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Computer Buying Experiences at B&M Stores
bob gnosh writes "The team over at [H] Consumer go into Best Buy, Fry's, CompUSA, and Circuit City and buy a computer at each store. They relate exactly what happened at each store, talk about warranties, and what to do to protect yourself or your friends when buying at these places." From the article: "Navigating these retail stores isn't for the faint of heart or those not armed with the right knowledge beforehand. As much as you'd like to go to your closest strip mall, have a salesperson discern your hardware needs, and walk out with a shiny new computer that does everything but load your dishwasher, such an experience is just not going to happen. Most retail sales people are simply not going to possess the necessary knowledge to correctly recommend or explain every nuance of a piece of hardware."
Um- this sounds like buying most things, from washing machines to cars. Salespeople that aren't knowledgable? No way! You need to research things yourself....
And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
I usually go into Best Buy because I don't want to be bothered by salesman. Alas, my last major experience with them was less than impressive. While I was browsing for a new home router, a salesperson decided to help out. While he did eventually point me toward a nice Netgear Wifi/Switch combo that was well-priced, his technical information left a lot to be desired. He informed me on no uncertain terms that the unit I had been looking at "wouldn't be full speed" because it was "a switch instead of a router." According to him, a switch was a network device that simply splits the signal, thereby allowing only one port to talk at a time. I shook my head and tried to explain that he was thinking of a hub, and that a switch gives full performance on each port. Unfortunately, I had a head cold at the time and probably wasn't very persuasive. He just sort of gave me a look like, "Whatever, dude".
All in all, Best Buy "geeks" (*cough* *sputter*) tend to have the computer knowledge of a third grader who's been throwing around factoids with his friends at lunch in a desparate attempt to arrive at a miniscule of real knowledge. It used to be amusing to ask the sales staff complex questions just to hear their wonderfully made-up answers, but these days I'm far too busy for that sort of nonsense. They would honestly be a lot more helpful if they just gave their recommendation (the same "here's the popular product" one they give everyone) and went away. For everything else they need to either profess ignorance or point the buyer to websites where they can do their own research. (Not that they're actually going to do that. They need to sell overpriced "Geek Squad" cables and useless warranties somehow.) *sigh*
That being said, I feel sorry for the well-intentioned geeks who spend some small portion of their lives with a Best Buy name tag affixed below their lapel. It must be horrifying to be expected to be so disinformative just to sell warranties and accessories.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Not only that, but that's typically not their goal. They're typically on commission, so if grandma comes in looking for a computer, they're not going to try to find a computer to fit her modest needs--they're going to try and give her the biggest, most expensive computer with all the add-ons and extras they can manage. Buying a computer at one of these stores involves (a) knowing what you want, and (b) dodging the sales team's efforts to saddle you with extra stuff that you don't want.
Dlugar
Computer Go: Writing Software to Play the Ancient Game of Go
...get suckered whether they are buying a car, home, or major appliance. Consumers must be informed to get a deal or merely an adequate system. This will not change unless some volunteer collection of geeks is setup to help norms make buying decisions.
This ain't news, this is olds. At best. It was like that 10 years ago and more, except that back then you also had the small computer shops where the people who actually knew a thing or two built your machine to custom specs if you asked for it. Almost all of those have been driven out of business by WalMart, BestBuy, whatever-large-retailer-you-have due to aggressive pricing and, of course, your average Joe "no clue" Doe shopping there because it's $5 cheaper.
The thing is, for the margins of your average retailer, you can't afford quality staff. And that's not just computers, that's everything.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
I think a better way to say it is; Most shoppers won't pay the prices needed to ensure that retail sales people posses the necessary knowledge to correct recommend and expllain every nuance of a piece of hardware.
I used to have some friends who ran a small computer store. They built machines and sold hardware. They were friendly and knowledgable and did at-home-at-office service calls. Their target was a small but fairly affluent town and they did well for those customers who realized that "cheap" and "quality service" are often words not uttered in the same sentence.
When they saturatued their small town they were not effective at finding more customers that fit their demographic. The tried to compete with Best Buy and Dell and they failed miserably because at the end of the day they couldn't justify selling a computer for $20 profit.
