I work at CUSA, and have friends that work at best buy. The difference is, the Best Buy people say they'd NEVER shop at BB if they were a consumer. The CUSA people say that they would shop at their store even if they didn't work there. There's a world of difference between the two in terms of customer service. Sure, CUSA has a 14-day return period, but computer parts have a much shorter life span before their prices change. The thing that gets to most people about CUSA is the rebates. Well, that's not something that CUSA controls. That's completely under the control of the manufacturer. If you feel like bitching because yours hasn't come through, we'll help you out. We'll show you the web sites to find your status, try to figure out what's going on, and see if the GM can work you a deal. I've seen lots of customers get refunded when their rebates don't go through.
The rebate situation will be the same no matter WHERE you go. If you find the rebate online, in BB, Staples, or CUSA, there's no difference between the rebates. They have nothing do to with the B&M companies who are selling the product (except in a few cases).
The thing that I really don't like about BB is that they never have anything in stock. If it's in the ad, they'll often only have 3 of the item. Many times, they won't even have ANYTHING in stock - they'll just put it in the ad to attract business. CUSA always has lots of their stuff in stock. We just can't always keep it from flying out the door. I've seen 60 pieces of RAM on sale sell in a matter of hours.