Radio Shack
Reviews and Complaints

This morning I took my VCR to radio shack with the intention of having it repaired. Everything was all said and done when the person behind the counter said it would cost $85.00. I informed him I would pay the deposit of $20.00 which is customary, and the balance upon receipt of the repaired VCR. He refused to do this. I asked him if the policy has changed. He said as long as he was with radio shack this was the policy. I regularly take things to radio shack for repair and am fully aware that this is not the policy. I then advised him that if he was not willing to charge me for the deposit only I would complain about him. He then told me that when I complain about him not to mis-pronounce his name and he gave me a business card, crossed out the name, and wrote manger on it. He then told me that he makes up the policy and that it is whatever he wants it to be and that when he entered the $20.00 amount for a deposit which I gave him that his computer asked for a balance of $65.00. When I walked into the store 1st, heavy rock music videos were playing and he was on the phone. I asked him to deal with the customer 1st and then the phone, to which he said he must 1st wait for his terminal to warm up. It was now 4 minutes past opening time of ten o'clock. After he had entered the information about my VCR, and after knowing that I expressed interest in another item in the store, he advised me that he would help another customer with something and come back to me. After he finished with the other customer I said forget it and he gave me my $20.00 back, and I walked out of the store with my broken VCR. I then took the VCR to a radio shack store at 1365 younger street where someone took my complaint, $20.00, and received the VCR for repairs, courteously, and efficiently.

Black Friday I purchased a Sansa 4GB MP3 player for 39.99 when sale associate asked me to purchase the product replacement plan, I did so with his verbal explanation that if anything happened, it would be replaced.

Item stopped working. I contacted customer service Aug. 5th and was greeted with Radio Shack employee “Brian 1044” who told me they would issue a gift card, I explained to him the website showed the item for sale for 65.00 vs. the 40.00 I paid for it, he came back and said that radio shack would issue it for 69.55 (to include sales tax), I expressed my concern that it may go off sale and back up to the 79.99 price, he informed me that as soon as UPS scans my label, it will be released. I questioned, “don’t they at least see if mine can be fixed”, he replied that they usually just recycle them.

Sat. is here so I called to follow up on my gift card, was told, only getting a gift card for 39.99 instead of the orig. 69.55 that Employee 1044 stated.
Spoke with supervisors Curtis # 4105, Lisa # 7234 and Kim#3146 that went in circles and came back to they would not REPLACE the item, but only issue this check. I argured, that all I wanted was a replaced MP3 player (which it is technically still under manf. Warrenty), asking them to honor their TOS and replace the item since it was in stock online and in store and they argured that they are only going to issue the 39.99 orig. price which fulfills their TOS, when I pointed out they TOS also said, product replacement of like quality. They still said no, they were rude, I asked them to keep a good customer and take the high road, that yes, they could get away with the 40.00 but Brian had already told me to expect a gift card in the amount of 69.55, now they were taking it down to the 39.99 and all I wanted is the product replaced which they have in stock.

Please post my complaints for others to see / view and make choice if they want to purchase replacement plans that radio shack will take the lower road and cheaper way out, at all costs, even if it means losing a customer.

Called them to confront on the option that customer has to refuse gift card/cash option for a like quality replacement and since they have it in stock, it can be replaced, Jennifer # 3228 informed me they are the 3rd party servicing and they do not carry any items to replace, so to me it is false advertising…

READ last LINE in 7.1 REPLACEMENT OF PRODUCT!

REPLACEMENT OF PRODUCT
7.1 We will provide you with one of the following, as determined by Us in Our sole discretion: a RadioShack Gift Card; product of like
kind and quality replacement; or a cash settlement. The amount of the cash settlement or Gift Card shall not exceed the original
purchase price of the Product plus sales tax paid. If You are issued a Gift Card and You choose to purchase a product with Your Gift
Card that is less than the amount originally issued on the card, you will not receive cash for the remaining balance. The remaining
balance will stay on your Gift Card for any future purchases to be made through a RadioShack store. If You choose to purchase a
product that is over the amount that is issued on Your Gift Card, You are responsible for the difference. If You refuse the Gift Card, We
will pay to You, the CUSTOMER, a cash settlement. If You refuse both the Gift Card and cash settlement You have the option of receiving a new or refurbished product of like kind and quality if reasonably available.

