# Funny Encounters with Sales People



## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

Please share your funny stories about encounters with HT sales people. I think it is best if we don't mention store or company names to keep from ruffling feathers - just say "big box", "on line", "store", etc.

I will start.

Several years ago, I walked into a big box store to buy some inexpensive component cables. I found a set made by AR. I had used theirs before and knew that the quality was adequate for my needs.

Salesman walks up - "Why are you buying those? These are MUCH better." Of course, he had in his hand a famous brand that was 4x the price of the ARs. I told him that the ARs were perfectly fine, that I am an electrical engineer and "cables are cables." 

He persisted... I told him that I had been involved in hifi/stereo since before he was born. He said "That's impossible." I told him that, my, he did not look like he was 45.

I walked away, perfectly happy with my $12 cables.


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## phreak (Aug 16, 2010)

I walked into one storefront out of curiosity, and was ushered into a demo room. When the demo was over the girl asked my impressions. 
Me: It was slightly better than my current living room system. 
Her: So you would buy this system?
Me: That depends. What is the price?
Her: $6000 
Me: not a chance
Her: but you admitted this is better than your current system
Me: slightly better, but my current system cost me $2200. Another $100 for rears and a 2nd $100 sub and my system would trounce this for $2400. 
Her: but surely you can appreciate the simplicity of this system?
Me: I acknowledge that others might appreciate the simplicity. 
Her: so you would recommend this system to others?
Me: No, I would recommend a $2400 system and help them set it up.


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

:laugh: Pretty funny phreak.


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## Jasonpctech (Apr 20, 2010)

A Wal-mart employee at the store I worked at the time was telling a customer the extended warranty on a plasma screen would cover re-fills. I asked the "associate" afterward to explain the re-fill thing, he proceeded to tell me plasma displays like liquid crystal TV's have liquid that you replace kinda like a oil change. bla, bla, bla. My lunch break was over back to "reality". Back in the 80's Sears had the worst misinformed sale people I knew of that could make up wild stories about hi-fi gear. Example speakers that were identical from the year before other than a huge "DIGITAL" emblem being improved so they were digital speakers! Don't forget those speaker power handling numbers that people figured the higher the number the louder and better they should be. ("I bought those 60w speakers that blew because my amp is so powerful then upgraded to 250w 6x9's running on my Pyramid 1000w mini EQ and the cops came it was so loud!") Don't get me going on those crazy amp specs...

*Disclaimer:*
Just to clarify I sold cellphones there, got decent pay and never had leave my kiosk to cashier "upfront" needless to say Wal-mart decided to fix that as I was making a near living wage. so ending my "Wal-Mart career path" parting ways with the kingdom of evil. Don't get me started on my AIG stories...


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## showcattleguy (Jun 30, 2011)

I was at American T.V. not to long ago while a man and his wife were watching a demo for some Focal Chorus towers. Abruptly the man and his wife promptly conversed and he announced (I will never forget what he said) that the Klipsch speakers sounded more like a Wookie than the Focals and they wanted to buy them. The salesman without missing a beat asked the couple how many Wookies they have heard recently. I had to walk out of the room I was laughing so hard.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Didn't Paul Klipsch publish a white paper about getting speakers to sound like a wookie? I actually heard an amp make a sound sort of like a wookie once.

One of my favorite reasons to visit dealers is to over hear conversations like that. Some really wild stuff...but then I heard some pretty wild stuff visiting some of the vendors at CES, etc. And from some of the sales reps that used to come around to "educate" the sales staff.


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## Picture_Shooter (Dec 23, 2007)

I was at my local Frys when a young guy approached me while I was checking out the plasmas. He said he's not a fan of the plasmas because the gas can be toxic and the pictures is the worse compared to LCD and LED.

I grinned and say thanks for your opinion and asked him to kindly leave me alone.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

I have to add onto the plasma recharge train. Years ago - I was shopping at a circuit city... Checking out some plasmas I had been researching. Sure enough, the salesman breaks into this description of how I could recharge the plasma on any plasma tv I bought. Frankly, it was enough for me to take my business elsewhere. It wasn't even worth discussing...


