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Best Buy Mac Mini Followup

Twinkie said:
Honestly... why would they bother? It's not like they have any incentive to do so. And if your local Best Buy is anything like the ones around here, you know just by looking at the employees that they're not planning on making a career out of retail. They're not looking to further their "careers", because for the vast majority of them, Best Buy isn't a career. If the store goes under, they'll just go next door to OfficeMax, or Petco, or whoever else is paying the same wage for the same work.
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You don't get it - that's EXACTLY the attitude we are railing against!

How does that useless, disinterested sales dude know that I might not be the owner of the business that would give him is big opportunity? And Best Buy KNOWS that these jerks have this attitude - if I was in charge of payroll and benefits at Best Buy, I wouldn't pay them either. It's a two way street. You earn what you're worth, and these guys aren't worth squat.

Margaret
 
winwintoo said:
You don't get it - that's EXACTLY the attitude we are railing against!
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No, actually... I get it all too well.

How does that useless, disinterested sales dude know that I might not be the owner of the business that would give him is big opportunity? And Best Buy KNOWS that these jerks have this attitude - if I was in charge of payroll and benefits at Best Buy, I wouldn't pay them either. It's a two way street. You earn what you're worth, and these guys aren't worth squat.
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That's really asinine.

Having been in a position to hire IT employees for nearly a decade now, I can tell you that we don't go trolling Best Buy for recruits.

Best Buy does know that they have attitude. And you know what? You're more than welcome to shop somewhere else and pay more money if you're looking for better service. But you can't complain that you're getting cut-rate service when you're paying cut-rate prices.

Because car analogies are so often used here: it's like buying a Chevy Cavalier, and being upset that it isn't as nice inside as a Lexus.
 
We know that Apple reads these forums, so let's hope this feedback
results in better training and display requirements for ANY licensed
Apple retailer.


You can also contact Apple or the local Best Buy district manager
if your experience at Best Buy is less than impressive. ;)


BTW, I dropped by the Reston VA Best Buy yesterday to see how things looked. They were running the Mac mini/ Westinghouse display promotion in the laptop section of the store.

ALL the Dock icons were showing running arrows.

Apparently someone had clicked everything and relabelled the HD icon.

The official " Geek Squad " guy there was totally unsupportive, but a younger sales rep was glad that I took the time to show him a few essential tricks.

I agree that Apple needs to place a well supported Apple mini kiosk in these stores preferably with additional display units for iMacG5's and iPods.

I left the store with the impression that Best Buy reps need a hands on walkthrough of OSX basics and Apple needs to build a 17"WS display for $299.
 
An update from the heartland . . .

My local Best Buy has had a mini displayed for a couple of weeks and I gotta say, it took an incredible amount of effort for Best Buy to do a worse job than the last time, but they managed to do it.

A single mini displayed in an out-of-view area . . . no software, a horrible, cheap 15" monitor hooked up to the mini. When will Apple learn: don't do business with Best Buy!

On my second visit to the store someone actually approached me and asked if they could help me:
"What do you know about the mini?"
"Mini, what's that?"
"This Apple computer here."
"Oh, that's from Apple? Must be a mistake, we don't sell Apple stuff."
 
Best Buy Woes

numediaman said:
"Oh, that's from Apple? Must be a mistake, we don't sell Apple stuff."
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NMM;

I feel you, brother. I went out and got a Best Buy card specifically to purchase my PowerBook last April. I didn't know this site existed then (I was moving from Virus and adware-land, otherwise known as Bill Gates's private hellhole for the average computer user) and I bought this sucker all of three days before they upgraded it.

Best Buy flatly refused to do anything for me. I dropped $3,000 in one trip to their store, between the computer, software, Applecare, the iPod I bought for my wife, Applecare for that, etc, and they shrugged and said, "Sorry. If you want to upgrade there's a 15% restocking fee for returned laptops." This wasn't Monkeyface making six bucks an hour, this was the STORE MANAGER, who basically said, "We have your money. What are you going to do about it?"

Then, three weeks later I go in there and suddenly they don't have ANYTHING that is Apple. Moreover, the Applecare they sold me is in French, and since I don't plan on surrendering to Germany or selling illegal weapons to Iraq, that does me no good. In fact, I just spoke to the guys at the Apple store near me and discovered that I was supposed to REGISTER it. (Nobody better say NOTHIN' about reading the damn instructions, capiche? They're in freakin' FRENCH!)

Oh, and the memory they sold me for the powerbook turned out to be defective and uncertified, so it caused software problems from one end of the computer to the other. I was positive that this thing was no better than a PC for a long time. Thank God Buddha (yes, his name is Buddha) at the Santa Rosa Mac store was able to get this thing running properly.

While I'd like to see Apple sold in Best Buys again as a marketing angle, since they're a huge chain and would really get that logo out to the common man, until they (Best Buy) get their crap together, I think this would be a serious mistake. Buying a Mac in an apple store you find out all the little important things that make Apple better than PCs, like: the fact that the folks at the Apple store will fix your computer if something goes wrong.

~D.
 
My sister is talking about a new desktop computer. I hope she lets me go shopping for her - first stop BEST BUY!

I haven't had any fun for a long time tee heee :D :D

I think I'll let them try to *sell* me a windoze machine first just to get them wound up, then I'll make the switch.

Margaret
 
winwintoo said:
My sister is talking about a new desktop computer. I hope she lets me go shopping for her - first stop BEST BUY!