7.2 In the event a) the Service Plan was purchased more than ninety days (90) after the date of purchase of the Product or b) if Product was
not purchased from RadioShack, We reserve the right to terminate this Service Plan and refund the original Service Plan purchase Price,
minus any claims paid to You or any preceding holder of this Service Plan.

7.3 In the event the Product is replaced or a RadioShack Gift Card or cash settlement is provided, all of Our obligations under this Service
Plan will be completely fulfilled for the replaced Product, and We shall have no further obligations for the Product for the remainder of
the Term of this Service Plan, if any.

I am a former emplyoee of Radioshack. I resigned because of the fact that I tried to file a sexual harrassment case against one of my co-workers. My DM told me that I needed to quit being dramatic and that I needed to grow the [protected]@!k up. I'm so disturbed as to how a company can run a business and a corporation like this. I made several complaints to my DM and the only thing that he had ever said to me was that I needed to quit being dramatic and that I needed o grow up. What kind of DM says that to an actual sexual harrassment complaint? I mean things were bad when this employee started and started calling me baby and babygirl. When my manger confronted him with this, he replied, "I knew what I was getting my self into, coming to work with a bunck of women." When we all felt offended by this we went to our DM and he [DM] said that we needed to quit being dramatic and childish. I had many instances with this employee and his sexual comments and his prying into personal life, for example, he asked me one day if my boyfriend and I shared a room. When I replied that yes we did, he said " So ya'll share a bed?" When I said that yes we did, he made a comment that we weren't married and that he couldn't believe that our parents would let us do a thing like that. I'm 20 and no longer live under my parents roof and my boyfriend is 21 and quite frankly, it's none of his business. One would think that when you walk into a environment that is supposed to be professional you wouldn't be judged about your personal life. I was having a bad day one day and wasn't my normal happy self and this employee said, "Are having your period or something?" What does my preformance have to do with my period? When I told him that it was none of his business, he said "Well I guess so." He would always call me Miss and when I asked him to stop because I didn't like it, he told me that he was 34 yrs old and could call me whatever he pleased. He was always wanted to be right behind me when I had to use the computer to make a cell and he always found a was to touch me. After I resigned, as I was leaving the store, my co-worker came up to me and put his hand on my shoulder and started to rub it and said "Sweetheart, I'm glad that you are leaving." This is a n outrage! My Manager also resigned because of this same issue. She complained to our DM, and all the DM would tell us is to quit being dramatic. This particular co-worker would call us sweetheart, baby, babygirl, and honey. After making multiple complaints against him the DM would tell us that we were being childish and over dramatic. How would anyone feel if they were called baby and sweetheart by someone that they didn't really know and this person was not related to them? This needs to be taken care of and this DM needs to be let go.

They are holding my $250 dollar deposit hostage! I tried to exchange a bad phone with a replacement because I bought their $80 replacement insurance. What a mistake that was! First off, their "substitute" phone was crap, and second they said it takes 30 days for them to give your money back! I have all the tracking documentation and would like to charge them interest.
The sales rep who initially sold me the phone said "if you have any problems with this phone, simply come into the store and we will exchange it right here". LIES. You have to call into their service plan department and get a RA# then they take your deposit, ship out a 2nd phone then you put the bad one in the same box and stick the prepaid fedex ground shipping (very few locations for drop off) then ship it back to them. REMEMBER TO KEEP ALL DOCUMENTS AND TRACKING NUMBERS!
The funny thing is- the deposit is for a phone that was refurbished to begin with, which is probably why I was having trouble with it randomly shutting off, thus missing many calls without my knowledge.
I DISCOURAGE ANYONE CONSIDERING SUBSCRIPTION OF CELL PHONE SERVICE FROM THEM! DO NOT FALL FOR THE INCENTIVES THEY TRY TO PUSH! DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND GO DIRECT TO THE CELL COMPANY RETAIL STOREFRONT.

This is a copy of the letter that I sent to assurant solutions and the better business bureau. I thought radioshack should be aware of the the practices of the company representing them.

To whom it may concern at assurant solutions, june 8, 2009

We received your questionnaire about your service and decided that we could not possibly fit our experiences with your company on that tiny questionnaire form.
We had purchased four cell phones with radio shack just over a year ago on 5-7-08. At that time we also paid for the “2 yr wireless replacement plan” that they offered which was $70.00 for each phone. Just under the 1 year mark of our plan, our troubles began. Here is the history of our experiences with your company from that time till now.

