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."

Comments

Would have liked to have seen an Apple Store

[mccalli]

OK, so I know it's slightly different. However, I would like to have seen them also go into an Apple Store and ask similar questions.

My experience has been nothing but good in there (Regent Street), but others have reported problems so I'm perfectly happy to believe I've just been lucky and that flaws exist.

Not a fan post claiming superiority or anything, it's just something I would have been curious to see. Apple make a lot of their 'shopping experience' (ugh, really dislike using the experience word) and it would have been interesting to see how they stacked up.

Cheers,
Ian

Re:re

[cayenne8]

"The only reason the slashdot crowd knows the best buy guys are full of shit is because they actually know more about electronics than the average person."

I gotta say..it really hurts me to be in a store like BB, and hear the crap they are telling people, and it sometimes takes everyting I have in me to keep my mouth shut. On more than on occasion, I've had to tell people the truth. I saw an older couple wanting to buy an HD tv...and the sales goof was telling them all kinds of shit...I caught then when he walked away for a bit...and told them about the need for HDMI, for future use...that they'd need an external tuner or cable box with that model...and that one of the ones he was pushing, wasn't really HD...it didn't even have 720p resolution levels...

I mean, I'm no expert..but, I just can't stand when they spew crap at people that is either ignorant or down right deceptive....

Re:Best Buy Experience

[NewKidInTown]

True story: My brother worked at a Best Buy while putting himself through culinary school. He spent days in the kitchen, and worked nights during the holiday season trying to sell stereos to desperate holiday shoppers. Being a fairly young and tech-savvy guy, he actually does his research and knows a fair bit about the stereos he's selling. Other salespeople in his area end up sending customers to him with questions when they don't have answers.

So one night, a woman comes in looking to buy something for her son. She singles out my brother and starts asking him all sorts of questions about the various floor models on display. My brothe fields all of her questions, and unfortunately goes a little over her head with some of his explanations. In a good natured sort of tone, the woman replies, "Well, you may know a lot about these things, but I bet you wouldn't know anything about cooking a roast."

My brother smiled, and said, "Well, if you want it medium rare, it should cook to about 140 degrees..."

The woman just stared at him, and then thanked him for his help and took the completed order form. My point is, not all the underpaid Best Buy drones are completely useless. Some of them are just there because it's the job they can have while waiting to do something else.

Re:re

[Alex P Keaton in da]

I agree to a point-
People have riduculous expectations. For example, they want to be able to buy a Dell for $300 that would have been considered a supercomputer 5 years ago (exaggeration) and then are upset when it has crappy support.
People want products cheaply- which makes margins thin, which takes away money for "better" employees....
There are still places around where you can get good service and a decent price. There is an independent electronics store near me that sells TVs and such. I was talking to a salesguy, who was super nice and knew about everything there is to know about TVs, and he said that people just assume that because they are small that they are more expensive. The fact is, they were w/in $5 of Best Buys prices on about everything... ($5 on $1000 items, and actually cheaper for some things.)