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CompyPaq

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Me: Yeah, I would like one of those right there. (Pointing at the TV)
Him: Don't we all.
First problem: The sales person pushed him off when he wanted to buy an expensive TV.
There were even a few times that he mentioned he would go check his specs sheet and could tell me, but never did.
Second problem: The customer was asking questions about an expensive product and the sales person never bothered to get them answered.
I knew that there was a deal going, buy the TV and a Blu-ray player is on sale. After I told him that I wanted to get the Blu-ray player he told me that he wasn't aware of the deal
Third problem: The salesman wasn't aware of promotions that help Best Buy get expensive TVs and DVD Players out the door
40% of these TV's come back to the store for repairs
Fourth problem: The salesman told the customer that he was spending $1300 on a very unreliable product.

If I were the customer, by this point, I would have said \"Fine, if it's that unreliable, I won't take it\" and then would have gone to the manager and explained why he just lost a $1300 sale.

8 replies

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Scoobatz

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@CompyPaq: 40% of these TV's come back for service? That's 100% bullshit.

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Akanbe

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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That's actually quite possible if there was a defect in the product itself. There was a certain popular brand of TV model that about 60% of the ones we sold came back. Apparently that particular model had a bad part in many of the models which caused the TV to malfunction. It's unlikely that this was the case with the OP but it CAN happen.

It's also likely that the salesperson was a moron/liar and was equating a return with broken tv (which is often not the case).

I do agree that people just want the cheapest most of the time. I'm not even talking about accessories or anything. Just looking for the cheapest product in general no matter how s***ty it is. The economy and job market around here is pretty bad, so I don't really blame them.

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Akanbe

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Oranges w/ Cheese has 2 cats! ahahaha.:

I'm in the \"Most likely the latter\" boat as well.

Anyways, I work in the same department at one of the better Best Buys out there and I absolutely 100% think you should complain to the manager/write a letter. I was told from day one that we are not, under any circumstances, to use scare tactics to try and sell ANYTHING. He should have been told that as well. It sounds like he crossed the line of \"pushy salesmen\" into \"sleazy douchebag salesmen\". If someone tells me they aren't interested, I drop it. Most of the people do as well at our store. I don't know why it doesn't happen so often at other stores.

Not only that, but it shouldn't have been a problem to switch channels to show you a non-HD channel (infact, it's as easy as changing the channel). If I spend more than 5 minutes with a person, I make sure to point out what the non-HD channels look like so there are no \"SURPRISE! Standard definition sucks!\" reactions when they get their TV home.

The whole \"you made a bad choice\" irks me as well. Let the consumer make the choice. If they want x over y, fine. It's their money.

And trust me, they have plenty of time to change the settings on the TV.

/rant over. Write the letter OP.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Akanbe: Yes, write that letter. Also my suggestion is to take the survey at the bottom of the sales receipt. [www.bestbuycares.com] There are a couple of areas where you can give detailed feedback on this experience. Store management does read these and can follow up, as well as District Managers, Territory Managers, and Corporate.

*disclaimer: Even though I do work for Best Buy, the opinions are my own and are not that of Best Buy Co.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@CompyPaq: +1 for monoprice, even if he paid half of 125 for a \"cheaper\" cable than monster, he still overpaid....unless he bought a 60' HDMI cable, NOTHING they sell in the way of cables should cost that much, regardless of brand names. As for the calibration, unless you're installing the TV in a dedicated home theatre room and are a dedicated videophile, the bulk of the tweaks aren't going to do much for you. Set it yourself to your preferences, and if you really think you need to, get a calibration dvd. That's about it. What Best Buy offers isn't real calibration anyways...they do the same things you can do yourself. Real calibration specialists cost a LOT, and they do things that could otherwise only really be done at the factory, including in some cases taking the bezel off to get to the real controls.

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Oranges w/ Cheese hates what Christmas has become

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@CompyPaq: Its possible (though, need more info) that the employee was actually trying to be a person and get the guy into a more reliable television, though its also possible he was just using snake-oil to get him to purchase the warranty.

