Beware of Radio Shack

[Obfus Kataa]

Obfus Kataa wrote to someone:

There are quite a number of types of questions which are federally illegal
to ask of potential employees. Most relate to things that could be held to
be discriminatory (for example, just one seemingly innocuous question out
of hundreds you will break the law if you ask is, "do you have children?").
General rule for interviewers who don't want to have to memorize all the
statues is, if the question doesn't relate directly to job requirements,
it's safer not to ask it.

Reasons for the answer's being incorrect or inapplicable:

1. The EEOC regulations apply only to protected classes. You have
no way of knowing whether I am (or rather was) a member in 1978 of
one of those classes. I was not. This reason does not count
against your response.

2. Because of item one, and because having a child does not place one
necessarily in a protected class, the question "do you have children?"
is not illegal; however, the question "do you have children under the
age of 18?" may be. (Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was in
effect in 1978) The problem with the "children under 18" question
is not that the question, itself, is illegal. The problem is that if
as an employer you have asked this question and then used the answer to
refuse employment of an otherwise eligible candidate, and that person
is in a protected class, you are more likely to be found in violation.
So, by common sense, you should avoid the question. But the laws
passed by Congress to not list questions that are illegal. They define
practices that are illegal. Certain questions may strongly imply
the intent to engage in illegal practices. And evidence of intent may
lead to a potential employee inferring that intent led to discriminatory
practice, thus causing that applicant to file a civil complaint and
or a fair labor practices complaint with the DoL.

3. In the two posts I made, I said the questions were invasive, but I do
not believe they were illegal or would have been judged illegal at the
time. I do not think that it would be illegal today to ask whether
a potential employee has ever used illegal drugs. At that time, I
believe you could ask if a potential employee has ever been investigated
for a crime.

Certain other restrictions do apply for employers that engage in federal
contracts. Certain exemptions are implied as a result of Supreme-Court
rulings related to state employees, but not as regards initial employment
except as it relates to public safety and physical requirements.

--
oK+++
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly,
while bad people will find a way around the laws.
-Plato
16:05 up 53 days, 17:49, 1 user, load averages: 0.33 0.35 0.25

 

[Dan Fraser]

You expect the sales people at RS to know anything about the products. You
had may as well ask for the best wine to go with a Big Mac.

As for requiring a SS number, that is blatantly illegal. Or you can give a
fake one

666-66-6666

Wanna make something of it.

When paying by cash I say the name is.

C. Ash
1313 Mockingbird Lane
Hollywood CA 99666

Again, if they don't like it, they could stuff it.

However, at the local RS, here in Costa Mesa, they no longer ask for name or
address on cash purchases. I think they finally grasped that is the one
thing that really pissed people off about them.

If you need parts to build anything, forget RS.

www.mouser.com

www.digi-key.com

 

[ptaylor]

You expect the sales people at RS to know anything about the products. You
had may as well ask for the best wine to go with a Big Mac.

As for requiring a SS number, that is blatantly illegal. Or you can give a
fake one

666-66-6666

Wanna make something of it.

When paying by cash I say the name is.

C. Ash
1313 Mockingbird Lane
Hollywood CA 99666

Again, if they don't like it, they could stuff it.

However, at the local RS, here in Costa Mesa, they no longer ask for name or
address on cash purchases. I think they finally grasped that is the one
thing that really pissed people off about them.

If you need parts to build anything, forget RS.

www.mouser.com

www.digi-key.com

I usually reply simply with "Cash"..if the sales-driod doesn't catch
on,and ask's me for my first name.. "Cash"....by then they usually get
it,and ring me up without any further questions.

RadioShack is worthless now days.. Last time I went in there looking for
a simple digital IC (a NAND gate,I think..) I was directed to a rack
with 4-5 IC"s on it,what was left over..
I went to the drawers with the LED's and stuff 2 LED's in the store,and
they didn't have any in back.. (or were too lazy to look) most all the
drawers were empty,and I was told that they are "phasing out" component
sales.. That's all they were good for,and now even that is history..
I went to *4* stores one day looking for 1 single 100K pot...none of
them had any pots whatsoever,and the parts selection in the other 3
stores was also nearly non-existant.

RadioShack is Worthless.

 

[L.]

FWIW.... my recent visit to the local shack just this past week - I went to
the counter with my items, he asked my zip code and told me the total, which
I then paid, bid him a fond farewell and left. End of transaction. He asked
me for nothing else than my zip code. THAT is no big deal. I could have
given any, but I did give mine.

There are other stores in this area - who to my knowledge never collected
names/addresses, BUT they do ask for zip code. Probably to acquire a "ZIP
CODE" related bulk mailing list.

L.

 

[Rich.Andrews]

FWIW.... my recent visit to the local shack just this past week - I went
to the counter with my items, he asked my zip code and told me the
total, which I then paid, bid him a fond farewell and left. End of
transaction. He asked me for nothing else than my zip code. THAT is no
big deal. I could have given any, but I did give mine.

