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Salesmen at Best Buy = Thieves

lightpeak said:
Consumer Reports magazine generally almost always recommends refusing the "EWP", because you're literally paying to gamble something goes wrong!

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...ty-11-06/overview/extended-warranty-11-06.htm

While this article is from 2007, they still say it's never been truer today.

Personally when I'm asked if I want to buy one, I say to myself: "Only suckers buy extended waranties."

That may be true, but I confess to buying it and having it come in handy. Like at The Source (By Circuit City), was known as Radio Shack. Like when I need a battery for my Bose Wave stero remote control. $4-something and for about $1.25 I get the extended warranty that lasts 3 years. Battery goes dead after 6 months, I bring it in. Just tell them I got the EWP, didn't even have to provide the paperwork (original sales receipt), just provide my name and postal code. They give me a new one and I'm on my merry way.

So I basically contradicted myself, but I generally believe CR mag is right.
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I've researched this as well. What CR is railing against is not the same thing that Best Buy (and perhaps some other retailers) sell. A true Extended Warranty has the same coverage as the manufacturer's warranty, only for a longer period of time. (as some have noted elsewhere, some black credit cards can do the same thing for little or no charge).

That ain't what Best Buy is selling. Coverage of damage due to heat, dust, humidity, power surge (inc. lightning strikes). Normal wear and tear is covered, and in the case of tvs and appliances at least, it's in-home (with no trip charge).

Ever TRY to get a manufacturer to cover a repair without charging you an arm and a leg? It's a 50/50 shot, which is shouldn't be.
 
As with any electronics I buy; I take great care of the items I buy. I am not dumb for getting viruses. Microsoft has a proven history of releasing software that is buggy and always patches their products later on down the road.

PC's are trash and I felt that way not because I use an iMac or Macbook Pro but that's how I felt the whole time using Dell, Sony, Asus, Toshiba, and Windows since forever. I thought those were my only options.

I tried many times to love it but it always was more work then it was worth. As a last resort I caved in and bought an iMac for the first time over a year ago.

So don't come in here calling me names. There are pro's and con's to everything in life. You can have Windows and the money sink that comes with it.
 
Oh, they're not Thieves exactly....

Poorly educated, maybe.
Under extreme pressure to make the sale WITH lots of extras, certainly.


But what did you expect when you go to Best Buy? Their profit margin is microscopic. The only chance the store has to survive is to sell, sell, sell the extras at highest possible markup.

If everyone went there and bought JUST the LCD TV, iMac, Refrigerator or whatever AND picked it up right at the store themselves, they'd go out of business. Best Buy thrives off of selling $129 HDMI cables to the Cheap and Gullible. It works for them.


Happy Christmas!

Keri
 
the last time i went to best buy to get a macbook that my girlfriend was buying was pretty crappy customer service, we sat by the imacs/macbooks for about an hr waiting for a sales person. he would keep walking by and saying i'll be right with you over and over. we said forget this and drove the extra 20 minutes to the apple store. got helped right away
 
KeriJane said:
But what did you expect when you go to Best Buy? Their profit margin is microscopic. The only chance the store has to survive is to sell, sell, sell the extras at highest possible markup.

If everyone went there and bought JUST the LCD TV, iMac, Refrigerator or whatever AND picked it up right at the store themselves, they'd go out of business. Best Buy thrives off of selling $129 HDMI cables to the Cheap and Gullible. It works for them.
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For proof, witness Circuit City, a company that had the exact same business model. Eventually they had to price their extras so high no one would buy them, and they couldn't support themselves. Oh sure, there were other factors at play, but the bottom line was that they ended up selling most of their products at a loss.

Best Buy and other big-name electronics stores should be careful to at least make *some* margin on the item itself. We as customers don't need to let ourselves be ripped off, but it's reasonable to accept a fair price for what it is, rather than nickel-diming the retailer.
 
KeriJane said:
Poorly educated, maybe.
Under extreme pressure to make the sale WITH lots of extras, certainly.
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it's hard to find a consumers store where a salesman overpowers an educated costumer.

just imagine the huge amount of product they need to sell... and keep in mind that most of those electronics get an update every 6 - 9 months :eek:
 
I'll brag on the mac people a little bit here. My girlfriend ordered her imac in early march. Before it shipped they called her to let her know that the new model had come out, and they had upgraded her computer to the new model. I thought this was beyond what they had to do, because A) She would have never know the difference and B) The transaction had already been processed. I think most companies would have used it as an excuse to offload old inventory at standard retail cost. It's one of many reasons I'll probably be buying my first mac in the next few days.
 