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## nelx360 (Jun 23, 2012)

Lol i was at a best buy a wile back and older guy was there with his wife and the man and his wife tells the sales guy at the tv section that he wants to watch blurays in 1080p so the guy points to him an lcd and says oh this tv is awsome for movies so im looking and the tv says 720 so he leaves and i tell the man and his wife thats not 1080 gave him heads up on what to look for he was kinda pissed that the dude was trying to just swoop him into any tv


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Consumer markets are brutal. Where there is money to be made, the priority will almost always devolve to making the sale and squeezing as much profit from it as possible. That means that sales people are not much more than box movers and will not have the experience nor much motivation to deliver good information. The consumer has to be very wary of what he/she hears as part of a sales pitch. Most will never make the effort to become educated on complex technological issues and this is the segment of the market that these stores appeal to. It is hard to watch, but it is social and economic "natural" selection at work.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

lcaillo said:


> That means that sales people are not much more than box movers and will not have the experience nor much motivation to deliver good information.


How very true. It sure is sad to see folks plop down good money based on bad advice. But, that certainly is not unique to HT...


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

lcaillo said:


> Consumer markets are brutal. Where there is money to be made, the priority will almost always devolve to making the sale and squeezing as much profit from it as possible. That means that sales people are not much more than box movers and will not have the experience nor much motivation to deliver good information. The consumer has to be very wary of what he/she hears as part of a sales pitch. Most will never make the effort to become educated on complex technological issues and this is the segment of the market that these stores appeal to. It is hard to watch, but it is social and economic "natural" selection at work.


Im afraid such a blanket statement is not accurate, Best Buy is a great example. This big-box company has a very comprehensive training program for both new and existing employees and often you will come across enthusiasts who work there. I hear Radio Shack has a good training program also...

Most of the bad advice is from locations you would expect to get bad advice, namely department stores. Being a former BB employee I find it much easier to blame a lazy and ignorant public, but I suppose its all a matter of perspective.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

I would be interested in hearing BB's training speach on Monster Cables...


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## Kal Rubinson (Aug 3, 2006)

TypeA said:


> Im afraid such a blanket statement is not accurate, Best Buy is a great example. This big-box company has a very comprehensive training program for both new and existing employees and often you will come across enthusiasts who work there. I hear Radio Shack has a good training program also...


I have no idea what their training programs are but my personal experience with both chains would not suggest what you say. They are not entirely ignorant, of course, but the gaps in their knowledge are often huge and they rarely will admit to it.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

My experience is similar to Kal's. I have shopped (a lot) and purchased(rarely, because of frustration) at BB for years and have never had an experience that indicated significant knowledge and rarely any caring for my needs.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I agree, non of my experiences at any of the big box stores has been impressive. I always do my homework on a product before I walk into the store because I often get contradicting stories about whats better.
I have on many ocations overheard the sales people giving their spiel about Bose or the different display technologies, I overheard one gy telling someone that the LED displays were a panel of LEDs that change color much better than LCD :coocoo: The Bose sales pitch is so ridiculous! I usually have to walk away out of earshot. I once even pulled the people aside after he was done and told them the truth about Bose.


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## DougMac (Jan 24, 2008)

I walk into the outlet store of the world's largest speaker manufacturer. After looking at a $3300 surround system, the manager asked me if I needed assistance. "Yes", I replied. "I'd like to see your brochure that has technical specificaitions on that system, including frequency charts." Manager:"I'm sorry, I don't have any." Me (straight faced):"Oh, you're out? When will you get some?" Manager:"That information is not available." Me: "Really?" Manager: "What difference does it make? You just need to go by sound. They can play plenty loud." Me: "I just wanted to show you the huge suckout between 110hz and 200hz where your sub can't get high enough and your teeny speakers can't get low enough!" Manager: Icy stare. Me: "Later"


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

Coming from a background in sales and customer service, plus years of being a home theater enthusiast, I found Best Buy's training program unusually good. Their training program is department specific and people are required to pass specific training modules before theyre put on the sales floor. The combination of these modules would provide all the knowledge you would need to advise people for a complete theater solution, which is alot of info. 

