Radio Shack Consumer Reviews - Page 2

KETTERING, OHIO -- I went to the Radio Shack store on December 17, 2008 and at 5:34 pm I placed an order through a sales person and was told it would be shipped to the store to save me the shipping cost. I gave him my information and my credit card and was told that it might not be here before the 26th unless I wanted to pay for the faster shipping, which I declined. I was given a 2 page receipt showing what appeared to be all the pertinent information> There was nothing on this receipt about any refund or return policies (special or otherwise). On 12/17/2008 at 5:34 pm I received an email.

The next morning 12/18/2008 (prior to 10:00 am est) I called the online customer service and asked to cancel the order and said I did not want it put on my credit card. The young man I spoke to said it was in processing and he did not know if it could be canceled. He said I would get an email which would state if it had been canceled or shipped. He told me that if it could not be canceled, I would have to wait until it came to the store to cancel my order.

While this states there will be a return form included with the package - again there is no specific information and nothing about not being able to cancel the order when it comes to the store. On December 23 I receive a phone call from the store telling me my package is in. When I get to the store, I said I wanted to cancel the order and the man said that they would have to ship it back and then I would get my money back. I said I did not like that, I did not want the product.

He said that was the only option. I then had to sign a paper saying I had received the item and then another paper stating I was returning the item. That sheet a note that stated that I would receive my refund within 10 to 15 days after they receive the product back at the processing center.

When I got home, I called the customer service line and asked to speak to a supervisor - he said the same thing and said he could not do anything to help me. I feel this is totally unreasonable and unfair as I was not given any of this information at any time during the entire 7 day process, plus I never had actual possession of the product at any time.

REIDSVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA -- My mother, who lives in Reidsville, NC recently bought a new Vista computer and wanted to set it up with DSL service. I live in Rock Hill, SC, and had to schedule a trip up on the weekend to get the DSL installed. I drove up on Friday, 8/22/08 and discovered that her new computer did not come with an Ethernet card. Not a problem, I told her, RadioShack is just down the street. We called the store (less than a quarter mile from the house). I spoke to a very pleasant older man who listened carefully and told me that he had a Netgear 10/100 MBPS PCI ETHERNET card in stock, model FA311 for $25. I took Mom down to pick it up and was back at the house in less than 20 minutes.

We installed the card and then found that the DSL modem could not see it. Vista showed the card as properly installed but could not see the DSL modem. My first thought was to change the cable, so I went down to the store and got another of those. I still couldn't connect. We called AT&T and they felt it could be the modem, and sent another out right away. It arrived this morning, and Mom connected all the wiring as I'd shown her and started the computer. The DSL still could not see the Ethernet card, and it couldn't see the modem. Feeling that I might have a bad Ethernet card, I called the store.

I got a man, (whom I later discovered was the manager) and began to explain the situation. He cut me off and told me that he only sells wireless Ethernet cards. I explained that we had bought the FA311 Netgear card, and it was not wireless. He told me he knew what he carried, and we had not bought it there. (Hold the bus here... we have a receipt.) I tried a couple of times to explain things, with him interrupting to say he couldn't help me, and he cut me off again to say that he didn't have any tech support at the store and couldn't do this. I got angry at this point, and asked for the manager.

When he told me he was the manager, he was almost laughing. I told him I would be up on Saturday to bring the card back. He stated "That's too bad, I won't be here on Saturday." I then asked for the owner. He laughed and told me it was RadioShack. OK folks. You can see by now I'm upset. I emailed RadioShack and someone did call me on Saturday 8/30/08. I went over the above facts with them as you see them, and was actually asked if I had been disrespectful to the manager. (?) The final upshot was that I told him AT&T had been out to find there was nothing wrong with the card or DSL, but a wire in the phone box outside.

I told the RadioShack representative who called me that I was willing to forget the whole thing if the manager called me and apologized. He told me he would have the manager call me on Sunday, 8/31/08. He never called. The Rep called me back and told me that the manager would not be calling as he didn't feel he had been rude or disrespectful and shouldn't have to apologize. (?) Hang on... did I just imagine all this? OK... here's my 3 cents worth. This particular store will not get my business anymore, and probably shouldn't get yours.

GRAPEVINE, TEXAS -- I went to your store in Grapevine Texas. (Grapevine Mills Mall) I went in to find a USB adapter for my GPS unit. I handed it to the employee by the name of Trey. He then dropped it on the floor!!! His statement was "it will be okay, you can't get a signal in here anyway since we have a copper roof here." He did not find a adapter for my GPS, but then tried to sell me a card reader! I told him I didn't need one, I have one already.

