Best Buy Bad Experiences

[Rifter]

Best buy is brutal, its literally the last place i would buy anything. Their warranty is a complete joke, like mentioned a few posts up they often fix nothing. I had to tear my moms laptop apart to replace the screen because they kept saying the problem did not manifest itself while it was there..... the screen had developed multiple huge 1" color bands on it ALWAYS it was NOT an intermittent issue. I replaced screen and all was well after, sent it into warranty 3 times before that and then still had to spend $60 on a screen and install it myself.

 

[BudAshes]

Best buy is brutal, its literally the last place i would buy anything. Their warranty is a complete joke, like mentioned a few posts up they often fix nothing. I had to tear my moms laptop apart to replace the screen because they kept saying the problem did not manifest itself while it was there..... the screen had developed multiple huge 1" color bands on it ALWAYS it was NOT an intermittent issue. I replaced screen and all was well after, sent it into warranty 3 times before that and then still had to spend $60 on a screen and install it myself.

Best buy is a gigantic scam. I worked at Circuit City way back when, it was the same way. The managers would tell you a lie to come up with about the RPP(Replacement Protection Plan) and they would rehearse the lie with you to sell customers. Those RPPs were the TPS reports of Circuit City. I'd get my manager reminding me about them, then I'd get the next manager up, then the sales manager, then the head manager. I would just blankly stare at them all until they were finished and proceed to never try and sell them to anyone. I worked there a year after high school before I quit and it was a miserable year. I'll take hard labor any day of the week. Hell is just an endless dead end job in a big retail store dealing with moronic middle managers.

 

[Captante]

It seems to me that the ones who have the most difficult time help create the situation that ensues

Isn't this almost always the case?

 

[uhohs]

Best Buy has been much more competitive price-wise recently(the past few years), and I've had luck price matching great deals a few times too.

If an item is priced the same at Best Buy and Amazon, I usually try to buy it from Best Buy online.

 

[MrSquished]

I only started shopping at best buy again these past few months for the first time in many years. The salespeople are annoying as fuck and full of misinformation and try to push that warranty on you like mad men. But for instant gratification it can be a good place to go due to their price matching with Amazon sold items. Considering sales tax in my city is 3.5% vs the statewide of 7%, it makes it even better. I'll never get the warranty from them and the next time I catch a salesperson bullshitting me on a product's capabilities or specs and then asks me to get the warranty I'm simply going to tell them 'How do I know Best Buy is going to be in business in 2 years buddy' then walk away.

 

[Captante]

I catch a salesperson bullshitting me

I believe we have discovered the root of of your issue ... in order for them to "bullshit you", a BB minion would have to SPEAK with you no?

 

[Red Squirrel]

We had a Future Shop and it got converted to Best Buy years back. The funny part about that is they tore down a strip bar to build it. I always liked walking around in there, but now that I think about it, I never really bought all that much. There's a local electronics store next door, and I tend to try to give them my business first. I ended up buying my TV from them and not Futureshop (at the time). Our Best Buy parking is easier to access though since there's an entrance off a side road so I sometimes still use their parking lot to go shop at the competition, I'm a rebel like that.

 

[MrSquished]

I believe we have discovered the root of of your issue ... in order for them to "bullshit you", a BB minion would have to SPEAK with you no?

It is a problem being a nice guy. I was looking to grab a Corsair K70 RGB keyboard with Cherry MX Red switches and had just gotten to the aisle to look. Salesman asks what I'm looking for and I tell him. He grabs a Corsair K70 RGB keyboard and hands it to me. I scan the box quickly and see nothing so ask how he knows its the Cherry MX Red switches. He points to some red markings on the box. As I state that there is red all over the box and that it could come with any number of Cherry MX Switches he dismisses that. I'm like no it really can come with browns, speeds, reds or silents. He blathers on about something. Again knowing nothing. Finally he goes away and I can inspect the box better and find those are the MX Speed switches, and that's all they have in stock. I ended up buying it to try and glad I did as I love the speed switches. But take this scenario and times it by every other time you go to Best Buy and you'll get what I mean. They don't know everything, which is fine, but they just lie about it when they don't. Did it to me about the Pixel 2 XL phone as well. I had done my research as always and the guy spouted at least 2 lies about the phone.

