Secret Shopper - CompUSA - Company Business and Marketing - Brief Article

Home Office Computing, March, 2000

Big chains are many home office workers' first stops for tech purchases, but how savvy are they about the hot new topic of home networking? We wandered into the CompUSA in Garden City, N.Y., to find out.

Despite the relatively few customers on a December Saturday night, there were no clerks to be seen near the networking section--though the latter was well-stocked, with a dozen phone-line and Ethernet starter kits plus two USB solutions and an AC power-line network. Eventually, we stalked over to the PC aisle and asked an unoccupied young worker named John for some help.

Unfortunately, John was more slacker than salesman--he made eye contact precisely once, answered questions with as few syllables as possible, and told us that phone-line, Ethernet, power-line, and USB networking were all "about the same"--ignoring the differences in installation and speed.

Linking PCs and Macs? John vaguely assured us it would be no problem for any of the kits on display. What would we need to get started? "it's all in the box." About the only thing he got right was that he didn't try to sell us extra cable or a service contract.

Overall, we got the distinct impression that John was late for dinner. Our respect would have soared had he admitted, "This isn't my thing; I'll get somebody else." Instead, he wandered away to misguide another customer and didn't return.