Blackjack 2
4-6-09 we called to report a claim – phone loses date/call history info
4-11-09 we called again – no box received yet
4-14-09 received box
4-15-09 shipped box back
4-21-09 received replacement phone
4-23-09 called to report this phone is worse than original – callers on other end of line unable to hear person on this phone
4-27-09 called again – no box yet
4-30-09 received box
5-2-09 shipped box
5-7-09 received replacement phone
5-13-09 called to report this phone - buzzes in ear when in use
5-15-09 this phone stopped working all together
5-20-09 we called again - still no box. Your rep. Marla put in for lemon refund. Told us to wait for call from provider.
5-25-09 we called again - no call and no box
5-28-09 received box
5-28-09 shipped box
6-8-09 no call and no phone. We called your company again to check status. Jennifer had no answer for why no one had called or responded to our case. She said they will issue a refund for 299.99 plus tax so that we can purchase a new phone. Now we wait 10-14 business days to receive this. No telling how long we would have had to wait for your company to call us to initiate this refund – if they would have ever called us at all.

We will accept this refund (If and when it comes) just so that we can move on with our lives. The phones value at the time of our original purchase was $379.99 plus tax without a contract. Apparently this phone
Has decreased in value over the past year.

Sony ericsson walkman
4-28-09 called to report a claim – phone died, won’t turn on at all
5-4-09 received box
5-4-09 shipped box
5-7-09 received replacement phone
5-13-09 called to report this phone – connection to computer does not work
5-20-09 called again – no box
5-25-09 called again – no box
5-28-09 received box
5-28-09 shipped box
6-3-09 received replacement phone

To date this phone also has issues, for some reason the light inside the phone comes on randomly without anyone touching it. We would try to make a claim for a replacement for this phone also but now that we know your practices we don’t want to be without a phone for another 2 weeks just to receive an even worse replacement phone.

This had been without a doubt the worst business experience ever. Not only did your company never hold up to their word as far as when they said someone would call us and didn’t, there is also the fact that each phone sent to us was in its own way worse than our original phones. Over the course of the past 2 months we have continued to pay a cell phone usage bill for 2 phones that we have barely had use of. I have other complaints as well but at this point the list is almost too long to continue. I will however mention that some of your customer service techs that answer the calls, have no clue. Some of them couldn’t even find our accounts. Some were very rude. Aside from a single call back from marla, no one there followed up with our continued problems, therefore we had to speak with a new person every time we called, virtually starting over every time. Imagine how frustrating that can be.

I will be sending a copy of this letter to radio shack so that they can be aware of the practices of the company that is representing them. I will also be sending a copy to the better business bureau so that my complaints can be recorded there. Maybe in the future, someone can be saved from experiencing the grief we have had to endure, all because we bought a 2 year replacement warranty with our cell phones.

If you would like to read any notes that your representatives recorded about our account, here is our identifying information. Maybe you will be able to find it easier (Given the exact same info) than some of your reps.

*original receipt number: radioshack 01-6611 order: 042165

*reference numbers: blackjack 2 – [protected]
Sony erickson walkman – [protected]

I appreciate you taking the time to read all of my comments. Maybe this will get to someone there who can actually change the way you all do business.

Sincerely, ron and deb williams
209 jessie court
Berea, ky 40403
[protected]

I went into my local radioshack to purchase a radio antenna. They did not have the antenna, but after looking around, i ended up purchasing a new cell phone and changing my current cell phone provider in order to take advantage of the new customer specials. I purchased the phone the $350 phone for $99 due to the new customer special. I also had to pay for a $36 connection fee from AT&T. Everything OK so far... But here goes the kicker... I went to the Radioshack web site two days after I purchased the phone, and noticed that they had the exact phone I bought for free along with free connection fee! So, I contact the store and they told me I can bring my phone back, reconnect me with Sprint (my previous carrier) and reconnect my old phone. This would take about 3 days (I don’t understand how they can port your number to a new carrier in just 10 minutes, but switching back takes 3 days!?!). By that time, the web special would expire. So, I contacted the corporate customer service, they passed the buck to their wireless supplier and after talking to the Customer service manager, they never took responsibility. I was upset that they did not inform me of the web special when I bought the phone in the store. They had 2 prices for the same product. Since I bought the item in a physical store, I was penalized. Again, the Web item was free with free connection. I feel they stole my money. If they were a honest company thay would have disclosed the web special and then let me, the customer, decide if I want to pay for it and get it at the time of the transaction (convenience), or, get it free but wait for the item to ship to me. They cheated me and the corporate CS did nothing but pass the buck and try to confuse me with a complex explanation of their marketing strategy. My third response to them was never addressed. I'll be sending a letter with the email conversation to the CEO. Radioshack is a dishonest crook of a company! I will never set foot in there stores again!

