Best Buy Mac Optimization? What is this?

[Slrman]

Lucky you. Maybe the manager had attended one of my seminars. This doesn't change the fact that corporate policy is to shaft the customer and they totally ignore complaints and reports.

While bad experiences at two widely-separated store is hardly a scientific sampling, the numerous reports I have had from others at many different locations does indicate a trend. I have to say yours is the first positive experience with BB I have heard. I'm sure there must be others, but the majority seem to be very negative.

 

[aprilfools]

lol you could do both. That would be fun to watch.

As I said above though I really think its overpriced. Maybe at half the price its worth it, but then again these services are priced based on what people are willing to pay, and some people are willing to pay in order to have these things done for them.

The sad part about it is that they charge the same price for the pc optimization and that includes a lot more work (removal of trial software, registry and msconfig tweaks which does speed things up).

If Best Buy didn't offer the same 39.95 optimization service for Mac purchasers, BB customers would start to wonder why the mac doesn't need optimization and BB wouldn't sell as many Windows machines. BB would never allow that. The profit for BB is in Windows machines, not Apple. I don't know about other BB's but the Mac section at the Pasadena CA location is in the back of the store. Why is this? They don't care about Mac/Apple!

 

[xlii]

If Best Buy didn't offer the same 39.95 optimization service for Mac purchasers, BB customers would start to wonder why the mac doesn't need optimization and BB wouldn't sell as many Windows machines. BB would never allow that. The profit for BB is in Windows machines, not Apple. I don't know about other BB's but the Mac section at the Pasadena CA location is in the back of the store. Why is this? They don't care about Mac/Apple!

Back of the store comment. In a food supermarket the eggs and milk are always in the back of the store. That means if you run in to pick up a quart of milk you have to go by all the other products that might induce you to an impulse buy. So placement at the rear of a store doesn't always mean the item is unimportant to the store. Sometimes it is the most common and needed items that get placed there.

 

[BigGroll]

Well I figured I simply had to respond to this, seeing as how I
1. Work at a Best Buy
2. Am a certified Apple Sales Pro at said Best Buy
3. Consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable and straightforward with customers (we dont work on commission remember!)

For some people, the optimization is worth it. We go in there, run all the system updates, do all of the initial setup, change some power saver options (mainly make it so that the harddrive doesnt go to sleep, that is where the supposed performance boost comes from). We also changes some options with the trackpad, and check to make sure everything is functional. Additionally, if a customer has purchased iwork/mobileme, we will install that as well.

For some people, spending an additional 40 bucks on top of the 999 (minimum!) that they are spending is well worth it to not have to deal with that. Obviously, I personally would never do it! But for certain customers, it is a great value!

And also, to whoever said that Windows computers offer a higher profit margin that Macs, you couldnt be more wrong. On average, BB loses 200 dollars for every 1000 dollar windows computer sold! There is not a single windows computer with a cent of margin on it. All of the margin comes from products and accessories. Compare that to the macs. The base macbook has nearly 80 bucks worth of margin just in the laptop! Know what you're talking about before you make such a statement....

 

[milton.sheaf]

Damn only $30? VW Dealership wants to charge me $80... that is if I actually let them... hence I change my own oil for roughly half that price (synthetic is lotsa $$$).

It's $180 on my mercedes LOL. Seriously, $180 for oil change at the dealer. That's why I do it myself. Synthetic diesel engine oil is expensive, so even doing it myself it costs about $80 for the oil and filter.

But yeah, on topic, I would never set foot into a best buy, for purchases or for service. You should hear their TV salesman convince people that the $100 HDMI cable gives so much better picture quality than the $10 HDMI cable. Pure unfiltered bull ****, they say anything to make a sale.

 

[Cabbit]

change some power saver options (mainly make it so that the harddrive doesnt go to sleep, that is where the supposed performance boost comes from).

So this is where all the hard drive failures are coming from. Changing "some" power saving feature.

 

[milton.sheaf]

All of the margin comes from products and accessories.