Probably the latter, actually :-/

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Rachacha

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Oranges w/ Cheese has 2 cats! ahahaha.: I am going to agree with the later. If he was trying to get the guy to purchase a more reliable television, he would have mentioned that statistic when the customer was trying to decide between the 2 models and offered an alternative. You don't talk about the unreliability right before you pitch them an extended warranty out of the goodness of your heart.

When I was looking for an HDTV, I wend to BestBuy and received similar lack of information. I made a note of some of the prices of models that I might be interested in, and went to a slightly higher end store that deals only in TVs and audio systems. I found knowlegable staff who answered my questions and paid about the same as I would have paid at BestBuy.

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Earl42

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Oranges w/ Cheese has 2 cats! ahahaha.: As a former Best Buy employee, I assure you, it was the latter.

Oh and for the love of god, WWW.MONOPRICE.COM for cables.
Best Buy's goal is to sell you the TV/computer/appliance etc.. for cheap (for brick and mortar) and rail you on the accessories with HUGE markup and the nearly purely profit service plan.

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anduin1

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Earl42:
dealextreme.com is better imo, free shipping. Monoprice is cheap but sometimes the shipping is half my order.

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gerrycomo

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Earl42: I gotta know if flatscreens often come back to y@PTB315: How much was the extended warranty? I got burned after my Sony flatscreen frucked up after 14 months.

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Earl42

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@gerrycomo: I do not know the return rates on flat screens. But I have seen the cost/markup of items, and the rhetoric that is drilled into these sales peoples heads. In most cases, the sales manager would rather lose the sale then have it go through with no high margin items attached.

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Akanbe

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Yes, they do comeback somewhat often. However, it depends a LOT on the brand and the particular model you buy. As far as the cost, for a $1200 dollar TV it was probably around $200.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Some people need help when shopping for electronics, and some people actually build a relationship with a salesperson (though, of course, not usually with the sleazy douchebags as depicted in the OP).

Buying an overpriced attachment is a way of saying \"thank you\" to the store, and helping to keep them in business.

The reason we get such shit service, outsourced jobs, and a complete lack of support from companies is because everyone wants the *CHEAPEST* thing, and they're more and more rarely willing to pay anything more for a better experience. (Just look at the hottest seller of the decade: The $300 POS laptop that dies in 3 months, every 3 months, and takes a month to 'repair' when you send it in.)

I'm not saying you have to buy *every* overpriced accessory from a retail store, but if you had a reasonably good experience when shopping, you *could* demonstrate it by spending a little more money.

If you don't need any assistance when shopping, well, retailers aren't designed for you. They're designed for the people who spend more time *and* money in the store.

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Superawesomerad

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@RvLeshrac: Of course, outsourcing is a result of people not buying enough $125 Monster cables. It's so simple!

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marsneedsrabbits

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@RvLeshrac wrote:

...but if you had a reasonably good experience when shopping, you *could* demonstrate it by spending a little more money.

I don't spend money frivolously to make the store's employees feel good. I see no need to please people whose job it is to please me and I don't need Best Buy employees to validate my sense of self worth. If my money isn't pleasing enough, I'll be happy to shop elsewhere... which I do - we avoid Best Buy like the plague partly because they offer such sub-par service and value.

Anyone who would do this obviously has too much money and not enough common sense.

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Rachacha

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@RvLeshrac: BestBuy is only concerned about getting the biggest sale.

About 5 years ago I was working at a conference, and the lapptops that we broght with us dies, so I needed to go out and purchase new laptops to allow attendees to surf the internet. I went to the local BB, and found a laptop that would meet the specifications we needed. It was a barebones latop and cost about $450. The sales rep tried to upsell me to a $1200 computer because it had a bigger display, built-in 802.11b wifi, and the student edition of MS Office. I told him that I did not need any of that as these were computers that would be used ONLY for surfing the internet 2 weeks out of the year. He warned me that I would regret my decision.

