Apple in Best Buy Pilot Over?

[MacRumors]

According to one report, Apple's Best Buy pilot program has been terminated.

Apple and BestBuy (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/07/20030727004224.shtml) launched a pilot program to sell Apple products in Best Buy retail locations.

No details are available as to the circumstances around the end of the program.

[wellumok]

I just checked the Best Buy website and they are still selling them there. Of course, maybe they are just clearing out the inventory. Hopefully they arent ending the Best Buy relationship - I wanted it to expand to the Best Buy in my area.

[ITR 81]

I just checked the Best Buy website and they are still selling them there. Of course, maybe they are just clearing out the inventory. Hopefully they arent ending the Best Buy relationship - I wanted it to expand to the Best Buy in my area.

Terminating the pilot program only means all BB stores will carry Apple products or none of them will. I bet they will all start carrying Apple products...since all the iPods sold out here.

[lind0834]

Maybe the Best Buy online music store is finally finally going to happen. And they don't want the competition?

[scottlee]

The problem with BestBuy is they do nothing to promote the Apple products they carry. My local store has iPods but the are only displayed in a locked case which sits on the floor that NOBODY CAN SEE. They do not even have one out of the box to be seen, yet all the other devices are at eye level. No wonder BestBuy can't sell Apple product, it's because they don't put any effort forth.

[fixyourthinking]

My Best Buy in Greenville SC has (or had) displays sitting in the back for iBooks and iMacs and never put them out. They only have iPods (usually 1 or 2 or sold out) in a locked glass case.

I think the effort was half hatched and Apple chose not to follow up on it.

The last post I read had an interesting point about the music store though. Although I would suppose that it would be a partnership and Best Buy would NOT stop selling iPods, it's one of their best store sales boosters. 3 iPods a week at my local store helps them get kudos and rewards for best store in the region.

[Chip NoVaMac]

In the DC area the only promotion of Apple was mentioning in their flyers that certain promotions were not valid or were valid on Apple computers. And in the stores that carried them, they were put off in a corner. So it would be no surprise to me that Best Buy would drop them.

[Masao[RY]]

Well, the local bestbuy here, is awlful with the Apple products. All the Macs are passworded, so you have to go find someone who knows the password so you can give it a good test run, but once that is done you come to a desktop that has been trashed by people :-/ Icons gone from the dock, programs in the trash, and set to an odd non-native resolution. Its like no one bothers to take care of them and its just such a hassle to get someone to enter the damn 'password' (which leads to an admin account, thus the point of the password is pretty stupid)

All the boxes are in the wrong places, FCP will be where AppleWorks should be, MS Office is where 'The Sims' are suppose to be (one can tell this by looking on the shelf to see the price tags..). There is hardly any mac software there, either. The place is a mess whenever I go there.

I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't selling anything... Of course when one looks at the nearby PC laptop section-- it is fine. BestBuy staff seem to ignore the Apple section, unless they 'have to'.

IMO, its sad if BestBuy stops selling Macs, since it is one less place one can go to, but Apple really needs to train the bestbuy staff and/or bestbuy needs to get their act together, at least in my local store... I believe if they kill the program, all together, then there should be some good sales on whatever is left in stock.

[RStu0718]

I talk to about 30 of the BestBuy's regularly that sell the Macs and there has been no mention of pulling the pilot, only talk of expanding it.

[themacolyte]

']IMO, its sad if BestBuy stops selling Macs, since it is one less place one can go to, but Apple really needs to train the bestbuy staff and/or bestbuy needs to get their act together, at least in my local store...

I believe the original stories for this program indicated that Apple was providing training to Best Buy staff in the pilot stores. Regardless, I'm not sure it would help. My experience is that the staff doesn't know much about the PCs either (and I don't think this is specific to Best Buy but I'm in there looking about often enough to have Best Buy first in my mind). I enjoy lingering while the staff helps out other customers in the computer section.

In one instance, a man asked what the refresh rate on the monitor was. The sales guy responded that the computer they were looking at should provide more than 30 fps on most current 3D programs and there wouldn't be a noticeable difference in the quality of the picture above that. In my experience responses like this aren't at all unusual.

[KREX725]

As a previous employee of Best Buy back in the days of their original relationship with Apple, I kinda expected to see this (although not yet confirmed). BB's computer sales employees are routinely anti-Mac without ever using them (what's new?). That area was always neglected unless I "patrolled" it (I was in the "media" dept.). If I wasn't working, inquiring customers were told to come back when I was working if they had questions because the HO (home office) employees wouldn't even attempt to help them.

Right before I left the company, they brought in the original 233 iMac and although it sold okay (they rarely had but a few in stock), it quickly faded away too.

Unless Apple intends to hire its own people to staff the Mac section open-to-close, they're wasting their time (IMO).

Personally, I like this "new" idea floating around about opening kiosks, etc. in universities or shopping malls (if not a real Apple Store). The Apple Store here in St. Louis is always busy and seems to get good reviews by non-Mac users who ventured in out of curiosity.

[achmafooma]

The problem with BestBuy is they do nothing to promote the Apple products they carry. My local store has iPods but the are only displayed in a locked case which sits on the floor that NOBODY CAN SEE. They do not even have one out of the box to be seen, yet all the other devices are at eye level. No wonder BestBuy can't sell Apple product, it's because they don't put any effort forth.
I stopped by a Best Buy not to long ago in my parent's town (far from the Apple Stores and CompUSA's and Micro Centers we have in civilization ;-)). They had a few Macs out on display right next to their PC counterparts.

But when I walked through the computer section, I overheard a piece of a conversation which I will paraphrase here:

BB guy: "Yeah you can do all sorts of stuff with this machine [the PC he was showing to an older lady who clearly knew very little about computers]. You can burn CD's, get on the internet, whatever you want to do."

Lady: "Oh. Well I was really thinking about a Macintosh. I hear they're a lot easier to use."

BB guy: "Um. I don't know anything about the Macs. But there's not as many programs and stuff for them and a lot of things just don't work with them."

I kid you not. If I hadn't been in a huge hurry (this was Christmas Eve, after all!) I'd have stayed and helped that poor lady out. I'm actually familiar with the benefits and risks of PCs and Macs, using both regularly.

I'd be interested to find out how much Best Buy (and/or the employees, I don't know if they get a commission) gets off a PC sale versus a Mac sale. Since Macs are generally a bit more expensive, I would have thought they'd be trying to play up the qualities of the Macs. But maybe it works out differently insofar as how much the retailer gets out of the deal.

I don't know, I just can't figure why Best Buy's people are so intent on selling Windows PCs even to people who come in with an inclination toward a Mac. If Macs were given a fair treatment by the sales people, I think a lot more would be puchased.

[macnews]

If the program folds I don't think it would hurt much based on the "support" from Best Buy staffers. If the pilot was just a test to see if they could move product, then the case might be different. Years ago, the local Comp USA sucked at any Apple support or knowledge, despite carring some Apple product. Very much reminded of the Best Buy experiences. Now there is a local Apple rep who is in the store and other employees are trained and actually helpful! The result has been a lot of Apple product moving out the front door. If this program could be duplicated with Best Buy, maybe like others have suggested, the program is going to expand.

[Chip NoVaMac]

I'll be disappointed if it happens only from the standpoint I like Best Buy only for the cheap financing...

[evil]

the best buy by my parents house (orland park IL) has a pretty nice display of apple stuff. they have all of apple's computers out so anyone can play with them. they are not by the windows computers, but are in their own little section. The ipods and all the mac software is in the same little area as well. i think that there was actually an employee or 2 stationed there.

[DeusOmnis]

I'd imagine the program was terminated because Apple wanted a really good deal and Best Buy didnt like the idea.

[Fuchal]

I don't know, I just can't figure why Best Buy's people are so intent on selling Windows PCs even to people who come in with an inclination toward a Mac. If Macs were given a fair treatment by the sales people, I think a lot more would be puchased.

My friend who used to work at Best Buy said that the PCs are barely marked up in price... so they don't make much money from them, but they make all the money from the PC accessories which are marked up like crazy and they want you to buy after you've bought the PC.

[ffakr]

the best buy by my parents house (orland park IL) has a pretty nice display of apple stuff. they have all of apple's computers out so anyone can play with them. they are not by the windows computers, but are in their own little section. The ipods and all the mac software is in the same little area as well. i think that there was actually an employee or 2 stationed there.
I'm from the area too. I haven't been in the orland one for ages, but the Crestwood IL bestbuy has a really bad display. They've got a few machines out and they are all messed up. There is one admin account for everyone to use on the machines. They had a G4 out running 10.2.4 (this was like 2 months ago). They had a 10.2.7 G4 1.6 GHz with 256MB ram in it. All the images were screwed up and I couldn't find any Apple software.
The one in Ford City has them in a slightly more open and up front area), but they were demo'ing Soundtrack on the 256MB 1.6 GHz G5 and it just didn't have enough memory. It made the machine look much slower than it was. Ford City seemed to take better care of their macs though.

Apple really needs to up the minimum ram. It makes the demo machines run poorly.

[legion]

The Best Buy in my area (Los Angeles locale) had mini iPods for sale a full 24 hrs before all the Apple Stores or Fry's Electronics in the area. They still keep the iPods and mini iPods locked away (like any high price stealable item) but they have display models mounted like PowerPCs and Palm PDAs for demoing-- it was quite nice to have the iPod and mini iPod side-by-side to play with.

Plus, I picked up a few mini iPods for friends when I saw them there so no one had to wait in line at any of the Apple Stores the following day -- just a quick cell phone call from the store to all I knew who were interested. On a sidenote, a friend who had pre-ordered a mini iPod had his arrive that same morning.

[numediaman]

Chicago area Best Buy:

Middle-aged guy: "I'm looking to buy some speakers for my daughters Mac. Do I need special speakers for a Mac?"

Best Buy salesperson: "We don't carry speakers for the Mac. I think you need a special adapter or something."

Of course, I jumped in and helped the poor guy out. If Apple decides to pull out of Best Buy I wouldn't be upset. The only reason I can see for staying would be to make it easier to buy Apple accessories. Since Apple won't let BB discount the products, I don't see why Best Buy would even want to carry Apple products.

