Why I Will Never Set Foot in Radio Shack Again

[Fieldtech1]

I'm not a fan of Radio Shack. I remember being 10 years old and going to the next strip-mall shop over while my my mom got her hair "styled". It was a janky, franchised, Radio Shack.

the shop owner BLEW up at me and threw me out of his store.

I know he knew I'd made purchases there before, because he ran those transactions. He must have just hated a young kid in his store.

Joke falls on him though, I'm now a radio engineer, and his shop is closed. I frequently drive by that same strip mall... There hasn't been an RS there for years.

Similar story here, saved up my lawn cutting money for my first stereo system. I had everything picked out, the pioneer rebadged optimus receiver, the Mach 1 speakers. My dad waited in the truck while I went in to make my purchase. Went up to the counter to make my purchase, I had a question about the rms wattage of the receiver, the manager proceeded to belittle me by saying he didnt need me waisting his time asking questions about things I will never afford and to get lost. I went out and told my dad, who went in the store and told god knows what to the manager. We went to another location where my dad went in with me and made my purchase.

 

[bilco]

A decent salesman never berates any customer no matter how unlikely he looks. When I was an RS manager I had a teenager come in who propped his bike out front and start looking at my most expensive Reel to Reel machine (remember them?) I asked him if he was interested and he said he'd buy it if he had a way to get it home. I asked where he lived, it was only about a half mile away, so I called his bluff and told him I'd take him there if he bought it. He called my bluff and whipped out the 400+ dollars in cash and I drove him Home!
Bill

 

[ChiefOperator]

All the Radio Shack stories are great. Thanks for sharing.

One thing RS did well was offering the "mini amplifier" for sale. I love it for troubleshooting. I've been using it for years to quickly determine whether I have audio at a specific point in a circuit.

Recently, I had an FM that lost the R channel outside the studio. Used the amplifier and a set of leads and just poked around until I found the open pair. Great tool for just $15...

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062620

 

[jboyd]

In my first sales job (1961) The manager told me" Never qualify a customer...let him qualify himself"
Probably the best sales advice ever. I have sold (and collected) lots of radio time to people that
looked or sounded like poor prospects...JBI

 

[ka2xuk]

So yesterday I'm wiring up some Barix Exstreamer 1000's and instead of "Euroblock" connectors or barrier strips, there are those stupid DB9 connectors for the audio in/out. Looks like I'm one DB9 short for the breakout cables. No big deal, I'll head to RatShack and pick up another one and get the job done.

Guess what? I walk in and the sales nerd asks me what I'm looking for and I say a DB9 connector. He points out pre-made cables. I ask for the ones where I can solder my own connection. He says, "Oh, we don't stock those."

Not even a simple connector anymore. The other moral is Radio Shack is now not mostly useless, but completely useless.

From your username, may I guess that you are in northwestern New Jersey? (WNTI is in Hackettstown.) If you ever get to Wilkes-Barre, PA, Wallco on North Washington Street carries those connectors, both with the crimp-type pins and the solder cup pins. Their prices are very reasonable.

As for Radio Shack..."You have questions, we have blank stares".

 

[ka2xuk]

Radio Shack was radically different years ago, before it became an emporium for cell phones and overpriced batteries. In 1979, I had a summer vacation relief job at the transmitter site of WABC-TV on the Empire State Building. The TV guys also babysat the FM transmitter. There were always two of us there, as prescribed by the union contract. Both WABC-TV and WPLJ (FM) had two transmitters, one of which was kept in hot standby. One of the FM transmitters was an RCA BTF-5E. It started tripping off the air with driver screen overloads, which happened intermittently. After some troubleshooting, we found that the exciter power was dropping from 10 watts to about a watt. We pulled the exciter, put it on the bench, connected it to a Bird wattmeter and dummy load, and ran it until the power dropped. The power supply contained a 723 voltage regulator, which developed a thermal intermittent. A little freeze spray and a hot air gun pinpointed it. That Saturday afternoon, I took a walk to a Radio Shack store about two blocks away, bought a 723, and fixed the exciter. End of problem!

Of course, the real old timers remember the original Radio Shack store on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, which sold surplus parts and equipment, as well as amateur radio equipment.

 

[Chuck]

Of course, the real old timers remember the original Radio Shack store on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, which sold surplus parts and equipment, as well as amateur radio equipment.

I think the original Radio Shack store was actually on Washington St. in Boston. Lafayette Radio and a couple of other stores were right there too. It was an interesting neighborhood before the days of "urban redevelopment." The Commonwealth Ave. store came later, but was much bigger. They also warehoused and ran their mail order business out of the Commonwealth Ave. facility. Even so, there products were usually inferior to what was available at Lafayette or Allied.

 

[RadioMan203]

All the Radio Shack stories are great and relatable. My own story was being a student in the 1970's growing up and working at a local Radio Shack franchise dealer (which sold many other brands besides RS related) doing everything from installing car stereo and CB to working the counter.