I haven't had any fun for a long time tee heee :D :D

I think I'll let them try to *sell* me a windoze machine first just to get them wound up, then I'll make the switch.

Margaret
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Want to really have some fun? Drop by www.ihatebestbuy.com and read some of the testimonials. I live about three minutes from a BB, and I still avoid that place like the plague now.

Good luck in your search.

~D.
 
My Mini Purchase

I was about ready to go to my Raleigh/Durham Apple store when I thought I'd just try calling my local BestBuy. If they were to have the Mini, I would go there instead and save the 45-minute drive.

I called the Computer Department and was pleased to chat with a guy who was a sales person in that department, and to my surprise we chatted for 15 minutes about the Mini and was in no hurry to hang up the phone. He answered my questions thoroughly. He even went as far as telling me that they have an Apple rep that goes in the store as well, which is good news indeed. Ask your Geek Squad if that's the case in your local BestBuy. I'm sure this will help give any Apple Hardware the love and care it deserves.

When I walked in last Friday to get my Mac Mini, I was helped immediately by another sales person who know what type of memory to upgrade to, etc... They've sold about 5 of them already, so people ARE finding them.

I went over to the Geek Squad counter and a guy let me come behind the counter to watch him do his thing with the apple-sent putty knife. He was great, telling me about how/when they learned how to do the upgrades. He let me know about the additional Apple hardware coming to them and the software as well. As a matter-of-fact, him and some of his colleagues were so impressed with this beauty of a machine that they are seriously considering making a purchase (they're PC users). I was impressed myself :)

Don't underestimate some of these guys. My experience was great, although I would have loved to see the Mini on a pedistal instead of mixed in on the same level as other comps; it looked like it was hiding because it's so small.

Cheers!

Jim
 
Gee, Jim, do you work for Best Buy? Just asking since I see that you have exactly one post to your name -- a plug for Best Buy.

Sorry, but Best Buy is pathetic. My local BB offers one model of Mac -- a 1.42 Ghz mini with 256 RAM and no upgrades. There are no Apple monitors (which would really show off the mini), and no software. What a waste.
 
numediaman said:
Gee, Jim, do you work for Best Buy? Just asking since I see that you have exactly one post to your name -- a plug for Best Buy.

Sorry, but Best Buy is pathetic. My local BB offers one model of Mac -- a 1.42 Ghz mini with 256 RAM and no upgrades. There are no Apple monitors (which would really show off the mini), and no software. What a waste.
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Let me tell ya something. Never assume. Just because I do research and read this post for hours, then try my luck at my local BestBuy, doesn't give anyone the right to assume.

I'm here to share MY experience. And I'm a new member here yes, but if you are any indication of the type of feedback I'd get for (cough) giving a positive review, then I digress and will find a better place to post.

However, feel free to PM me if you'd like to know where I work and what I do... Let me give you hint. I'm NOT in retail (LOL)

I'm not trying to start a flame-war or anything; I just thought this would be a great place to post MY experience just like many have before me. BestBuy hasn't always been my choice for in-depth customer service, but I stand by my post above. I had a great experience.
 
I'll give you a little background as to why I'm a new user here :)

I've had a TiBook for quite a few years (it was my first-ever Mac purchase that I was allowed to purchase through my teaching job). Over the last few years, it just became too slow for my work, so I've been using my PC for the last couple of years for most of my design work.

After a few days of doing research on Tiger and the Mini, (and yes reading this post because I heard they were selling them at Best Buy). I decided on not making the hour drive to the Raleigh Durham Apple store. Because of the GREAT price point, I wanted it pretty bad. So I went to my local BB.

I'm sure not all experiences are great; heck, I've had a few REALLY bad experiences there, but this was a first for me :)
 
jhipolito said:
I'm not trying to start a flame-war or anything; I just thought this would be a great place to post MY experience just like many have before me. BestBuy hasn't always been my choice for in-depth customer service, but I stand by my post above. I had a great experience.
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I appreciated your post detailing your purchase there and it's nice to see that you had a good experience. I've had both good and bad experiences at Best Buy over the years (the same holds true for the Apple Store too for that matter). It is very good to hear that some Best Buy stores obviously know all about the mini and wholeheartedly recommend it to customers too.
 
I've shopped at Best Buy a few times here in NYC, and will never shop there again. Every experience was frustrating, and I really hate how you're stopped at the door and made to show your receipt before you can leave. Like a shoplifter is going to stop and show?? Stupid.

I also won't shop at an Apple Store because of their mentally-challenged return policy (with restocking fees). That's the policy of a discount warehouse store, not a high-end computer store.

I order nearly everything from either Mac Connection or Other World Computing now. Good prices. Nice salespeople. 30-day returns with no restocking fees. Plus, Mac Connection offers extended warranty plans on equipment that Apple will stupidly not cover themselves with AppleCare. (I don't work for MacConnection, BTW).
 
I am personally on a boycott of all BEST BUY stores. I refuse to purchase anything from them, as I've been burned by their store warranties/policies. They suck.

In fact, there's a website devoted to show how much they suck:

www.bestbuysux.org
 
Three weeks ago there was one at BB in WSP, MN. It was running 10.3.6. It was on a non-Mac monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

It was a lot easier to *use* (admin) than the Windows PCs. :D No one there knew **** about it.
 
I honestly think Apple and Best Buy should consider adding
the NEW IMPROVED G5 iMac to a combined Apple mini kiosk.

The iMac would clearly attract more attention to both units.

I also think the store reps would find the iMac more exciting to demo
and sell along with the Mac Mini as a more affordable option.
 
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