Bought an Apple ipod earphone on 11-28-09 from Radio Shack at the mall

located in lakewood, CA, address Radio Shack 01-3591, 58 Lakewood Ctr Mall

Lakewood, CA [protected] phone number of the store [protected].

I also bough the warranty for this earphone piece and the sales person assured

me that if any problems, all I had to do was bring it to amy Radio Shack for an exchange,

I tripple asked him if he was sure about this and he said yes.

my receipt order # XXXX dated 11-28-2008 time 07:17 P term #003 Helped by: 001 (S R)

all this is the information on the receipt and warranty was placed under my boys name.

Here goes the story from the start and short:

1-) We bought the earphone and got the warranty on 11-28-2008 at lakewood store.

2-) We get home and find the box has used broken earphones inside at about 8:00 PM

3-) We phone the store ans speak to the manager, he apologizes and claims some how

a defective return to their store got mixed up with the new items, to just

take it to the nearest Radio Shack and I shouldn't have a problem, he also told

me to just let who ever was helping me to call him to verified this mix up.

4-)We drove to Radio Shack in Lynwood # 01-3002, where I got accused of stealing,

was denied an exchange and was put trough hell just for the mistake Radio Shack made

in the first place, after practically begging all the employess there to call the

store in lakewood to verified that I had just purchase this thing there and that the

manager there knew of the situation, one employee finally called and talke to the manager,

I have no idea what he did on the computer, but they gave a new earphone and told me to

keep my old receipt with the warranty I purchased for it.

I asked once again, am I going to have any problems exchanging this if anything goes

wrong with them? the employee asured me not at all.

So I left the store ut very upset because of my time and gas spent fixing a wrong

by Radio Shack.

5-)My boy is 10 years old and uses his ipod alot, one of the ear things stop working,

I grabbed my receipt with my warranty and drove to the Lynwood store # 01-3002, to

do a simple exchange of the earphone, after all I got warranty (So I though)

The employe made me feel like a crook once again and also kept on asking me if I

had warranty this thing before at his store( looking at his computer)

I told him I had not warranty anything at his store, that I simply walked inthere and

did an exchange from a mess up that came out of the Lakewood store, he checked with his

Manager, after a bit of a discussion they told me I have to wait for and envelope to be sent

to my house so I can send the defective earplugs for inspection because this was my second

time exchanging this things, I proceded to let them know the story from the begining but

no one wanted to listen anymore, so I am home right now wasting my time writing this long

email with my story of how i bought some warraty at Radio Shack that is not been honor and

how an employee mistake at the lakewood store got me into this hole mess and no one is willing

to liste to the customer, has any body though about my troubles I gone trough with this earplugs?

6-)I worked in retail most of my life and have never put a customer trough as many hoops as

Radio Shack has with this 29.99 item that has warranty.

My uncle bought me a Laptop from you guys for Christmas with the 2 year protection plan for it

I wonder how you guys will deal with that if anything was to happen ( Hope to God after this

nightmare, nothing, since I know now you don't stand behind your warranty at all)

I am seriously going to talk to my uncle about the laptop since is under 90 days and hasn't even

been used twice to return it or at least get a refund on that protection plan that you guys

don't seen to back up at all.

If you dont believe me about the laptop here is the date of purchase 11-26-2008 at the

Radio Shack # 01-3599 order # XXXXX 2:25 PM Term #002 helped by 010 (TMW)

He spent almost 1, 000 dollars on this and I also go to purchase at Radio Shack alot,

but after this experience I am going to make sure every friend, family member, customer that

walks into my bussiness and work place and even strangers know of this story and how the end

came out to be for the 29.99 ipod earphones and the misleading and lying tactics been put

to work on good Radio Shack customers like me.

(it is up to you guys upthere to make this right and hope fully someone with good bussiness

sense reads this story, complaint, email or whatever you want to call it)

p/s I would wait for a response if not I'll make sure you get

this email daily until a proper response is received.

