Very bad experience with SMC staff

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mk76

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Mods : Although this is related to SMC, it is not related to TE market. So was not sure to put feedback in SMC thread. Please merge if you feel so.

My friend had a very bad experience with SMC at their retail shop in Nehru Place during his recent purchase on July 16. He was greeted with unprofessional attitude, rude behavior and no standard pricing.

For him, I checked quote and availability of the required items from SMC via PM. Got a quote of 4300 for the 880GM-USB3L. Another mobo friend was interested was 880GM-USB3 which was 4750 as per the website.

On the day of purchase when my friend reached the shop, was told price of boards as 4500 and 5000 respectively. Even after getting the quote from SMC themselves, he had to convince hard and bargain on the price for almost all items. The guys at the counter showed arrogance as if they were doing some favor and even induced unnecessary delays in getting the stuff on the counter. Still my friend kept his cool (as I recommended that place to him) and waited patiently for the purchase to close.

In the evening I gave a call to SMC to talk about 880GM-USB3 price and that we are still interested in 880GM-USB3(which has more connectors and 4 RAM slot). The deal was closed on 4800. We did not open the board with us and deferred the assembly to Monday.

So today again it was same old story. The guy whom we talked on Saturday went back on his word bluntly; others talked rudely and started quoting much higher price - 5200. They were very rude and deliberately induced delays in completing the exchange with rubbish talk like "hamare pass aur bhi kaam hai...". After much of a scene the board was exchanged at 4800.

I thought of very high of SMC. However after this incident at least I am not going to them ever again.

PS: Ironically the website still shows the price of 880GM-USB3 as 4750.
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

If your friend talks like a total n00b the whole word is bound to take him for a ride. Just saying. SMC guys are very professional. Don't know what happened with your friend.
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

oh ok..

"Hey look a n00b; let's take advantage of him" - Very professional.

Nobody is expert from beginning my friend !

He accepts he's a n00b, that's why he turned to me for advice and I referred him to SMC; which I regret now.
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

My understanding is that the retail and web staff at SMC is not the same, and the folk at the retail counter have very little idea about the website in terms of product and pricing.

As per my experience many times unless you have the same person running both interfaces you should not expect identical level of commitment and service from both, or even consistency in prices etc as updates on the web tend to be slower than ones running offline.

The actual level of service is another matter altogether, and is a separate discussion IMO.
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

mk76 said:
oh ok..

"Hey look a n00b; let's take advantage of him" - Very professional.

Nobody is expert from beginning my friend !

He accepts he's a n00b, that's why he turned to me for advice and I referred him to SMC; which I regret now.
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Actually, till the time you tell them you are from TE or E, they will take you for a ride, which is I guess a normal practice in NP ( very regrettable) without which it would be hard for them to survive.

Its sad though that your friend met with rude behavior. That is not acceptable in any case.

Actually Online pricing is for online purchases only. and somehow, there is a disconnect between online purchase and the prices offered at the retail store.

If there is still some outstanding issues with this purchase do let me know, I will try and help from my end.
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

If you are a true friend you should've gone with him. :p

mk76 said:
oh ok..

"Hey look a n00b; let's take advantage of him" - Very professional.

Nobody is expert from beginning my friend !

He accepts he's a n00b, that's why he turned to me for advice and I referred him to SMC; which I regret now.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

As soon as I looked at the thread title I thought that SMC gave him a defected product or something.
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

I've had a similar experience when I had approached them way back in Jan, 2005. Had picked up a Powercolor 9600XT from their shop at NP. Realised later that I had spent more. I couldn't complain since I was uninformed of the prices of the cards.

They definitely need to tone down their attitude to the walk-in customers. I am sure the regular ones enjoy the benefit of good pricing.
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

Its said that shouting/talking in loud voice in delhi helps in getting things done faster.
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

The Jainex(SP road) guy who usually gives good deals charged me 1.8k extra on the biostar 790gxb mobo coz and I wasn't aware of the prices as the mobo I had planned to buy weren't available elsewhere. Dunno if it was intentional but felt bad about it for weeks :(
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

Gannu said:
I've had a similar experience when I had approached them way back in Jan, 2005. Had picked up a Powercolor 9600XT from their shop at NP. Realised later that I had spent more. I couldn't complain since I was uninformed of the prices of the cards.

