Here's a sobering story about computer buying. [H] Consumer went to Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, and Fry's Electronics to buy a computer and simply tells us what happened. The money quote: "Most retail sales people are simply not going to possess the necessary knowledge to correctly recommend or explain every nuance of a piece of hardware. Even if a sales rep has all that down, a greater skill is required from them: relating that 64-bit-Lightscribe-GeForce knowledge in a non-condescending, helpful way to someone who is unsure what his hardware needs even are. The potent combo of techie know-how and properly relating it to an 'everyday' consumer is a difficult knack to develop. Most sales reps you’ll encounter are polishing one or the other, if not both of those skills, if they posses them to begin with."Is anyone startled by these results?Obviously, there's a parallel with consumer electronics. Even more obviously, every one of these stores needs educated salespeople with very highly developed retail skills, knowledge, and people skills, yet, in an effort to control costs, they pay so little that they can't attract or keep people who master these skills—and, as a result, they lose sales and irritate the customers they do get.Higher prices aren't the answer, since audiophiles seem just as likely to get short shrift at some high-end stores as they are at the big-box merchants. Obviously, we need to take a step back and put a value on creating a satisfying and fulfilling retail experience. And by "putting a value" on it, I mean by frequenting the places that give it to us, even if that means they aren't the cheapest source.
Now I'm going to duck and cower as I receive angry emails from consumers and retailers.
