Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

You will never guess what I saw in the Best Buy ad this morning!

stevetim said:
How many people pay to change the oil in their car? The 2nd biggest waste of $$ in the U.S.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

This is actually worth it...the convenience of not having to deal with how messy it could be doing it yourself, not having access to a lift to get under your car...

OS installations, in comparison are simple (even Windows is pretty idiot-proof in that regard.) Insert the CD, click the setup icon, and hit NEXT when they tell you to.

Best Buy wouldn't get away with something like this if people just had BASIC computer literacy...
 
What is best buy getting away with? Ripping off people?
They are advertising a service they provide. To some $40 is worth it. Some people spend $15 for parts to do an oil change where others are willing to shell out significantly more than that to have someone else do it.
You think the people changing your oil are master mechanics?
 
How does this work? If they're buying a Mac - SL is already installed isn't it?
 
Typical BestBuy. Airport Express U$ 10.00 more as Apple store, will be funny, if BestBuy is not 5 minutes from the Apple store near my place.

:eek:
 
Youd be suprised how many people pay for that stuff.

I used to work for CCity and BestBuy before long ago and I've had customers who paid $900 in one week for me to keep coming out to remove viruses. You can buy a NEW COMPUTER for that price (or two!)

Plus it all depends on how much the user knows about a computer. To some its a great value. My Dad always makes fun of me because I pay $20 to get my oil changed. To me its a great value cause 1. I know nothing about cars and don't care to ever learn. 2. I don't like to get dirty and oily 3. $20 means I don't have to do #1 and 2.
 
stevetim said:
How many people pay to change the oil in their car? The 2nd biggest waste of $$ in the U.S.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I do. $20 is a good deal to change the oil, IMHO. After I go to the store and buy 4-5qts oil and a filter, I'm out at least $10. Then I have to actually spend the time to change the oil--I'd gladly pay the remaining $10 to have someone do that for me. Even if I did do that myself, now I have a pan full of used motor oil to dispose of--where am I supposed to dump that? Down the sink? Sheesh--$20 is a steal to have someone change my oil.
 
lol, and I was going to apply for a job there... Best Buy is always doing this kind of stuff. There are stupid people out there you know? First and last time I went to Best Buy/Geek Squad for help (before I knew jack about computers), I had an old P4 Dell (this was in like 2005) and the fan and PSU had stopped working. Took it there, they said they were running diaognostics on it, which was a load of crap. It sat there half a day doing nothing (thank you logging software), and then they tried to bill us for their diagnostic (which they told us was free) and a crappy off-brand PSU and an installation fee, which in all, it came to about like $300 USD. I told them morn to F*** off, grabbed my PC from the counter, and walked out. Best Buy is a laugh of a company, and dont even get me started on Geek Squad...
 
stevetim said:
How many people pay to change the oil in their car? The 2nd biggest waste of $$ in the U.S.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Not really, its only $12-15 if you go to a dealership that does public oil changes, how much can you save by doing it yourself? A couple bucks? Grease Monkey may charge like $35 for an oil change but there are places where you can get it done for the same price it would cost you to do it yourself.
 
To many people, $40 isn't a lot of money. But spending 30 minutes installing and setting up a new OS is a waste of time that could be better spent elsewhere.

Different people have different priorities.
 
whooleytoo said:
To many people, $40 isn't a lot of money. But spending 30 minutes installing and setting up a new OS is a waste of time that could be better spent elsewhere.

Different people have different priorities.
Click to expand...

Yep, and it comes down to opportunity cost, which can be different for various individuals.
 
Having your oil changed is a lot different than:

1. Insert disc
2. Click the installer icon
3. Wait
4. Save $39.99

Done.
 
bruinsrme said:
What is best buy getting away with? Ripping off people?
They are advertising a service they provide. To some $40 is worth it. Some people spend $15 for parts to do an oil change where others are willing to shell out significantly more than that to have someone else do it.
You think the people changing your oil are master mechanics?
Click to expand...

well, they get away with exploiting peoples ignorance about the install process.

i bet they don't tell people how easy it is and then offer their service. they sell people the computer and then make them worry about the upgrade and then they offer them the service "just to be safe" because "it's better". at that point this is unethical and disgusting. give all the information and then offer the service!

in medieval times this was considered profiteering or ursury and rightfully punished in creative ways like boiling them in oil and such..........
 
A best buy employee wanted to professionally calibrate my HDTV. They wanted me to give them $300 to do that! Umm... I think I'll just calibrate it myself because I don't care that much about my home theater setup.
 
TheSpaz said:
A best buy employee wanted to professionally calibrate my HDTV. They wanted me to give them $300 to do that! Umm... I think I'll just calibrate it myself because I don't care that much about my home theater setup.
Click to expand...

How did you calibrate it yourself? Using the picture controls?

A real calibration consists of using a colorometer and special software to calibrate the gray scale on the TV, color levels, etc. If the BB guys are actually certified to do this it's a very good price. Many professionals charge $500 or more to do an ISF certified calibration of a TV.

I have my own colorometer and software (there are some good free ones out there) and spent about 20 hours teaching myself how to do the calibration so I can now do it any time I want, but $300 is not bad if you spent $3000 on a top of the line Plasma to get the best picture possible (and it really does make a big difference too, especially in things like skin tones).