5 years later, the machines are still serving their purpose well. They allow people to check E-mail, and we installed the full version of MS Office that we had volume licensing for. The $1200 computer would probably also serve me well, but at almost 3 times the cost.

I don't always need the cheapest thing, but sometimes the cheapest thing is exactly what I want or need. I am also willing to pay a bit more if I receive good service, but in this case, the OP received NO service as none of his questions were answered, and the salesman did not want to demonstrate the other modes of the television, so why reward that behavior.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@RvLeshrac: What are you on? Buying cheaper but perfectly acceptable cables is NOT the reason we get shit service and a lack of support from companies. The companies' dedication to short term profits and screwing the consumer is why we get shit service and a lack of support. There is no reason to EVER pay that much for a cable. EVER. Monster cables, and even the Best Buy House Bran at half the price, ARE A SCAM. If you buy them you are a rube. Don't be a rube.

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pecan 3.14159265

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@RvLeshrac: He was already buying a very large TV. Unless it was the Best Buy house brand, he could have picked up that TV at Target or Amazon, or even a mom and pop store. These Best Buy stores want to be the go-to place for electronics, but they don't put out the kind of service that makes people want to come back. The salesperson's rebuff of the customer was the thing that I would consider most offensive. I'm telling you I want to give you $1,300. Treat me with respect, or I'm taking my money with me when I walk out the door.

And in no way is anyone obligated to buy additional accessories. When you establish a repoire with the store or with the individual, perhaps, but you have to earn it first.

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tonberryqueen

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@RvLeshrac: So I should thank a store for my shopping experience by paying more money than I need to on something?

Most of us want a good balance of quality and price. Monster is incredibly overpriced, which is why stores always try to push those cables. I knew a guy that worked in a consumer electronics store (I think Best Buy?) who won some sort of cruise in a sales contest by constantly pushing Monster products on customers who didn't know any better.

I've never worked in consumer electronics, but in my retail experiences, if somebody told me they were really impressed with my customer service and level of product expertise and really wanted to thank me, I'd give them the number or email for our main office and tell them that the best thing they could do was tell the managers how great the experience was in our store. I wouldn't try to get them to, say, buy some crappy overpriced Skull Candy earbuds because it would help our bottom line.

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Antiks

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@RvLeshrac: Spending $125.00 for a cable is ridiculous no matter where you go. I could care less about Best Buy. They're a large corporation that doesn't give a shit about the customer, as far as I'm concerned.

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Mxx

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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He tried selling me on a Monster cable for $125 and told me that I would regret it if I did anything less. So once I made up my mind on a cable that was about half the price he continued to tell me how I made a bad choice.

wait, HE BOUGHT $60 HDMI CABLE????????????
he says he did his research and yet he bought $60 cable????
can you please tell me the address of this guy so i can personally go and smack him for buying that cable?

14 replies

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November 23, 2009 5:32 PM

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@Mxx: Even if you want the Monster cable, you can get their highest, craziest $250 HDMI cable, the M1000, for $20 on eBay brand new. Yep, $20. Shipped. I even bought one for my PS3 just 'cause it was $20. Now when I am browsing Best Buy for a TV and they want to sell me a $120 HDMI cable I can tell them I already have one and it's better lol.

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zwizer25

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Exactly what I was thinking when I read the article.

I spent probably a grand total of $20 at Monoprice for 4 or 5 HDMI cables of differing lengths and the Wii composite cables and nobody would ever be able to tell the difference.

And he acts like $60 for one HDMI cable is a great deal and he is really sticking it to Best Buy - they probably made like $59 of profit from him right there.

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Razor512

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Mxx: I got my self a 6 foot HDMI cable for $3 including shipping from amazon.com

it has been a year and they still work perfectly, I don't know if it is possible to get the picture clearer since if I hook it up to a laptop with HDMI output, everything is 100% clear

monster cable generally uses a SLIGHTLY more quality cable covering (to make it handle bending and other abuse a little better but none of that extra stuff is worth their high price. there have also been many benchmarks showing monster cable performing exactly the same as the cheapest HDMI cable

no matter how cheap, if a cable is rated at a certain specification then it will perform at it.