Radio Shack had the Altec Lansing IM600 speakers for your ipod advertised on their website for $59.99 (normally $149.99). I attempted for more than a week to obtain one. I set up the automatic e-mail notification, called on a daily basis and checked their website on a daily basis. I always got the same answer, "sorry, it is still out of stock. keep checking our website." The sale ended on 12/31/08. Well guess what! It is now 01/01/09 and the item is now in stock but at $149.99! I feel that Radio Shack had the item all along, baited me in so that I can surf their website in the hopes that I will purchase other things instead! I am very disappointed with their deceiving marketing tactics! I am very sure that I was not the only one that went through this!

My fiance and I went to a Radio Shack store located in Cumberland Mall in Atlanta Georgia. We went there to purchase a Navigon GPS device. We bought the device at 3:37 PM and returned to our car to set the system up. When we opened the box, we realized that the screen on the GPS was cracked. We promptly returned the item to the Radio Shack store at 3:50. We went back to the store associate, Eric, who sold us the device. He assessed the device and began telling us that this was not the same GPS that we just bought. We told him that it was and that the screen was cracked when we took it out of the box. He said that there was not a manager on duty and that we had to come back on Monday; it was only Saturday. We told him that we just bought the item and we want to exchange it, and that we did not want to come back on Monday. He accused us of cracking the screen; we were in disbelief because this has never happened to us before. We waited while another associate, Angel, call the store manager on her cell phone. Eric walked away from us and refused to assist us anymore. Angel informed us that the store manager will not approve of the exchange or refund. We were told that there was nothing that we could do until Monday. We immediately called our bank to dispute the charges, and it was noted on our account. We told Angel and Eric that we are not taking the defective item with us and we want them to check and make sure that everything is there. We did not want to be accused of stealing. Angel then told us that we were being childish. I thought the whole scene was unneccessary and extremely unprofessional. We are also making a complaint to the BBB. If you ever buy a product at this particular Radio Shack, please check your merchandise before leaving the store. We don't want anyone to go through what we went through.

Radioshack cancelled my order for an Altec lansing im600 without me knowing...until it was too late. No one even tried to help me. Our conversation below:

Wrote: I already talked to one of your associates about this issue. I
know the explanation of how my order was placed and canceled by some
sort of discrepancy between the order and the warehouse. What I don't
understand is that I tried to order this item 6 times previously but was
told it was out of stock. Another time I was ordering it and by the time
I placed the order I was told it went out of stock. So I know, for a
fact, that an order cannot be placed unless an item is in stock. So I
was told my order couldn't be filled because the item was out of stock,
despite COMPLETING an ORDER, BEING TOLD it was IN STOCK, and RECEIVING A
CONFIRMATION E-Mail. I am upset because these were christmas presents
and now the sale is over AND NO ONE at radioshack is willing to help me!
I think this is ridiculous and I can't help but feel like I'm being
swindled somehow. I want to know what can be done to fill my order for
the price I actually ordered it for. I know it is available now for
$150. I would like it for the price I ordered it for. I want some
CUSTOMER SERVICE, where someone actually helps me instead of giving me
an excuse that is of no benefit.

According to your website orders are cancelled for (2) reasons:
1) Cancelled on 00/00/0000 due to invalid order information If an error
occurs during the order authorization process it first goes into
suspension while we attempt to reach you for verification, and then it
is cancelled. Once an order is cancelled it cannot be processed and must
be placed again on our website in order to proceed.

2) Cancelled on 00/00/0000 due to invalid payment information Due to
missing or invalid payment information, your order was cancelled. Once
an order is cancelled it cannot be processed and must be placed again on
our website in order to proceed.

My order being cancelled was NOT MY FAULT, but I am being penalized. If
your warehouse has a mix-up, why do I lose my order? As a known company
fairness and customer satisfaction should be the goal. I hope you can
take care of this issue for me.

Thank you,

RA

Their WORTHLESS Response:

Thank you for contacting RadioShack.com.

We apologize, but according to our records, your order was cancelled
because it was out out stock not because of a processing error. We
regret if this has caused you any inconvenience. We operate a real-time
inventory system that updates the content of our website twice a day.
Your order was received and processed before the site was updated to
reflect the change in inventory. Unfortunately, your order could not be
fulfilled.

We are unable to provide a time frame of when we may receive more of the
merchandise in our warehouse.

Again we apologize for the inconvenience.

If you have additional questions, please visit our online Help Desk.

I placed an order online for a PS2 for my son, (his just broke) for Christmas. Then I thought I would change the shipping so I could have it faster. I called the 800 number on their website and the [censored]bag on the other end supposedly changed the shipping method, no prob. Then I get an email 20 minutes later stating my order was cancelled, no reason given.

