horrible sales people.

i know its the grand opening and all, but did they get any formal training?

guy pulls the same line on me twice.

i walk in there to look at some secondary TVs. he takes me to this 20" toshiba with built in DVD player. LCD. and all for $400. the price tag is hand written so he is like "this just came off the truck, we received six, I've sold 3 already".

wow i say.

so i go back about 2 hours later with my GF and i go back up to him (they work for commission so i like to stick to one person)... he recognized me.

so then he tells me "ive got this brand new TV, we got it in like 10 minutes after you left"
so i was all excited and stuff.. GUESS WHAT
he takes me to the same dang toshiba, tells me "we received 6, Ive sold 3 myself".

dude throws the same pitch, which is no surprise, i was kinda expecting something.

they probably had the whole staff there. it was annoying.

my decision is to wait for black friday and pick up a good TV for half the price.

i went there not even looking for LCD tvs. just a simple tube TV with DVD player.

10/25/2007 9:37:22 PM

They are somewhat annoying, but they will negotiate on price and on service plans to get a sale, I ended up with some decent deals on a tv and a WD

10/25/2007 9:46:42 PM

i'm tired of hearing this advertisement on 96.1

10/25/2007 10:01:43 PM

they have plenty of Wii consoles, which surprised me!

10/25/2007 10:03:04 PM

i found the same tv for a little cheaper online. im sure it would have been the same deal.

i wanted to negrotiate, but i couldnt handle it

10/26/2007 6:59:19 AM

huh huh greg guh

10/26/2007 7:33:53 AM

Cant be anyworse than best buy.

commissioned sales people can be annoying and pushy

non-commissioned sales people do not generally bother helping customers fast enough or learning their products


Decide which you hate worse then choose a store, personally I would rather talk to a commission person. I get pissed off in best buy when I walk in there on a mission to buy a specific product that I have already decided to buy and it takes an hour for a manger to get it out of the lockup thing.

10/26/2007 8:47:04 AM

read about this in yesterday's business section

supposedly, they get a lot of formal training and they're commission based

ah ha- story (words):

Quote :

"Electronics stores opening today Scrappy seller with odd name takes on Best Buy, Circuit City An electronics and appliance chain with a funny name is elbowing its way into the Triangle. Hhgregg will open two North Raleigh stores today and has plans for more. The small Indianapolis retailer is aggressively pushing into new markets and wooing customers with pitches about its trained sales staff, competitive prices, wide selection of products and quick delivery service. Hhgregg will need to build its brand among local shoppers while it competes with rivals such as Circuit City, Lowe's and especially Best Buy. It will have to overcome shrinking profit margins on TVs and the prospect of weaker consumer spending as the crucial holiday season approaches. Its arrival could be good news for shoppers, who might see lower prices and more choices. Despite being in business for 52 years, hhgregg, which specializes in appliances, TVs and other electronics, is relatively unknown. Its name -- with all lowercase letters, an attempt to make it memorable -- comes from Henry Harold Gregg, who founded the company with his wife, Fansy. To introduce itself, the company is running an advertising campaign that includes newspaper, radio and TV spots. "We don't go into markets to fail," said Russ Brim, the chain's regional manager. "We will become in Raleigh the place to shop" for appliances and electronics. To thrive in this market, hhgregg must find ways to stand out, said Jeff Schindler, managing editor of online news magazine Retailing Today. "In consumer electronics, Best Buy is creaming everyone," Schindler said. "They find a way to offer what people want." So exactly how does hhgregg plan to make a local splash? The stores are bright and spacious, with wide aisles. Bright red, lime and blue washers, blenders and other appliances line the displays throughout the store. Each store keeps in stock more than 400 appliances and 100 digital televisions from Hitachi, Samsung, Sony, Bosch and other makers. There are no racks of CDs, DVDs or books. "There is no clutter," Brim said. "Our big signage will make it very easy to shop and easy to get around our layout." Brim said the store's knowledgeable staff will be a big factor. All salespeople, who work on commission, get more than 200 hours of training a year from manufacturers on how the equipment works and how to set it up. The company's delivery service is a bit different, too. Like most stores, hhgregg gives a three-hour delivery window. However, it calls 40 minutes before the delivery so that customers won't have to wait at home the entire time. However, many of hhgregg's rivals, including smaller independent retailers, already offer similar services. "We knew they were coming, and we have done everything we need to do to be ready," said Andy Pittman, owner of Jeffreys Appliance Center, which is three miles from the hhgregg on Capital Boulevard. Pittman said his store has been around since 1969 and has survived Best Buy, Circuit City, Lowe's and others over the years. "They tend to come in, make a big splash up front, then they become another big box," Pittman said. Pittman said his staff of 16 gets the same training, from the same manufacturers, as the big companies. He said Jeffreys is able to compete on price because he buys his merchandise in bulk, along with a pool of 1,500 other independent retailers. For the fiscal year that ended in March, the chain reported net sales of $1.1 billion, up nearly 18 percent from a year earlier. "The good news is that for the last four quarters, they have been profitable," Thomas said. Hhgregg's strategy is succeeding, one analyst said. "They continue to find new markets and take share away from independent retailers, as well as some of the bigger players," said Brad Thomas with Lehman Bros. in New York. Thomas said hhgregg's new stores have done a good job of generating revenue. The average store brings about $14 million in annual net sales. Brim expects the stores in Raleigh to do even better. The slowdown in Raleigh's housing market is mild compared with hhgregg's other markets, he said. "Raleigh is a very economically sound area," Brim said. Also, hhgregg's rivals are having success here, Brim said. "We want to go where Best Buy and Circuit City are doing well. If they are doing well, we can do well." But hhgregg's push into the Triangle comes as the cooling housing market curbs sales of appliances and other household goods nationwide. Although this region has fared better, Triangle sales of existing homes fell 24 percent last month, the steepest decline since the market started sliding a year ago. The cost of oil is near $90 a barrel, and consumers are expected to cut back on spending in other areas as prices rise at the gas pump. Big retailers such as Wal-Mart are starting to slash prices for the holidays; others will follow. Most hhgregg rivals offer price guarantees. That means Circuit City, Lowe's, Best Buy and others will match or beat competitors' prices. At Circuit City, if a customer finds that an item is selling for less than he paid within 30 days of the purchase, the store will refund 110 percent of the price, spokeswoman Jackie Foreman said. And many of hhgregg's competitors emphasize training and customer service as well. For many consumers, it will come down to getting the best deal. Jennifer Jones, a North Raleigh stay-at-home mother, said her husband always shops different stores for the best price. "Now we can just go across the street and check ... [hhgregg], Circuit City and Best Buy," she said. "We will find the one with the best price and buy it." Retailers are betting that consumers' craving for the latest and greatest TVs and iPods will remain keen and keep their stores in the black. A study released this year by the Consumer Electronics Association found that the average U.S. household owns 25 consumer electronic products, and the average adult spends $1,200 a year on them. Despite the hurdles, hhgregg is betting that it will have no problem making a name for itself in Raleigh. The company is already planning to expand in this area. "In the next year or two, hhgregg will be adding multiple stores" in the Triangle, Brim said. Ultimately, the company expects to have more than 400 stores across the U.S. "

