Best Buy wages war on bargain hunters

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the info in the above post is appreciated.


my take on things. it doesnt affect me. so i dont give a damn.
 
BestBuy may be walking down the same road as "Crazy Eddie's" and "The Wiz".

I mostly go to Fry's. Fry's has 2x the number of DVDs, 10x the number of PC games.

Fry's is crushing BB in my area. They have 5x the inventory at lower prices.

One thing I've noticed is that no one is buying music anymore.

But BB must've done something right - CompUSA now carries a lot of TVs and DVD players, as does Circuit City (which always did).

As for PC Games - it's been a dying horse and may get worse. With it may come the death of the PC, or at least the enthusiast PC. Even EB has decreased their PC section to a lone bare rack.
 
Lordy the dozens of posts filled with misinformation is terrifying.

First off.. Best Buy does have repair centers. I know... I have been to one in Tampa.

Secondly.. yes there are customers who do everything to swindle a store. As if its their right to steal from a company.

Folks forget one big thing.. Every salesperson and worker in best buy is non-commission.

Of course these Bargain Hunters don't give a crap they don't care that the young guy or gal who worked an hour loading up their cart with pc equipment Such as that big fat 19inch monitor that ways a ton and that uber pc. or Was nice enough to be honest and tell them that the Athlon64 system that they have no knowledge about is actually a better performance system compared to the more expensive intel system which allows the person to save money and maybe spend some of the extra dough on accessories they do need or get better speakers because they like to hear the games rattle and roar compared to being played in tinny speakers.

Nope these folks don't care they want to gouge the company and who cares if it causes them to lose money. Money lost = lost wages for workers.

But Best buy is doing this to support the customer's who are fans of the store. And their are alot more fans then many realize. I have seen it and heard it from them. Folks who like going to a store and getting good help. Who like Honest salespeople. Who like going into a place that is full of genuine good cheer. I mean doesn't it excite one when you enter a store where the workers are actually smiling? And are happy to see you?

I have listed sales for hardocp forum goers because I thought the folks here deserved honest info. It doesn't help me in any way. I am not a stock holder I don't make any extra money from doing so.

But it does sadden me that many it seems want to take advantage of a good company.

Remember those uber deals you want online are there because Stores like Egghead went of out business and they laid of tons of workers. And
they don't have the overhead that a company like Best Buy has.

you know.. Salaries, Benefits.. Folks actually getting paid to work. folks
getting paid to help the public. Think about that customer service girl who makes 6 an hour and gets screamed at by that "BARGAIN HUNTER" just so they can induce a return and then hope to come back later and buy it below cost. Does she deserve to get screamed at?

Does anyone? I Am not suggesting the company is perfect.. no one is.
But folks need to look at the big picture instead of looking only for their personal gain.


I hope some of you think seriously about this. What kills me was I was going to post some new deals going on in-store only for the fans. But I don't know if its worth doing that any more.

Sigh.


:(
 
florida has a bestbuy repair center? Like one that says best buy on it, that services everything? Ive seen service centers that accept best buy warranties, but never a best buy owned one. If theres one around here its off more then 100miles away.
 
is it just me or does this strategy sound kinda like a casino? "High rollers" coddled because they lose big money in the stores. "Card counters" that take advantage of the stores policies politely asked to leave,...and the people in the middle ground mostly ignored because it is assumed that they will always be there.

With a corporation as large as Best Buy, it seems like the majority of their profits would be made from the agregate of the small profits made off of the average consumer and not from yearly $10k-$12k theater system buys of the high rollers. Tightening return policies makes sense, because that gets rid of the people who take the stores for a loss,...but getting rid of the weekend deals and narrowing their product selections to cater to the few people that will spend tons of cash like pocket change only hurts the middle class buyers. Bad business plan imh-uneducated-opinion
 
http://www.bestbuysux.org/ :cool:

You know whats funny about that article, that has not been mentioned yet?