[garybooberry]

Not to sound like a jerk, but Best Buy does a HORRIBLE job representing Apple in every location I have visited.

The sales staff are ill-informed and generally dislike Apple (prefer PC's), and if you thought they were unable to communicate with the consumer about PC's, well just give it up when it comes to Mac.

I've personally sold at least 4 iPods just walking past salespeople trying to bumble their way through an iPod question

With that said, I'm in the market for a G5 and if Best Buy is still selling them in a couple of months, I will buy the machine from them as their warranty/return policy is MUCH more liberal than Apple's. I've neard too many horror stories about G5 returns - and one of my closest firneds manages a store in Virginia.

I think it would be a good move for the relationship between Apple and Best Buy to end.

Just my worthless two cents! :)

[bousozoku]

Best Buy couldn't be much worse than CompUSA. Generally, every worker in the computer areas is just an order taker anyway. Micro Center is probably the only chain store selling computers where the people working there actually know computers.

I feel bad for the people at Best Buy and CompUSA. They must be constantly hounded by managers to push things, even when the customers don't need them. There could be no incentive to be your best or to know the most.

I thought that Apple was going to put their own people in the stores but they've even been bad about that in CompUSA stores here lately.

[Koodauw]

I don't know, I just can't figure why Best Buy's people are so intent on selling Windows PCs even to people who come in with an inclination toward a Mac. If Macs were given a fair treatment by the sales people, I think a lot more would be puchased.

I think alot of it stems from a lack of knowledge. There is alot of difference in the hardware and software on the two platforms. BBY sells alot more Windows machines, and thus the employees feel more comfortable in selling them. It is alot easier to sell what you know vs. what you don't. If you got someone in there to get them the info, I bet things would go alot better. Not an apple rep, beacuase then they would just rely on them all the time, but actually train the employees. If you had a training session with some cool stuff to give away, I bet that would make a world of difference. Just my thoughts.

[IJ Reilly]

Conversation overheard at local Best Buy:

Best Buy customer: "I'd like to look at the Macs."

Best Buy salesperson: "Your body is incompatible with the Mac. You need eleven fingers and an eyeball in the middle of your forehead."

[stingerman]

Best Buy is a terrible experience for both Mac and Window's PC purchases. If you need sales help, forget best buy. What Best Buy is good at is selling no brainer devices that require no sales help. Apple would be better off expanding their retail store presence; there is nothing like an Apple Store experience. You go there, use their internet cafe, listen to the seminars, get specialized help from the genius bar. I even see Windows PC users taking their notebooks in there for the Wireless access and to follow along on the seminars where a Windows version of the software exists.

Once you start going to an Apple store it is hard not to go back. It's a great experience.

[laserbeahm]

As far as Best Buy not knowing about their products, it's not unique to Apple computers. How many times have you gone in there asking about any electronic item, and they can't answer your question? A while ago, I went in asking about cell phones. They couldn't even tell me how to activate them. I don't know how they can sell mobile phones when they can't even tell you how to activate them.

As far as customer service regarding Macs, they seem to be doing fine in my local Best Buy store in Modesto, CA. They have them in a different row from the Wintel machines. Every time I've passed by, they've asked me if I need any help. The store by me has an Apple rep and it seems as though they have no problems explaining things to the customers. The last time I was there I saw one the of the Best Buy employees showing someone how to use iMovie.

As someone stated earlier, a lot of the time it seems as though the employees who work there would much rather sell the Windows machines. I think the reason for this has nothing to do with cost or profit. I'm pretty sure the people working with computers at Best Buy or not on commission. In this case, selling a higher profit machine really wouldn't matter to them. the reason why they don't want to show Macs is because they probably don't know anything about them. By making Macs seem undesirable, they have an easier time selling the computers that they might know something about.

Oh well. If you really are not satisfied by the lack of knowledge found inside Best Buy, do your homework online. Then if Best Buy happens to be the closest Apple Reseller to you, just go there to buy it... or wait and order it off Apple.com.

[Fat Tony]

The BestBuy across from my house in Alexandria VA has their Apple section right out front, but the iPods are tucked away in the back. Seems like most of the time, alot of programs and accessories are either out of stock or they just haven't bothered to put them on the shelf. The worst part is seeing the display 15" Powerbook they've bent apart trying to secure it down with an anti-theft bar. It looks as if it's being torn in half right where the screen meets the machine. Very well done.... :rolleyes:

[JuicyGoo]

not sure how much it matters but i just saw a BestBuy ad on ign.com touting digital music and players with a pic of an iPod mini. so maybe they're not abandoning the partnership but just moving past the pilot program.

plus I dont think the people at Best Buy OR CompUSA are a very reliable sourse of info. An Apple rep at Compusa said he didn't know anything about any powerbook updates and then the next day the latest 15" speedbump was announced.

[bousozoku]

not sure how much it matters but i just saw a BestBuy ad on ign.com touting digital music and players with a pic of an iPod mini. so maybe they're not abandoning the partnership but just moving past the pilot program.

plus I dont think the people at Best Buy OR CompUSA are a very reliable sourse of info. An Apple rep at Compusa said he didn't know anything about any powerbook updates and then the next day the latest 15" speedbump was announced.

After all their complaining over the 5 colour iMacs, I'm surprised that Best Buy isn't complaining about the iPod Mini. After all, choice is what (apparently) stopped their relationship with Apple in the past.

[tonemeister]

I've been reading a lot about how "BestBuy sales support for Apple isn't good" in this thread.

First of all, to be a sales associate at BestBuy, you have to be willing to earn minimum wage. Consquently, there is not much motivation to learn about the products. I don't think the employees of the Apple Store, at times, are any better. They are certainly more qualified to be enthusiatic about selling apple products, but that's all there is to sell! People you deal with in stores are just working retail for the time being hoping a better job offer will come along. Really, what do you expect? Sometimes you are helped by someone who really likes working retail, but most of the time not.

Secondly, BestBuy employees are not reliable on ANY product. Yes, occasionally you get to deal with someone helpful, but not often. It's not just Apple products they're bad with, it's all products.

Thirdly, BestBuy's prices are not any better than anyone else's prices. They should change the name to "worst buy" and get it over with. The only time you want to go in this store is if you know what you want ahead of time and that you saw what you want in a sale flier. Otherwise, find a better price for the same thing elsewhere.

Anyone who relies on a sales person for all of their product information before buying something is extremely naive.

I could give a rat's behind if they stop carrying apple products. You can buy them online and you get free shipping.

[rdowns]

My friend who used to work at Best Buy said that the PCs are barely marked up in price... so they don't make much money from them, but they make all the money from the PC accessories which are marked up like crazy and they want you to buy after you've bought the PC.

Although not a reseller in 7 years now, I doubt things have changed much. Back in those days, margins were razor thin (lucky to make 4 points on a corporate sale and maybe 8 or 9 on a consumer sale). They are probably a point or two or three lower today. Accessories, service contracts and services were much higher margined. To make money, you needed very high volume. So where is the money?

Market Development Funds (some mfgs. have differnet names). The stores/chains get these funds based on volume sold. These funds are used to print those pretty booklets in the paper every Sunday, among other marketing activities. Do you really think the companies can afford to produce those every week on thin margins? They are very, very expensive. The funds can be used to fund sales contests, buy demo models and sometimes, to buy more product. Apple used to let you use them for training and seminars. ( I remember one I did for the launch of System 7. We ran newspaper ads and got software vendors to participate. 62 people showed up and we sold all 50 copies of System 7 we had, RAM upgrades, software and about a dozen Macs. Ah, the good old days)

If you're a reseller and need these Sunday supplements to drive traffic, who do you stock and push?

[stoid]

Personally, I like this "new" idea floating around about opening kiosks, etc. in universities or shopping malls (if not a real Apple Store). The Apple Store here in St. Louis is always busy and seems to get good reviews by non-Mac users who ventured in out of curiosity.
I too was really impressed by the Apple Store in St. Louis, the employees are very friendly and helpful. Meanwhile, I can't recount a single positive experience I've had shopping at Best Buy. Hearing about the neglected Macs under cared sitting in the back of the store reminds me of CompUSA. *shudder* Do stores get lower profit for selling Macs, or are they just dumb biased pricks that don't even consider the advantages of owning a Mac?

[BrendanP]

I am trying to get a job at a Best Buy location in Coon Rapids, MN. I was talking to one of the guys by the PCs and asked if they were planning on getting Macs in at any point. He said he knew they WERE getting them in. This indicates the pilot program was a success because there is another store in the area that already has Macs, and he said they were in talks to bring Macs into all stores.

Good news for me. :)

[AssassinOfGates]

I went to the BB in Fullerton CA and they never sold macs there anyway. Just iPods. When I asked the guy at the camera center if he had any decent webcams for mac, he went on his whole rant about how macs suck and Best Buy isn't "mac friendly in case I couldn't tell."

This termination kills something that was never there, but should have been.

[Steven1621]

it would be very difficult to train staff at every best buy to understand apple products. with the continued expansion of the apple stores, there should be a fairly large presense still.

[jade]

I've heard the pilot is ovr. Best Buy and Apple are very bull headed...and when that happens partnerships never work out. Best Buy didn't make it a priority to get the associates up to speed on Apple products, and the relationship did not progress enough to make real headway in the best buy stores. Best Buy's also have very poor inventory management, especially when it came to Apple products.

[Dahl]

I think it's best for Apple to stop working with BB, if they can't do a proper job promoting the products. From the posts here, it sounds like the BB staff does more harm than good.

[docpsycho]

BB guy: "Um. I don't know anything about the Macs. But there's not as many programs and stuff for them and a lot of things just don't work with them."



Even though they are not on commission... they are out to get your cash!!! The sales chumps are almost threatend to sell all the accessories tha you may or may not need.

at the store that I frequent... only one of the copmuter guys has a mac... and he has to ask me how to use it.

Best Buy has never put any monies toward real training and the computer guys have only seen the apple(real apple dude) only once in the 7 months the product line has been there.

2nd item its high end stuff in the ghettoland of customers and product. A $199 home theater system with dvd..... it is nothing but JUNK.

