Well, I've posted my dilema on what I've been looking for but never got an
answer, or at least one I could take in there so I decided today I WAS coming
out of any rat shack with what I needed.......if I had to go to five of them,
I was.

My two problems:
I needed an adapter or 'sleeve' to consistently keep plugged into my external
antenna jack on my DX398. You'd swear I was speaking another language. After
I spoke s-l-o-w-l-y- for the third time and still saw the constipated looks on
the two faces in there I told them....."guys, go on and take care of the other
customers, there was FIVE standing there with their new (I suppose) picture
cell phones and they were pressing in codes. {?} That's what it looked like.
Every now and then one of them would break away from the desk and go to an
aisle I was in like I was a potential thief or something.

I know a thief can be anyone, but I'm professional and clean cut and after the
FOURTH time of being watched 'kind words' from me were asked to them in the
form of "I'm not gonna rip you off, then preceded to reach in my pocket and
whip out a stack of bills, that got them to leave me alone (I think.) ;-)

But for anyone else that needs or wants to correct the problem I had, the cat#
(that I kept asking for in here to no avail BTW;-) ) is #4202472 for the
adapter or actually a 'sleeve' so you can plug and unplug your antenna without
wearing out your board.

The other problem was with my phones (head phones) my Optimus Pro 40 plugs
into an adapter and I was afraid (because it would have) put a strain on the
headphone chord from being bent at an angle all the time or would have strained
the board. So I found a 'stereo to stereo Right angle'.....so now I have that
new piece plugged in and the other adapter into it....followed by the
headphones plug itself plugged into that. No more strains on any of those
jacks or the board and now I can always unplug my external antenna (like
everyone should) without worrying if it'd be the last time before the jack
would loosen or the board would crack.

Both of them work beautifully and I'm a happy camper, and those workers are
ding dong heads. ;-)

small mistake. Cat#42-2472A, it's a 6 ft. (smallest they had) shielded Audio
Extension Cable.

I neatly encircled the access cable and put a hit of electrical tape on it and
tucked it behind the radio and then plugged my sloper into that. Problem solved
(I hope.)

Radio Shack has a website and you can browse their catalogs in it. That may
save the time and humiliation of physically going in therer to shop with
those deliberately ignorant jackasses. I can't beleive they don't educate
their workers to comprehend a bit about what they sell the public. It is a
testement to the quality of their products though, when you have to rebuild
what you buy there in order to use it.


Strength and Honor

"Dxluver" wrote in message
...
small mistake. Cat#42-2472A, it's a 6 ft. (smallest they had) shielded
Audio
Extension Cable.

I neatly encircled the access cable and put a hit of electrical tape on it
and
tucked it behind the radio and then plugged my sloper into that. Problem
solved
(I hope.)

I applied for a job as a fast-track manager at Radio Shack a year ago. My
credentials were out of this world. Besides my love for radio, I had a
Marketing/Business background, degree to match, and better Radio Shack
product knowledge than the managers I interviewed with.

Did I get the job? Of course not. All they want is a roboton who can
shamelessly upsell to an unsuspecting public, even when they don't need to
be upsold. Cell phones and satellite TV is all they're interesting in
selling. That's where the money is I guess, but sometimes people just don't
need those things. And sometimes people will be more loyal if you don't push
unnecessary products down their throats every time they come into your
store. So you can see why RS and I parted ways immediately.

By the way, a couple of weeks later, I got a MUCH better job with Verizon,
and every time I go by a Radio Shack store, I shudder to think I might have
been stuck in there selling my soul to the devil every day.

Maximus wrote:

Radio Shack has a website and you can browse their catalogs in it. That may
save the time and humiliation of physically going in therer to shop with
those deliberately ignorant jackasses. I can't beleive they don't educate
their workers to comprehend a bit about what they sell the public. It is a
testement to the quality of their products though, when you have to rebuild
what you buy there in order to use it.

I was looking for a shorter RG58 cable in RS a couple weeks ago because
my 20' was all wound up (not enough room) and it was causing QRM. At
least the worker knew what RG8 was and the RG58 was right next to that.
The weird thing was that the only 6' they had has one male end and one
female end. How do they expect me to plug it in? At least they had a
double male connector so I didn't have to worry about that.



Strength and Honor

"Dxluver" wrote in message
...
small mistake. Cat#42-2472A, it's a 6 ft. (smallest they had) shielded
Audio
Extension Cable.

I neatly encircled the access cable and put a hit of electrical tape on it
and
tucked it behind the radio and then plugged my sloper into that. Problem
solved
(I hope.)

(Dxluver) wrote in
:

Well, I've posted my dilema on what I've been looking for but never
got an answer, or at least one I could take in there so I decided
today I WAS coming out of any rat shack with what I needed.......if I
had to go to five of them, I was.