BB also has an internal web system, kinda like a message board, with a vast knowledge database and company-wide employee interactions sharing personal questions and experiences.

They also do mandatory store-wide after-hours training on new products and company changes. 

Best Buy has a comprehensive secret shopper program. 

As for monster products, it was left at the discretion of the employee if he guided you to the house brand Dynex or the Monster brand for things likes cables. At least _offering_ everything the customer needs was the bottom line, and it was drilled into your head. 

Doesnt seem like a bad program for a company that pays its employees peanuts, bummer customers are repeatedly dissatisfied.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> I always do my homework on a product before I walk into the store


Me, too. I usually say "no thanks" when asked if I need assistance - too many instances of me having to show them where what I am looking for is on their shelf.

I used a major electronics retailer's "order ahead and we will have it ready for you" service last fall. Went by a day later. They could not find the Dell XPS8300. I waited, waited, waited, then asked if I needed to help them find it. Finally, out came the employee with the box. I signed for it, then on the way to the car I noticed that he had handed me one with an i5 processor instead of the i7 I had paid for. Back in the store, back to a line, back to a long wait for them to find it again... Sigh


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

TypeA said:


> Doesnt seem like a bad program for a company that pays its employees peanuts, bummer customers are repeatedly dissatisfied.


I always print the web price for whatever I go to BB for and take it with me. Many times the shelf price is higher than advertised on the web as the "pick up in store" price. To their credit, they always have matched the web price.

I _really_ did not mean for this thread to be "bash Best Buy." But, at least in my area, they are about the only ones left for in-town electronics purchases since Circuit City closed. I purchase from BB quite often and am generally pleased - but mainly because I go prepared, something I suggest to anyone buying anything.

Wish we had Fry's but they are well West of here. There are some HH Greggs around, but I have never gone in one.


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## rab-byte (Feb 1, 2011)

Funny stories are great but I would challenge everyone to help correct these mistakes by salesmen when you hear them. It's easy to get frustrated or condescend when confronting ignorance but if we want our passion for AV to be passed on to another generation then we need those salesmen (typically teenagers/young adults) to know what they are talking about and one of the best ways to do that is to help show them the way. Some won't be willing to listen and some will try to argue... forget about them. But some of those kids will listen, learn, and pass on accurate knowledge to every customer they talk to on that topic from then on.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

hjones4841 said:


> I would be interested in hearing BB's training speach on Monster Cables...


It sounds something like this:

"$$$$$$$$ $$$$$. $$$$$$ $$ $$$$$ $ $$$$$. And then offer them an extended warranty plan."


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

My local Best Buy is predominantly employed by teens or young college students. While I've found them lacking in home theater knowledge I must say they know their stuff when it comes to computers and phones. Home theater really didn't become important to me until I hit my mid to late 20's. Young tech savvy individuals evolve with their interests and these same people who don't know now may someday be running a forum just like this one.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

JBrax said:


> While I've found them lacking in home theater knowledge


But, there is where employer/employee training comes in. If a sales person is in any department, it is the employer's responsibility to train them to be effective in that department.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

27dnast said:


> It sounds something like this:
> 
> "$$$$$$$$ $$$$$. $$$$$$ $$ $$$$$ $ $$$$$. And then offer them an extended warranty plan."