Comission does that... My buddy works there and makes a killing. Its amazing what people will believe...

Also, Best Buy has one of the highest retail mark ups anywhere. He was saying that a 10ft HDMI cable, which sells for $99.99, is bought for $10 from the supplier. Thats 1000% profit. Insane...
 
Hey guys, just wanted to chime in on a couple things after stumbling across this thread. Figured I'd register and throw in the 2 cents.

I'm a computer tech at Future Shop, which is a canadian company owned by Best Buy. I am not sure if the optomization at the american best buy (they are run seperately) is the same or not but the one we have here is very popular and I don't feel at all a rip off. Ours are $99.99, there isn't a lot to really optomize on the mac's. They get all of the updates done and little things like right click enabled, flip4mac, firefox, etc.

What they do include (at least in Canada at Future Shops) is data transfer from there old PC or Mac to the new one. This isn't simply just transferring the data, we put it where it's supposed to be (pictures, docs, music in the proper folders), import favorites, emails, address book, etc. Beyond that we install and update any software that the customer has purchased. If they purchased a printer, we take it out of the box, install the cartridges, install the software, connect it to the mac and print a test page. If they already have a printer, we download the mac driver and put it on the desktop for them. We also setup there email account with the mail server, usernames, passwords, etc. If they have dial up we setup the modem and connection, then test it and verify that it works.

When they come to get the machine, we set it up on our bench and go over everything with them, answer any additional questions that they have (usually spend 15-30 minutes). It's also great for people on dial up to get all of the updates, as the models get older it's common for some to have 2-3gb in updates right ouf ot he box, try doing that on your dial up modem. It also includes things like installing parallels or boot camp if needed.

Granted this service isn't for everyone, but a lot of people do find it very valuable. First itme buyers love it because they take it home and it's ready to go, they are not spending hours configuring it and transferring data. They don't get home and find out they don't have Mac drivers for there printer, so they have to download a 300mb file from HP on dial up to get there printer to work... saves time and frustration. Again I don't know if the american best buy is the same as here.

A lot of people don't buy the servive and that's fine. SOme people, myself included the setup is half the fun of buying a new computer! I enjoy doing it myself and getting everything organized how I want it. The sales person trying to sell this isn't trying to rip anyone off, they don't force you to buy anything. They are simply doing there job, they offer the service to someone and then that person decides if they want to purchase it or not. As an example I had a customer in today that bought a Mac online from Apple for his son for Christmas, he got the Mac but had no way of transferring data from the sons now dead laptop. They couldn't get online because it didn't come with a dial up modem and they didn't realise it, there 10 year old HP also didn't support the mac. They spent Christmas day fighting with the thing, calling tech support for mac, for there isp, etc and wound up having a very frustrating experience. They where in today to buy a PC because they where sending the Mac back after wasting a few hours of time on it.

As far as the warranty goes, again it's the salesperons job to present it to the customer and make them aware of what it offers to them. No salesperson should EVER make a judgement call on what a customer needs, they are not offering good service.

Not all batteries are going to last 5 years, I'd say actually that the majority won't. What about your white macbook that is now cracked because on the palm rest? What about how it's stained and ugly looking from your palms resting on it, that's all covered. If you have a 2 year old iMac that needs a new hard drive, 99% of mac owners are nowhere near comfortable enough to do that repair. Your looking at a couple hours labour to swap out the drive and reload the OS. I fix macs constantly at work, your dellusional if you think the hardware is anymore reliable then a PC. They use the exact same hard drives, and they fail constantly. Backlights can fail, just like on any other display. How about the warped lids... louds fans, etc. It also includes yearly cleanings of the fans, heatsinks, disk drives, etc.

http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/macbooks.html
Overall repairs: 13% of all MacBook and MacBook Pro computers in this survey were repaired.


Fewest repairs: 6.3% 17" MacBook Pro
7.7% Black MacBook


Most repairs: 24% 15" MacBook Pro/1.83GHz (January) MA091LL/A
23% 15" MacBook Pro/2.0GHz (March) MA464LL/A


When your 2 year old mac fails, your not comfortable doing the repair on your own and now your paying a tech $80 an hour to fix it plus buying parts from apple you'll be wishing you had the service plan. If you can take it apart and fix it yourself, then maybe the plans not for you.