So again, I call the 800 number on the website and talked to [censored]bag #2. He said the order was cancelled at my request. So now I"m pissed. After going through the whole story with him he tells me I can reorder the playstation with a different card since now ther is a $130 hold on my debit card, my only debit card. So I request to speak to the supervisor. The supervisor isn't in yet and he can take my number and they will call me in 12-24 hrs.

Two days go by...nothing. My money still wasn't refunded and the supervisor didn't call me back. Now it's December 19th with no playstation and no money for the playstation. I can't even purchase one someplace local.

So I call back again and because radioshack will not verify my debit card info with my bank there are still several days left before the hold is released. The Supervisor( [censored]bag #3) does not offer any help or solutions except when the money is refunded, order another, pay for overnight shipping and they'll refund the shipping to me. IN WHAT 1-2 WEEKS...I DON'T THINK SO YOU IDIOT.

RadioShack has nothing but ignorant ###s that will not do anything to even help resolve what could have been a simple problem.

I just wanted to change the amount of time it took for the playstation to get here. Well, I got what I wanted...instad of 5-7 days it changed to NEVER!

This is the letter that I forwarded to Radio Shack:

To Whom It May Concern:

Yesterday, December 13th, 2008, I purchased an Eton FR300 weather radio from your store in Alpena, MI. When I entered your store I was shown two units that were on a 2-day sale. One was the Eton FR300, and the other was the 7-Channel Handheld Weatheradio® with SAME Operation. After weighing the differences, we chose the Eton.

When we got home we decided to open it up and test it, to make sure that it worked properly prior to wrapping it for Christmas. Glad we did, the unit worked on the weather channel, but not on FM or AM.

I called the store and spoke with one of the sales team (name not mentioned). I asked if I could return the Eton and get the 7-Channel Handheld Weatheradio® with SAME Operation at the price that it was being offered when I purchased the Eton. He stated that he could not, and that no matter what reason, when a sale is over, it's over.

If I were returning it just to exchange to the other unit without having a problem with the original item purchased I could understand the policy. However, knowing that the unit is not working properly, I cannot comprehend why your policy would be to not allow a customer an exchange for a different product from the date of purchase that was on sale at that time. If this truly is your policy, then I hope you understand that I cannot support that policy and must choose to not continue as a patron.

To finish this, after I was told that information I then stated that I was going to return it and not purchase anything if I could not get the sales price on the other unit. Your sales associate stated, "that's up to you".

I am going to return the Eton and purchase a NOAA radio from a company that does not endorse a similar policy.

I purchased a Ipod 30GB on 2/25/07 and after approximately 1 year later I started having problems with Ipod even though I hardly used it... Ipod did have a few scratches because as you may know they get scratched very easily not matter how hard you try to take care of it.. Today is 11/18/08 and the Ipod as been into the service center named above in which I paid extra to get and insurance on my Ipod 4 times.. They state that they have upgrade my Ipod and that they couldn't find anything wrong or defective with it... The difference from the times before is that this time it came back as if it had chipped corners and dent in which they clamed cause an hard drive damage... I hardly used my Ipod becase as you may see it has spent more time at the service center than in my hands... I have not used my Ipod that much and finally they made irrepairable damage in which I did not make and state that they do not cover physical damage... This is insane! I paid soo much money in this Ipod and now they damaged my Ipod to the point where I would have to buy a new one... With the economy the way it is, at this point I can't afford a new Ipod... My advise to everyone who read this is never, never purchase and insurance from Radio Shack because they are scammer... Just stay with the one year warranty that the manufacturers give you because they would damage you product beyond repair

July 2008 purchased 2 Digital Stream converter boxes from Radio Shack. Was assured they were compatible with myTV an d cable company(RCN) which went totally digital at the end of Oct 08. They don't work and are useless. I called RCN in July and they advised me that RCN will not being going digital in my area 19074. I called the government and they assured me the boxes I purchased would be compatible only to find out RCN is proprietary and only their boxes will work. I had to pay for a tech to get these boxes working to no avail and had to buy an RCN Converter box. Radio Shack will give me back the money I paid for them, but not the coupons I used. Radio Shack said they did not distribute the coupons, therefore, they can't return them to me. In July RCN told me that they were not honoring the government coupons, but as of November, they are. This is totally unfair to the consumer to be misinformed by the government, my cable company(RCN), and Radio Shack. I have two useless converter boxes and no coupons since only two(2) per household. At this point, since I can return the boxes to Radio Shack, I need two additional coupons to make up for the RCN box I bought, and to get another RCN box for my second TV.