Movie Clip:
(fatwallet, hardocp, et al.): Hello Mr. Anderson... We've been expecting you....
BB: Hmm. Upgrades...

haha... Seriously someone else had to have picked up on that, the writer just used that surname way too much it was funny. :)

But people returning upon recieving rebates... That's crossing the line. And here is the reason why.
If you can get away with a good deal that is fair and with in reasonable rules, such as rebates or pricematching then I consider myself pretty content as I feel most people would feel, not to mention lucky for getting something that I wanted for a nice deal. But someone who takes off rebates, pricematching, and then games (i say 'games' because by doing pricematching/ pricebeating and such you esentially are mickey-mousing the system) even further by returning said product for chance of recieving it on markup.... Then i think that what you are doing is hurting the community such as us that posts these coupons and rebates, and other information more then your hurting the store. A retailer can withstand selling something 20% below shelf price, heck they do that all the time with first time credit card purchases all the time, but when people only go for the certain bargains and not much else, then that i feel is in their own personal leasure, and i suppose the feeling would be that 'if i can help rid a retailer of something they obviously don't want, with prices that low, then i would be happy to oblige'.
 
Maximus825 said:
People don't seem to understand how business works. You spend more time working on the aspects of the company that make the most money, and less time, or no time at all, on those that lose money. By targeting the people who spend a lot of money on non-sale items, Best Buy is hoping to increase their profits. At the same time, if they do not offer incentive for bargain-based shoppers to come into the store, then they'll be able to slash the money losers...

Now, it makes sense that the initial operating costs are rather high. All research is expensive, but once you get the system down, and you are able to re-use the information collected as secondary data, you can cut the cost down substantially.

The thing is, Best Buy really never cared about most of you. The majority of people here, if I remember correctly, are in their 20s. This market segment tens to be in considerable debt, and not have that high of an income, but still wants most of the products in the store. It stands to reason that these people will try to get the best deals possible on what they want to get. And when they do buy something, they will prolly only come in the store for that, and will not purchase anything else.

Now, take the 30+ male, market segment. They tend to have a higher income, most of their college debt has been paid off, and they can afford the items that they want, or they can purchase on credit quite easily. These are the people that Best Buy wants to have in its store. They'll buy a high ticket item, and then they'll also buy the accessories that the sales representative tells them they need.

What Best Buy is doing, is smart. Don't bash them because they don't consider you to be highly profitable. The fact is, you're not. Most people here have prolly cost them quite a bit of money.
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Bingo! you have just won a prize.

To everyone who is upset....they owe you no loyalty just as you owe them none. I would love to get a great deal on black friday, but i sure don't need to wait until then to buy what i want.

if you don't like their business practices, don't shop there. that's all, end of story, no harm no foul.
 
LiquidX said:
No the ones that take advantge of a rebate and then return the product they bought the and got the rebate for. Free money for something they returned and in the end who does it hurt? The ones like you.
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Ummm, hate to break it to you, but there's no way that exists today - every single legit rebate requires the UPC symbol cut out from the packaging, and no store is going to accept a returned item with a cut-out box.

Seriously, who the hell is stupid enough to buy anything retail anymore? Sales tax sucks, shipping is cheap, and people buying a 6800 ultra from a best buy should be shot, or at least tagged so we know who they are.
 
neeyo said:
Ummm, hate to break it to you, but there's no way that exists today - every single legit rebate requires the UPC symbol cut out from the packaging, and no store is going to accept a returned item with a cut-out box.

Seriously, who the hell is stupid enough to buy anything retail anymore? Sales tax sucks, shipping is cheap, and people buying a 6800 ultra from a best buy should be shot, or at least tagged so we know who they are.
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For one, sales tax isn't everywhere. And two, a lot of people want stuff now and don't trust online stores fully...

Also, some people don't even know what it is that they want.
 
oakfan52 said:
Very smart business. why have customers who your going to loose money on? you have to do whats smart. They don't owe the consumer a single thing. They are there to make money.
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And if everyone thought like you all we would have is corrupt, greedy, and completely self centered people in this world.... oh wait we already do. Business does owe the consumer a single thing, hell it owes them everything. Without us, businesses have nothing, and sure there are a number of people who do nothing but bargin hunt, but you saw the numbers.... 100 our of 500 millions are unwanted... thats 80% of your base in good standing.... how much more greedy can you be?
 
ReubenRosa said:
you know.. Salaries, Benefits.. Folks actually getting paid to work. folks getting paid to help the public. Think about that customer service girl who makes 6 an hour and gets screamed at by that "BARGAIN HUNTER" just so they can induce a return and then hope to come back later and buy it below cost. Does she deserve to get screamed at?
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The market changes and thing change. Are you one of those people that constantly complains "how good it used to be"? The world is changing and we need adapt. People started buying online because the prices are cheaper. Why are they cheaper because the etailers dont' have a store front. Do they still employ people...yes. Do they still have to give benefits etc yes. Do they have customer service..yes.

