# Can I go into Radio Shack one fucking time without walking out pissed off? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 13, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909 "2012-12-13T06:34:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/21 "2012-12-13T16:25:41Z")
I have never been in a Radio Shack that is actually helpful. They are always either 1. super duper condescending, as in “little lady” (SERIOUSLY); 2. completely ignorant and clueless; 3. a combination of both; 4. and douchebags to boot. And I never call anybody a douchebag. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/22 "2012-12-13T16:27:17Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I experienced pretty much the same thing as the OP once when I went to a Radio Shack a few years back and I finally said at the cash register, “Sorry. On principle I cannot bring myself pay such a ridiculous price for this thing. It might only encourage you to stay in business. You should be ashamed of yourselves.” I left them with the cash register drawer open. So instead of being an intelligent person and, upon seeing the price was higher than you wanted to pay, just walking out, you decided you had to ‘teach them a lesson’ by being an asshole and putting up this big charade of buying the item when that wasn’t even remotely your intention. Bully for you!! ---
**Author:** ![furdmort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@furdmort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furdmort)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/23 "2012-12-13T16:37:30Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Yep, I definitely know that when I was a cashier, prices were completely within my control and I took great glee in arbitrarily altering them for no reason other than to piss the customer off. I also had access to pricing sheets so I would be able to instantly tell when random thingamajig was mispriced on the shelf and then choose not to take care of it, preferring instead to be yelled at by an irate customer because that’s always fun and never embarrassing or demeaning. The customer is bitching to YOU as the only available representative of the store. If shit is fucked up, his only recourse is to hope that you can fix it or that the manager can fix it. Or do you expect a customer who’s getting jacked around on the price (sticker says X, cash register says Y, catalog says Z) to thwack the CEO for dumbassery? Your job as a cashier is to be the interface between the store and the customer. When the store’s shit is wrong, YOU do get to explain it to the customer, and the customer will rightly tell you when shit is fucked up. You should then try your best (within the limits of your authority) to fix it, or else call in the manager. You should report problems to your supervisor/shift lead/store manager when the customers report them to you. ETA: And if the prices are plumb out of fucking reason, expect your customers to tell you that, too - and you should let someone higher up know about it. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/24 "2012-12-13T16:38:36Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Yep, I definitely know that when I was a cashier, prices were completely within my control and I took great glee in arbitrarily altering them for no reason other than to piss the customer off. I also had access to pricing sheets so I would be able to instantly tell when random thingamajig was mispriced on the shelf and then choose not to take care of it, preferring instead to be yelled at by an irate customer because that’s always fun and never embarrassing or demeaning. I knew it! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/25 "2012-12-13T16:38:51Z")
And actually I didn’t mind as a cashier if people just told me things were priced too high. I can’t do anything to fix it, but I can sympathize. It’s when they are YELLING at me that it becomes a problem! ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/26 "2012-12-13T16:44:07Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Yep, I definitely know that when I was a cashier, prices were completely within my control and I took great glee in arbitrarily altering them for no reason other than to piss the customer off. I also had access to pricing sheets so I would be able to instantly tell when random thingamajig was mispriced on the shelf and then choose not to take care of it, preferring instead to be yelled at by an irate customer because that’s always fun and never embarrassing or demeaning. I knew it! Oh wait, is this, like, sarcasm? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/27 "2012-12-13T16:45:03Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > They’re trying to refashion themselves as a mobile phone store, hoping to take advantage of high-margin, over-priced sales of cheap accessories. Best Buy is also trying to become a mobile phone store; they’re closing around a hundred locations of their regular stores and opening a bunch of Best Buy Mobile stores. So that in the mall in my hometown, there are so many places to buy a mobile phone, accessories or add money to your pay-as-you-go phone; dedicated AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon stores (either corporate-owned or resellers), Radio Shack, Best Buy Mobile and several of those kiosks in the middle of the mall. Plus there’s a Target store at one end of the mall, where you can also buy mobile phones or accessories. It’s ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/28 "2012-12-13T16:48:36Z")