 

[manly]

It is a problem being a nice guy. I was looking to grab a Corsair K70 RGB keyboard with Cherry MX Red switches and had just gotten to the aisle to look. Salesman asks what I'm looking for and I tell him. He grabs a Corsair K70 RGB keyboard and hands it to me. I scan the box quickly and see nothing so ask how he knows its the Cherry MX Red switches. He points to some red markings on the box. As I state that there is red all over the box and that it could come with any number of Cherry MX Switches he dismisses that. I'm like no it really can come with browns, speeds, reds or silents. He blathers on about something. Again knowing nothing. Finally he goes away and I can inspect the box better and find those are the MX Speed switches, and that's all they have in stock. I ended up buying it to try and glad I did as I love the speed switches. But take this scenario and times it by every other time you go to Best Buy and you'll get what I mean. They don't know everything, which is fine, but they just lie about it when they don't. Did it to me about the Pixel 2 XL phone as well. I had done my research as always and the guy spouted at least 2 lies about the phone.

It’s a college age kid making a little above minimum wage. While I personally dislike sales people in general, what exactly are you expecting from modern big box retail? I do agree with you that the answer “I don’t know” is way underused, but people instinctively would rather “lie” than appear stupid. As counterproductive as that can be.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm fortunate to have a microcenter a reasonable distance from my house. Bestbuy has nothing I'm interested in, which is solely computer parts. I don't care about tvs, phones, washing machines, or whatever else they're hawking, and they aren't a good source for computer parts. I wouldn't shed a tear if they went under.

 

[Red Squirrel]

It’s a college age kid making a little above minimum wage. While I personally dislike sales people in general, what exactly are you expecting from modern big box retail? I do agree with you that the answer “I don’t know” is way underused, but people instinctively would rather “lie” than appear stupid. As counterproductive as that can be.

Part of the issue too is companies don't want their employees admitting when they don't know something because they think it makes the company look bad, so then they have to give some BS answer or try to go around the question. I think it's ridiculous myself.

 

[Exterous]

I do agree with you that the answer “I don’t know” is way underused, but people instinctively would rather “lie” than appear stupid. As counterproductive as that can be.

Part of the issue too is companies don't want their employees admitting when they don't know something because they think it makes the company look bad, so then they have to give some BS answer or try to go around the question. I think it's ridiculous myself.

When i worked for Circuit City the answer of "I dont know" would often upset or infuriate the fickle creature known as a 'customer'. Rather than risk the verbal abuse of this frequently overly self important yet utterly ignorant species (who expects you to know everything possible about all of the 10,000 items) a good drone worker quickly evolves the ability to string bs together in a convincing manner. Sometimes it backfires with an angry return but more often than not it worked. (And most drone workers arent that great at evaluating future risk)

 

[Crono]

When i worked for Circuit City the answer of "I dont know" would often upset or infuriate the fickle creature known as a 'customer'. Rather than risk the verbal abuse of this frequently overly self important yet utterly ignorant species (who expects you to know everything possible about all of the 10,000 items) a good drone worker quickly evolves the ability to string bs together in a convincing manner. Sometimes it backfires with an angry return but more often than not it worked. (And most drone workers arent that great at evaluating future risk)

I'm surprised that company still isn't in business. 😛

EDIT: Hmm, they are trying to come back (new ownership)
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/09/cir...ne-next-month-with-stores-on-the-horizon.html

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I'm surprised that company still isn't in business. 😛

EDIT: Hmm, they are trying to come back (new ownership)
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/09/cir...ne-next-month-with-stores-on-the-horizon.html

but amazon

 

[Oyeve]

John Pinette spoofed extended warranties a few years ago. RIP Pinette.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6YEpXS_ugU

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I was going to Best Buy to get a Gamers Club Unlocked membership since it costs $30 for two years to get 20% off every game you buy, as I'm a pretty heavy buyer for PS4 games. But when I got to my local Best Buy I saw all the console games were just mixed randomly in no order whatsoever and it literally takes 15 minutes of searching to find any game other than Call of Duty or Destiny 2 or whatever is really hot at the time. I figured screw it and walked out, as I'd rather pay a little extra to walk into Gamestop, Target, or Walmart and pick my game up in 30 seconds since they alphabetically organize their games like any store section managed by a reasonable adult would.

 

[Nashemon]

That's that particular store's fault. All Best Buy's around here have them organized alphabetically. If it helps, GCU works for online purchases, so if the store has it in stock (which you can look at before you even add it to your cart), you can do store pickup and they will get it for you and hold it at Customer Service.

It's nice to just browse games in a store sometimes, though, so I understand if that's your reason for skipping it.

 

[dasherHampton]

I'm relatively ok with Best Buy.

Now, Office Depot? It's a disaster in there and getting worse. I was in there two days ago to pick up some stuff I needed. A few employees scuttled around a huge, empty, messy building. There were three or four women behind the counter at the copy place but none come out to help customers. They just chatted with each other the whole time. Impossible to get any questions answered. The employee nearest the department I was in was on the phone the ENTIRE TIME dealing with a customer even as I made it clear I needed some help.