I personally started buying online so I could make a more confident decision and spend my dollar wiser. Now do I go for the cheapest price...usually not. Do I work with a solid online etailer...yes (NEWEGG). Does it save me money and still support the economy...yep.

So faulting us bargain hunters is an exercise in wasteful business. B&M stores are not as cost effective as an etailer...so dont' fault them or us.

As for that girl...she made a choice to work at BB. If she doesn't like the work enviroment...then quit. There are lots other jobs out their regardless of how bad the economy is right now...so deal. If you work in customer service you must full well know that you will eventually have a very angry customer. Whether it is their fault or the fault of BB..it will happen. So really if BB sells me a TV and they don't honor their extended warranty (which has happened to the neighbors on each side of me) what do you expect them to do...just say "its okay...i understand". Bah...screw me out of thousands and I probaly won't be so polite anymore.

You are correct that BB has every right to fire "devil" customers. But if you think BB has some special rights because they are a B&M store...think again. My question is if they alienate all of the unprofitable 20 years now...what happens when those 20 year olds turn 30 year olds? I am boycotting Walmart right now....have been for 10 years now because of how they treated me in college. I am in my late 20's now...and soon to be having children. Will Walmart see my dollars...nope. I track my expenses pretty well...and by my calcs Walmart is losing $5000 a year income all because they wanted to "fire me" when I was in college. Short term gain...long term loss.

Don't hate you...just diagree with your stance.

-tReP
 
cybertron said:
And if everyone thought like you all we would have is corrupt, greedy, and completely self centered people in this world.... oh wait we already do. Business does owe the consumer a single thing, hell it owes them everything. Without us, businesses have nothing, and sure there are a number of people who do nothing but bargin hunt, but you saw the numbers.... 100 our of 500 millions are unwanted... thats 80% of your base in good standing.... how much more greedy can you be?
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It's greedy to want to make money instead of lose money? Wow, that's weird. I guess I'm being greedy by not living out on the street. You learn something new everyday...
 
I had read of BB "plans" to fire customers in the business papers many months ago and i was intrigued to say the least. Maybe their taking another big step towards making it happen?

I'm getting the hunch that bestbuy's "20%" is just too high of a number. I think they need to manage the abusers on the floor level and not from "the top down". This might mean an extra training course for BB managers but there's a cost benefit to be realized imho. Can't wait to see how it'll pan out.

Cliff notes:
- Best Buy has to remember that "we are the customer". They are treading a fine line with this initiative.
- Best Buy is a merchant. Merchants are in it to make money, not cater to psychotic customers
- Best Buy's 20% seems too high, i think there punishing joe schmoe bargain hunters as well as the abusers.
 
I've got some serious news for you guys. Best Buy gives 2 shits about the little guy, unless he's spending money. Non-commission as we may be, we are told nothing but "sell more accessories, sell higher priced accessories, sell higher margin TV's and sell warranties"

Best Buy wants your money and it doesn't care if it is getting through overpriced sub-contracted home theatre installs, over priced in-home computer repair, high ticket monster cable, in-store subscriptions like rhapsody or through we the sales people just upselling you until you either buy or ditch.

I'm a part time video employee, and I walk the straightest line I can between not getting let go for sub-par performance and telling the bare honest truth with optimistic opinions of the higher priced items, their performance increases, and your burning need to purchase them. However, most of the people I work with will tell you just about anything to make you buy the big shit, and they aren't the only ones in the company.

Best Buy is a great company to work for if you enjoy selling like you are on comission with no actual benefits for it other than your discount and your paycheck. As far as line-level employees go, those are the only benefits. They aren't exactly benevolent with the per-hour dollar amounts. They have incredibly low wage caps for hourly employees, and no type of C.O.L. increase or even a really decent stock purchase plan.

Best Buy wants a Billion dollars for their Black Friday, or as they call it, "GREEN" Friday sales event. They also want to kick out those same people who are going to generate the revenue on that day. So far we've rolled hypocrisy, bad karma, and a real fuckhead idea into one big ball of wax. It's one thing for a corporation to concoct an idea like that, I don't know if I would have made a press release regarding it.

