RadioShack lays off 403 via e-mail

[Japher]

My friends and I use to use the capitol building in Sacramento as our address... stupid Radio Shack

[rah]

No worse than when I bought a universal remote for 8 bucks and they asked if I wanted to buy an extended maint agreement for 4 dollars.

[Japher]

that's a good deal!

[Wezil]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
They ask for your phone number when you make a purchase. Same concept, just not for a perceived discount.

And address. The only percieved reason would be for junk mail.

It cost them this customer years ago.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Wezil

Any company that requires a full address of a customer buying batteries deserves to suffer.

I always tell them I am homeless, I get the funniest looks.

[Dis]

Fry's has everything radio shack has. And much more.

The only reason to go to radio shack is convenience. It's a helluva lot close than Fry's.

And isn't radio shack the one who did those TSR 80 computers? Or was that Tandy? Or were they the same thing? We actually have those computers in my 6th grade center (similar to middle school, it was our city's answer to racial integration).

[Lorizael]

Tandy acquired Radio Shack many, many years ago. But Radio Shack did exist before Tandy got them.

[DanS]

For whatever reason, it has become accepted practice to fire white collar workers face-to-face (probably having to do with logistics of companies covering themselves with regard to liability and getting the employees out the door safely).

For workers at large, this is probably a relatively new phenomenon, given the universal term "pink slip."

[rah]

Security also.
In IT we time the face to face exactly so we can be removing security access at the same time.
If we percieve a security risk (unhappy mean employee) it is not out of the ordinary that they would be escorted out in cuffs.
On one occasion the HR rep wanted to leave early so scheduled the term meeting earlier and didn't tell anybody. The employee was able to get back into the computer room and did damage. It cost quite a few man hours to restore everything so anyone that ignores the potential is just foolish. And that was just data, think of more serious nut cases.

So while it sometimes sounds mean, it's necessary.

[Wezil]

If you try 'escorting' me out in 'cuffs' you will be creating a 'security concern'.

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
They ask for your phone number when you make a purchase. Same concept, just not for a perceived discount.

This hasn't been Radio Shack policy in years. They'll ask for such information on a return and on anything involving a service plan, but otherwise they're not supposed to ask for information.

[Elok]

Originally posted by rah
It makes me think of the movie '5th Element' where Bruce Willis's character is fired through notification by snail mail to show just how heartless corporations had become.
The future is now.

Damn, you beat me to it...it wasn't exactly snail mail though, the messages moved at lightning speed through little tubes. And Korben took it stoically:

Mr. Wong: See? I guarantee this good news. If not, I give you lunch!
Korben: (gestures "go ahead")
Mr. Wong: (enthusiastically opening and reading) You are fired! (continues smiling for a split second, then expression falls)
Korben: (getting up to leave) Well, at least I get a free lunch.
Mr. Wong: Ah, see good in bad! Good philosophy, I like!

I love that movie.

[Wezil]

So they finally saw the light? Too late.