I thank you for the opportunity to present my complaint, and trust you will respond to me with a solution to my situation at your earliest convenience.

I am a perfect example of a typical Radio Shack customer. I have made quite a few purchases there over the years, and when friends have a need for something in the electro-technical area, I would have been among the first to suggest that they visit their local Radio Shack. In other words, I was part of a strong loyal customer base.

The company however is being undermined by very, very poor middle management. Here has been the most recent very disappointing experience at my local Radio Shack. I recently purchased a medium priced Jensen CD/AM-FM combination player which was both AC and DC. I had been using the AC with regular alkaline batteries, and found that using this as often as I did, I was spending too much on batteries.

I went to my local Radio Shack (Edison, NJ, US Rt. #1, Wick – Pathmark Shopping Plaza ) and found that the Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries ( SIZE C ) were about $17.00 for two. I needed six. I purchased four that day (about a month ago) and just this past week I bought another two. The Alkaline batteries finally ran out so I began to charge the six Nickel Metal Hydrides. I was using a fairly new Ray O Vac, all purpose battery charger that was good for both Nickel Metal Hydrides and Nickel Cadmiums. I knew that it worked well because I had been using it for my AA and AAA batteries all along. The two most recently purchased “C” cells took the charge after a few hours with no problem. The four batteries that I purchased about a month or so prior, did not take the charge. I left the batteries in the charger overnight and found that they did not charge at all. I used a small volt meter to check them and they were completely dead.

I never kept the packaging or the receipt, because I never anticipated this to happen. It was a battery, not a device, and until this time it never occurred to me that a brand new battery couldn’t be charged. The batteries appear to be brand new and they are clearly marked RADIO SHACK, so where else would I have purchased them?

I returned to the store and merely asked for an exchange. The manager, who started to say his name was Edward, said that he could not exchange them without the packaging. I obviously explained that I didn’t have the receipt or the package, but, if he looked he could see they were brand new. He printed out the receipt and said this is the policy and would not help me after that. I asked him for his name and he refused. I asked him for the name of his supervisor and he said he didn’t know. I asked him how I could contact his supervisor and he wrote down a number, [protected]) that I called and called and called, but no one ever answered and there was no message.

I called to Texas to your office and was routed to the answering service for the Central New Jersey regional manager but never received a return call. I AGAIN called to your office [protected] ) and used the internal directory and left a message with YOUR service and never received a return call.

The return policy clearly states:

Merchandise must be returned in like-new condition (except for damage caused by any product defect) with the original packaging materials (including barcode/UPC label), accessories, instructions, and the original sales receipt, otherwise your product may not be eligible for return or it’s return may be subject to a refurbishing fee…Radio Shack performs a careful inspection of all returned items for signs of use or wear.

The KEY WORD is otherwise… I would have gladly subjected the batteries for inspection and then OTHERWISE had the staff replace them! The manager would not even entertain the notion that the product was defective! If this was a few dollars or a complicated device I could be more understanding. I even asked them to hold the defective batteries over night and try to charge them for me. The batteries are advertised as being able to be charged over and over again. These were CLEARLY brand new. The manager was unresponsive and said to me the policy was clear, no receipt no exchange. There wasn’t even any inspection. All I received from that store was an arrogant and inexcusable excuse for customer service. It is no wonder that these store are in trouble.

If these items cannot be replaced, I have been cheated out of over $35.00 for batteries that cannot be charged and never could be charged because they were defective and they could obviously not have been purchased ANYWHERE else BUT Radio Shack.

My wife is the national customer service manager for a major Fortune 500 company and practically argued with me that it would be impossible for a company the size of Radio Shack to tolerate this level of customer care (non-service) and an attitude of arrogance that can only be explained by inadequate or non-existent management.

I have never complained about anything in my entire life and it takes ALOT for me to get mad. All of the time i have waisted trying to get this $100 dollar computer charger and money in gas I wonder why am i waisting more of my time writing this... because I don't want other people to experience such bad service or waist time like I have on this day.

