Mr. Johnson,
RadioShack offers a good-better-best product selection within most of our product lines. The product you initially were presented is a Monster Audio Splitter. It has 24k gold-plated contacts that will resist corrosion and provide maximum signal strength integrity. It also has a short cord that provides convenience and flexibility as two headphones are connected to an input jack. In doing a quick search online, I found it sells anywhere from $10.62 to $18.95 on Amazon.com.

When I asked the associate why he presented only the Monster product, after you asked for a headphone splitter for your iPod, he said, “Most people that shop in my store want the name-brand stuff. They want Monster. If they say they don’t want to spend as much, then I’ll show them something that’s less expensive.” We coach our associates to ask customers a series of questions to help them find just the right solution to their needs. In this case, however, the associate simply recommended the product that most of his customers buy.

While the product description on the Monster product and the lesser priced out-of-stock product tag may have appeared the same, they carry different SKUs in our inventory system; the SKU number differentiates one model from another.

Like most businesses with multiple locations, our pricing is determined based on a variety of factors; individual employees don’t have the capability to adjust prices at their discretion. Changing the price because you requested it may have seemed right to you, but it would have been unfair to our other customers who paid more for the same item simply because they did not ask for a price adjustment.

In the end, when the employees understood that you were objecting to the price, the manager suggested the more economical product, which was not as feature-rich as the Monster product.

I sincerely regret that the experience left you feeling under-appreciated, and especially that we may have lost your patronage over a minor misunderstanding such as this, but I am glad that you ultimately found the device you were seeking. I hope that my explanation has helped you understand why the store manager declined to sell you the Monster audio splitter at the price of the basic audio splitter and that you’ll likely give RadioShack another opportunity to serve your electronic needs at some point in the future.