Sorry this turned into more of a rant, just got fed up reading some of the responses on here. That sales person offering the service has no right to not offer the service to the customer, just like you have no right to decide if the customer needs it or not. ANyways to sum this all up, some people just need to seek to understand the entire picture, and not just jump to conclusions.

p.s I didn't come on here to bash mac in anyway, I'm looking up info on the screen flickering on the new 27" iMac I have a few in my tech room right now that the update isn't helping. I'm looking at buying one myself as my PC is 6 years old now and my son drew all over my monitor with a sharpie... 27" iMac here I come... once they fix the screen flicker.
 
tennyis said:
Hey guys, just wanted to chime in on a couple things after stumbling across this thread. Figured I'd register and throw in the 2 cents.

I'm a computer tech at Future Shop, which is a canadian company owned by Best Buy. I am not sure if the optomization at the american best buy (they are run seperately) is the same or not but the one we have here is very popular and I don't feel at all a rip off. Ours are $99.99, there isn't a lot to really optomize on the mac's. They get all of the updates done and little things like right click enabled, flip4mac, firefox, etc.

What they do include (at least in Canada at Future Shops) is data transfer from there old PC or Mac to the new one. This isn't simply just transferring the data, we put it where it's supposed to be (pictures, docs, music in the proper folders), import favorites, emails, address book, etc. Beyond that we install and update any software that the customer has purchased. If they purchased a printer, we take it out of the box, install the cartridges, install the software, connect it to the mac and print a test page. If they already have a printer, we download the mac driver and put it on the desktop for them. We also setup there email account with the mail server, usernames, passwords, etc. If they have dial up we setup the modem and connection, then test it and verify that it works.
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IF only UK shops could do this aswell not mentioning any names
1.gif
 
tennyis said:
When they come to get the machine, we set it up on our bench and go over everything with them, answer any additional questions that they have (usually spend 15-30 minutes). It's also great for people on dial up to get all of the updates, as the models get older it's common for some to have 2-3gb in updates right ouf ot he box, try doing that on your dial up modem. It also includes things like installing parallels or boot camp if needed.
Click to expand...

I have to say, that maybe everything you mentioned is worth $100 to some people, but not me. I am glad that you answer additional questions though. When my fiancee was shopping for a mac, she hit all 4 of our local best buys. 2 told her she needed to call Apple with questions (this is on multiple visits mind you, and she also asked if Geek Squad knew anything about them...) and the other 2 told her that they might be able to help her, but most likely not.
 
thegoldenmackid said:
So in other words, all that optimization is turning on the computer and running the updates? Even if I had dial-up, couldn't I go to say a local establishment with free wi-fi? Even if it is an iMac.
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So when you guys buy a new Mac how long does it take you to do everything I mentioned? Install ALL of your programs, setup your email, setup dial up if needed, setup printer, data transfer, etc.

Multiply that by 5 for a first time mac owner and you'll have how long it would take them.

Most people buying mac's are employed full time with good jobs, otherwise they are buying $200 emachine computers. They have a busy life, if they can pay $100 bucks to have it all done for them they glady will adn they won't feel ripped off in the least. I get calls all of the time from people thanking me that we offer this great service. Not everyone can take apart there old PC, removed the hd, put it an external drive, transfer the data, etc.

The best buy that the OP is talking about either does things a lot different then we do at the stores in Canada, or the salesmen just did an absolutely horriable job of explaining to the customer what they are getting.
 
GaresTaylan said:
I have to say, that maybe everything you mentioned is worth $100 to some people, but not me. I am glad that you answer additional questions though. When my fiancee was shopping for a mac, she hit all 4 of our local best buys. 2 told her she needed to call Apple with questions (this is on multiple visits mind you, and she also asked if Geek Squad knew anything about them...) and the other 2 told her that they might be able to help her, but most likely not.
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That's crazy. At our store when a customer buys a mac if its the first one the sales person is required to spend at least 30 minutes with the customer showing them the basics of the computer. They can't figure out how to close the window because the buttons on the left hand side. They wonder where the Windows key is, where is the start button? Where is Media Player? Where is Internet Explorer, etc... these are the kind of people that buy the service, it takes them 4 hours to get there email setup. 3 of which are on the phone overseas to a call center trying to understand the person telling them how to setup there email account. These are the people that the service is intended for. The service usually takes about an hour of the techs time,a nd depending on downloading updates and data transfers the machine can be on the bench for a full day. We are certfied techs with A+ and MCSE, vendor certified by apple, hp, dell and toshiba and usually a college diploma. The services are done right.