Don't get me wrong, Monster makes fine cables. I have a few, but only purchased when I could find them deeply discounted. Noel Lee is a marketing genius. Here is a bio from CNBC where it says he is credited for "literally creating an industry" & leading "a company with revenues estimated in the $500 million range":

http://www.cnbc.com/id/22277624/

But, when I can take a $100 cable and swap it with a $10 cable and see/hear absolutely no difference... well, there you go.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

^^^ I agree. I wasn't commenting on Monster being a poor product. Not at all. But when you buy it at BB or a similar store, there is significant $$ being made. In addition, a lot of extra padding is being scored on things such as the extended warranty plans.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Sales people have a job and it is to sell and make a profit for their company. Most will do and say what they believe will lead to that result. In many cases it is just repeating what they have been told and they may actually believe it. I have hear hundreds of stories of nonsensical statements by salesmen over decades in the business, and seen some of our own salesmen say things to make a sale that were either just plain false, or dumb. I have always been unwilling to do so myself, and for that reason moved away from sales. It is very often the case that what you have to sell is not the best value for the customer, and always the case that you need to take as much profit as possible on a sale to keep the company successful. One can have high standards for how one does business, but there is always the need to sell and not everyone needs what we have. There is also always more to know than is possible or reasonable for a salesperson to keep up with. It is a tough job if you want to do it ethically and be successful at the same time.


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## rab-byte (Feb 1, 2011)

lcaillo said:


> Sales people have a job and it is to sell and make a profit for their company. Most will do and say what they believe will lead to that result. In many cases it is just repeating what they have been told and they may actually believe it. I have hear hundreds of stories of nonsensical statements by salesmen over decades in the business, and seen some of our own salesmen say things to make a sale that were either just plain false, or dumb. I have always been unwilling to do so myself, and for that reason moved away from sales. It is very often the case that what you have to sell is not the best value for the customer, and always the case that you need to take as much profit as possible on a sale to keep the company successful. One can have high standards for how one does business, but there is always the need to sell and not everyone needs what we have. There is also always more to know than is possible or reasonable for a salesperson to keep up with. It is a tough job if you want to do it ethically and be successful at the same time.


I agree 100%

I'd also reiterate that if they say something wrong and they believe it then help them understand what they are talking about. If we want them to know this stuff we need to make them better.


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## Kal Rubinson (Aug 3, 2006)

hjones4841 said:


> I _really_ did not mean for this thread to be "bash Best Buy." But, at least in my area, they are about the only ones left for in-town electronics purchases since Circuit City closed.


Understood. Yes, BB is the only game around me in NYC and I often cruise them to see what's out there but I cannot recall ever buying anything from them other than an occasional close-out gadget. I try not to engage any of their personnel. There is little in the way of technical information and their prices on accessories are exorbitant. Every significant (large or small) item is either much cheaper via Internet or, even, from a local merchant who wants my business. If I am committed to buying something in person, I take a trip downtown to J&R where the selection and pricing is better.

All that said, I would be unhappy if BB disappeared and there was no place to ever see or touch anything. In CT, all I have is WalMart and RadioShack. :help:


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Not intending to bash BB at all. The problem exists in all dealers. As I said, even in the mid-high end dealers that I worked for, we had guys who would say whatever they felt they had to in order to make the sale. It is not an easy job, and most do not get very extensive training. Hobbyists like many of the users here spend much more time learning about the technology and experimenting than most salespeople do.


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

JBrax said:


> While I've found them lacking in home theater knowledge





hjones4841 said:


> But, there is where employer/employee training comes in. If a sales person is in any department, it is the employer's responsibility to train them to be effective in that department.


I agree. The training program is there but, depending on the store, the leadership isnt.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

rab-byte said:


> Funny stories are great but I would challenge everyone to help correct these mistakes by salesmen when you hear them. It's easy to get frustrated or condescend when confronting ignorance but if we want our passion for AV to be passed on to another generation then we need those salesmen (typically teenagers/young adults) to know what they are talking about and one of the best ways to do that is to help show them the way. Some won't be willing to listen and some will try to argue... forget about them. But some of those kids will listen, learn, and pass on accurate knowledge to every customer they talk to on that topic from then on.


That's a very good point and I have tried to do this on occasions, with varying success..
Some salespeople are just plain arrogant!


