Are you a customer? If so, Best Buy says "You're wrong!"

Jstas

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/07/05/national1332EDT0564.DTL

Tsayid

From the subject of your post it sounds like you disapprove of Best Buy trying to make their "difficult customers" more profitable. Do you feel that it's not right for Best Buy to take action to improve the business that they do?

Also... I can't find anything in the article that implies that Best Buy thinks its customers are wrong, just that theyre trying to find ways to prevent abuses by customers.

dragon1952

Hmmmm.... if they don't want buyers shopping for the best price why try to undercut the competition? They are notorious for this.
They do it to attract buyers who may see and buy something else while they're there. Sometimes just to get rid of overstock or last years models. If it backfires on them that's their stinkin' problem.

Although I can understand wanting to eliminate the 'cheaters' and the ones who come back time and time again and tie up the 'salespersons' (if that's what you want to call them) and never buy.
Actually this article makes them sound like a bunch of whiners. Nothing happens there that doesn't happen everywhere else too.

Jstas

Originally posted by Tsayid
From the subject of your post it sounds like you disapprove of Best Buy trying to make their "difficult customers" more profitable. Do you feel that it's not right for Best Buy to take action to improve the business that they do?

Also... I can't find anything in the article that implies that Best Buy thinks its customers are wrong, just that theyre trying to find ways to prevent abuses by customers.

Say what you want about Best Buy, I don't care. As for me, don't try to drag me into your pathetic, idealistic pissing match by trying to "infer" what I am saying from a message that is nothing more than what the article is about. I would post my personal opinion about Best Buy but it is discouraged from trashing vendors on this website for obvious reasons.

Read, develop your own opinion, discuss. I merely posted it here because I thought some would find it interesting and discussion worthy. Personally, I find it rather arrogant and shifty to "deny" customers from spending thier money at Best Buy. I'd sooner take my money to Circuit City who will gladly match Best Buy's price on anything similar they carry and then beat it by 10% just because they want me to come back to thier stor. Even if I just go for the sale prices.

Tsayid

Sorry Jstas... I wasn't trying to infer your opinion from your post... although looking at my post I realize that's what I came off sounding like.

I just wanted to know if you were posting an opinion on the article, and if so what it was. And then by doing that, spark some conversation about it. I'm not trying to step on your toes

My apologies.

As for my own opinion... seems to me that Best Buy is being more vocal about what they're doing to eliminate "trouble customers" than other companies, but I don't think it's very unusual to take the steps that they are. I do question the wisdom of going public with such statements though.

brettw22

I think there's a big difference between the type of customer that shops smart and the type of customer that's out to rip them off and get them to incur loss as often as they can in whatever ways possible. THAT'S the type of customer that they need to do.

Every company has items that are lowballed (take Fry's for example with the LSi7's) to get people in the door so they might make other purchases while in their stores. That's smart business.

p.s. Jstas......breathe......:)

TechChallenged

Great Post. I wish more companys would examine customer service the Larry Selden way. I think informed discount shoppers like myself would benifit the most. I have always believed if you are looking for customer service shop specialty stores. Stop threatening the girl at the layaway counter that you will take your business elsewhere if you don't get your way.

Jstas

OK, some points that seemed missed so far.

Brad Anderson only wants to sell to stupid people.

"That would be directly equivalent to somebody going to an ATM and getting money out without putting any in," Brad Anderson, Best Buy's chief executive, said in a recent interview. "Those customers, they're smart, and they're costing us money."

That discrimination. If the rebate policy is causing a problem, change the policy, don't police and punish the customers. They have hundreds of millions of customers. You're going to lose millions of dollars playing Hitler with your customer base rather than changing your policy to avoid a losing situation. Besides, playing Hitler will get you no where and only serve to alienate your customers. If Best Buy wants to throw money away, send it this way!

Selden and Gainey think that if you don't have enough money to be "profitable" you aren't worth thier time.

Selden worked as a consultant for Royal Bank of Canada, which at one time traced checks faster for its most profitable customers, while other customers waited up to five days, he wrote. While that's a bit out of date, the bank now has other ways of prioritizing customers.

Laura Gainey, vice president of client segment strategies, said the bank's phone system sends certain customers to the front of the line, where they get the most experienced customer service representatives, depending on criteria that includes their account size.

