Best Buy adventure (1 Viewer)

[Adam Tyner]

He proceeded to tell me that ALL broadcasts by all of the networks were HD and the picture was cropped for non-widescreen sets. I din't have time to educate him, but I'm sure that someone will, hopefully.

Actually, a pretty monstrous margin of nearly everything shot on film for television is shot at 16x9 and cropped to 4x3 for broadcast.
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My DVD list | My personal site

 

[Neil Joseph]

Is this what I have to look forward to after BB takes over Futureshop?

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Link Removed

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My Favourite Movie

 

[Mike Broadman]

Sorry to here about your Best Buy horror stories, but the one near me is great. I've never had a problem. I bought a laptop there; they helped me remove all the advertising crap that comes with the software. I got all my cables and wires there with no problems, the staff knows what they're about. I'm not gonna buy any really big things there, but for DVDs, video games, and cables, it's great.
For anyone who's curious and lives near me, I'm in Brighton, MA, and the Best Buy is in the Watertown Mall.

 

[Ryan Wright]

Actually, a pretty monstrous margin of nearly everything shot on film for television is shot at 16x9 and cropped to 4x3 for broadcast.

16:9 != HD
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you do criticize them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

 

[Alex Shk]

Being a relative home theater "newbie", but a long time audiophile - I must say "shame on you" forum members!

Almost all of us here are far more knowledgeable about the features we want on both hardware and software than some kid trying to make a buck or two after school. Maybe this doesn't excuse a sales staff being aware of the products they sell, it is reflective of the all-in-one "cookie cutter" type of operation a "Best Buy" is.
I'm sure that most of us have visited more exclusive "high end" shops where the staff is VERY informed. We also know that there is a premium to pay for this type of service. I usually do NOT frequent such high end shops because the price bump is mostly tied to "at home" service concerning set up and maintenance - the kind of system tweaking I (and I suspect many others here) actually enjoy.
Although it is frustrating when you cannot find out if the display has an "enhanced mode" for DVD's, you all know where to get that info before you buy. The fact that you are a knowledgeable consumer is why you can SAFELY get the equipment you want at the 10-25% discount a Best Buy can offer.
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[Adam Tyner]

16:9 != HD

Yes, I'm obviously aware of that fact. The original poster didn't make it clear what points in the Best Buy employee's statement bugged him, and I was just pointing out that the note about cropping isn't far off the mark.
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[Jeff Whitford]

Ryan you didnt mention which on line site had the camera for $1200. I sincerly doubt a $2000 camera has $800 or more as you suggest in profit in it. If they do then ive got to start selling digital cameras. Digital video cameras dont. Hell alot of speakers dont and they have huge profit margins.
Me: "Hmmm. This camera is $2000. I can get it online for $1200. Do you pricematch?"
Them: "NO, we only pricematch local retailers."
Me: "Oh. Well, Sears pricematches online retailers. Would you pricematch them?"
Them: "Look, why don't you just go buy the damn camera from Sears?"
Sears only price matchs a handfull of internet sites and I doubt that someone selling a $2000 camera for $1200 is one of them. Chances are that the camera you were looking at had to be a different model as BB and most retailers (internet or B&M)are not off by that much.
I work on commision and my response would have been similar up to the last response. My resonse would have been.
"Sir since there is no way that we could even get close to that price,its hundreds of dollars below what we pay for them, i suggest that you check the model number again and if somehow it is the same model I would suggest buying it there as no one locally will be able to match that."
Did they really say "go buy the damn camera from Sears?"
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Jeff Whitford
Hometheater Guru

 

[Joe_C]

quote: As alot of people know most Best Buy employees have never had any formal training for hometheater equipment and why people who go there and expect knowledge in a warehouse type store is beyond me. These people make like $6 or $7 bucks an hour and it doesnt matter if you buy anything or not as the make the same amount either way. Im not slamming them by any means its just a fact.[/quote]
Exactly. I worked there part-time this past summer to save up a little money (and exploit the discounts) for college (I'm at UCLA right now). It's true that 99% of the employees there are making just above minimum wage, and only need to work hard enough to not get fired...which isn't much.
Personally, I prided myself on knowing "my shit"

, but nearly everyone else at my store got put in departments they knew nothing about. For example, I know quite a bit about computers and HT, but the brilliant sales manager decided to put me in Digital Imaging (digital cameras, camcorders, etc). What the hell did I know about that?
I finally got transferred over to HT, and actually had fun over there for a little while. But you have to understand that for every misinformed, asshole employee, we get 10 misinformed, asshole customers who come in spouting their nonsense. We also know that some assholes come in trying to "test" the BB employees. Frankly, we thought these people were big fucking losers and rarely paid them much heed. If you think uncaring teenagers trying to sell you a $2000 TV is pathetic, think about a 45 year old making a special trip to try and stump said teenager with info that he obviously doesn't care about.
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www.DigitalHoard.com
Petition: get Family Guy released on DVD!
[Edited last by Joe_C on October 15, 2001 at 03:50 PM]

 

[Jeremy Anderson]

I think the point is this: I don't want to go there and screw around with the sales people... However, I have no respect for someone who pretends to know what they're talking about in that situation. If they don't know, then they should just say "I'm not sure about that, but I can check for you." That's far better than B.S.'ing the customer with technical jargon you know nothing about.

