RadioShack Rants

Well, whatever. Obviously, they haven't kept up. Next story.

So long Radio Shack, who's motto should have been "You've got questions, they've got blank looks."

Ditto..."TRS-80 Model I which my father bought there...which led, indirectly, to the career I chose"

They are probably shuttering the stores which dothe least business.. not surprisingly which is probably because they overprice everything. I remember needing several different pieces of equipment that are fairly commonplace, and every time I checked out radio shack, they were the most expensive.

Or, how about their trademark when it comes to integrated circuit parts: "If you need 6 resistors, we've got 4 of 'em!"

Can't tell you how many times that happened to me. Still, where else can you find a pack of 150 Ohm resistors?

ah.. they aint dead yet..

I don't have to much sympathy for a company that starts to suck.. The salespeople there are more like used car salesman trying to get you to buy things you don't want / need. I've had to return more stuff that just didn't work...

I don't get it.. Is Radio Shack a big PC World advertiser?

If ANY company went down hill the way Radio C.r.a.p. did then I'm not going to shed one tear for them.

Corp. America has ruined stores like Radio Shack.. I don't think we should reward Corp. America by supporting the Brands they have ruined.

I have mixed feelings about RadioShack myself. True, they sell lot of goodies you can hardly find anywhere else, however, lately I see lot of overpriced no name junk that doesn?t work the moment you bring it home. And sales people, unless I know exactly what I am going to buy I don?t even bother talking to them (where else can someone consider voltmeter and network cable tester to be the same thing)?

Man, tough crowd. You know, Radio Shack does have some stuff that you just can't seem to find anywhere else. It's kind of like a geeks attic. I've always kind of liked it myself.

Radio Shack from the late 70s to early-mid 90s was a great place. The problem with the company was that their product lines were a mixture of crud and excellent. Aside from what people would say, many Radio Shack receivers from the late 70s to the mid 80s were some of the finest available. I have an STA-2280 receiver from 1987 whose performance and sound quality betters that of most current receivers. Some of their speakers were fantastic (anyone remember the Linaeum tweeters or the Minimus 7) but some were junky. And as I recall, one of the very first notebook computers was from Radio Shack. I've been working with computers professionally for almost 17 years, thanks partly to the TRS-80; it was my introduction to computers.

Unfortunately, the Shack now attempts to make most of its money selling cell phone plans. It's quite a fall from its glory days 20 years ago. I used to count the days until the new Radio Shack catalog would come out, then stay up late reading it, dog-earring the pages that had something I "needed."

Nowadays, I only go to the Shack when I need a watch battery, patch cables, or a 90-degree RCA connector, but I pine for the shelves with the receivers and speakers.

I have a love hate relationship with Radio Shack. Most of the people I have dealt with at various Radio Shacks around the country have been dolts; clueless to answer any questions.

The one I frequent on a regular basis does however seem to have at least one knowledgeable person that has actually answered my questions with useful information.
Hats off to the Mooresville NC location!

The selection at all RS is pretty bad but they do often seem to have an odd connector or some other widget I need to have that day and can't wait on ordering over the net.

Don't get me started on Jerkit City, Worst Buy or the other big box stores - they just are plain awful and expensive with idiots working there.

I loved Radioshack too. I hate to see it go. I think Wal-Mart is partly to blame. They've gotten so big that several stores are going out of business.

Talking about hats off, hats off to the Rutherfordton/Spindale/Forest City, NC area.

I didn't like it when they used to take your name, address, and phone number either. The salesmen have always seemed very helpful to me, but one thing I don't like is their pushy ways. They asked my Dad one time, "Want to buy a free cell phone?" My Dad says, "Free?? No, I don't think it's free. There has to be a catch somewhere. Besides, I already have a cellphone." The salesman said, "It's probably outdated." It was only a year old though.

Wow this is a tough crowd. I feel that Radioshack is more knowledgable than the competition in most cases. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to be a small bax retailer in a big box market.

I would like to see them become a big box retailer with the same "can I help you" attitude.

My dad worked at Radioshack back in the 70's. He has nothing but fond memories of it. Sadly, I never really got the full effect of the 'shack. I was born in '85, so by the time I was even aware of this Radioshack place it was already the mid-90's, where it seemed like a generic electronics store that didn't have anything I really needed.

In some ways, it kinda sucked to be a tech geek growing up in the 90's. While I always had access to decent computers and random gadgets, I never got to really feel like an insider. By the time I got the game, everyone had already been there, done that. I can just as easily go to some big chain store, or get something off the net.