There are other stores in this area - who to my knowledge never
collected names/addresses, BUT they do ask for zip code. Probably to
acquire a "ZIP CODE" related bulk mailing list.

L.

Radio Shack had an announcement some time ago that stated that they were
stopping the annoying policy of asking for name and address. There has
been a change in management and the new mgmt decided that it was tired of
pissing people off every time they wanted to buy something.

http://www.radioshack.com/Legal/PrivacyPolicyIndex.asp

"We've stopped the practice of asking for your name and address on every
purchase at your local store!"

r

 

[John Halley]

Well, this is because they don't hire people anymore who know a thing about
the technology that they're pushing. They hire sales people who are paid to
get a sale no matter what.
It's like 7-11 and Checker Auto Parts. Fine for picking up a fuse, a
Twinkie, quart of oil.
Beyond that, you'd better find a good local electronics store.
Problem is, the good ol' parts stores are rapidly disappearing, at least
they are here in Denver.
Gateway - Gone. Krumps - Gone. Quest - Gone. Fistell's might still be
around, I'll have to check...
Theses are the places that you have to watch your step as you walk through
the aisles.
It was overwhelming. There was nothing you couldn't find!
I guess I'll just have to start an account with Digikey or Newark or Mouser.
--- Heavy sigh...---

The indignant one.
**************

| Wes Groleau wrote:
| > But I agree about Radio Shack in general. Not a great place to buy.
|
| They *used* to be. Back in the 80s I had a Tandy Color Computer 3 and also
| bought stereo equipment from them and other computer stuff (including a PC
| once). They used to make good on things, packaging or not. I have noticed
| recently that they have went downhill over the years though. Such a shame.
| My problems were that the staff weren't as well informed about their
| products as the staff they used to have in the 80s.
|
|
|

 

[JS]

It was overwhelming. There was nothing you couldn't find!
I guess I'll just have to start an account with Digikey or Newark or
Mouser. --- Heavy sigh...---

Digikey is highly regarded round these parts.

 

[alpha_uma]

Digikey is highly regarded round these parts.

I like DigiKey. Their "online chat" (live online tech help) is easy to use
and staffed by people who "know their stuff." If I don't feel like spending
half an hour browsing through their catalogs, I just click on "chat" and ask
them to look up something for me. They usually find something appropropriate
for me quickly. Shipping is lightning fast too. It took less than 2 days for
the package to arrive at my door (in Canada). I heard Mouser is cheaper, but
I don't buy a large enough quantity of a particular item anyway to make much
difference.

Al-U

 

[Rich Webb]

Digikey is highly regarded round these parts.

At the risk of generating so much traffic that a favorite site gets
overwhelmed and unavailable... try www.findchips.com. They do a parallel
search, by part number, of 19 distributors -- the "usual suspects" plus
a few more I hadn't heard of before.

It's by part numbers only, not a parametric search, but if you already
have a part in mind -- need a couple hundred 8085s for that legacy
product? -- it's quite handy.

 

[Joe]

I've had no problems with digikey or mouser for parts. Both offer a pdf
file of their inventory.

When I was in Oklahoma, parts from mouser arrived the next day using the
normal UPS shipping. Digikey was less than a week. I'm sure it will be the
other way around now that I'm in Michigan.

Joe

 

[Robert Baer]

Digikey is highly regarded round these parts.

...and Mouser is better for quantity pricing; aqlmost as good as a disty.

 

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

[snip]

I guess I'll just have to start an account with Digikey or Newark or Mouser.
--- Heavy sigh...---

I've found a lot of parts I need on Ebay. Lots cheaper than Digi-Key
and Mouser.

I used to go to Radio Scrap a lot more often, maybe once every two
weeks, but now I'm down to once ever few months. Last year, I got
burned so bad on some two line telephone sets (half the time the user
picked it up they couldn't hear anything) that I was very disappointed.
And with the salesdreoids always busy with some cell phone customer (it
takes them forever), I've walked out of the store after waiting ten or
15 minutes with no end in sight. Thanks, RS, you've made our day. :-(

The indignant one.

[snip]

 

[Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\]

I've had no problems with digikey or mouser for parts. Both offer a pdf
file of their inventory.

I got shorted by Mouser, ordered and paid for 100, got 50. They made up
for it tho. I still think Mouser is cheaper. But I've been getting a
lot of very cheap parts from Ebay.

When I was in Oklahoma, parts from mouser arrived the next day using the
normal UPS shipping. Digikey was less than a week. I'm sure it will be the
other way around now that I'm in Michigan.

With Fedex, everything goes thru Memphis, so it shouldn't make any diff.
UPS I don't know. Fedex sucks IMHO. Nowadays, DHL is eating UPS' and
Fedex's lunch, and I hope they put Fedex out of business.

