Why can't Best Buy just get some fricking stock of popular items?!

[Lord Evermore]

Why is it that Best Buy can't have STOCK of anything, ever? They've got cables and keyboards and mice and CD's and vacuum bags out the ass, but go in there looking for a fricking CDRW drive or a video card and you've basically got a selection of 3 remaining items, out of the 15 that they have shelf space laid out for. And god forbid they have any in a back room anywhere; never in all the time I've been going, in the 2 states I've been to them in, have they actually HAD a back room, let alone extra stock in one.

"You have TWO..."
"Sorry, if we have it it's on the shelf."
"You mean there's no chance that you may have simply not restocked the shelf yet after people bought several within a short space of time?"
"If it's not on the shelf we don't have it."


I've been trying for weeks to get a CDRW drive for a friend, and every time I've managed to get to Best Buy I either wasn't ready to buy it due to money being short just before payday or the particular ones they had I wasn't sure about the quality of, or they've been completely sold out of anything that's reasonably priced for being a fricking ATAPI drive (no way I'm paying $299 or more for an ATAPI drive, no matter how good people say it is).

All I want is a drive that will burn a few CD's once in a while, for backing up her computer and occasionally make a music CD. I'd order it online but I'm tired of my credit card being declined for no reason at all and then having it billed anyway or having things shipped randomly after being told they wouldn't be.

 

[shiner]

Best Buy sucks!! They commonly "run out" of things they advertise at a low price but surprise surprise they always have a similar item at a higher price available. Also the one here often refuses to give out rainchecks for items that were on sale but out of stock.

 

[Lord Evermore]

I don't have a problem with them simply running out of stuff that's on sale, or not giving rain checks for sale items. It's on sale so they can get rid of them much of the time, not necessarily so they can bring in extra customers (though I'm sure that happens too).

But just NORMAL every day priced items, no special sales going on. They've got slots for at least 15 different types of CDRW drives, and 12 of them are completely sold out every day that I go in there ready to buy, and all that's left is the 2 or 3 most expensive ones or the ones I wouldn't necessarily jump to purchase even if the price wasn't a bit high (the off-brand kind).

Same with video cards. I don't think I've EVER gone to a single Best Buy and seen actual stocked shelves for video cards, sale going on or not. There's almost never more than 3 kinds of cards available.

The networking devices are almost as bad, though they seem to refresh the stock of those a little more often.

Obviously they've SOLD a buttload of these things, why not have a few more on hand so they could sell even more?!

 

[SenorBiggles]

I enjoy going in to Best Buy to find something that they have in their ad for the week, but it's never there, even if you get to the store right when they open up. Then you fill out a raincheck, and they never get back to you when they get it back in stock.

But I still go there because the cashiers have screwed up enough times and given me enough deals to make it worth my time. I bought the Fantasia Anthology with a 15% off coupon that the cashier took off twice (30% off and set was already on sale). They also marked some Monty Python DVD's incorrectly, ended saving an additional $20. I also bought an open box JVC SVHS VCR, video output didn't work, took it back and found out their policy is - if you buy an open box item that doesn't work, you can exchange it for a new unopened box item. Now I'm always on the lookout for open box items in their stores.

 

[shiner]

I don't think it's that they've sold a "buttload" of the products that are no longer there. I think they order very few of each item in order to reduce overhead. It also helps create the perception that the sold out items are some great bargain or extra special in some way. On numerous occasions I've heard people say "well that one is sold out so it must be better, let's come back and get it some other day when they have them in stock."

 

[ltk007]

My best buy is always stocked full of Radeons, Geforce MXs, and burners. They never have any harddrives though.

 

[Mday]

order it online then ;-)

 

[MrBond]

Hehe, a friend of mine made several trips to BestBuy in columbus to pick up a digital camera. He had decided on some HP model, but all three in columbus were out. Went back later, deciding this time on a Kodak, and they're all out. I think BestBuy does it on purpose sometimes.