Also the tech services are not allowed to touch them. Including adding memory or even Installing software!!!

[mproud]

Best Buy is the Microsoft of electronics megastores.

They don't clean up the aisles, the employees don't know jack, and its quantity over quality.

Apple can do better. Yes, ideally, if Best Buy carried all of Apple's things... but Apple is unique, in a league of its own. Besides, people are buying their computers less and less from physical stores these days, and more from online web sites, and to a lesser degree, by telephone.

[rdowns]

Best Buy is the Microsoft of electronics megastores.

They don't clean up the aisles, the employees don't know jack, and its quantity over quality.

Apple can do better. Yes, ideally, if Best Buy carried all of Apple's things... but Apple is unique, in a league of its own. Besides, people are buying their computers less and less from physical stores these days, and more from online web sites, and to a lesser degree, by telephone.

I don't know if that's necessarily true. Sure, lots buy online or via 800 numbers but I'd bet a far higher percentage are still bought at retail, especially first time buyers and switchers.

Apple needs to lure first time buyers and switchers to gain market share. You can't do that if your products are not where people buy them. Unless these people can see, feel and play with them, they are far less likely to purchase them.

Take all the fallacies about Macs (can't connect to Internet, no software etc.). How can these be refuted unless the buyer can actually see the Mac connect to the Internet or see the tons of available software? Maybe I'm cynical, but a sales rep on the phone or a web site has the credibiilty of the used car salesperson kicking the tires to a first time buyer or switcher.

Apple needs more retail shelf space. 75 Apple stores are nice and so is CompUSA but not enough. They need shalf space at another national chain, be it Best Buy, Circuit City or some other.

You are correct, Apple is in a league of its own. Sadly, that league is way too small.

[Chip NoVaMac]

I am trying to get a job at a Best Buy location in Coon Rapids, MN. I was talking to one of the guys by the PCs and asked if they were planning on getting Macs in at any point. He said he knew they WERE getting them in. This indicates the pilot program was a success because there is another store in the area that already has Macs, and he said they were in talks to bring Macs into all stores.

Good news for me. :)

Good news for you on the job front as long as you aren't older then 30. It appears in the Northern Virginia area that there is a pattern of discrimination on floor workers that are over 30. In fact I know of at least 3 over 50's that never got a call back even for holiday help.

[guyute]

I'd be interested to find out how much Best Buy (and/or the employees, I don't know if they get a commission) gets off a PC sale versus a Mac sale. Since Macs are generally a bit more expensive, I would have thought they'd be trying to play up the qualities of the Macs. But maybe it works out differently insofar as how much the retailer gets out of the deal.

I don't know, I just can't figure why Best Buy's people are so intent on selling Windows PCs even to people who come in with an inclination toward a Mac. If Macs were given a fair treatment by the sales people, I think a lot more would be puchased.


Best Buy clearly makes more on even the one of the cheapest pc, even if you look at the margin on the tower/cpu alone. When you addd the monitor in its even more unbalanced. A $700 mac lcd may yeild 10% when an equivalent priced (name your brand) monitor yeilds 20%+.

This even gets more unbalanced when you add service and support. You need to figure that every winpc sold needs to have 4+ years of education and support. This education and support is where the money is really made. When a winpc user receives a virus and is charged $120 for removal + $50 for norton + any upgrades because the machine is obsolete you have to sell the cash cow.

I manage the local bby pc area and have a few of my employees mac knowledgable. If someone asks us we tell exactly the difference. I myself explain that i spend all day fixing everbody's pc problems and don't want to go home and have to fix my own so I use a mac. This thing runs......

[KREX725]

I'd be interested to find out how much Best Buy (and/or the employees, I don't know if they get a commission) gets off a PC sale versus a Mac sale. Since Macs are generally a bit more expensive, I would have thought they'd be trying to play up the qualities of the Macs. But maybe it works out differently insofar as how much the retailer gets out of the deal.



Best Buy employees do not get a commission. When I was with the company when they originally carried Mac ('94-'97), the markup wasn't much. I doubt they could sell them for anything less than what you see in MacMall or the other Mac specialty catalogs.

It is also very true that BB relies more on the sales of their warranties (which can be great if they're replacing the machine but horrible if their repair center gets a hold of it--they destroyed the front cover of my Performa 6220CD years ago).

Many other accessories will of course work on PC or Mac now with USB so I don't know why their current employees would be so clueless about that. Most of the time, it's right there on the packaging.

[ToddW]

I don't know if that's necessarily true. Sure, lots buy online or via 800 numbers but I'd bet a far higher percentage are still bought at retail, especially first time buyers and switchers.

Apple needs to lure first time buyers and switchers to gain market share. You can't do that if your products are not where people buy them. Unless these people can see, feel and play with them, they are far less likely to purchase them.

Take all the fallacies about Macs (can't connect to Internet, no software etc.). How can these be refuted unless the buyer can actually see the Mac connect to the Internet or see the tons of available software? Maybe I'm cynical, but a sales rep on the phone or a web site has the credibiilty of the used car salesperson kicking the tires to a first time buyer or switcher.

Apple needs more retail shelf space. 75 Apple stores are nice and so is CompUSA but not enough. They need shalf space at another national chain, be it Best Buy, Circuit City or some other.

You are correct, Apple is in a league of its own. Sadly, that league is way too small.

I agree to some extent, however, Fry's do carry apple products and quite a bit, more so than CompUSA. Apple's best bet IMHO is to open more retail stores. Bring the apple experience to the public.

[cr2sh]

Best Buy couldn't be much worse than CompUSA. Generally, every worker in the computer areas is just an order taker anyway. Micro Center is probably the only chain store selling computers where the people working there actually know computers.

My local CompUSA has a Apple Rep who is knowledgable enough.. I mean don't get me wrong, the guys a prick, but for Joe Shmoe questions.. he's gold baby. gold. :)

As for MicroCenter.. yes, the mac section is better run, more informative.. but don't let them fool you. They're all idiots up there too! :)

As far as the BB goes.. yeh, I'd love to see stuff in store. If I can buy mac stuff at target, best buy, and my apple store... that'd be great. Pilots end.. that's what they do. If this one ended because of poor sales, I'm quite sure it was due to the poor salesmenship of BB.

[ffakr]

I've heard that one of the main reasons why PCs get more respect from sales staff is that the PC vendors are very competitive in offering perks to sales people. Why would someone bother to push a Mac over an HP if HP is giving a kickback to salespeople who hawk their products.

[Koodauw]

I am trying to get a job at a Best Buy location in Coon Rapids, MN. I was talking to one of the guys by the PCs and asked if they were planning on getting Macs in at any point. He said he knew they WERE getting them in. This indicates the pilot program was a success because there is another store in the area that already has Macs, and he said they were in talks to bring Macs into all stores.

Good news for me. :)

OH just wait my friend, you will soon discover that no job at Best Buy is a good job.

[bousozoku]

My local CompUSA has a Apple Rep who is knowledgable enough.. I mean don't get me wrong, the guys a prick, but for Joe Shmoe questions.. he's gold baby. gold. :)

As for MicroCenter.. yes, the mac section is better run, more informative.. but don't let them fool you. They're all idiots up there too! :)

As far as the BB goes.. yeh, I'd love to see stuff in store. If I can buy mac stuff at target, best buy, and my apple store... that'd be great. Pilots end.. that's what they do. If this one ended because of poor sales, I'm quite sure it was due to the poor salesmenship of BB.

Sure, the Apple person had better be smarter about Apple products than the CompUSA people. If they weren't, why put them there? In Orlando, they're better than some of the people working at the Apple Store.

The Philadelphia area Micro Center was quite good. It's unfortunate that the Ohio stores would be worse but things happen. The store outside Philly was a shining example against the competition. (One report about the Philadelphia CompUSA included a statement from a salesperson where he said that the Macintosh he was showing even had a level cache.)

Apple Stores are great but they're put in places where the rich go to shop. I don't shop in the Cartier or Tiffany's stores in the mall and neither do most of the people Apple need to court.

[ToddW]

Apple Stores are great but they're put in places where the rich go to shop. I don't shop in the Cartier or Tiffany's stores in the mall and neither do most of the people Apple need to court.

My point exactly.

[Foxer]

Where is the pilot program running? Anywhere near Wisconsin? I was hoping to my my G5 there, when the Rev B come out, so that I could get points in the BB rewards program. Not much, but it translates to something like 4 or 5 percent back in store credit. Since no one else ever offers an incentive that I'm interested in, this always seemed to be the way to go. Plus, if my cinema display had a dead pixel, I think I would have a better chance bullying the high school girls at BB and getting a new unit than I would from the elitist pretty boys at the local Apple store.

(I don't like the staff at our Apple store, in case you couldn't tell. They couldn't sell a snickers to a starving man. They'd just tell the man about how beautiful the snicker's GUI is and never bother to show the ease of use and practicality of the candy inn question.)

[question fear]

Look, some people have touched upon this briefly, but I am going to try to coherently explain this.
Best Buy is a retail job. The people working there are at minimum wage or a little above, and probably dont have much investment in the job itself. This is the worker you are far more likely to encounter at Best Buy over say, a manager or supervisor who has a more vested interest in customer service and might have more experience in selling or making a customer happy.
Training would make a difference, yes. But we're in a bad economy right now, still, and sales are not what they used to be in most stores. Even a chain like Best Buy cannot afford to throw away money, which is what happens when you invest in tons of training for a person who's going to leave in a month to go to college/high school/work at starbucks, whatever. And if you pick and choose the employees to train, then you dont have trained employees there all the time. And as much as it would be nice to staff a store with people who love their jobs and will absorb and engage in all their training, this is not likely, at least not without serious payroll and staffing issues.
It sucks for the customer, I am not going to deny that. But really, the solution is, if you are going to shop in a one-size-fits-all retail chain like best buy, do your research ahead of time. Walk in and strike out on your own to find what you need, and blow off the employees if you have to. Or use them to your advantage, make them gopher for you.
I do not think that Best Buy's model is good. But I do think its tough to work out a better one without being a more boutique specialty store, at least in the world of electronics where people can't just pick something up, look it over and buy it...at least without RESEARCH.
So to end my rant: Consider who you are dealing with when you bitch and moan about best buy, and consider if you'd really be much better on minimum wage, with impossible sales goals, at the end of your shift, wanting a nice easy sale so you can get out of there. You might try to sell something easier too, and if it pisses you off then go in informed or complain to best buy corporate...pissing away your complaints here only serves to vilify retail workers who never claimed to be experts (the exception being the ones who DO claim to be experts. you should kick them.) [also, best buy will just pop you into whichever dept needs help-i was selling video games for a while, and i couldnt answer why an xbox was different from a playstation 2. Luckily there were some nice teenage video game demos junkies who taught me.]