BB charges $25 to pair a bluetooth headset, so $40 to install SL is probably seen as a bargain for some people.
 
It just comes down to time and how much time you want to spend setting up your computer. Even if you're computer illiterate, you can call up AppleCare and they'll walk you through account setup which doesn't take very long and for free.
 
jmpage2 said:
How did you calibrate it yourself? Using the picture controls?

A real calibration consists of using a colorometer and special software to calibrate the gray scale on the TV, color levels, etc. If the BB guys are actually certified to do this it's a very good price. Many professionals charge $500 or more to do an ISF certified calibration of a TV.

I have my own colorometer and software (there are some good free ones out there) and spent about 20 hours teaching myself how to do the calibration so I can now do it any time I want, but $300 is not bad if you spent $3000 on a top of the line Plasma to get the best picture possible (and it really does make a big difference too, especially in things like skin tones).

BB charges $25 to pair a bluetooth headset, so $40 to install SL is probably seen as a bargain for some people.
Click to expand...

I understand you can get awesome color out of the TV, but for me, I just use my eyes and decide for myself what I like. It's not professionally calibrated but it looks good enough for me. I only spent $1000 on my TV and it works just fine.
 
andiwm2003 said:
in medieval times this was considered profiteering or ursury and rightfully punished in creative ways like boiling them in oil and such..........
Click to expand...

In medieval times, it cost a whopping 39 shekels to have your OS upgraded; since it took 600 years and 1 hour to upgrade. (600 years waiting for the computer to be invented, then 1 hour to upgrade). Boom boom.. :)

I don't think it's that unreasonable. As I said, to some people 1 hour is more valuable than 40 dollars. Particularly is something goes wrong with the install.
 
We need to realize that the people this is marketed towards could not technically join, post, or most likely view this forum. They do not have a logical understanding of what an operating system does. They most likely know that they have a "Mac" and they bought it because "Mac" owns "PC" every day on the telly. To them, it's a box that spits crap on the screen and they do cool stuff with it.

My grandparents, for example, are in the same boat. If I wasn't close to them, I would send them to BB most likely. They do not have many Apple stores in BFE, Idaho.
 
I also like the MS Office 2007 Home and Students for $129.99 or $149.99 if you don't buy a PC!!

Also like the Math "Price of PC + $149.99 Software - $20 Package Savings = $129.99 Software"!!

By the way, their website says;
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard included
To provide the latest Mac operating platform. Snow Leopard upgrade is either on a disc in the box or preinstalled on the computer.

Yet, on the specs tab, it says; #
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

Lol. So it's SL with a SL upgrade disk, which may or may not have been installed but you can pay $39.99 to really make sure it is installed!

Phil
 
TheSpaz said:
Having your oil changed is a lot different than:

1. Insert disc
2. Click the installer icon
3. Wait
4. Save $39.99

Done.
Click to expand...
Indeed. The 10.6 upgrade took so little effort it was rather shocking to me--double-click, hit "ok", and when I got back after dinner it was ready to go. Since I had the disc delivered I never even needed to leave the house, and it took 3 minutes of effort including opening the shrinkwrap.

That said, if it's worth $40 to have someone do that for you (and, presumably, deal with it if something goes wrong in the process, though on a brand new system not sure what that would be), then fine.

I'm quite sure I could change the oil in my own car, but it's easily worth the $10-20 more than the cost of the oil and filter for me not to have to go to the store and buy oil and a filter, crawl under my car, mess with the pan, wash my hands well, probably wash my clothes too, deal with disposal of the used oil, and to have someone who knows way more than I do glance at my belts, check the tire pressure, and refill the windshield washer fluid.

If you enjoy mucking around under your car or would prefer the 30min-1hr of work (plus trip to the auto parts store and oil disposal place) to having an extra $15 in your pocket, then that's great too.

I'm not the biggest free market proponent, but so long as BB isn't lying and saying that they're doing things they're not (or telling you things are involved in the upgrade that aren't), then good on them. To each his/her own.


Now, if they're charging you $40 to CHECK if Snow Leopard is installed on a brand new machine it's already on, that's just dishonest. Same as a mechanic telling you you need new brake pads when in reality you don't.
 
I'm not quite sure how this works. Whenever I buy an OS, it's a nice disc that fits into my optical drive and it installs like that. I really can't understand how people could mess that up!
 
I had IBM tell a client at the University help desk I used to work at that he could help her reinstall windows on a machine with a broken optical drive for a fee. She gave him her credit card info, he charged her $55 and told her to use an external optical drive. I was beyond flabbergasted. The lady was on the older side and I felt bad for her, especially since we had to charge her 40 for the OS reinstall although I comped her data backup.
 
kufford said:
I had IBM tell a client at the University help desk I used to work at that he could help her reinstall windows on a machine with a broken optical drive for a fee. She gave him her credit card info, he charged her $55 and told her to use an external optical drive. I was beyond flabbergasted. The lady was on the older side and I felt bad for her, especially since we had to charge her 40 for the OS reinstall although I comped her data backup.
Click to expand...
So the moral of the story is to learn how to build a computer, take the risk of trying it yourself or force a techie friend of yours to do it for them.

I suppose if everyone learned this themselves, you could save yourself from dodgy dealers and you would also save some money.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back