Again though I don't work at an actual best buy store, so maybe things there are done different. Our service is called basically the same though "Optomization and Personalization"
 
And?

I hope you said something to the newbie and saved him from the abuse.

Alx9876 said:
Hey everyone,

I was at Best buy earlier today to check out a few of the Macbook and Macbook Pro's in person and could not help but overhear this man in his early 50's buying a 13 inch Macbook Pro.

The problem I had was with the sales guy at Best buy talking his ear off about all the crap you need to purchase after the laptop such as pay us $40 more to optimize your new laptop, battery coverage for when the Macbook pro's goes out on you in one year six months, more warranty coverage you probably don't need. It will cost you $200 to change out the battery and another $200 to buy the new battery. All Best Buy salesmen words.

So I am here to ask and discuss whether or not I am right or wrong to be upset at the Best Buy sales guy.

Keep in mind we are in a Depression across the US and this is not the time to pay extra money you might not have for B S like this.

Macbooks last time I checked do not need to be optimized overnight upon purchase nor do the batteries go out in 1 year 6 months.

With Vista and PC's yeah I would probably agree but with Apple I do not. So I want to present this to the experts here.

If I'm wrong I will man up and say I was wrong but I do think the guy at Best Buy took major advantage of the older customer. I take this personally because while he's sweet talking you, The sales guy is really legally stealing from you at the same time.

My cousin has a 5 year old white Macbook that is still going strong with the same battery. I bought my iMac long time ago but I did not buy into all the crap they were selling me.

I have Applecare for my iMac.

On one hand I know it's there job to do this but on the other it's wrong.
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Vista

I am with you on this. Vista was the final deal breaker for me. Left MSFT and haven't missed it.

Alx9876 said:
As with any electronics I buy; I take great care of the items I buy. I am not dumb for getting viruses. Microsoft has a proven history of releasing software that is buggy and always patches their products later on down the road.

PC's are trash and I felt that way not because I use an iMac or Macbook Pro but that's how I felt the whole time using Dell, Sony, Asus, Toshiba, and Windows since forever. I thought those were my only options.

I tried many times to love it but it always was more work then it was worth. As a last resort I caved in and bought an iMac for the first time over a year ago.

So don't come in here calling me names. There are pro's and con's to everything in life. You can have Windows and the money sink that comes with it.
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I just have to say, I feel as if the amount of bashing on salesmen is a bit ridiculous.

Do you think we come up with the pricing of the service plans?
Do you think we set the ridiculously high margins on plans and cables?
Do you think we really, truly, WANT to try and sell you a service plan?

I try and do what is right for the customer. And whoever mentioned their "buddy" who makes a killing off commissions, thats a lie. No best buy employee makes any commission at all. Thats a fact.

I work retail because I am in college and I needed a job while I finish school. Thats it. Yeah, Im not going to pay the 40 bucks for an optimization, but for many people, thats a great deal. Not everyone even understands what updates are.
If you dont want to pay for the service plan, dont get it. The end.
 
I completely agree with BigGroll and tennyis about the bashing. Many, many people that buy Mac-- not to mention that the demographic Apple is targeted towards, know absolutely nothing about computers, so paying $100 to have a technician prep their computer isn't robbery...

And let's be honest, $100 isn't even that much to have someone do the work that would probably take these new users a few, maybe even several hours to install, update, transfer, etc. (When I got my first Mac almost ten years ago, I paid someone to install my QuarkXpress for me. Yes, you read right-- I paid someone to stick a CD into my Mac and watched it load...)
 
mingoglia said:
Apparently it does. I say this because they STOPPED pushing them at the counter. I doubt this was a result of just me, though they heard it a lot from me as I'm a business customer and spend a lot of cash per year there. It's a bunch of people like me that get things changed. Perhaps they just decided to stop pushing it? We'll never know. I do know they haven't discontinued their magazine sales as they still have them listed at the counter and you can sign up through the credit card reader/signer device at the register.