Well, I should post my experience as a counter.

Walked into the local franchise. Manager immediately asked what I needed.

"2 audio plugs."

"Stereo or mono?"

"Mono."

"1/8th or 1/4?"

"1/4."

Directly to the parts bin we went, and I had the package in my hands in
less than 30 seconds.

"By the way, I also need an coax connector."

"What size of coax do you need it for."

"Uhhhhhh.... not for cable, but for the satellite dish kind."

"You mean RG-6, then?"

"Yes."

"Crimp type, or screw on?"

"Screw on would be nice."

Maybe this is an aberration, but it sure was nice to be able to buy
something without having to draw the person a diagram.

you know what,, screw off, wow you found what you needed!!!!

i worked at the shack to pay my way through college for five years and hated
dealing with customers who couldnt find what they were looking for or even
knew what it was they were looking for. it is not our job to find a magic
piece for you. you apparenlty knew what you needed so why bother the
employees, just let them ring you up

hehe. although i would love to chat wth someone about SWl , etc, i know i
have to make money, so i might even give someone the cold shoulder to go
help a cell phone. hehe you could ask anyone i worked with, i did not push
phones on people, never. if you knew the pay structure you would do the
same. many times idodnt do this and got stuck with a $5 sale instead of
something that could of made me more money.

anyway you shoud of just got an 3.5mm male plug, to a small piece of coax
(RG-174) or even bought the one they sell, and solder the loose ends to what
ever connector you wanted . i did this for my AM loop antenna they closed
out and it works like a champ. i hook it up to my FT-817 and it has the best
BCB reception

dont rip on the shack employees for your short comings. if you have to
complain about them you are just to frustrated with what you needs are, so
yes let them sell phones and make more money than selling $10.94 worth of
connectors, and then you trying to explain to them about radio.

just my honest opinion, now lets see who flames me

-steve, former Shacker



"Dxluver" wrote in message
...
Well, I've posted my dilema on what I've been looking for but never got
an
answer, or at least one I could take in there so I decided today I WAS
coming
out of any rat shack with what I needed.......if I had to go to five of
them,
I was.

My two problems:
I needed an adapter or 'sleeve' to consistently keep plugged into my
external
antenna jack on my DX398. You'd swear I was speaking another language.
After
I spoke s-l-o-w-l-y- for the third time and still saw the constipated
looks on
the two faces in there I told them....."guys, go on and take care of the
other
customers, there was FIVE standing there with their new (I suppose)
picture
cell phones and they were pressing in codes. {?} That's what it looked
like.
Every now and then one of them would break away from the desk and go to
an
aisle I was in like I was a potential thief or something.

I know a thief can be anyone, but I'm professional and clean cut and
after the
FOURTH time of being watched 'kind words' from me were asked to them in
the
form of "I'm not gonna rip you off, then preceded to reach in my pocket
and
whip out a stack of bills, that got them to leave me alone (I think.) ;-)

But for anyone else that needs or wants to correct the problem I had, the
cat#
(that I kept asking for in here to no avail BTW;-) ) is #4202472 for the
adapter or actually a 'sleeve' so you can plug and unplug your antenna
without
wearing out your board.

The other problem was with my phones (head phones) my Optimus Pro 40
plugs
into an adapter and I was afraid (because it would have) put a strain on
the
headphone chord from being bent at an angle all the time or would have
strained
the board. So I found a 'stereo to stereo Right angle'.....so now I have
that
new piece plugged in and the other adapter into it....followed by the
headphones plug itself plugged into that. No more strains on any of those
jacks or the board and now I can always unplug my external antenna (like
everyone should) without worrying if it'd be the last time before the jack
would loosen or the board would crack.

Both of them work beautifully and I'm a happy camper, and those workers
are
ding dong heads. ;-)

Check out the dilemma @ www.radioshacksucks.com

Forget "Crap Shack" its not worth the aggravation, got ****ed with some
character in Hip Hop clothing following me around the store bugging me with
a book of cellphone, radio and credit card plans. All the parts were packed
up thrown in disarray into a bank's of draw's
I did my standard rant, this time thing's went a little different:

I went off on him with tech talk: LOOK THIS IS WHAT Im LOOKING FOR !..Blah
Blah Blah
the droid goes and calls the cops on me !!!
The stupid ass call 911 and told them I looked suspicious and was for asking
for Ferrets, eggs, and German diodes.
The 2 stupid 21 year old flatfoots then ask me if Im on any type of
medication then for ID. I explain that I am looking for parts to help my
nephew put together a crystal set, now they look even more confused

Get an account with Mouser www.mouser.com the hell with these stupid
A**holes !!

-Joe



"Dxluver" wrote in message
...
Well, I've posted my dilema on what I've been looking for but never got
an
answer, or at least one I could take in there so I decided today I WAS
coming
out of any rat shack with what I needed.......if I had to go to five of
them,
I was.

