Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kenglish]

i just had to fight against the most amateur and stupefying bait and switch today from techno mart.

i should've suspected the ethicality of the sellers there the last time i took my computer there for a burnt cpu only to have the whole motherboard replaced because they said it was also burnt, but what happened to me today makes me think that my motherboard did not need replacing at all.

because i've come to conclusion that these guys are bunch of scammers.

see, i went to buy a projector screen last week, the one shop was pitching me ridiculous specs on a screen that's just not possible at it's price range, the other shop was trying to talk to me into buying a brand that i had no interest in, even by being assertive to where he was writing out a receipt for me when i kept on saying i wasn't even interested! the third shop looked promising- a young guy(scumbag), enthusiastic attitude, seemingly being honest by saying that the other shops don't carry the brand that i'm looking for and he's the one of the few in techno mart who does. so yeah, i pay a reservation fee and place an order, wait for several days longer than promised, stretching it to a whole week. the screen arrives today and it's not even the brand that i asked for.

in fact, it's a no brand cheapest of cheap that goes for 1/3 of the price of the brand that i had ordered. so i call the guy to have the delivery man send it back along with me on the passenger seat so that i can take back the reservation money (50000won)- simple enough. but his argument through the whole thing is what baffles me. it's so stupid yet he's also extremely serious about it. he's saying that i did not order the brand that i asked about! he's actually saying that i'm the one lying about the words that came out of my mouth! and his attitude through the whole thing, saying things like 'i don't wanna look at your face', 'yes you look stupid' (when i rhetorically asked if i look stupid enough that i don't even know what i ordered) and telling me to follow him to the atm and leaving the money in the slot saying 'you take it out'.

i've read here countless times that koreans can be immature a-holes but dang, is this the true face of korea i had looking at the other side of? immature a-holes indeed...

anyways, beware when you go to techno mart. those guys are unregulated private marketers so anything goes. now i know

[minos]

If the motherboard is older and not compatible with the CPU replacing it, you have to buy a new mobo too.

Sockets on motherboards at not super backwards compatible like ram slots and PCI ports. Unless you wanna buy an older CPU that maches that socket.

Techno mart is a better more upscale place and more "legit" than the yongsan dudes. I get the impression their policed a bit more(I've lived and worked next to it for years). Their rent is high, but nearly every shop since I came to Korea still has the same booth and owner so they have a rep to maintain.

You can maybe contact the help department of the complex there and report abuse.

[kenglish]

oh i didn't know i could report that. though i'd rather soon forget about the incident than drag it in my memory. and let's not forget how the cpu got fried in the first place- the guy who installed a new fan on it had spread too much thermal paste on it- also at technomart. here or yongsan, seoul needs something better than both of them.

another funny side note involves the delivery man. i'm too lazy to link at the moment but a while back i made a thread about the noisy grandma downstairs. well today finally i decided to post-it a please-shut-up note with a candy attached to it. anyways, along comes the delivery guy from technomart, and he steals the candy! lol.

[BadBadMan]

Yeah, technomart merchants can feel like chinese hagglers sometimes (two stereotypes in one sentence! )

I try to stay away from technomart and yongsan unless I can get solid documentation beforehand, like with online ordering. Their scamming techniques are pretty good - like they'll sell you a camera for cheap but charge 5 times the going price for SD memory..lol

I tend to see, though, that the more popular booths with lots of customers are too busy to try scamming you all the time and will generally be more honest.

[DaHu]

yeah, I always order online, Gmarket or Danawa, just to avoid the hassle.

[Jake_Kim]

If you understand what the terms Yong-pari and Teh-pari mean, you've lived in this country long enough.

[jinks]

[jvalmer]

[nick70100]

[minos]

Maybe becuase I speak korean, but they're not that bad at all....Try china or...the seoul flea market....


Those folks rather spit at you than haggle sometimes and will. Them old folks is crazy!

[eamo]

[Adam Carolla]

[eamo]

^ yeah sure it's possible to get what you want in Yongsan if you do your research and do the legwork.

I think it's just easier to do it online.

You're also correct that Yongsan dealers will always try to sell you the mainstream item that they have in stock rather than send you where you might get the item you want. Not a big sin though. Their problem is that they lazily only bother to stock mainstream models.

The Yongsan warehouses bulk-buy thousands of what they think will be the mainstream product. Many Koreans like Canon so they'll stock millions of mid-range Canon cameras and not bother with niche, high-end camera brands or models. Only the occasional vendor here and there who has a rep among enthusiasts will bother to get the good stuff in.

Online though, you can browse every camera, or whatever, from the cheapest to the most expensive and see the prices too.

[Adam Carolla]

[minos]

They're prices are actually fair....

Unless they think your a moron, nobody is gonna try to sell you anthing at 50%+ markup. They're fairly cut throat with each other.