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## rab-byte (Feb 1, 2011)

Yes some are. But others can be trained in the ways of the audiophile.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Way back in the day when computers were expensive and people were trying to either upgrade what they had or build their own I used to overhear some of the baloney the sales staff would be saying to customers that really had no clue about the technology or what they needed and I would wait until the sales person went away and then go help some of the more needy customers.
Never ran across a sales person then that had any interest in actually learning what they were talking about.
Pretty much the same situation today with the home theater equipment (except I no longer 'help' other customers).
In general I have found that the sales staff cannot even operate the gear they have on the shelf. They have no idea what the different features of the machines are or how they actually work. 
Also they are not interested in learning (especially from a customer), but are quick to throw their credentials out there ... 'I have been selling this stuff for xx months (haha) and sometimes xx years (and you still don't know anything about it ??) so I think I know what I am doing'....
On the rare occasion I encounter a sales person (regardless of product type) that is actually knowledgable (or one that is learning and is willing to engage in a productive conversion) I make it a point to compliment them on their presentation tell them I appreciate the effort they put into their job.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

chashint said:


> so I think I know what I am doing'....


Helps make the case for purchasing on-line, doesn't it...


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

All of my equipment has been purchased online...I haven't been to a store in many years..
I prefer to take the advice and recommendations of people in the know, on forums like this..:T
Of all the projectors I've had over the years, I have never seen one operating before I bought it..and I've been very happy with my purchases!


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## ru4au (Dec 7, 2011)

The sales people that usually know and understand are enthusiast themselves


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## koyaan (Mar 2, 2010)

Several years ago I was in a Circut City and overheard a customer looking at AVRs ask a salesmen why one was labled "high current". The salesman explained that it was like a car and a truck, both with 250 hp engines. The truck engine would of course have more power even though it was rated the same.
I thought about chanting ohm, but just walked away as ,in the AVR in question, "high current" didn't mean much anyway.


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## tripplej (Oct 23, 2011)

Some time back I was at a big box electronic store and they had one of those google tv's and the sales guy was explaining how easy it was to just sit back on the sofa and surf the web with ease and do everything while watching tv to this older guy who was interested. I was just there listening in. After the salesman left I talked to the guy and told him about the negative aspects of the tv. I just happen to have read cnet and several other websites review on the google tv so I knew what was right and wrong. 

I understand the concept of making money and pushing the item to the end consumer but to lie about certain features is just not right. After my talk with the older gentlemen, he decided to wait for the next generation to fix the issues that all the websites were taking about.


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## informel (Jun 21, 2011)

JBrax said:


> My local Best Buy is predominantly employed by teens or young college students. While I've found them lacking in home theater knowledge I must say they know their stuff when it comes to computers and phones. Home theater really didn't become important to me until I hit my mid to late 20's. Young tech savvy individuals evolve with their interests and these same people who don't know now may someday be running a forum just like this one.


totally agree


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## informel (Jun 21, 2011)

A while ago I went to buy a fiber optic cable.
A salesman from a big shop told me that they had 2 different quality of cables.
I replies to him that if I can send a signal across the planet; I do not think that I need a better quality fiber optic cable. But the salesman was very clever he just replied "but when you send a signal over the internet, you have error correction, you do not have that on audio"

Wow I really like his answer, of course I did not buy his story and just reply that I should not drop too many bits on a 6 feets cable


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## informel (Jun 21, 2011)

I was in a demonstration from a big supplier of cables.

In his training (read "sales pitch") he was saying that at high frequency, the signal only travel at the surface of the cable (this is call skin effect) and that is why you need bigger cables.

I did not interupt the man and waited at the end of the "training" to talk to him and just told him that my backgroud is electronic and that yes skin effect exist at high frequency, but 20,000hz is not high frequency, he just look at me with a smile and said "it shows that you studied electronic".

So it is not always the fault of the salesman, those salesmans are trained by the representative of the cable company, so they just beleive it; plus a higher commi$ion.

