Customer Service Review: Radio Shack in Wards Crossing - Lynchburg, VA

Visit #1 - I knew that my mp3 player could be played through my house stereo's speakers, but I didn't know which cable was required to do it since the instruction manual didn't mention it. After being given bad advice by two other stores, I called the Radio Shack in Wards Crossing. The man that I spoke with was very knowledgeable and he knew exactly what cable I needed. Wanting to copy a VHS tape that was over six hours long, I also needed to buy an eight hour VHS tape. While they aren't as common as the six hour tapes, they aren't exactly a rarity either. And he told me that Radio Shack had those as well.

Upon arrival to the store, there were no sales associates in sight except for a woman. I told her the cable that I needed, and she responded with a dumbfounded expression. Not only did she have no knowledge of what I was talking about, but she didn't seem to want to look either. The way that she was blocking my path, I felt as if she wanted me to leave the store. But I looked her straight on and informed her that I knew they had the cable.

She then decided to look, but it didn't appear that she was trying very hard. In the hopes that another employee would come out of the back, I stalled for time by telling her that I also wanted an eight hour VHS tape. I can't imagine that her expression would have been any different if I'd requested a pint of blood. Her not having knowledge of the cable was almost understandable since Radio Shack sells a variety of items in their little store, but an eight hour VHS tape?

Having overheard some of the conversation, the man came out of the back who I had spoken with on the telephone. He grabbed both items off the shelf that I wanted and rang me up. He tried to apologize for her ignorance, and we both agreed that it didn't make sense that she was working there without any knowledge of the products.

After I left the store, I saw on the receipt that the blank VHS tape cost more than twice the price as it does at other stores. Radio Shack has many over-priced products.

Visit #2 - I was looking for a headset for my corded house telephone. They are very hard to find except on the internet. So, in looking for this item, there were many times that it turned out that a store told me they had it when they didn't. So when this Radio Shack told me that they had a headset for a 3.5mm jack and a converter to make it work with a corded telephone, I quizzed him thoroughly to make sure it was the right item. He assured me that it was and then offered to place the item on hold.

Being very familiar with how Radio Shack says they'll hold an item and then I see them pull it off the shelf when I arrive, I know that they don't truly hold items. But I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, and told him that my mom was picking it up in about an hour.

When my mom arrived at the store not long after I spoke with the sales associate, she called me on her cell phone to say that the item had been sold to someone else. Both the headset and the converter. What are the odds that someone else was looking for exactly the same items and on the same day?

What really made me angry wasn't this one bad experience by itself. It's the combination of every bad experience I've had at both the Radio Shack in Wards Crossing and the Radio Shack in River Ridge Mall. Both say they'll hold something and then claim it sold while I was en route. Or they don't physically check to make sure they have it in stock. They have actually admitted that they didn't physically check and relied on memory to know if something was in stock. Radio Shack stores are small and aren't usually overly busy. Is it too much to ask for them to actually check the stock and then hold an item if asked to?