All I smell here is greed, personally. With this company the only question is when is too much enough, and the answer is never.
 
I agree with Trepidati0n. Take my buddies with cars and stereo stuff. Back in 1998 we were all 17-18 years old, still in high school and working for peanuts. For me i wanted a pair of high end speakers ( retail of $500). I went to the place and bought only the speakers, that just came out. I got them for $450 out the door with a free set of $75 metal stands. They probly made 30%-40% or less off of me then their, come in and pay sticker +-10% customers, and yes it wouldnt be good in the bosses eyes if every sale went like mine. Long story short, out of high school i was working at ibm as a print monkey making decent pay for a 3 day work week and college. It took me 2 years but i completed the home theater and bought $5000 worth of stuff from the guy. I wouldnt have done that if he said " ill knock 10% off only if you buy a stereo too" and charged me for the stands. I would have kept my money ( cuz i couldnt afford it) and bought somewhere else or waited till i could afford the speakers. So me being a "devil" worked out for the store.

My buddies started buying cars. Guess what, they kept buying cars from the 2 lots that gave them killer deals and helped them out on their first cars.

Yes there are people that will try to get the best deal reguardless of how much money they make. But theres alot more people that will spend more as they make more if you let them have a deal.

The guy that only bought the free after rebate stuff might come back later on when he NEEDS stuff. Hell he might even tell a friend about the store, which is better then all the coke commercials in the world.


My bottom line. There will always be leaches, they dont eat much. Feed them when they are hungry and they will come back when they are full.

Give that 16 year a killer deal ( loss leader) on a stereo and you can bet your bottom dollar that when hes 18 he and all of his friends will be at your shop.


I really like the stereo shops that help out people that got there shit stollen. Bring the police report and a pic of your old system and they will help you out while your hurtin.
 
Good basic idea, taken way too far in my opinion.

No business needs customers always buying things below cost and taking advantage of the "system". However I think there is a better way to go about it then saying to "get lost'". They are going to piss alot of people off with this stuff - and alot of their so called "good" customers will probably get pissed too, so they will lose more business than they think.

The remaining business, from what they are saying, seems to be the backbone profit. So I don't see them going out of business, but rather they Best Buy as we know it changing and evolving into something totally different than it is or ever has been. I'd look for some major changes coming to Best Buy, it's going to be a totally different animal.

Their wage caps and etc unfortunately seem to be a trend in America these days. It's hard to go into any of the "big" stores like Best Buy, Lowes, etc. and find someone that knows what they hell they are talking about anymore. Today its all about money and profit, gone are they days of "real" customer service.

Example: I went to Lowe's to pick up a circuit breaker. The friend helping me with my breaker box is an electrician and he asked me to pick up a QO Single Pole 15 amp breaker. Hell, I thought how hard can this be? Well I go to Lowe's, find my brand's section, and find what I thought was the correct breaker. Wanting to make sure I asked an employee if it was the right breaker. "Well I think so" he replied. I replied with "I think so too but I asked because I want to be sure." "Well, i think it is, it looks like the right one" I repeated.. "I'm not driving here twice, I'm here to get the right breaker now, can you ask someone?" So he runs off and 15 minutes later he arrives with someone else and they state that no one working here today really knows the answer to my question for sure. But they "think" its the right breaker, but if not I can always bring it back. Stuff like this really pisses me off. Turns out it was the right breaker, so everything was cool. But comon, if your going to carry merchandise, and someone asks you a simple quetion like I did - hell you should know the answer, or at least SOMEONE is the friggen store should! I realize sometimes *some* merchandise can be tricky, but it seems this has become the way of the world. No one knows anything, and really for what they are paid, I guess we can't expect them to. *shrugs*
 
Maximus825 said:
It's greedy to want to make money instead of lose money? Wow, that's weird. I guess I'm being greedy by not living out on the street. You learn something new everyday...
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lol
I wonder what most of these people that are getting all worked up would do if their boss walked up and told them that they would not be getting a raise and that they need your basic expenses so they can figure out how much exacly you need to get paid

As for things changing thats what it looks like they are doing, they are changing how they do business in order to survive. Stuf like video cards are cheap to ship, TV's and most Home theater setups are not (and you want to hear/see them before you buy).