[Edited on October 26, 2007 at 8:56 AM. Reason : Ø]

10/26/2007 8:52:04 AM

We recently got ours from Queen City after the HHGreg salesgirl knew nowhere near as much about TV theory/design Both places had the same price for the Mitsu we wanted

[Edited on October 26, 2007 at 8:55 AM. Reason : ]

10/26/2007 8:54:59 AM

^ Why do you need a sales person to know tv "Theory" and design? What they hell is that about? You should do the research yourself to see what actual users of the products have to say about it, not people that just want to get your money.

10/26/2007 8:58:14 AM

Just someone you can trust warrany-wise, etc. we already chose/researched our product, we were just out to get the best price

The guy lives TVs and knew them inside and out, new technologies and old. The girl was very nice and all, but I'd rather buy from a more knowledgeable person. wouldnt anyone?

[Edited on October 26, 2007 at 9:02 AM. Reason : ]

10/26/2007 9:02:20 AM

they talk a whole lot, i kind of understand. they are trying to make a sale, plus it was the first day...

but still.. they try to make a lot of jokes.
a horrible one was:

so we were looking at the flat tube TVs. a 27" which looked nice. so we said it was for her bedroom on top of the dresser. but we said the dresser was on the side of the bed.

so he asked
"how far are you from the bed and at which angle"
then he made a joke "this is a real Q, its not like im trying to get info from you" (at this point he was mimicing a little hobgoblin looking creature writing down info and laughing)

it was like he was begging for our sale.

also he claimed that he just sold two 60" plasma TVs.

now, apparently he has sold a lot there, and he was no where near the best salesman, if he was then i feel sorry for the place.

so if he could sell 3 of 6 20" LCDs and 2 60" plasmas within a few hours... then ill be damned.

10/26/2007 9:05:28 AM

yeah i gotta to be honest i don't like it when salespeople try to chum me up- makes me feel awkward

we're not hitting the pub afterwards

10/26/2007 9:28:00 AM

i'd still rather work at sears (which i do)... commission is a flat percentage of the price, so even if you come in and manage to haggle down (which is rare with anything but price-matching but sometimes you'll get us when we fuck up) - I still get say, 4.5% of the sale.

These guys work on margin, ala car salesmen, hence the desperation to sell a ton of stuff since they make beans off of one thing in this competitive, buy it wherever you can get it cheapest and pay attn. to little else market.

10/26/2007 11:58:56 AM