I investigated and found an absolute conspiracy!

I don't care how minor you may think this is, but this is an absolute conspiracy taking place in every store that I have visited to personally investigate my findings.

I really wanted to name this store and I did when I first started writing this thread....but I had better be careful about this and just not.

The store I am talking about is an Australian CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc, video game and consumer electronics chain store which is very popular here across the country.

Although I am speaking about this business specifically because it's the only one I have investigated at this time, what this thread details is obviously happening at many different types of shops etc in different countries and an investigation you may like to take on yourself.

Firstly, I love to watch dvds in my spare time and visit this store at least once a week to get something new, such as a tv series or a History channel documentary.

There is nothing more annoying for me than to get something that looks good on the cover and reads fantastic on the back, only to take it home and throw my arms in the air over how crap it is and how I just wasted a whole load of money.

(The one line reviews on the back of these dvds read like the devil. They offer me the world and I'm not perfect like Jesus, so I am more than willing to accept it)

To overcome this insanity I would go to the store, pick out the titles that interest me, and then type them all into my cell phone for the real reviews people have posted online.

This method was great, if a dvd series got 2 or 3 out of 10, then it went back onto the shelf where is belonged. If it got 7 or above I would buy it knowing it would be great viewing and not a total waste of money!

One day about four months ago I noticed at one store my phone wasn't working because it had no signal. And a few weeks after that It finally clicked that this wasn't the only store this problem was happening in. It was in fact EVERY one of these chain stores I visited.

I like to visit different stores because they each have slightly different dvd titles etc, such as one may have UFO hunters season 1, the next may have season 3 and 4.

I tested my phone and received the same result in five different stores across the state.

They are obviously using cell phone jammers to stop people looking up reviews and phoning other business's to compare prices on their 42" LED 3D TV for example.

The second I stepped outside the shop, my signal would come back and now I'm forced to write everything down in a notebook and walk one step outside to read the reviews on my phone internet like some nerd.

Sorry about the quality of the below two photos but again, as much as I wanted to look like a nerd taking pictures of phones, I did this quickly and moved on without looking.

In this photo inside the store you can see up the very top left hand corner, my signal has no bars and cannot access the internet.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/1b58998ad0e5.jpg[/atsimg]

Now in the second photo a few steps outside the store you can see my phone now has nearly full reception and gets more as I walk away.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3f3b42154603.jpg[/atsimg]



Also if you would care to click this link, it will show you just how easy it is for any shop to obtain the mobile phone jamming effect as mentioned above.

Cell phone jammers

In the reviews down the bottom it reads:

Mr. Roger: Thank you for your fast response. I used the cell phone mobile jammer in a restaurant and it certainly worked. Most surprised people who found their mobile did not work!!

So ATS, the next time you visit a shop and have no reception, you now probably know why.

Thank you very much, my mission here is now complete.

Goodbye.

Why not look at reviews on the internet?

Also, don't believe too much of what you see on the front covers, the stuff saying like "5 Star" from some newspaper or other. Those things are often there to make people buy them.

I'm from the UK and as a rule of thumb if the front of a dvd cover has "5 star" etc etc from Zoo Weekly or The Sun I usually give it a miss.

I'm not sure they would go to the extreme lengths of blocking phone signals just because of this.

I think that TPTB stay one step ahead.


Personally, I quit buying dvd's and such along time ago. The overinflated prices just make me poorer and the "man" gets richer.

Netflix is cheaper.

It's not just JB it's WOW too - I go to our local and call my partner to see if he reckons it'd be worth buying (DVD, cd, whatever) and it's a total dead zone but in the car park is fine! I always blamed it on 3 mobile because they are crap. Stopped buying from WOW anyway as every box set we bring home has a DVD that's pretty much unwatchable due to skipping/jumping :/

I am not completely dismissing your claim at the conspiracy, but I do feel the need to point out a different viewpoint. Wouldn't it be very possible that the cell phone jammers are in place to avoid annoying ringtones, and annoying customers who would be constantly walking around the store and talking loudly into their phone?

reply to post by BrokenCircles


Thanks for the different angle BrokenCircles!

Always a possibility my friend, but if that were true, I think my version of events complements it to its full advantage and as the saying goes - Kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Inside this particular store, its VERY loud. There is always techno music playing loudly and every 15 seconds someone is on the intercom asking for a price check or something.

Seriously, nobody could hear what someone was saying on a phone more than 4 steps away.

There are a lot of miss guiding , so called "New Releases" out there, namely the "Paranormal Activity" DVD's. It was under my radar as being a factual based paranormal encounter, but to my dismay, even the credits role me back to "Damn it anyway" and "Why did I purchase this crappy movie?" self humbling experiences.
As for cell phone jammers and the like, I have a neighbor that has spent bukoe bucks for her service, still she can not even dial from her own apartment. Bummed her out, had to get a different service and a new phone just to rectify the problem, and oh yeah, she didn't even get to return the lame service and phone she had purchased previously.
The man is a live and well, big brother is just a control freak with the wind in their sails being the capitalist proprietors of such propinquity's.

reply to post by FoxfilesMulder

Yeah, IF what i said was even part of the reason, then I'm still sure they wouldn't mind the by-product of customers not being able to compare prices etc. As I said though, that just seems like a possibility. I really don't know for sure.


reply to post by Allred5923
Not sure if you are aware of this or not, but that 'genre' of movies has been classed as a Mockumentary .