From Retail Hell-
Carly

[rdowns]

I agree to some extent, however, Fry's do carry apple products and quite a bit, more so than CompUSA. Apple's best bet IMHO is to open more retail stores. Bring the apple experience to the public.

That's great. Who is Fry's? None in the greater NY metropolitan area, you know, the #1 market in the country.

[rdowns]

I've heard that one of the main reasons why PCs get more respect from sales staff is that the PC vendors are very competitive in offering perks to sales people. Why would someone bother to push a Mac over an HP if HP is giving a kickback to salespeople who hawk their products.

Excellent point. I got my first Mac (Mac SE) by selling a ton of Apple //gs systems one xmas season. That's what got me hooked on the Mac. Through my years as a reseller, I got many perks from SPIFs (saleperson incentive funds) like a 32" Toshiba TV from Megahertz modems, more electronics than I can list from HP, trips from Compaq, lots of cash/AmEx gift checks and many household items.

[jade]

That's great. Who is Fry's? None in the greater NY metropolitan area, you know, the #1 market in the country.

Fry's is a large WEST COAST retailers (primarily). It is a lot like Costco, and the store is gradually expanding to some other techie areas: Austin and Virginia....

The whole point of Apple being in BEst Buy is simple, that is where America buys there computers. the average user hates Fry's, and they go to best buy. This is why Apple wants and needs to be there. The reality of course is myuch harder to figure out. But it is an extrememly important step for Apple to be in a major electronics retail channel. Circuit City and Good Guys are not at all important, seeing that Best Buy is the largest electronics retailer (well besides Walmart)

[Borg3of5]

I worked at Best Buy for a year back around 1995, when Apple was big on the Performa line. I was basically the only person in the store that knew something about Macs, and almost the entire computer department were PC-whores. No one ever spoke well about Macs, except a coworker friend of mine, and myself. Everyone was big into the big mHz thing, and how Windows 95 allowed PC's to do everything a Mac could (blah-blah-blah). On and on all I heard was "the Mac is a Fisher Price type computer; it's only for kids."

Look at us now: G5's-the paramount of computing. PC's will never be a quality product, as long as Win-blow$ exists, AND especially when it continues to have DOS under it. I'm sorry, but to say that DOS doesn't exist anymore is a crock of mess. Unix and its varities is here to stay. Microsoft will probably not go away in our lifetime, but now that everyone is realizing that that crap REALLY doesn't work, perhaps we will start seeing some market share expansion.

[BrendanP]

Good news for you on the job front as long as you aren't older then 30. It appears in the Northern Virginia area that there is a pattern of discrimination on floor workers that are over 30. In fact I know of at least 3 over 50's that never got a call back even for holiday help.

'Nuff said.

[TWinbrook46636]

Look, some people have touched upon this briefly, but I am going to try to coherently explain this.
Best Buy is a retail job.

Isn't the Apple Store a retail job too? Employees at places like this are anti-Apple, that's all. I hear their discussions all the time. By the way, my local Best Buy has a G5 on display laying ON IT'S SIDE with a 15" monitor on top of it.

:rolleyes:

[seanatki]

Saw this ad on techtv.com.

Sean

http://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=11988

[question fear]

Isn't the Apple Store a retail job too? Employees at places like this are anti-Apple, that's all. I hear their discussions all the time. By the way, my local Best Buy has a G5 on display laying ON IT'S SIDE with a 15" monitor on top of it.

:rolleyes:

and thats not ok. i wasnt saying that best buy's treatment of apple was ok, i was saying that you cant expect the people at the ground level to be capable of executing it.

and apple stores are retail jobs, and there are people who have complaints about apple retail stores too.

my point was that best buy employees are not necessarily to blame for all the complaints people have. being obnoxious, maybe, but you're also looking at a small percentage of the population complaining here. i was just defending those who have to deal with other people's crap all day long, and that sometimes they do stupid ****.

as for computers not being well maintained or merchandised thats a management/corporate issue. i can tell you as a former "merch team" member for best buy (believe me, i hate that company more than any of you could) you cant do jack **** off the planogram without at least your manager if not your gm giving it the ok. so if its ****ed, blaim best buy corporate, not the pimply 17y/o or the struggling college kid.

i know that best buy employees are not the best people to point to and say, look, humanize retail employees, but believe me, the job sucks, and sometimes you've had one too many contradictory instructions and you're notgoing to be the best you can be. **** happens. even to apple retail employees, people have complained about them here and there too.

-carly

[ffakr]

So to end my rant: Consider who you are dealing with when you bitch and moan about best buy, and consider if you'd really be much better on minimum wage, with impossible sales goals, at the end of your shift, wanting a nice easy sale so you can get out of there. You might try to sell something easier too, and if it pisses you off then go in informed or complain to best buy corporate...pissing away your complaints here only serves to vilify retail workers who never claimed to be experts (the exception being the ones who DO claim to be experts. you should kick them.)

Sorry Carly, this may be true most of the time but it's still a load of crap. I worked retail when I was younger. I didn't make too much more than minimum and I worked on perks. I was at a GNC health food store. Pretty much everything made by GNC (and Pro Performance, a GNC company) has an enormous margin for the company so nearly every GNC produced product has an employee kickback on it. A jug of sugary crap weight gainer may pay the sales person $2.50. You can actually make pretty good money this way if you're a sales whore.
I wasn't a sales whore. I pushed people tword what I thought were the best products and I even sent people to competitors if we didn't have something. Here I was, a nothing kid with a little edu background (pre-pharm at the time) and I actually had a following.. people would come in and ask for me, they'd avoid other GNCs..
Making less than $20/hour is not an excuse for being a moron or a jerk. It may be true all too often, but it isn't an excuse.
I'm way far off from perfect, but it doesn't take too much to have just a little pride in your work.. to learn about what your selling.. to be competent.
F* every crap ass Best Buy employee who can't be bothered to do their friking job.

[markie]

I stopped by a Best Buy not to long ago in my parent's town (far from the Apple Stores and CompUSA's and Micro Centers we have in civilization ;-)). They had a few Macs out on display right next to their PC counterparts.

LOL... if you think a place that doesn't have the Apple Store and CompUSA isn't civilized. I live 125 miles from the nearest Best Buy! 240 miles from CompUSA! Never heard of Micro Center... The Apple Store - a mere 515 miles away :)

The state I'm in in case you're wondering - Montana. And yes, we ARE civilized :)

[abbazaba]

Even a chain like Best Buy cannot afford to throw away money, which is what happens when you invest in tons of training for a person who's going to leave in a month to go to college/high school/work at starbucks, whatever. And if you pick and choose the employees to train, then you dont have trained employees there all the time. And as much as it would be nice to staff a store with people who love their jobs and will absorb and engage in all their training, this is not likely, at least not without serious payroll and staffing issues.



I work at Best Buy, and I have to say I disagree. I understand the logic, however the newhire process seems to eliminate most of the types of people that would leave in a month. Many employees are already in college, my store is close to ASU. The store has a VERY low turnover rate simply because they make sure to hire people with good resumes. To work in sales (except for no-brainer depts. like media /appliances) newhires are asked in their interview technical questions about the thing they would be selling. Some one wouldn't be hired into say, the computer department without knowing a good deal about computers. I was started comfortably above minumum wage, and the store is a very good environment. Best Buy isn't a ****ing McDonald's. It may not be a career but the employees (in my store at least) are more reputable than people may give them credit for. I have been in other stores (namely one in Chicago) that did seem like ****holes full of idiots. ALSO...I could agree with some of the people posting here more about bias against Apple stuff in Best Buy. Everyone there seems to hate Apples. Not sure why...just a bunch of Windows buffs I guess. We do have a table in a pretty prominent spot near the front of the store with a 20" iMac, a G5, and an iPod on it.

On to the topic though. I checked up on the Apple section at my store, and not one item was on clearance. This is suprising because this is the time of year that lots of stuff is getting moved out to be replaced by either newer models of old products or new products altogether. If Best Buy was planning to discontinue Apple products, then they would have stopped ordering more shipments of Apples and placed the line on clearance.

=p

[question fear]

1) I currently work in retail management so I sometimes get sensitive at the broad strokes people get painted with. Not necessarily here. Maybe I should stop posting after long days at work.
2) New disclaimer: my experience at best buy was that the store i worked in was horribly managed, poorly maintained, and overall just not very good. at the same time, most of that was what we were being fed and not the employees themselves. If we werent being given the information then there wasnt much we could do to sell anything.

Also, im not saying theres no way to get a good sales person at best buy, or that no one there takes thier job seriously...what came through, albeight incoherently i think, was that i was trying to say that sometimes you have a bad day, and that grouping everyone under the heading of the one unhelpful or ****ty guy wasnt cool.

finally, i dont deny that best buy might not be taking very good care of their mac section, but again, thats more a management thing than a computer employees thing.

[Sayer]

There are Best Buy's that didn't even have any Mac support at all including any kind of Mac software. One up the road from me had iPods, that's it, and you really have to look for 'em.

If that's how they want to run their stores let 'em. Apple seems to be taking it in stride with their own stores and markets large enough to support other outlets (Fry's, CompUSA and others).

Oh well. Sales tax is almost 10% around here so I'd rather buy online anyway.

