Best Buy laptop Rant

[McVaaahhh]

My Mom wants a new laptop and so I took her to Best Buy on Monday to help her pick one out.

We find a nice HP laptop with a big screen as well as a new HP all-in-one printer. They were both at a great price and I was happy with what we picked out, here's where I start to get pissed off.

1) Because I'm generally not a rude person I listened to the girl tell me why we needed to buy the $250 extended warranty, the $99 "Geek squad optimization" as well as the $37 USB cable. After 20 minutes of this B.S. I convince her that I am in software and am more than capable of doing anything that Geek Squad could do, and not charge my mother anything extra in the process.

2) She pays $100 extra for a copy of MS office and the girl says the Geeks Squad will install it for free. I've got no problem installing office, but since it was a free service, I figured what the hell, that's an hour of my time I don't have to spend installing office.

So we're kinda agitated walking out of there just because of what a pain in the ass that girl was.

2 hours later we go back to Best Buy to pick up the laptop from the MS office install. I leave the girls in the car and run in to pick it up. While I'm standing there I see a sign that says "Free optimization for Circuit City customers". I ask the guy what's up with that? So a Circuit City customer gets a free service while my mom just dropped a grand in here and has to pay an extra $100 for the same service? The guy says it's a promotion about getting new CC customers, yada yada, so I told him that I didn't think that was right. So he says "Well, what did you pay for that office install?" I said "Nothing". He says "Well there you go bud" and walks off.

Are you fucking kidding me?

After I leave and tell my mom about it we agree that fuck them we don't want to give them our money and decide to take it all back. We go home and get the printer and come back and talk to a manager. He says sorry and you can return your stuff right here. He makes ZERO effort to retain our business, and gladly accepts $1000 loss of business. What a fucking joke.


If you're in sales or customer service attitude is everything. Best Buy lost $1000 sale because of the shitty attitudes of their employees.



**Yes, I know all about Microcenter and Newegg.com, etc, etc, but we went to Best Buy because my mom had $300 worth of gift cards that she wanted to use.



Ah, feels good to get that out.

/rant

[Player 2]

I've always hated BB's (WorstBuy) customer service. I didn't shop there for 3 years after a bad experience with their douchebag muppet employees

[~Barn~]

I'd like my time returned for reading this rant.






















:D

[McVaaahhh]

I'd like my time returned for reading this rant.



Let me show you to the customer service department. :alien: :guns:

[~Barn~]

:lol:

Best Buy has always been the suck. This story is not surprising, but I'm glad you guys stuck to your guns. Tell your mom I got $200 on her giftcard, if she doesn't want to deal with those cheesedicks anymore. :yes:

[Gainer]

http://bp2.blogger.com/_uwJAIW53WLg/RfQ9ahIeWtI/AAAAAAAACUk/kUG-aMhLuQ8/s400/Best+Lie+LR.jpg

[McVaaahhh]

Just sucks cause it was a good deal on the hardware, I just couldn't deal with the shitheads working there...

[XJ600s]

I got used to CompUSA's Technology Assurance Plan (free replacement warranty, no questions asked) that when I bought my iPod Touch from BestBuy, I decided to get the warranty plan as I bought the touch several weeks after it came out and I knew there would be bugs.

Well, not 8 months into owning it, it had problems connecting to the internet. If I went from my home network then to campus network, it couldn't connect. I'd have to shut it down, restart it and "forget" the campus network to finally get service.

When I take it back to BestBuy, they say that they will send it in but can't guarantee the tech service guy that looks it over will experience the same thing (well of course he wont, he wont be switching networks). But that if it was defective, they'd replace it with a refurbished unit. F that!

I bought the warranty plan with best buy because they told me it was a direct replacement plan if something went wrong with it. There went nearly $80 on that plan as its total BS! grrr...I don't shop there anymore, but I still have tons of gift cards to BB. Probably waste them on DVD's or something like that as I refuse to buy any nice/new technology from them again.

[rforsythe]

Let me show you to the customer service department. :alien: :guns:

Trust me, we don't have one of those here. :lol:

[Wyck]

My ex bought his Xbox 360 with the protection plan there and when it experienced that massive fail that everyone had a problem with they swapped it out on the spot and without being prompted they handed him a store credit for $50 which was the difference in price from when he bought it and what it was going for at the time. Seemed like a good deal to me. :dunno:

[RyNo24]

I have never had a problem with the Warranty either. They have always fixed and replaced everything just fine.

