I own a Celestron telescope, and for Christmas my son gave me a Celestron SkyPortal Wifi Adapter,…read morewhich has an RJ12 6P6C 6-pin male end which plugs into an auxiliary port on the telescope. Unfortunately, Celestron has a clearance design flaw such that when the Skyportal Wifi Adapter is plugged into the auxiliary port on the telescope, it's prone to being hit by the telescope body when slewing. So, the natural solution to this problem was to secure an RJ12 6p6c Female-to-Male LAN Network Ethernet Extension Cable. Amazon.com sells these for $8, and had I purchased it, it would have arrived today and there would be no issue.
Instead, I thought that I would go to Radio Shack here in Monroe, and give local business my money - even if it cost a little more.
Radio Shack didn't have this item or a comparable item. However the store clerk (I believe the owner, David Gombosi) told me that I could "make it work" by purchasing a 6-pin RJ-25/RJ-11/RJ-14 telephone line cord (25' long) and a CAT5 in-line coupler, which is 8-pin. He told me that this coupler would work because the 6-pin cable will only use the center 6 pins. Total cost: $24.24 including tax.
I was hesitant to purchase for two reasons: Price and I didn't know this would work in lieu of the shorter, standard RJ12 6p6c Female-to-Male LAN Network Ethernet Extension Cable. Plus I was unsure of the 8-pin coupler that the Radio Shack clerk showed me. I asked him, "Are you sure this will work?" He said, "Yes."
So, I purchased the items for 3X the cost that I could have ordered on Amazon because (A) the clerk assured me that the items would work and (B) I wanted to keep purchases local.
Last night, I tried the items and it didn't work. Whether it was the 8-pin coupler or the 25' of RJ-25/11/14 cable that was the culprit, or both... I do not know. I drove back to Radio Shack this morning to return the items with original packaging. The clerk (actually two clerks and I believe one is the store owner) told me there were no returns "because of covid-19".
I said "What? I paid $24 for these items yesterday and you assured me these would work but they don't work. What am I supposed to do now?" The clerk told me that he could "exchange" the items.
I responded, "Are you kidding me? Exchange them for what? You didn't have what I needed but told me these items in substitution would work. They don't work. So, what are you going to exchange them with?" Both clerks just looked at me dumbfounded.
I then told them their policy of no returns should be posted, somewhere. One of the clerks told me it was on my receipt. I told the clerk(s), "A lot of good that does me, since I only get a receipt after I purchase, at which point I can no longer return the items according to your covid policy". They both just stood there and said nothing. Again I said that "You assured me this would work, that I was never told at the time I was being directed to these items that if they didn't work I couldn't return them, there are no postings in the store stating that there are no returns." I then grabbed the items (which the one clerk had touched - so much for the covid precaution) and left the store.
To say that I am upset and disappointed in Radio Shack is the understatement of the year. I purchase many items from Radio Shack, but no longer. Your store policy, annunciation of that policy, and customer service is the worst I have seen in quite a while. I was willing to spend 3X the amount I could have paid for the correct item online with Amazon because I wanted to give Radio Shack the business and keep it local. Drove 16 miles round trip twice, and all I wanted was my money back.
Thanks David Gombosi. You just lost another customer.
