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The not so liked Best Buy

Classic:

I pick up the MP3 player. "Do you know how long the warranty is on this product?"

"No."

"Well then how do you know the extended warranty lasts longer?"
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Best Buy is great when you know what you want and don't browse around too much....

Luckily, the closest one to me now is about 1 hr away.

D
 
Yeah, but they DID sell me the first season Degrassi Junior High DVDs for $31.99.

I couldn't beat that.
 
I absolutely hate Best Buy. Horrible customer service, only "OK" prices, no Macs :).

To get ANY HELP, you have to look like you're seriously considering a big-ticket item.. maybe. Usually I can't get ANY HELP.

I may try a little experiment on Saturday. I'll kind of wander around the software section for a while... if I get helped WOAH!
Then, I'll go to the TV section, get out a measuring tape and go at it.
I wonder how long it'll take to get helped when I do that... :rolleyes:

/NO!
//I don't want an extended warranty on these batteries!
 
Mr. Anderson said:
Best Buy is great when you know what you want and don't browse around too much....
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I think that could be said for most of the big-box places. I'm usually sceptical around 'sales' - since the prices aren't always lowered.
 
Mr. Anderson said:
Best Buy is great when you know what you want and don't browse around too much....
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Circuit City is getting like that now that they dropped commissions. But, you can still get better advice from CCity when you find one of the staff that used to be commissioned.
 
mac-er said:
The yellow-shirts and the "greeter" are loss prevention.
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I more or less had a handle on how this story would pan out when, right out of the gate, the author starts griping about a greeter welcoming him to the store. Good grief, grow up.
 
I've only purchased two extended warranties from best buy... on was when I bought my iPod (a 2nd gen one). The 3rd gen ones had been released already, so the 2nd gen was 100 cheaper for the same capacity. Also there were the battery problems going on... i knew that if something happened with the battery, i'd get a new (3rd gen) one, so i bought the warranty.

The only other one that I've bought was for my current laptop... which is like buying applecare... its a given. Good thing I did too, because about 18 months later the HD controller shorted out and it was covered under the ext. warranty (later when I got it back, the Backspace key was missing, so that was also covered, but it still pissed me off that it took a week to replace it... and they couldnt just send me a backspace key, I had to send in the laptop.... :mad: )
 
katie ta achoo said:
I absolutely hate Best Buy. Horrible customer service, only "OK" prices, no Macs :).

To get ANY HELP, you have to look like you're seriously considering a big-ticket item.. maybe. Usually I can't get ANY HELP.
Click to expand...

...you never get any technical help at BB maybe a sales person will come and talk to you. But they never now what they are talking about anyways you hardly can get any information out of them. (ahhh I'm not sure, one moment please, let me go check on that,...ahh)

Bad Customer Service, Poorly Trained Sales Stuff and Overpriced Product.

I only go there once in a while to get a music cd or other little stuff like that.
 
Lyle said:
I more or less had a handle on how this story would pan out when, right out of the gate, the author starts griping about a greeter welcoming him to the store. Good grief, grow up.
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Who are you telling to grow up?
:confused:
 
mac-er said:
Who are you telling to grow up?
:confused:
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Probably the idiot complaining about Best Buy using what is SOP for the majority of stores. Or is Best Buy the only place where employees are instructed to greet and try to be friendly to customers? (The answer to that is no, btw).

I have found Best Buy to be a great store - every time I go in, I am asked by an employee in the appropriate section if I need help, found everything, etc. If I decline, then they will excuse themselves and leave me be. Great looking interior, nice layout, a place I like to go to just check out DVDs, etc.
 
Best Buy gave me everything I needed to hook up the 2 computers to the internet. I just asked the guy. Maybe they were better because this was the one right by Best But HQ?

The only thing I really hate about Best Buy is the Geek Squad. The guy with the goatee there scares me. Scares me bad.
 
I've started going to Circuit City as of late and I've had great service, no pressure about extended warranties or any nonsense. Also there is a local place that has an awesome service/warranty program and will match any add price (yeah for the little guy) as well as the people know what they are talking about.
 
Best Buy is much better than Circuit City in my experience. When I was shopping for a TV the salesperson at best buy knew what he was talking about. When I went to circuit city they guy was like "Uhhh, yea well do you know how to set up your TV? You use these plugs in the back for VCRs and DVD players..." (talking about things everyone knows and has nothing to do with me buying the TV)

Best Buy is a little weird though. One time I bought a battery charger, I wrote a check and gave it to the cashier. It said $40 or something on the receipt, but on the price tag it said $30. I pointed it out to the lady and she's like, "oh, you'll have to go to customer service". So I go to customer service and they refund me my money instantly, in cash, even though I paid with check. (anyone want to scam best buy?) I would have expected them to tell me that they would have to wait for the check to clear and then send me the money in the mail.
 
All those kinds of places piss me off to a certain extent.
It is not childish (as has been suggested above) to get tetchy about a supposed "greeter", who formulaically asks you a pre-defined set of words and then goes straight back to another conversation - as if they ever really wanted to know or even cared. What if you'd said:
"yeah I'm doing OK, but I really need X because I'm having tremendous trouble with Y". Would they know, would they care?
And also, what if you tried to use the "greeter" to answer the technical question you had in mind say:
"I really need an 802.11g wireless router with an ADSL modem built it please" - would they know, would they care?
If any of them actually turned out to be knowledgeable or helpful I'll eat my words but so far, as soon as they've said "Hi, can I help you?" they look as if helping you is the last thing they want to do. And every single one I've said "yes" to, has turned out to be useless - the best you'll get is: "Oh a mp3 player? I can't help you with that specific question, but there'll be someone to help you in the music player section - over there." pointing just under a HUGE sign saying "Music Players", duh.