They could answer a customer's question knowledgably and spend the time needed to make sure the customer ended up with a very good fit for their needs. They just couldn't find enough customers who were willing to pay for this level of knowledge and personal service.
A friend of mine once said, after I told him about some bad experiences with computer salesmen: "If you know anything about computers, you're not going to work in a computer shop." He's right of course; you can make much more money elsewhere if you know anything about computers.
-- Cheers!
Back in college I worked at Circuit City. I was a sales person in the computer department.
We wore a tie, blue blazer and had a name tag with stickers based on our certifications. They actually sent us for week long training at different times or when new products came out. We were tested and didn't receive each "icon" without passing the tests.
Granted, most of it wasn't difficult but it did require some general understanding of what you were doing! I was the only person in my store certified to handle the installs - I used to make so much money just installing graphics cards, etc. These days - how do you know the person knows what to do?
Best Buy introduced the "no hassle" shopping experience. They looked at things from a perspective of "everyone is an hourly employee, no specialized training - all you need to know how to do is work a cash register".
People who were in a hurry (most of the US these days) seemed to like the Best Buy way of shopping better than dealing with someone who could actually help them so Circuit City ended up switching over to the same business model. Notice the blue blazers and ties are gone? Replaced with kids in red polo style shirts who can barely point you in the right direction to find a product.
But hey, this is what America wanted. They didn't want to be bothered by someone asking them questions about what they needed.
Granted, some of the guys at CC did seem like used car salesmen but there were some that were very good at their job.
I've read all the slams on the "stupid" people that work at these retail stores and the greedy ones that are just selling you the most expensive thing because they are on commission. Let's face it. If they knew what we know (yes, I'm generalizing but I think it applies to most everyone reading this), then they wouldn't be working for minimum wage at a retail store. I think everyone needs to give these kids working their way through school, in most cases, a break and use some common sense when setting expectations. When you walk into one of these stores, you shouldn't expect that you are dealing with a computer engineer or skilled programmer who is intimate with the technology.
Am I making excuses for those who BS or lie? No. But try looking at this from their perspective. I'm sure we were all new to technology at one point and it isn't easy to be working in technology (even just selling it) and admitting you don't know much, if anything, about it. It is what it is and unless we are willing to pay $5K for a computer so these stores can hire engineers to sell them to us, we will just have to set our expectations accordingly.
Do what is right and let the consequence follow
Two words: laptop trouble. That's when buying an extended warranty is a good thing. If you go and buy a laptop, best to spring for the little bit extra for the warranty.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
While not with babies (who don't seem to me to be that fussy unless they are sick or a basic need isn't being met), toddlers are generally the fussier ones. The trick there is consistency and aligning their incentives with yours. Look at the problem of inconsistent enforcement of the rules (speeding). Almost everyone I know (and most of the cars on the beltway) go very different speeds on the highway. Almost all above the posted speed limit. Humans naturally test their boundries all the time, if parents are inconsistent with their toddlers, than they will be tested all the time. If you say no, mean no, not ask me again in five minutes and I might say yes then. This is free advice (and common sense) but pretty costly to impliment so it gets frequently ignored.
One of the best ways to align incentives is to give kids an allowance. Even little kids are ruthless utilitarians. They know exactly the order of things that they want (or can usually reach it with a bit of coaxing). Consistentcy and aligned incentives makes going to the store not a chance to get a toy, but similar to your trip, the potential to exchange a limited medium of exchange for a potential needed or desired item and they are much less stressful.
Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
Although the read was very interesting, I'll have to say that the reviewers didn't get to review Micro Center, which is another computer store. Thats understandable, considering that Micro Center only has 20 locations in like 14 states, but they could have driven to North Dallas and went to one there. I mean, if they took the time to create an extensive analysis about these B&M stores, they should have included all of the major companies, not just the ones in a local area. Austin isn't even that much electronically competitive compared to Dallas-Fort Worth, which is arguably the 2nd most electronically competitive area (I believe Tokyo, Japan, is first) in the world.
I've always had good experiences at Micro Center. Their sales staff are very informed, they don't push you too much to buy something, they offer excellent extended warranties, and their merchandise is very easy to find. MC is probably one of few stores I've been in that has a very good PC components section (including a dedicated case mod section for the leet). Their technicians are all certified, and even some of their sales staff have COMPTIA or Cisco certs. Their book department is HUGE.
