I just can't deal with Best Buy anymore...

madmax

So, its been awhile since I've had any time to just wonder around a BB and see what new toys have emerged in the past year.

Am I just non-social or what??

I walk in and some guy by the door proclaims "Welcome to Best Buy! What are you interested in looking at today?" I said "I don't know, just looking around" and walked on. I'm walking down the main isle by the big screens and some guy walks out in front of me and says "What type of TV are you looking for?". "I have a tv, I'm not even looking at them". I walk around the guy and head for the computers. I look over at the laptop display and from behind me I hear "Excuse me, which laptop are you interested in?". I just ignored this one totally. He ended up walking away after a minute or so and some other joker walks right in front of me and says "What brings you into BB today?" I told him I was looking around. Finally I made it to the portable video players and another guy walked over and started his questioning. I figure this time I actually have a real question since I'm somewhat interested in battery life between the ipod and the creative labs one. So I ask him and he reads me 14 hours music or 2 hours video and when he looked at the creative labs one it says some amount for music so he gives me that number. I question him about the video and he says "its the same on this one for both audio and video". I knew that was wrong.

Its ok to be ignorant but do they have to actually impede your shopping? I just headed to the door hoping to get out without the door guy saying anything. "Did you find what you were looking for?" I cringed.

Do people actually consider this helpful or socially correct? This was far worse than Christmas greaters which I dispise as well.

I feel better now, thanks...

madmax

F1nut

You're just non-social. However, I'm glad you feel better.

ben62670

Commission!

Fireman32

I havent had that problem in the BB my me. Usually I have to find someone if I want help. I went in a while back to compare HD-DVD and Bluray and the salesman told me that I can buy the HD player for 399 or buy any of the upconverting players and its the same thing. I asked the guy why buy a 399 dollar unit when I can spend 60 to get the same thing and he looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face. Im glad to see that there training there employees well. Ok now I feel better.:D

Fireman32

ben62670 wrote:

Commission!

They do not make commission at Best Buy

hearingimpared

Chuck you were NOT at the BB in Wilmington Delaware. My wife and I went in there and spent 1 full hour waiting for someone to wait on us in the computer section. While they were loading up the PC (Geek Squad on site) I walked around to the Video/HT section. . .I had to hunt down people to asked about the LCDs and plasmas. Every person I spoke (2) I spoke to gave me a bunch of double talk, I could tell they didn't know squat.

So I sat around with my wife ooohhhing and haaaaaing while watching a Samsung plasma. . . they certainly didn't treat us like they did you.

Come to think of it thank God, cause if they did I would have had to get the rude on to get them to leave me alone.

janmike

Half way in the middle is the best. If you were there for 30 minutes or more and required assistance and nobody approached you, how would you feel? Sometimes trying to find someone with relevant knowledge in a store can be just as frustrating as pestering sales personnel.

Fireman32

If you think thats bad you should visit the compusa by me. I spent 45 minutes trying to get someone to help me and then walked out.

hearingimpared

Fireman32 wrote:

If you think thats bad you should visit the compusa by me. I spent 45 minutes trying to get someone to help me and then walked out.

I couldn't walk out they were having an awesome sale plus all three of my old PCs took a dump and I got tired of fixing them, plus I had a jones on that day to be on this addictive forum.

ohskigod

Fireman32 wrote:

If you think thats bad you should visit the compusa by me. I spent 45 minutes trying to get someone to help me and then walked out.

that CompUSA sucks!!!! I've had a bad history with that store man (dave and I live in the same town, believe me, he aint kiddin.

dorokusai

I barely read that whole ordeal and can only say....didn't you know what was goiing to happen already Max?

TroyD

If MM had said he was looking for a new chest freezer, I was going to call the cops.

BDT

Shizelbs

They're just trying to provide customer service. Its better than having someone go in the store, need help, but never get it offered. They probably just came out of some stupid pep meeting.

That being said, they can go screw themselves. Would it kill them to hire someone that knew something about anything they sold there? I provide better advice than they do when I go there.

Refefer

The only reason I go to best buy at this point is to pick up DVDs or music, and even that is coming to an end with buying stuff online.

They really don't know ****. I had a friend who worked there for a while in the portable music section, and his "training" consisted of a piss test and a questionaire asking if he knew how to put batteries in the right way. :rolleyes:

I have my other, smaller stores to get my big purchases at because any time I try to get something of any worth there, I leave with high blood pressure and feeling violated. It's always a cause for a stiff drink.

michael_w

The only things Future Shop / Best Buy are good for is if you need to grab something that's near or below cost and can't be had anywhere else for the same price. With the two, you need to know what you want when you go in otherwise you'll more than likely just get a load of crap about how you should buy this $30 usb cable and extended warranty for the $60 printer you just bought.

Their training to become a sales assoicate or product 'expert' is mainly based on what they call the 'complete solution'. Basically, they try and push rediclously overpriced accessories and an extended warranty on you. The majority of the actual product knowledge is learned though trial and error with the demo's and reading the brief descriptions on the tags. Unless you work in home theater on commission the guys that work there make bearly any money so it's hard to find good people that will stay for long enough to gain knowledge and experiance on the product lines.

