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.
Hahaha...I had a similar experience with Lowes about 18 yrs ago and have not been back since the screaming match I had with the manager.
I actually had to use the f-bomb and others to get his attention.
Brings to mind the saying about being last in line to be dined on by crocs...:)
this is why people visit stores and buy online.
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Ahh, but even that is changing. 2 months ago Mrs.R2 was at BB buying a new printer. A good quality laser jet. For $199. I was on the phone with her and I “Amazon”d the same model.
$149.99.
And so I told her not to buy. I was gonna order it from Amazon. The BB salesperson was in on our conversation. Long story short. They confirmed the Amazon price and matched it.
If it was up to Slate we'd all shop at silly little boutiques with lots more attitude than value.
and the Geek Squad?....I brought my lap top in unable to get a virus out, they told me it was totally corrupted and couldn't do a thing, I took it home, and me, 58 at the time,never a computer class in my life, I fixed it....just started doing a few little things and got it going...
I vote for wambulance.
Sales people who do not upsell/addons have limited lifespans as salespeople.
That’s right. I want them to go under because they suck and cheat people and enough folks quit shopping there.
Same experience here. Never will I set foot in their store.
Best Buy is in a very tough market. Look at their former competitors: Circuit City, Electric Avenue, Comp-USA, etc.
Who competes with them now? Fry’s? H.H. Gregg? Tweeter? None of these stores has broken out, and they all have their issues.
What did we have in the old days? Radio Shack, a very overpriced Ma and Pa, or a Lafayette if you were lucky.
No one is going to make a better Best Buy, because there is no money in it.
That is exactly the charge made in that article. If it is true, then BB was being scammy by making a false claim about a product and trying to steer the customer there.
You may be for schlock selling, but many people want to buy something like technology from a purveyor they can trust.
Wait, you are telling me that there’s a computer repair service called the Nerf Herd? That is AWESOME in its level of geekdom. Where is this Nerf Herd of which you speak?
I love Best Buy. They’ve been fabulous. There are several HIGHLY successful IT professionals in the family and they shop there too.
Just bougt a new cell phone last week at best buy. For the $12.00 extra I paid they did the registration and set up for me.
They already have us using dimmer bulbs that are worse for the environment...
lol.
I have a few HDMI cables still in the package. ... should I Craigslist?
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