As far as the girl getting yelled by some bozo, yes she can quit but no one deserves that and just because someone is working in retail where they cannot yell back does not give you the right to do so ( add to this the fact that that person has no control over the policies).
 
In response to Reuben's post waaaaaaay above...



Best Buy salespeople have NO IDEA what they are talking about. How can they be honest when they don't know what RAM is? Or any difference between IDE and SATA drives (of the many that exist).

I applied for a job at Best Buy a few years ago, to get the discount, and use the extra cash to use that discount (it made sense to use the money in a never-ending cycle). But does anyone know what happened? Can anyone guess? I was denied the job because I was OVER-qualified. I knew too much to be a valuable asset to this company. They were afraid I was going to tell people the truth*. So they didn't hire me...I still made more money than I would have working for them, and I rip them off whenever I can.

Pissed off in Penn State,
Fallen

*EDIT: Truth meaning that they can most likely find better deals elsewhere (then proceed to tell them where). To be perfectly honest guys...I would have had no trouble lying. That's a nice discount they have going there, why would I jeopardize that? ;) :D :eek:
 
what a bunch of idiots they were. i would never do that to someone, because i appreciate it when people in the store actually know what they are talking about.
 
darksaga said:
As far as the girl getting yelled by some bozo, yes she can quit but no one deserves that and just because someone is working in retail where they cannot yell back does not give you the right to do so ( add to this the fact that that person has no control over the policies).
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There are all sorts of creative ways to handle obnoxious customers short of yelling at them ;). I'll never forget when i witnessed some young CompUsa employee being harassed by a real hottie-with-an-attitude.

Poor young employee: Sorry maam, i'd like to help you but this is not my department, and i know little about stereo's. Let me try to locate our "audio guy" to help you

Hottie bitchy lady: You dumb little shit, what do you mean you can't help me with stereos?! How about if report you to your manager?!

Poor young employee: Maam, you can do whatever you like, i'll just tell him that you were lying ! LoL



I was standing but 5 feet from them and she was flustered by that last comment to say the least :D
 
ReubenRosa said:
Lordy the dozens of posts filled with misinformation is terrifying.
.
.
.
But Best buy is doing this to support the customer's who are fans of the store. And their are alot more fans then many realize. I have seen it and heard it from them. Folks who like going to a store and getting good help. Who like Honest salespeople. Who like going into a place that is full of genuine good cheer. I mean doesn't it excite one when you enter a store where the workers are actually smiling? And are happy to see you?
:(
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Um... you do realize this is Best Buy you are talking about right? The store that has clueless and/or dishonest salespeople that have been detailed numerous times here and elsewhere on the net. A store that makes returns on defective products a painful and long hassle is full of good cheer?

And I while I have not been to best buy in a long while after having multiple bad experiences with them, I have never seen employees smiling there. EVER.

I think you are the one with misinformation.
 
I have been a customer and a salesperson long before the everyone tried to use the internet as an excuse to rob a place blind.

First off to the comment made by someone that they don't hire qualified people.. thats a friggin lie.

You were overqualified? Or maybe you didn't have retail experience and when they had you attempt to sell you sounded like a damn robot that would go way over a customer's head. Remember the average joe walking into a store doesn't know anything much about pcs. They are looking for help. They are not looking for help from a Computer Science Major they want to hear the information in words they can understand. People who actually speak human.

Secondly I have 15 years of computing experience .. I have more experience then anyone in the store.. but I was hired because I did have retail experience. Public experience dealing in customer service style situations. And I have a genuine interest in helping people.

Folks say well a person doesn't need those speaker cables.... They are not worth being bought. But that means you are selling from your wallet and not thinking.. if someone came in and said I want a nice Home theater setup.. you are going to sell them a 200 dollar setup in a box?
Or are you going to be honest and show them A nice package of a jbl speakers.. Yamaha receivers and high grade speaker cable to make that system sing? Folks who sell from their wallet don't last long because they are not being honest because they haven't heard a nice system and haven't realized that yes it does make a difference.

You are the type of bad salesperson who would sell a Sony LCD Monitor that supports Analog and DVi and not tell the customer that hey
if you connected it via DVI that it would look alot better and run smoother? Instead you leave that info out. A good honest person gives them options. And gives honest information that will allow them to make an informed decision. Leaving out information or giving bad information is bad period.