If I were born a few decades earlier, you can rest assured I would have been all about the RadioShack.

I left the shack after more than a decade.
It was fun teaching the customers how to put things together and with that they would come back. Now all they want is to sell you is cel phone's

I've always been happy with Radioshack. The people have always been friendly and knowledgeable. Could you imagion having to know everything about all the products they have? It could be worse, You could be shopping at Walmart.

I always seem to feel an "attitude" when walking in a Radio Shack store in recent years. Can't put my finger on it exactly...perhaps a bunch of salesmen who are grossly-underpaid and are under-motivated.
That having been said, I have found a few outlets here in Philadelphia that really are helpful and will not "steer" you to the priciest option when a simple fix or part will do.
Cheltenham Mall and Market Square in Phila...great people. So I will continue to be a RS customer because of their customer respect and good spirits.

I work at a radio shack currently. The company sucks. I cant say it doesnt. I wasnt trained at all, good thing i had previous knowledge. Anyway, don't blame the associates because the company is shitty and poorly managed. They want us to sell NEW cell phones to people when EVERY customer already has a perfectly working phone already. Its said but they just dont see it.

as a current employee i believe that rs will hang around a bit longer. it may however be bought out by a larger corp like jerkit city or worst buy. however if this does occur, it is likely that rs and its mother company will easily have a monopoly over the electronics industry. unfortunately much of the previously stated comments, both negative and positive are true.

I was an employee of Radio Shack from 1975 (3 months), 1977 (4 years) 1984 (11 years). Just shy of 15 years. Thought the grass might be greener, and as of 11 years ago, it was. But most of the time, I loved working for 'em. During that time, I wore MANY hats, from salesmaker (that's what they called 'em) to computer specialist, assistant manager, and spent 5 years as a manager. I loved when new Radio Shack products came in 'cause I could teach the whole store about 'em. And they knew...if not, I'd field the question, then they'd have to learn it. That was, in my opinion, how to lead the store to be the best. And our sales figures showed that it worked. I loved "da Shack" up until about 1992, when things started to change. As a manager, I was supposed to have little to say about how the store looked (I got into more trouble this way, but my sales figures stopped 'em from firing or demoting me)...the corporate bigwhigs thought they know how to run "my" store better than I did. I was from the "old school" and for the most part, refused to have anything to do with it (except for the major redesigns, which were fine). I was disappointed when they started going for name brand items, at 20% higher prices than Walmart. My biggest successes were with the old DeskMate...very much simpler, at the time, Windows 3.0. Ahhhhh...it's hard to find anyone in RS that knows about anything other than cellphones. My audio systems were all RS (one in particular made by Sherwood...an EXCELLENT receiver), a cassette deck that was more advanced than anything made today that I know of (well, considering you don't find them much, anymore), and turntables that would not really "wow" you (you have to be an audiophile to understand that one!!! :-) Anyway, I still shop there from time to time, even though most of 'em don't know and SWR meter from an amp probe, how to use them, or even what they do. Good luck, RS. From Gil Davis - last store managed - Kyrene and Warner, Tempe, Arizona 'til 1995 (now closed). gildavis -nospam- @usa.com

I can't wait to find another (NON-COMMISSION)job. Any complaint I have about the store turns out to be "my problem". I was compared to employees, so I compared RS to other companies that customers often say they'll go to instead, and the stocks aren't looking very good. Do a comparision of these stocks: RSH, CC, BBY, SPLS, TGT, and EBAY to know what I mean. Sometimes I go home feeling so guilty for still working here. I made more money making subs, and didn't have to sell unneeded crap to innocent people!

i currently manage a Radioshack, i turned this 20 transaction a day store to 50 transactions a day. Mainly through being friendly to people. Now many of you had complaints about pushy and stupid workers but that goes for any retailer store you go to. People will always be people.

Most of the complaints that i have read is about Radioshack only wanting to sell phones, well look at the times Cellphones are a Billion dollar buisness, we are just trying to adapt to the changing market.

Still want to give thanks to the people who have fond memories of the shack, its you people who makes me feel like i joined a great company.

L.A region

I would like to uppercut my district manager. no, I would LOVE to uppercut my district manager.

As a current RS Manager I can empathize with many of the comments made on this site. As to the blank looks on our employee's faces, that depends largely on the store and the engagement of the manager in charge. There are 5 RadioShacks in my city and some I refuse to send my customers to due to undertrained staff. My personal sales philosophy is sell to the customer's needs. This requires that you actually listen to your customer. I don't train my staff to sell things our customers don't need or can't use, for the very reason that this breeds the contempt that I have seen in these posts. I agree that corporate America is a bunch of bloodthirsty bastards looking only at the bottom dollar, and to some degree this filters down, but there are still those of us that keep our customers needs placed above the almighty dollar.