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Razor512

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Razor512: forgot to add, if you go with cheap cables be sure to look at where they are coming from, the bottom of the line ones are generally the knockoffs that come from china and are usually sold on ebay, you can get them often for well under $1 including shipping

I have used them and they give good picture, no difference compared to any other cable, but the connectors are cheaply made, I have a 12 foot one that I won on a ebay auction for 31 cents, free shipping, I use it for my 40 inch LCD HDTV, it connects from my fios STB to the tv, I uses a little bit of glue on the weak points to make sure it doesn't break.

my $3 cable is for the laptop since I disconnect and reconnect it a lot and the connectors are well made

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cc82

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Mxx: Haha w/ the comments down yesterday I had wanted to say this too.

Seriously, if you've done any minimal amount of research on the internet about HDTV's you'd know not to pay more than $5 for 6' HDMI cable.

The Best Buy salesman definitely succeeded on that front; flash the criminally overpriced $125 cable, to make the slightly less criminally overpriced $60 cable look like a deal.

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nstonep

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@cc82: Meh...but still it's ordering off of ebay...and usually all the cheap electronics are shipped from shanghai or somewhere worse.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Mxx: That's the whole point of a $125 cable. Few people are stupid enough to buy it, but it makes it seem like the equally absurd $60 cable is cheap or reasonable.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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You've obviously never heard of the $5000 cable.

It didn't sell well, but they only needed to sell one...

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Mxx: As I read it he bought the $60 HDMI cable and a $40 Wii Component cable, which he could have bought at Monoprice for about $13 with overnight shipping.

For the record, I have my PS3 connected to my Sony Bravia with a Monoprice HDMI cable and my Wii connected with their Component cable and both look great on my TV.

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anduin1

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Keavy_Rain:
of course they do, the cables are identical to the ones in the store. The cheaper ones may simply have less reinforcing in the plastic or more rigid ends but they perform identically to monster ones.

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ApupnamedShamus

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I was going to say the exact same thing. How does anyone on this site have the balls to say that he spent $60 for an HDMI cable at Best Buy? No wonder the BB employee treated him like crap.

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BinaryTB

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Mxx: I know, it's like after all that research he would've heard of monoprice about a few hundred times.

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FDCPAGuy

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Mxx:
Plus he did his research but didn't know the inputs the TV had? Sounds like the OPs research was not too extensive.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@FDCPAGuy: Actually, when I go to buy consumer electronics at a store like Best Buy, I'll usually ask some questions I already know the answers to so that I can gauge the competence of the employee. If they can't answer a simple question (or proceed to use sane means to do so), I start looking for someone else.

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FDCPAGuy

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@sakanagai:
Ok so you like being a jerk then and proving people incompetent? If you know the answers don't try to belittle people by trying to prove they're stupid. I'm sure no one does this to you at your work. What saddens me is it seems like you or the OP might get some sick type of enjoyment out of it.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@FDCPAGuy: I'd rather be an inquisitive dick than an amicable sap. It's not like if someone gets the answer wrong I'll shout to the entire store that the guy is a moron. Heck, even if they can't answer it, a good employee will find someone who does or at least volunteer to look it up. I usually decline assistance (or say I'm just looking) and try to find someone else. Yeah, the guy loses a sale, but if I buy something based on false information, I will return it and that looks worse for the employee that no sale at all.

It's not some kind of game for me, either. Consumer electronic purchases tend to be expensive an I want to make sure I get accurate information. Blindly accepting the word of a salesman only leads to more Consumerist posts.

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RecordStoreToughGuy_starcommandseries.com

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@FDCPAGuy: Shady mechanics must love you.