BUT, I hate how they have to send laptops away to get fixed. I fail to see the point of Geek Squad when they do not really fix things on site.

[TFOGGuys]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Complaint_Department_Grenade.jpg/488px-Complaint_Department_Grenade.jpg

[Wyck]

I have never had a problem with the Warranty either. They have always fixed and replaced everything just fine.

BUT, I hate how they have to send laptops away to get fixed. I fail to see the point of Geek Squad when they do not really fix things on site.


Not always the case. My brother used to work for Geek Squad for many years. I know he did a lot of work on computers on site. But you are right most laptops did have to be sent off to the manufacturer if it was an actual component failure. I believe that was a manufacturer warranty requirement not necessarily a BB/GeekSquad policy.

[LambeauXLIV]

I've replaced 5 (I think) xbox 360s with them without having a single problem, and the clerk in Loveland told me that they exchange them with the manufacturer's warranty the same as they do with their extended warranty...so no point in wasting extra $$$

[RyNo24]

My laptop may have an "unfortunate accident" soon, so I can upgrade to a tablet. I have got so much new stuff with the replacement plan. I didn't have to buy an iPod to upgrade until my iPod touch (which may break soon for a 16bg). I went from the Classic, to the color, to the video just with their replacement plan lol.

[LambeauXLIV]

^lol

[Tipys]

xj not the first time i have heard that there warranty is really a joke

[*GSXR~SNAIL*]

If you're in sales or customer service attitude is everything...

:up:

Think about it, this is truely the one thing that they have 100% control over.

[BlueDog]

As one of those "Cheesedick", "Shithead", "Douchebag Muppet" employees of Best Buy I'll take a few moments to address this post. As an employee, I make less than 10 dollars an hour, no commision, no nothing. By selling you services or an extended warranty I don't make a single extra cent. So why do we push so hard to sell these when we don't see anything? Because if we do not, our supervisors and managers bitch at us all day long about it. The girl helping you wasn't trying to be an ass, she was just trying to make the people above her happy, because when they aren't happy, you as an employee are not happy.

Some stores are worse than others but this isn't because of the individual little "shithead" employees such as yours truly, it comes from the management team and how they treat their employees and customers. The employees dont like the situation anymore than you do. I would love nothing more than to make sure you come in and leave with only what you want and what you came for. However, without offering extra services and products the store profit drops severely and next thing you know work hours and employees are getting cut.

So why is just buying a laptop and a printer that is on sale not good enough? Because to be competitive Best Buy sells their computers within about $20 of cost. And when those printers are on sale, Best Buy is usually losing money on each one they sell. There is no profit in just selling a computer and no profit means less hours for employees. Less hours for employees means less people in the store and more frustrated customers who cant find or figure out what they need.

Sorry for the long rant, but at work I have to put a smile on my face and deal with people that think I am personally trying to screw them over when I am just trying to avoid conflict with managers. All for less than $10 an hour...

BTW, the optimization is $39.99 not $99.99 so I am not sure what they were telling you. Also, pretty sure office would have been $79.99 if you didn't get it installed. The person should have told you that but may not have known. Install is $20 promotionally right now and the office software is $20 off when purchased with a computer so it comes out to $99.99 installed. And just be glad she didn't offer you the premium service plan, you probably would have slapped her in the face right then and there when she told you the cost...

[Player 2]

Get butthurt all you want. If you weren't the douche bag in question don't take offense to it. :up:

If you're not happy with your job, go apply @ Costco or Walmart. They both pay their employees better ;)

When I rant about WorstBuy, I'm ranting about the employee that was a piece of shit to me, nobody else.

[rforsythe]

So why is just buying a laptop and a printer that is on sale not good enough? Because to be competitive Best Buy sells their computers within about $20 of cost. And when those printers are on sale, Best Buy is usually losing money on each one they sell. There is no profit in just selling a computer and no profit means less hours for employees. Less hours for employees means less people in the store and more frustrated customers who cant find or figure out what they need.

Sorry for the long rant, but at work I have to put a smile on my face and deal with people that think I am personally trying to screw them over when I am just trying to avoid conflict with managers. All for less than $10 an hour...