[kingtj]

Hi there! As a fellow St. Louisan, I agree with you on this one. Best Buy was originally intended to be pretty much a "discount store" for electronics and appliances. Over time, it sort of morphed into more of a retail outlet. (I remember in the "old days" of Best Buy, much of the excitement of shopping there was to grab up one of the many "red tag" or "yellow tag" discounts on opened/previously returned merchandise, or closeout items. Lately, I barely see any of that - and prices aren't much of a discount, either, unless they're running a sale.) Still, they seem to manage their stores like discount stores.... with the cheapest labor they can get ahold of, and not much incentive for employees to better themselves through training. (I know more than one Best Buy employee who primarily took the job because he already bought a lot of stuff there, and mainly wanted the employee discounts. But they've gotten more and more picky about handing those out. At Xmas time, some employees were told they couldn't get a deal at all on LCD flat panel monitors, because they were too "hot" of an item.)

I can't see why Apple would want this type of place displaying their products. Perhaps the iPod, because it's in more of the "consumer electronics" category - but not their main product line of computers. Quite frankly, I think Radio Shack might be a good partner to sell Apple products. They have smaller stores that tend to give people a little more personal attention, and I could even see them striking an exclusive deal to sell only Mac hardware. (Radio Shack hasn't sold their own PCs for a LONG time now, and it seems like they've changed vendors they do carry several times in the last few years. They were all IBM Aptiva for a while, and now I guess they're mainly Compaq.....) They also tend to get a lot of older customers who would be good candidates for a Mac system. (EG. Generally not too computer literate, and just need something easy to use to get on the Internet and check email with, etc.)


As a previous employee of Best Buy back in the days of their original relationship with Apple, I kinda expected to see this (although not yet confirmed). BB's computer sales employees are routinely anti-Mac without ever using them (what's new?). That area was always neglected unless I "patrolled" it (I was in the "media" dept.). If I wasn't working, inquiring customers were told to come back when I was working if they had questions because the HO (home office) employees wouldn't even attempt to help them.

Right before I left the company, they brought in the original 233 iMac and although it sold okay (they rarely had but a few in stock), it quickly faded away too.

Unless Apple intends to hire its own people to staff the Mac section open-to-close, they're wasting their time (IMO).

Personally, I like this "new" idea floating around about opening kiosks, etc. in universities or shopping malls (if not a real Apple Store). The Apple Store here in St. Louis is always busy and seems to get good reviews by non-Mac users who ventured in out of curiosity.

[funkee munkee]

According to one report, Apple's Best Buy pilot program has been terminated.

Apple and BestBuy (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/07/20030727004224.shtml) launched a pilot program to sell Apple products in Best Buy retail locations.

No details are available as to the circumstances around the end of the program.

Overhead a BB employee telling a customer that the items were pushed out due to agreements with other companies whose products competed with Apple. Make of fact Apple products never appeared at the BB near me

[trebblekicked]

anyone been to the chicago best buy on north ave? i've been there twice since the pilot started, and both times there were 1 or 2 apple staff patrolling the mac section, and BB employees were intermingling w/them. i talked the apple rep for a while, and he was cupertino trained and quite knowledgeable. am i missing something or do the best buys in yr guys areas not have apple staff? does anyone know if the apple crew was pulled from North Ave?

[reyesmac]

I think until Apple starts getting creative with the way they sell computers things are not going to get better. They should have an unbreakable OS that they can use on their display machines so that people cant go in and make a mess of things.

[iEric]

I think its because they can't make any money. Better left w/ apple stores.

[fluidinclusion]

At least you guys have iPods for sale in your Best Buy. The BB here in Kalamazoo Michigan used to sell iPods (and although they were in a box - they weren't locked in a cabinet). They don't sell them here anymore. They aren't in the MP3 player section, and they aren't where they used to be. None of the employees I asked knew anything about iPods. Pretty sad. I'd be happy if they sold stuff out of mini Kiosks with Apple (or highly trained BB) employees. People ARE curious. However, curiosity is not enough to keep a conversation going if the "expert" says no. And yes, the BB employees are "experts" in the average consumers mind. Most people I know who have 4-year degrees have trouble doing even basic OS functions on Windows (no jokes about the crowd I hang out with, please) :)

[fluidinclusion]

I think until Apple starts getting creative with the way they sell computers things are not going to get better. They should have an unbreakable OS that they can use on their display machines so that people cant go in and make a mess of things.

If BB won't lock them down properly, is that Apple's fault? Who gives admin access to a display machine?

[fluidinclusion]

.

I could give a rat's behind if they stop carrying apple products. You can buy them online and you get free shipping.


you can, and I can. Most wont. People wait until the last possible moment. Then they go to Best Buy to get it. I see it all the time. It's how our whole company operates (on and off the job). We can't change that. I think for Apple to promote marketshare, they need to do whatever it takes to open Kiosks or something else that will accomplish the following:

1. Keep an Apple presence in Best Buy (and CompUSA for that matter)

2. Make sure the computers and displays are in order.

3. Reduce/eliminate misinformation or FUD (intentional or otherwise, usually otherwise out of ignorance by staff - they just don't know and just don't care) Cut into margins if they need to. Long term, it needs to happen to go above 3% or 5% or whatever it really is.

[fluidinclusion]

I am trying to get a job at a Best Buy location in Coon Rapids, MN. I was talking to one of the guys by the PCs and asked if they were planning on getting Macs in at any point. He said he knew they WERE getting them in. This indicates the pilot program was a success because there is another store in the area that already has Macs, and he said they were in talks to bring Macs into all stores.

Good news for me. :)


Are you sure he just wasn't trying to keep you in the store to buy stuff? I'd be surprised (but very happy) if BestBuy expands the program nation wide.

[fluidinclusion]

Where is the pilot program running? Anywhere near Wisconsin? I was hoping to my my G5 there, when the Rev B come out, so that I could get points in the BB rewards program. Not much, but it translates to something like 4 or 5 percent back in store credit. Since no one else ever offers an incentive that I'm interested in, this always seemed to be the way to go. Plus, if my cinema display had a dead pixel, I think I would have a better chance bullying the high school girls at BB and getting a new unit than I would from the elitist pretty boys at the local Apple store.

(I don't like the staff at our Apple store, in case you couldn't tell. They couldn't sell a snickers to a starving man. They'd just tell the man about how beautiful the snicker's GUI is and never bother to show the ease of use and practicality of the candy inn question.)

My suggestion would be to drive the 45 minutes to Chicago and find a BB. I'm from WI originally, but live in SW Michigan. I regularly drive home to Milwaukee and often stop at the Chicago Apple Store along 294. I love it. Great store - great people. I tried to visit the Apple store in Milwaukee once, but it didn't open until 11:00 am or something (weekend). However, I was very disappointed with the state of the main window display. It was for the new G5, but it had so much dust on it that you'd think it had been sitting there for 2 years - no kidding. Buy a dustcloth guys! :(

[TiFighter]

In my local BB store the iPods used to be just locked in a display cupboard. I just went in today and they downsized their PDA section to make room for portable music players. There was the Napster, iPod and a couple of others there with a small set of speakers up to play each through. There was also a display with a bunch of iPod accessories. This was the first time I had played with any of the iPod competitors. I spent a minute with each and could only figure out how to play a song on the Napster device (and of course iPod). It's pretty much a ripoff of the iPod interface. Then I watched a junior high kid start playing with them... He fumbled with a couple like I did and then went straight to the iPod where he started flipping through tracks imediately. Of course this is a simple observation but it made me smile.

Good to see a functional display with competitors right there.

On a side note, in Target I saw the iPod display with a bunch of accessories, which was cool, but had to hunt around to actually find an iPod. Then it was glued to a board with all the other portable music players without any power to it. At least it still looks great. :D

[Photorun]

People are making it sound like it's Apple's fault that BB didn't display Apple products [BZZZTTT] wrong answer jinky, it's because of typical Apple hate/bias they sabbatoged Apple because to those f***nozzles it's a peecee world after all.

[RBR2]

Personally, I like this "new" idea floating around about opening kiosks, etc. in universities or shopping malls (if not a real Apple Store).

You mean like the Dell Kiosk I saw at the mall the other day? Talk about a high visibility, high traffic area! People were all over the displays. I can not have cost Dell that much to rent the kiosk and put their equipment out.

I think that kiosks at the right malls (preferably somewhere in the central area and probably near all the cell phone kiosks) would be a very cost effective venture. Even if it did not work out long term the visibility would be good.

[uzombie]

I've a family member that works at BB. Its a McJob if you ask me.

Simply put, BB pays awful and dupes employees. Let's say you work for Xmas holidays. You start in November and work, for two months. However, they lay you off (you are temp help anyway) in under 60 days. This way, they don't pay you benefits and that 30 day bonus (for some video sales) is ineligible. They have pissed off many employee this way.
Or they shift you around (if you are good). Say you push some HDTV and actually know something about it. After a good run, they move you to another department...say video games or computers. Again, you are smart and knowledgable.
But think about who shops here. High-end stores that sell computers or HDTV, will pay their staff to know product. BB just buys in lot and sells what is profitable. (the markup on USB cables is hilarious...a 10' USB is $39.99...cost?...$6..if that..don't even ask about inkjet carts...)
For Apple to pull folks out, its numbers. If the return isn't there, why waste the resources. And with Apple stores being sold out of ipodMinis, I'd say keep stock in main stores a priority.

Face it, the only time I buy anything from BB is when its a deal/on sale/and rebated.

[chlorophyl]

Where I live, Best Buy started selling the iPod minis two days before the official launch. From what I've heard about Apple, this would not be taken lightly. Perhaps Apple cancelled the deal since Best Buy screwed up....

[Borg3of5]

If this is the case, then Apple is more neurotic and controlling than I ever thought possible. How shortsighted.

[ToddW]

I think it was a good decision by apple to end it. The only reason I go to BB is when the prices are right, and I just get what I need. Granted, my BB is pretty good, but I can understand why apple ditched them.

[guyute]

I don't think it is apple's decision not to sell at best buy, if anything best buy ditched apple. Every major electronics manufacturer would want to be located in the largest n. american electronics retailer. Thats the facts....

[Bolt]

Okay --

First - I work at a Best Buy that carries Apple. We had a full time Mac Rep from Apple itself to only sell mac, but he was just transferred to Cali. Our new rep should be at out store within a few weeks.