I can go one step further, on this forum we have very knowledgeable peoples and yet on the cable issue, we have different opinions.
Please do not start to discuss that matter here, it's been discuss on this forum and in many other forums, do not open that can of worms again.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

Yeah, skin effect mainly comes into play at radio frequencies (RF).


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

27dnast said:


> I have to add onto the plasma recharge train. Years ago - I was shopping at a circuit city... Checking out some plasmas I had been researching. Sure enough, the salesman breaks into this description of how I could recharge the plasma on any plasma tv I bought. Frankly, it was enough for me to take my business elsewhere. It wasn't even worth discussing...


I would have asked him if they sold the charger. I used to love it when the misinformed salesmen would come up with their bull and I would just keep egging them on until I couldn't refrain from laughing at them and then I would leave.


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## WooferHound (Dec 8, 2010)

-- Frequency & Skin Effect --
A funny thing about wire is the Skin Effect. As the frequency of the voltage goes up, it stops flowing in the center of the conductor and begins to travel on the outside of the wire, or on the skin. The frequencies that we get from wind & solar power are not high enough to worry about but it's good to know this happens. Here is a list of frequencies and the depth it would travel in a copper wire.

Freq Depth
10hz - 91mm
100hz - 6mm
1khz - 2mm
10khz - .6mm
100khz - .1mm
1mhz - .06mm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_effect

Using stranded wire will reduce the problem with Skin Effect because each conductor acts all by it's self.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

WooferHound said:


> -- The frequencies that we get from wind & solar power are not high enough to worry about but it's good to know this happens.


Please help me understand what this means. If you are speaking about electrical power generated by wind and solar, it is all 60Hz, or converted to 60Hz (from DC by inverters) before it ties to the transmission or distribution system, correct? Or 50Hz in Europe and other places.


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## WooferHound (Dec 8, 2010)

Sorry about that typo there, Copied and pasted that little nugget from an article that I wrote for a renewable energy forum.
Before the power from a Wind Turbine gets to a battery it is Wild AC, meaning that the frequency and voltage are all over the place.
It needs to be converted to DC and regulated before it goes to the inverter which makes the stable 50 or 60 hz power we use.

I should have read that better before I posted it.
Replace the Wind and Solar part with "Home Theater Audio.".


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

Thanks. I have designed electrical systems for power plants for 41 years (coal, hydro, nuke) and figured that is what you meant.


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## duder1982 (Aug 28, 2012)

I have 4 stores I go to here in town, 2 of them big box and the other 2 custom shops. Now between the 2 big box other then the Harman/kardon rep at one I find none of the employees knowing anything what they are selling and usually do their selling for them with their customers. The other I know the folks to talk to who have a better idea what they are talking about. Now we will call custom shops custom shop 1 and custom shop 2. I first went to custom shop 1 because that is were my buddy bought his first Klipsch Cornwalls and the guys there were nice to talk to. Custom shop 2 I went to cause I was intrigued by McIntosh, there is were I first experienced high end really expensive audio cables and thought this can't be right. So I stuck with custom shop 1 for some time for good Ideas. But through out time and going back and forth to check out different brands, this last trip to custom shop 1 had a new sells fellow. He tried selling me 150-1,000 power cables and tried telling how they made his system sound so much better. Now custom shop 2 had a different approach by this time, I don't know if its just that they started to recognize me and knew my taste but I didn't even feel the pressure to buy anything that didn't make since to buy. Funny I flipped flopped custom stores.


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## phreak (Aug 16, 2010)

Slightly off topic but still marketing related : From the pages of today's Future Shop flyer - "Audio file quality performance"


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## rab-byte (Feb 1, 2011)

phreak said:


> Slightly off topic but still marketing related : From the pages of today's Future Shop flyer - "Audio file quality performance"


Future shop carries Martin Logan, I think B&W, and I believe can get Marantz separates.

I say I think, because they are owned by Best Buy which also owns Magnolia Design Center, Magnolia HiFi, and other higher end brands, so it would make since that they can get many things. That said I don't know how the Canadian business differs from USA. 

Still I see your point.


