SC threatens to shut our whole store down

[thedrunkenmonkey]

I don't know. I'm enough of a technonerdlinger that I still have power supplies from laptops and computers from ten years ago that aren't actually still manufactured - the point where if I don't have it in my hands I can ring a couple other ancient-history nerds I know and bring back that AMIGA from the grave if we really want to.

The last four power supplies that I had that (I assume the Wii adapter is the standard modern laptop power adapter - a box on the floor with a grounded three-prong hooked into another three-prong that slips into a smaller power port on the back of the Wii) particular issue with were running hot because they were left on machines. IE, in 99 degree heat zones, which tends to make plastic go a bit melty if it get left on for two weeks in a hot sun without air conditioning.

This is also why I can't be customer-facing. Unless they want to shove customers who have burned through everyone else's patience and they truly don't give a rat's ass if these people contact corporate or not. I'm that guy.

I have actually casually looked up at someone and asked, "Wait, you seriously put a coffee cup in the slot that specifically says, on the tray, "CD and DVD media only in it" and you're bringing back the whole computer because you think it should have been better labeled? Do you also look for "This End Up" label when you buy your monthly stock of gravity?"

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Actually, at the swamp the pressure to sell EPPs isn't quite as thick as you might think. Just a bunch of stupid little posters and gimmicks telling you how much money you can make talking people into EPP, that people expect to be asked about EPPs so you shouldn't feel uncomfortable asking, how to overcome common customer objections, etc.

And some stupid little table tents in the breakroom telling you that the company makes $8 when an application for a store Visa is accepted, and you'd have to sell $60,000 worth of Tide laundry detergent to make that same $8 profit, and some other BS.

But that doesn't mean corporate can't become more strict on this. If the economy stays bad for a long time, and they start getting antsy about profits, there's nothing stopping them from telling the cashiers and salespeople "Either you get X number of EPPs/Visa applications/Loyalty cards in X amount of time or you're fired."

And I can easily see that happening here. Our conversion rates on EPPs, Visa applications and loyalty cards are the worst in the district.

We get weekly management "pep talks" that are designed to "pump us up" and makes us want to "sell sell sell!" or so corporate says.

Let me ask you Irv, are your conversion rates low because no one working there really gives a shit about selling that stuff?

[mikoyan29]

Well, I'm glad that I take my stance on store warranties then. Thank you for letting me know that they are a one time deal. I am usually fine with a manufacturer's warranty because they are the ones that see the failure rates and what not and try to account for them. Also, if a unit is going to fail, it is most likely going to fail in what is known as the "infant mortality" portion of it's lifespan. These are typically manufacturing defects. If it lasts through that period, it will have a long and useful life more than likely (unless there is some sort of defect inherent in the design in which case, some manufacturer's might offer a recall).

Anyways....did anything else come out of this?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

.

Let me ask you Irv, are your conversion rates low because no one working there really gives a shit about selling that stuff?

That could be part of it. Some of the cashiers just ask the customer "Do you want the EPP for $X?" instead of explaining benefits the way corporate expects them to.

Another part of it is we have a shitload of items qualifying for an EPP. Anything electrical qualifies, as does all indoor furniture, all infant furniture and all jewelry. Even the cheapest of these items qualifies. So if you're selling a lot of qualifying items, but not a lot of high-end qualifying items, your conversion rate will suffer.

That said, ours is currently at about 15%, after starting at over 29% on Sunday. We'll probably end the week in the double digits.

Funny EPP story from today: We sold a floor model chair to somebody because it was the last one we had, we weren't getting any more, and the customer had a rain check. The service desk person mentioned the EPP as she's supposed to, and the customer took her up on it. If something goes wrong with that chair, the EPP will be useless because it doesn't cover floor models.

But hey, she had to ask anyway. Management would have her ass in a sling if they caught her overriding the register prompt because she knew the EPP would be worthless on that chair anyway. It's not her fault the customer said yes.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Oh and the update on the situation is...surprise, surprise, the SCs never came back.

[jjllbb]

He should just shop at my store. My store managers would have given it to him for free, given him a gift card, and repeated the process every single time he came in for years to come.

I swear it's so unfair. I had a lady come in with no receipt and an electric scooter SEVERAL YEARS OLD, telling me it didn't work. She hadn't gotten the extended warranty we offered and I told her I wouldn't exchange it.

Yeah, my manager exchanged it, apologized to her about me, and gave her a gift card for her "trouble".

Anyone who makes a fuss gets free stuff. It's those poor souls who actually take no for an answer that get jipped in this whole thing.

I hope they don't do the same thing in your place and actually back you up.

[Fire_on_High]

SD Card failure - Farking things fail all the time and even though it's Wii branded, is still a Sandisk product - Sandisk's fault

*snip*

That's all of the failures I've heard of and or dealt with. Unlike the hundreds of "Red Ring of Death" stories and flaming PS3's I've read about.

Now that's odd...we got cheap nonbranded cards from an endcap at Big Lots and they're still going strong. Something to look into for you maybe?

That was pretty much what I was getting at, tho :-) A dropped or smashed controller is a whole different animal from RRODs.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Now that's odd...we got cheap nonbranded cards from an endcap at Big Lots and they're still going strong. Something to look into for you maybe?

That was pretty much what I was getting at, tho :-) A dropped or smashed controller is a whole different animal from RRODs.

Actually it's not so much the Wii branded cards that fail all the time, it's flash memory cards in general. I never keep anything important on a flash memory device without having it saved somewhere else (1tb external hard drives are nice and chap for that) for the simple reason that they have a limited read-write cycle and just one hiccup in the file transfer process (power failure during write, card removal, power surge) can cause them to go tits-up.

I've had one Wii card fail on me, but with all the times the kids borrowed it to take the saved games from our Wii to their father's Wii...Goddess knows how they treated it.

[AccountingDrone]

I don't know. I'm enough of a technonerdlinger that I still have power supplies from laptops and computers from ten years ago that aren't actually still manufactured - the point where if I don't have it in my hands I can ring a couple other ancient-history nerds I know and bring back that AMIGA from the grave if we really want to.

ooo I can help there, i have a 1000 and a 500, and the hdd for the 500 =)

[lordlundar]

One broken Wiimote - Kids weren't using the strap and it flew into the fish tank - Not Nintendo's fault

I'm sorry, really. It's just that when I read this I couldn't help but laugh. I mean, I've herd of them flying out and breaking TVs, Assorted objects in the house, getting broken apart by a ceiling fan, but flying into a fish tank. That's a new one.