 

[Mick B]

Don't get me started.

 

[PS Nystrom]

Word...
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BoomRoom updated Oct 15

 

[Jeff Whitford]

Jeremy you are 100% right on that. I always say im not sure if I dont know because its better to say that than to have someone make you look like a fool. Joe_c you also have a good point. I actually also pride myself on knowing what im talking about (I should ive been doing this for over 10yrs) but what i really love is when someone who thinks they know what the are talking about comes in and asks you a question and then tells you "your wrong" You would love to say "then what the f#@k did you ask me for?"
Jeff Whitford
Hometheater Guru
[Edited last by Jeff Whitford on October 15, 2001 at 07:47 PM]

 

[Jeff Swindoll]

If they don't know, then they should just say "I'm not sure about that, but I can check for you." That's far better than B.S.'ing the customer with technical jargon you know nothing about.

Amen brother!

I recall the first time as an uneducated computer consumer asked the BB clone if the PC I was getting was able to be upgraded (faster processor, etc.) and he told me "it's the most upgradable machine" in the store. I discovered the truth when I looked into upgrading the machine some time later. He would've told me it baked chicken fettucini if it meant that I would buy it.
BB strikes me as a company in trouble, although I have no solid info to back that feeling up. My understanding is that they charge a service fee for ordering on their website. I also mailed a payment on 9/19 (due on 10/1) and they didnt credit to my BB account until 10/4 along with a $30 late payment fee.

I was well within the 7 days that the instructions on the bill say to mail the payment before. I'm of the opinion that my check languished in their payment center for several days. They have no way to pay online (which everyone of my other credit cards now have) and if you want to give them a check over the phone they charge you $10!! So if they did have a way to pay online no telling how much they'd charge you for the priveledge. Needless to say, I no longer have a BB credit card

. For a company that is supposed to be selling cutting edge technology they sure are behind

.
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I didnt play Dungeons and Dragons all those years and not learn something about courage.
--Bernie Faulkner

 

[Prentice Cotham]

Jeff,
I don't think BB is in any immediate trouble. They are continually expanding. They bought Futureshop in Canada and they have a huge stake in Netflix (my manager told me that BB had bought Netflix, but I haven't seen anything about that yet--I work their part-time btw). As far as your BB credit card, those are handled by outside banks like Household Financial. BB has nothing to do with the processing of your checks to your account. I would just call them and get that reversed. You are almost always allowed one late fee removal a year with nearly every credit card.

 

[JeffDemum]

"I love hearing these Best Buy stories. Keep 'em coming!"
www.bestbuysux.org
If you don't know about this site check it out they have a bunch of former employess and customer comments some are quite entertaining . I like going to Best Buy great selection of DVDs . I even bought my Toshiba 50H81 ( widescreen TV ) from there and the employee who sold it to me knew alot about it . She was the best sales person i've run into at Best Buy , i even let the manager know how useful she was .

 

[Jeff Swindoll]

She was the best sales person i've run into at Best Buy , i even let the manager know how useful she was .

He probly terminated her right after you left

. "Damit Sue! How many times have I told you NOT to be useful to the customers! You're only supposed to push the extended warrenties!! You're fired!!!"

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I didnt play Dungeons and Dragons all those years and not learn something about courage.
--Bernie Faulkner

 

[Todd McF]

Joe_C Quote:
"We also know that some assholes come in trying to "test" the BB employees. Frankly, we thought these people were big fucking losers and rarely paid them much heed. If you think uncaring teenagers trying to sell you a $2000 TV is pathetic, think about a 45 year old making a special trip to try and stump said teenager with info that he obviously doesn't care about."
I was thinking exactly the same thing. I'm hard core about home theater primarily because it fits well with my family life style with a wife, baby, house and lawn tractor. At your age, you should be getting drunk and laid as often as possible with DVD's reserved for Tuesdays, if that.

 

[Bill Catherall]

Well, this isn't a Best Buy rant, so it's a little off topic. But it is a rant about bad credit cards. A couple years ago when my wife bought me a DD receiver from a local electronics store (not Best Buy) she used their credit card to purchase it because they had a special 6 month same as cash deal. When she mailed in the first payment they said it was late, but she had mailed it with plenty of time to get there. They said they'd do the one time late fee reversal for us. No problems...right? Well, when the next statement came, the reversal showed up as a debit instead of a credit! So we got charged twice for one incorrect late fee. When my wife called, the stupid STUPID girl she talked to said she'd reverse the one late fee but not the other one because they're only allowed to do it once!!!! I couldn't believe it! No amount of explanation could give this woman a clue. We immediately closed the account. I can't believe how stupid some people can be.
Oh and...I only buy software at Best Buy. And when I'm in there I don't even waste time looking at the electronics because I know I'm going to be standing in line at the ONE open register for about 30 minutes.
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Bill

 

[Bill Catherall]

Heehee! Double post!
[Edited last by Bill Catherall on October 16, 2001 at 12:41 PM]

 

[Brandon_S]

Todd,
What about getting drunk and laid while watching DVDs?
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[Edited last by Brandon_S on October 16, 2001 at 12:44 PM]