In the UK we have equivalent stores - more and more recently it seems, and they really suck. Most of the staff are morons on so little pay it's not even worth their job to go out of their way to help you. Their knowledge is so limited that 2 minutes googling would make you more of an expert than they are.
To add to this, the cost of hiring, (supposedly) training and having the retail space only goes to drive up the overheads on the products, meaning much higher prices than on-line. In a place called "PC World" expect to go out £20 ($35.5) lighter than you went in - for a 3m USB cable!

There is a definite reason the internet is by far and a way the fastest growing retail market. People are sick and tired of these terrible stores.

The blue shirts - they are judging me.. I can see it in their eyes... :eek:
 
Best Buy customer service has been awesome for me so far:

I purchased a PSP thing which comes with a 256 MB card, case, UMD holders, and stuff, for $80. It was defective (USB cable only, everythign else was perfect) so since I wanted a gig stick and needed nothing else from that pack, I asked if I could get store credit. They could have been annoying and given me another one no matter what, but instead they took it back and gave me store credit! No questions asked!!

I got a 1 gig card from that! And a Logitech PlayGear Pocket!
 
If you read the follow ups it gets even better. One guy posts that he is a cashier at BB and that when they try to sell the warranty or give you the 8 free issues of the magazine they are just doing their job.. The guy who wrote the original rant replies with an "I dont give a rats a$$ if it is your job or not" and just keeps on being a jerk. People like that are why I left the retail business.
 
Lyle said:
I more or less had a handle on how this story would pan out when, right out of the gate, the author starts griping about a greeter welcoming him to the store. Good grief, grow up.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I knew the story was gonna be an over-critical overreaction while reading the first paragraph.

The Greeter was doing his job. Its a "loss prevention" technique to say "Hi" to all customers so that customers know they're not ignored while browsing the store, and that staff DO pay attention to customers as they browse.
And all that crap about the Greeter not "truly" caring about his personal life.........what a twit. Does he seriously expect the Greeter to be truly and honestly concerned about his private life? Obviously not. He'd probably start whining about how creepy it is that the Greeter cares so much. :rolleyes:

Secondly, it's the cashier's job to try to sell either the service or replacement plan. She's not going to stop asking just because 10% of the population will act like a jerk about it. And if the cashier's manager is close by, then yes, he/she may ask you twice.

Thirdly, those plans aren't bad, especially those replacement plans. Believe it or not, some mass produced consumer items don't work perfectly, or have faulty parts, even after only 30 days. Maybe you don't want it, but lots of people do.
 
alexstein said:
...you never get any technical help at BB maybe a sales person will come and talk to you. But they never now what they are talking about anyways you hardly can get any information out of them. (ahhh I'm not sure, one moment please, let me go check on that,...ahh)

Bad Customer Service, Poorly Trained Sales Stuff and Overpriced Product.
Click to expand...

They're sales staff, not electrical or computer engineers. Some of them are just trying to pay their way through uni, and don't have a technical background. However, they're trained enough to help the general public find what they want. They know what features customers generally want, and help by showing customers what's available. If you're posting on a tech-based message board, you're not their average customer.

Comparing the knowledge of tech nerds on a Mac/tech oriented board to that of BB sales staff is unfair. Most of us will know more about technology than BB. I don't believe they need to know more than me to be able to help me. Yes, it would be great if they were nerds who went to Engadget.com to scope out the bleeding edge tech being released in Finland this week, but they're not paid enough to make it worthwhile. They just have to show me where to find the product, to go to the store room to get my item, and to answer any "general" questions that I may have.

How much would it cost to lure you out of your computer related job to start working a sales position at BB? Probably a LOT more than minimum wage. And if you want sales staff that are incredibly knowledgeable, then they would need to professionals. Then you'd be praising Best Buy for their knowledgeable staff, but whining about how much more expensive they are compared to Circuit City due to their knowledgeable, high salary sales staff. And THEN you'd go shop at a cheaper store. :rolleyes:
 
I gotta agree w/Abstract and Lyle. There are good rants and there bad rants. And the rant linked in the OP is a worthless rant.


Lethal
 
I also decline any freebees (supposedly freebees) at the check out. One time, a cashire forced me to sign an AOL dial up membership (yes, dial up!) by seaking in the application at the time when I was signing for the payment. He could not cancel it so I had to call AOL to cancel it right away as I don't want them to start charging me after free periods (I am pissed because they gave my credit card info to AOL and I had to spend my valuable time on calling AOL about this). I use Best Buy for a sales priced DVD. I don't by monitors nor computers, ever, at BestBuy.

Also, I will never buy their extended warranty. I would rather buy new products if they break. Those extended warranty is the pure cash cow to Best Buy.

One other annoying thing is, even if I am the only person at the cash register (off peak hours) close to those greeter/receipt-checker-before-you-leave-the-store and bought one DVD in the clear view from this greeter/receipt checker, he always checks again. I know he is doing his jobs; but, if he is seeing me going through the check out, I just don't see the point for him looking at the same receipt again the casher handed over to me while this guy was looking.
 
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