Sadly, I used to work for Future Shop as a merchandiser (resets, stocking etc.) and I get asked questions all the time. If I'm in home theater and a customer comes up to me for help it's alright but if I'm in a different department and they start asking questions it can be hard to help them. It's dissapointing to myself and the customer that I can't help, but it's very hard to know every product in the store. The problem mostly lies in Future Shop being commission because the sales guys don't want to deal with a disgruntled customer shopping for a cable that they'll make 25 cents off of.

I used to regularly argue with the department manager of home theater about how to set things up and even things like positioning. I took it all in stride and thought it was pretty funny (but a little sad) to see how little they knew about setting up a good system. I think I mentioned about getting an spl meter once and only ONE guy in the department knew what I was talking about.


That little explaination turned into quite the rant I just quit a few days ago, so I still have that bad taste in my mouth from the company.



If I want service, I hit up the small local shops. That's where you'll find someone who knows their stuff.

BaggedLancer

So magnolia home theater people are on commission? No wonder the guys eyes were glowing when we bought 2 Samsung 40" 1080p LCD's

Fireman32

They are not on commission. I bought my TV from magnolia and they are not on commission because I delt with 3 different salespeople over there and neither cared who i bought the tv from. They all stated that there not on commission.

TheReaper

In the DVD section, when they ask me for help. I just ask them for the Flash Gordon DVD, the 1980 version.

I used to ask for Mel Brooks: Robin Hood - Men In Tights, but that finaly came out in the Mel Brooks collection.

jmwest1970

IMO BB, CC, and CompUSA are only good for putty your hands on something you're interested in buying. Once I've done that, I go home and order it online for 50-70% of the their price.

BaggedLancer

Fireman32 wrote:

They are not on commission. I bought my TV from magnolia and they are not on commission because I delt with 3 different salespeople over there and neither cared who i bought the tv from. They all stated that there not on commission.

Gotcha, I guess I just had a more than willing saleman. He was by far the best salesman I have ever had in any store I have been to. He knew about the stuff that wasn't on the little tickets for every TV. Like who OEM's them, the processors, refresh rates, etc....all those little details that I was interested in.

sucks2beme

Magnolia guys are a mixed bag. Some are bodies, some are good.
Regular BB guys? Don't know squat about anything.
Commision or not, they still have quotas, especially for those stupid
service contracts.
CompUsa is just hanging around waiting to go belly up. They abandoned
their core business to chase HT, and now are not even a player
in the computer market.

krabby5

I bought a cheap 15" LCD from CC to put on the wall in our office..I think it was on sale for $140 or so...he asked if I wanted the 3 year extended warranty...I said "How much?"

He replies.."$70"...I laughed out loud..and said "Are you serious?"

He says, "Yes..those things are real expensive to repair..if something happens, you can just bring it in and exchange for a new one.."

I just sat there with my mouth open and said, "no thanks"

polksda

That's why I buy virtually everything online. The last time I was in BB, I was accosted by "helpful" BlueShirts 3 times in a 20 minute time period. I swore that the next time one even hinted about moving in my direction, I was going to yell out "Get away from me you PERVERT!"

It's a perfect example of a good idea taken too far. Someone up in BB corporate probably had the notion that BB employees should "be more helpful" and as it trickled down through the ranks it eventually transmogrified into "We don't want any customers standing still for more than 30 seconds, so assault as many as you can."

tommyboy

hmmm.... I don't remember ever being asked for help at best buy. Maybe once in a tv section. Maybe cause I'm young and they think I don't have any money.

polksda wrote:

It's a perfect example of a good idea taken too far. Someone up in BB corporate probably had the notion that BB employees should "be more helpful" and as it trickled down through the ranks it eventually transmogrified into "We don't want any customers standing still for more than 30 seconds, so assault as many as you can."

When I worked at circuit city, managers told us the "30 second, 10 foot rule"(or something like that). Whenever someone came into the tv department, we have to greet ourselfs in 30 seconds, and if they don't need help. We have to be within 10 feet of that customer(talk about stalking). I'm so glad I don't work there anymore. No commission, no incentives, what the point?

tommyboy

BaggedLancer

I buy everything online except large electronic purchases since I like have on-site service for 4 years on large purchases. However, I will not buy locally if they are not willing to pricematch, which Best Buy did for me on both my samsung 40's.

AndyGwis

I LOVE BB compared to Circuit City and Compusa. I only go in those places when I'm running in to grab something specific. It's the exact opposite as the BB scenario you gave. . . no one helps you at those places.

I was going to buy some stuff and waited in line for 5 minutes waiting for someone to check me out, while 4 CC employees stood 10 feet away from me doing nothing.

BB owns CC and CompUSA.

krabby5

I always wonder how many fricken employees do they have working a shift at one time? They could lower their prices even more if they didn't have 150 employees working the same shift..They're EVERYWHERE..

Is it BB's goal to have one salesperson per customer?:D