Posted on 09/20/2013 8:29:59 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
(Newser) – Best Buy is back from the brink. Profits are up, costs are down, and the share price has tripled since December. That's the good news. "The bad news," writes Matthew Yglesias at Slate, "is that the store is awful and deserves to die." Yglesias and a colleague visited stores in different cities (Washington, DC, and NYC, respectively), and concluded that "Best Buy still basically sucks." The selection isn't great, and almost everything costs more than it would on Amazon. But what about customer service? Could having human experts justify the markups?
Nope. If anything, Best Buy's reps seem out to scam customers. Throughout the store "salesman after salesman was trying to upsell people" on service plans and add-ons. One rep assured Yglesias that the "high-end" $59.99 HDMI cable was better than a "cheap" $19.99 one. Given that all HDMI cables are basically the same, "this is malpractice verging on fraud." So Yglesias is skeptical that the turnaround will stick. "Competing with online retail on the basis of hustling your customers isn't much of a value proposition." Read his column in full here.
Excellent! We have a similar story when we bought our Samsung HD TV from BB a few years ago. I was home checking prices on Amazon, etc. while hubby shopped at BB, giving me model numbers of TVs. BB's sales people are obviously aware that you can get the same items cheaper on Amazon...
I concur with Slate. BB is a terrible store, the selection is crap, the employees are idiots, they’re addicted to over priced cables. It’s a rare thing that will get me there, they need to have a special deal going I can’t get elsewhere. Too many trips in a row they didn’t have what I was looking for even though the website said they did, then I’d go to Target with a completely different list and find everything BB didn’t have. Now I go to Target first, BB is unnecessary.
So you have attempted to shop at an Apple store as well, eh mate?
What is "Buy More" and "Nerd Herd"? Never heard of either one...
That is one thing I miss, Record Stores, I could spend an entire day at "Peaches".
Do they have a slim collection of electronics and parts, are their stores poorly stocked and most of their employees clueless? Yes, yes and yes.
They may get worst and die, they may improve and thrive or they may remain mediocre.
It would be unfortunate if the first happened because there is really no one waiting in the wings to take their place and they do fill a niche.
I like best buy. I like trying everything out and don’t like getting any electronics in the mail. I would rather pay the money.
And now that Amazon is having to charge sales tax - it only makes sense to buy Big ticket items at BB and save the time and most importantly - save the delivery charges.
I don’t often agree with Slate, but they have Best Buy nailed.
Now I go to Target first, BB is unnecessary.
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For years - Target would have an item in the weekly sales advertisement - only to not have that item in stock. That, and a whole lot of other reasons is why Target is way off our list.
When BB advertises something on sale - you go and its there and you buy it. Simple.
Useless store! Stopped going there the day I went to check out and the always slowwwwwwwwwwww checkout clerk yells “ZipCowwwwwde!!!!” in my face, as if I was in an unemployment line or the DMV. Not hello sir, or “find everything okay?” ZIPCODE!!!!!
Your post is not the first here to complain about the staff being clueless.
While that may be true - I don’t understand the point. Who cares? Are you really going to buy that $1300 TV based on what some kid at BB says?
And what about the knowledgable staff at Amazon?
My point is - you don’t buy a $50 phone or a $5000 TV entertainment set without doing your own research.
All I want the BB people to do for me is ring up my purchases. “And no - I don’t want the warranty. Yes, I know it does. but NO, thanks.”
I have the opposite. I’d check the BB website, they said it was in stock at that store, get to the store, nowhere to be found. Go to Target there it was.
I am not an electronics wizard I just wanted my Internet back.
I finally had to phone a friend who listened to what I wanted and the list of what they had. He then told me which ones would work best with my equipment, the difference between the labels and what I could expect from them.
You may want them just to "ring up your purchases" but some people expect service because that is what they are paying for rather then spending hours doing a lot of research.
*laugh* And berets, while not explicitly mandatory, are at least imagined. *grin*
Probably the only time, I ever AGREED with Slate. I hate Best Buy. You have to be an idiot to shop there. They will screw you over any change they can.
I was stunned when I tried to return something and found that it has a two week limit on returning merchandise, not 30 days as is standard. And the clerk snickered at my disappointment that I would now have to keep a $300 item I didn’t like.
LOL, I read it as Nerf Herd...like from Star Wars, which, if true, would have been just perfect geek synergy.
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