My husband and I left the mall at that point. I took my GPS out of my purse, connected it to the window/dash, plugged in the DC adapter, turned it on and it was on a screen showing the location of the mall....the words "Grapevine Mills" (Street/Lane/Road), which of course is where he dropped it!!! I thought that while driving it would change but it didn't. I turned it off to reset it. I left it off for 5-10 minutes several times while taking my 45-minute drive home and it still was stuck on that screen!!!

I took the SD card out hoping that would help, it didn't. When we got home, I called the store back and spoke with the employee Trey. He told me that he was sorry he dropped it, but that I needed to call the manufacturer of the GPS for assistance since this was not a brand that Radio Shack carries and that he could not assist me. He made it seem that it was my fault!!! I advised him that I was not the one that dropped it and it had never been dropped and was working perfectly before I even entered the store!!! I just wanted the adapter so I could download the updated maps.

He then said he could not help me and hung up. Seriously furious at this point. I called the Radio Shack Customer Service number 800-843-7422 and was told by that person that they could not help me and that I would have to call again tomorrow due to them being in Florida and that they could not assist me since they only handle web problems and this was very unfortunate and he knows that Radio Shack would make this right and replace my GPS. And, this was "customer service" not being able to help???

Anyway, I then called my local store here in Mansfield. (This is the store I normally go to and trust) I spoke with Aaron, the manager, and explained what had happened. He couldn't believe how I have been treated and gave me the phone number to a District Manager named Ken and a Tina at **. He also advised that Risk Management should be notified so this can be taken care of as soon as possible.

Since this happened after business hours Thursday January 3, 2008, no one could do anything. I am very upset because this salesperson at your store basically blew me off and broke my GPS. HE DROPPED AND BROKE MY GPS, I didn't do it, he did and he is refusing to take any responsibility!!!

MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI -- On 3/8/07, I went into the Radio Shack Kiosk in Bonita Lakes Mall in Meridian, MS. I purchased two phones and activated them with a contract with Cingular Wireless. I gave all the personal information Radio Shack requires. Paid with my Credit Card and Left. When I got my credit card bill and my wireless bill, I found I had been charged with three phones and three Cingular contracts. The girl who checked me out had made the charges.

The extra phone was shipped by FedEx to Louis ** of Meridian. I have the signed receipt from FedEx. It was delivered on March 10, 2007. I went into Radio Shack and talk to the manager. I wanted the girl fired. I wanted my money back. I wanted my falsified contract with Cingular cancelled. He said he was not able to do any of these things.

By this time I had received a bill from Cingular for this number. I called them and told them it was identity theft, that I was not responsible for the bill. The informed me that I was, even though they have nothing signed showing I purchased this service.

On 5/16/07, I filed a police report. Radio Shack refused to give me the girl's name, even though they had her employee number. They said they would need a court order to release her name. The police said they would investigate and I said as soon as they had the girl's name I would press charges.

Radio Shack said every sale had to be entered by first entering an employee ID Number. That is how we found out for sure that it was the girl who waited on me. The man who received the shipment was her boyfriend. There phone statements show many calls back and forth between them.

In the meantime, I got a $711.40 bill from Cingular. I refused to pay. They said they would disconnect all my phones and filed a report with the credit bureau. The told me If I wanted to disconnect my services there would be a $200 disconnect fee. I have good credit, don't want to see it ruined. So I paid them the $711.40.

I contacted my credit card company. They investigated. They said the charges were false and refund the money back to me. Cingular came after me again for the money. I paid them. I finally found out I could stop the ongoing charges by simply reporting the phone stolen, which I did. But in the meantime I am out the cost of the phone and the cost of the services for this phone and Radio Shack just left me out to dry.

I always thought Radio Shack was a good company, and maybe it was at one time. But their lack of concern for their customers proves that it no longer is. Refusing to assist the police in apprehending this girl is unbelievable. Letting her work for another 3 months before she was fired, leaving her out there to steal from other customers during this time, what was Radio Shack thinking.

Do not ever give all you information to the check out people at Radio Shack. It is just a request. You do not have to provide the information. Pay with a check. They keep record that have your entire Credit Card Number in their system, along with your other personal information. Or if you will, help me fight back by refusing to shop at a company that thinks this little of their customers.