I was a store manager back in the late 80's - early 90's. It was HORRIBLE to have to work so hard and NOT be able to pay my bills.. EVER! I left, happily, and entered the corporate world. Within 1 months time, the fog lifted from my brain as I began to realize i totaly WAISTED my late 20's - early 30's and that I COULD have a fun, productive, and LUCRATIVE life.
I receintly started working part time for a short spell of @ 3 months and, once again, I clearly see that the idiots in Ft. Worth have no clue on how to run a company. Like rats running in a labrynth that has no true end, these poor (litteraly) employees work WAY to hard for a pittiful stipend that the big wigs call "a better pay plan then our competition".. BULL S*IT! You can make more money on unemployment then you can make as a salesmaker in an average store, and thats a fact.
The truth of the matter is, Radio Shack wants what it will not pay for, quality.. wake the eff up.. as in life, you get what you pay for. Pay them nothing, expect the same in return.
The biggest problem I saw in my short return to Shack Island is that Radio Shack has compleatle forgotten who & what they are. Radio Shack is NOT the cell phone mavens they wish they where. Too bad the only commission these 7.05 per hour hard working (and, yes, they do work very hard) people can make is selling cell phones to people who already have them. Oh, and good luck talking Verizon customers in to switching to Cingular.. idiots.
My heart goes out to the thousands of family men who cant feed their children on what RS pays them. It should be a crime to pay you what they do.

I too was a Radio Shack Manager for 15 years. I would like to say that they gave me the opportunity to raise a family and make a decient living. I liked the company alot and was a very loyal person. I did have a problem with there sales people pay structure. I took pride in taking care of my customers and treating them with the respect that they deserved and training my team to do the same. I hope that the company can make it out of the mess that they are in and make some changes that it has needed for a while now. There are many good people that work and have worked for the company who care and unfortionatly a few bad apples can spoil the whole bunch. Keep the faith people. Things will change......I thank them for the opportunities and fun that i had for so many years.

Our family owns a store in Henderson, Nevada and we became a Radio Shack Dealer in December 1975. We grew the business over the years and as of 1982 our store was probably one of the top 20% as far as Radio Shack Dealers were ranked in the whole country.
Then our world collapsed when Radio Shack opened a company-owned store right down the sidewalk from our store in January 1984 on the SAME STREET, SAME SIDE OF THE STREET, SAME ZIP CODE, ALMOST THE SAME ADDRESS, ALMOST THE SAME PHONE NUMBER, and LESS THAN 1/3 MILE from our store. Radio Shack began to criticize our family mercilessly ONLY AFTER they opened their store. Radio Shack people have harrassed, threatened, and finally filed a lawsuit against our family because they said our store is not a dealer any more and I wouldn't remove the Radio Shack signs that we OWNED because Radio Shack is wrong and I will always stand up to them. I always liked the products but I can't stand the people except for one salesman who was intelligent and honest and reasonable.

I currently manage a RS and I must say that I find my company to be a great one that works on constantly improving itself which you cant say for most companies and as for the product selection, we are small stores, and we are discerning about the models we carry. Its hard to learn everything about over 5000 SKU's. I would like to see any of you try to do my job which is incredibly complex and challenging.

Well i believe that all of you are way to critical on the company. i have worked there almost a year now. i have learned more than i would ever believe about the products we carry.most of the "sales people" try to help with what ever your need may be and well in my store at least we like to show people the cool new products which most people dont even know we carry. just cause i show you somthing does not mean im trying to "sell u somthing you dont need" but you would be surprised how many return customers i have because i have been a little extra helpful. and if you dont like the customer service then go somewhere else. Thats what were here for. as for pay you find another retail store that offers hourly+comission+spiffs.
Good luck you wont!

The only time I give customers a "blank look" is when I am asked the stupidest questions such as "I bought this 30 years ago and you dont still have the owners manual laying around? well find it!" or the classic "I bought this somewhere else and I cant get it to work, put it together for me" so before you go into a radio shack and think you know everything cut the people there some slack, we deal with idiots every damn day.

I hate working at RS. These guys are psychos! Our DM is a tyrannical terrorist. I got a two year old, im 30, what the hell am i doing here? Maybe I should hook up a webcam and broadcast my quitting on this site...