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Best Buy Sued By Ohio
liryon writes "The Register is reporting that the state of Ohio has sued national electronics retailer Best Buy for misleading customers by repackaging used goods and then selling them as new, and for failing to pay rebate claims. The Register report can be found here, and the original story is here. I guess this is what you get for deciding the customer is not always right." See also the Ohio AG's press release.
This kind of reminds me of a fellow often sighted on the outskirts of the parking lot of the shopping center that houses the Best Buy here in Springfield, Missouri, particularly during big sales. There's a landscaped border to the lot, with small grassy ridges and trees and things, and this fellow will bring a lawnchair, thermos mug, perhaps a parasol for shade, and set up right there on the hill overlooking the entrance with a big posterboard protest sign. I can't remember exactly what the sign said--I'm sure he had different ones on different occasions--but it was basically warnings like not to trust Best Buy's warranty plans, don't shop at Best Buy, etc.
I never quite worked up the nerve to approach him and ask him about it, but I did ask a couple of Best Buy servicepeons I happened to encounter while eating in the nearby Subway one day. Apparently the fellow had bought a video camera, damaged it in a fashion not covered under warranty (apparently dropped it over the side of a boat into a lake or something, I can't remember exactly now) and then got upset when Best Buy refused to honor the service plan.
So now he's getting his money's worth back by carrying out this oddball protest. Takes all kinds, I suppose.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
I try to shop online to get a 7% discount avoiding the sales tax penalty for local purchases. I would not mind buy locally but I ran into just as many problems at a local retailer as online.
The only rebate I have been denied was for a ViewSonic monitor I bought from BestBuy about 5 years ago. Back then, the rebates stated that if you do not include all necessary documents, you can resubmit. I forgot to include the UPC symbol and that was a $100 mistake. 8 weeks later, I got the letter stating that I did not include all information and that it would not be paid. 8 weeks is longer than the 30-day return policy. I think nowadays, you have the right to resubmit in these cases. Do not really know but I have not ever bought another viewsonic since and I have not ever forgot to re-read the fine print to know exactly what to send. The rebate hand in the middle of the paragraph what to include. I read the bottom that said it needed the receipt and a sticker from the box. It was my fault but I am still mad about that it was a $100 and local retailers only have customer service going for them.
"Firing customers", and now this?
Doesnt look too good for The Yellow Tag.
Why people ever shop at Best Buy I will never know. Sadly I was tricked into going there just last night...
I have a problem with Best Buy at all times of the year but especially at Christmas when they block off lanes so you can only enter/exit in one spot. That way they have an easier time trapping you in there to tell you that they do not work on commissions but that they are happy to help you look for everything they offer.
The second to last time I went to Best Buy I was looking for a wlan CF card for my iPaq. I went to Circuit City first and they had one for $40. I wasn't a huge fan of the maker (never heard of them) so I went to the Best Buy (less than 2 mi as the crow flies). I went into the area with the CF cards and looked at their gigantic selection of two CF cards. Both were over $75. Immediately the vultures descended on me. For once I had a question, "where are the rest of your CF wifi cards?" "That's it." "Wow, these are expensive." I was then dismissed with a wave of the hand and an insult about my lack of wifi CF card knowledge. I told them to start shopping at Circuit City, their discount couldn't even help to match their prices.
So last night I go in there to pick up a SD card reader. Their selection was, again, fantastically lacking. Five card readers. Two took SD the rest were for Sony format. $35.00 was the cheap one. Huh? Newegg.com here I come. So as I am leaving I am asked why I am leaving without buying anything, "Not here for Madden 2k5?" "No, I was here for an inexpensive SD card reader, it's obvious you don't carry those."
Now I was lying a bit when I said it was $35. It *was* $35 but I was not-so-politely informed that I could buy it at $35 and wait X weeks for my refund to come in the mail. Sorry about that Best Buy but I could get I online for $14 including shipping and no need to wait for my money to come back. Perhaps Ohio should force Best Buy to pay interest on the money while you wait for a rebate... Don't they make you pay back all the interest accrued if you don't have it all paid off when their 0% APR offer is done? It would be nice for them to taste their own medicine for once. Perhaps they would care about their customers more if they did.
For Best Buy being on nearly every block here in Minnesota (there are 5+ within a 5 mile radius of me) they suck. How the hell did they get so popular? People are really willing to put up w/lack of choice and expensive prices?
I'm sorry, I forgot I was in Microsoft-taught hell.
Hate to say it, but not honoring some rebates is the only way they can continue to offer them. Those draconian policies are there for a reason. It keeps the money around to give to those of us who are meticulous about rebate submissions.
those Bastards...
They could stop them from using all those rebates in their advertised prices. Come on! Its $20 instant rebate with a $45 mail in rebate that takes 6 to 8 weeks to get to you if it does at all. What happened to paying what they advertise!
Moo!
This is a problem I've had with best buy in the past ... they refuse to honor the Uniform Commercial Codes implied warranties of merchantability without explicitly disclaiming said warranties at the point of sale. It's about time something was done about it.
an interesting little insight from a disgruntled staff member.
Top 5 things Best Buy doesn't want you to know
I should have posted this long ago. As a former employee, here is an insider's look at the top 5 things from the HT department of Best Buy (where I worked) that I guarantee they do not want their customers to know.
5. Barely legal bait and switch schemes. They push the limits of the laws with many of their flyer ads with some cheap product, like a 40 dollar DVD player to get you in the store, in hopes of encouraging you to buy something better, ie more expensive. That's the salesmen's job under any circumstance, so it doesn't change with these cheapo sales events either.
4. Open box items are usually returned items, not something that just happened to get opened in store, which rarely happens. I've seen many store employees try to avoid saying it was returned, in fear of losing the sale. Also most employees don't take the time to properly label the open box tags so you may think you are getting all accessories when you are not.
3. I've discussed this before, but here is more on this subject. As part of employee training, monster cables are drilled into employee's heads as a part of all applicable sales add ons from day one. In fact it is part of the "Total Solution" mechanism in place that all employess are to follow during their sales routine. Employees are told straight up that monster's products are superior, but never given any detailed reason why this is supposedly so. The employees I witnessed would typically memorize much of the fluff that was written on the package, on their own behalf, as a way to more quickly answer customer questions, preserve "expert" status, and eliminate possible reservations that the customer might have about spending more on something that was already provided in the box. In fact, this was often lied about. Employees don't like telling customers that zipcords come with their dvd player when asked. If they employees are forced into telling a customer, they will be quick to point how poor in quality they are in comparison to monster's products. One manager would actually say "The only thing (the customer) better be using zipcords cords for is to hold their trunk shut after they've just bought something". AR cables and recoton cables are seen as a failure of doing a proper sale at Best Buy and used only as a last ditch effort to get the customer to buy a little something extra. If an employee doesn't ask you "do you want cables, an antenna, blank discs, tapes, etc. with that?" when you are buying an applicable product, then they are simply not doing their job as instructed.
2. Employee know how. There was a recent Home Theater magazine article on the knowledge of Circuit City, Ultimate Electronics, and Best Buy employees. The rag was trying to determine how well each store knew their stuff. I knew what the results of this absolutely retarded article were going to be before I even began reading it, but as a former employee I read it anyway for curiousity's sake. The results, of course, depended on the individual knowledge of the employee that the writers happened to speak to.
Best Buys's policy is for each employee to know as much as they can about the products they sell in their primary area of responsibility. Yet, in order to do so they have to research the product almost entirely on their own time. During slow times throughout the day when you would think an employee could do a little studying, typically this is when the merchandising manager obegins running around being his/her most concerned about the store's cleanliness and the straighntess of the product on the shelves etc., so employees rarely get to know their products that well and also because of the constant product turnover. Also keep in mind when selling something such as a DVD player you can
Especially after I got burned by 321 Studios.
"Want in one hand and spit in the other and see which one fills up first." - My Dad
Payback's gonna be a (mutli-million) dollar bitch, eh Best Buy?
Gives the people at http://www.bestbuysux.org/
some hope....Maybe other states will look into doing the same....Read some of the stories-it's pretty shocking.....
Last time I went in there, they treated me like a total crook, and had the blue shirts follow me wherever I went....Bastards!
-thewldisntenuff
My MythTV HowTo
best buy have always managed to screw me over. A friend was just screwed today because they refused to repair work done on a car audio install when it failed, citing that he had no proof it was their shoddy work.
I've been to best buy a few times.. had nothing but problems with them.
Andrew
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
Futureshop is best buy. Same company.
Moo!
Hope they don't have any Fry's Electronics stores in Ohio...
The customer is not *always* right. The business is not *always* right. No one is always right. That's why treating your customers with respect (which sometimes means saying "no" to the truly asinine requests) is the best way to be successful.
Having been a Best Buy employee for three very long months in 1999, I can tell you that respect for the customer is *far* from BBUY's focus--it's all about PSPs, PSPs, PSPs--that's Product Support Plan, or BBUY's in-house extended warranty. I was told to lie about service policies, suggest that the product would be broken and unusable in a year without the PSP, and even offer discounts off of an item's price up to the amount of the PSP (and I worked in PC & Home Office, so the PSP was $199)--ANYTHING to get the customer to buy the damn thing.
That place is as close to evil as any company that exists. Not honoring rebates is probably in one of their SOP manuals.
I am damn proud to be living in Ohio right now. Thank god somebody stepped up to the plate and did something about this. Best Buy's customer service has been on the skids for years ever since they have become too large for their own good. I now go out of my way to go buy electronics and anything of substantial dollar amounts at Circuit City. I am guessing that other people are doing the same thing.
It is kind of funny that Best Buy's shit service is the one thing preventing it from having a total monopoly. Does anyone else feel that CC has a huge edge in terms of service? I'd imagine in some cases it is the lesser of evils, but still, Best Buy needs to re-evaluate themselves. Too bad to see we are seemingly in an era where customer service has gone by the wayside...
Actually, if you've ever shopped at Futureshop, you have put money into Best Buy's pockets. BB owns Futureshop.
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
If you cater your business to the most vocal, whiny, ignorant, unscrupulous customer, you will fail. "No sir, you can't return those underpants. It appears you have worn them as evidenced by these brown streaks here. Yes sir, I know they say the customer is always right, but I don't have to put up with your shit."
What I hate is that all their prices are identical to Future Shop's (since they bought them). I have both stores in my town, and get weekly fliers for both (same day, same products).
It would be nice if they had it where both stores wouldn't have the same sales on the same day for the same products, but they don't. Perhaps it's just the fake appearence of competition that bothers me most.
In any event, I don't buy anything from either store anymore (since I can find most of the stuff I would buy from them elsewhere), though I do use them in a high-level research sort of way to get a feel for pricing.
http://www.bestbuysux.org/
for the first time in years, and it will probably be the last time.
I wanted a bluetooth keyboard for my notebook and some other accessories. I got all the accessories and then I was looking at the keyboards. The sales girl came and said that if I'm going to get a keyboard, I should get the extended warranty.
She didn't even try to see how interested I was in the keyboards or try to convince me to buy one. When I said "that's okay", she said I should read about it and shoved a brochure in front of me. I said "no thanks", and she angrily shoved it even closer and said "I really should at least read it; it's a great deal". I ignored her and she kept trying. I finally just abandoned my cart full of things I'd already decided to buy right in front of her and walked out of the store.
In summary, I didn't RTFA, but I hope this lawsuit breaks them.
I have encountered no problems shopping at best buy, I buy cds & dvds from them on a time to time basis, I have purchased some big items from them before and NO PROBLEMS
so stop offering them! If you have no intention of paying, or plan to use a loophole to withhold payment if they place a comma in the wrong spot, that's just wrong
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
Time to outlaw rebates. If you read the fine print, it is a scam. Companies like Officemax make it very difficult to get the reimbursement forms. Only allow "cash back at the register" rebates.
I had fun getting Best Buy and Circuit City to go back and forth concerning the 50in TV I have in my living room now. I got the price down 500 dollars just from them going back and forth. J
I used to work at Best Buy. On one hand I feel for the state. Best Buy's practices are sometimes a bit draconian. Especially with regards to service plans and rebates. This would cause major trouble for us as employees when Jimbo would come in looking for his $200 computer only to find that in actuallity he would have to spend $800 that day and would need to fill out thre different rebate forms. It would usually be at this point where a manager would start urging us to "sell dem service plans"
By the same token some customers were dumb as bricks and I would be surpriesed if they could get the return address correct, let alone a rebate or understanding a service plan.
We did try to sell returned merchindise as new. We never lied, but hell if we would voulenteer that information. I still feel kinda guilty about it.
100% Crunchier
respecting workers' freedom of association by never forcing them into unions
daring to provide a good deal
daring to try to build in place where people want a Wal-Mart.
I never buy from Best Buy anyways... of course, I live in Canada.
Umm, dude? I hate to tell you this, but they're here already. In fact there's a store in Markham, at Markville Mall (scroll down to see them on the floor plan)
You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
and for failing to pay rebate claims.
THANK GOD
Best Buy is absolutely CROOKED.
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
A few years ago, a Best Buy in east Kansas City installed a hard drive, supposedly new, in one of my teacher's home computers.
/q /s" on it, answering "Y" then "N"; this triggers a bug in older versions(before Win95, though I don't think I tried it with Win95) of DOS that allows DOS to read a partition that has been deleted and recreated.
When I was looking at it, I created one partition, and out of curiousity, did a "format
There were many normally-named(not garbage names like what there would be if the hard drive were new) files and directories on that hard drive that my teacher knew nothing about, making it obviously used.
On August 29, 2003, the Panasonic 27" television that I purchased at the Best Buy store in Columbia, MD was replaced with a model comparable in specification, according to the 4-year Performance Service Plan (hereafter PSP) that I purchased with the unit. The salesperson informed me that, under the PSP, if anything ever goes wrong with the television, I can bring it back to the store for repair or replacement. When the original unit was replaced, the salesperson informed me that, under the PSP, the remainder of the 4-year term of the PSP would carry over to the replacement unit.
Since my roommate and I found a substitute for the unit in the interim, the unit sat unmoved and unopened in my parents' house for approximately 120 days. (Yeah, I know. I probably should have checked it out, but I mean, i didn't really have the room to open this thing, especially when I didn't immediately require its use.) When I opened the unit that was given to me as a replacement, it turned out to be defective, with considerable cosmetic damage in the form of cracks and warps in the case. On January 6, 2004, I returned to the Best Buy store in Columbia, MD to have it repaired or replaced according to the PSP, the salesperson at the store told me that the PSP did not cover physical damage. I told the store salesperson that the unit was in that condition when I opened it. Then the salesperson said that the situation would be different if the unit did not function. I then told the salespeople that I did not turn the unit on, so I did not know if it functioned at all. Once it was determined that the unit did not function, the store salesperson agreed to send the unit to their authorized repair facility, saying that they would contact me when it was returned. They did not contact me. On February 3, 2004, I finally contacted the store myself--at which time I found that the unit had been in their possession for the past 3 weeks--and they told me it was repaired and I could pick up the unit. When I arrived, the store salesperson told me that the unit was not able to be repaired. When I asked for the unit to be replaced according to the PSP, they told me that I must have caused the damage myself, and that it was therefore not covered under the PSP. This is unacceptable, as the salesperson who sold me the unit and the PSP told me that if anything goes wrong with the TV, I could return it for repair or replacement, and since the full disclosure of the terms of the PSP were not given to me until after I purchased it.