And oh what a margin. $19.95 for an ethernet cable. And $29.95 for a crossover ethernet cable. LOL they charge $10 additional for crossing the transmit and receive pairs! Charging nearly $30 for a cable that doesn't even cost 30 *cents* to manufacture. 10000% profit is a pretty hefty markup.

 

[jdusoccer12]

Yeah I have a funny story about Best Buy. I had to by my Macbook Pro from there because I don't have an Apple Store nearby and they had 18 months 0% interest so my dad said it was a good deal.

Ok I walked in there knowing what I wanted but my dad being clueless about Macs wanted to hear about them from the lady. They didn't have the one I wanted 2.53Ghz 15inch because they weren't aloud to carry it for some reason so I talked my dad into getting the 2.66Ghz one (worked out for me.) So she said she would make me a deal $100 off or a free 8gb iPod Touch. I have a iPhone so my dad said $100 and then I said iPod Touch because it is worth $200. So they were trying to sell me the Best Buy warranty because they could replace the battery when it normally goes bad after one year. I then told them that they last for 3 years of 1000 charges and then she said that is what they all say they normally don't last a year. And then the Geek Squad tried to sell my dad on it who had no clue and then he looked at me and I said no you lost me when you told me the battery dies within a year.

BigGroll I am glad you are a certified Apple Sales Pro and there should be one at Best Buy all the time because it would help people out.

 

[nick1516]

Reminds me of their ps3 setup service where they plug it in and connect you to the internet. I would never let them touch and electronic of mine.

 

[steve knight]

my dad said $100 and then I said iPod Touch because it is worth $200. So they were trying to sell me the Best Buy warranty because they could replace the battery when it normally goes bad after one year. I then told them that they last for 3 years of 1000 charges and then she said that is what they all say they normally don't last a year..

I got that too when I went to buy a ipod 3 years ago. seems they must tell the sales people that fable to get you to buy an extended warranty. well my daughter took her ipod inbecause the battery died. they said the hard drive was bad the battery was bad but claimed the cable jack was messed up and would not honor the warranty. there was nothing wrong with the port it was in fine shape.

 

[robanga]

Tech retailing has become like the grocery business, because this stuff is as much of a commodity as a carton of eggs now.

Retailers have to try and make money anyway possible. If you come in to buy a laptop they better sell you accessories, an extended warranty or some sort of service package. All of those have nice margins relative to the base computer. In some cases such as the warranty its about 90% profit. A USB Cable for a printer costs about $3 ( and that is likely a burdened cost with much of their overhead) and it sells for $19.95

Management really wants them to add on sell and most places provide incentives for the staff to do this of course. However since this is essentially become a grocery business, you are not not often talking about career people here and their level of "emotional investment" in their job is often not that high. (there are plenty of exceptions of course, but in general....)

This means the staff see the scowls from the buying public when they attempt to attach sell, and so usually all I see is a half-hearted " Would you like anything else with this? " or " How about the warranty and replacement plan for $49.95? "

 

[sgabekahn]

Best Buy Optimization Problems?

Hi, I'm a reporter writing an article on Best Buy Optimization. If you've had an experience with this, either good or bad, please email me ASAP so we can arrange to speak, at sgabekahn@gmail.com.

Thank you,

Gabe Kahn

 

[santaliqueur]

Well I figured I simply had to respond to this, seeing as how I
1. Work at a Best Buy
2. Am a certified Apple Sales Pro at said Best Buy
3. Consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable and straightforward with customers (we dont work on commission remember!)

For some people, the optimization is worth it. We go in there, run all the system updates, do all of the initial setup, change some power saver options (mainly make it so that the harddrive doesnt go to sleep, that is where the supposed performance boost comes from). We also changes some options with the trackpad, and check to make sure everything is functional. Additionally, if a customer has purchased iwork/mobileme, we will install that as well.

For some people, spending an additional 40 bucks on top of the 999 (minimum!) that they are spending is well worth it to not have to deal with that. Obviously, I personally would never do it! But for certain customers, it is a great value!