The best raincheck incident happened to me when I was going to OfficeMax to pick up one of their free after rebate joysticks for some reason. They were out, and I asked if I could get a raincheck, not expecting one. They were more then happy to write one...she wrote my name and phone number on a scrap of paper (looked like it had literaly been torn off of something else) and put in under the counter (I expect into the trash can).

I *hated* going to BestBuy, or computer places in general until I got to be 18 or so. I'd have $400 in my pocket, money I had saved all summer, and want to buy something, and they'd treat me like a little kid. Their loss, never spent any money there . Thats why I treat everyone that comes into the shop like they know what they're talking about, regardless of age (even if I suspect differently).

 

[Gunbuster]

Best Buy likes to keep "just in time stock" so they can sell it before they even get and pay the bill from the vendor they bought it off.

Avoids dead stock but it can be a PITA when you need something same day

 

[Lord Evermore]

I like being able to go browse through stock. Online shopping will never replace that. And for some items like this, where I want the retail box since I'm buying it for someone else and want the full warranty and stuff, I don't think I'll find a much better price online.

 

[Erasmus-X]

<< . I also bought an open box JVC SVHS VCR, video output didn't work, took it back and found out their policy is - if you buy an open box item that doesn't work, you can exchange it for a new unopened box item. >>



I work at a Best Buy in the Phoenix, AZ area and that's NOT the policy on open item merchandise. They're supposed to just give you a refund or store credit for the price you paid for the item. There was a big legal battle last year with a Best Buy store in Florida where a customer purchased a PSP (Performance Service Plan) on an open box item. When he took it in to get fixed under his PSP, the tech bench told him that it would be too expensive to fix and that they would issue him store credit for original purchase price (this is the PSP policy on open box, and it's even outlined in the brochure if you read it). The stupid salesperson told the poor guy something different: essentially that he would get a new product should his open box one fail and be deemed a &quot;lemon&quot; by the store's tech bench.

You got yourself pretty lucky, man

Now, to the original topic. This is continuing problem in almost EVERY department in ANY Best Buy store (I should should know, I work at one). I don't even buy computer hardware at my store anymore, even I can get it cheaper with my discount. The reason being is that like Lord Evermore was saying, they'll be like 12 items avertised in a product category and only THREE or FOUR of them actually in stock. When it comes down to it, it's a mix of bad inventory managment at district warehouses and manufacturers underdelivering in product shipments. Local stores like this get mobbed with hundreds of customers every day, meaning that popular products fly off the shelves FAST. And when there's typically only two big delivery trucks per week, you can start seeing why these stores NEVER have what you want in stock.

I sell home theatre equipment and I can't even count the number of times that I've lost sales simply because we're out of a popular Sony or Toshiba DVD player. Same thing happens with interconnect cables. The cheap s-video cables are ALWAYS out of stock and only a select few actually want to make the extra investment to get Monster cables. We'll have a bunch of what we need on order, but we typically only get like 1/4 of what we requested. Thank god that this corporation is non-commissioned, because this store would be burning me every day if it was.

Another example of BAD Best Buy inventory management: I bought a PS2 at launch date (Oct. 26). A month and a half later, it stopped reading games (it would only read DVDs and CDs). I had a 2-year PRP (Product Replacement Plan) on it but of course, there was nothing in stock to replace it with (and I didn't want store credit, I wanted a new PS2!). So after two weeks of asking inventory people and management when they were expecting our next shipment and getting &quot;I have no idea&quot; for an answer, I finally got frustrated and shipped my PS2 at MY expense to Sony's Service Center in Cali to get fixed. They're telling me that it will take 15-20 days to fix after a technician is assigned to it. So, I said fine, that's better than nothing I guess. Guess what happened three days later? We got a BIG shipment of 87 PS2s. I was PISSED. My PS2 is sitting in limbo in California while I could have gotten a brand one if I just waited 3 more days. Now, you would think that they would know they're coming in at least a week in advance.

Bah, the business of retail. You see, mail-order warehouse stores hardly ever have these kinds of problems simply because there's no overhead. With a retail store, manufacturers ship units to distributors, who allocate units to companies' warehouses, who finally ship relatively low quantities of their stock to stores. When you mail order stuff, they come straight from warehouses. That's why you never see more than 2 or 3 items in a category on backorder.

