What do you think of Best Buy? (1 Viewer)

[Dr. Anthony Rosalia]

Some people have posted very bad stories about them in our "buyer alert" section. I personally have not had any problems and have shopped there in the past without incident but never returned anything.

 

[Andrew Grall]

Old thread from here... Make sure you have a strong stomach before you read, and make sure you read all the way through.

Best Buy Nightmare

 

[Andrew Grall]

And then I had another interesting situation today. Perhaps I expect too much out of customer service, but here's what happened.

Yesterday I purchased a $299 TV stand from Best Buy. (I am waiting for my new JVC HD-61Z85 to be delivered in a week or so from American! ) It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it was about as close as I've seen... I used a preferred customer coupon to get 10% off.

This morning, I noticed in the Best Buy ad that the same stand had a $50 price break this week down to $249. So, I went back to best buy for a price adjustment. Since I also had a pdf file for the 10% coupon, I took that with me just in case...

When I first spoke with the person at the customer service desk, it seemed like things might actually go smoothly. I explained that I wanted the price adjustment and to still get 10% off since it is still part of the preferred customer weekend. She thought that sounded reasonable but she had to check with a manager. The manager (from the TV department) said no. The customer service rep explained that the coupon was only good for TV's $299 and up.

I countered that this wasn't a TV, but a TV stand, and there was no restriction for price on furniture according to the coupon. I also pointed out that since I have another coupon, I could just return the TV stand, buy it at the new price and get 10% off that way (although it would be a major pain since it is so heavy). She went back to explain all of this to the manager again, and she still said no. As I left, I said within earshot of any other customer in line that this is why I normally shop at Circuit City.

I find that any time you ask for any kind of discount, a legitimate discount, you seem to be treated like a criminal who is trying to get away with something. I have not bought any large ticket items from Best Buy since my problem a few years ago, and now I am hesitant to go back even for "smaller" items again.

To finish out the story, I went across the road to Circuit City to see if they had the same stand. They did not. But I found another stand I liked even a little bit more that they didn't have the week before. Circuit City, without any trouble at all, gave me 10% off the price. They had my sale, and it was a more expensive stand I went back to Best Buy and returned the other stand. Unfortunately, I did not see the TV manager because I wanted to tell her that she just cost her store $250.

 

[Mike~Sileck]

Andrew you went back to Best Buy? When did you change your mind on them ... after your old thread I would've thought you wouldn't step within 100 feet of that store...

Mike

 

[Andrew Grall]

Why? Weakness perhaps... I don't know... I have never bought a large ticket item from them again, nor would I. Maybe I thought that there was no way I would have to deal with customer service on a purchase like this... My bad experiences were all in Detroit suburbs and I am back in Milwaukee.

In truth, I felt a little nervous buying the TV stand in the first place, as that was the largest cost item I had spent there since that incident. But I had been looking for a stand that I like for quite a while, and they were the only ones I could find with this particular one... I guess I should have known better though...

 

[Malcolm R]

Yep, that's why I've drastically scaled back my shopping at Best Buy. Everytime I try and use one of their coupons, it turns into a huge, stressful hassle to try and get them to honor the terms of their own offers. They sent me a packet of coupons for the recent Labor Day weekend sales, but I didn't even bother.

Best Buy is really my "last resort" stop now. If I positively cannot find it anywhere else, or if they have a heck of a deal not involving coupons, I'll go there. Otherwise, I go to Circuit City, Wal-Mart, or buy online.

 

[Joshua Clinard]

After reading that article, I have to agree with their new policy. People that fill out rebates and then return the items are stealing money.

 

[Andrew Grall]

Joshua,

What are you referring to?

 

[Joshua Clinard]

The Customer is Always Right? Not Anymore!

Some retailers are deciding that the customer can be very, very wrong -- as in unprofitable. And some, including Best Buy Co. Inc., are discriminating between profitable customers and shoppers they lose money on.

Like a customer who ties up a salesworker but never buys anything, or who buys only during big sales. Or one who files for a rebate, then returns the item.

 

[Andrew Grall]

Sure...that is dishonest.

But it's no excuse for their complete lack of customer service to their honest customers.

 

[Linda Thompson]

Looks like I'm in the minority on this one. I like BestBuy, and (as of yet) have had no bad experiences with them.

I buy from BestBuy both locally and online. My last major purchase locally was a Sony VAIO RS530G desktop computer in June of this year ($1349 with $100 mail-in rebate). Exact same price and rebate at the local Circuit City (and very close to online prices everywhere, but only CC and BB had this model available locally). I had done all of my pre-purchase research and purchase decision-making online, so I went shopping knowing exactly what I was after, and even knowing the stock availablity at each of the local stores, as of that morning.

Stopped at CC first, since I'd bought a computer monitor there a few years ago (before we had a BB in town) and everything had gone well. The salesperson who came to assist me was TOTALLY clueless. Looked (and acted) like a high-schooler, and knew NOTHING about the computer... When I told him what I was looking for, he said they didn't have any in stock. I told him that I had checked the stock availability online right before I had left home, and it showed they this store should indeed have the model on hand, so I asked him if he could at least double-check. Sure enough, he checked, and guess who was right? Even then, he led me to a totally different model on the floor, telling me the whole time that it was the RS530G, and I had to point out to him that it wasn't. I then proceeded to find the right model myself. Needless to say, by this time I'm thinking...OK...I don't think I wanna go this route...