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## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

My inlaws were shopping for a table to put a new tv on. So into the local audio store. A salesman was talking to another salesman and bragging in front of said inlaws that he just sold an extended warranty to the older couple that just left,. He kept saying "almost 100% profit"


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## nthydro (Oct 18, 2012)

phreak said:


> I walked into one storefront out of curiosity, and was ushered into a demo room. When the demo was over the girl asked my impressions.
> Me: It was slightly better than my current living room system.
> Her: So you would buy this system?
> Me: That depends. What is the price?
> ...


LOL thats hilarious man


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## nthydro (Oct 18, 2012)

chashint said:


> Way back in the day when computers were expensive and people were trying to either upgrade what they had or build their own I used to overhear some of the baloney the sales staff would be saying to customers that really had no clue about the technology or what they needed and I would wait until the sales person went away and then go help some of the more needy customers.
> Never ran across a sales person then that had any interest in actually learning what they were talking about.
> Pretty much the same situation today with the home theater equipment (except I no longer 'help' other customers).
> In general I have found that the sales staff cannot even operate the gear they have on the shelf. They have no idea what the different features of the machines are or how they actually work.
> ...


Yeah but on there are rare occasions that you do find a knowledgeable sales person. Just doesnt happen too often unfortunately.


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## nthydro (Oct 18, 2012)

orion said:


> My inlaws were shopping for a table to put a new tv on. So into the local audio store. A salesman was talking to another salesman and bragging in front of said inlaws that he just sold an extended warranty to the older couple that just left,. He kept saying "almost 100% profit"


:rolleyesno::rolleyesno:


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## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

You guys sure have a lot of fun stories...

Here's mine real quick: Was buying an amp of a small electronics retail store a good 10 years ago, the owner/salesman with a gold chain and pompous attitude was behind the counter yelling orders to others when I humbly approached to ask my question:

Me: Hi Sir, I'm looking for a 2 Channel 100W RMS amplifier
Him: Ok buddy, really? RMS? Ok, in theory it all sounds good on paper, but what are the watts, really?? Watts are nothing, it's an illusion that manufacturers use to sell their "stuff"
Me: Well I have drivers that have an efficien---- (abruptly interrupted)
Him: What a speaker needs is to have plenty of "juice" to sound "crazy loud", now bro it's all in the money, how much do you want to spend?
Me: Ok, that's why I wan't to explain that my current drivers are relatively inefficient at 84dB/1W and I want to--- (abruptly interrupted again)
Him: Hey Johnny (a lazy looking guy by a near desk), can you taske care of him while I go make a few calls?
Me: Oh, ok, (Johnny was distracted and didn't really hear him)..

I walked out of the store unnoticed, I had a $1000 budget for the amp that he might have liked to have in his pocket...

Needles to say that's why I love internet shopping...


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## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

Prof. said:


> All of my equipment has been purchased online...I haven't been to a store in many years..
> I prefer to take the advice and recommendations of people in the know, on forums like this..:T
> Of all the projectors I've had over the years, I have never seen one operating before I bought it..and I've been very happy with my purchases!


Exactly!!! +1


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## morevideoplz (Feb 27, 2013)

OK ,ok ...monster/bad ,low wage youngins at box stores/waste of space for us HT nuts...Funny stuff /rocks I'll add one. I'm at Magnolia in Bellevue Wa (you know microsofts back yard)read (rich tech folks) a few years ago,they had flown in a designer from JVC ,Japan to intro the "new" JVC RS 20 (12foot wide curved AT screen with panamorph lens with four way masking).(very smart man talking about light path design). So Middle aged man and wife watching a bunch of demo clips (to many clips,hogging the couch),others waiting quietly,so the wifey asks the nice man from Japan (DJ ing the clips) if they could get such a nice picture quality in a "nice" size tv such as a 60" or so. Four or five other groups waiting to see the picture quality ALL hand to face! Got to love people!!!! P.S. I bought one from avs , group buy a couple months later and got one of the earliest ones in the US for us normal people.


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