Fine", bought the $30 scanner, and still use it to this day.

And that, is the biggest problem with BB. Their sales people are selling TVs one day, and computers the next.

 

[mAdMaLuDaWg]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: mAdMaLuDaWg
A Verizon telemarketer once called me to sign me up for DSL. I told him I had cable and I was happy with it. He then went on to say, "You know with Cable, the more users there are the more slower it becomes. However, DSL has integrated servers that enable us to give you a constant speed." I knew the dude was BSing me... so I said something along the lines of "No not at all, with cable you have automatic adjusting bandwidth that will increase the bandwidth when more users get on with Smart bandwidth technology. Smartbandwidth technology exponentially increases the bandwidth depending on the number of users on the line...." The guy was like, "ok ok... I understand, have a nice day..."
I held him on the line for a few more minutes and I finally let him go... heh, that made me feel good.

Exponentially-increasing bandwidth due to demand? Well... OK, if you say so...

It's true though, consumer broadband is oversubscribed, bandwidth-wise, no matter if you are talking about DSL or cable.

ROFL... in case you guys didn't get it, I was BSing too. The Verizon dude also said alot more crap like cable becoming ultimately slow that it would become unusable (and much more that I can't remember). It ticked me off that he was saying lies just to sell the product. So I decided to turn the tables on him.... it was funny to hear his voice fluctuate from a know it all salesman to a nervous one who couldn't wait to get off the phone

 

[Delorian]

I picked up an HP laptop @ circuit city last fall (hps are pretty good really, better than a lot I've seen). The laptop cost $1100 but only $850 after rebates I recieved back after a couple months. When I asked the guy about a couple features he was pretty dumbfounded. He tried to sell me a 2-yr warranty on the $850 laptop for $299. he said for $399 I could get a 3-yr warranty on it. I replied to him that in less than 3-years that laptop would not be worth $399. Yet he argued that laptops "retained" thier value more than desktops. I then told the guy that I would not pay half the value of the laptop for a warranty when it comes with a 1-yr warranty from HP anyhow. He persisted even still saying that lightning could destroy my laptop and I could have it replaced or "If a virus destroys the hard drive" then it would be covered. I then got frustrated and annoyed with his lack of technology knowhow and told him how a virus COULD NOT destroy a hard drive only the data contained on it and if I was worried about that I'd buy some anti-virus software for a lot cheaper instead. He told me they got service calls all the time for destroyed hard drives due to viruses even with having anti-virus software and that it could end up costing me a lot of money (not like the $399 warranty wouldn't!). Eventually he left me alone and stopped trying to sell the warranty but nearly a year later I've gotten at least 10 different letters in the mail telling me it's my "last chance" to buy the warranty. I absolutely hate that they annoy people to death with this junk. Sometimes CC has decent deals but the hassle you have to go through just to buy their products is just ridiculous.

 

[JoeFaheyx]

with all this said, i say we burn the stores and start our own store.

 

[tooltime]

"This computer will do EVERYTHING you need and it's so easy to do"

Yeah...right!

 

[imported_jediknight]

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: nick1985
I was walking around best buy once and i heard the computer salesman saying the celeron was a good processor...the family bought the 1000 computer..i almost cried


any good ones?

For someone looking to surf the web and do email, the celeron is not a bad choice for budget-minded folks.

No way. I'd much rather go with an Athlon XP.. these days, you can get them for about the same price.. and much better performance than a Celeron ( the Prescott based Celerons are looking better, though.. )

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: jediknight

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: nick1985
I was walking around best buy once and i heard the computer salesman saying the celeron was a good processor...the family bought the 1000 computer..i almost cried


any good ones?

For someone looking to surf the web and do email, the celeron is not a bad choice for budget-minded folks.

No way. I'd much rather go with an Athlon XP.. these days, you can get them for about the same price.. and much better performance than a Celeron ( the Prescott based Celerons are looking better, though.. )

The AXP is actually about half the price, and AMD mobos are generally cheaper as well.

 

[JoeFaheyx]

This thread is great!:laugh:

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: JoeFahey
This thread is great!:laugh:

i 52nd that!

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: jediknight

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: nick1985
I was walking around best buy once and i heard the computer salesman saying the celeron was a good processor...the family bought the 1000 computer..i almost cried


any good ones?

For someone looking to surf the web and do email, the celeron is not a bad choice for budget-minded folks.

No way. I'd much rather go with an Athlon XP.. these days, you can get them for about the same price.. and much better performance than a Celeron ( the Prescott based Celerons are looking better, though.. )

How much faster is an Athlon XP going to be than a celeron in outlook? 30FPS more? 1.2 emails per second faster?

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

Originally posted by: mAdMaLuDaWg
Totally unrelated but this reminds me of the time a telemarketer called about a credit card. I was playing Unreal Tournament 2003 and had my Z640s cranked up. I picked up the phone and the lady was like "Hi, my name is Megan and I'm calling on behalf of your Chase Credit Card..." Right then, out of the speakers came... "DIE B*TCH" (the bot just killed someone). The lady was like, "Oh, I'm sorry!" and hung up. I was wondering what happend and after a few seconds it hit me... I cracked up so hard.

Can't stop laughing!

I need to try to do that to the next person who calls.

 

[nick1985]

new story! just happened actually...

i was talking to my girlfriend and she was saying how her printer isnt working. so i said that ill look at it for her. she is like "oh dont bother, i called dell and they said i would need a new CD from the printer company." im like...sheesh if dell said that it MUST be true :roll: i zip on teh intarweb and download a driver for it. fixed. man, dell has great tech support. and to think how much they charge for those 3 year tech support extensions...:roll: