Best Buy's iPod Abomination

[Ryan1524]

i went to a best buy today, and i was surprised to see an iPod. it was hooked to a JBL Creature White. pretty nice looking speakers. i tried playing around with the iPod, but couldn't. it was strapped down with 4 metal bars and a plastic tie (that seals and won't come off unless you cut it).

the only thing i could do was turn on and off the backlight. the rest of it didn't work. it was the only iPod on display. and it's strapped down to the shelf vertically. how are people supposed to even test it??? that is so retarded. i tried asking a sales maybe he'll do something, but he couldn't care less, even when i told him it's dead/broken, w/e. the ones in box are..well, not there, they only put a cheap printout copy of the iPod brochure inside security boxes (those clear ones that you put DVDs or VHS tapes in) and that was it, no actual iPod on the shelf except the dead one. :p

Best Buy, you suck. :o




on another note, the screen was only displaying some little men figure on the bottom of the screen at random placement. there's nothing on the scree, no menu, nothing. when i press the menu button, it didn't respond, it only turn on the backlight if i pressed it long enough. is it dead??

[shadowfax]

i do find them disappointing. i buy music there, sometimes. that's about it.

got my speakers at fry's :D

[chadfromdallas]

Originally posted by shadowfax
i do find them disappointing. i buy music there, sometimes. that's about it.



People buy music :eek:

[Ryan1524]

Originally posted by chadfromdallas
People buy music :eek:

LMAO. i used to too. until i got DSL. ;)
Best Buy's price is actually pretty good, when you compare it too Futureshop. but Best Buy has a messy crowded, post riot feeling to them. stuff all over the place, displays messed up, etc.

even the iPod stand i mentioned was a bit weird. it's a large surface, but the iPod was strapped to the vertical back of the shelf and the speakers were off to the side. leaving an empty space. well, you get the picture.



i also saw a set of Logitech MX Duo. and they're not strapped down. i could've taken the mouse and keep it as backup. (i didn't). i was tempted to come up to one of the sales and tell them to be more careful with their products thou. lol. :D

[Kwyjibo]

i'm a little dissapointed too... my friend who i've been trying to get a mac for a while finally got an ipod after months of showing mine off and how great it was and he got the 10gb....and wanted to sync it to his pc w/o firewire and he didn't get the right cables so he was gonna buy one at bestbuy but they didn't even have a spot for any of the ipod accesosires

[themadchemist]

What can be expected from Best Buy, anyway...

Really, a terrible store with terrible customer service. It's a funny thing that that's true of the entire chain and not just one or two locations.

But, slightly off topic, I will say again that I don't think the "new" iPod looks as good as the original design. Thinner isn't always better. It feels kind of flimsy to me, cheap even. The first one felt solid in your hand, and that's a good feeling.

[tazo]

i just dont care for best buy because every store has a 50:1 ratio of salesman to customers, which really sucks as a teen because it means you are constantly being scrutinized by old white people and some random ahole a few years older than you.

[LethalWolfe]

I encountered a similar situation when I was shopping for a PDA last year. I went to best and all their PDA's were locked/barred face up on the display table (most stores use a security tether). Obviously I want to see how the PDA feels in my hand sense that's how you use it and when I asked the rep if he could unlock one for me he said it was against store policy.:confused: So I just left. Pretty moronic display setup IMO.


Lethal

[OutThere]

Those kind of stores have some good stuff, but it gets really annoying when you have 17 salespeople asking if they can help you at once. It is possible that someone might know what they want.

[iJon]

looks like someone opened it or had little fingers. sounds like the parachute game was on, and can only be accessed from reaching into the ipod and selecting it. people at best buy probably dont even know new ipods came out and are still selling the old ones for full price

iJon

[TEG]

Originally posted by Ryan1524
Best Buy's price is actually pretty good, when you compare it too Futureshop.

That's funny considering Best Buy, Future Shop, and Magnolia Hi-Fi are all the same company, and basicly different versions of the same store.

Anyway, I've incountered similar problems at some Comp USAs and Best Buys. However, I think usually its due to a lazy Apple Rep. At the CompUSA and Best Buy near me, the iPod is in a display, similar to the many cell phones the Best Buy has on display. They have them on a shelf attached to a security line, that extends and retracts to allow several feet of movement. Actually Saturday, I went an played with a 30GB at CompUSA, and they even had some great headphones hooked up throught the remote, and there was nothing special holding the remote there. One could just make off with remote and headphones, and noone would know.

TEG

[wdlove]

That is too bad that they are displaying the iPod that way. How can they expect someone to purchase the iPod if they can't take a test drive. I've seen advertisements saying come in and play.

My only real experience with Best Buy is walks through and some brief looks at DVD's!

[Ryan1524]

Originally posted by iJon
looks like someone opened it or had little fingers. sounds like the parachute game was on, and can only be accessed from reaching into the ipod and selecting it. people at best buy probably dont even know new ipods came out and are still selling the old ones for full price

iJon


i tried accesing the controls, but nothing's working. pressing the menu or any button for that matter, never worked. ah well. :p

[pivo6]

At least you can actually see an iPod at your Best Buy. The Best Buy in my town doesn't even have one out for display. Then again, they don't have any MP3 players out to view. They also have there PDA's displayed the same way that Lethal Wolf described. There is no way I'd buy something like that there.

[evoluzione]

it's sad. Best Buy is the best place for electronics near me. Everywhere in NYC sucks big time. B&H and J&R are both ridiculous, all they care about is sales, and they make it soooo much trouble to buy stuff...find a sales person, they find it on the computer, print out a receipt, go pay for it, then wait for it at the pick up area, agonising. They (BestBuy) are often the cheapest place and they have a decent return policy. Sure, the staff suck, but I've yet to find a place in NYC that doesn't completely mess things up, it's really a wonder how these places still exist, if they were outside of the city they'd fail in no time.

[ColoJohnBoy]

That's really unfortunate, because, as most people do not have an Apple Store near, it's the only access people will have to actual Apple products. Perhaps they're a little too paranoid about theft.

I used to buy CDs there, until iTMS opened, so now I only buy DVDs.

[bousozoku]

If I was going to buy an iPod, I'd rather do it at Target, but they only have the 10GB model in the store, if you can find it. The other two are online only--they're a bit expensive for regular Target customers.

[Lord Bodak]

Originally posted by LethalWolfe
I encountered a similar situation when I was shopping for a PDA last year. I went to best and all their PDA's were locked/barred face up on the display table (most stores use a security tether). Obviously I want to see how the PDA feels in my hand sense that's how you use it and when I asked the rep if he could unlock one for me he said it was against store policy.:confused: So I just left. Pretty moronic display setup IMO.


I noticed that when I was looking at upgrading to the Tungsten T. Very annoying, but nobody else even had them in stock to look at. Thankfully I had my m100 with me so I could set them side by side.

Didn't buy it from them though :D

[dbally]

I worked in the technology department of big retail store for a little more than 5 years, so I've had plenty of experience with horribly designed fixtures. Basically, they ship alot of the same ones (or a shelf system a la best buy's pda section or Office Depot's digital camera area) to a store which tend to work okay for a few models, but whenever something innovative comes out that is slightly larger, thinner, or different shape the fixtures no longer hold the merchandise properly (either won't fit, or can't be secured well) . . . so we end up waiting for too long to get updated fixtures or permission to do something which might not function very well but still allows us to display the item. Retail chains are slow to adapt to new products if the generic fixture which is in place works for 80% of the items.