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Part of the issue is that their quality of service has gone down. 10 years ago, most people who worked there were knowledgeable in their respective departments
by ulkesh 7y ago
Part of the issue is that their quality of service has gone down. 10 years ago, most people who worked there were knowledgeable in their respective departments, but now it is quite often the opposite. I don’t exactly blame the workers, it could simply be that circumstances have caused training to become nonexistent.
I remember the holidays at that time with the checkout line being so long that they couldn’t keep up with even 30 registers open. Now, they have maybe two registers open at any given time and the checkout line is never more than a few customers long.
I find it sad and disconcerting. But I have to admit to being part of the problem: I haven’t bought much at Fry’s since I built my last PC 2-3 years ago. Every time we go now, it’s depressing and we end up only buying a cable or a memory card.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago10yr ago those people had just got laid off from all their IT jobs and whatnot. Now they all have real jobs again and you've got lower quality labor. The same thing happened to Autozone, Home Depot and every other place a laid off skilled worker wound up getting a job to make ends meet.
- ulkesh 7y agoThat is a good point. I was lucky to get through the recession without being laid off, but so many others were certainly not as fortunate.
- dspillett 7y ago> 10 years ago, most people who worked there were knowledgeable ... but now ... That is the same in and vaguely specialist shop. Most of the workers will be the cheapest to employ or the least willing to fight back about a bit of unpaid overtime here or there. Having knowledge and/or skills is no longer a significant competitive advantage in that employment market.
- lotsofpulp 7y ago> 10 years ago, most people who worked there were knowledgeable in their respective departments, The quality and depth of information available online, especially via forums, far exceeds what one can expect from a single employee. I don’t see how any store could compete on that aspect, although the online info is probably limited to people who are adept at reading English.
- emodendroket 7y agoQuite easily; who wants to sift through all that? However, it turns out if you charge higher prices and have knowledgeable employees, many people will take advantage of the employees' guidance, then go home and order the same thing on Amazon for less.
- bsder 7y ago> However, it turns out if you charge higher prices and have knowledgeable employees, many people will take advantage of the employees' guidance, then go home and order the same thing on Amazon for less. This always chapped my hide. It absolutely killed my favorite local technical bookstores.