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Best Buy salesman.....biggest load of.....

Posted by Tom §. (A) on May 7, 2002 at 11:59:39

...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 §.

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