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pecan 3.14159265

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@FDCPAGuy: I don't see it that way at all. If I'm in a store and I have questions that I haven't been able to find the answer for online, I would like to find the most competent person out there. It makes sense to gauge how knowledgeable someone is by asking them questions, answers for which you already have. It's also a way of measuring trustworthiness. The guy the OP worked with at Best Buy was a jerk. He was rude, and nothing he said was truthful, and he tried to upsell him on the cable. We get it - upselling is part of the job. But he didn't just upsell, he badgered the customer and insisted that he was making a terrible decision. I like to think that if I make a terrible decision, it's not because

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pecan 3.14159265

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@pecan 3.14159265: not because I listened to some guy at Best Buy who was trying to badger me into buying something.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@FDCPAGuy: Actually, I like the idea of testing the employee. If they fail to answer a couple basic questions or don't go find out, then they're obviously not a reliable source of info for actual questions.

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bohemian

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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This sounds like a totally typical Best Buy TV buying experience. It is almost word for word the hassle we went through trying to buy at TV there. We couldn't get answers to basic questions like if the TV was digital or analog along with the Monster Cable pitch. We eventually just walked out and bought one elsewhere without the hassle. Target has HDMI cables for less than $20.

3 replies

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ryan_h

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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yeah, and I got some off amazon for $4 each. gotta shop online for stuff like that

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Yes, because when you buy a TV, you don't want to use it when you get it home. You want to wait a few days for the cables.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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That's why you buy your cables beforehand. Presumably, you know what outputs your equipment will have and know what inputs you want on the TV you're going to buy.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@bohemian: You still got ripped on the cables even at $20

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Fabuloso

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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it just sucks that i think i could be such a better sales man then this guy if i got the chance but best buy didn't hire me when i applied, instead they got that jerk who could care less. i would love to trade my sitting around all day looking for a job for his job and apparent apathy for the customer experience.

2 replies

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I can give you the reason for it:

Brand Loyalty.

As a group, older adults still tend to shop at the same stores repeatedly if they have a good experience. If you give a 50 year old good service, they'll be back. They still remember when stores *really* competed for your business, when the retailer and the customer knew that they each had a responsibility to each other. (Store has a sale, customer comes in to buy sale item, customer has a good experience, customer returns to shop there for items that aren't on sale, store continues to provide a good experience.)

If you give a 20-something good service, they don't seem to care. Why bother spending extra time with someone who is only going to buy your sale items? (Store has a sale, customer comes in to buy sale item, customer has a good experience, customer never comes back, or only comes back to return the item that they 'borrowed' for a few weeks.)

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Of note, there's always the exception. Car dealers are that exception. Any car dealer worth their salt knows that if you sell a younger person a *good* car and give them *good* service, they'll always be back. They'll even pay the insane markup for dealership mechanics.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Sounds exactly like every trip to Best Buy that I've ever had (and there haven't been many, I learned my lesson fast), to be honest.

I don't get why, when you're standing there trying to spend money at their store, sales assistants will try to convince you that the expensive item you're about to purchase is a piece of crap that's absolutely guaranteed to stop functioning 10 seconds after the manufacturer's warranty runs out. I experienced this most recently at Lowe's. We bought a washer and dryer there, after some fairly extensive research, and the salesguy was waxing lyrical about how we'd be morons not to buy the $$$$$ extended warranty, because he's seen soooooo many of these lemonlike machines returned with all manner of problems and defects. Funny how a furrowed brow and concerned expression and \"well now you put it like that, I'm having second thoughts about buying it if it's THAT bad...!\" always seems to result in a complete about-face.

Are there really customers out there who will be persuaded by the \"what you are about to buy, sir/madam, is a piece of complete and utter shit!\" argument that they need to shell out for extended warranties?

1 replies

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@MsAnthropy: They could afford to give away the electronics/appliances as long as everyone purchased the extended warranties.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Before even reading this article I thought that the OP was going to get upsold on some obscenely priced Monster Cable. What do ya know?

1 replies

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doctor_cos wants you to remain calm

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@holytrainwreck: Just a slightly less obscenely priced non-Monster cable.
Honestly, cables = Monoprice. wall mounts = Monoprice. any questions (other than how does Monoprice stay in business?)