My two problems:
I needed an adapter or 'sleeve' to consistently keep plugged into my
external
antenna jack on my DX398. You'd swear I was speaking another language.
After
I spoke s-l-o-w-l-y- for the third time and still saw the constipated
looks on
the two faces in there I told them....."guys, go on and take care of the
other
customers, there was FIVE standing there with their new (I suppose)
picture
cell phones and they were pressing in codes. {?} That's what it looked
like.
Every now and then one of them would break away from the desk and go to
an
aisle I was in like I was a potential thief or something.

I know a thief can be anyone, but I'm professional and clean cut and
after the
FOURTH time of being watched 'kind words' from me were asked to them in
the
form of "I'm not gonna rip you off, then preceded to reach in my pocket
and
whip out a stack of bills, that got them to leave me alone (I think.) ;-)

But for anyone else that needs or wants to correct the problem I had, the
cat#
(that I kept asking for in here to no avail BTW;-) ) is #4202472 for the
adapter or actually a 'sleeve' so you can plug and unplug your antenna
without
wearing out your board.

The other problem was with my phones (head phones) my Optimus Pro 40
plugs
into an adapter and I was afraid (because it would have) put a strain on
the
headphone chord from being bent at an angle all the time or would have
strained
the board. So I found a 'stereo to stereo Right angle'.....so now I have
that
new piece plugged in and the other adapter into it....followed by the
headphones plug itself plugged into that. No more strains on any of those
jacks or the board and now I can always unplug my external antenna (like
everyone should) without worrying if it'd be the last time before the jack
would loosen or the board would crack.

Both of them work beautifully and I'm a happy camper, and those workers
are
ding dong heads. ;-)

i worked at the shack to pay my way through college

Good for you, more people ought to have that drive.

and hated
dealing with customers who couldnt find what they were looking for or even
knew what it was they were looking for.

Hey, no one put a gun to your head and forced you to work at R.S., or anywhere
else for that matter. There are ALWAYS a fair amount of customers who haven't
the slightest clue if they're even in the right store, let alone know exactly
what they need. That's WHY there are basic rules of conduct and assistance in
the retail business, which, unfortunately, you didn't feel the need to
exercise. Be bitter about having to deal with 'idiots', but don't take it out
on the very base which supported your paycheck and got you through college.

it is not our job to find a magic
piece for you

Actually, it is, if you want to stay in business. R.S.'s own advertising and
marketing attitudes claim exactly that.

you apparenlty knew what you needed so why bother the
employees, just let them ring you up

There's the right attitude about retail and customer service... 'Don't bother
the help'... hell, why not just get rid of the employees and let the customer
find their stuff and ring it up themselves? OH, wait, then you wouldn't have
had anywhere to work through college...


so i might even give someone the cold shoulder to go
help a cell phone

Glad I never visited your store. You'd have been taken to task.

dont rip on the shack employees for your short comings.

When someone is supposed to know what they sell, and they don't know what they
sell, it is hardly a shortcoming of the customer. I had an R.S. employee tell
me (when I didn't even ask him about it, was just looking through the
headphones shelf) that simple walkman headphones wouldn't work with the output
from a portable MP3/CD player, because the phones 'were the wrong megahertz'...
and this guy was a manager.
And when an employee INTENTIONALLY ignores a customer who may not give them a
bigger sale, THAT also is a shortcoming of the employee's personal attitude,
and if defended or never questioned by the employer, then it's the employer's
shortcoming as well. The customer's knowledge or lack thereof has nothing to do
with ****ty service.
Not every R.S. store is that bad, some are terrific, most are average. And the
FACT is that the AVERAGE R.S. store couldn't care less about the customer who's
looking for less than $10 of merchandise. Disagree? Let's see what you wrote:

let them sell phones and make more money than selling $10.94 worth of
connectors
Yep, just like the sour looks one may get asking for a ketchup packet from the
girl across the counter at a fast food place. Just because you're bitter about
being there doesn't mean the customer's being an idiot, it just means you feel
like the world owes you more than you're getting.
Right.
Most other franchise-retail stores I frequent aren't even CLOSE to the level of
ignorance about their products and shameless disregard for their customers, as
your average R.S. store. I still shop there when needed, of course, and RARELY
if ever approach the employees, not because I'm afraid of 'bothering them' (no,
Heaven forbid I enlist the services of a paid employee during business hours...
I mean, let's not actually ask someone to DO the friggin' JOB they're paid to
do, right?) but because they never have a satisfactory answer if I have a
question.
For a store which markets themselves as 'Having Answers', they fail miserably,
ON AVERAGE.
Lord help us if you work retail again. Let us know which store so we can stay
the hell away.
Linus