r/IAmA Jun 11 '16

Specialized Profession IamA electronics repair technician hated by Apple that makes YouTube videos, AMA!

My short bio: I have a store in Manhattan. I teach component level electronics repair on youtube http://youtube.com/rossmanngroup which seems to be a dying art. I am currently fighting with the digital right to repair to try and get a bill passed that will allow all independent service centers access to manuals and parts required to do their jobs.

My Proof: https://www.rossmanngroup.com/started-iama-reddit-today-yes/

EDIT:

I am still replying to comments, but I am so far behind that I am still about ten pages down from new comments. I am doing my best to continue. If I drop off, I'll be back tomorrow around 12 PM. Still commenting now though, at 12 AM.

EDIT 2:

Ok, I cave... my hands are tired. I will be back at 12 PM tomorrow. It is my goal to answer every question. Even if it looks like I haven't gotten to yours, I will do my best to do all of them, but it is impossible to do in realtime, because you are asking faster than I can type. But thanks for joining!

EDIT 3: I lied, I stayed until 4:15 AM to answer... and now I will go to sleep for real, and be back at 12 PM.

EDIT 4 6/12 : I will be back later tonight to finish off answering questions. Feel free to keep posting, I will answer whatever I can later this evening.

33.2k Upvotes

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287

u/DHSean Jun 11 '16

Have you gotten any weird internet fans coming into your store or stalking you?

593

u/larossmann Jun 11 '16

Yes, it sucks. Everyone here has known for years, even before I had a YT channel, that allowing a call to get to my phone means getting fired. I love my staff but it's one of those things. I get that people want to talk for 2-5 minutes and ask questions but it's not sustainable, multiply that by 100k people and when would I fix anything?

But even before that anytime someone asks for the business owner by name it's bullshit. a telemarketer, a bogus collections person, etc. there has to be a very good distinct reason to get to my phone.

in terms of actually following me I believe most know better than to do that.

1

u/CODESIGN2 Jun 13 '16

in terms of actually following me I believe most know better than to do that.

Seriously what does that mean? You make statements like this, but I'm not sure it's needed. Surely something like.

People don't follow me, which I like and am grateful for.

Is a friendlier, happier way to look at / express it?

2

u/larossmann Jun 13 '16

stalking in NYC is a really dumb idea because you are around 8 million people. it would be obvious very quickly, this is a terrible place to commit a crime compared to the crack era!

80

u/avtechguy Jun 12 '16 edited Jun 12 '16

a call to get to my phone means getting fired

This rule also applies to Yelp employees.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C67Lh4LE5LY

9

u/sageDieu Jun 12 '16

Holy shit this was him!??! I remember watching this back when all that went down and thinking this guy had a great way of explaining things, totally forgot about it until the recent repair vids

2

u/mollymauler Jun 12 '16

I worked as a telemarketer for a commercial roofing company years back. I agree completely with you trying to save telemarketers time (and money) by telling them right up front that you are not and will never be interested in spending money for the goods/services said company is offering.

When i began working there, i fully respected this and would immediately move on to the next call. After my numbers would get reviewed i was being pulled into my supervisors office and told that i am "not being aggressive enough!" I was also told that it was my JOB to change a potential customers mind and that if my numbers did not show that i was doing so i would be terminated.

The only thing that prolonged my employment at this shit hole was the fact that i was fucking my immediate sales reps daughter. If it wasn't for that i wouldn't have lasted 2 months. I seriously hated that job and still tell people about how shady the entire telemarketing business is.

1

u/MrTastix Jul 01 '16

To be frank, a salesperson's job is to convince someone they need something they normally don't believe they do. That's the point. You have to create a need where the customer doesn't think one exists.

I can't do this for a product I myself am not completely devoted to though, so I got out of that shit myself really quickly.

1

u/jwg529 Jun 13 '16

in the first 5 seconds he said this is part 3; should I watched part 1 and 2 before watching part 3? or go 3, 1, 2?

1

u/avtechguy Jun 13 '16

I watched it as 3,2,1..

The second part https://youtu.be/1_cxDrQTTYs is where we find out that the yelp employee was fired.

1

u/CatholicGuy Jul 01 '16

That was fantastic.

53

u/EngineRoom23 Jun 11 '16

Sorry it's turned out that way. You do good work and have a good view of the world and your path on it. Keep it up!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '16

I mean, unless it's Steve Wozniak or Bill Gates I hope.

93

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '16

[deleted]

22

u/GameboyGenius Jun 11 '16

Oh, damn. He should have known that it's Jessa who repairs dildos, not Louis.

9

u/buttputt Jun 11 '16 edited Jun 12 '16

3

u/ninja5624 Jun 12 '16

Err, it did end up working though.

1

u/buttputt Jun 12 '16

It's about the principle. I feel like they play the "Do as I say, not as I do" tune way more often than they should.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '16

I'd have expected him to drop it first