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.

[McVaaahhh]

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

Let me show you to the customer service department.

[~Barn~]

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.

[Gainer]

[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.

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

[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.

[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]

[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...

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.

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!