The Slow Death (And Slow Service) of RadioShack

Photo: The Howard Stern Show

Howard read an article about RadioShack shuttering 1,100 stores and was sort of surprised that RadioShack even still had that many stores.

With so many things against it – online shopping, stores with better selections of phones and computers – it’s a wonder they’re still in business at all.

But one thing that stood out above everything else to Howard as an indicator that it is a poorly-run company is it’s terrible customer service.

Everyone seemed to have a bad RadioShack tale to tell, Gary was miffed that every time he goes in there for a cheap cord, he’s besieged with demands for his address, his email, his zip code. Howard could relate and ranted about how it took ten minutes to check out and purchase a $3 cord.

Howard went on a long rant abouta recent stop in another store where he waited and waited on line to check out and people were asking for photos and askingh im to finance their projects. Howard finally got up to the register and the cashier asked him ‘Who do you look like?’ Howard reponded ‘Brad Pitt.’

The only staff member who loved RadioShack was Scott ‘the Engineer’ Salem, who practically wrote a poem to the dying electronics chain in the back office. He talked about the agony of waiting for the new RadioShack catalog to arrive and delighted in describing the wares they still carry.

Of course, when Howard called him in, Scott clammed up and denied that he was all that into the Shack.

Scott Salem: always desperate to appear cool.