So yeah, I probably should have checked it out to make sure it was ok, but I didn't really feel the need - the box had no signs of damage or trauma, was sealed, etc, etc. But that will surely be a lesson to me not to trust Best Buy ever again, ESPECIALLY not their so-called "service plan."
For more stories - FAR more offensive and appalling than this one, I might add - check out http://www.bestbuysux.org/.
"Why people ever shop at Best Buy I will never know. Sadly I was tricked into going there just last night..."
a 42 inch widescreen hitachi. Its been working wonderfully.. ..but now I know why the workers there seemed so reluctant to actually SELL me the damn thing, when I flat out refused the warranty. (fyi, most warrantys are total scams. The product is expected to work anyways. The company is under obligation to sell you a working product. If it doesnt work, they have to replace it.)
Heck, they wouldnt even help me and my buds load the thing into the van. _WE_ lifted it onto the trolley bed. WE pushed it outside. WE loaded it onto the bed.
A wonder they gave me an evil eye when i shoved to trolley back into the store. There were SIX employees just watching me and my friends at work.
Yargh. Bestbuy sucks.
Heck, they used to have good deals on dvds, now they dont even have that anymore.
no
Good for Ohio, I hope other states follow suit. Get it? Suit? Like lawsuit? Okay, I'll just crawl back into my hole now. :-(
The whole reason they're standing there is because they've got a message they want to get out. So long as you aren't planning to argue, it can be a positive and interesting experience even if you don't necessarily agree with what's on the sign.
My beef with Newegg is when you try to get something shipped to a location your credit card bills aren't shipped to. You have to really jump through some hoops to manage it. Any time a UPS or FedEx guy would deliver, I'm at work (not home). I ended up having my credit card bills sent to work, to get around it. What a hassle.
When I was a linux n00b, I bought a software modem from Best Buy and tried to get it to work with a Red Hat 5.0 box I was using. After about 4 days I found out that I had 0 chance of making it work I returned it to Best Buy.
When I got to the customer service counter the clerk asked me why I was returning the modem, I told her, she had no idea what I was talking about but she then proceeded to tell me that there would be a restocking fee. I got loud. "You sign says that 'A 15% restocking fee will be charged on returns or exchanges of any opened notebook computer, camcorder, digital camera or radar detector, unless defective.' This is not a notebook, camcorder, digital camera or a radar detector. There will be NO restocking fee." Immediately she backed down and gave me a refund.
I bought my VooDoo 3 card open box from best buy, I used it for years without a problem. It is still working in a computer that I sold to a friend of mine.
Mixed results, but for now I'll continue to shop there.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
And the exact same tactics. Salesman pounce on you and try to sell extended warranty plans. My wife and I were looking at a cell phone (the cheaper the better). The one we were discussing was $99. They tried to sell us a service plan for three years for $50 That's 1/2 the price of the phone. I told him in a year (manufacturer's warranty) the phone might be worth $20. He went on to explain how cell phones are expensive to fix and it would probably break 1 day after the manuf. warranty expired.
When I started to read this post, and saw that Best Buy was being sued for misleading customers I thought that some one was finally going after them for their misleading name.
And this book is available at Best Buy?
No one has a right to their *own* opinion. They have a right to the TRUTH.
Perhaps /. needs to change "your rights online" to simply "your rights." The latter would more precisely cover this type of article.
Either that, or we need a "your brick-and-mortar rights" section.
I can say that the accusations are 100% true. How do I know this? Because on one occasion, I had a manager personally show me how to operate the shrink-wrap machine. Working in PCHO, the 'printer to push' routinely changed depending on how much ink we had in stock. Being told to sell Packard Bell computers was a hoot, when I knew them to be the shittiest things on the planet. PSP's (extended warranties) were drilled into our collective heads every day, and despite protestations to the contrary, the saleskids *DO* get a kickback from them. That's why they're paranoid about scribbling their employee number on the back of the form. What's incredibly amusing is that after having worked 2 winters and a summer with them, i was spit out by their automated interviewer for being unqualified. The manager wanted me badly, and even reset the program twice and told me which answers to choose, but alas, alack, the computer just knew too much.
Recovering BBuy lackey xxxxxx, stores xxx and xxx.
(Wouldn't they like to know... afterall, I am an eyewitness to their illegal actions)
I suspect that one of these choices is incorrect. Correct.
I Never Ever buy open box products. I insist that they be factory sealed. I've been burned one too many times.
The thing that annoys me about Bad Buy is that they will have 8 open boxes, none factory sealed. They will not restock untill all the open box products have been sold. Hence, I go elsewhere.
or is that one?
If you don't need your gadget, you can get it cheaper there (usualy with minimal shipping charges) and no state+county sales tax.
Oh wait... I pay my Ohio Use Tax, Bob Taft! Honest!
i refuse to buy *anything* from Best Buy..
they do not honor thier pricing policies, and they refuse returns..
DO NOT use CASH in Best Buy.. you have absolutely NO RECOURSE if you do.. even if you have *the receipt*..
Best Buy is a demon retailer.. imo..
i hate microsoft.
I propose madating that all rebates must be payable on the spot. At the point of purchase.
This might put an end to such nonesense.
No one has a right to their *own* opinion. They have a right to the TRUTH.
I have bought a lot of products from them over the past few years and never really had any issues with them. Ive heard of many complaints and even a site out there bestbuysucks.com (or org i forget) which I found a bit on the humorous side. I had one issue which I just decided on another item. That was a Western Digital drive with a large rebate. The drive was defective though, so I had brought it back for an exchange and when the cashier didnt give me the rebate receipt form, I inquired and the promotion expired. I had her return the drive and went with another one with a similar rebate offer. Other than that, no issues and ive bought items from dvds to washers/dryers.
Another incident was when I went to school with this guy who worked at BestBuy. He managed to find a way steal laptops and pretty much any other equipment by somehow simulating a return or a replacement. I know that the guy is responsible for it but if a store cannot figure out what happens to $2000 laptops when they just keep dissapearing then the company has a problem and I cannot trust them to shop there.
Best Buy's motto is "We don't care" and they cannot stay in business too long with that attitude.
As a former RadioShack employee in my first year of college, I can tell you that ALL RadioShacks repackage returned items (sometimes even ones returned due to a small defect) as new and resells them. Managers try very hard to avoid returning items to the manufacturer. This goes for everything they sell, even used cell phones.
So, does this mean I won't get my $100 TiVo rebate?
Like Sweepstakes? Try out my service @ http://www.yourpowersweeps.com -- Free 21 day trial, no cc needed.
I got charged twice on a $1,500 computer.
I went to the store many times and talked to several different managers
with bank statement in hand.
They all said they would checkup on it and call me.
No one ever did.
I called corporate headquarters - they gave me a polite brush off.
Thank God, my bank took care of it.
These guys are scum.
While I'd really like watching the state collect a huge sum of money for each violation, it would be tough to prove every single violation. The State knows it, BestBuy knows it.
In the end, I expect a big settlement. Best Buy will admit that they have done nothing wrong, and agree that they won't do something wrong again in the future.
The lawyers involved will recieve a payment of 200 million, the state will recieve a check for 5 million. Oh, and the people actually harmed will get some in-store settlement checks.
They'll end up giving out settlement checks for $4.93 to each customer who is or was a resident of Ohio during the time of their doing-nothing-wrong, and end up with a quarter of them actually redeemed, usually spent on items costing ten times the settlement check, ensuring continued profits for the company.
Just once, I'd like to see the lawyers and state paid with in-store credit settlement checks.
frob
//TODO: Think of witty sig statement
I work at best buy as a computer tech, in the new 'Geek Squad' outfit. Every day I deal with customers that were blatantly lied to by the sales people about PSP's. Each product has a different status, some are replaceable, others have to be repaired, for a general rule of thumb, anything over a couple hundred dollars is being sent out to repair. Meanwhile every sales person is told to tell people the PSP replaces products right on the spot for 'any reason'. Also regarding computers, people are also told PSP covers stupidity, by that I mean it supposedly covers any viruses that get in there, or if you hose your Windows install. On top of that the techs dont know anything most of the time and just act as F10 techs, if it cant be fixed in a half hour we're supposed to charge the 60 dollars to do a OS reinstall. Geek Squad is a joke and the people who founded it are too busy reveling in the money that they got when Best Buy bought it out and is treating it as such. We're supposed to have a 48 hour turn around time, falsely advertised as such on the website. Realistically its more like 10-30 days! The stores are understaffed and underpaid, and overworked. Everyone is expected to work on at least 4 computers at a time, but nothing ever gets done, because we're all ordered to sell In-home services and PSP above working on computers and actually getting that stuff done. Don't shop at bestbuy, and above all don't bring your computers to Geeksquad unless you want to wait a couple weeks. But i'm pretty sure if your reading slashdot you probably don't need somebody else to work on your computer! Posted anonymously just in case someone from work reads this!
The easy way to shop at these 'burb chains is the same way you shop in the "camera district" in major cities.
Walk in, tell them what you saw in their ad, tell them what it comes with, tell them that's all your going to pay and that's all you want, no shit, and you want to be holding the item FIRST and inspect it FIRST before you hand over any payment.
Q. "But we can't give it to you at that price without..."
A. "FUCK YOU. Good day." (walk out)
Q. "That price only includes A, B, and C, not D, E, and F, I guess the ad was wrong..."
A. "FUCK YOU. Good day." (walk out)
Q. "We don't have it in stock, but we've backordered it for you..."
A. "FUCK YOU. Good day." (walk out)
Q. "You're going to need X, Y, and Z in order to make it work. Now I know you didn't ask for them, but..."
A. "FUCK YOU. Good day." (walk out)
Q. "That price is acutally only after rebate/only applies to gray market model/only applies to members of our sales club..."
A. "FUCK YOU. Good day." (walk out)
It's easy. Salespeople are assholes or pimply-faced teenagers without a clue anyway, they don't come in any other flavor. Use and abuse them and get what you want, ream them hard in the ass if you can, or walk out with your money and don't give it to the chickenshits.
Best Lie also operates Futureshop... just so you know.
I never buy the service plans for computer hardware, but I always buy them for telephones.
Why? Because every phone I've ever bought dies after about 2 years (or really easy use, too, no abuse). Would you call me an idiot because I can't disassemble the phone, pull the stored numbers list out of flash via a hand-soldered interface, fix the busted memory, and re-download it all? Fuck that, I got better things to do with my time (like mess with a computer).
I bought one nice phone from Worst Buy, and when it died, I pulled out the service plan and got a free replacement. When that one crapped out, I did it again. It's damned annoying -- I'd much rather just pay for one phone that lasts for years -- but at least I don't keep having to actually buy the new phones over and over.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
Being an Ohio resident, and a Best Buy customer, I have about $80 in rebates supposedly on the way.
:|
I'll have to dig through my past receipts and do some checking to see when I sent them, and if I will ever get the $.
Too bad they dont make Best Buy pay the $25,000 fine to the customers with the complaints
I don't think they should have been forced to replace something that was physically damaged after purchase, but what gets me is that it was the checkout attendants selling point that he could 'break it' and they would replace it no questions asked. There were several witnesses to this, and they still would not honor it.
Maybe its slightly off topic. I just thought I'd share the reason as to why I will never set foot in a best buy again.
Comp USA on PDAs, at least under the old plan. I only break the screen once a year or so, and so I've yet to try their new plan which has been outsourced to StuffBak, so YMMV. And I sure don't trust their plans on other items. But I have had great luck with the extended warrenty I bought on my Audiovox Maestro in 2000- from that, $200 later in replacing the warrenty every time, I've had two Maestros and a nice IPAQ 2200 out of the deal. All rather similar in capabilities, except for the Bluetooth upgrade on the IPAQ (Windows CE 2003 requires it). But boy did it work out nice- if I keep good backups on CF card, and break the screen, I don't even need to make it all the way home to get a new one.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
As an individual from Ohio I do have to say... finally.
I've wondered for so long how Best Buy gets away with the "Bait and Switch" tactic. I've had a friend who was the first person in the door the day of the sale to find NO instance of the item mentioned in the paper.
He was eventually told, they were only given so many of the particular sale item and it was most likely purchased by an employee before the doors opened.
Well great thing about TA... he doesn't let that kind of crap get past him. So, eventually, after enough griping they usually give himt he same deal on something else.
I don't have a half hour to waste and then of course getting the rebate stuff as well is just as much a pain.
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
There are at least 3 of them in Ottawa. Even stranger, on Merivale road they built a Best Buy directly across the street from the Future Shop. Then they proceeded to begin construction on a new Future Shop directly beside new Best Buy, with not more than a few meters separating them. If BB owns FS, then where's the logic in having two brand new stores so close together?
I normally buy pc stuff online, but any electronic equipment I buy in a physical store 95% of the time I shop at best buy.
I have a best buy card, I buy stuff with rebates all the time, I've successfully used the PSPs. This was all shopping in NY, and OH stores. I have never had a problem with a rebate, return, or anything like that.
I can only conclude that either I've been very lucky for the last 6 years, or else there are alot of morons out there who can't fill out rebates properly and don't know how to finesse their way into a successful return/exchange.
Living in Canada and having a Best Buy and Future Shop next to each other, I have to say that there IS a difference in sales quite often - but you have to research carefully.
For example, yesterday, I went into a Future Shop looking for a Game Boy Advanced SP. They had it bundled with Splinter Cell for a total of $139 (Cdn.). I walk over to Best Buy and they have the GBA SP bundled with Splinter Cell as well, for the same $139 Cdn., but it also came with Prince of Persia. That's an extra game for the same price as found in Future Shop, for the exact same price.
Best Buy owns Future Shop and the prices are almost always similar but Best Buy tends to toss in extra freebies on selected products.
Oh, I took the Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia games to EB and traded them in. So the difference between Best Buy's deal and Future Shop's deal becomes even more pronounced even if you're not interested in the extra freebie. There are advantages to Best Buy if you're willing to do the leg-work.
This story really shouldn't surprise anyone. My personal policy is this: never, ever, under any circumstances, talk to any salesperson at Best Buy. Here are a few of my worst anectodes:
1. While laptop shopping I asked one of the computer people how much video memory a particular model had (it wasn't clearly stated on the tag). After looking it up on the computer he replies "Ah, here it is, um, it has eh 64, um M.....B, yeah that's it". Now it's hard to convey here in writing, but it was obvious from the tone of his voice and the way he said it that he had absolutely no idea what MB stood for. Long story short, I subsequently bought a laptop from CompUSA.
2. While waiting at a counter in the computer section, I overhear a 'salesperson' talking with a customer who had asked if he knew the difference between a serial port and a USB port. He did not.
3. Another conversation overheard, a 'salesperson' clearly did not know the difference between a hard drive or any other drive on the computer, nor their relative capacities.
4. A nightmare situation evolved after I foolishly tried to sign up for SBC Yahoo DSL service at a Best Buy. (hint, just go straight to SBC or Yahoo if you want this) The deal called for a free starter kit which included a modem to be provided by the store. Unfotunately they gave me a cable modem and I didn't realize it (I'll take some tiny amount of blame for that one) until I got home. It turns out they didn't even have the DSL modems in stock (and never did) and that SBC will send it out later. This guy claimed to have the service himself at home - which leads me to wonder if he even knows the difference between DSL and cable? Doubtful.
Occasionally I go into Worst Buy - usually to get a hard drive they have on sale or something like that.
Occasionally I will actually go over to peruse the CD aisle to see if there is anything I might like.