Popped across the street to BB at the mall. Walked in, was offered immediate, knowledgeable assistance by a 30-something female salesperson. She knew what she was talking about, and she knew that I knew what I was talking about, and she respected that fact and acted accordingly. My purchase decision was finalized on the spot.

She offered the extended warranty, and I declined. She (politely) proceeded to spell out the benefits, and I (politely) declined again. She did not press. (More on this later.)

Then she told me about the store's policy of opening up all big-ticket computers and checking them out, to prevent the hassle of customers taking home any DOAs. I was delighted, and I asked her if they could go ahead and do the memory upgrade (from 512 to 1G) which I had planned to do on my own, but this would be MUCH more convenient for me. I bought the memory ($159), and gladly paid the $25 labor charge since it was worth much more than that to me to save myself the hassle of installing the upgrade on my own. I was anxious to get the new system home and get it up and running, so this was a great bonus for me. And, I was the one who asked about it...she had NOT pushed any upgrades, software, etc, and had only pushed the warranty as far as I noted above.

Prior to this purchase, I was not a RewardZone member, so I gladly popped for the $10 "membership fee", which would earn me a $65 reward on this purchase alone. I also had $150 in BB gift cards, which I put toward the purchase.

Great experience, and a great computer. It was repacked after BB's testing and memory upgrade, exactly as if it had just come directly from the factory and had never been opened, so my OOB ("out of box") experience was totally fresh and untarnished.

A month or so after the purchase, I received snail mail from BB, again offering the extended warranty. By this time, I had already re-thought and REGRETTED my decision to decline the warranty, so this time I opted for it.

You see...I've had bad luck with computers in the past. I've had two destroyed by lightning strikes, in spite of major surge protection, battery backup systems, and also the surge protection service and outside-the-house equipment offered by our electric company.

In fact, the computer which this purchase was replacing had just been destroyed as a result of a direct lightning strike to a transformer on a pole near the front corner of our yard. (It was a great HP Media Center Edition PC, purchased in June of 2003.) In this strike we also lost three phones, two answering machines, and 4 VCRs, plus phone service on both phone lines and both cable TV and cable broadband service for 2 days.

All the other phones, all of the TVs, all of the DVD players, the other 3 VCRs (yes, we had 7), my laptop, my flat-panel LCD monitor, my wireless optical mouse, my wireless keyboard, all of my external hard drives, my cable modem, and all of my powered USB hubs were all OK. And, some of them were on the exact same power supplies (and surge protectors and battery backups!) as the things which got fried. Go figure. Anyway...thank goodness for good homeowner's insurance. And, we had had a similar incident back in 1996. So, you can see why I had re-thought my decision and decided that the extended warranty might be a good idea after all, considering our history. So, I was glad when I received the second-chance opportunity to purchase it...and I just hope that I never have to put that purchase to good use, and that it will be nothing more than money down the drain. (Perhaps a little "good luck" insurance?)

Now, I'm planning to purchase a low-end Sony HT system (Sony HT-DDW660, for which I've read NOTHING but great reviews) for the bedroom in the very near future (possibly this weekend). It's $197 at the local Wal-Mart, and $190 at both CC and BB. I have a RewardZone 10% sale coupon (good this weekend only), a RewardZone $10 coupon, and another $50 BB gift card. Even after taxes, it should be about $120 out-of-pocket if I get to use the sale coupon this weekend...a bit more if I miss the coupon window. In any event...guess where I'll be picking up the system?

But, no, I will NOT be purchasing an extended warranty. Anything less than $500, I'd just as soon take my chances. If anything got damaged or destroyed, there'd probably already be a better, less expensive alternative on the market by that time anyway.

I'm totally appalled at all the negative experiences which have been related here, and I sympathize. The day will probably come when I'll have my own BB horror story to add to the pile, but, for now at least, I'm a very satisfied customer.

I also purchase some DVDs from BB even when they don't have the best price, IF they include any of the infamous BB-only exclusives. Otherwise, I genereally purchase DVDs and CDs online, from either Amazon.com of DeepDiscountDVD.com whichever has the better price. (Almost always DDD these days, it seems. Plus, I've never yet NOT had a pre-order at least by the Saturday before street date, even with the free shipping option. NOT so for Amazon.)

For other things (other electronics, etc.), I go with wherever has the best price and availability, taking shipping into consideration if I have to get it online instead of local. Sometimes Amazon wins...sometimes BB...sometime Staples or TigerDirect, or elsewhere.

I really do wish that other online retailers offered the same degree of control over one's account that Amazon offers, though. Cancelling orders, switching payment methods, even on pending orders...totally painless. And, their One-Click ordering is great.

I also wish that BB would merge the online and the brick-and-mortar entities, at least so that the RewardZone program would apply to online purchases.