 

[fallenoncrack]

I hate it when they don't have anything that is in demand

 

[fir3wir3]

anyone that tells you &quot;if its not on the shelf we dont have it&quot;

is telling you the truth

the only stuff best buy stocks in the back is : fridges, large tvs, rainchecked items, cds, dvds, software...and some other items.

but not computer stuff.

check above in the over-stock, thats the only place the stuff is kept.

And in their defense, keeping ad item in stock is tough, the ads are written 6 weeks in advance...and edited as needed throughout that time. Sometimes manufacturers simply refuse to send items for whatever reason (recall, shortage,etc)


Nobody knows this as well as I do, out of the 400+ best buy stores, I worked in one of the top 5 revenue stores...imagine how many times I said &quot;I'm sorry its advertised sir, but we dont have it&quot;

 

[fir3wir3]

and hey Erasmus-X

they let you guys buy ps2?

We were threanted to be fired if we bought one (((((((( even at full cost

what a crock....hehe

and nobody knew when ps2's were coming

so, there's not much you can say about that, because they werent in STRL or WMSI

 

[Erasmus-X]

Yes, my store loosely lets us buy PS2s, preferring that we purchase them with accessories and at least one game. If you look in the inventory data for the PS2, you'll see that it is only marked up $5. Therefore, the employee cost is actually identical to the shelf price. We make money on the accessories and games (BIG savings on accessories for us). Actually, your store has NO right to prevent you from buying a PS2 from them, as long as it is for YOU and not part of a dealer scam. All over town, our stores have been more than happy to make sure that employees who wanted one that bad would get one in time for the holidays. I don't know what's up your store's butt. Actually, merch &quot;kinda&quot; knows when PS2s are coming in just a few days beforehand.....they just don't like to tell anyone (this is typically masterminded by sales management, who want to maximize profit on console sales with accessories and games.....and the best way to do this is by selling it to customers who don't receive any type of discount).

fir3wir3's post is actually very accurate. This is the layout of a warehouse at typical Best Buy store:

MERCH AREA: Software, DVDs, music, merchandising supplies (signs, rails, replacement fluorescent lamps, etc.), sign printing system.

MIDDLE AREA: Incoming/outgoing repairs from services, raincheck/sold order area, large TVs and appliances, etc.

RECEIVING AREA: Product DEVO (basically stuff that is returned to the manufacturer as defective and unfixable; mostly software, DVDs, music, and small electronics), junk-out items, paperwork, loading bays, palets, etc.

The only computers you'll ever see in there are ones that either items being serviced or product recalls (happens a lot with computers equipped with brand new processors). OCCASSIONALLY, there will be some home audio overstock in the warehouse way up on fixtures during seasonal months when there really isn't any more room on the sales floor to keep it. Happens pretty rarely though. So when salespeople tell you &quot;if it's not on shelf, we don't have it,&quot; THEY ARE NOT LYING. In fact, we would LOVE to have that item in stock to make that sale. That adds to the store's revenue. Revenue is what gives us HOURS. There's nothing that sucks more than getting 12 hours per week sometimes just because your department happens to be doing poorly in sales that month. On expensive items like computers and home theatre systems, salespeople love to rack up those service plans and accessories to make their departments look good. Our stores, like any other large retail corporation, have pety competitions every month in each region........basically an evil plan devised by corporate that is supposed to get employees pysched and sell more; something that executives end up laughing to the bank about every year. We even have this stupid program called &quot;Top Gun&quot; for product specialists that picks out the region's top sales staff (in numbers, of course......not by consumer popularity) and puts them into a special seminar where they get brainwashed into becoming &quot;leaders&quot; (i.e. even BETTER performers). The result? A bunch of mindless robots who are WAY underpaid and make the company thousands of dollars in revenue each and every week.

God, I can go on and on, but I think I'm starting to babble so I'll stop now.