Customer service rambling

Back in the late 1980's or early 1990's, I went to literally a mom and pop store to buy a new scanner. This place came very highly recommended and had been around forever as being the end all and be all for anything scanners. So I tell them which scanner I was interested in and they acted like it was their first day of kindergarten as never hearing of that model "We don't know we don't know." Fortunately, I found another local place that to me was scanner Heaven with the owner being the kind of guy who was happy to talk to you all day about scanners. I bought a couple more from him until he closed up in about the mid 1990's. The internet has been a Godsend to me in regards to scanners. Once you find a good place, it's best to stick with them. If not, there are many others out there. Yes dealing with customer service these days can be like pushing a brick wall with many incompetent people then add to that people who don't or refuse to speak English especially over the phone.
That's why I have absolutely no regrets about completely cutting the TV cord last year. Paying a ton of money only to have equipment not working properly and only getting jerked around isn't worth it. I only watch my growing DVD collection now along with YOUTUBE video's. Much more wide and segmented choices that way and no high fees either.

 

[wtp]

to keep it on radio.
many years ago i read up on the pro34 and liked it.
i stopped at the RS in Fairlawn NJ, if i recall correctly.
they had one behind the counter in a locked glass case.
i waited a minute and the counter guy finally come over.
i asked if i could see the radio, he unlocked the case and handed it to me.
all well and good. another customer came in and i just said offhand you could help them.
so he did, in about a minute the manager came over and asked what i was doing,
i said just checking the radio out and he said i should not have been left alone with it.
i told him what had happened and he just nodded his head.
he was talking loud enough for the sales kid to hear everything.
so i said in a slightly louder voice that i was going to buy the radio as i was 'trusted' with it.
i added that the sales guy might have seen me get out of the truck that was big enough to block all vision out of the store.
22 foot box, so about 30 feet long.
he smirked a bit and asked how i would pay, i said "cash"
then he knew i was serious.
just by coincidence i had not gone back, but i drove a different route everyday.
sometimes a little thing can go a long way.

 

[KK4JUG]

WTP, that sounds like maybe it was the beginning of the end of Radio Shack. Slowly but surely, the customer service faded away. When the emphasis wound up being cell phones, the "help" didn't know about those either.

 

[KK4JUG]

Verizon has millions of customers. They answer the phone.
AT&T also has millions of customers.. They answer the phone.
When someone commits fraud and opens a Verizon or AT&T account in your name, you can call their fraud department with near immediacy, when you have a fake Facrbook impersonator, or YouTube content creators steal another persons IP, there is no live person. Just AI turdbots to blow you off. Sounds reasonable!

Yeah, but they're in the phone business!

 

[Scan125]

Pull the antenna sounds easy but even watching one live broadcast that may be streamed on the Internet is a criminal offence.

All stitched up we are.

I'm sorry my previous post was both liked and disliked. I was not trying to drag the subject off in another direction but just to say where the OP said he was fed up with poor service etc. he just decided to pull the aerial lead. We can all make choices like ditch brand or service A for B etc. and all have up-sides and down-sides. In a UK citizens case just pulling the TV antenna could get you inadvertently into so seriously deep water.

 

[kc2asb]

WTP, that sounds like maybe it was the beginning of the end of Radio Shack. Slowly but surely, the customer service faded away. When the emphasis wound up being cell phones, the "help" didn't know about those either.

The quality of customer service surely varied between stores. However, when their priority became cellphones, Radio Shack lost that distinctiveness which set them apart from other electronics retailers.

I got into the hobby during my grade school/high school days in the late 80's. It was a salesman at the local Radio Shack who answered my questions on building a longwire antenna and told me about Popular Communications magazine. The sales people / manager knew the electronics hobby and were very knowledgeable.

Years later, at the same store, the sales people did not even know what a PL-259 was - forget about asking them about capacitors/resistors, etc.

I'm sorry my previous post was both liked and disliked. I was not trying to drag the subject off in another direction but just to say where the OP said he was fed up with poor service etc. he just decided to pull the aerial lead. We can all make choices like ditch brand or service A for B etc. and all have up-sides and down-sides. In a UK citizens case just pulling the TV antenna could get you inadvertently into so seriously deep water.

Needing a license to watch TV always struck me as peculiar. Here in the US, the government funds public TV and radio, which produces quality programming. The BBC seems to produce quality programming as well, and their news is first rate, IMHO.

 

[Tim-Elyria]

Watch TV over the air for free with an antenna and stop paying cable/satellite/streaming to get local TV. Sure, you may have to put up an outdoor antenna like the old days of analog TV, but you'll never pay for anything more than electricity to watch TV.

Second, customer service is non-existent. Companies want your money and nothing else. They don't give a rats behind about loyalty or repeat business. If you have LOCALLY owned hardware stores, grocers, eateries, etc SUPPORT THEM. Screw the corporate chains.

They are trying to restrict our watching ability with ATSC 3.0 and DRM . Its coming

 

[kc2asb]

They are trying to restrict our watching ability with ATSC 3.0 and DRM . Its coming

They can keep it. Everything has to be monetized to the max. It's pure greed.

 

[MTS2000des]

They are trying to restrict our watching ability with ATSC 3.0 and DRM . Its coming

Did you file your comments with the FCC?

 

[Tim-Elyria]

Did you file your comments with the FCC?

i dont watch TV . So they can turn it all off tomorrow and i could care less

 

[MTS2000des]

i dont watch TV . So they can turn it all off tomorrow and i could care less

Then why did you post to begin with? If it doesn't affect you, then....