I’ve never had a problem with clerks at RadioShack. The last two times I went in there to buy something, they were uniformly nice and helpful. (One of them actually kept me from having to spend money by fixing the cord my sister’s plastic-addicted cat had chewed through). However, this year I’ve walked into a RadioShack for two different things, thinking ‘it’s a cord. I can get it cheap here instead of driving to Frys.’ The second time I even checked on their website, where it was reasonably priced. And it cost five times as much in the store. Well, fuck that. Fry’s ain’t that far (it just always ends with me buying more than I meant to. Damn them and their DVD selection anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/29 "2012-12-13T16:50:38Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > And actually I didn’t mind as a cashier if people just told me things were priced too high. I can’t do anything to fix it, but I can sympathize. It’s when they are YELLING at me that it becomes a problem! Yes, and being told I should feel ashamed for something I have no control over does not make me very excited about helping you. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/30 "2012-12-13T16:50:53Z")
Radio Shack absolutely BLOWS and they sell NOTHING that you cannot get elsewhere for less. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/31 "2012-12-13T16:58:00Z")
So where would I go to buy a diode? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/32 "2012-12-13T16:59:53Z")
> [@Nature\_s\_Call](#): > > “I can’t sell you that phone.” > > “Why not?” > > “We don’t sell it. It’s from Bell (his ID’s lanyard is festooned with Bell™).” > > “_speechless_” I’m not getting this. I assume he meant you couldn’t purchase the phone, but could only get it on a contract through Bell? And, why is this an issue. Maybe I’m dense, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/33 "2012-12-13T17:04:39Z")
> [@furdmort](#): > > The customer is bitching to YOU as the only available representative of the store. If shit is fucked up, his only recourse is to hope that you can fix it or that the manager can fix it. Or do you expect a customer who’s getting jacked around on the price (sticker says X, cash register says Y, catalog says Z) to thwack the CEO for dumbassery? > > Your job as a cashier is to be the interface between the store and the customer. When the store’s shit is wrong, YOU do get to explain it to the customer, and the customer will rightly tell you when shit is fucked up. You should then try your best (within the limits of your authority) to fix it, or else call in the manager. You should report problems to your supervisor/shift lead/store manager when the customers report them to you. > > ETA: > And if the prices are plumb out of fucking reason, expect your customers to tell you that, too - and you should let someone higher up know about it. YEAH! This is why retail store clerks get paid so FRICKING MUCH! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/34 "2012-12-13T17:07:58Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > So where would I go to buy a diode? [There you go.](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_5?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=diode&sprefix=diode%2Caps%2C695) ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/35 "2012-12-13T17:08:51Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I experienced pretty much the same thing as the OP once when I went to a Radio Shack a few years back and I finally said at the cash register, “Sorry. On principle I cannot bring myself pay such a ridiculous price for this thing. It might only encourage you to stay in business. You should be ashamed of yourselves.” I left them with the cash register drawer open. “Why would they come to our concert just to boo us?” ---
**Author:** ![furdmort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@furdmort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furdmort)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/36 "2012-12-13T17:10:51Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Yes, and being told I should feel ashamed for something I have no control over does not make me very excited about helping you. Having been there, the customer isn’t thinking of “you” the person but rather “you, face of the faceless conglomerate that is a chain store.” You personally can’t change the prices, but “you” the store should be (if the store were a real person, or if you were the owner+manager of a locally owned store) ashamed of the price. I don’t imagine anyone literally holds a clerk in a chain store responsible for the prices, but they do expect to be able to tell you (as the store’s rep) that the price is outrageous in the hopes that you will pass the word. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/37 "2012-12-13T17:20:03Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > [There you go.](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_5?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=diode&sprefix=diode%2Caps%2C695) Thank you! All of my diode needs have been met and I can die happy. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/38 "2012-12-13T17:20:53Z")
But they can do it without the stupid stunts like **guizot** pulled or the spittle-flecked shouting and stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/39 "2012-12-13T17:21:23Z")
> [@furdmort](#): > > I don’t imagine anyone literally holds a clerk in a chain store responsible for the prices, but they do expect to be able to tell you (as the store’s rep) that the price is outrageous in the hopes that you will pass the word. guizot sure seemed to. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909/40 "2012-12-13T17:23:23Z")
I started a couple years ago giving a bogus postal code when asked; it seems as though fucking everyone needs to know your damned postal code. Here in Canada, our codes are 3 letters and 3 numbers in the sequence [A3A 3A3], so until just last week, I’ve given the (likely non-existent) code L0L 0L0. I’ve switched over to H0H 0H0. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-go-into-radio-shack-one-fucking-time-without-walking-out-pissed-off/643909.md?page=3)