Emtec Movie Cube vs AC Ryan DVR and Carrefour staff service

After months of research and price hunting, I was considering a new Harddisk player and recorder at Carrefour yesterday, one by the name of AC Ryan, with time based recording. But apparently upon reaching there, they seem to have a better recorder in store now known as the Emtec Movie Cube which not only boosts everything the AC Ryan recorder has but comes as a network attached storage besides the nicer looks. The low down is that it costs about $100 more ($399) with a smaller 250GB Harddisk (compared to 320GB in the $288 AC Ryan one). There were few more finer things I would like to know about it then, technical things not shown on the box, such as price (no labels) as well as the type of hardisk (IDE, SATA) as I intended to upgrade the harddisk myself, so I needed staff assistance.

The ulgy yet good side of Carrefour service in one experience
For starters, finding the player was already quite a pain initially in the Carrefour computer and TV department, there were no staff tend to you when you need one and upon finding one, I approached the TV-AV section staff (in red polo shirts) only to be kindly referred to the computer section for assistance (as they are not in-charge of the harddisk player despite it being displayed and running their Plasma displays). However, upon reaching there, the staff at the computer section were too busy chatting among themselves (it was this girl in red polo and another chinese staff in white at the computer printer and fax section), despite the display boxes just beside them, an interruption of their conversation about the player details and price was rudely turned off by them and I was told to go and look for a man in white back in the TV-AV section (it’s like a cannot be bothered can’t you see I am talking? kind of attitude).

So tolerantly I went back to the TV section again thinking that maybe I missed a staff when I was there (while they went back to their conversation). There I found a Malay staff in a white buttoned shirt, who promptly tended to me though he is with some other TV section staff at that time. I directed him few aisles back to the harddisk displays, upon asking him about the players, he told me that he is actually not in-charge of it as well. But remarkably he tries the very best he can in explaining the various functions he knows of it by the information on the box, (such as it being 250GB compared to the other 320GB) and even went off to get the promoter for the section, who I was informed was away at that time and would be coming here as soon as he can.

I was amazed in the contrast of the service this staff displayed despite not being well versed of the product features, despite telling me things I actually already knew all about, but I went with the flow anyway and acknowledged the features he told me, not turning him off beside fluming inside at the previous staff members. He even opened up the package to check the manual and technical specifications when he didn’t know about the harddisk type. When the promoter finally arrived the he just told me to go with the promoter while he cleans and packs up the package we had ransacked, he promptly rejected my offer to help him pack it, I couldn’t stop thanking him for his job well done.

It was with the official promoter where I had all my technical questions answered, rather well versed to even calling up his boss on his mobile about details he didn’t know as well. I was rather pleased about the contrasting enthusiasm of these few staff compared to the other lowly staff in the section- it’s just a strack opposite of the many which just gives you a rather muddled overall feel of the service offered in Carrefour- it’s very bad, just as very good- go figure, especially if people were ask me to rate the service standards there, you can just say it’s just complicated.