 

[tvengr]

You have to have an expensive TV License to watch *ANY* (including Foreign TV) live broadcast including those streamed over the Internet. Failure to have a license is a CRIMINAL offence,

How do they know you are watching? Do they drive through neighborhoods sniffing for local oscillator signals off of TV's?

 

[EAFrizzle]

How do they know you are watching? Do they drive through neighborhoods sniffing for local oscillator signals off of TV's?

Yes, they do. Auntie Beeb needs tea and biscuits!

I watched a video on that a few months ago. I'll see if I can find it again.

 

[Scan125]

I can only say/point to this: Number of people prosecuted for not paying TV licence revealed

I suspect that the old style TV detector vans are few and far between. What they are probably going on is:

e.g. who had a license and does not now - Are they dead?

No doubt then have other means via ISP data etc.

Some in the UK are livid with anger at having to pay to fund a woke BBC (some exceptions) via a license fee regardless of what you watch and where it was broadcast from.

Why is it that all other providers have to fund themselves, draw audiences, strive to keep customers yet the BBC gets it handed to them on a plate.

Going back many years the BBC was first on the air and having a license was probably a good way to go. In fact to listen to the radio required a license until 1971. History - Radio Licence

I suspect I could get royally screwed by watching US TV via some skip slow scan HF broadcast.

 

[Tim-Elyria]

Then why did you post to begin with? If it doesn't affect you, then....

Because i don't use a service prohibits me from having thoughts or opinions on the subject ?

 

[MTS2000des]

Because i don't use a service prohibits me from having thoughts or opinions on the subject ?

You said you didn't care, you expressed your thoughts. What part did I miss? Me calling you on it?

 

[Tim-Elyria]

You said you didn't care, you expressed your thoughts. What part did I miss? Me calling you on it?

Hahahahaah "You" calling me on it .. Now that is Funny ..........

 

[es93546]

I had very bad service with Uniden about 20-25 years ago. The on/off/volume knob on my BC-780 broke in two about 1-2 years after I purchased it. It was covered by warranty, so maybe it was a year or less. I called Uniden for its replacement. All went smoothly until I was told they didn't send anything via the U.S. Postal Service, that it was UPS or nothing. The problem with UPS at the time (not really their problem) was we had a town of 6-7 K with no street addresses. So for UPS I always had my packages sent to the Ranger Station that I worked at and from. The operator then said they would not cover the part under warranty because the scanner was being used commercially. We went back and forth about there not being any street addresses in my town. The operator said "there are always street addresses no matter where you live." This was the 3rd place I had lived with no street addresses in two different states. So I always used my work physical address, which consisted of "X Ranger Station, New Mexico, California (2 locations in CA). I never had a problem with shipping in the 15 years of not having a street address. Everyone in those towns used commercial addresses for their packages. So I asked the operator for his supervisor. After being on hold for about 30 seconds a guy came on the line and immediately demanded a credit card number as the part was not longer covered by warranty. I said I used it at home. He said then give me the address. When I said my home didn't have an address he said the same thing the operator had told me. From the beginning the supervisor's voice was loud and rude. I told him to lower his voice and stop being rude. He shouted some obscenities at me and hung up. I gave it a day or two and called back. I had it shipped (UPS) to my mother's house in L.A. She then mailed it to my Post Office box. Now, doing it that way caused a delay of about at least 10 days, a period where I had to use a pair of needle nose pliers to turn on the scanner on/off and adjust the volume. About 2 years ago I purchased my Uniden 325P2 through a vendor. I will not deal directly with Uniden again.

The town eventually drew maps (available online) and gave us street addresses. It was a challenge doing so. An even greater challenge for the county, where properties are harder to describe. The people who were most pleased about this are the 911 operators, the law enforcement agencies, paramedics/EMT's and members of the volunteer fire departments. The old method of saying 5th house on the right from the corner of Pine and Crest streets or house just below old man Smith's house passed into history.

 

[ladn]

The operator said "there are always street addresses no matter where you live."

Flatland city dwellers.

 

[es93546]

Flatland city dwellers.

The problem not only concerns shipping addresses much of the country refuses to believe it snows in California. When I tell phone operators that my driveway averages 17 feet of snow I get the old "but it doesn't snow in California." I ask them where do you think the water comes from to grow that lettuce for you salad or to grow tomatoes for you pasta sauce. I tell them that FedEx doesn't always make it overnight, they say "but it is guaranteed." Not when a snowstorm is has winds that prevent the landing of aircraft for 2-3 days. When I tell them that we don't check our Post Office box during storms that sometimes last 8-10 days they can't seem to accept that. They don't understand that we have to drive a whole 1.5 miles to check for mail they don't get it. There are people in this part of California that drive 20 miles one way to check their P.O. Box. You know and this applies to all part of rural areas in the U.S., mail probably doesn't get delivered to your home. When I tell them that grocery deliveries may not make it through on our closed highways for 2-3 days they don't seem to understand. If you live on a hill and don't have any plowing you might have to park at the bottom of the hill for 2-3 months until the snow melts. They don't understand how the power can shut off for a part of a day or for a couple of days 5-6 times a year, no matter the season. Finally, I tell them we are not all that remote, consider they people in Alaska who get their mail delivered every 3-4 months and that a trip to town to buy anything in a store may only be a twice a year occasion, it makes our small town feel like a metropolis.

 

[es93546]

Flatland city dwellers.

You've described 95% of California's population. Don't get me wrong, there are some fine people here in this state and a lot get out and travel to the remote parts of the state. There are savvy fly fishermen, off highway vehicle enthusiasts, hunters, climbers, backpackers, peak baggers, day hikers and many other outdoor sport participants. Most of them understand the remoteness, have a taste of small town life and only live in cities because that is where the jobs are.