They definitely need to tone down their attitude to the walk-in customers. I am sure the regular ones enjoy the benefit of good pricing.
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nah, if you do not know the prices, then even the regulars are many a times charged higher, :P
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

thebanik said:
Actually, till the time you tell them you are from TE or E, they will take you for a ride, which is I guess a normal practice in NP ( very regrettable) without which it would be hard for them to survive.
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I quite agree to this, regarding the outlook and behavior of the the NP dealers. They are rude,and have to be asked 3-4 times for service. Some example are:

1. They do not hear you.

2. They answer back rudely.

3. If they do not have what you want, they will not reply, and move to the next customer.

4. Take ages to deliver your product to the counter.

5. Suggest no-bill = discount. (This probably has stopped by now).

6. If CC, slap on 2% extra. (I think this is legal, though not sure).

7. Send your plastic card to some other shop for swiping, while you wait 15-20 minutes.

8. Give wise a**ed answers. "Hamare paas to yeh hee hain, time waste math karo". "Kaheen or so le le tu fir". "yeh kiaa hian" (We only have this, do not waste time, get it from somewhere else, what is this..ha ha ha).

Due to these reasons I have completely stopped going to NP. But from all my experiences, SMC is the better of the lot. Much better. Though it seems they have no correlation between online and brick-mortar prices.
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

cranky said:
My understanding is that the retail and web staff at SMC is not the same, and the folk at the retail counter have very little idea about the website in terms of product and pricing.
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That is true.

thebanik said:
Actually, till the time you tell them you are from TE or E, they will take you for a ride, which is I guess a normal practice in NP ( very regrettable) without which it would be hard for them to survive.

Its sad though that your friend met with rude behavior. That is not acceptable in any case.

Actually Online pricing is for online purchases only. and somehow, there is a disconnect between online purchase and the prices offered at the retail store.

If there is still some outstanding issues with this purchase do let me know, I will try and help from my end.
Click to expand...

Thanks but there are no more outstanding issues.

My friend did mention that he was from TE. Besides, he even asked for my TE login details to show them the PM. This was just another bad experience. I am disappointed as I always thought of SMC(whom I knew via TE) just like our friend Rockfella; no longer though.

Rockfella said:
If you are a true friend you should've gone with him. :p
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Thanks for the advice. I will take care in future.
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

cranky said:
My understanding is that the retail and web staff at SMC is not the same, and the folk at the retail counter have very little idea about the website in terms of product and pricing.
Click to expand...

That kinda makes sense. I thought they have changed after noting that they have built up a fair reputation especially from the online site and TE (which is why I purchased so much stuff from them), but I guess the retail shop is still the same.

I myself had a bad experience at their retail shop many years back (In 2006 if I remember right) before they started the website. I was in Delhi on my way to catch a flight to Hyderabad and since I had to pick up a few things (worth about 12k) and had lots of time, I thought I would pay a visit to SMC in NP because of their good reputation. The guys over the counter were discourteous, unprofessional and arrogant not mention total noobs as far as technology is concerned. They obviously seemed to consider every new face to be a 'bakara' ready to be fleeced. They threw extremely over bloated quotes and behaved as if they don't care whether I buy or not. Because of their attitude, I ended up not buying, but I had the satisfaction of seeing that their arrogance not only cost them a 12k sale from me, but a larger sale from another customer as well who started having second thoughts about having his system assembled by them.
 
Re: Very bad experience with SMC

Sorry but do not expect same pricing for a product... Be it same day..

Sometimes retailers have to suffer losses too and it is their right to sell at whatever price they want below MRP. All you can do is bargain.

Market rates fluctuate many a times in a days and best one can expect is to get same price as promised on the same day; not even the next day.

My view was only about pricing.
 
dont know weather i should be commenting on this since i've never dealt with them personally, but what ur friend dealt with is the general attitude most vendors have not only computer related but otherwise aswell.. . starting from your regular rickshaw walla to any shopkeeper .. if they figure out u dont know what ur buying, ur in for a big ride. i know most computer guys deal this way... even at lamington rd here in mumbai, most are under this impression that a guy is just here to find rates and not actually buy anything so when u start with asking for rates thats the general attitude they have towards u.. esp in places which have more flow of crowd (im guessing the same in smc's case) .. its unfortunate and sad aswell. but it is what it is... i hope someday they realise they r loosing potential customers this way and change their attitude and greet everyone with the same eagerness to sell and their top buying customer. not only will their earn respect but it will definately affect their sales aswell.
 
^^Never mind the pricing, its the attitude that turns off people. A courteous attitude would probably get the same sale done. I don't think people would mind spending 100 or 200 bucks more at the store if they are getting what they want then and there. But if the same thing is said with a "Lena hai to lo nahi to niklo!" or a completely disdainful attitude, then obviously, more than the 100 bucks its the attitude that kills the sale.
 
They are importers, distributors doing crores of sales mnthly from resellers and dealers alone . I dont even think the retail shop employees will even understand what is even online forum :P....best it to get it directly from their online shop/ebay shop.
 
I was quoted 6400 for a mobo from smc's basement shop , 10 minutes later quoted 5300 for the same mobo from their 1st floor shop , one week back they had quoted 4300 , so i bought everything from computer empire, i used to stay away from CE because of the rush but now i try to buy everything from them atleast prices are always fixed.
 
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