Second - we do nothing more than try to sell macs -- why? Cause we make the largest Margin on the Macs. They don't hurt business.

Third - we have moved most of our macs to the front endcaps of the section. When you walk in the store, the first thing right infront of you is a 20inch iMac.

It really depends on which Best Buy you go to. If a sales person doesn't know a lot about the mac, he will go and grab someone who does. I'm a tech, and I get pulled away all the time to come and answer questions about the mac.

My store is part of a program called best Buy for business ( we are actually the #1 store of all 50ish that are in the program ) - we target our business to the small business around us - I can tell you that they are paying for me to go off and get certified in everything mac related - the program at our store has not ended.

[Mac Dummy]

According to one report, Apple's Best Buy pilot program has been terminated.

Apple and BestBuy (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/07/20030727004224.shtml) launched a pilot program to sell Apple products in Best Buy retail locations.

No details are available as to the circumstances around the end of the program.

:( That's too bad I was really hoping that Best Buy was going to be able to sell more than just Ipod's.

[Steradian]

Conversation overheard at local Best Buy:

Best Buy customer: "I'd like to look at the Macs."

Best Buy salesperson: "Your body is incompatible with the Mac. You need eleven fingers and an eyeball in the middle of your forehead."


You were there too!

[Meahn]

The trial for BestBuy is over. The ASCs that were assigned to them are being reorganized into the TheGoodGuys ASC group.

There were many problems. At CompUSA, the ASCs are allowed to install and demo most any software and accessory they feel is needed to sell. They are also allowed to offer and teach introductory classes and seminars.

The management at BestBuy would not let their ASCs install any software or peripherals at all. The BestBuy employees don't make commission and have no ambition to learn about mac. Imagine how worthless it is to not be able to demo a product and have sales people that couldn't care less about it since they get no benefit for selling it.

Say what you want about CompUSA, but they have made a BIG push the past few years to promote Apple. It benefits us since CompUSA bought TheGoodGuys so they are under the same agreements as CompUSA. Plus, since the average TheGoodGuys store is so huge compared to the average CompUSA they have more room for making a nice Apple section. In fact, at the newly remodeled and re-grandopened Reno TheGoodGuys is breathtaking. Even cleaner and nicer than an Apple Store. The great thing is you have to walk throught the Apple section to get to the PCs in that store.

[Meahn]

not sure how much it matters but i just saw a BestBuy ad on ign.com touting digital music and players with a pic of an iPod mini. so maybe they're not abandoning the partnership but just moving past the pilot program.

plus I dont think the people at Best Buy OR CompUSA are a very reliable sourse of info. An Apple rep at Compusa said he didn't know anything about any powerbook updates and then the next day the latest 15" speedbump was announced.

BTW, Apple does not usually tell the ASCs anything about upcoming releases. They are very tight with security. Now, if the ASC did know about it and had told you he would have been fired since that breaks his agreement with Apple.

[LilJesus2k]

alright I currently work in computers at Best buy. Not everyone is anti pc and dumb...although a lot are. I constantly promote the apple products and answer all consumer questions with simplicity and techicality combined. We're not all bad. Oh yea the job does suck tho. We are not on commision and we are threatened all the time to sell Service Plans by the bosses. It's not a fun place to work at all.

For anyone planning to work at BB in computers...DON'T. It's a horrible job. I am not a sales whore and I will never push a sale. I educate the customer on a product and well then offer other products similar to their needs and let them make a decision on their own. Customers come back and ask me questions all the time. The thing is my supervisor hates this becuase I'm not pushing sales or Making customers buy the most expensive accesories. So I am yelled at everyday if I don't sell service. The only way to please my supervisor is to lie lie and lie to my customers and make them buy stuff they don't need. Our supervisors even tell us ways we can manipulate the customers so that we can trick them into buy stuff they don't need.

For example, We have cables that cost 16, 21 and 30 dollars. We'll tell a customer that they'll need a cable. So then what we do is say "Here let me get it for you" we then get the 30 dollar cable and toss it into his cart. Now he will waste 30 bucks on a cable that does the same thing as a 16 dollar one. If they ask how much it cost. We tell them. Too expensive? then we offer the 21 dollar one as the cheaper route. We ARE FORCED TO NOT TELL THEM ABOUT THE 16 DOLLAR CABLE. We are also told to lie about certain products so we can get customers to buy extra accesories:

For example, printers that come with full ink; we tell customers it's only sample ink so it'll run out in 50 prints. So we make the buy ink when they don't need to.

I also get yelled at for not trying hard enough when trying to sell 200 dollar service plans to a 500 dollar e-machine. I just can't pressure customers to buy our service plans when I see parents with 4 kids walking into a store struggling to make aliving and forced to buy a cheap E-machine. They are ueducated and I don't feel the need for them to waste money on crap that should be put towards food or college funds. My supervisor feeds on this and makes poor customers waste even more money by making them scared their computer will get screwed up if they don't buy the plan.

I highly don't advise working at BB. (someone posted earlier about working there)

[Bitgod]

Yeah, I've heard people complain about the BB people at the store trying to talk someone out of an Apple.

For what it's worth, went buy the BB closet to my house yesterday and they're blowing out their Apple systems, they have a bunch of imacs and emacs, don't recall now if they had any powermacs, sitting near the enterence on sale, they knocked $100 off them I think.

[rdowns]

alright I currently work in computers at Best buy. Not everyone is anti pc and dumb...although a lot are. I constantly promote the apple products and answer all consumer questions with simplicity and techicality combined. We're not all bad. Oh yea the job does suck tho. We are not on commision and we are threatened all the time to sell Service Plans by the bosses. It's not a fun place to work at all.

For anyone planning to work at BB in computers...DON'T. It's a horrible job. I am not a sales whore and I will never push a sale. I educate the customer on a product and well then offer other products similar to their needs and let them make a decision on their own. Customers come back and ask me questions all the time. The thing is my supervisor hates this becuase I'm not pushing sales or Making customers buy the most expensive accesories. So I am yelled at everyday if I don't sell service. The only way to please my supervisor is to lie lie and lie to my customers and make them buy stuff they don't need. Our supervisors even tell us ways we can manipulate the customers so that we can trick them into buy stuff they don't need.

For example, We have cables that cost 16, 21 and 30 dollars. We'll tell a customer that they'll need a cable. So then what we do is say "Here let me get it for you" we then get the 30 dollar cable and toss it into his cart. Now he will waste 30 bucks on a cable that does the same thing as a 16 dollar one. If they ask how much it cost. We tell them. Too expensive? then we offer the 21 dollar one as the cheaper route. We ARE FORCED TO NOT TELL THEM ABOUT THE 16 DOLLAR CABLE. We are also told to lie about certain products so we can get customers to buy extra accesories:

For example, printers that come with full ink; we tell customers it's only sample ink so it'll run out in 50 prints. So we make the buy ink when they don't need to.

I also get yelled at for not trying hard enough when trying to sell 200 dollar service plans to a 500 dollar e-machine. I just can't pressure customers to buy our service plans when I see parents with 4 kids walking into a store struggling to make aliving and forced to buy a cheap E-machine. They are ueducated and I don't feel the need for them to waste money on crap that should be put towards food or college funds. My supervisor feeds on this and makes poor customers waste even more money by making them scared their computer will get screwed up if they don't buy the plan.

I highly don't advise working at BB. (someone posted earlier about working there)

Yeah, the pushing the Protection Plans has gone too far. I was buying a cable to connect my iPod to my stereo and the cashier asked me if I wanted to buy a PP for $2.50 on an $8 cable. I asked her if I had stupid tattooed to my forehead. The manager asked me to leave the store. Before I left, I told him I spend a few thousand dollars a year there and would now be shopping around the corner at Circuit City.

[question fear]

Yeah, the pushing the Protection Plans has gone too far. I was buying a cable to connect my iPod to my stereo and the cashier asked me if I wanted to buy a PP for $2.50 on an $8 cable. I asked her if I had stupid tattooed to my forehead. The manager asked me to leave the store. Before I left, I told him I spend a few thousand dollars a year there and would now be shopping around the corner at Circuit City.

the one redeeming part of working merch at best buy was not having to sell those damn plans...i worked for them and they tried to sell me one on a cd player...they were like, we give you an employee discount on the plan! i wanted to quit right then and there.

[phillyag]

As a previous employee of Best Buy back in the days of their original relationship with Apple, I kinda expected to see this (although not yet confirmed). BB's computer sales employees are routinely anti-Mac without ever using them (what's new?). That area was always neglected unless I "patrolled" it (I was in the "media" dept.). If I wasn't working, inquiring customers were told to come back when I was working if they had questions because the HO (home office) employees wouldn't even attempt to help them.

Right before I left the company, they brought in the original 233 iMac and although it sold okay (they rarely had but a few in stock), it quickly faded away too.

Unless Apple intends to hire its own people to staff the Mac section open-to-close, they're wasting their time (IMO).

Personally, I like this "new" idea floating around about opening kiosks, etc. in universities or shopping malls (if not a real Apple Store). The Apple Store here in St. Louis is always busy and seems to get good reviews by non-Mac users who ventured in out of curiosity.


I really like the idea of Apple opening kiosks in malls. Our local mall has a Dell kiosk, and there are ALWAYS a ton of potential buyers talking to Dell employees, trying the equipment, gawking at the flat screen monitors, etc.

Can you imagine what would happen if both iPods, Garage Band, the HD cinema display, and the revolutionary iMac were unleashed in a very public place like a mall?

And by the way..... I've also noticed that CompUSA has become as bad as Best Buy about Apple products.... and CompUSA is a certified Apple reseller!.... no knowledgeable personnel, software scattered all over, iPods locked up, signs falling down, etc. Apple could make such an impact just by having knowledgeable staff in these places. For example, I was looking for a Panther-compatible printer for my iMac...... the staff member working the Apple area was only "baby-sitting" that area. Of course he knew nothing....

[Bolt]

the one redeeming part of working merch at best buy was not having to sell those damn plans...i worked for them and they tried to sell me one on a cd player...they were like, we give you an employee discount on the plan! i wanted to quit right then and there.