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H3ion

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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It's an unfortunate fact of retail that younger people don't get the courtesy and respect that are afforded to older people, as if their money had to age a bit before it could be spent. The worst are probably auto dealers but Best Buy sounds like it took its training manual from an auto dealer. I know my daughter needed a new car, did a ton of research (including Consumer Reports) and had a 99% solid idea of what she wanted. The dealership she went to basically ignored her and when she finally got a salesman's attention, he tried to sell her something she didn't want. I went back with her the next day, refused to deal with the original salesman and had the exact car she wanted at a decent price within a half hour. They could have had a satisfied and loyal customer. Instead my daughter is still fuming that as an adult she still had to have her father come with her. But she didn't buy the $60 HDMI cable.

5 replies

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kbrook

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@H3ion: I once spent four hours calling auto parts stores around Denver, trying to find a radiator for my Volvo. Every. Single. One. of the men I talked to got this incredibly condescending attitude when they heard a female voice. I finally got tired of it and when one guy added 'honey' to the end of a question he obviously didn't expect me to know the answer to, I rattled off, \"It's an '86 Volvo 240DL. Sugar.\" He was much nicer after that.

Our current mechanic is polite and respectful and talks to me like a human being. I like our current mechanic.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@kbrook: And if you still have an '86 240DL, your mechanic probably likes you too. :)

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@H3ion: She also had the \"female car buyer\" issue working against her...

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pecan 3.14159265

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@H3ion: We had the same thing happen to us when we looked for an engagement ring, back in the day. Sales people would barely pay attention to us since we were young (early 20s). We went to four jewelry stores before there was one with a salesperson who actually listened to us. They got a pretty good amount of business from us as well as good word of mouth.

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Kimaroo - 100% Pure Natural Kitteh

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@pecan 3.14159265: That's pretty stupid. I would imagine most engagement rings are purchased around that age.

I agree with you though, it's hard to find a jewelery store willing to respect you as a customer when you are young. Thankfully, I found one as well.

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Ronin-Democrat

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Look people you have 2 choices....

Buy from a place where the staff is trained but you won't get \"service\" or

When a numb nuts like this tries to make the \"sale\" tell him he is incompetent and demand another salesperson.

Don't put up with weak sauce salesmanship.

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Ronin-Democrat

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I meant to sale cheap prices not service.......

Yes,, I'm with stupid.

2 replies

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Ronin-Democrat:

Exactly. If you want good service, you need to be willing to pay a little extra. That doesn't mean paying a ridiculous price for something, but it does mean that if Crappy Store X has something for $100 and Good Store Y has something for $110, your money needs to go to Store Y.

If you give your money to Crappy Store X because they have the cheaper price, you're telling Good Store Y that they need to just get crappier, cheaper employees and cut their prices.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I'm not willing to pay much extra for service at most retail establishments as I'm of the opinion that if I need personal service in the first place, your store has already failed either through a poor layout or insufficient product information on the displays or some other issue. Unless I need something custom made or assembled, I shouldn't need to interact with your sales employees to take care of my routine business.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Powerlurker: Uh, so then really stores shouldn't even need employees to help you? It's all self-help for you. You must love Best Buy?

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Strangely opposite and yet equally as soul crushing as my experience last Black Friday.

Went in with 2 different televisions in mind. #1 choice, and #2 choice. Waited in line outside, then inside. The line inside took a couple hours, but we waited. They had it set up so that the higher end televisions were kept in the back and when you got to the front of the line, you'd tell them what to get you. Choice #1 was in the back. While snaking through the line, we passed choice #2, out and ready to be picked up off the shelf.

Got to the front of the line, and we were told that they might be out of the one we wanted, and that they were almost sure they were, but they'd check. We were told to wait a few steps ahead of the front of the line while someone checked, meanwhile they continued with the customers behind us. This is fine. That is, until we have been standing there for 20 minutes, ignored, and people way behind us were being served without a hitch.