 

[Bob Day]

message

With Fedex, everything goes thru Memphis, so it shouldn't make any diff.
UPS I don't know. Fedex sucks IMHO. Nowadays, DHL is eating UPS' and
Fedex's lunch, and I hope they put Fedex out of business.

I've always had very good luck with FedEx. It's UPS I try
to avoid.

-- Bob Day
http://bobday.vze.com

 

[kony]

message


I've always had very good luck with FedEx. It's UPS I try
to avoid.

Me too, Fedex always does best job here, a lot of the time I
ship out regular ground and it gets there next-day. They're
also cheaper than UPS if you ship pieces-at-a-time instead
of an account.

 

[Larc]

|
| message
| | < snip >
| > With Fedex, everything goes thru Memphis, so it shouldn't make any diff.
| > UPS I don't know. Fedex sucks IMHO. Nowadays, DHL is eating UPS' and
| > Fedex's lunch, and I hope they put Fedex out of business.
| >
|
| I've always had very good luck with FedEx. It's UPS I try
| to avoid.

Amen to that! NewEgg ships via FedEx and my stuff nearly always
arrives at least a day earlier than scheduled.

Larc



§§§ - Change planet to earth to reply by email - §§§

 

[ThePetPage]

And with the salesdreoids always busy with some cell phone customer (it

takes them forever), I've walked out of the store after waiting ten or
15 minutes with no end in sight. Thanks, RS, you've made our day. :-(

And even when they are available, they don't know anything 'bout electronics! I
won't go back. Also, All Electronics Corp is pretty good with parts.

John

 

[John Halley]

My personal experience with Digikey:
I was the official Parts Dude at a well-known company what makes door
security access thingies.
Surface-mount items mostly, but when I wanted it quick, it was Digi-Key.
I would get parts orders in at 4:30 Post Meridian Denver time and have the
merchandise by 10:30 Ante Meridian by FedEx the very next day.
Not bad, I think...

| |
| > It was overwhelming. There was nothing you couldn't find!
| > I guess I'll just have to start an account with Digikey or Newark or
| > Mouser. --- Heavy sigh...---
| >
|
| Digikey is highly regarded round these parts.

 

[Mr. Uh Clem]

afraid to alter any dish to vegetarian tastes.

[snip sick recipe]

Watch out for these posts. They are part of an attack
on the news.admin.net-abuse.email newsgroup by an entity
known as "hipcrime". (google for it.)

Forged posts are made to various groups with the followup-to:
header set to news.admin.net-abuse.email. NANAE is being
bombarded directly and indirectly by the "WTF!", "I didn't
post that!", etc. responses. If you want to post a warning
to a group or groups, make sure you reset the headers
appropriately, or you will be aiding hipcrime in the DOS.

 

[_Vanguard_]

afraid to alter any dish to vegetarian tastes.

[snip sick recipe]

Watch out for these posts. They are part of an attack
on the news.admin.net-abuse.email newsgroup by an entity
known as "hipcrime". (google for it.)

Forged posts are made to various groups with the followup-to:
header set to news.admin.net-abuse.email. NANAE is being
bombarded directly and indirectly by the "WTF!", "I didn't
post that!", etc. responses. If you want to post a warning
to a group or groups, make sure you reset the headers
appropriately, or you will be aiding hipcrime in the DOS.

While some NNTP clients will alert the user that the FollowUp-To header
has been used, many do not. Outlook Express does not. Seeing that a
poster is trying to disconnect replies to their post back into some
"home" group would be very helpful to me. If they don't want to
continue the discussion in the group in which I participate then my
group was not an appropriate or related group for their post in the
first place. In fact, I would love if OE had a rule that would check if
the FollowUp-To header were used and delete that post so I wouldn't even
be bothered to see it. But then I'd like to delete any posts with
"!mail2news" in the PATH header to eliminate seeing message from posters
using anonymous mail-to-news gateways. Of course, OE's rules suck so it
doesn't take much to get beyond its capabilities (oh, I've tried
Thunderbird and its rules suck as bad as OE's). Xnews had better rules
(defined in an external file) but have UI deficiencies and I came back
to OE.

If they post to a group where I visit and also to other groups, like to
their "home" group, then the post should have been related to every
group to which it was posted so it should have been cross-posted.
Cross-posting would eliminate the need for the FollowUp-To header since
the poster can view the replies in their home group while I can view
them in my group, and no one must necessarily subscribe to anyone else's
preferred group to continue or monitor the discussion. Anyone who uses
the FollowUp-To but does not announce that fact in their post should be
considered very rude and possibly attempting something nasty, like
redirecting replies to alt.test to avoid anyone in those groups seeing
the negative replies that the poster expects. Even if they announce it,
and because they chose to post in my group and I don't want to visit
their group or post over there (because I don't know if my reply would
really be appropriate over there), I'll use the FollowUp-To header (and
announce it) to subvert their use of the FollowUp-To header. Tit for
tat.