And also, to whoever said that Windows computers offer a higher profit margin that Macs, you couldnt be more wrong. On average, BB loses 200 dollars for every 1000 dollar windows computer sold! There is not a single windows computer with a cent of margin on it. All of the margin comes from products and accessories. Compare that to the macs. The base macbook has nearly 80 bucks worth of margin just in the laptop! Know what you're talking about before you make such a statement....

You may not work on commission, but you are certainly pressured to hit your accessories and service plan numbers. I used to work in the install bay, probably 10 years ago. The line to customers is "we don't work on commission!" but it really means "we have no PERSONAL interest in selling you this accessory". It's sleight of hand, because Best Buy certainly pushes lucrative accessories.

I have no problem with their business methods. I'd never shop there, but I do wish them luck in being as successful as they can, because that's what capitalism is all about. And capitalism is the only reason we are able to drive fast cars and play games on our awesome computers

As played-out as the car analogies are...I pay someone to work on my car. I could probably figure it out, but I take it to someone who knows MORE THAN ME. Guys who hang out in the car forums might make fun of the major car repair centers, but they know more than I do about cars, and I let them take care of my problem. I am sure I have overpaid for repair service in the past, and likely will in the future. How is this any different than Best Buy charging an acceptable (to their target audience) price for their services?

 

[iMouse]

Hi, I'm a reporter writing an article on Best Buy Optimization. If you've had an experience with this, either good or bad, please email me ASAP so we can arrange to speak, at sgabekahn@gmail.com.

Thank you,

Gabe Kahn

LOL! As a tech for a large institution that constantly has to reverse the problems introduced by BBY's software/optimization process and explain to the customer that they were taken for another $40, I hope your article nails them to the wall.

Optimization on a brand new Mac? Seriously...what a joke. I wonder if this includes installing Flash Player now that Apple isn't shipping their machines with it pre-installed.


This has little to do with their optimization charges, but one in many sad stories about the Geek Squad that I've dealt with personally...

A woman brought her Gateway PC to our office for a second opinion after spending $400 with the Geek Squad. The PC would run slow, lock up, throw BSoDs. She took it to the Geek Squad on 3 occasions in 30 days and each time they told her it was because her kids were downloading music and that the PC was infected.

They also had her pay $120 for an external hard drive to back up her data (to which they didn't properly do) as well as charge her additional to perform the backup. Geek Squad simply restored the unit using the built-in restore and recovery options.

15 minutes in our shop, we diagnosed the issue as a hard drive with bad clusters. The system would operate fine until it encountered those bad clusters and would just go into a stall period until it gave up and completely locked. We cloned her data to a new drive, replaced any files affected by the bad clusters and she was on her way. She calls every once in a while just to say hi and to let us know that her PC is working great.

If I could only take the time to sit down and write a book...

 

[7thMac]

The sad part about it is that they charge the same price for the pc optimization and that includes a lot more work (removal of trial software, registry and msconfig tweaks which does speed things up).

I'm skeptical about anything they might do on the PC side as well, particularly with the registry. I once bought a budget Compaq laptop (actually worked out well, still have it) that was a model that was only sold by Best Buy. To add insult to injury, Best Buy offered to optimize their own model for 10% of the selling price. Thanks Best Buy, for sweating the little details when you found it necessary to offer your own model unique version of this laptop.

 

[EtherealMAC]

But... but ... but..... if the Geeks from BestBuy's GeekSquad are the inspiration for Chuck's Nerds of BuyMore's NerdHerd ... then... But of course I would let them touch my MBP and put some needed "optimization"

Who knows, If I let them meddle with my Mac they might actually screw up and put some vital spy sensitive information on it by accident (or not) and I might end up in the middle of an intense plot for saving the world against malicious spies, always with a hot blond/brunnette/redhead spy to get into hand to hand combat with. That alone would be worth the 40 bucks or so they charge for the "optimization" ... sounds like a good deal for me to pay that much for them to "optimize" my otherwise dull life .

And for those of you who are skeptical that this might happen:

IT IS TRUE CUZ I SAW IT ON TV!!!

'nuff said