So basically, what they are saying is that if you aren't profitable, you don't get service. They will gladly take your money anyway though. I mean, it's the dollars that are important, isn't it?


Selden can't look under his own nose.

Sometimes it's the retailer's fault that a customer is unprofitable, Selden said. He cited an upscale retailer in New York that lost sales because its changing rooms were dirty and in bad repair. Women who had probably taken up a salesperson's time were declining to change in those rooms, and declining to buy, he said.

Been in a Best Buy lately? Sure, they may appear clean but try finding something on the shelf. My local Best Buy has price tags for items that aren't on the shelf, incorrect price tags and total disarray (i.e.: price tags for an item 3 shelves down from the price tag). Employees look disheveled at best and items that they are supposedly promoting (sale and non-sale items alike) are impossible to get to or constantly out of stock. Sales staff is unhelpful at best but mostly rude, lazy and condecending. Seems like Best Buy has a good deal of those problems mentioned in the article quote already and then some.

Then you have honest people like Steve McCuskey here.

Best Buy customer Steve McCuskey pondered the company's efforts with a set of computer speakers in his hand. McCuskey, an industrial chemical salesman, said he shares Best Buy's frustration with "extreme price shoppers" who are so low-cost oriented that it's tough to make money off of them. He said he recently paid extra to buy a better portable compact disc player for his son after the first one lasted just four months.

"I'm definitely looking for the best price, but I'm also tired of cheap stuff that's going to break right away," he said.

Who are just looking to get what they paid for and not some cheap pile of crap that breaks in 4 months.

So a guy like Steve is gonna end up paying for the fraction of a fraction of the minority detailed here.

"Then there are those customers that are just evil customers ... fundamentally they're out to cheat us," Selden said in a telephone interview. "It's not a large number of customers, but they can have a material impact on a business."

The only benefit is that Best Buy seems to disagree with Selden and wants to keep all of it's customer.

Best Buy executive vice president Philip Schoonover said the idea of "firing" some customers is one place where Best Buy disagrees with Selden. The company will try to find ways to make money-losing customers profitable, he said.

But, given thier past history with customer service issues, mechandise stocking/buying practices and poorly structured and implemented rebate system, it doesn't look like they will be able to easily recover from such a news story as this without canning Selden.

F1nut

Eff'em! They lost my business when they started asking to see my sales receipt and wanting to look in the bag or box at the door after I paid for it. It's mine and legally they can't make me or you do that, but most of all it's a insult to their customers and shouldn't be tolerated!

madmax

So what is a demon customer? I know some of them because I work in a repair center part time. Can anyone else add some?

Buy items, get rebate, return.

Buy CD player or any other item, return next week and buy another, again and again... In the end they try 30 some units and never actually buy one.

Buy a new item when the old one (out of warranty) breaks, put the old one back in the box and return.

Return quickly changing technology items for newer ones.

Open 20 boxes to find the one you want.

Bring back because you dropped it out of the back of your truck and it broke.

Complain about the nick on the back of your new 65" widescreen and demand a new one.

Buy one repair contract for one vacuum and bring in a different one from your cleaning service every week.

My favorite one: Buy a new one when you take your broken one in for repair. Return it when you pick up your repaired unit. People actually do this with lawn tractors, mowers, electronics etc. The nerve of some of these consumers! I usually ruin their week by offering them a different one or nothing. They are like "What?? Are you saying you won't take this thing back??!!! Yup. Oh the joys of retail.

madmax

Originally posted by F1nut
Eff'em! They lost my business when they started asking to see my sales receipt and wanting to look in the bag or box at the door after I paid for it. It's mine and legally they can't make me or you do that, but most of all it's a insult to their customers and shouldn't be tolerated!

I had a friend who joined the local Sams Club when it first opened in Frederick. He told me he didn't care for their policy of checking the receipts as people leave the store but whatever. I told him they never check mine. He got mad,turned red and never shopped there again. Of course it is their policy to check all receipts.

Strong Bad

Personally, I don't mind when stores want to see the receipt at the door after I purchased something. I have nothing to hide and it doesn't bother me.

It's just an unfortunate action they have to take in the very dishonest world we live in. All those electronic devices at the doors that scan the metal tags inside of merchandise cost money that we unfortunately have to pay for because of....F***ing thieves!

If checking all receipts at the doors helps keep merchandise prices a little bit lower, than check 'em!