Reply to post by FoxfilesMulder

The jammers could also be in place to keep employees from calling/texting during work hours.
But I would not put it past any large retail chain to try and block information while shopping in their store.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Originally posted by OneisOne
Reply to post by FoxfilesMulder

 

The jammers could also be in place to keep employees from calling/texting during work hours.

That actually seems more plausible than my suggestion.

Especially considering this-

 

Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

 

I am assuming OneIsOne speaks from personal experience and is right now at work coming onto ATS, instead of actually working.

I think you should steer away from intentional cell phone jamming and lean more towards how these buildings are constructed. Then, research receiving a signal in a Faraday Cage. Because I personally think that's the most logical reason imho.

Hahah!

If that were true about stopping the workers from texting etc, then I definitely would quit if I worked there.

One of the things that breaks my day up is receiving text messages from friends etc.

And what if there were a family emergency and weren't home to spend 10 minutes trying to locate the store phone number.

Very wrong!

Have you tried asking the store themselves for an explanation? Surely it must be bad publicity for them to admite using these but by the sounds of it they would struggly to deny this with the evidence there.

Its stupid, people who are looking up reviews for good products means that the customer wwill just get a product that they are happy with, meaning that they will come back again. If you are wasting money on crap titles that look good your more likely to not bother next time.

All I can say is that this company (if they are using jammers) are being very silly and paranoid over customers use of mobile phones. They must not have much faith in their products on sale which is very odd for any company

reply to post by UberL33t


I had thought of this.

But this chain of stores are also located inside shopping malls as well as new buildings to rent for any business's that find them suitable, so they don't actually build the buildings themselves, but find a vacant shop that has a large floor space and acquire it.

reply to post by clintdelicious


Well I know for me personally, I have saved a car load of money on not buying something because it had bad reviews when I looked them up. Normally I would have said to myself, wow this looks interesting, ill give it a shot!

This store also only matches the price of another store if your bring in the competitors catalog to prove how much they are selling it for. They are possibly tired of people saying they just phoned another shop not 5 seconds ago who are selling it at THIS price.

reply to post by FoxfilesMulder


That's just it, research commercial building codes in the area, most will be similar in other areas. I can tell you from the USA, that a lot of these types of buildings large square footage and small are framed in galvanized aluminum or the like. The better the building is constructed, the worse the signal will be. The same can be said for most elevators, most cell phones are worthless whilst in them.

Not to discount your theory by any means, most anything is possible I will concur. I just thought that this point of view should be included in the discussion as a possible alternative to the theory proposed in your OP.

You're right, this is a conspiracy to protect innocent shoppers from having strangers phones ringing in their ears and being forced to listen to other peoples conversations who stand there blocking the aisles oblivious to the world around them. It would also stop tunnel vision texters walking into displays and the other customers.

Imagine a big store with phones ringing every minute or so and zombified thumb bandits. Damn annoying if you ask me.

Do some research before you actually go to the store next time and save yourself some grief.

Better still, don't be a typical consumer and get out of the "habit" of funding the likes of hollywood, high street chainstores and commercial TV.

Even better still...chuck out the TV and come back to the real world.

Enjoy spending that surplus income and happy shopping.

reply to post by nerbot


Worst reply ever!

I did my research, I walked into this store, no signal, I walked into the store nextdoor - full signal.

And I like to watch movies, some tv series and documentary's, so what.

Stop being a government sponsored disinformation agent.

reply to post by UberL33t


I agree with your post, large amounts of reinforced roofing and metal surrounding the whole shopping centre could easily act as a faraday cage of sorts.

But if you really think you have a case then take it up with the ACMA, phone jamming is illegal in Australia and if they don't allow it in prisons then I doubt it alright for JB's to do.
Who knows, you could be famous.

reply to post by FoxfilesMulder


I don't know how it is in OZ but here in the US, its illegal to use a cell phone jammer.

Are Cell Phone Jammers Legal?

On trains, subways, buses, in the grocery market, shopping mall and café, people are aggravating fellow citizens with their non-stop chit-chat. This has caused some people to take matters into their own hands. With a cell phone jammer in purse or pocket, jabbermouths can be turned off with the flip of a switch — and they won't be able to reconnect as long as the jammer is activated unless they move far enough away from the source.

It seems a tidy solution, however, there's a problem. Cell phone jammers are illegal in most countries — except to military, law enforcement and certain governmental agencies.

In the U.S. the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) makes certain frequencies available to broadcasters for public use. When an end-user pays to use that spectrum, jamming the signal is paramount to 'property theft.' The FCC is also concerned about potential "leakage" — of jammers interfering with frequencies outside the range of cell phones, like garage door openers or medical equipment; and it's worth noting that over 100,000 emergency calls are made each day from cell phones. Anyone caught manufacturing, selling, owning, or using a jammer in the U.S. is punishable by an $11,000 fine and up to a year in prison for each offense.

Spy gear 4 u


You should look into whether cell jammers are legal where you live. If not, you should report this store chain to the proper authorities.