Now, ignoring the fact that I consider most of the music they carry to be crap, and that which I do not consider crap I probably already own, there is one other thing that really turns me off on my Worst Buy shopping experience.
THE DAMN RADIOS.
First they have the store "radio" turned up and playing crap music and advertisements for Worst Buy crap. It's hard enough to try to think of all the songs that I don't yet own copies of without having my auditory memory overwritten by the store's garbage.
Then there are all the ThunderThump3000's over in the Automotive radio section - you know the ones the kiddies all go over to, turn up the bass, find the crap radio station, turn up the volume, and then leave.
So then the store has to turn up the store radio.
And of course the computer department has to turn up all the computers.
And the TV department turns up all the TVs.
Yes, that really is an environment I want to linger in.
Don't get me wrong - I like loud music, IF IT IS MUSIC I LIKE. But the mishmash of crap in your average Worst Buy is not music.
www.eFax.com are spammers
but its their ass if they dont keep their service plan numbers up. I used to work at a Best Buy and I got sickened by the lies some of these snake oil salesmen tell customers to get them to buy the service plans.
I refuse to buy computer hardware there, there's always a better price online, but I got a great deal on an open item television. I got the service plan, luckily, because it turned out to be defective. It took 3 months for them to finally make it work.
I still go back there for one reason, instant gratification. When you buy things online, it takes a week or more before you finally get it. And I'm willing to pay a little extra to have it now.
atleast we label our returned products and have a big selection of crappy stuff for cheapos :)
The illusion of competition.
They're doing the same thing in Coquitlam BC, actually.
-mis
The price is wrong, bitch.
Speak truth to power.
First, in response to your memory card issues, I'll have to say that's on the periphery of what Best Buy sells. They do a lot of TV's and such, car audio, but you can't expect them to do that AND focus on having great stock of what are effectively aftermarket support items. It's going to be spotty for that. It's definitely not fair to compare two store chains with the attempt to buy one item; I could counter with a similar experience from Circuit City. As far as comparing them to NewEgg, look at as you're paying extra for the privelege of them having to carry a lot of low-volume stuff. You want it now, you'll pay more.
That said, if I want a $200 TV, where do I go? Circuit City is basically Best Buy with red shirts. I'm not mail ordering a friggin' TV. And all the other medium-sized chains (like Good Guys here in CA) are obscenely expensive - you think Best Buy is bad, try them.
So next time I need typical consumer electronic equipment, I'm heading to Best Buy. And no, dammit, I'm not 'turfing! ;)
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
It certainly is fun to cheer when a big company gets handed a rebuke but let's look at who really pays and who really profits.
Who pays:
1) This isn't going to come out of the personal bank accounts of the people who sit on the executive board. This isn't going to come from the personal bank account of the CEO or VPs.
2) This will probably result in belt-tightening budget cuts which will translate into more money spent on marketing and less money spent on in-store jobs, promotions, or yearly bonuses.
3) This will probably cause Best Buy stock to hiccup which will impact people nationwide as their investments and retirement accounts pay.
4) Best Buy probably has business lawsuit insurance. The insurance company will not be happy about covering the bill. The only way for the insurance company to shore up their profit will be to raise rates on other insurance types: homeowners and car insurance are always beautiful targets as it's a larger base to draw from meaning less raise per policy and a general lack of resistance from the population.
Who profits:
1) The attorneys profit. Whatever settlement the court gives to Ohio the lawyers will take at least 33% of that right off the top.
2) The CEO will profit. The executive board will profit. The insurance company will profit. The VPs will profit. The investment bankers and stock brokers will profit. Companies holding distribution contracts with Best Buy will profit.
3) The customer will not profit. The citizens of Ohio will not profit.
4) Even if one-time disbursements are made to customers or citizens the company is 100% confident of making that back just like any casino which offers promotional packages.
In the end the politics inside Best Buy will use this as an excuse to axe the least favorite VP, replace the two least favorite executive board members, and as an excuse to raise the average price of a CD $0.10 to cover the losses.
+++ATHZ 99:5:80
I worked for ChimpUSA in College, and EVERYTHING that hopJohn said about Best Buy is absolutely true about ChimpUSA too.
Having worked there for about two and a hald years, I would never trust a chimpUSA employee farther than I could throw them. Mangagers even less.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Man, the one thing that cracks me up more than anything.... you know, the $100/ft oxygen free copper wire that supposidly has less resistance therefor better sound than lamp cable from the hardware store...
Anyways, the ignorance finally showed with the release of the TOSLink fiber optic cables used that carry the digital data (SPDIF format I believe).
Monster and other companies sell high grade TOSLink fiber optic cables that, according to the packaging, provide better sound than the factory throw ins.
It costs more than your SC to SC multimode fiber optic patch cords that you would use for a gige switch. Shit, probably more than a SM MRTJ cable for 10gig...
But the truth is, it works just as good as the cheapo. ZERO difference. It is all ones and zeros. I have a 10$ cable I used between a PC and my MD deck, and also between two MD decks. The secret is, there is a hidden option to enter a service mode where you can video the errors received on both toslink and the optical pickup.
The fact it, it is false advertising. Sure it might have more plastic wrapped around it and look cooler, but it is all just a plastic lightpipe (unlike computer cables which are indeed glass). I saw zero errors on the most budget cable out there.
Don't, (jibbie wack), don't believe the hype.
Southeastern Virginia REPRESENT!
In the Best Buy around here, it's okay to test out things like speakers that would have management eyeing you strangely in other stores. I went in, found the best price/performance ratio'd speakers I could find, and left, to get them 50 dollars cheaper off newegg.
Boycotting buying is fine by me, but everyone (even Best Buy) has thier uses.
Ah, vindication. I once had it out with them for trying to charge me a "restocking fee" for a non-functional MP3 CD player. A call to the Better Business Beureau and I got my fee back, but I'm still no fan of the company. Apparently they really were planning on restocking it...
Most of us here at /. are fairly tech savvy so I'm sure we don't fall for stuff like this, but...
I was shopping at the local BB and I over heard a couple of the employees double-teaming a customer.
The customer was trying to convince his wife that he needed a 20g USB HD.
The first employee was answering the customers questions when the second employee came up and started talking to the first employee.
#2 pretened like he didn't even see the customers, and he told #1 "OH Man! Those drives are so fast! We did some testing the other day in the back room and they were just so quick man, you wouldn't believe it."
Then #2 walked away, still pretending like he never saw the customers.
I almost told the guy they were fscking him over, but I didn't because I was afraid they'd throw me out of the store before I bought my item.
Thanks for taking the time to write all that. It pretty much confirms what I thought, but still nice to hear it from someone who actually knows.
Last thanksgiving, I purchased one of the cheapy eMachines PCs for my mom. The mail-in rebate for the thing was $250.
:)
Within two days, weird things started happenning to the machine (video glitches). I had mom (I live FAR , far away) take it back to Best Buy. They gladly exchanged it for a duplicate machine... all is happy... OR SO I'D THOUGHT.
Flash forward about 3 months and I get a letter from BB stating that my rebate was denied because the original product was returned. Wha?!
Well, turns out that the folks gave her a NEARLY identical machine at the store, and the rebate wasn't good on that model. No fucking way.
I spent a good 3 days talking to various folks at BB "Customer Service" (HA!) until I finally convinced then to honor the rebate. The only issue now... they need the ORIGINAL receipt from mom's exchange.
Well, due to other circumstances she couldn't get this to me for another few weeks, at which point I sent it in.
Wouldn't ya know, a few weeks later I received another mail that the rebate was declined because the FUCKING "MAIL-BY" date had passed.
And no amount of talking was going to make them budge on this. I don't know that I've EVER been so pissed.
Ah well, makes me feel a lot less guilty about the $400 worth of stuff I got from them and MSN several years back.
Oh, another cool trick to mess with Best Buy (Canada) stores is to get flyers from your local Chinatown computer stores and have Best Buy price match them.
If you have time to kill, it's fun watching them trying to verify a price when the person on the other end only speaks Cantonese. The other amusing thing is, the product could have "fallen off the back of a truck" or be a clever knock-off or a repackaged OEM item, but the Chinese computer store would never admit to it. I got an iRiver mp3 player for almost 50% off this way and an ATI video card for 50% off as well. Hours of amusement and hundreds of dollars in savings - the sneakiest Best Buy employee can't outsmart a sneaky customer.
Anytime i've gone to make a major purchase or even enter an electronic store I make a point to be baggy unneat clothes. e.g. no collared shirts. I already look a LOT younger than i am so the salespeople leave me alone. And if i'm going to be buying something like a comp where I'm going to HAVE to interact with an employee I get my dad to go with me. Guess who the sales people pressure? Leaving me free to look over specs and such.
That said I normally shop at staples and found them really good at sending back rebates.
Though they did try to sell us a PSP. Dad wanted to get it and since he was paying i said ok cause we didnt have much time. Started looking over it and everything that was covered in there I could fix. So we took it back to the store a couple days and they gave us a refund with no problem.
Just once, I'd like to see the lawyers and state paid with in-store credit settlement checks.
That's how it is in Texas now. Best. Law. Ever.
I'm sorry, but when I'm in charge these class action lawyers who go around from state to state to state suing companies will be round up and executed. Looking forward to having one as our Vice President...
Want to see lawsuits in the US get even worse? Kerry/Edwards 2004!
I've just signed legislation that'll outlaw Russia forever. We'll begin bombing in five minutes.
I purchased a Toshiba notebook about this time last year. I really needed it because I was going out of town. The local BestBuy was out of stock, but a store about 1hr away had one. They said I could have it shipped down, and it would be there in time, but only if I bought it at that store. Considering there was a sale ending that day, which gave me $150 off the notebook, I thought sure, why not.
... but what didn't make sense to me is why the 3 different people I talked to to make _sure_ it would be okay told me it was no problem.
... as mentioned in many other posts, one of BB bigest problems is many of their employees don't know jack, whether it be about the merchandise or store policy. Though I thought the manager did good though to resolve my first issue.
So, the "delivery" day came and went. No call. I called them up -- the unit hadn't even left the store where it originated from. I asked my local store if I could drive up to get it. They say, "shouldn't be a problem, but call their store first to make sure".
Sound advice. So I called. The person said "Sure! That's no problem what so ever. We have it back in the warehouse."
So, I called my local BB to let them know I actually was picking it up, they said no problem.
I ended up driving through one of the worst thunderstorms of the year to get to this store.
I get there, and after about 30 minutes of hassel, I find out I can't pick up the unit. Even though had my receipts, showing I had purchased the item. My computer was not even a 2 minute walk away, after a 1 hour drive, in the back warehouse. I fought with them for another 30 minutes... no good.
Apparently, since I "bought" the computer at the other store, they had to recieve the merchandise and scan it into their system before I could have it. This made sense to me
Needless to say I wasn't happy. And the manager knew it.
They ended up giving me a $50 gift card for my troubles, and the word of the manager that he would personally deliver my unit to my local best buy in the morning, after which it was all mine.
Sure enough, he did. I was still pretty pissed, however, I felt the manager did what he could. I could understand why I couldn't pick it up (the inventory was not technically their anymore, but my local stores, who needed to scan it into the system), but not why they didn't tell me that before.
Second story. When I first started shopping around for the aforementioned notebook PC, I went to BB. I was looking at the model I was most interested in, but the screen was totally screwed up. It *looked* to me like someone had jacked around with the font settings, and made it unreadable.
So, out of curiousity, I thought I'd see what the computer personel said. I knew from the minute this guy opened his mouth he had no clue what so ever.
He squinted at the screen, trying to read the fonts. Thought about it a minute and said "nothings wrong"
I said "You're kidding, right? Did you notice the fonts?"
"Yeah. I can read them just fine," he said
"Well, I can't. And I have perfect vision"
He said, "Well, I have 20/15"
I almost said "So, a person has to have better than normal vision to use this computer?" but instead I left it as is. I sort of shadowed the fellow for the next 15 minutes or so, to hear some of the "fascinating insights" he had about computers when talking with other customers. After one, I spoke with the customer after the fact and made sure he was *properly* informed before I finally left the store.
Anyway
I love how all the complaints about the service plans state "the employee told me it is like this". People never say "the contract I signed told me that it was like this..."
And then people wonder when something breaks why they don't get what the employee said and instead best buy follows what the contract says.
People are morons, customers are NOT always right (they aren't even occassionally right).
I disagree. If that was supposed to be a troll, it was a horrible attempt. A good troll is so subtle you don't even notice it.
I worked for Best Buy for about 3 years, and left rufley a year ago. When I left I was the Digital Imaging Manager, and I know the SOP (Stander Operationg Procedure) of the store like the back of my hand. I think the the reporter / AG has some things wrong.
*Best Buy does not handel rebates. There are many companys that do rabetes for any company who wants to have a rebate on their items. Companys like Young America. Their job is rebates, that is all they do.
*Best Buy has a very strong "Open Item" rule. They even have tags to put on every item that is open box. They have to be updated every 2 weeks. And every item gets a tag when it goes back to the floor form Customer Service.
*In the case of Electronics like PS2's, the tech's have to check them out before they go on the floor. If the item dose not work, it goes to DEVO (Back To The Vender) ir Juck Out(if the vender will not take it back).
*The return policy is 30 Day on all items but 15 days on computers, digital camras and camcorders and are subejct to a 15% resocking fee if the item is open. (The item is then discounted a minimum of 10% and sold on the floor as a Open Item)
*You can not return open Music or Software, you may exchange.
BTW: Sony is DEVO, so when a PS2 is broken they just send it back to sony at no cost to them
I think some of the clames of the pepole are just pepole that dont READ. Their are phone numbers to call for help the store can not pull up that info (all the new privicy act's realy make it hard to get infomation about customers). And with the problem of not being able to return a product like a PS2 in less then 30 days, their should be no problem. And if their is call BBI, the HQ and they sould be able to solve the issue very fast. or just go to another Best Buy, you can return them anyware.
The Best Buy I worked at was buy the book. We never had a issue that lasted more than a few minuts along as the customer was calm.
Suger works better then Viniger!!!
I can't begin to say how happy I am to hear that Best Buy is getting theirs!!
... We don't carry that unit any more. We'd be happy to give you some money that you can spend in Best Buy on another MP3 player.
...
... ever ... ever ... purchase anything from Best Buy ever agian.
Personally I've been missled by their sales associates. I purchased a 40gig Nomad MP3 player. At the time of purchase the sales associate said that I should buy a service plan. His argument was that the batteries are expensive to replace. And with the service plan I just bring in the device and they replace the battery.
Sounded resonable.
Six months later the battery dies.
I bring back the unit and explain that I had the service plan and that I needed a replacement battery. I was told that Best Buy would only replace the entire unit.
Oh and by the way
What! Crazy!
I bought that item on sale. There's no way I can get something comperable and maintain the value of purchasing something on sale.
Okay
Refund the money I spent on this service plan. It is clearly designed so that I can never utilize it.
Best Buy's response: NO
I ended up having to pay $40 for another battery.
Which, by the way, is what I spent on the service plan.
I will never
ever.
--The Dude
Best Buy is a virus ..
I bought Klipsh speakers for my computer the darn things were 499. I bought the Extented warranty 3 year warranty and then in 18 months when they went bad. ( audio crackling etc ).
They would not replace them. Their reply was that these speakers were not used in doors.. ( which is Bs as they sit in my server room @ a constant 71 degree's.. So if i have A/c in the house that voids the warranty... BEWARE.