As a technologically educated customer, I can tell you that Best Buy's inability to price equipment to cover operating costs is really not my issue, and when I go in to buy something on sale that's truly all I am walking out with. I will let the salesperson give me the schpiel if they want (assuming I actually deal with one, and don't just find some way to pay for it without ever dealing with one) but I am not paying for extra services I just really don't need. I see this as being a growing issue with Best Buy's business model, as the general populace is becoming more educated on how computers work. That isn't to say most of them are smart about it, but a lot more can handle basic crap now than even five years ago. If BB's whole scheme is based on the percentage of incapable people coming in the door, I think they are doomed to fail at some point, or the equipment prices will have to rise to compensate.

I also never assume the sales person is out to screw me over; I know full well it is mandated company policy to push that stuff on customers, and I know full well I am probably buying something at or very near their cost. However I also know that it isn't really my problem, and if you hated having to sell that stuff to customers so much you could theoretically work somewhere else, so I don't lose sleep when I shut salespeople down on their service plans, installation services, and "optimizations".

I suspect a lot of other customers feel the same way I do. Just sayin.

[zetaetatheta]

IMHO Best Buy will shortly be going the way of Circuit City--they piss off too many customers.

[BlueDog]

To rforsythe and player 2. My post was more to point out that giving the employees on the floor crap for doing what they have to to make their bosses happy is dumb. I never said it was your problem if Best Buy chooses to sell things at cost, but that is why they make their employees try to sell what they do. I was just trying to explain why they sell those things and why they make their employees push them.

If you want to come in and buy something that is on sale and thats it, that is fine, I totally understand it. I still have to try to sell you all these other things and if in the end you dont want any of them it won't upset me. What upsets me is being considered a douchebag, shithead, etc... for just doing my job.

And Player 2, if your issue is with single employees on single occasions, maybe you shouldn't have phrased your post to say "their douchebag muppet employees".

[Captain Obvious]

And Player 2, if your issue is with single employees on single occasions, maybe you shouldn't have phrased your post to say "their douchebag muppet employees".

It's standard. Imagine if you were a cop. I think there is a 10,000:1 ratio of threads bagging on cops vs threads bagging on ass-hat Best Buy employees.
Son, it is time to harden the fu(k up! :)

[~Barn~]

:lol:

Good posts BlueDog. Seriously. I can totally appreciate you sticking up for yourself. Some people may tell you to thicken your skin, but I can dig it.

I guess the only thing I would ask of any sales person, is to just honor my polite decline. My first polite decline.

I'm sure that management leans on you to do things, but in the end, an individual is an individual, and the best sales people are the ones with the best techniques, and a keen ear and eye. Somebody who is on their toes, and is an attentive "listener", for all intents and purposes. When a polite but honest "No thank you" is given, call it a day, and upsell the next person who is on the fense. :up:

[Captain Obvious]

IMHO Best Buy will shortly be going the way of Circuit City--they piss off too many customers.


I agree. I wonder how much of that will be the economy vs Best Buy's fault. Interesting to see the big-box, one stop fits all stores failing. I sort of wish Wal-Mart would as well. I miss all the overpriced, limited product lines that mom and pop stores sold. But I still swing by Ace hardware in a futile effort to find my stuff on my way to Home Depot.

[BlueDog]

:lol:

Good posts BlueDog. Seriously. I can totally appreciate you sticking up for yourself. Some people may tell you to thicken your skin, but I can dig it.

I guess the only thing I would ask of any sales person, is to just honor my polite decline. My first polite decline.


Oh I do. I can definitely agree that some employees of best buy are total ass hats. The ones that won't take no for an answer and try to insult the customers intelligence. If someone tells me they can do something on a computer themselves, or don't think the warranty is for them, etc... etc... I take their word for it. I even let it go when I know damn well they don't know how to do what they are talking about, just because I would rather not be a jerk to them.

And Captain Obvious, I guess I didn't think I was being thin skinned. A thread full of people bashing Best Buy employees when I am one makes me want to stick up for them. Just as a thread bashing cops will have the cops on this board sticking up for them...

[Captain Obvious]

And Captain Obvious, I guess I didn't think I was being thin skinned. A thread full of people bashing Best Buy employees when I am one makes me want to stick up for them. Just as a thread bashing cops will have the cops on this board sticking up for them...

You missed the point. It is pretty much useless. But, by all means, pee into the wind. ;)

[BlueDog]

You missed the point. It is pretty much useless. But, by all means, pee into the wind. ;)

Your point was that people make generalizations for a whole group of people based on a few bad experiences and I can't change that. Or maybe it was that I should be glad because there are people who are disliked on a much greater level. Either way, I have the right to say something so I will...