Strong Bad

dragon1952

Personally, I don't mind when stores want to see the receipt at the door after I purchased something. I have nothing to hide and it doesn't bother me.

To me it's a little demeaning and embarrassing. Sam's club,where I live anyway, has pretty decent clientele yet they are absolutely the only place in town that does this. Where do you draw the line anyway. Next they'll be wanting to frisk us :rolleyes:

Strong Bad

It's the price we pay due to THIEVES!

Let me give my point of view. May was the first time I had flown since before 9/11. Had to take a company business trip. I had no concept of just how extensive and strict the search policies had become. Off went my shoes, out came the laptop from my laptop case, etc...I didn't get mad one little bit.

My point is, this is the price we have to pay for freedom. When those F-ing terrorists did what they did, we have to suffer by waiting in longer lines at the airport, having to get to the airport 2 hours ahead of the flight, literally getting strip searched and so on and so on.

Same concept for stores. Because thieves and shoplifters have to take advantage and abuse the freedoms given to them, we honest people have to suffer by having someone at the store exit check our bags and make us feel as though we did something wrong. I belong to BJ's Wharehouse and they check everyone and everything going through the exit.

One day I was shopping there and went to purchase razor cartridges for my shaver. Where they used to be was now a display with slips of paper and pencils. You had to now fill out an order form and get your merchandise AFTER you paid for it at the courtesy booth. I asked why and they said..."these are one of our most stolen items of late, so we had to lock them up."

Guys, it's the price we pay, so suck it up!

Strong Bad

Airplay355

well i thought i had an opinion but i decided i dont care...not to mention i dont feel like starting a war


carry on

F1nut

Sorry John, but I strongly disagree with your analogy. For one thing the search polices at airports are legal, the search polices at stores are not. If you refuse to show the store your receipt or package there is nothing they can do about, if they tried to stop or detain you, you could turn around and sue them. They have no more right to look at your receipt or purchase after you have paid for it than they do to ask to see your wallet or tell you to take off your shoes.

If a store has such a bad problem with shoplifting, then they need to find another way of dealing with it other than making every shopper feel like a criminal.

VR3

Around here, they only check your receipt if you have something that cant fit in a bag....

RuSsMaN

Who cares!

Does ANYONE here buy ANYTHING from Best Buy, short of some cheap beater speakers, or the occasional media disc? F em. If they won't sell me some $20 KLH shelf speakers to test newly acquired amps, someone else will.

Nothing for me at Best Buy.

Cheers,
Rooster

dragon1952

Does ANYONE here buy ANYTHING from Best Buy

Absolutely not!
(But I do go to Sam's Club )

madmax

In the philipines they have a cashier and a watcher for each cash register. As the person rings you up another person whose only job is to watch the cashier watches to make sure the cashier doesn't do anything underhanded. I couldn't tell if the watchers watched the customers leave or not but it would make sense. It's a shame you pay for two people to do one persons job. Of course the consumer ends up paying for it.

On the first ocasion when I was asked to show my receipt at a wallmart I felt like being obnoxious. (like F1nut). I wasn't though. The second time was at a bestbuy. I stood in front of the door, set my bag down in front of the other one, got down on one knee and proceded to lay out some CD's side by side looking on both sides for the receipt. When I didn't see it I laid the bag over top of the cd's and emptied each pocket. By this time the guy was wishing he had picked someone else and I could see he just wished I would leave. He said not to worry about it but I continued by pulling out a stack of credit cards and going through them. I always carry all my receipts in my wallet and I had like 20 in there. I started reading each one and finally I found it, right where I knew it was. I guess I can be a dick when in the right mood. There was quite a line of people waiting to get out. I hoped there was a manager watching because I'm sure the whole thing looked pretty bad. I'm normally pretty mild mannored but they picked the wrong day. I was actually in a pretty good mood afterwards.

madmax

Strong Bad

I can see this is a no win situation, so rather than start a big ruckus on the board and most likely wind up in the HOS, I'll let it go.

In the end, it's no big deal for me. Like Russ said, I only hit Best Buy for the ocassional sale on blank CD-R's, the Tuesday DVD sale or some serious once in a millenium sale on some PC peripheral. The have no speakers or home audio equipment I want.

Jesse, I disagree with you disagreeing with me. Do you agree or disagree with that statement?

Strong Bad