Some of the plans are worthwhile however. As a tech, someone who deals with the end results of the plan, it is nice to have on some products. A $50 dvd player, no. A cell phone, yes. Vacuum, yes. Simply put, I see a lot of items come back in, they are pieces of machines, machines do break. Do you think the manufactor is going to give a rats a.. on a cell phone that was bought for 5 bucks. You can send it to them, but I doubt, highly doubt, they are going to spend the labor on it.

Sometimes, the PSP is actually worth it.

[BornAgainMac]

Actual Conversation at Best Buy:

BornAgainMac checking out the specs and prices of the $500 dollar PCs

Salesguy: Can I help you?
BornAgainMac: Oh, I have a Mac and really enjoy it but I am tempted by the Dark Side with these low prices for a Windows PC
Salesguy: Mac is the dark side

BornAgainMac didn't have a comeback line for that response but I still believe Windows PCs tempt you with their fantastic specs dollar for dollar and you pay for it later with your time for the life of the machine.

[question fear]

Some of the plans are worthwhile however. As a tech, someone who deals with the end results of the plan, it is nice to have on some products. A $50 dvd player, no. A cell phone, yes. Vacuum, yes. Simply put, I see a lot of items come back in, they are pieces of machines, machines do break. Do you think the manufactor is going to give a rats a.. on a cell phone that was bought for 5 bucks. You can send it to them, but I doubt, highly doubt, they are going to spend the labor on it.

Sometimes, the PSP is actually worth it.

i think there are a lot of people (myself included) who would agree, but best buy pushes them to the point of excess, which accounts for the backlash...no one here has denied the need for a psp on a computer or vacuum, but when the item is under 50 its a little stupid to spend almost a tenth or more of the cost on a psp you probably wont use.

[atacinus]

i work at a best buy store that was not part of the mac program to begin with. reading this thread, i was curious. i asked the gm tonight at work, and he confirmed that the pilot went well, and other best buy stores [including ours] will get the Macs. I.m never leaving that aisle. Oh, by the way, were supposed to push the service plans...and you can.t totally blame us...we make roughly 12 bucks everytime we sell a computer...this week, everytime a compaq went out the door, we lost 30 bucks. unless the consumers want to pay more for the product [which they don.t] then we have to be pushy about the plans......on some items [like cables et al] it.s stupid and i don.t offer it...but on computers [my department] i do.

Christien

[stowaway0]

I too am a Best Buy employee. I just wanted to verify, dispute some of the things said here. I've worked at Best Buy for over six years. The main reason I continue to work there is because I am a college student and they are flexible with my hours, and I've made a lot of good friends there.

But let me say this, Best Buy has its own very large internal "intranet" where we can get all the latest information about what's going on in the company. I have not yet seen anything about the mac pilot being over, but I'll try to do a search on it tomorrow. If it is over, it'll be in our news within the week. remember, though, this was a PILOT... if the pilot is over, that could mean that we won't carry macs any longer, or it could mean that all of our stores will now carry them.

As to what others have said, not all Best Buy employee's are idiots. But as a previous user made note... employee's are CONSTANTLY being shuffled around to different departments, primarily for reasons having to do with their "performance" in areas like accessories and PSPs. So when you walk into the computer department, you are probably talking to an employee who sold appliances two weeks ago, and car stereos five months ago. Best Buy CAN be fun, if you have good management. Right now we have good management at my store and it's fun. But three months ago, it was horrible. In the six years that I've been with Best Buy, I've probably seen 2-3 store managers a year, I've seen Supervisors get promoted and then demoted in the same month, I've seen store managers demoted to all sorts of positions. The reason why the guy or girl your talking to may not be very enthusiastic about computers is probably because they really like home theater stuff, but the supervisor got chewed out by the manager who got chewed out by the district manager, so they moved the kid to another department. The guys in the yellow shirts who greet you when you come in used to be theft control, now they're not allowed to look at the monitors because it will distract them from greeting customers, and one guy was let go because he wasn't "Bubbly enough".

This being said, don't be surprised that Best Buy gives you poor service. There is pressure on everybody from the people above them. Literally, every store in our company competes to be number one in their district, region, and company. If your store is ranked below 200 in the company for a couple of months, you'll see managers get booted. I've never accepted a supervisor position because I saw what everyone else has gone through. Right now, at my store, we have a great team of managers and supervisors, but in three months we may not.

Pay is also horrible unless you're a supervisor or a manager. The discount is generous but you can't really afford to use it unless you work 40+ hours a week, and even then it's tough.

Also, you all were talking about Margin. Best Buy doesn't make anything on computers, and very little on monitors. They will literally make $10 on some computer systems, maybe 10-20% on a monitor. Like has also been said, we make probably 75% on cables and things. The reason why managers pressure their employees to sell them is because if their store doesn't perform, they'll be out of a job. Some managers just don't know how to deal with the employees. So there is pressure to sell these things, and some of it IS legitimate. I'm sorry, but the more expensive monster cables DO give a much better picture than the $10 generic brand. Best Buy is constantly changing its focus... fortunately for the customers, managers no longer bonus off of MARGIN (they used to). Which is GOOD, because that means they only push revenue... so if you don't want $100 worth of cables with your computer, it's alright.

Finally, those warranties CAN be a good thing. I don't like them, but look, you buy a $3000 TV and a $500 service plan is a good deal. They'll come to your house and re-calibrate it any time you call, and the service plan easily pays for itself if you have to have it repaired. And remember, Best Buy doesn't make the product, Sony, or Toshiba, or some crazy off brand makes the product. So, while it is highly profitable, for the most part it is really beneficial.

I bought a 3 year Apple Care plan when I got my G4, it was just as expensive as a Best Buy warranty. But when my headphone jack stopped working, they replaced the whole mother board... I'm thinking that the warranty pretty much paid for itself.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending or attacking Best Buy, I'm merely relaying the facts. I'll let you know if I find out about the pilot, and I'll quote.

[jsw]

i think there are a lot of people (myself included) who would agree, but best buy pushes them to the point of excess, which accounts for the backlash...no one here has denied the need for a psp on a computer or vacuum, but when the item is under 50 its a little stupid to spend almost a tenth or more of the cost on a psp you probably wont use.

Agreed, but as other posts have said, the people pushing the PSP's are basically forced to do so, so I give them some leeway. All you have to do is say "no", and it's pretty easy to do if you end up doing it every single time you go there...

[abbazaba]

Agreed, but as other posts have said, the people pushing the PSP's are basically forced to do so, so I give them some leeway. All you have to do is say "no", and it's pretty easy to do if you end up doing it every single time you go there...

I work at Best Buy, and yes, you're right. I could give a flying **** whether I sell a service plan or not. I'll offer it on every sale to avoid getting yelled at. I wouldn't buy it myself except on something that cost upwards of $500.

[GSL-SEX2]

Well I go to the Niles (Golf Mill) Best Buy.

I remember less than a year ago when the store started stocking Macs. I was all excited to check it out, so I went there to find what I pretty much expected.

The Macs were mixed with the other PCs. On the smallest isle (hard to fit in). And with a huge ladder right in front of all the comptuers.

Pretty typical. I've seen the same type of set-up at CompUSA as well. However, a Virginia Beach, VA CompUSA had a whole corner of the store devoted to the Macs, which was nice.

These big stores have lousy salespeople anyway. It takes about 20 minutes to get someone to "help" you. And, usually, they know far less about the products than the customers.

The anti-Mac politics of the staff and displays is pretty evident.

The Windows machines have a nice demo going on. The Macs (as has been stated in one of the first posts) are either password protected, or THROTTLED. I mean, they have some folders in the trash. Aliases of everything all over. Programs renamed things like "957oirwjoiaglk;sj". A pink desktop picture, wrong resolution, basically all hosed up. My favorite is when iTunes doesn't have a single song available in the library. Nice way to demo it.

Unless there is a dedicated Apple employee in these stores 24/7, I believe they do more HARM than good for Apple. Customers see the Macs all hosed up, and want nothing to do with them.

R,
IJ

[wdlove]

When visiting two of my local Best Buy Stores, never noticed any Apple Products. Perfectly happy with our University Store and our local Apple Store.

[bar italia]

...I think I would have a better chance bullying the high school girls at BB and getting a new unit than I would from the elitist pretty boys at the local Apple store.

You, my friend, seem to have some issues you need resolved. Don't they have shrinks in Milwaukee?

[JeDiBoYTJ]

my local Best Buy has a stock of 4G iPods and some accessories.

[macsrus]

Happy to hear that Apple decided to not pursue any further relationship with Best Buy...

[neoelectronaut]

Best Buy couldn't be much worse than CompUSA. Generally, every worker in the computer areas is just an order taker anyway. Micro Center is probably the only chain store selling computers where the people working there actually know computers.

I must have submitted about 3 applications over the course of the summer to my local CompUSA--I wish they'd hire me. I know the stuff like the back of my hand. :(

[puckhead193]

I must have submitted about 3 applications over the course of the summer to my local CompUSA--I wish they'd hire me. I know the stuff like the back of my hand. :(

I wish they would hire people who knew computers . The people at my compusa are idiots. Do they make you take a test or something, cause they don't know anything. I was at the digital camera section and just thought lets see how much he knows i asked whats the difference between optical and digital zoom ( i know the difference, photography is a hobby of mine) He didn't know and had to ask the manager :rolleyes:
The compusa near me has a very knolegable apple specialist, he helped me alot and answered my questions.
I think if apple did sell to best buy, i think it would do well because there are alot of bestbuys (atleast around me) i think if they hired there own staff (who knew macs) it would do just fine.

[Sneeper]

I live in SF and visited the SF Best Buy many times during the short period (1 year?) that they sold macs. It was pathetic. They had Mac hardware, but absolutely no software. Moreover, the salespeople knew nothing about them. They didn't seem to know what to do with the Mac section, so they largely ignored it. They didn't even try to sell them. It was odd.