When I got to checkout I had a few "buy one, get one free" items and an item that was marked $10 off. NOTHING registered. I had to wait at least 10 minutes while the guy went back to check the items himself and figure out how to change the price. Meanwhile 3 other people lined up behind me. NO other register was opened. The copy girls continued to ignore everything.

That place can't possibly be long for this world.

 

[Oyeve]

I'm relatively ok with Best Buy.

Now, Office Depot? It's a disaster in there and getting worse. I was in there two days ago to pick up some stuff I needed. A few employees scuttled around a huge, empty, messy building. There were three or four women behind the counter at the copy place but none come out to help customers. They just chatted with each other the whole time. Impossible to get any questions answered. The employee nearest the department I was in was on the phone the ENTIRE TIME dealing with a customer even as I made it clear I needed some help.

When I got to checkout I had a few "buy one, get one free" items and an item that was marked $10 off. NOTHING registered. I had to wait at least 10 minutes while the guy went back to check the items himself and figure out how to change the price. Meanwhile 3 other people lined up behind me. NO other register was opened. The copy girls continued to ignore everything.

That place can't possibly be long for this world.

And they get 15 bucks an hour. Or more.

 

[Exterous]

I'm surprised that company still isn't in business. 😛

We had enough employees go back and forth between CC and BB that i suspect that was a universal defense mechanism

That's that particular store's fault. All Best Buy's around here have them organized alphabetically. If it helps, GCU works for online purchases, so if the store has it in stock (which you can look at before you even add it to your cart), you can do store pickup and they will get it for you and hold it at Customer Service.

It's nice to just browse games in a store sometimes, though, so I understand if that's your reason for skipping it.

It might also be after a particularly bad bout of customers. Ive seen just a few customers destroy a large and perfectly alphabetized media section in just a few minutes

 

[dasherHampton]

And they get 15 bucks an hour. Or more.

I think they cut out the $50,000 a year management jobs but went way too far. I didn't see anyone who resembled a manager type while I was in the store. It seems to be all minimum wagers who have the run of the place with no one to keep them in line.

 

[Darwin333]

It’s a college age kid making a little above minimum wage. While I personally dislike sales people in general, what exactly are you expecting from modern big box retail? I do agree with you that the answer “I don’t know” is way underused, but people instinctively would rather “lie” than appear stupid. As counterproductive as that can be.

I think it is the other answer. 95% of the people they talk to truly don't know that they are bullshitting them so 95% of the time people don't know it is bullshit.

 

[Majes]

I used to really love Best Buy. I just don't shop there at all anymore since the 15-20 minute drive isn't worth it compared to ordering online. I used to go and browse through their CD's or get my PCs from there, and was almost always treated pretty well.

The one issue I had with them happened while I was purchasing a laptop from them. I had to get a salesperson to unlock the case for me, and while she did I got the warranty and antivirus sales pitch. I politely declined. She then proceeded to tell me that any computer really must have an antivirus. I declined again. She asked what I was going to use the computer for. I replied gaming, and she insisted that I had to get an antivirus program if I was going to use the computer for gaming. She even brought another salesperson over to support her claims. I listened patiently and then said no thank you again. At this point the woman was flabbergasted and somewhat aggressive. I was pretty checked out of it by this point and ended up just walking up to the front with the laptop to check out. She followed for a bit before giving up.

A friend and I still laugh about it sometimes. Antivirus must be pretty important to some people.

 

[Not So Mild]

I used to really love Best Buy. I just don't shop there at all anymore since the 15-20 minute drive isn't worth it compared to ordering online. I used to go and browse through their CD's or get my PCs from there, and was almost always treated pretty well.

The one issue I had with them happened while I was purchasing a laptop from them. I had to get a salesperson to unlock the case for me, and while she did I got the warranty and antivirus sales pitch. I politely declined. She then proceeded to tell me that any computer really must have an antivirus. I declined again. She asked what I was going to use the computer for. I replied gaming, and she insisted that I had to get an antivirus program if I was going to use the computer for gaming. She even brought another salesperson over to support her claims. I listened patiently and then said no thank you again. At this point the woman was flabbergasted and somewhat aggressive. I was pretty checked out of it by this point and ended up just walking up to the front with the laptop to check out. She followed for a bit before giving up.

A friend and I still laugh about it sometimes. Antivirus must be pretty important to some people.

It's not specifically the antivirius, it's that the antivirus counts as an add-on for employees and that's one of their metrics they are graded on. It's the easiest to pitch, since it's usually free, and it makes them look good.

 

[Fritzo]

Protip: never buy a laptop retail. Get business class laptops. They're a similar price ($700-$1200 is the sweet spot for good laptop), have much better construction, have a 3 year warranty, have easy access panels, and typically overnight replacement parts.