You think that's the price because you have never tried to buy a phone without a wireless service plan. The global average cellular price is about $160 (and that includes the cheap ones sold in developing countries). Most US handsets go for $300-$400 if you don't buy the plan. Not that that makes the service plan any cheaper. The phone will probably be worth $100-$200 in a year, depending on the technology used (If it were a Verizon or Sprint phone figure toward the high end of the range).
Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
I purchased a printer from Circuit City about a year ago. Went home opened the "factory" sealed box and discovered that the printer required extensive nozzle cleaning to print correctly. I was pretty upset because this is what old printers do. I returned the printer and told them it did not work. They did not have anymore in stock so they credited my account. Then I went to another Circuit City and purchased the same printer and told them not to give one that had been resealed. It took them about half and hour but they finally gave me a dusty box. Went home opened it and realised that this one even had more cupons , documentation and software. I finally got what I paid for NEW printer.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!" - Emiliano Zapata
I wonder if the rebates Best Buy is getting sued over are actually Best Buy rebates. Best Buy offers two kinds of rebates, theirs and ones that go through the manufacturer. The Best Buy rebates themselves, which go through Calais, ME, are actually pretty good - they come quickly, and I've done many of them and never had a problem.
Best Buy will also frequently offer rebates through the manufactuerer. These either go to the manufacturer directly or through a major rebate house like Parago (miami, fl) or TCA (new rochelle, ny). The ones that go through rebate houses can be slow, but they usually come.
Many of the ones that go directly to the manufacturer never come, no matter what. Some of the worst offenders are IOMagic (aka hi-val or digital research) and Buslink
It's a tough call how responsible BB should be for these - they are offered by the manufacturer and the manufacturer is responsible for paying for them. On the other hand, Best Buy has to know by now from numerous complaints that these companies are trouble, but they still advertise their rebates.
I have blog like everyone else
Way back in the day, my parents bought me a refurbished Packard Bell 486 (this was right after the Pentium came out) [at Best Buy]. We got the extended warranty, where after they fix three problems, the next results in a replacement computer. More accurately, it results in a store credit for the original purchase price. To make a long story short, after a few years it developed its 4th problem, and we replaced it with an HP K6-2 laptop... for free (actually, maybe $100 or so more; the laptop was priced higher than the 486 had been). We got an extended warranty on it, too.
So, a few years later it developed a problem. Not it's fourth, but one severe enough to warrant my mom getting so pissed that the customer service people treated it like one (It overheated to the point where it melted the varnish on our computer desk). Anyway, it was replaced again, with a P4 2.2 GHz Compaq laptop.
So, we've gone through a total of 3 computers for a grand total of about $2000 ($1000 for the first one + ~$150 extra for the second, + ~$350 extra for the third, plus 3 service agreements -- not quite sure how much they cost). I'd say it's been a pretty good deal.
Ironically, the Compaq has been really, really reliable, especially considering how crappy every other Compaq I've ever seen has been. But we still have a year left, and rest assured it will have four problems by then, if I have to inflict them myself! : )
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
. . . they have been assimilated.
I'm not tense. I'm just terribly, terribly, alert.
I don't know if the memory they sell was used or not, but I've had alot of problems with bad RAM from them. It didn't seem to matter which brand I bought, either. Needless to say, I won't buy RAM from them anymore.
I did buy a set of Creative Labs speakers from there. But it wasn't a salesman that offered the extended warranty. It was the cashier who encouraged me to get an extended warranty. So I figured, "Eh, what the hay" and got it. She said that if the speakers blew in the next two years, they would be covered.
One day some "punk ass kid" (his words) refused the loan without collateral. Charlie left, got his accountant to figure out how much cash was in his business account (minus outstanding checks) and cashed out. The next day Charlie, me and a friend showed up at the bank and help him move the eight paper boxes of cash (a few hundred thousand) to a bank less than a quarter mile away.
Needless to say, Mr. Punk Ass Kid got axed. The bank begged for forgiveness. Charlie told them to go fuck themselves.
Moral of the story: know your customers and treat the good ones well.
Lo, about a year later the screen went dead. I took it back. Problem: they no longer sell this model of phone. No problem, I'm not surprised, just give me the comparable model phone.
Well, apparently, the comparable model phone - which, I'll admit, had a color screen which mine did not - was $250, whereas mine was originally $129. Even worse, the absolute CHEAPEST phone they had was $149, and it was way more sucky than the one I already had.
Nope, sorry, they'll only give me the retail price on the phone in exchange - I'll have to pony up at least $20 to get a crappier phone, even more if I want something the wife will accept.
Thppt. Circuit City has paid for their transgressions with DivX, I'll give 'em another shot.
cue the Libertarian/Republican dog-eat-dog/survival-of-the-fittest trolls claiming that people should just vote with their wallet and the government should stay out and that the consumers are entitled to any rights and yata yata yata.
If you really want them to stop following you around, all you have to do is keep reaching into your pants, make a few scratching motions, then walk up to the closest guy and extend your hand for a quick introductory handshake. Stand really close, and be sure to smile. A lot.
Generally, you should only have to do this once to be left totally alone by most salesmen. Nothing creeps a person out more than someone standing less than three inches from his or her face.
I'm not tense. I'm just terribly, terribly, alert.
Really, that's about it.
Mind you, I can get the 'employee' discount at Best Buy (significant other's sister works at a warehouse for BBuy), but, it's not worth the hassle.
I'm walking into the store, coming straight from working 14 hours. I'm your typical 'non-desk-job-junkie,' and I'm not always the cleanest cut when I'm finished working in the morning.
I go, and I start looking for a replacement cradle for my Palm.
No sooner than I pull out my palm pilot, I'm greeted by some of their 'bouncers,' telling me that they had one of their display palms stolen, and that I had some gall to come back in and steal their accessories for it, too.
At this point in time, I was quite pissed. I turned around, and told the guy, to either cuff me and get someone out there to arrest me and charge me with a crime, or to get the F out of my face. The guy grabbed my hand, and said, "OK, let's do this the hard way."
To make a long story short, when the deputy arrived, he looked at me, said, "Hi Ian," I explained to him what this guy was trying to do, and he let me go, much to the pissed off look on the LP's face. The Deputy then explained that not only did he know me personally from having me fix his wife's computer, he knew me professionally from me fixing the Sheriff's systems in the county (rural Ohio, by the way).
Circuit City's no much better...ten people at the store not knowing what, or where, a KVM would be located at.
Needless to say, I shop at local computer stores now, gladly pay the extra money for the extra service, and help the local economy.
Ian
I disable sigs...do you?
I truly hate this place. I first began to hate it when I graduated from college and was shopping for a big screen HDTV. I waited for about 15 minutes for the salesperson to assist me, but he kept ignoring me and helping older customers who walked up after me. Finally I approached him and asked him a question about the TVs (as if these high school punks actually have any real answers). He answered me disdainfully and then moved on to the next customer. Guess he didn't realize I'd just landed a $55k/yr job. Needless to say, Circuit City got my money instead.
I really began to hate them when they started pushing Netflix subscriptions and service plans at the cash register.
I gave them one last shot when I went to purchase a SATA HDD power connector adapter and data cable. They didn't even have the power adapter, and the only cable they had looked like an 18" piece of lamp cord and cost $20. I went to Fry's and bought both the power adapter and the data cable for $12 total. Screw Best Buy and it's incompetant, unknowledgeable, uncaring staff.
You can always tell who's worked retail and who hasn't.
Slashdotters without retail experience: "I went into Best Buy to purchase a wireless router, and the sales drone dared to try and sell me a replacement plan on it! I laughed and told him that I had forgotten more about computers than he will ever know, and that because of this I knew that if my router breaks at anytime in the next 10 years, I can bring it back in to any Best Buy in the nation and demand a full refund, no questions asked!"
Slashdotters with retail experience: "To quote Ben Affleck, 'The customer is always an asshole!'"
Anyway, my retail horror story: After two years of tech work at CompUSSR, I was literally on my last day. About 3:00 in the afternoon a lady, her husband, and son bring in a computer they had purchased about a month ago. It was fuxored, wouldn't boot, etc; she wanted a brand new machine, and was going to part heaven and earth to get it.
CompUSSR policy at the time was no refunds/exchanges after 14 days. CompUSSR policy was also that if the customer had problems with their machines, they first needed to call our support 800 number to initially trouble shoot the problem. All you people with retail tech support experience, I'll pause to let you have a good laugh at that one........Anyway, needless to say that 9 times out of 10 when a customer brought their computer into us first with problems, we pretty muched dropped what we were doing and at least took a cursory look at it. Since I was just treading water anyway running out the clock, I volunteered.
Well, it turns out this computers problem was a trashed Internet Explorer. The lady, who was hot to begin with, had went off with one of the managers, who was I'm sure repeating the mantra all sales managers do when a customer brings in a computer demanding an exchange: Upsale...Upsale...Upsale. I talked to the husband and son for a few minutes, and determined that they had attempted to install a new version of IE, but had apparently got scared half-way through and bailed on the process. With a shutdown-reboot. Nice.
OK, so we know what the problem is now, and I'm pretty confident I can fix the machine by running the setup of IE from a CD we had at the time. Might take a little hoop jumping here and there, but it can probably be done (You know I'll say this for CompUSA: the job sucked, but damned if I wasn't a fucking good tech by the time I got out of there. Those kind of jobs: you see it all). One problem: CompUSSR policy (you know whats coming now) states that we are only responsible for fixing hardware issues: software issues will cost you a flat fee of $99.95 (or whatever it was back then).
Well about this time the lady comes back over with the sales manager at her heel, and when she hears this she pretty much loses it. How dare I tell her it's going to cost $100 to fix this computer, we didn't do anything to it, it's your responsibility, this is ridiculous I want my money back, you're going to fix it for free, blah blah blah for near on 10 minutes straight.
So there I am, straight in this bitches crosshairs eating flaming death by the metric ton. The sales manager is about as useless as you might imagine in this situation, piping up only to remind the bitch every couple minutes that he can't give her a refund or exchange. I think the fucker actually left mid-argument to leave me to fend for myself. Eventually I get a word in edgwise, practically yell "Let me talk to my manager" and retreat to the safety of the tech department. Eventually Sales Manager finds his way back there, and it's agreed that I'm going to go ahead and fix her computer for free. At this point I don't even care, I just want the day to end.
An hour later I've got the thing working again, and take it out to the front couter to demonstrate as such for all parties. WonderBitch gives me a look the entire time like she can barely surpress her gag reflex at the mear knowledge of my existance. As I'm opening up every dam
In my life I have bought 2 service plans and both of the companies went out of business before the end of the plans. In 1993 when I was a freshman in college I bought a new Macintosh Performa 550 from Silo and I bought the 5 year service plan for over $200. Silo later went out of business.
During the summer of 1994 I bought a car stereo from Sun TV and Appliance and I bought the replacement plan. Sun later went out of business.
It's a curse. I can't justify buying a replacement plan for an item that will be obsolete before the end of the plan.
In 1995 I bought an bridal set from Shaw's jewlers. I also paid the $50 for their Extended Service Plan (ESP) and every 6 months we had to take the engagement ring back to be inspected. We did this like clockwork. Once, one of the smaller diamonds was lost, guess what, it wasn't covered by the plan because one of the tines that held it in place was bent. After 3 years they tried to sell me a new plan saying that the plan I bought was only good for 3 years. There was no time limit mentioned in the agreement that I signed and the inspection form had about 12 blanks for the inspecting manager to sign. HOW IN THE FUCK can there be 6 years worth of blank spaces for a plan that was only supposed to be for 3 years? I never bought another piece of jewelery from Shaw's again. They are still in business, but they'll never get my business again.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Well, while she was taking her final I decided I would go to the local mall and hang out for awhile to burn some time. I ended up at Best Buy (most guys, when left to their own shopping accords with no woman at their hip and money to burn, will end up at an electronics store. Call it Jay's Law). Anyhow, I went inside and was glancing at everything: computer stuff, DVDs, video games, TVs, stereo stuff, etc., basically deciding what I wanted to get that day. I didn't have a cart on me in their defense just because I may have gotten a DVD or a stereo; I wasn't sure yet.
So, about 15 to 20 minutes into the excursion I notice a pretty big guy in tattoos looking at The Sims' latest expansion. A little odd, I decided, that this wanna-be biker guy was checking something like that out. I filed it in the back of my mind and went to look at digital cameras.
Not 5 minutes later I am leaving digicam land to examine TVs and, while deciding between one model and another (had my mind made up at this point as to what I wanted) who do I see but Mr. Tattoo "looking" at plasmas. Now I know I am being tailed. Having time to burn, I decide to have fun with this.
I abandon TVs, deciding any major purchases from this point on will be done at Sears or CC. I walk over to the car stereo section, and change the display test model to the most annoying rap station I could find, then proceed to blast Puff fitty cent or what-have-you at an annoying level. I get the "can I help you?" not too long afterwards and start chatting with the clerk about what subwoofer is the best. Dollar signs in his eyes, I proceed to listen with half an ear as he extols the latest and greatest 12" with case and built-in amp. Meanwhile, I catch tattoo guy moseying on over to check out - I shit you not - Celine Dion CDs that are stationed close to the stereo section!
Breaking the poor salesguys's heart, I interrupt his explanation of how badly I'll need a PSP on the sub and ask him straight up does tattoo guy work for you? He glanced over at the guy and looked back at me and gestured me over to the cable section and said "Yeah, he does. He's security."
I thanked him, walked out the door, and was halfway to my car when I felt a tap on my shoulder. There, in the parking lot, was a manager (the name tag alluded to that fact) and a blue-shirt I hadn't remembered. They asked me to come back inside. Having yet another half hour to burn and wanting to clear my name, I went back in. I was escorted to an office. I was asked why I was wandering from dept. to dept. aimlessly. I was asked where was the DVD I stole. On and on. Finally Minnesota's finest shows up. I plead ignorance, knowing I had done nothing wrong. Finally it comes down to tape (I am running behind at this point, and I don't have my cell on me to call my sister and let her know what's happening. Best Buy, of course, won't let me make the local call. Meh, whatever. I'm having fun.)
So, in true NFL action, it comes down to me and the tape. The tape ends up clearing me; at no point do I do anything with any DVD except look at the back of it. After all that, I am escorted from the store by the cop, who says this happens waaaay too often, and told by the manager that I am not allowed there ever.
Needless to say, I'll never browse or buy at a Best Buy again. Their loss; I went to Circuit City and was met with the best of sales staff and dropped $300 on a new TV.
One thing I do recommend when you get good customer service though is to talk to a manager or send a letter. Yeah, it takes 15 minutes from Doom 3 and a stamp, but the feeling afterwards is well worth it. I even got a hand-written letter from the CC employee and a $5 gift card for my feedback. To this day, that $5, the letter, and the amazing customer service has done more for their business for me than anything else. I continue to shop there to this day and extol their virtues to others.
"This food is problematic."
I hope this happens to CompUSA too. They could easily be the target of a similar lawsuit. I worked there a few years ago and was really suprised by some of their practices.
Corporate CompUSA sends out a list of different price adjustments and pricing schemes to its stores each day. For computers, cameras, printers, etc - we regulary stickered some of those items at $100-$200 more than corporate-set retail prices.