The thing most notable during this time is that many other Radio Shack locations had people who were knowledgeable in the product lines carried and who took the time to explain things. It didn't matter if it was a CB radio, car or home stereo, portable, broadcast or shortwave receiver or even electronics components, soldering irons or other parts, many employees took pride in their job and were willing and eager to assist you.

Today, you're lucky if you can get one of them to give you a hand finding something even if you have the SKU number for it. The great parts wall of year ago have been delegated to a couple of gray cabinets with drawers and you're lucky if they have more of two of anything in stock ... and don't bother asking if connector "A" will work with connector "B" - if it's not a cell phone or battery they have no clue.

The only way to sum up Radio Shack these days is simple: You've got questions? We've got dumb looks!

 

[nocomradio]

In thinking back, some of the best Radio Shack stores were the agents, and not the corporate owned stores. I think they just had a lot more invested in them, and would always take the time to help out to insure you'd be back.

I miss those old days.

 

[RadioMan203]

In thinking back, some of the best Radio Shack stores were the agents, and not the corporate owned stores. I think they just had a lot more invested in them, and would always take the time to help out to insure you'd be back.

The husband and wife who owned the franchise I worked at as a kid sold it off and retired (and have long passed from this life). The woman who owns it now takes great pride in operating it and still offers products including many not with the Radio Shack brand.

I miss those old days.

Me too!

 

[BarryATL]

I still remember in my early teens buying my first AM transmitter hobby kit. It took me a couple of days to put it together as you had to wrap all of the wires by hand and they had to be perfect. I got the thing to work, then connected an outside TV antenna to it to be used as a transmitter. That little 9 volt powered transmitter could be heard up and down my street and I was broadcasting to the neighbors. I used to love their hobby kits.

 

[nocomradio]

Remember when each week the Radio Shack sales flyer had a coupon for a free flashlight? I think I had about 15 of those things lying around at one time! ;D

 

[Fieldtech1]

Now its HarborFreight giving out the free flashlights. Cheapie 9 LED and even includes free batteries.

 

[nocomradio]

Now its HarborFreight giving out the free flashlights. Cheapie 9 LED and even includes free batteries.

Depends on where you find the coupons. Some are for the flashlights, some for gloves, scissors, tape measures, and multimeters.

The multimeters last about two weeks on average and are as accurate as you'd expect a free multimeter to be.

 

[unitron]

I generally don't use Radio Shack anymore for many of the reasons mentioned above. I try to keep as much stuff in the shop as I can and hope for the best when I get into a serious project. If I do run across that oddball item, and need it in a hurry, most online stores can have it to you the next day, although you will pay for that service. Still beats the alternative of having to deal with the "experts" at the Cell Phone Shack.

As an aside, another reason I won't use any Radio Shack components anymore is because about 3 months or so ago, I was recapping a very early Sharp transistor radio and needed the caps to do the job. Being all pretty low voltage stuff and seeing as how it was all on the shelf (or in the gray drawers) at my local RS, I picked up what I needed there. Out of the 20 or so caps I replaced almost half of the replacements were no good. Half! Talk about poor odds, not to mention the work to get them all again and correct the problem.

Back in the early '70s they had resistors in packages of 2.

Of course if you actually needed 2 resistors you had to buy 2 packs, because only one of the 2 in each pack wasn't shorted or open.

 

[bilco]

Back in the early '70s they had resistors in packages of 2.

Of course if you actually needed 2 resistors you had to buy 2 packs, because only one of the 2 in each pack wasn't shorted or open.

In 2 years as a radio shack manager never had a complaint, and I've used thousands of RS resistors in projects over 35 years as a ham and almost 50 years in radio without a problem. I have gotten a few that were slightly out of tolerence, but no more than 5 % and often found them within 1% even though marked as wider tolerance.

 

[HarrisGatesFM10H]

The husband and wife who owned the franchise I worked at as a kid sold it off and retired (and have long passed from this life). The woman who owns it now takes great pride in operating it and still offers products including many not with the Radio Shack brand.

Sounds like the place was Herb's Electronics over on Route 25 in Monroe. they did have a great selection!

 

[RadioMan203]

The husband and wife who owned the franchise I worked at as a kid sold it off and retired (and have long passed from this life). The woman who owns it now takes great pride in operating it and still offers products including many not with the Radio Shack brand.

Sounds like the place was Herb's Electronics over on Route 25 in Monroe. they did have a great selection!

To quote the character of "Crap Game" in the movie "Kelly's Heroes" - correct! You win a cookie.

It was a fun place to hang out and earn a little scratch as a kid. I also liked the fact they carried much more than the typical Rat Shack merch.

 

[nocomradio]

It was a fun place to hang out and earn a little scratch as a kid. I also liked the fact they carried much more than the typical Rat Shack merch.

When I was a kid, I worked in an auto parts store that had been in business since the early teens. They had all that leftover stuff from the early days of motoring in those dusty old boxes, with that smell that you can only experience, and not describe. It was a wonderful old place. As a bonus, they actually paid me to work there too!

 

[johnnyu]

I just bought a Grundig S450DLX at Radio Shack today. It was on sale for 25% off. Sounds pretty good.