A Lack of Service
 No matter how hard I try to avoid shopping, I find myself at malls
more often than I’d like. My wife is usually interested in visiting more stores than
I am, so I’ve found ways to entertain myself while I wait. My latest pastime is
eavesdropping on conversations at electronics stores between customers and store staff.
I’ve been as shocked by the amount of misinformation I’ve overheard from the
staff as by their attitude toward their customers.
My eavesdropping career began when I went looking for an
iHome, a bedside alarm clock with an integrated iPod dock. Finding no iHome in one
store’s iPod department, I asked the salesman if they had any in stock. First, he
told me there was no such product. After I explained that I already owned one, he said
they didn’t carry it. Finally, I found three iHomes on an endcap near the alarm-clock
aisle.
Looking for Sirius Radio’s new portable satellite
receiver, the S50, I went to the store’s car-stereo department, where the satellite
products were displayed. I overheard another customer ask the salesperson what the
difference between Sirius and XM is; the answer was that they were "pretty much the
same but with a few different channels." Now, I didn’t expect that staffer to
know that Sirius and XM use different codecs for transmitting their services, but she
should have been able to explain the different approaches to satellite coverage. At the
very least, she could have pointed out the brochures -- they were on display -- that
explain the differences in the broadcasters’ programming, which amount to a lot more
than "a few different channels."
When I went looking for the same receiver at another store,
a salesman approached me and asked if I wanted help. That seemed like a good start, except
that he kept his mobile phone up to his ear during our entire conversation. I thought he
might be talking to someone in the stock room, but as I asked him if he had the S50 in
stock, he said into the phone, "I’m at work now." That’s not something
you say to a fellow worker in the stock room.
One weekend, as my son and I waited for my wife to finish
shopping, we entered an electronics shop that was showing Star Wars: Episode III --
Revenge of the Sith on every screen in the store. With my son engaged with Anakin and
Obi-Wan, I was free to overhear more misleading and confused information.
In front of a large display of Monster video cables, one
salesperson told a customer it didn’t matter which kind of cable he used, just get
the one he liked. Did this advice reveal the salesperson’s healthy skepticism for
expensive high-end video cables? No. As it turned out, they were discussing the relative
merits of composite, S-video, and component connections. It seems to me that if a customer
asks which cable he or she needs, the salesperson should at least be able to explain, in
simple terms, the differences among these basic cable types, and perhaps even suggest that
the customer try the different kinds to see which works best. If the customer is asking
for help in choosing a cable, what good is it to tell him to get the one he
"likes"? I got the distinct impression that not only did the salesman not care,
he didn’t himself know what the differences are.
As Obi-Wan faced off against General Grievous, I overheard
a phrase that makes my skin crawl: "It’s digital quality." Salespeople use
this as a mantra, as if it’s all that matters: "It’s digital quality.
It’s digital quality. It’s digital quality." Yet I’ve never heard one
explain what this means, why it might matter to the customer, or, better yet, how it
answers the customer’s question. Perhaps this is a result of the success of
Sony’s old CD marketing claim of "Perfect sound forever," but for many
people, the word digital now seems to be synonymous with better or best
-- which it definitely is not. Digital refers to a kind of processing, not
the quality of that processing.
When I teach business ethics, I present my students with
the following scenario: Suppose you’ve gone to an electronics store and spent time
with the sales staff, having them set up certain products so you can try them out. You
then leave the store and purchase those same products online at lower prices. Have you
done anything wrong? Do you have a moral obligation -- if not a legal one -- to purchase
from the store that has helped you make your choice? In presenting this scenario,
I’ve always had in mind the kind of help you’re likely to find at a specialty
hi-fi dealer. In such a situation, if the sales staff has done all that you’ve asked
and you’ve made your decision to purchase based on their help and advice, I think you
do have such an obligation.
At first, my students usually chuckle and say that there is
no obligation. Having spent some hours in the electronics stores they’re likely to
frequent, I now have a better understanding of their response. If the sales staff is
unwilling or unable to help you or to accurately answer your questions, then they’re
failing to live up to their half of the relationship. I only hope that those who rely for
answers on the salespeople at these stores do some fact checking once they’re back
home -- especially while they’re still able to return whatever they’ve bought.
Even if you find a retailer with a very helpful staff,
it’s always good to seek outside opinions. That is one service that GoodSound!
provides. This month we review a loudspeaker from RBH, the MC-6CT Mk.II, that sells for
less than $1000/pair. Our reviewer, Chris Izzo, was favorably impressed with the RBHs.
Unlike the opinions of employees at the mass-market retailers, his is one you can trust.
…Eric D. Hetherington
|