And at the best buy stores I have been to and the stores I have shopped at the employees do Smile.. the employees are knowledgable.

You think they are going to hire an idiot for their Geek Squad in home rep? Its about providing good help. See you guys are a tiny percentage of the current internet based world who believes they Know everything. I have seen these tech turks who come into a store all hopped up with an ego and shove it in a salesperson's face.... and 95% of the time they know jack.

They read some info online and they swear its gospel. And then they come in and try and embarress the person who is there to actually help them.

Like I said Best Buy is about helping those who want help. I have personally aided many a friendly customer who has come back later and personally thanked me. For doing my job properly.

I would love to see how well some would do trying to help someone buy a digital camera and explain the technology.. in a way that doesn't insult them? Would you tell them everything they can do with that camera?
How creative they could be? How easy it really can be? How fun it is?

OR would you drone on with technobabble? And totally confuse them? Because you want to show off your pseudo knowledge?

And to those who only want to work there for the discount then you are doing a disservice to your customers and to your co-workers who are willing to work hard and enjoy helping customers.

Oh and just so you know.. Folks do like spending money. If you give them an honest reason to.

I mean how many hear when putting a computer together ... .only buy 20 dollar speakers? or get a 5 dollar mouse? or a 3 dollar keyboard?

I mean seriously this is called HARDOCP.. not CheapOCP.
 
hey, ReubenSandwich:
hey_you_eff_off.gif


i think a custom title under your name would be sorta... cool. why not ask kyle to give you one?
 
Reuben has 15 years pc experience, and pre 1995 sales experience. Hell Reuben is at least in his 30's. Ok now for the fun part. When was the last time you saw a Reuben on the sales floor.
Last artical(sp) i read about best buy was they try to keep the employee base 25% full time 75% part time.

Now i shop at other places so i can get a Reuben. At best buy what are the odds of you getting a Reuben vs some one not old enough to drink? Odds are they will be 18-19 and this is there first job outa highschool.

I dont want to buy something from someone who has never been able to afford the product. I know they no nothing about what im buying. They have never used it. They have never had multiple experiences with several of the products so they can tell me which one is right for me.

I wanta Reuben. Some one who as "done that before". Some one who will catch me if i pick up a lcd monitor and a dvi cable, when he knows the monitor doesnt have dvi. Someone who has used a mp3 player other then an ipod and can tell me which one is best for a car, or for jogging, etc. If i buy a stereo i want a Reuben to tell me im a dumb shit for buying 2 diff brand speakers for my front stage. Goto best buy and say you have a missmatched front stage, and they will look at your like your on crack. "er uh, how high is the platform and we can match you up with the speaker stands to level it out".
 
wow sandwich.... Where have I not heard that before. :)
:D

As far as the teens working in any retail store..And this is not indicative of Best Buy only.. it depends on the teen. I have worked with some 19 year old who amazed me with stheir actual knowledge. They are of the new breed of teen who have been working with pcs since they were three... Who know more by far then their actual age would suggest. Now not every store is going to be perfect. But these so-called articles that supposedly know everything about what's going on in a Best Buy..or any other company for that matter.. They generally come from those who have left or have been released and have an axe to grind. Not exactly the type of person you want honest information from. I mean seriously as knowledgeable as some of you seem to be I would think that you know that this type of information is just not trustworthy.

I mean think about how many employees work for a company... lets say like Walmart. One person comes into a store in idaho for example.. And then they are looking for a gameboy game. They ask the person in the that department .. and the person doesn't know. what the customer doesn't know is that person is just there for lunch coverage and is not the regular in that department. He/she gets annoyed at the lack of help given. And then goes home and tells the wife... Walmart sucks. They hire morons there.

Now same store an hour later.. the regular person is in the department
and several folks come in ... And they ask for help and they get the proper help. And they come back and tell everyone how the help at Walmart is great.


So which is right? Assuming is a terrible thing and to take an article and swear it is gospel is foolish. There are plenty more folks who are happy and don't go around putting up websites proclaiming their joy from their shopping experience at a certain store.

But folks will always bitch and moan ten times louder then the guy who should be crowing about their great experience at the store.

Thats life and that's America.
 