A bit off topic, but similar. We have lax gun laws here in AZ. A law was passed that allowed you to carry a firearm in a restaurant that served alcohol UNLESS a sign was posted at the front entrance and by the liquor license. I frequently go into a Red Robin by my office and sit at the bar with my business partner for lunch. After going there for a few months at least once or twice a week they put up the sign stating no firearms. The sign was right there across from me, mocking me as I sat and ate lunch. :p I told the manager that although I do not carry a firearm in public, I believe it's our right to be able to if we chose so.... particularly concealed where it's not going to make anyone nervous. I didn't go there for a few weeks. The next time I went back the sign was gone.

The same thing happened at the Denny's by my house. I take my kids there every couple of weeks and they started posting the sign there (even though they didn't even serve alcohol). I told the manager the same thing and I started going to another Denny's further from the house. Well a couple of months went by and I went there a couple weeks back because I didn't have time to go to the further one and sure enough, they too took the sign down.

Could all of this be a coincidence? There's a good chance. But it sure can't hurt. BTW, in my original post I mentioned making a "scene". That was probably a bit carried away... but it was a firm remark pointing out that I do have options when it comes to where I spend $$$. These business owners have every right to run their business within the boundaries of the law. As such, they have every right to post "no guns" signs... Just like them though I and others like me have the right to take our business elsewhere.
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Yeah, you're changing the world, one step at a time.
 
A recession is when your neighbor loses their job. A depression is when you, or your spouse, lose their job.

Wisdom I heard 20+ years ago and it still makes sense today. :D

belvdr said:
Exactly. Also, we're not in a depression.
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Which one? The Altair? The Ohio Scienctific (6502 processor). The IIe, the Tandy Model 1? BTDT (owned a OS that had to have a fan blowing on it so it would not over-heat).

Still have fond memories of a Atari 800XL. It was a FUN little computer. The IIe was a pain for us and we won't even discuss the PC Jrs we owned. :( The Tandy 1000A was an okay system though hardware had to be flashed to run correctly with it (aka hard drive controllers).

PCs are no worse, or better, than any other computer out there. As noted earlier, they are tools to be used. Use the right tool for the job.

fa8362 said:
I've used PCs since they were invented, and hated every minute of it. Wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy.
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My complaint with BestBuy is the optimizing ALL products/game systems prior to purchase. When I buy something, I do not want to buy an item that has been opened by anyone else for any reason. The Consumerist website is full of stories about people trying to purchase items advertised in their papers only to find stores full of opened and optimized products, but not one for sale at the advertised price. Seems like a case for some State Attorney General to take on about false advertising, un-wanted/un-needed services, etc.

Fry's would re-stock returned items. Never learned this one the hard way but over-heard when returning an item. "Didn't you see the box has already been opened?" The Fry's customer had the GALL to ask that question of a customer. Even though the box had been signed and sealed by Fry's. < sigh >

And there was a time when I would "stick" my nose in to a sales transaction to "reveal the truth." Those days are gone. Mostly I mind my own business unless it is just too blatant and I try to leave before it gets to that point :D

Take care,
 
Hey Big Roll

You sound like a great guy. My advice to you is just keep being honest, do the right thing for people. This shoe doesn't fit you so don't sweat it.
sek

BigGroll said:
I just have to say, I feel as if the amount of bashing on salesmen is a bit ridiculous.

Do you think we come up with the pricing of the service plans?
Do you think we set the ridiculously high margins on plans and cables?
Do you think we really, truly, WANT to try and sell you a service plan?

I try and do what is right for the customer. And whoever mentioned their "buddy" who makes a killing off commissions, thats a lie. No best buy employee makes any commission at all. Thats a fact.

I work retail because I am in college and I needed a job while I finish school. Thats it. Yeah, Im not going to pay the 40 bucks for an optimization, but for many people, thats a great deal. Not everyone even understands what updates are.
If you dont want to pay for the service plan, dont get it. The end.
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RudyGrow said:
Comission does that... My buddy works there and makes a killing. Its amazing what people will believe...

Also, Best Buy has one of the highest retail mark ups anywhere. He was saying that a 10ft HDMI cable, which sells for $99.99, is bought for $10 from the supplier. Thats 1000% profit. Insane...
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BB is not commission-based.
 
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