This way, anytime a salesman wanted to be a "nice guy," he could say he'll take $100-$200 of the item you're looking at and give you a "free" extended warranty, or something else to try to convince you to buy immediately. So what usually happens is the customer gets suckered into buying something for a little more than its supposed to be sold for, and the warranty as well.
I think that's deceit at its best and I wonder if corporate CompUSA knows that some (maybe all) of its stores do that. It seems like something I can see happening at car dealships but for some reason I don't think Best Buy, CompUSA, etc, should be doing this.
I worked for a year and a half in loss prevention at Best Buy. When I was there, part of my job involved superivising the twice-weekly unloading of the trucks that pulled in late at night to unload "new" products.
I lost all respect for the store the night I happend to unload a few electronics with half-torn Open Box stickers still attached. That's right--some other store's Open Box Items, which were previously used and should have been marked down in price, were being shipped to our store to sell as New. I have no idea of the number of things shipped to us in those two years that had stickers completely removed or were seen and ignored by the folks helping me; my truck work usually came at the end of a 12-hour shift and I was using all my available energy to stay awake enough to not get crushed by falling televisions.
I live in ohio, I have been to many different Best Buy locations over the years. I have never been treated properly at any store, they always try to push their services plans on me or sell me something I don't need.
:P and I found a cheap card, I think it was around 40 bucks or so. At that time it was least expensive card they had there, not to mention that was the last card they had on their shelf. I picked it up,headed to the
Anyways, this is besides the point.
I would like to share my soundcard experience.
about 5 years ago I was fixing a friends computer and out of urgency I needed to get a sound card fast, so I decided to head to our local Best Buy (Mentor, Ohio) So, I walk in the store and head to the sounds card department
checkout counter and paid for it and went home.
I got home, opened up the box and to my disapointment the driver cd was missing, I was like wtf?!? I look through the box just to make sure and still no damn cd. Because I know most manufacturers provide drivers online I didn't get too upset. So I take the card out of the bag and I look at it closely. It had dust all over it!! Now , call me stupid, but a new card should not have dust on it! I got pissed then. I put it back in the bag and shove it back in the box. While putting it back in the box, I notice that the plastic on was kinda funky, I take a closer look...it appears someone put super glue on the seams....I was furious, I put all the shit in the besybuy bag and headed back to Best Buy.
I got to Best Buy and went to the service desk, I say hey, I just bought this sound card two hours ago, I got home and it was missing the driver cd, the card had dust on it because it was probably used before I bought it and and the box plastic was superglued shut.
Now I would like to get a refund or a new card.
They gave me this weird look and said, well because the card is missing its software and is not in resale condition we cannot do anything.
I said Hello!! Look at my receipt, I just bought it!! They said it again, we cannot do anything since the card is missing the software.
I was pretty much yelling by then. I asked to talk to the mananger. So, they called him and I explained the situation. He said sir, all you can do is return the card to manufacturer and get a replacement cd or card. If the card would have included the software, we could have refunded your money. Knowing that I was powerless, I said fuck it. I told the mananger, You Better not let this happen again, you sold me a used sound card and it is illegal in my eyes, you should be more careful.
I picked up the card and walked out.
Needless to say, I called the manufacturer and got a free replacement. But I did tell them what Best Buy did to me.
Ever since then I have ordered my computer parts online, and heck why not? you can save 10-25 percent by ordering online anyways. Anyone who buys their computer supplies from Best Buy is stupid, you're paying more and getting less service.
Rot in hell Best Buy, may you go out of business!
them over their $#%#%^@ extended warranties. I just got "took" by CompUSA over a warranty on my Toshiba laptop. The side USB port just fell out, CompUSA tech was not suprised and said they could have it fixed in oooo 3 to 4 weeks.
Umm the sales guy said there was only a 2-3 day turn around.
Tech - Ya they'll say that, they make great money on the warranty.
Well thats 350.00 pissed down the drain!!
Si vis pacem, para bellum! For evil to succeed good men need only do nothing!
I am a former employee of Best Buy and a current resident of Ohio - I won't say who I am or what I did there but my former supervisor is on their website, on the Executive team list.
I can confirm their rebate practices are less than stellar. For years Best Buy had a "rebate center" in each department that consisted of a rudimentary wire recipe rack, for lack of a better description, with paper coupons from each respective manufacturer. Customers were supposed to use the coupon from the rebate center, send it directly to the manufacturer and wait patiently for 6-8 weeks for their rebate. It was totally hands-off for Best Buy.
Unfortunately, that didn't work very well. Stores were frequently out of the rebate coupons, didn't have the correct ones, the manufacturers would send the wrong ones or too few - whatever the case was, it turned out to be a tremendous headache. Not to mention the "recipe racks" were hard to keep organized and the rebates were freqently misplaced.
Fast-forward to ~1996. In an effort to streamline the process and take some burden off of the sales personnel, the merchandising dept (shelf-stockers) were handed a brand new, nifty, Rebate center that went in the front of the store, organized by department that really ended up just consolidating the recipe racks to a central location. The problem still existed of the missing, disorganized rebate coupons.
Later that year Best Buy decided to make a real effort to fix the rebate problem. That's when the current system was implemented. Corporate management decided to outsource the handling of rebates to Young America, Inc. (www.young-america.com).
Young America did a decent job of handling the rebate outsourcing for a very brief time. I can't speak intelligently of their corporate structure, governance, or policies. However, all of this rebate outsourcing occured during an explosive growth period in Best Buy's corporate history. They are currently opening about 50-60 stores per year in 2004. Between 1993 and 1997 they more than doubled thei size. They had a corporate paradigm shift during all of this when they realized that they were outgrowing their ability to manage it and continue providing the kind of service that enabled them to grow at that rate.
Unfortunately, it seems, the growth spurt never stopped. Eventually the over-riding vision was to break the $20 billion revenue mark. Add-on accessories and service plans became the pot of gold at the end of their rainbow and rebates became the tool to get the sale. This all happened in the mid to late 90's when computer prices were falling rapidly, DVD players were becoming affordable, and the dotcom boom was impending - manufacturers were pushing rebates like mad thus Best Buy was too.
Outsourcing the rebate processing was a mistake for Best Buy. Not that Young America can't handle the volume or the execution - It's because it enables Best Buy to take the hands-off approach and essentially tell its customers that it can't help them because it's being handled by another company. This presents the largest problem for them - they won't stand behind their rebates. Anyone that has tried to resolve a rebate issue should be able to attest that managers at the store level will not do very much to assist in the matter other than hand out the 800-number to Young America. This is unfortunate because the consumer purchased a product from Best Buy and typically makes no distinction between a manufacturer's rebate and where they purchased the product. Consumers rightfully expect a retailer to stand behind the offer they willfully advertised in a weekly sales flyer, not give a brush off that they aren't responsible because the rebate was offered by the manufacturer and is being handled by a third party.
It's not that they willfully and maliciously try to swindle their customers - They truly believe that it absolves them of the responsibility to provide the customer satisfaction in regards to reba
If you do what you always did, you get what you always got.
I might as well share my horror stories... 2 DVDs bought, with nothing in them. I had to argue with the store manager to get them to give me new DVDs. But I didn't learn from this, I just figured they were being over protective of theft(even though all I wanted was exactly what I thought I was buying in the first place). So...
A few months after that, I saw an ad for zero percent financing. I needed a consumer level PC to test with an app I was contracted to work on for a software company. I figured, why spend cash out of pocket on it and wait to be reimbursed? I went in, purchased an HP pc by opening an account with "0 percent financing". All was well, right?
A few weeks later, more problems with buying another DVD. This time, my nephew bought one and the wrong DVD was in the package. We took the DVD back and asked for a replacement. They didn't have another copy. We asked them if they could order it, they said we could order it, but we'd have to pay for it! We asked then just for a refund, they said they couldn't do that(because of some law, uh-huh), and two "customer service" people behind the counter very loudly said they thought we were trying to scam them. Called corporate headquarters, they offered us some !@#%$^% 10 dollar buy card(which was less than what we paid), but no refund, no replacement. I told them to shove it. My nephew ended up exchanging it at another store that was something like 60 miles away, as they had a copy in stock. They exchanged it, but not without an argument with a manager.
So a few more weeks go buy, I haven't recieved my bill yet for the "0 percent" finacing credit line. I called, asked about it, and was told that it was on the way and not to worry. Another month later, still no bill, I have no idea where to send payment. I call in, tell them I haven't recieved the bill, they said it was on the way. I get the bill, with 2 months worth of late charges on it. I call in then I was told it was my responsibility to pay the bill on time and that I had to pay the late charges.
That was it. I paid off the entire balance, closed the account, and when asked the reason I was closing the account I told them it was because I had better things to do than do business with petty thieves and conartists.
Best buy sucks ass. Their customers are wrong. They are wrong for being customers of Best Buy. I have never experienced this type of bullshit from Sears, Target, Circuit City, Walmart, Good Guys, hell, no one else. Best Buy is the single worst retail establishment I've ever dealt with and I will never do business with them again. Since that incident, I have bought a new dryer, not from Best Buy. A new fridge(high end), not from Best Buy. And a new TV(34" Sony Wega Widescreen), not from Best Buy. I paid a little more on each item than I would have from Best Buy, but it was worth not having any anxiety about problems after the sale. Best Buy sucks ass.
Think for yourself, destroy your television.
I got scammed by Best Buy on a TV warranty so I know that these guys promise the earth and don't give a shit when your product breaks.
It was open box, so I bought the warranty (something I usually don't do), the bulb went but I saw online that the bulb circuitry was faulty and my TV had all the symptoms, this make & model was infamous for it and the manufacturer was fixing the units. I called Best Buy and they said the bulb wasn't covered, I pointed out it was a design flaw (the bulb was only used for maybe a hundred hours at this point). I got no luck at Best Buy, they scammed me.
Fortunately I called the manufacturer and because I had the receipt (no warranty card) they fixed it. Good job Sony, but I'll never buy a warranty from Best Buy again and may never buy another major item there. I always check alternatives, this news just confirms my view of their warranties.
My first digital camera died young. It was in my pocket when I fell over while drunk. So when I replaced it with a new one, I decided to get an extended warranty.
I read various plans to see what they covered. Most were about 10% of the cost of the camera, and only covered failures that resulted from normal use. Gee, thanks. I wonder how many cameras survive the first year (when the manufacturer covers it) but die the second during "normal use." Even if it's 10%, which I seriously doubt, I imagine not everyone actually uses the coverage (you kept track of your receipt, right?), and those that do can be given a refurb model of what will then be an obsolete camera. It's almost like they're printing money.
I finally found a store that had a decent warranty plan. I read the policy online, then when I got to the store I quizzed the sales guy to see what it covered. I figured if the sales guy knew and pitched what was actually in the documentation, it was a good sign I wouldn't have trouble getting service.
If memory serves, a 2 year plan cost about 15% of the camera price. A year and a half later I was drunk at a Halloween party (me being drunk with a camera is a pretty common event) and smashed it into a wall hard enough to pop two screws from the case. Good night, Gracie.
I took it in, brought my receipt, filled out the form, and they sent it out for repairs. It took longer than promised because of a screwup on their side, but after a little over two weeks I got my camera, a $10 gift certificate and an apology for the delay.
So here's my advice:
http://www.bestbuysux.org/
I don't know about mobile phone prices in the USA, but I can speak about Latvia (small country, electronics usualy are more expensive here). I needed a phone and a cheap one, so I got a Siemens A55 for Ls 49, about $90. No strings attached and one year of warranty.
Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
Hmm Or you could elect Bush, and be sent to a hot place and die. Hmmm hard question.
;)
No thank you I prefer Not to Be FUCKED UP THE ASS again by a man who was not elected the first time, believes god talks to him, believes atheists are not citizens, failed at every buisness he ever ran, was fully at fault for 911, has killed off hundreds of american soldiers in his self defeating wars, lies, lies, and LIES at the drop of a hat, wipes his ass with the constitution and bill of rights, is homophobic, cuts veterans benefits while sending their sons and daughters to die, was a deserter during vietnam, make John Ashcroft Attorney General, has flushed the economy down the toilet, ran up the deficiet, screwed the elderly on a phoney drug plan that only benefits the drug companies, blocked imports of cheap drugs from canada, blocked stem cell research, would remove the right to an abortion, has never done a lick of honest work in his life, and isn't smart enough to get better than a C.
AND he looks like a monkey.
Nope, I guess I'll take the veteran who has 10+ years experience in DC, and the Honest lawyer who will have a clue on how to do tort reform. Would I have preferred McCain as VP? Sure! Would I prefer a retarded 12 year old child over Bush? Sure! A retarded 12 year old child would do less damage to the country...
Oh yeah, Best Buy Sucks - so there i'm on topic
There's been a lot of poop about Walmart's labor policies in the news over the past couple of years, and with the crap I've read about Best Buy I wonder if this is some kind of deliberate structuring to cause the stores to pursue a bunch of practices that are illegal, but that the corporate office can skate on.
Basically what this amounts to is setting really draconian sales quotas and expense ceilings that pretty much force any store managers to engage in all kinds of behavior that essentially "violates" company policy, but since they want to either keep their jobs or move up in the food chain they do them anyway.
Since 99% of the time they're able to get away with it, the manager wins and the company wins (and of course the customer loses). When something like this DOES happen, Best Buy corporate steps in and decries the violation of all its policies and procedures by bad local management. A fixer (someone who got in trouble at HQ, most likely) is sent down to have a bunch of meetings. A couple of managers get sacked, but generally even they manage to push shit downhill onto rank and file employees. The fixer goes home and Best Buy corporate declares victory.
The beauty for corporate is that nobody's ever told to break the rules, but locally they're given little choice -- the quotas and restrictions are such that if they act in a customer friendly way, they'll get raped in reviews. It's essentially a Tony Soprano business model -- make the nut each month, or you get whacked, and I don't care what you do to make the nut...
A few months ago, a friend and I went to our local BestBuy to buy a PS2 game and DVDs. We located the PS2 game and then ventured into the DVD section of the store. In the half an hour we spent browsing through the DVDs, we were probably asked "Can I help you?" over 15 times - 3 or 4 of which were from the same people. That almost drove me to the point of leaving. I just wanted to browse the movies! Can't you people understand that?! I'm not looking for a particular one (I know the alphabet - if I was looking for a particular movie, it wouldn't take me 30 min to find it in the alphabetized rows!) I realize the logic behind asking someone if you can help them, but I wasn't scanning the rows, looking for a particular movie. In fact, we were going down the rows, pointing at crappy movies, and saying things like, "Yeah, that one really sucked!" at above-normal volume. You could tell that we were only browsing, not searching.
On a side-note, what's with the store having 11 or 12 employees working in the DVD section??
Our game plan for the next time we step foot in that BestBuy and are asked "Can I help you?" an excessive number of times is to stack our arms full of DVDs, then blow up on the next salesperson who asks us, drop everything we have on the floor, and walk out.
Disclaimer: This comment was generated by a Flock of Trained Microsoft Programmers for Aqua_Geek.
Everytime I pass a line of customers at Sears Auto I am reminded that consumers have very short memories and will always forgive a few lawsuits for a glossy bargain ad.
That's why governments aren't like people. If we stop spending during economic slumps, we stay out of debt. If the government stops spending to stay out of debt, we remain mired in an economic slump. Keyes at work.
Let's hope other big retail's that do this such as Fryes take note of this and stop this REWRAP practice and offering out of date rebates.
I will no longer shop at best buy for two main reasons.