EVERYWHERE, WASHINGTON -- I bought this power supply cord for my laptop, pretty expensive, but it came with more than others. I thought it was going to be great, boy was I wrong!! After a month or so, I was sitting on my couch, watching tv. I heard an electric buzzing shocking noise. Looked over, the enercell power supply adapter was on fire!! And the funny thing was, the laptop was not even plugged into the power supply cord. The battery pack was on fire, smoking up the house.

It was lying on the floor next to my couch, and it even caught the leather on fire and burned a huge hole in it. Smelled the house up for days! When I saw the fire, I obviously put it out with water. What was I supposed to do, watch it burn the couch or the rest of my house? No! Well, after about a month of emailing back and forth with a radio shack safety specialist, they were having an outside engineer check it out.

The conclusion was "we will respectfully deny the claim that our product was at fault" so I read the attached report that the engineer found. And it said that it is determined that the failure experienced was a result of significant moisture/liquid exposure (i.e. Water immersion) which it was not!! I obviously had to put the fire out with water!? I am never going to buy anymore products from enercell again, and especially not radio shack. I will tell all of my friends and family to do the same. Never again radio shack, never again!

SURPRISE, ARIZONA -- I purchased a cell phone from Radio Shack and was offered a warranty that would replace my phone if there were any issues with it. I was told all I need to do is bring the phone back, they would ship it back to their warranty team and once it was received I would be sent a gift card in the amount of the phone I purchased. So I purchased the warranty thinking if anything happens to my phone I would get a brand new one, like I was assured.

Well, over the last few months my phone has been crashing and/or rebooting on me for absolutely no reason, like there is a short in my phone. It`s gotten to a point this happens daily so I decided I would take advantage of the warranty I purchased. Well, I took my phone back and explained the situation. The guy at the store was helpful. However, when he called to talk to the warranty department he was informed my warranty was a "repair" warranty which is absolutely not what I was told I was purchasing.

They told me to send my phone back and they would try to "fix it" and if they can't they would send me a gift card. When I told them that's not what I purchased they told me that they do have a replacement warranty but I purchased the repair one, which is not what I was told I was buying. Had I known that they were going to pull the old bait and switch on me I would not have wasted my money on this warranty.

What makes this even worse is the store manager is the one who sold me the phone and replacement warranty. He is the one that told me that they would replace my phone if there was a problem within the first year. I even confirmed that with him before I purchased the plan otherwise I would have not purchased the warranty. Now that there is a problem they are telling me that I don't have the right warranty. I feel like they pulled the bait and switch on me and totally ripped me off.

Bought a set of wireless headphones to replace the realistic ones that lasted for years. After about six months quit working. After reading the manufactures 1 yr warranty, the warranty told me to take the product and receipt back to place of purchase. First try, yielded nothing but the runaround. I asked not for a refund or replacement but help on the warranty. The associate said that it was after 90 days. I know that, I'm doing what the warranty told me to do. The associate then said that he couldn't do anything, the manager would have to decide and he wasn't there.

Next try, same thing. I didn't want a refund I wanted help with the warranty. The warranty that said to take it back to the store. It is after 90 days won't do anything and I need to contact the manufacturer, said the associate. Funny thing is Auvio premium products can only be bought at Radio Shack outlets. It is almost like Radio Shack contract manufactures them. I would say that almost makes them the manufacturer. "The warranty says take it back to the place of purchase", I said.. nothing.

What was upsetting is that this time the manager was in back, but wouldn't come out and tell me. The manager let the associate handle the situation. I do need to say that after a while they did say if that they would send them in that it would cost $20. By that time I was upset enough that I was done. Why wouldn't they offer that suggestion at first, that was the help I was asking for. However, after the runaround, the lack of urgency, and making me feel like a bother to them, I was done.

Again, let me be clear I was not asking for a refund or replacement but help in the warranty. The warranty that said take it back to the store. Thinking back, I do not remember ever receiving bad service from Radio Shack. However, after this episode and reading that others have had the same experience, I'm done with The Shack.

I wanted to buy a Virgin Mobile Optimus V phone. I checked the RadioShack website, and saw that they had them for $149.99. I then checked availability at the Radio Shack located nearest to me. The site said it was in stock at the RadioShack store in the Defiance, Ohio mall. This is as bit under 20 miles from where I live. I drove to the store, and found the Virgin Mobile display models. I then asked if the phone I wanted was in stock. Yes it was.