The SF CompUSA, which is a block from the SF Apple Store, has its own Mac section and does sell Mac software. They also have an Apple employee who is very knowledgeable and forthcoming. Sadly, that's the best I can say about CompUSA. The actual CompUSA employees are so incompetant and go out of their way to avoid you that it makes you want to scream. Also, they don't restock their shelves..

A typical CompUSA experience for me is to make sure a store has it by checking online.. Yep.. has it in stock. Go down to the store. Can't find it anywhere. Try to track down an employee. This usually takes about half an hoour as they go out of their way to avoid you. Then spend the next 30-45 minutes being lead on a wild goose chase only to either get up out of sheer frustration or finally get what you want. Everyone at that CompUSA must hate their jobs because they treat the costumers like ******.

I remember leaving one time so angry on to my next errand which was to buy a book at Borders in Union Square. At Borders, I had an awesome experience. There were people on every floor at help desks and were very friendly and curteous. People were going out of their way to help me find the book. It was a surreal experience. It was like I had gone through the underworld (CompUSA is below ground) and into the heavens (Borders has multiple levels above ground). if only computer stores could attract employees with the same love for helping people as book stores do. Ah well.

(At Fry's they largely ignore me, but atleast aren't bordering on hostile like ComPUSA.)

[2A Batterie]

In this morning's Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio newspaper) there was an article on how the state of Ohio is sueing Best Buy for a number of violations including:
1)Selling used goods as new
2)Refusing to honor sold warranties
3)Charging illegitamite restocking fees
4)Refusing to give cash back on returns, despite leading the customer to believe that this was an option at the time of sale
5)Swapping defective goods under warranty purchased by consumer for a less expensive model

I even read a story of how someone purchased a "new" piece of hardware, but could not register it because it had already been registered before.
I know that I will be staying away from Best Buy

[Chip NoVaMac]

In this morning's Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio newspaper) there was an article on how the state of Ohio is sueing Best Buy for a number of violations including:
1)Selling used goods as new
2)Refusing to honor sold warranties
3)Charging illegitamite restocking fees
4)Refusing to give cash back on returns, despite leading the customer to believe that this was an option at the time of sale
5)Swapping defective goods under warranty purchased by consumer for a less expensive model

I even read a story of how someone purchased a "new" piece of hardware, but could not register it because it had already been registered before.
I know that I will be staying away from Best Buy

Wonder how soon they get slapped with age discrimination suits. At least here in the DC area, you would be hard pressed to see anyone but managers above the age of 40. I know of a couple "retirees" that tried for jobs there, but never got a call back.

[rand()]

Salesguy: Mac is the dark side

:D

He's right. Macs are:
1) Quicker. Photoshop anyone?
2) Easier. I mean, Apple invented the GUI. And they've gotten pretty darned good at improving it.
3) Definitely more seductive. I mean, just look at them. They are gorgeous. Even the "Ugly" G5 has a much more interesting, cooler look than the "ooh, it's black -- that matches my desktop phone" Dell box.

This passes the Yoda 3-part test for the Dark Side. Now give me my freakin' LIGHTNING BOLTS!!! BWAA HA HA Ha ha heh herm, uh.... where's my house?

-rand()

[wdlove]

I must have submitted about 3 applications over the course of the summer to my local CompUSA--I wish they'd hire me. I know the stuff like the back of my hand. :(

It sounds to me like you would be an ideal candidate to hire. It's to their benefit to hire the best person for the job. You should be persistent, contacting the manager occasionally. The Apple Specialist at our local CompUSA seemed to be very knowledgeable.

[neoelectronaut]

It sounds to me like you would be an ideal candidate to hire. It's to their benefit to hire the best person for the job. You should be persistent, contacting the manager occasionally. The Apple Specialist at our local CompUSA seemed to be very knowledgeable.

Well, I was in-store last weekend when I saw that they had 4 positions that they were hiring for. I need a job, so I applied for "Software-Accessories" (salesman in that department, I guess) so I applied. This is the third time, after I applied in January and in May. I called this morning to get an update (I figger if I show interest they may thing I really want the job) and the woman that answered the phone said that the woman that handles job hiring and whatnot wasn't in that day, but she'd give her a message to call me tomorrow. If I don't get a call tomorrow I'm calling Sunday or Monday.

[Dr. Dastardly]

My experiance receiving a position in sales is you have to call, call, call like carzy. And always speak to a manager. One time when I needed a job pretty badly (I was about 17 and had a car) I applied for alot of sales jobs for computer stores. I think I applied to 25 stores if memory serves, and one, seriously ONE store called me back. And I knew my stuff inside and out and every place knew this yet I still received just one call.

This is why if I go to BB or CompUSA and I either get poor service or no help at all, I get majorly pissed. :mad:

[kingtj]

Yep... It's not only true for the sales jobs though. A couple summers ago, I was laid off from my corporate I.T. job (of 6+ years!), and I was desperate to find any computer-related work. I have plenty of experience as a technician, so I tried to find in-house or on-site tech work, primarily. What I discovered was a situation where the people responsible for doing the hiring were very reluctant to return my phone calls or set up an interview - mainly because they were so busy taking care of everything else. (When they're short-handed, they try to cover for it by doing some of the work themselves - and then they find themselves in a "catch 22" where they get further and further behind if they take out time to do a bunch of interviews and talk to candidates.)

Eventually, many of these people end up hiring a personal friend, or a direct referral from another employee. Most times, these people aren't the "best person for the job", but rather, they were the "most convenient person for the job". So I guess it all goes back to the old saying, "It's not what you know, but WHO you know."


My experiance receiving a position in sales is you have to call, call, call like carzy. And always speak to a manager. One time when I needed a job pretty badly (I was about 17 and had a car) I applied for alot of sales jobs for computer stores. I think I applied to 25 stores if memory serves, and one, seriously ONE store called me back. And I knew my stuff inside and out and every place knew this yet I still received just one call.

This is why if I go to BB or CompUSA and I either get poor service or no help at all, I get majorly pissed. :mad:

[question fear]

I remember leaving one time so angry on to my next errand which was to buy a book at Borders in Union Square. At Borders, I had an awesome experience. There were people on every floor at help desks and were very friendly and curteous. People were going out of their way to help me find the book. It was a surreal experience. It was like I had gone through the underworld (CompUSA is below ground) and into the heavens (Borders has multiple levels above ground). if only computer stores could attract employees with the same love for helping people as book stores do. Ah well.

(At Fry's they largely ignore me, but atleast aren't bordering on hostile like ComPUSA.)

OT, but I am glad you had such a good experience at Borders! I work for a Borders in MA, and it makes me happy to see the company is doing a good job executing their vision all over the country (gives me some extra job security ;-))
And, uh, best buy sucks. worked for them too. before borders. like night and day.

[neoelectronaut]

So..should I have called sooner?

And if they don't call me back tomorrow, should I call, call, call again?

[xy14]

I feel bad for you guys with bad experiences at Best Buy.

But at least the Maple Grove, MN location is better than yours. :-p

The Best Buy there has a mp3 player section with the iPod and it has more accessories available than any other mp3 player there. In the desktop section there was the eMac and the 17" iMac next to eachother. The Apple laptops were more mixed in with the other laptops, with the iBook near the middle and the PowerBook near the end. There was plenty of Apple software there, and it was all seperate from the PC software, on shelves under the Macs. I only wish St. Cloud, Eau Claire (WI) and Coon Rapids would someday get Macs.

The only thing that bugs me is when I ask why they don't have Macs they always say that they are only online. That irritates me...

[Maxx Power]

I wish they would hire people who knew computers . The people at my compusa are idiots. Do they make you take a test or something, cause they don't know anything. I was at the digital camera section and just thought lets see how much he knows i asked whats the difference between optical and digital zoom ( i know the difference, photography is a hobby of mine) He didn't know and had to ask the manager :rolleyes:
The compusa near me has a very knolegable apple specialist, he helped me alot and answered my questions.
I think if apple did sell to best buy, i think it would do well because there are alot of bestbuys (atleast around me) i think if they hired there own staff (who knew macs) it would do just fine.

Welcome to the downfalls of capitalism. They hire the cheapest, to satisfy their perception of the "average" consumer. Of course they won't spend the money to hire computer programmers or hardware engineers to tell you what is true and real, that way, they'd be bandrupt, as well as all the hardware companies would have to produce real competition to generate good technologies instead of the profit driven crapology like the P4 since the consumer would know "too much" from the salesmans.

[wdlove]

So..should I have called sooner?

And if they don't call me back tomorrow, should I call, call, call again?

Yes, I think that it is a good idea to call them. It shows your interested in the job. They get busy, so I think that it helps them also.

[question fear]

Yes, I think that it is a good idea to call them. It shows your interested in the job. They get busy, so I think that it helps them also.

find out for sure if they are hiring too if they aren't then all the calls in the world won't matter.
and yea, it sucks if they take your app and they aren't hiring...
finally, ask for the hiring manager. there's usually one person to reach, don't settle for another manager or you'll just be a note in someone's inbox.

[couragefilms]

Just to clarify for everyone on this board, I am currently an employee with Best Buy and can tell you that Apple is going nowhere. Granted, any launches that both companies have tried within eachother has been a little stunted, it is solely due to the high demand for Apple products within the marketplace right now. Sooner than later you should be able to see ALL, yes, I repeat, ALL APPLE PRODUCTS on display at your local best buy. And they will be here to stay. Period.

[bousozoku]

I feel bad for you guys with bad experiences at Best Buy.

But at least the Maple Grove, MN location is better than yours. :-p

The Best Buy there has a mp3 player section with the iPod and it has more accessories available than any other mp3 player there. In the desktop section there was the eMac and the 17" iMac next to eachother. The Apple laptops were more mixed in with the other laptops, with the iBook near the middle and the PowerBook near the end. There was plenty of Apple software there, and it was all seperate from the PC software, on shelves under the Macs. I only wish St. Cloud, Eau Claire (WI) and Coon Rapids would someday get Macs.

The only thing that bugs me is when I ask why they don't have Macs they always say that they are only online. That irritates me...

Do you have to lie on the floor to see the iPods up close? I've been to 6 or 7 different central Floriduh Best Buy stores and all of the iPods are at shoe level. The display at Target is much, much better.