ReubenRosa said:
wow sandwich.... Where have I not heard that before. :)
:D

But folks will always bitch and moan ten times louder then the guy who should be crowing about their great experience at the store.

Thats life and that's America.
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I think Reuben has a very good point....however I'm not sure if he is wearing rose colored glasses. The problem with BB is for every piece of GOOD info I get from a staff member I get at least as many if not more completely BAD pieces of info. Like being told that a 9800 is much better than a 6800 because it is three generations newer. There are some lines you do not cross. I don't care if you are beig told "push 9800's...you don't lie"...PERIOD. That one pushed me over the edge and forced me to intervine. Now if the salesman would have just shown the customer the 9800 and said this will play all of todays games petty good...then I would have given him kudos for doing his job. But he didn't...he lied.

However...I do think though that probally a large majority of the employee (teens and all) try to do their best. They don't want to get fired and they probally don't want to screw you over. That is why I still go to BB....I may not like their average level of technical knowledge but I know they are just a business like any other trying to pay the bills and the employees trying to feed a mouth.

As for Rueben comment about the "over qualified" person. He is dead on. One thing I learned very quickly is that you can be the smartest person in the world...but if you cannot give than knowledge in a "non jackass" format...your knowledge is not useful. I try and work on my "non jackass" skills with my parents. Has done wonders with my abilities to interact with my bosses ;)

Thanks rueben...I enjoyed your comments.

-tReP
 
I just have to say that I've been burned so many times by BB that they should just call me Cajun as I walk into the door. I have a few guys that I know well who work there that keep me coming back, but it's getting on the edge of insanity.

A new store just opened up...I'm not the most physically fit guy, and I actually hurt myself doing some activities at our company picnic, but I wanted to go by to check out the new store layout. So, I hunchbacked my way through the aisles. Here's what I saw:

1) Manager laughing with a guy in an Epson shirt about the way they placed the printer ink in the middle of the isle, blocking the walkway.

2) 6 associates in the PC department, 2 getting lectured by the same manager, other four floating and not doing much.

3) One of the above associates was pretending to sell a PC to his buddy so that he could talk to him more and make himself look like he was doing a good job.

4) TV I've been looking at went up $100 just from moving down the street. Saw a lot of the displays that have damage now from the move...guess they'll go online.

5) Car Audio guys too busy trying to tune in the local foul language bass station to care, had to sound like an a$$ to get their attention.

6) Went back to the PC area, finally broke down and tapped the manager to get him to help me. By then, I was tired of trying to deal with the people and just left.

I'm no devil, I spend the extra coin to have a local point-of-contact, but I've been hosed on returns (extended warranty IS a joke) and everybody's a bargain hunter...targeting those who know less is wrong.

BB may be going after the devils, but they certainly can't call themselves angels.
 
The shopper does not care about Best Buy, they care about themselves and how much money stays in their pocket. To say that deal shoppers are evil a crap. Best Buy I do not care about your profits, I care about my savings.

Not every person that walks into the store has a pocket full of disposable income. People shop for deals every day from the biggest of purchases to the smallest. It is the way it is. Fug 'em they can cottle the Barrys and Jills all they want. I will just take business elsewhere
 
I dont beleave in over qualified. EInstien( oh god was that a bad spelling) said that you dont know the topic unless you can explain it to your mother and she understands it.

Take the 9800 6800 example. I dont care if you have every gpu mips and ram makers timings memorised. Hell i dont care if you were on the board making both of them. YOU ARE NOT OVER QUALIFIED. If joke six pack comes in and wants to know which one to get, telling them that the 9800 gets 30% better fps then the 6800 when you turn on 8xfaa and 32xqrs, is not going to help the poor man. Now a person who is more knoledgable(sp) who might now even less about the product might be able to help the man out more. He could ask the guy what games he plays (odds are he doesnt know, in which case you could start firing off names until a light bulb comes on and he remebers which $@#% game he keeps telling his kid to turn off, at 2am) and what games he wants to play. The he could make it simple and say buy this one. He could even explain how this one might be slower on the old games, but it will be faster as the newer games comes out. Or he could explain how while the 6800 is 50% more then the 9800np, its not going to be noticably faster durring game play and it might not be worth it.