1) My wife went in to buy me a digital camera as a suprise gift just before we went to Japan last year. The sales guy sold her a returned Nikon camera (nice camera btw) but it was without the power cable to charge the rechargeable battery. The worst part was that he ended up selling it to her for $10 less than the store originally wanted as an "Open box item" and it was still $20 more then we could have bought it for online. (she now knows not to buy me tech toys without consulting first
2) Their stinking rebate policy! It just absolutely sucks to have to fill out a rebate every time I want to buy something from there and the only reason they have it is that's how they keep their price competitive. ugh! And don't get me started on the price matching policy which of course doesn't include other stores rebates.
My fairly new $3500 tv broke within 6 months of purchase and stupid me bought the extended warranty. 3.5 months later, several calls to corporate, I had it fixed on my own time.
Why use best buy? I set up a corporation with some friends (cost us about $1,150 Cdn in total and we use it to order products directly from suppliers. Best Buy has insane markups, and it is so much easier to order a product from Synnex or Ingrammicro. We have earned back our money countless times... (Just remember that you are required to pay the PST if you purchase an item to use instead of resell). As an added bonus, we make a few bucks reselling items to other people. As long as you meet the minimum requirements for having a business, you can order directly from distributors and can avoid the retailers who jack up prices like there is no tomorrow.
Whenever I'm begrudingly dragged along to Best Buy by someone, I am constantly amazed by all the hoops you have to go through to make a purchase. By that I mean, if you want something, you're going to have to put up with someone trying to sell you a service plan more often than not, and on top of that, now they're trying to get you to buy magazine subscriptions on the way out (8 months free and then we mail you for the rest of your life!). Whatever happened to being able to just buy something?
As for being nice to salesmen? Hell no. Make them hate their job. I don't care if they're working for some mean old manager who's making them sell PSPs. The more misery you can rain down on them, the more likely they're going to quit working there. As the jobs open up, Best Buy has to hire less and less qualified people. As those people quit, the cycle repeats. Eventually, it will be all those asshole managers working triple-time trying to sell shitty service plans to people who are assholes right back to them. And then Best Buy collapses under it's own filth.
Feel bad about being mean? We don't go into war and not shoot the troops because their commanders are the really mean ones. We kill 'em ALL.
I buy ALL PC equipment from Newegg (unless it's an emergency like failed hard disk, fried video card, etc). Everything else (DVDs, CDs, games, etc) I buy from brick and mortar stores, usually Best Buy since it is right down the road from me. I have never had a single problem. Granted I don't buy many big-ticket items, but no employee has ever shoved the PSP in my face. They asked nicely if I would like it, I politely told them no thanks, and that was that. However, I have never had to return anything to them, so maybe there is some truth. I have gotten a lot of rebates with no problems, though. I think it's just the individual managers of each store. Some stores drill the PSP into employees' heads; others teach them more about respect.
That way, when you leave Best Buy in disgust, you go to Future Shop and ... still give the same people your money.
Many moons ago, I was working part time in Marks and Spencer's warehouse, Oxford, while I was attending a local tech. college.
Marks and Spencer for those of you who are not UK-centric, is a department store, supposedly of above average quality which prides itself on the level of customer service they provide. They have/had a very liberal returns policy, and were famous for standing behind their products.
Picture the scene: It is January the 2nd. The customer service desk is swamped with people returning unwanted Christmas gifts for cash. As I am taking a trolley load of packaging down to the waste compactor in the basement, one of the customer service assistants is peering quizzically at the inside of a pair of boxer shorts that have been presented for refund.
Her facial expression, and her words, will stay with me until the day I die:
"I'm very sorry sir, we can't accept these shorts: They are soiled".
T&K.
Political language
most of the comments in this discussion are not valid. if u drop coffee on ur camdorder, or physically break the TV, then nobody will probably replace them. however, if something actually goes wrong with the product even though you are a good user, then they do fix it.
I had bought a projector from BBuy and used it like hell. the bulb blew away in around 1.2 year, and even though i had the extended warranty from BBuy, it didnt cover it. its quite valid that dont cover it. Another example is with a laptop with extended warranty, i installed the great XP-SP1 and the computer will never boot. BBuy charged me 50 bucks for fixing it as their warranty covered hardware and not software (was mentioned in the i-hadnt-read-service-agreement). These are the kinds of problems customers are pissed with, but BBuy cannot do anything about them.
If they are pushing you to buy some accessories alongwith ur purchased, its their business model. They dont earn anythign in selling you a dvd player for 20$, but earn from the accessories. they are here for business, not for charity purposes.
In all these complaints (though few are valid), most of them are quite stupid. I also never had any problems with the rebates or anything.
I agree. I shouldn't be forced to give out all my personal information to be able to receive a rebate that should be embedded in the sales price after all. Rebates are almost everywhere in electronics and computer sales nowadays, and they form a substantial part of the sales price. Meaning that a consumer who does not want to receive spam and junk mail or give out his personal information will be penalized $50 or more. Hell, I've seen rebates of $300-$400 in higher end electronics. Rebates of that level are not really optional for most people.
Manufacturers should be honest and include rebates in the sales price. I should not be forced to send personal information to a manufacturer under the threat of hundred dollar "rebate" fine.
Loved that OT AC Troll reply to your comment, so I thought I'd add mine... Thanks for being one of the few clueful people that realize that Edwards is a Trial Lawyer, one of the lowest forms of scum on Earth.
ACT 1: I bought a LCD monitor and I got my credit card checked "for my own security" because the purchase was over 500CND. I felt like walking out, but I tolerated the insult.
ACT 2: I paid a small item with my ATM card. The cashier girl uses a plastic bag as a glove to receive the card and swipe it. She looked like a uptight doll.
ACT 3: I was told that the 4th gen iPod and iPod mini will be released in mid October. So I should buy the will-never-sell-stocked 15GB 3rd gen iPod instead, and now.
FINAL ACT: Took from the shelf an audio card with a pricing clearly marked. Went to pay for it; it is 40 dollars more. Then I am told that "it must be a mail in rebate available for it". I left the item there and I walked to never enter again.
Rebates aside - Best Buy owes me some cash, but I have a bigger point.
People "recycling" hardware.
Best Buy is not taking used products and putting it on the shelf, the customer is.
Allow me to explain.
Joe Q. Customer has an sound card he wants to replace. So, he goes to his local Best Buy and gets a brand new sound card - carefully opens the box, using Un-Do to release the adhesive on the tape, pulls out the new card and puts his old one back in its place. He glues the box shut, re-applies the tape to hold the flap shut, takes it and has it shrink-wrapped at the local Kinkos and then puts the labels back on the shrink wrapping. Looks like a new box.
Then, Joe Q. Customer takes the box back and returns it. The customer service rep doesn't open it up because its "factory sealed". It goes back on the shelf.
Best buy isn't the one ripping you off, they're the victim. The perp counts on you buying the old technology, being the victim and its left to YOU to explain it to Best Buy.
A number of years ago I went to return a factory sealed package of Office 97 software at an office supply store, our office didn't need it. I watched as the Customer Service Manager broke the factory seal and checked all the contents of the package. This was back when a heafty printed manual was included with software.
When I asked what she was doing, she stated that she had customers buying software opening it, taking the CD and Manuals out and replacing it with campbells soup cans, then returning it.
Now that you know, if it happens to you, you can inform the Best Buy weenies that both of you have been scammed.
This is why manufacturers of prodcuts put them in see-through plastic so you can see the product you're buying, and you must destroy the packaging to get the item out.
Lesson: Always pay with a credit card because then you can dispute the charge if the merchant is unwilling to work with you.
Good security is based upon reality and common sense. Common sense is a function of having common knowledge.
I bought a cell phone from Best Buy. After being told that the battery would only last a year, and that I needed the warranty because that guaranteed free battery replacements for 5 years, I signed on.
Anyway, I take the phone home, open it up (it was in a sealed new box) and find that it's actually a used phone, someone has put there name on it, and put a password on it so it's unusable. I take it back to Best Buy, where they accuse me of locking it. Then tell me it was just the keyboard lock (it wasn't) and then ask me who's name it was. Eventually they replaced it--with a phone that didn't work. I replace that one too and I'm ok for about a year or so, I'd bought the 4 year warranty (which the clerk mind you had told me was a 5 year plan when I bought it). So I bring the phone back, and they tell me I don't have a warranty. They try to look it up on the computer and it's not there. Well after talking to enough people I find out they only keep the warranty on file for 1 year. After that they're purged, and you better hope you still have the paperwork from it.
A separate experience, my fiancee bought me a cd rom player from Best Buy. It needed repairs a few months later (inexplicably stopped working) took them a month or so of off site repairs, and it had to go back in 3 times, but eventually got it back working. But it took a while for me to prove I was under warranty, despite their claims that they keep it on their computer and can look it up by name, phone, or credit card, they could not find it. Eventually we found the paperwork and was able to bring that in as proof. (We were moving at the time, packed away paperwork was not easy to find).
Sure enough had her name, our phone number and CC right on it.
20/20 also did a news special about Best Buy and their fraudulent warranty practices. I bet you can find info about it online somewhere.
I don't shop there. I advise my friends not to shop there.
-elf
I've been told auto dealers (not all!) have been doing stuff like this for years with warranty work, since the philosophy there is "throw new parts at a problem": if a new part doesn't fix the problem, reshelf it and sell at retail to 'joe parts customer'. Also, your warranty emergency brake cable maynot be so new after all...
It's about time that someone kicked Best Buy in the ass.
Here's my Best Buy horror story.
1. Purchased HP N5450 Laptop + Extended Warranty
2. Power jack dies after a year and a half.
3. Take to Best Buy on Dec. 22, 2002 for repair.
4. Wait 2 weeks. They order motherboard and don't use it.
5. Wait another 2 weeks. The order jack and resolder the motherboard.
6. Pick up laptop on Jan 17, 2003. Boots fine in the store.
7. Return home. Laptop stops working after the 15 minutes.
8. Return to Best Buy that night. Laptop boots. Got excuse about power surge.
9. Return home. Laptop still won't boot plugged into UPS.
10. Remove battery. Won't boot in the morning.
11. Return to Best Buy for re-repair.
12. Call manager on Jan 20, 2003. Will "rush repair".
13. Call repair center on Jan 27, 2003. Laptop hasn't even been touched.
14. Motherboard arriving today, Jan 29, 2003.
15. Install mobo today ot tomorrow.
16. Ship back to Best Buy on Thirsday, Jan 30th, 2003.
17. Best Buy called today, Monday, Feb. 3rd, 2003.
18. Arrive at store. Laptop is there. They forgot the fucking power adapter!!!!!!. Now keep in mind, they asked for the power adapter to be sent with the laptop this time. It's in the computer and on the packing list when it was sent. And of course, the repair checklist was check marked and verified on the "verify accessories" option.
19. After numerous "nothing I can do" excuses, they "find" an adapter.
20. Plug it in. Power it up. It appears to work.
21. Return home.
22. Plug laptop in. No fucking sound. I should've checked at the store, but I figured it was at 0% volume where we usually leave it.
23. Shut down laptop. Try turning it on and using the front panel controls as a CD player. Nothing. Not one fucking thing on the front display works.
24. Call Consumer Relations at 1-888-BESTBUY (1-888-237-8289)
25. Talk to tier 1 idiot. Ask for manager.
26. Talk to manager. "Take it back for them to check". Yeah, wait for them to ship it back to their service center for another 2 weeks. Fuck you.
27. Won't give me Regional Supervisor name. Click
After another trip and a lot of bitching, they finally replace the laptop.
I have another friend who is suffering from almost the same treatment. soldering the power jack. Nice.
Here is the text of the parent's post, in readable format. (If you were a manager, shouldn't you know basic spelling? Or did you type that without your glasses on or something?) Anyway, slashdotters, YOU'RE WELCOME.
--
I worked for Best Buy for about 3 years, and left roughly a year ago. When I left I was the Digital Imaging Manager, and I know the SOP (Standard Operationg Procedure) of the store like the back of my hand. I think the the reporter / AG has some things wrong.
*Best Buy does not handle rebates. There are many companies that do rebates for any company who wants to have a rebate on their items. Companies like Young America. Their job is rebates, that is all they do.
*Best Buy has a very strong "Open Item" rule. They even have tags to put on every item that is open box. They have to be updated every 2 weeks. And every item gets a tag when it goes back to the floor from Customer Service.
*In the case of Electronics like PS2's, the techs have to check them out before they go on the floor. If the item dose not work, it goes to DEVO (back to the vendor) [that's a good acronym... -ed.] or chuck out (if the vendor will not take it back).
*The return policy is 30 days on all items but 15 days on computers, digital camras and camcorders and are subejct to a 15% resocking fee if the item is open. (The item is then discounted a minimum of 10% and sold on the floor as a Open Item)
*You can not return open music or software, you may exchange.
BTW: Sony is DEVO [??? -ed.], so when a PS2 is broken they just send it back to Sony at no cost to them.
I think some of the claims of the people are just people that don't READ [like I always read my posts on slashdot before hitting Submit! -ed.]. There are phone numbers to call for help; the store can not pull up that info (all the new privicy acts realy make it hard to get infomation about customers). [What do customer privacy laws have to do with pulling up info on a manufacturer, exactly? -ed.] And with the problem of not being able to return a product like a PS2 in less then 30 days, there should be no problem. And if there is, call BBI (the HQ) and they sould be able to solve the issue very fast. Or just go to another Best Buy; you can return them anywhere.
The Best Buy I worked at was by the book. We never had an issue that lasted more than a few minutes along as the customer was calm.
Sugar works better than vinager!
--
So what do you think? I should be an editor, right?
I suspected it, but now I will act on it...
Last purchase was made, until they prove it is NOT their policy.
I used to work for Best Buy in Sarasota, FL. I was instructed on MANY occasions to fire up the shrink-wrapper and make merchandise look new.
The only time we didn't do it was if the item was in a blister pack and we COULDN'T make it unnoticable.
-QTone
I don't understand what fascniates people so much about Best Buy that they drop so much money there.
Sure the store layout is "neat" but they don't always have the best price (computer stores selling OEM parts have better prices), warranties at Best Buy suck, the Extended Service Plans are almost never honoured and the sales staff are too overconfident in their knowledge and abilities.
I never set foot in a Best Buy or Future Shop (they're now BB too) knowing this. I buy all my computer stuff at a local dealer(s) and my appliances with Sears who have great Consumers Report ratings.
Only when BB's stock takes a nose dive from the 45 or so its trading at right now will their business model change == when consumers get a clue! It seems the the "baby boomer" generation who are cash rich and relatively computer illiterate are responsible for boosting Best Buy's sales. In time, 10 to 15 years or so, if BB's practices continue, they will take a nosedive.
The way they hide the items:
1. Pull the products form the shelf(sometimes leaving 1 or 2 to cover their ass legally).
2. Pull any extra stock of the items that may be sitting on the top of a shelf.
3. Hide the pulled stock behind stacks of boxes in the storage area of the store(at the store I worked at, this area was visible form inside the store, and the sales people would pretend that they were looking "all over" the store for the item to try and be the good guy and get a sale for a higher priced item)
4. Managers would then move items in the computer inventory into hidden/private folders so the sales people could show the customer the results of an inventory search and not have the hidden products show up accidentaly, once again to try and make the salesperson the "good-guy".
5. Lastly, first thing in the morning(1-3 hours before opening), managers get ahold of early prints of local newspapers looking for any ads from their competitors, and do all of the above for any product which the manager decides he/she doesn't want to bother price matching.
