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...shit I've heard in a loooong time.I went in to BB to get a couple CD's and DVD's. I stopped by the TV area to take a closer look at some of the 4:3 size high-res "hdtv compatible" TV's that are currently coming down to reasonable levels in price. Nearly all of them looked like crap when compared to the 16:9 rca direct view they had on display (showing the same programming material). I looked behind the TV's to find that the ones that looked like crap were all using the standard-res composite video input (coaxial cable). Of course, once you start fussing around with something, a salesman is bound to hop on your shoulder within 2 seconds. So the salesman got up real close and asked if there was something I needed help with. I asked why these "hdtv compatible" TV's were on display with the composite input since you can't really get a good idea how well the TV does high res unless you give it a high res signal. The main selling point of these televisions and the associated higher-cost is the hi-res capability.
Now, I would have accepted any honest answer like "not enough equipment/cabling to show the TV's with hi-res" or "we're just too damn lazy." I realize that they've got a lot of equipment on display and all capabilities can't be used/shown. Instead, the salesman replied "The hi-res signal overworks the TV's and wears out the tube prematurely."
(dramatic pause)
OK, I've worked on plenty of electronic equipment including consumer televisions and CRT's that go into airline cockpit displays. It really doesn't matter *what* the resolution of the signal that goes in as the high voltage power supply is still going to put the same number of kilovolts on the tube. The wear and tear on the tube is going to be the same regardless of input signal resolution.
The salesman went on to tell me that he's received telephone calls from former customers on every make and model of television sold by best buy complaining 4-5 months after purchasing the TV about a flickering screen or failure. He then points out the 90-day manufacturer warranty and how they intentionally make these TV's fail. That's why best buy offers the 4 year extended service warranty (the free money to best buy option).
Now, without drawing on *anything* technically oriented, what this guy spewed makes no sense whatsoever. He's telling me that every TV they have is going to fail soon after the 90-day warranty. Why would anyone buy an item that's going to soon fail regardless of warranty? Nobody is going to buy anything that's going to fail within 4-5 months regardless of warranty, extended or not. Obviously this guy needs to go back to salesman training or "how not to drive customers away" training.
I walked away mumbling something about "save me jeebus!"
Tom §.
Follow Ups:
I had something similar happen when I was looking for my amp/receiver.I was looking at the Yamahas and asked the difference between two that differed in cost by more than $300 and all he had to say was "more inputs" and then spent the rest of the time telling me that they "don't build them as good as they used to" and you really need an extended service contract.
Ummm... you're kidding, right? How about sell me on the receiver FIRST before you sell me the contract? I was so surprised that this guy was standing there trying to sell me something by telling me that it was crap that I just walked away. :o
.
Macs use Windows for Macintosh, not Mac OSX! I swear, that's what the "computer expert" told us at Best Buy. I'm sure this comes as a big surprise to Steve Jobs!What wears out the picture tubes is the fact that the brightness, contrast and (sometimes) color settings are at about 85% of their maximum setting or more at places like BB and CC.
Like another poster said, either know what you want when you go in or don't go beyond "What isle is/are *** on?". I'll go a step further than that and say don't ask someone near the department your item is located -- they might try to "help" you!
Joe,TV sets (out of the box) are all set to very high contrast (which governs white levels) -- so that the TV sticks out under horrible showroom conditions.
This isn't limited to BB/CC -- it's the norm for displaying TV sets, and if you don't set brightness/contrast on a TV it has a chance of premature failure.
Regards,
Best Buy and Circuit City don't know this? I know they have about 30-50 TVs out for demo purposes in each store, but jeez... Can't they get some one to set up the demo units to at least something close to proper? Just because showroom conditions are "horrible" doesn't mean the levels have to be jacked-up that high. The last time that I went to a Circuit City store (2 weeks ago), the lighting conditions weren't all that bad. Let's go a bit further in the customer service "department". If you (BB/CC) know that improper levels will be disasterous to a picture tube (besides the fact that no picture will be as intended), shouldn't you inform the buyer about this? Or is it better to try and sell them a service plan to fix what could have been avoided with a few minutes of information on proper set-up?Here's a thought: show the customer what a properly set up picture should look like. Have a side-by-side comparison to educate the soon-to-be member of the BB/CC "family".
Wait a minute. What the hell IS that ringing? Oh, it's my alarm. I MUST have been dreaming...
Joe,You say "Just because showroom conditions are "horrible" doesn't mean the levels have to be jacked-up that high."
And yet, what you find is that all manufacturers TV sets are delivered with the controls "jacked up that high". The folks at BB/CC or (insert mass market retailer name here) don't touch the sets. What you see are factory settings.
With audio louder is often confused with "better", in video brighter is often confused with "better".
The goal is to sell TV sets. The average, uninformed consumer says "look how bright that picture is", glossing right over the fact that it's in exchange for color purity and contrast to name a few.
Guess who (insert mass market retailer name here) is selling to? That some average, uninformed consumer.
Ignorance == bliss.
...busy adjusting many of the larger TV sets, RP, DV, tons of 'em. Turns out he used to work for a custom AV installer, and the factory settings drive him nuts. He had done the most adjusting to the large HDTVs so the hi def pictures would look good.
Is he also going to stand by very customer so that they realize that the adjusted picture that is dimmer is BETTER than the factory default pictures that are brighter?Without education, the average consumer in Best Buy or any other mass market retailer will continue to think that a brigher picture is better.
Regards,
You said:
"Without education, the average consumer in Best Buy or any other mass market retailer will continue to think that a brigher picture is better."And who the hell said this?
> > > Here's a thought: show the customer what a properly set up picture should look like. Have a side-by-side comparison to educate the soon-to-be member of the BB/CC "family". < < <
. . . go into Best Buy, Circuit City or Fry's unless you already know what you want! If yo go in don't ask for advice beyond "On what isle can I find..." .My kid you is good with languages once came out of one of these stores disgusted: "Dad, I can kinda understand when they don't understand English, but they don't even understand Spanish either!"
Everything you ever wanted know about how bad Best Buy is. You HAVE to read some of the comments and stories.....http://www.bestbuysux.org/index1.html
Robert
NT
To make more money on the extended warranty.A question I always pose to salesmen when they push the store's warranty deal is: Why are you trying to sell me the extended warranty? Is this product considered unreliable by (fill in store name like BB, CC, Sears ect) buyer? Cancel my sale then, I am going to do some more research for a better more reliable product from a different manufacturer/store. Makes them cry because a knowledgable consumer is a smart buyer.
All I ask is for a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
On the average,Best Buy salesmen know about as much about A/V as they do about neurosurgery . : )
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