[Captain Obvious]

Your point was that people make generalizations for a whole group of people based on a few bad experiences and I can't change that. Or maybe it was that I should be glad because there are people who are disliked on a much greater level. Either way, I have the right to say something so I will...

No, my point was it is standard behavior on forums. And since.......... nevermind. You sell anyone a laptop recently?

[UglykidJoe]

I freakin' love Best Buy, never in all my purchases have I had an issue with a salesperson or a manager. In the last 2 yrs I have purchased a 58" Plasma TV Xbox360, a ton of games, 2 PC's and a refridgerator. All sales went smoothly, in fact they price matched the TV without question. I shop at the Flatirons BB. They have a kid in there that knows more about games, gives his opinion about a game and always is very knowledgeable about release dates and the like. (I have 3 teenage boys, I spend a lot of time in the video game section)

I guess it's just like most other things you have a bad experience you want to tell everyone. It is unfortunate you had a miserable experience. best of luck in your future purchases.

[Matrix]

I am just glad that places like best buy offer these 'extra' services for people like my parents and grand parents. That gets me out of being dedicated tech support. :drink:

[~Barn~]

No, my point was it is standard behavior on forums. And since.......... nevermind. You sell anyone a laptop recently?

"Standard behavior" perhaps, but nowhere in "The Internet Rulebook" does it say we are obligated to not rock the boat, just because that's the way things go.

Challenging something they don't agree with, is a philosophy I would encourage anybody to do, if it's in their heart and gut. Do it intelligently of course, and have your ducks in a row when you make your argument.

Being meek for the sake keeping the status quo, never got anybody, anywhere. And realize that your last-ditch dig at asking him if he's sold a laptop recently, is far more indicitive that you've run out of material; not that he is making a bad point.

And I'll still be the first to say that I think there is a definite trend of iffy C.S. at Best Buy over the years, but on the flip, I'll continue to keep shopping there, and hopefully my encounters with the sales staff, will be with people like BlueDog.

[McVaaahhh]

Bluedog, I'm pissed because I was treated like shit by employees at Best Buy. I have spent many of thousands of dollars there over the years and had many good experiences there as well.

The girl who helped me was not rude, but she wouldn't take no for an answer and tried desperately hard to sell me everything under the sun. That annoyed the shit out of me. I am an IT professional, and I explained that to her, and she should have backed off rather than argue with me about why the virus protection she was trying to sell me was better than the one that I currently use. She just irritated me, but I was happy to go on about my day.

The second employee (the geek squad guy) pissed me off. I don't give a fuck what your manager tells you or how much money you make or anything like that. You DO NOT treat customers that way. If you can't be polite and professional, your ass should be fired or put in the back where you don't have to deal with customers. I was steamed when I walked out of there.

Then the manager made zero effort to retain our business. He came off as "I don't really give a shit, just return it and get out of my store." I never raised my voice, or cussed or anything. I was polite and professional the whole time and never earned that treatment.

No, not all Best Buy employees are asshats/douchebags/whatever. But this geek squad guy and the manager guy definitely are and the corporate office is going to hear about it from me.

[Tipys]

ok bluedog i dont think anyone was bashing you in anyway. now if it is the managers that are pushing you to sell then it is still best buys fault in what they do because the way they are. i am not saying your a bad person or sellmen or anything like that but working for them and defening it makes you par tof tje promblem then rather then just doing your job like you said. also if its all the managers then the statment made about there muppet empolyees sounds right on the mark to me. here is the best advice i can give you from working with ass hats and dumb managers just do your job if they bitch at you about people not wanting to buy things tell him simple i am up selling just people arent buying i am still trying there for i am doing my job. also when up selling and you get pushy is when someone can lose a custmer for life. also you say you talk to people that you know they dont know what they are doing. i have to ask can you read they mind or have you maybe spent the last 5 years of your life when them well probly not. there is no way you no what someone is able to do just by looking at them or talking to them. you can only take there word for it.


being i am on my cell if anyone has a problem reading it i will fix it when i get will on my laptop later today.

[BlueDog]

Which one did you go to Mcvaah? If it was the one on colorado boulevard it is full of worthless and rude employees and needs to be seriously changed. Also, I can see what you are saying, the girl should have been less pushy, the geek squad guy should have been written up for just walking away from you like that, and the manager certainly should have tried to keep your business. I know at my store in fort collins we do everything possible to make it right when someone is upset. So, by all means, call in to corporate because they do take things seriously and some people will be getting in trouble over your experience.