Working for a store is a real sickening/eye-opening experience, that will make anyone into a better shopper. There's nothing like watching a manager practically hold a poor single mother and her 3 kids hostage through sweet-talking/high-pressure tactics, and convince them to sign up for yet another high-interest rate credit card, to buy a Packard-Bell computer(oh, the humanity! Won't someone please think of the children!). They(managers), usually keep a roll of quarters on hand just to buy sodas for kids in an effort to work over unsuspecting parents into signing up for those credit cards to buy something they can't really afford.
+1, you nailed it.
One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
As far as the service plans go, most people are idiots for not buying them. I've rarely had a complaint about the service and most people know jack about their computers and end up paying assloads to get it fixed when 120 bucks would have kept them safe for 3 years. The service on laptops is a no brainer. You get free batteries and you don't even have to bring the old one in. They'll just take your word for it and send you a new one. Even technically inclined people who shun service plans can get a use out of them. It's the expense of the parts that kills most people.
By far, I would have to say that I hate programmers the most. They don't know dick about computer hardware but try to pull rank on you because they're "in the biz". They seem to be more clueless than the gamers when it comes down to it though.
The most enjoyable thing about working there though is the reaction I get when I customer thinks he's stumping me with a Linux question. By the time our conversation is over I'm explaining to him what hardware will work, what kernel modules he needs to load, and how to recompile his kernel if need be and I usually walk away with a bussiness card and a moonlighting gig. Of course I could get fired for that, and I could get fired just for writing this. Best Buy isn't the greatest place in the world, after all it is still an evil corporation bent on world domination, but it's a lot better than most places, especially circuit city. We're putting those worthless fuckers out of business.
Oh, and one more thing. We have to tell you about the service plan and all the accessories. Sometimes our managers will go over to the customers when they are leaving and ask them if we offered certain things and if they say no we're fucked. Even the employees hate doing it sometimes, but we have to. That's really all they pay us to do. Offer the complete package, no matter if they want it or not. The customer has to know about it.
you're a piece of shit
The BEST is Best Buy. They always pay quickly :^) As for Best Buy selling
(themselves) and the third-party rebates also
arrive quickly. The WORST is CompUSA. By far.
Had to fight with them over one, and that took
about 6 F'n months to arrive. I do NOT shop
there anymore. When the company doesn't care
and the store manager lies to you repeatedly,
why bother. Circuit City is good, but not up
to BB's level. OfficeMax used to be better
than CC, but OH MY GOD, when the stopped running
those great deals back in April 2004 (you know
the ones, FREE this and FREE that after rebate,
and real cheap writeable media). Now they are
just above CompUSA. They rejected about 8 of my
rebates in this year (prior to this year, NONE).
I fought with them and got some eventually, but
a few they just never sent. I also don't shop
there anymore.
used items as new, I always check carefully no
matter where I buy things, and I don't think
this has ever happened to me. Sorry to hear it
has to others.
I signed up for Comcast at BestBuy and I got a Motorola modem with that, which was free after rebate. But Best Buy didn't honor my rebate. They first sent it back saying I hadn't submitted all the right papers (which I had!) and then when I sent it AGAIN with the right papers AGAIN, they still sent it back to me saying my rebate was rejected since I had not submitted all the right papers. Interestingly, they returned all the papers I had submitted and I checked the list and all the papers were there !!
I just let it go because I had read online that Best Buy sucks as far as honoring rebates is concerned. I am glad to see someone is taking action.
SG
you do realize, that both you and best buy were ripped off. i would almost guarantee it was some other customer who did the swap, and returned it to best buy. they sold you a sealed retail box, and as far as they know, you could have taken it home and swapped the cards yourself.
I used to sell computers at Office Depot and they really pushed us to sell the PPP's (product protection plans). They went so far as to give us bonuses if we sold the most of any store in our region. The is pure corporate greed. The plans rarely cover anything and if you buy things with a Gold credit card you usually get the same added warrenty for free. Here is another scam that Best Buy and others are using. Floor models -- The sales people are told to only sell floor models with a PPP this is how they can knock down the price and not lose any money. The PPP's are pure profit for the company as they rarely cover anything. Do not buy these plans no matter how good they sound. There is a reason they offer such a good sounding plan -- it makes them money.
I always say the same thing, but I was smart enough to buy one on my XBOX and PS2. Each of which died within the two years. It was easy as making a phone call to get ALL my money back for each system which then bought a new system, additional warranty, and some video games. No questions, no hassles. I don't know what else you would want to get these for but consoles wear out so quickly it almost seems dumb not to get one.
...rebate BB is printing now??? What did you think I was going to say?!
Anyways, has anyone noticed how long the rebate forms are now? Makes it a pain in the @$$ to try and copy.
However, for those who are having trouble with rebates being denied, this is the note I am including in all of my rebates since getting screwed by Office Max's last November:
"Dear rebate representative,
I am including EVERYTHING that your company has asked for on the rebate form. I expect my rebate form to be accepted, and if it is not, I want you to know that I have ALL the included information copied and in a folder marked "TO SUE FOR MAIL FRAUD."
If you fulfill my rebate request, I will cheerfully take that rebate out of the folder. If you refuse to fulfill my rebate request, I will forward my folder onto my personal attorney. Thank you for your time."
Try it sometime...it works wonders.
Two comments about Best Buy. 1. they complain about people who submit rebates and then return the item. I would bet for every "demon customer" there are dozens that don't submit rebates.
Second Best Buy comment. I tried to return an unused laptop less than 15 hours after the purchase. I was told that there would be a 15% restock charge because the box was opened. I tried to point out that THEY opened the box before I left the store.
It took months before they refunded my money in the form of gift cards. So they were certain I would spend the money there.
Best Buy managers have no authority to resolve customer issues. The customer has to call an 800 number.
Sorry for the rant but Best But does that to me.
As they say, the only difference between a computer salesman and a used-car salesman is that at least the used-car salesman knows he's lying.
This was a PC that didn't *need* anything, except a fresh install of Windows and a more clueful user.
As I used to live in Minneapolis (the birthplace of the Geek Squad), I recall when they were trustworthy, and cool. The guy who started it occasionally came on MPR and answered call in questions with mostly good advice..
Geek Squad completely BLEW it with this. My friend's dad is out 1500 dollars (because he's an idiot), and Geek Squad STOLE it. (because he's an idiot.)
At least I know that whats-his-nuts reads slashdot when he's not counting his zillion dollars, or marveling at the uselessness of his flash-ridden website.
Not cool, guy.
not exactly, I don't think best buy should put returned merchandise back onto the shelves.
If someone returns an item they should make sure it is in original condition. and who is to say it wasn't best buy who sealed it back up? This is the reason why they are in trouble now.
I used to work at kmart and anything that was returned went into the 605 department where the item is checked for condition. if its in saleable condition it is put out onto the floor for clearance. if its damaged it gets returned to the manufacturer where they refurbish it.
I used to work for Circuit City in 2002, back when they were still on commission. We would return pretty much anything that might have been bought at the store, receipt or not. Granted, we were in fierce competition with a freshly opened Best Buy across the street. At times we all felt a bit pressured to push the warranty, but most salesmen were truly interested in serving the customer because you wanted those people to come back and ask for you. Things may have changed, but I recently screwed up an online order from CC but had a hassle free return of the item.
... Usually offers the best "extended warranty" you're going to find. The details vary with the card, but it's not unusual to find one that will replace a defective, damaged or stolen item with much less hassle than Best Buy or the manufacturer would ever give you. And by the way, don't put too much of the blame on the pimply-faced Best Buy salesmen, or even the store managers-- they're only following orders, and scruples are a commodity in a tough job market. Blame the Best Buy execs for creating an environment designed to mislead the consumer.
Also, being both firm and reasonable helps. Even the manager would prefer to just parrot the lines, if they can.
In my most recent run-in with returns at a different store (No, I will *never* shop at best-buy, for various reasons), there was a defective part. I was told when I called in that I wouldn't need to bring it in, just the sales receipt. When I arrived, the returns person told me I was basically SOL, so I asked, politely, to speak with their supervisor (not the always the manager, make sure you go through the proper chain of command). The assistant manager came, and simply said that company policy prohibits that type of return. I explained the situation, but was again met with 'company policy'. Only after management tried to brush me off did I act up, and even then, I made a polite show for other customers, not for the manager.
I politely but noisily stated that they have a 100% satisfaction guarenteed policy posted right there on the wall. I had purchaced something, and it was defective. I noisily stated that I had called ahead and done everything I was told to get a replacement, and that I was NOT satisfied. Finally, I stated that I believe they either needed to replace the one part ($4) or I'll be bringing in the entire unit ($75) as defective and demand my money refunded to the credit card, and take my business elsewhere.
For those not customary with returns, note the steps. 0. Be nice, work within the framework, assume they will try to help you, or they are stopped only by policy they can't work around. 1. Credit cards. I've worked with Visa several times. A few photos of a defective product, with the photos developed immediatly after the incident and therefore having the date printed on the paper, will usually mean Visa will side with you, few questions asked. Disputing a charge on a credit card is very easy, taking a single phone call and a certified-mail follow-up letter, including copies of photos. Visa even gave me back $1800 for a bad car repair, because I showed proper documentation that I had tried to work it out with the merchant, and that the merchant wasn't trying to help fix the problem. 2. I tried to work with the clerk, but I understand they have a policy. I even called ahead for verification of the actions I needed to take, and told this to the manager. 3. I politely but noisily pointed out the big 100% Satisfaction Guarenteed sign to nearby customers, stated directly that I was NOT happy with their service or their defective product. 4. I pointed out that they'll have to ship the damaged goods back, which will cost them money, and that it was cheaper for them to simply replace the one part than to lose a larger sale and go through the corporate returns process.
He walked behind the desk, looked for the right stack and pulled out a slip of paper labeled something like 'Replacement For Items Consumed/Damaged In Sales', wrote down the part number, and told me to go select what I felt was a fair replacement.
Even though I was treated well after making a stink, I still haven't been back to their store. The fact that I had to get the simple problem elevated to management, and the fact that I have several times received friendlier service at my locally-owned small business, convinced me to avoid chain stores if at all possible.
I no longer shop at most chain stores. No more Albertson's or Smith's. No more Rite-Aid or Walgreens. No more Wal*mart or Best-Buy. Especially no Target or Eag
//TODO: Think of witty sig statement
Bought an eMachines M6805 laptop back in March.
BB sales rep obviously pitches the PSP to me and my dad (I'm in college, and he's writing it off on business etc...)
He says "Our service plan is better, and covers from year 1 through 3."
PSP Says it kicks in AFTER manufacturer's warranty.
He says "Our service plan covers from 1 dead pixel."
PSP Says 6, if I remember correctly...
He says "Our service plan will replace the battery once a year."
PSP says this, I think...
So, we say "It does? Wow."
"Can we get that in writing?"
Sure enough....sales rep gets manager, and writes it all in my PSP, and both of them sign it.
So, when they say "Our PSP does ______" Tell them to put it in writing, and have them and a manager sign it.
Worked for me.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Hey, I'm a current tech-bench geeksquad employee at the Parma/Brooklyn Store in Ohio (00162 if anyone cares.) This is my personal Best Buy testimony, so please don't argue with me about it :)
I used to distrust Best Buy. Five years ago I recived the same 'PSP covers everything' speech while buying a laptop, that many of you are aquiainted with. However, in Best Buy's defense, they have completely changed their ways since I've worked there (approx. 6 weeks).
Firstly, Best Buy, or at least the store I work for, treats their employees VERY well. We revieve a huge discount, our hours are extremely flexible, the pay is good, and the managers actually care about the employees as real people, not just tools to make money. On my resume, I stated that I expected $8 per hour. When I was hired, I was quoted $9 an hour. My first paycheck stated $10.24/hour. I asked my manager, who stated that they decided to up my pay (1st paycheck!).
Secondly, out store does EVERYTHING possible to help our customers. One person brought in a laptop that must have been run over by a car. The cd drives were falling out, the screen was a complete mess, and the entire unit was compressed in the middle. Despite obvious physical damage it was replaced. This is more often the norm than the exception in my experience.
I've actually listened to people speaking on the sales floor selling PSP's. We are no longer graded on them, and recieve absolutely nothing in return for selling them.
It worries me that many of your experiences would have been quickly settled in my store, but weren't in yours. Maybe I just have a fantastic GM and am too nieve of the entire company. However, my experience with best buy has been extremely positive.
Thanks for your time.
Here in Winnipeg I think there are 2 Best Buy's; both of which are less then a stone's throw from Future Shop.
We used to go to Montgomery Ward's a lot(before it went out of biz) as a dependable place to buy high end necessary items. Then they started to sell refurbished appliances and equipment WITHOUT LABELLING them as such which is ILLEGAL. We tried to buy a VCR from them years ago and the salesman said he would order it and it would take a week for it to get to the store. WTF!! Before, all electronic stuff would ALREADY be in the store. I guess they were in deep financial trouble if they HAD TO ORDER IT FIRST!! We passed on that.
Then later on, we ordered a refrigerator. THE REFRIGERATOR BROKE AFTER LESS THAN A MONTH AND THE MANAGERS AND SALESPEOPLE WOULDN'T DO ANYTHING AND IT WAS HOT SUMMER TIME!! All our food we had recently bought at the supermarket was spoiling. We had to call up and argue FOR DAYS with the Company President just to get them to honor their service warranty!!
* weedshare.com 50% to artists, webjay.org iuma.com CDBaby.com Epitonic.com ampcast.com
Disclaimer: I am not a Lawyer. I'm not responsible if you get dumb ideas, execute them half assed, and get reamed.
;) his name, does he have a card. Yup, his name is Jsomething, and here's a card.
:)
That being said...
All that *may* be true, but wouldn't it be worth your time someday to actually read up on the laws and legal procedure, and BURN THE MOTHERFUCKERS,
Lawfully.
For instance, I once did a whole shitload of research into New York State law (I'm a New Yorker) regarding admissions to public events, and limitations that can be imposed.
(O.K., so it *was* just after ClearChannel invaded, and turned a nice park-like venue into a prison camp.)
I spent some time doing research.
I'm not going to bore you with them, CAUSE YOU NEED TO DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK BEFORE DOING SHIT LIKE THIS. If you're not 100% *SURE* you got ALL the details right, you're gonna get reamed right back.
I wanted to know WHAT LAW permitted them to inspect my belongings. ( In a Federal Venue, it's like 'Deprivation of Rights under Color of Law', and 'Conspiracy to...', in New York, it's something else, somewhere else. )
I waltzed right on up to the ticket taker, asked the Magic Questions, and Escalated to the Next Color Shirt.
Non-confrontational. For Future Reference, keep in mind, you're TRYING to get clarification on an ambiguous aspect of the Law, and how it affects you. If CRIMES are discovered, well, we all have our duties, don't we?
As I'm talking to two of the LEVEL-2-GOONS, a nicely dressed guy comes up and asks "What's going on?"
I ask him, (nicely, remember, I'm *trying* to obtain DATA, not cause all sortsa shit...
I tried not to laugh too much when it said ClearChannel Entertainment Executive Director.
I ask the Magic Questions, and he was also unable to tell me what LAW permitted them to look in my daypack, and since I wouldn't permit them to inspect it while it was unclear if it was unlawful, we were at an imp-arse.
I returned daypack to my car, and entered the show.