I absolutely despise Frys Electronics, which treats you as a number rather as a person. They have too much off-brand products and their sales staff turnover rate is one of the highest in the nation (rate of firing people and hiring people). The only thing Frys is good for is to attract those damn cheap-skates who think 20 bucks for a wireless keyboard and mouse combo isn't cheap enough. I can't stand those people.
Funny, I used to live in Austin, so I have shopped at all three of these stores. Out of all of them Fry's pertends to be the most 'geeky' but if you ask any technical question you don't get an answer. This is true when I asked in the Computer section, the hardware section, wireless and yes, Apple. Not trying to sound 'glib' but I knew more than these folks, so when I had a question of something I didn't know, they didn't either. This was frustrating, but since I know how to 'use the internet' I am able to learn/get advice from there, and then go buy.
That way when they try to 'upsell' you, you know it's just a sales pitch and that you really don't need ${FEATURE} since you'll never have any use to ${FEATURE_DESC}.
This does point to 'regular' folks going to buy computers; they're not going to get what they want, because they don't know what they want. I've walked a few friends/relatives thru computer purchases to insure they get what they need, and not more. Of course I think this is going to be true of anything; refridgerators, power saw, car...so I don't think this is a big revelation. Fun article though, I could just hear the subwoofers from the car audio section while I was reading!
fak3r.com
Micro Center is great. I live 5 minutes from a Circuit City, and 15-20 minutes away from a Best Buy and a CompUSA. But when I need something and don't want to or can't wait for it to be shipped from one of my usual mail order vendors, I drive an for hour to the Philadelphia-area Micro Center.
It's clean, well-stocked, well-staffed, and they have a good Mac department (though that's less important now that Apple has their own retail stores). I usually end up browsing for at least 30-45 minutes, and I seldom leave with just the item I came for.
The only time I'll shop at the other chains is if I desperately need an item, or I'm spending other people's money.
~Philly
No,
I'm saying that they should probably keep the kid at home to care for it... espeically given the kids condition. He threw in that his kid has downs for a sympothy ploy.
Reading some of these comments is just depressing.
I was friends with someone that had MS for a few years. We stopped being friends when he died. Its a pretty horrific disease to live through, and while he did have some happy times, most of the time he was pretty upset. He was aware of what was going on you know.
Whats depressing is bringing a person into the world who's life will be mostly suffering, misery and not getting to do all the things that they see everyone else doing. It isn't always better to be alive you know.
It's far better for him to indicate uncertainty (in my opinion) than to spout on about stuff that he really isn't sure of. Cut him some slack.
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
No it is NOT!! Since when did common courtesy disappear? You do not have a right to impinge on MY rights to enjoy a quiet meal, or be out in public without your sceaming, annoying, undisciplined offspring YOU chose to have. You don't have any more of a right to thrust them upon the general public than you would of yelling constantly through a bullhorn at full volumne, or spontaneously whacking someone on the head....
Why would you want to annoy people out there who did nothing to you? YOU chose to have kids...and as such, it is your responsibility to keep them at home till they can behave, while you are teaching them TO behave in public.
Your rights end where my nose begins as the old saying goes....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
This is absolutely true. I took a little time out of IT and worked in my friend's aquarium shop. He specializes in high end and unusual fish as well as the standard ones you would see in big box pet store. This meant we had customers that were both rabid enthusiast types and average people.
What took me a while to realize was that I could do very well with the enthusiasts I was about 50/50 with the average people. Many people truly do not care about anything but price and don't even seem to want to understand what they are buying and why they need it. I could sell them the biggest piece of junk in the place, after telling them it is junk, as long as I stuck a 25% off sticker on it. Hell, I don't know how many times I managed to turn a sale by offering a 5% discount. It didn't matter if that was $2, if they could tell their buddies about the great deal they got it was sold. I hated doing it though, you can't keep customers if their only loyalty is to the price. It doesn't matter if they get advice from someone with 20 years experience or not if the guy across the street is $.50 cheaper.
Truly a sad state of affairs.