Really though, not trying to come off as a dick in this thread. I know Best Buy has its problems and some of them are glaring. I was just coming in to ask that people not assume every employee there is like this and group them together.

[Player 2]

I think the problem is that people like you are few and far between @ WorstBuy. Unfortunately poor customer service isn't something new.

Like I said, I didn't shop there for 3-4 years due to how I was treated. I have started going back and have had some positive experiences BUT I still run into the same problems I have for years.

I sometimes have to stand around or wander for 10-15 minutes before finding anyone willing to help me out.

I have no problem being pushed to buy a warranty I don't want or need.

No worries, best of luck to you. BB has a LOT of work to do to survive in this economy.

[McVaaahhh]

It was the Best Buy on Wadsworth and Crestline. (close to Bowles or Belleview)

I don't think anybody was trying to generalize and certainly any chain with more than 20 employees is going to have a bad apple or two.

[Mother Goose]

I have an easy solution. Find out which BB BlueDog works at, and just take our business to him. :D

[Player 2]

I have an easy solution. Find out which BB BlueDog works at, and just take our business to him. :D
Pretty sure he said Ft Collins. Not gonna drive that far ;)

I'll stick to the mediocre treatment I get at the one 10 blocks away :up:

[Mother Goose]

Pretty sure he said Ft Collins. Not gonna drive that far ;)

I'll stick to the mediocre treatment I get at the one 10 blocks away :up:
:spit:

I saw Denver as his location, so I assumed it he worked around here too.

[MetaLord 9]

Best Buy just lost one of their major competitors so I'm sure that since it's pretty much just them and walmart (considering micro center isn't nearly as large), I don't know that they're necessarily gonna go south just yet.

+1 to Blue Dog for standing up for himself & -1000 to BB for their poor business model & lack of customer service across a wide scope. I used to work for BB back in 2000-2002 as a cashier & in customer service and after going through a couple stores, it's definately just about the people who work there. No, the business model is not a good one when you're dependent upon your employees to sell as many cables and peripherals at 300% markup to cover the fact that you're selling your big ticket items at damn near cost.

After having worked in customer service there, I've gotta tell you that it's just really about who wants to be the bigger prick on any given day, regardless of if the person's walking in off the street or wearing a blue shirt with name tag. I've had plenty of people try to scam me and then give me shit when I politely refused to accept their return on a portable DVD player that they "didn't like" but kept for 45 days when the giant return policy on the wall says it's a 15 day item. Asshole just wanted to take it on a long trip to keep his kids quiet but despite being in the wrong, he feels the need to yell at and berate me for politely refusing his return, especially when my manager backed me up.

There are asses on both sides of this coin and while that's no surprise to anyone, it still sucks really f*cking hard.

3992

[BlueDog]

Aye, I may be in Denver over the summer but for now it is Fort Collins. So, any of you northies that come in to the BB on College Ave., look for the guy named Corey in computers and I'll keep you from getting screwed. If you are in the Southglenn area, the store I started at is at University and Arapahoe road and they are all really good people as well, atleast when I was there...

[Kappa03]

I am also an employee in Geek Squad through Best Buy. Just a couple of things and no this isn't a rant.

One thing customers get confused on is the service plan, especially on laptops. The best thing with the service plan or extended warranty is the accidently part, you may be a software engineer but can you fix a LCD screen if you damage it? It's about 600 bucks to fix by the way..
Also customers assume that the plan means automatic replacement. The stuff that has to be sent out is hardware failures, Best Buy simply can't have every single part for every single laptop we have, hence why it's sent out. Most of the work done in store happens to be software, upgrades, viruses, and depending on the precinct, things such as re-saudering dc jacks etc.
The services offered are not cuz you are incapable of doing them, it's simply a time saver. We have pre-optimized and pre-made restore discs on most of our laptops, just to save you all time so you can grab it and go and no worry about setting your computer at home.
360s have replacement plans which is why they're swapped on the spot.

Sorry to hear from your bad experience, and yea that seems pretty shitty that they took your sale back with no concern. Like BlueDog said it depends on the store. I work at the Parker store and am very proud to be the sup for my agents.

Last thing as for the business part, Best Buy prob won't be goin out of business soon, they change ALL the time. Circuit City made some poor investment changes by their coorporate guys that reeeeally hurt the company. Best Buy has opened store internationally and soon will have stand alone cell phone stores.

Like I said, sorry to hear what happened, seems kinda crappy. Also like BlueDog said, managers and sups push their teams hard, just cuz they get it from above as well.

-mike