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Best Buy Says Customers Not Always Right

linuxwrangler writes "Best Buy is one of the retailers that has now decided that the customer is not always right. Best Buy consultant Larry Selden has identified "demon customers" like those who file for a rebate then return the item. OK, I get that one (hey Best Buy: dump those customer-despised rebates and you won't have that problem...). Other categories like customers who only buy during sales are more interesting. Best Buy declined comment on how they are dealing with those customers. Some stores have actually "fired" customers. Welcome to the end result of all that customer information data mining."

8 of 1,754 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not allowed to only buy on sale??? by Grishnakh · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Then don't sell anything at/below cost, or on clearance, you dumbass. If you keep everything at the same price all the time, these people won't ever bother you again.

    What are you anyway, a Best Buy manager? You sound like a total ass.

  2. Re:Always right....? by darnoc · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    The problem is a broken sense customer ethics.

  3. Re:scammers by jmorris42 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    > There'd be nothing illegal about programming the store computer to
    > detect.... ...It's only illegal descrimination when you're
    > manipulating prices or offers based on the so called "protected
    > classes" mentioned in the laws.

    Nice idea, and in a sane world it would work. Here on Planet Earth it wouldn't. Do I really have to spell this one out and get modded flamebait or troll for my efforts? I guess since you wrote that you probably are that green... so what the hell, it is only karma.

    The problem is a damned if you do, damned if you don't thing. Certain stores in certain neighborhoods would have more of a problem with this sort of thing than those in other areas. And to be totally blunt, certain ethnic groups would be more of a problem than others. So if it were done purely on the basis of who is abusing the system it would LOOK racist and they would end up paying Jesse Jackson a couple of million to STFU.

    The only way to avoid that would be to code each customer by race/gender/etc and carefully set quotas for each 'protected class'. But how long could they keep secret the fact they are 'racially profiling' their customers? Again, there goes a million or so to Jackson & the other professional Race Baiters.

    Cheaper to just take it in the shorts once instead of twice.

    --
    Democrat delenda est
  4. Online by NineNine · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    People do that online, too. My store has customers come in that say, "I can get this at $xx" online". Well, we don't do sales just to keep things simple, and our prices are always low as hell. We do have a few customers that point to loss leaders online from fly-by-night online companies, and if they bitch, I suggest that they buy that product there. Most of the time, they get screwed, and may even have the balls to come back whining to us. At that point, we don't really bother to help them. If price is the only thing that's important to them, then fuck them. We don't want them as customers. They can go buy their ultra-cheap shit online, and deal with the problems when they don't get it/can't return it/it's expired, etc. I completely agree in firing customers.

    We also have customers who will ask us to special order stuff repeatedly, then decide that they don't want that item. Well, fuck them. No more special orders for them. We've lost several customers that way, and it's improved our bottom line!

  5. "I only tipped for good service" by gatkinso · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    This coming from a dwarf tosser.

    Clue: tipping is really not optional. While you may subscribe to the tightwad's notion that it is, rest assured that you are wrong.

    In case you didn't know Aussies are generally regarded as vying for the lead in assholedom.... slightly edged out by the French. (Atleast the French tip.)

    Perhaps you should ask yourself why you had more problems in one week than I have in a year. The common denominator in your experience is you.

    And they say Americans have a false sense of entitlement. From your post sounds like we aren't the only ones....

    PS Atkins is for fatties who rue the thought of jogging 20 minutes a day.

    --
    I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
  6. Re:The the hell is wrong with the US? by Triskele · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    Here's a tip - Australia isn't part of Europe. I know Americans have real problems with geography (like invading the wrong countries on a regular basis).

    Oz is a very different place to Europe or the US and I for one have found it to be one of the friendliest places going (possibly second to NZ).

    --

    --
    USA: home of the world's largest terrorist training camp.

  7. Re:The the hell is wrong with the US? by IANAAC · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    I go to Europe every year - I'm American, and I consistently get excellent service just about wherever I go, be it a hotel, airport, restaurant. But I speak the language where I go (Italy). Of course, I have an accent, but it doesn't sound American. Most people think I'm from either the Netherlands or somewhere in Scandinavia. This last year was a bit different than other years I've gone. I received the same great service I always have... until a situation would arise where I needed to show my identity. As soon as I would show my passport, things would change. The friendliness would subside, casualness of the conversation would turn more formal. Instead of a "Thanks, I hope you enjoy your stay. I recommend the restaurant on the corner", I would get a simple "Thank you".

    Our image internationally has been damaged pretty bad as of late. My experience is in a country that is considered a close ally with the US. I can only imagine the treatment from a non-US-friendly country.

  8. Americans vs. Arabs by danila · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    It seems that the management at Best Buy wants to turn the its stores into an Arab market and all its personnel into an army of hawkers. That would be a nice idea, if not for the fact that Arabs can do it with cetain grace and without annoying the heck out of the customers, while American clerks can't.

    I wonder if such behaviour is commonplace in other chain stores.

    --
    Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.