Now, it took a few weeks, and a little more learning about the Judicial Infrastructure, to get all the paperwork filed, but eventually, ClearChannel's Executive Director was summoned to the Court to explain himself. (Wish I was there to see his face when the Police Officer showed up with the Summons. Maybe they just called and said "Have your mouthpiece call our DA"...)
Although the Ass. DA "declined to prosecute" for vague, unclear reasons (From a Legal Reasoning POV -- I know *why* he dropped the ball... *I* wouldn't want to run with that one, if *I* were an ADA wanting to be DA one day. Do you know who controls the Billboards in this town?), and no one spend time in prison, One of $THE_UNACCOUNTABLE needed to spend a weekend worrying about whether their lawyer could GET THE CHARGES DROPPED. Maybe he's a little bit insecure about his position there, and he wonders if someone would use this as an excuse to hang him out, and can him... Who knows, but we can dream, can't we?
Isn't that what life's all about?
And of course, ClearChannel needed to pay their litigators, and I'm sure the guy himself got some legal advice... What did it cost me... A few hundred hours of learning? A few weeks banging my head against the cops and courts... (long story short, If you're not arrested by a police officer, the people who push papers have a hard time figuring out how to handle your filings... A letter to the Justices, and THEIR Boss Justice cleared it up...)
Increase their Transactional Costs, Isn't that what FIGHTING BACK is all about? I know THEY DIDN'T MAKE A DIME OFF OF ME ONCE THEY PAID THE LEGAL BILLS.
And guess what... Although we have not yet learned "WHAT LAW PERMITS THIS?", NO-ONE has informed me that my interpertation of the Law is incorrect, nor that my application of it was improper. No one told me the question was wrong, nor that the way I asked it was wron
Technology -- No Place For Wimps! Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Chatroom -- http://www.wemissjerry.org
I did laugh at a salesman that told me that if my computer needed rebooting it was a memory fault and that they'd replace the memory.
Needless to say that particular shop was gone less than a year later.
-- it must be true, it's on the internet.
and for failing to pay rebate claims.
I WILL NOT buy an item with a rebate I have to mail in. The only point is to somehow defraud and or trick the customer. You want a valid address? Pay a rebate at the point of sale for providing reasonable proof of a valid address (drivers licence, mail, like the library does). You will only rebate via mail? Well then you have the intent from the start to use and trick me SOMEHOW. "Fuck that noise" to quote my dear departed card partner, may he rest in peace.
Warranties can be good, and they have saved me many times for several hundred, maybe even a couple thousand dollars.
Example 1:
My wife had a laptop from Future Shop (now owned by Best Buy) with the 3 year extended warranty on it. It was a complete piece of junk and we had to take it in several times to fix it. The power plug in the back of the computer kept breaking - three times to be precise. In the warranty, there was a 'no lemons policy' where they would replace the hardware for free if it broke the same way three times. (Yes, unlikely.) But it did.
With no hassle at all, Future Shop replaced the Celeron 333 / 32m ram laptop with a 1.5ghz model (massive upgrade!), because it was the closest model they had at the store. They even let me buy a new 3 year warranty on the new laptop because I expected it to break, too. A year and a half later the screen was on the fritz and they fixed it, so it paid off.
Example 2:
I bought a piece of crap Brother MFC3100C printer. AVOID BROTHER PRINTERS LIKE THE PLAGUE. This printer had all sorts of issues; not only did it break, but others as well, such as not being able to print a black/white page until I bought a new magenta ink cartridge.
Anyway, it also broke after a year and a half, and I was saved by the extended warranty. I now have a new replacement that is working good. I would never buy a Brother product again, but at least I still have a freakin' printer.
On top of this, the new printer connected with a USB cable, and DID NOT COME WITH ONE. I politely explained the situation to the customer service girl and they gave me a free USB cable, with no hassle or runaround.
Example 3:
I bought a Kodak Easyshare CX6230 (2 megapixel) last November. One day, after copying some images from it to my computer, it just stopped working. It would never turn on again. Further complicating things, I had lost the receipt, and had no extended warranty on it.
I called Future Shop to see what they could do. Since I payed for it through Interac, they said they could look up the transaction if I brought in my bank statement that showed the payment to Future Shop.
I brought in the right bank statement, and the customer service guy was quite helpful, tediously looking through page after page of paper transaction records, filled with tiny size 8 font numbers. The found the reference number for the transaction, but they couldn't print the receipt because the in-store records only went back to the middle of December.
Future Shop of course did have records of my purchase, they were just elsewhere and there was a bit of hoopla to go through to dig them up. I patiently waited for 4 weeks while they were supposedly 'going through the channels'. Since I had already waited a month, I didn't want to wait another month for them to fix the piece of junk, and they STILL hadn't dug up the receipt for me.
So, the employee who had been helping me talked to the right manager and worked out a deal. They would take my camera back, and credit me for its current value towards a new camera. The value had only depreciated about $30 dollars since I bought it, and now I have a nice Canon A60 that is doing good.
In addition, the Canon camera works on a compact flash card, while my old Kodak used an SD card. They swapped my memory card (also without receipt) to the equivalent that would work with the Canon. Now, I am a happy customer.
The extended warranties definately paid off, and I would get them again for sure, but only on certain items that have multiple ways they can fail. It might have taken a while, but in the end everything worked out for me.
It all depends on your dedication. Sure, a lot of people get screwed over by these stores, but some of it is their own fault. Be persistent, polite, and talk to a manager, boss, or supervisor when an employee can't help you.
The manager can ALWAYS help you, he has ultimate authority. If he wanted, he could give you a $5000 television with a $4900 discount on it. If you respectfully explain the situation, the reason they are obligated to help you, and what it will take to make you a happy customer, chances are, they will do it.
Being an ignorant foreigner, I have to confess to favoring Best Buy on several occasions in the past. I was always satisfied with the service and the prices (mind you, I exclusively bought items that I couldn't get as fast or as cheap online).
My rude awakening came this summer, when all of a sudden they decided that they wouldn't accept non-US credit cards anymore.
At the checkout the computer happily accepted my card (and said "approved" on the screen), but then the girl (who appeared barely old enough to work) looked at my card and called a manager. The manager asked me to show and ID (I happily complied), then took my ID and the card and went away with them (wtf??).
He came back after about 15 minutes, and said that he cannot accept the card, because he couldn't call my bank (the card carried the number and I'm 100% positive he could have called them if he wanted -- granted he knew how to get an international line). He also waved a photo copy of my ID and card (which of course would be something entirely illegal to do in any country without a Patriot Act).
I offered him several more non-US cards from different international banks. He declined to accept any of them.
After mumbling a curse for wasting 20 minutes of my time, I walked over to the neighboring Circuit City and bought the same items without any problems.
Being unhappy with the service as I was, I decided in a moment of fury to write to Best Buy. I went into great lenghts to emphasize that my card was valid and the computer system acknowledged this fact, the problem was with the human software.
They answered rather promply and said that I should talk to my bank, because only they can advise me why my charge was declined (which it wasn't). Obviously they don't even take the time to read a 5 sentence letter to figure out what someone is complaining about, they just send one of their stock answers. When I tried to explain what happened in even greater lengths in follow-up mail, they simply ignored it.
I did them a favor and decided to spare them the inconvenience of serving me in the future. I also advised every friend I have not to purchase in BB and particularly in that Arizona store.
It amazes me that so many managers, clerks, and customers alike get so confused about returned items.
All Returns Are Not Created Equal.
- By default, a merchant is not required to take any kind of return if the item worked as it was presented, and there was nothing fraudulent about the sale. Just because you decided you didn't like it, or because you bought the wrong shaped plug by no fault of the store does not mean they have to take it back.
- A merchant generally does have to take a return if the item was sold under false pretenses, or simply didn't work. No fee can be charged for this.
- Most stores have in-store policies that go above and beyond what the law requires. Sometimes this involves a re-stocking fee. THIS *IS* fair... this is for situations where you want to return an item just because you feel like it.
- Make sure you ask before you purchase specifically what happens if the item fails in 1 day, 15 days, etc. Often the clerk or manager will be clueless and try to tell you that you are returning the item under the returns policy, when it's actually a return because it's a bad item, which is a separate issue altogether.
90 days 4 years. Whatever. The PSP extends the time.
Actually I did not read them all in detail. Too depressing. I didn't see the caprine copulator, but he would have been just as relevant. Allow me to state that I am a long time resident of the state of Ohio and I am familiar with its politicians and their machinations. First, the news item about Best Buy is not the real news. The real news is that the Ohio Attorney General is running for Governor in 2006 and he is looking for cover and for issues. He is looking for cover because his wing of the Republican party is caught up in fund raising and back stabbing scandals. He is looking for issues because the incumbent Republican Governor, Robert Taft (Grandson of the eponymous Senator and Great-grandson of President William Howard) balanced the budget in 2003 by increasing the sales tax by from 5% to 6%, a very unpopular move because it pushed Ohio's tax burden into the top 3 or 4 states in the country. The Secretary of State who is a Republican, but who is not allied with the Governor or the AG, and who is the target of the AG's backstabing, has already cornered opposition to the sales tax increase as his issue. This is the real story. This is not to say that Best Buy is innocent. It is to say that you should always watch the magician not the rabbit coming out of his hat. During the last year I spent over $1,300 at Best Buy. I have no complaint about anything I bought there. I "spent" more than $13,000 on state taxes for the State of Ohio and I do not think I have gotten good value from the state. Best Buy sells stuff in that is made somewhere else by somebody else. Like every other major retailer they up-sell and cross sell (try to get you to buy more expensive models and accessories) as best they can. All of the major retailers (except Fry) mentioned in this thread are present within a mile of the nearest Best Buy. I can usually shop all of them in a 45 minute trip. I do not rely on the young, underpaid, unsophisticated and undertrained staffs of these retailers, and neither should you. The era when merchants were deeply knowledgeable about their stock is gone. If I want knowledge, I research on the web or call friends who have relevant experience. Every one of these retailers uses the same model. It focuses on low margins, high turnover and low costs. Wal*Mart is the archetype of the bred. You may denounce it if you wish, but it is where most Americans do most of their shopping. You can defend yourself against the flaws in this system (other systems have other flaws) by doing your research on-line, shopping carefully, ignoring the blandishments of salesmen, avoiding impulse purchases, shunning credit. Just don't expect some politician to defend you. Come the next election he will be gone and you will be on your own.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
I read the comments in this thread. I did not read them all in detail. Too depressing. Not knowing the backstory you have missed the real significance of this news item.
Allow me to state that I am a long time resident of the state of Ohio and I am familiar with its politicians and their machinations.
First, the news item about Best Buy is not the real news. The real news is that the Ohio Attorney General is running for Governor in 2006 and he is looking for cover and for issues. He is looking for cover because his wing of the Republican party is caught up in fund raising and back stabbing scandals. He is looking for issues because the incumbent Republican Governor, Robert Taft (Grandson of the eponymous Senator and Great-grandson of President William Howard) balanced the budget in 2003 by increasing the sales tax by from 5% to 6%, a very unpopular move because it pushed Ohio's tax burden into the top 3 or 4 states in the country.
The Secretary of State who is a Republican, but who is not allied with the Governor or the AG, and who is the target of the AG's back stabing, has already cornered opposition to the sales tax increase as his issue.
This is the real story. This is not to say that Best Buy is innocent. It is to say that you should always watch the magician not the rabbit coming out of his hat.
During the last year I spent over $1,300 at Best Buy. I have no complaint about anything I bought there. I "spent" more than $13,000 on state taxes for the State of Ohio and I do not think I have gotten good value from the state.
Best Buy sells stuff in that is made somewhere else by somebody else. Like every other major retailer they up-sell and cross sell (try to get you to buy more expensive models and accessories) as best they can. All of the major retailers (except Fry) mentioned in this thread are present within a mile of the nearest Best Buy. I can usually shop all of them in a 45 minute trip. I do not rely on the young, underpaid, unsophisticated and undertrained staffs of these retailers, and neither should you. The era when merchants were deeply knowledgeable about their stock is gone. If I want knowledge, I research on the web or call friends who have relevant experience.
Every one of these retailers uses the same model. It focuses on low margins, high turnover and low costs. Wal*Mart is the archetype of the bred. You may denounce it if you wish, but it is where most Americans do most of their shopping. You can defend yourself against the flaws in this system (other systems have other flaws) by doing your research on-line, shopping carefully, ignoring the blandishments of salesmen, avoiding impulse purchases, and shunning credit. Just don't expect some politician to defend you. He has his own agenda, and come the next election he will be gone and you will be on your own
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
Hmm. A pattern?
I bought a digital cameral for my brother in law- a birthday present. My brother in law didn't try to use the camera until three weeks later on a vacation- the damn thing didnt work, and all of his photos were becoming corrupted. Best Buy has a 2 week return policy on these things up here in the Great White North. When he tried to return it, they wouldnt let him, so I stepped in and argued with them for well over an hour. They insisted that they send it off to their repair depot, and they helf firm on this point. So, after two months at their repair depot, the camera came back "unrepairable". "There's NOTHING we can do for you, sir" said the store manager.
I went off the deep end at that point.
I had not purchaised their "extended warranty plan" and asked them what would have happend had I taken their rip off extended warrantee. She calmly said "We would have replaced the camera for you". When I asked her who runs the extended warrantee program, she said that "Best Buy" did.
At this point I found another entirely different deep end to go off of.
I pointed out as calmly as my blood pressure would allow that if Best Buy ran the program, and if my business, and my money (I'm gadgetaddicted) meant anything to them, she would treat it as though I had bought their little warrantee plan and start working out how to replace the camera. I refused to sign any of their 'papers' accepting the camera back and told them "If that camera cannot be replaced, and it cannot be fixed, I am not leaving the store with it. I wanted to speak to the district manager, and was promised a call back. I left the store.
After a week, the call failed to come, so I started calling around again. I finally got in touch with this guy and while he was looking up my file, he asked me if I was sure that the camera had come back- as it was for some reason not in the store. THEY LOST IT . He apologised and said that under the circumstances he would replace the camera.
The new camera works fine, but everytime I drive by the Best Buy, I shiver.
In Canada, at least in Ontario, Best Buy's biggest competetor is Future Shop...owned by Best Buy. I guess this is why they think they can treat customers like crap and get away with it...
http://www.bistolas.net
Slighty offtopic since this experience was with CC, not BB......but I bought a 50 in TV from CC last year. I specifically was told by someone over the phone before i went to the store and during the actual sale that a coupon I had in hand for 10% off a TV as well as their current 300$ giftcard sale would apply to my purchase. Of course afterwards when i try to get a rebate form printed out later(didnt get one during initial purchase) they say the giftcard doesn't apply since i had the coupon. I emailed their support a few times, talked to the sales manager, and got my gift card handed to me directly( instead of having to wait 8 weeks like a normal rebate). Worked out well for me. I also bought the Extended Plan which will last for 4 years. Since its a projection LCD it uses a bulb, which will most likely die within 4 years. Though I didn't read the 'small print' in my warranty I was told specifically it covers the bulb. Right there the cost of the ext. warranty is covered. On top of that there are a few dead pixels on my screen. It isnt noticeable at all at normal viewing distance, but with a hassle im sure i can get a new model down the road.
- I got my free iPod and a free Nintendo DS....why not
Newegg Rules!!!
I purchase all of my stuff through either Newegg or Directron.
Best Buy can kiss my fury ass!