I was ready to buy the phone when the clerk asked me if I was already a Virgin Mobile customer. I answered that I was. He then told me that I was REQUIRED to buy airtime. I said no. I asked if the phone was for sale or not. He said that I HAD TO BUY AIRTIME TO BUY THE PHONE. I do not take orders from sales clerks. He stated that it was store policy that I buy airtime in order to buy the phone. I responded that I did not care about the store policy.

If I wanted a cup of coffee, I would go to a restaurant and order one. If the waitress told me that I could only have coffee if I bought a piece of pie too, I would get up and leave. I do not want or need to buy additional airtime. I have enough already and simply want to buy a new phone. The store policy is that customers must buy what the store tells them to buy. My policy when someone is trying to upsell me is to take my business elsewhere.

Is Radio Shack doing so well in this economy that they can afford to turn down sales and lose customers? The clerk said I could come back and talk to the manager. I intend to do just that. Hopefully he or she will be more reasonable, and I will be able to buy the phone that I want. If I don't receive satisfactory service tomorrow morning, RadioShack has lost a customer forever.

My name is ** and I work for the RadioShack Warranty Company. We provide these warranties to warrant your product free from defects. If you have an issue with your product and call the number on your brochure, we will assist you in a timely manner.

Many people have false hopes on this service plan that is sometimes misrepresented by the Store Representatives. Well I am here to clear that up for you. The Prepaid Cellphone Plan- On prepaid cellphones sold BEFORE 11-15-2009 we will do an in store replacement on the phone. No physical or liquid damage can be present. Also, on any plan THEFT or LOST goods are not covered.

On prepaid cellphones sold AFTER 11-15-2009 due to the amount of store stock we were effecting with in store replacements, we have to issue you a gift card. It is true, they sell gift cards in the store. However, because the warranty sold through RadioShack is administrated by a parent company, the gift card comes from a claims department rather than the Store.

Repair Plans - GPS, Laptops, TVs, Etc. You bring your product into the store, again no physical or liquid damage, and they will troubleshoot it and then call the warranty company for authorization to send it into repair. The repair takes 10-14 days maximum, UNLESS problems or part unavailability happens. IF we cannot repair the product, it will be replaced by our replacement team.

Contract Phones - Phones you sign an agreement on for 1+ year. There are two ways to do this: Repair - You send in your phone for repair (Only TX and NB cover Accidental Damage at this time, on CERTAIN plans) If we are unable to repair your cellphone a replacement usually of same model will be sent.

Advanced Exchanged - We will send you a phone within 1-2 business days, a deposit is required. $550 for Smart Phones (EG. BlackBerry ) $250 for Non-Smart Phones ( EG. Normal Flip Phones), that is 100% refundable once our repair facility receives your phone and the problem is covered under the warranty.

Product Replacement Plans-These are replaced with a Gift Card mailed to you. We have you return your product to us either by a shipping label from the mail or from your E-mail. The gift card covers the price you PAID for the product plus local tax. If you have any further questions feel free to post. I will try and address them promptly. I hope this clears a few things up.

I am a full time sales associate at RadioShack, and after reading some of the posts here by customers and employees, I thought I would share an experience of mine. A customer (an elderly gentleman) came into my store a couple of weeks ago, angry because his cell phone charger wouldn't work and he felt the AT&T store's prices were too high. My manager told him he was eligible for an upgrade and he could get a free phone that comes with the charger. He bought the phone, and left much happier than he came in.

Fast forward a couple weeks, and he comes charging into my store, waving his phone in my face saying that it doesn't work. I politely asked him what the problem was, and he practically threw his phone at me and said "You figure it out". I turned it on, and it turned off again right away. I asked him if he had charged it, and he said he had. I plugged it in to one of the chargers we had in our store and "magically" the phone worked. I was able to make phone calls and everything.

When I unplugged the charger it said "battery low" and I asked him if he had his charger with him, so I could see if there was something wrong with it. He said no and that he wasn't going to waste his time going to get it. He then began screaming about how he shouldn't have a problem with the phone after two weeks.

I tried explaining to him (though he interrupted me several times) that sometimes electronics JUST DON'T WORK, and that I would GLADLY exchange the phone and charger for a brand new one as long as he had the packaging and receipt. He replied with "this is going in the garbage" and stomped out, screaming about how he would never buy anything there again.

The reason I am writing this is to give everyone an idea of some of the people we deal with on a daily basis. I am very well versed with electronics, and I am always pleasant and friendly to my customers, even though they are not always that way with me. Just an FYI.