It all started this morning when my computer charger had broke due to a default. Me and my boyfriend go to Radio Shack to get a new one because I had a very important essay due the following day. It is very convenient since it is the closest place to us as opposed to Best Buy. My boyfriend goes into the store and comes back out telling me that the employee in their had sold him a charger on sale for $40 and had told him that was the right one. We get home and find that the charger wasn't even a charger. We drive back and they tell my boyfriend that the guy that sold it had already left and they didn't know why he sold that to us. They plug it (the computer) into a new charger and and another employee tells us that this is the one that works now, sends us home, and the light won't even come on. I call thinking that maby i was doing something wrong. The manager, Mr.T, tells me that that was the right charger. I explain that the light isn't coming on and ask if maby i should just "wait a little longer." He says "Well if the light isn't coming on than there's nothing u can do about it so u need to bring it back in, ". I say thank you and hang up the phone. About a half an hour later me and my boyfriend arrive back at the store for the third time. As soon as we walk in all of the employees explain that they gave us the wrong tip for the computer and that's why it isn't working. The manager, Mr. T, begins to help us. I ask him if the charger is going to work this time and from that point he begins to be very rude and has an attitude. He tells me" Well, I'm not going to know until I plug it in now will I?", me not knowing that is isn't already plugged in. Than I explain to him that I drove up here three time today, keep in mind I'm still being very sincere. He says "Oh, really?I didn't see you in here at all today", knowing that my boyfriend was in here all three times. Than he tells me that he doesn't know if he is going to have a charger for my computer so I ask him if there is somewhere else close by I can get one from. He starts really getting mad and tells me that if I want to go somewhere else it is no problem and he can refund my money. Than I say "this is ridiculous" wondering why he is being so rude. He snaps and tells me that he is going to refund my money and is now longer going to help me. "You can go somewhere else, "he says. So i told him fine than give me my money back. He preceeds to walk into the back of the store when I ask the other manager if there was a complaint number I could call. Mr.T comes out from the back and is being very polite at this point trying to "act like a real manager" maby to cover up is ignorence and rudeness in front of the other manager.

So in conclusin, I have never been treated so unfairly as a paying customer and I have never seen so much ignorence and disrespect in a store in my whole entire life. No paying customer should have to be treated so unfairly so I will never step foot back into that radioshack as long a I live. Thank you for you time.

While visiting the Radio Shack store in the Green Acres Mall this past weekend, my boyfriend and I noticed a sign for a cordless phone which was on sale for a limited time. The phone was a Radio Shack brand two handset unit that was on sale for $29.99. The sign for the phone listed that it was equipped with a digital answerer and that phone messages could be checked both from the unit and remotely. I called one of the employees and asked if the unit had an answering machine. He said no, and then stated that the sign said digital answerer not digital answering. When asked what exactly digital answering meant he responded by shrugging his shoulders and stating "I don't know." He then proceeded to stare at me for about 30 seconds until I asked him if he was going to ask any of the other associates or a manager to obtain an answer to a CUSTOMER'S question. He jumped as if he was startled, said ok and walked over to another associate who was busy helping a customer. He waited there for about two minutes until he realized that the other associate was busy and would not turn around. Not once did the associate that was 'helping' (please note that I am using the word in the loosest sense possible here) me say anything. Not 'excuse me' or 'can I ask you a question', nothing. He then proceeded to do the same thing with two other associates who were helping other customers. My boyfriend and I were then shocked to silence when he began repeatedly walking in a circle between the three other associates while waiting for them to finish up with their own customers so that he could ask his question. He then walked to the back of the store. He was out of sight for about 1 minute. When he came back, he had the nerve to say, "I asked everyone in the store, and no one knows what that is." When I asked him how it was possible that none of the Radio Shack employees could know what it was when the phone was the store's brand, he just shrugged, said have a good day and walked away. I have never witnessed such blatant incompetence by an employee before and hope that I will never have to again.

I'm really disappointed of my bad experience with the Radio Shack Customer Service. I sent my MP4 Creative Zen for Service at Radio Shack, the customer service specialist made sure to write in the receipt describing the device status that it only had little few scratches on the screen, when I received it at the store after being served, it had scratches at the back. The wearied thing that the customer service specialist was wondering why I’m upset "it's not that difficult" he sad and I refused to receive the Mp4. I told him that the reference document in this case is the original receipt describing the status of the device when I did deliver it to the store

The funny thing is that I’m the Executive Director of a consulting firm working in the field of upgrading companies using SIX SIGMA Methodologies, in our trainings we always use examples of companies in the size of Radio Shack describing how they are customer oriented and data driven.

Well, I live in Egypt, the customer service specialist's name is Ramy the store is located at Roushdy - Alexandria the receipt number is 68154