A good sales man can explain stuff in plain english. A techie that has mastered the thing cant seem to do that.
 
and Mother is gonna know too... she got us our two current comps with an "extended warranty". i just sent her a link to this thread so she knows about them trying to screw customers over.

she thinks her modem's slow... and is gonna try and get it replaced. anyone else here say that there is no way in #@!! that she's gonna get that modem replaced even tho she did get extended warranties?

and i was saying that before i heard about this... it's the line that's the problem. now i hear this... and now i'm saying that we're gonna see the devil on a zamboni long before we see Mother getting a new modem free.
 
Rueben, you do sound somewhat like an ass in whipping out your broadstroking brush and playing know-it-all on the posters as well as all bestbuy employees.

There are 3 bestbuy stores within my stomping grounds, and I can tell you that they are predominantly staffed with teens. Teens btw, that can be highly annoying if I have to say 3 times in ten minutes "just looking. Still just looking. You saw that guy ask the same question right?"

And then there's "No I don't want the extended warrantee. I'm sure. It's almost a third of the item's cost. I don't want it. Yes I know you have a friend that had to use his warrantee 8 times. Your friend's an idiot, ok I don't want the TV now. Happy?"

Yes, I had the above conversation while trying to purchase a TV. The salesteen kept trying to sell me warrantees until I just gave up on the product. Not only that, but ignoring my wife, who kept trying to talk to him, was RUDE. Warrantee pushing, while encouraged by the company, is severely fucking annoying.

I'm somewhat surprised that you've only seen brainsurgeons working at bestbuy. Please visit the Baltimore Pike Bestbuy in Philadelphia, The Plymouth Meeting Bestbuy, and the Columbus Blvd Bestbuy in Philadelphia, because they need your 15 years of expertise.

They need you to train the children 'when enough is enough.' They need you to lower the madman prices on techsupport while you're at it, because it isn't $45 worth of effort to put a sodimm chip into a laptop. Noone needs a 50 dollar warrantee on a 60 dollar dvd player.

It's best to just speak for yourself and your own credibility, and not take the company's faults onto your own shoulders unless it IS your fault.
 
ill add a little insight into the employee psychi for best buy, as i was hired there once but never showed for my first day of work since i got the opportunity to live somewhere else. Rueben basically sounds like he has been brainwashed by either best buy, or himself. Its difficult to work a job where you rip people off nonstop and not feel guitly about it, so you either let yourself become taken over by their cheesey handbook philosophies, or start lying to convince yourself youre really looking out for the customers best interest.

He used the dvi/analog video connector as an example of giving a customer what they truely need, vs. just making a sale, but this is hardly what is expected of an actual employee. If you were to sell a flat panel display, you would be expected to sell the customer a super expensive power strip with powerful trip circuit and fuse, suede leather cloth for cleaning dust, anti static spray, fancy delicate monitor sheath to cover at night, anti-static screen, anti-glare screen, 25 year warranty "upgrade", extra swivel stands that rotate 360 degrees, and screensaver software to enhance your viewing experience. This is best buy's motto, pack as much useless but still usable junk in there as possible. NOT cover all the realistic bases so they leave a happy customer.

The only reason i took the job was because i was desperate for money, and the first words out of my managers mouth made me sick to my stomach, so i hadnt decided while working there whether i would actually coach the customers honestly or not.
 
uvi said:
The only reason i took the job was because i was desperate for money, and the first words out of my managers mouth made me sick to my stomach, so i hadnt decided while working there whether i would actually coach the customers honestly or not.
Click to expand...
what did he say?
 
best buy < *

My local BB almost never pricematches, always has some lame excuse or drags it out for 1/2 hour or longer. It's a miracle if on Sunday morning the sale items are even on the floor.

I do only buy loss leader stuff now and i plan on raping them on BF again this year. And no, I don't want an extended warranty.
 
starhawk said:
what did he say?
Click to expand...
Basically outlining what i just exagerrated on, something along the lines of "we dont make money off the singular large sales, we make money off all the misc peripherals, get them to buy power strips, get them to buy extension cables" that is pretty close to verbatim, "get them to buy" lines. We even got to watch a video of a customer walk in and say they want to spend no more than $2500, so of course the employee makes no haste to sell him exactly $2500 worth of parts, the last $500 or so being in software and power strips. Not to mention hyping that your computer is coming with $1300 worth of pre-installed software.
 
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