A couple employees asked what we were waiting for, and we just got \"oh\" when we told them. Then someone who looked like they had a little more power in the store asked another employee what tv we wanted, and this started a group of whispering, and--get this--a guy looking at us and shaking his head. Nobody had the nerve to say to us \"sorry, we checked, and as we suspected, we are out of that model.\" Which was ALL we were waiting for. We were hoping that would be followed up with \"but if there's another television you'd like, I will get it for you.\" Because there WAS another television that we had in mind, and al this line waiting was, after all, so employees could calmly go retrieve televisions for those who waited.

My husband finally bolted upstream through the line to grab that second choice off of the shelf, come back though the line, and finally pay for it. Something that we could have done and been done with 10 minutes after the store opened. We waited in line to be served in the way they were serving everyone, but since they were out of the specific tv we wanted, BEST BUY of all places decides that we probably won't want anything else, and therefore we are absolutely ignored? We were even physically in the way of their activities, but we stood there because we were asked specifically to stand there. This means that they had to TRY to ignore us.

A guy saw my pissed off husband holding the tv and was just like \"uh... can I grab you guys some cables or anything?\" and I think we just glared at him, and he walked away.

fwiw we're still very happy with the tv we ended up with. It's a 1080p 32\" LG, which is as big as we wanted to go (and fits perfectly with the makeshift Ikea shelf that later bought). We were desperately wanting one last year, though, because I had just learned that the fancypants flat screens don't emit the high pitched noise that drives me insane, like CRT sets do. Very happy with the television, not so much with our experience. We're also young (we were 22/23 last year) and really used to getting shafted in various places. Boy, are people SHOCKED when the useless children escalate complaints as high as possible. We only let this one go because it was about 8 am on Black Friday, and I was in the midst of a very bad but non-contagious \"lower digestive\" illness ;)

2 replies

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@iblamehistory: FIRST mistake was venturing out on Black Friday. Store employees already had you tagged.

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e065702

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Let me guess . . you were in Florida

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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For the life of me I don't know why anyone would buy any piece of technology without researching it on the internet first.

In this day and age there is no excuse to go into a store and still have to ask questions of the sales staff. By the time you enter the store you should need someone to grab you a box from the back and ring you out.

5 replies

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madog

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@seanhcalgary: This is partly why customer service is so bad in the first place. If businesses always expected customers to know everything when they come in the store, why bother spending the time and money training employees properly?

You're either going to get some person who's just there to sell products like this BB employee, or have someone who actually knows what they are talking about. The only training that employee got was, \"Do whatever you can to sell the service plan and Monster cables.\"

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Real Cheese Flavor

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@seanhcalgary: This completely baffles me as well.

Prior to actually buying my TV I spent a couple of weeks researching models and what features they had. When I got my choices narrowed down to one or two that I liked I spent some more time reading various forums and seeing what actual owners thought of the sets.

After I found the one I wanted, I checked Circuit City, Best Buy, and H. H. Gregg to find out which store had the item available to buy in-store. I chose in-store because I think it's less hassle to return things to a physical store rather than packing the thing back up, paying for shipping, and waiting for my return to arrive via UPS.

I walked into the store knowing exactly what I wanted and what features the TV had. I found a salesperson, pointed to the TV I wanted, said that I wanted that TV and that I don't need any extended warranty or cables, paid for it, and walked out. Total time in store: About 15 minutes.

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triscuitbiscuit

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Real Cheese Flavor:
He said that he \"researched\" the TV yet he didn't know anything about the TV. What kind of research is that then?

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Alternately, you should be willing to pay a few extra bucks to the store for knowledgable, honest salespeople, saving you all the hours spent doing research. Moreso when you consider all the 5-star fakereviews out there, or the 1-star \"OMGREMOTEDIDNTHAVEBATTERIES\" reviews.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@seanhcalgary: I would be willing to bet more than half the people that walk into BB looking for a TV don't have any idea what they want other than maybe the size.

The most common question from my brief time working there few years ago was \"What's the difference between LCD and Plasma?\"

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self-check

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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When the sales guy tried to push a Monster cable, the customer should have offered a challenge: \"OK, let's get both cables out and I'll hook one or the other up, at my choice, and you, Mr. Salesman, tell me which is which. We'll do that several times. If you are able to identify both reliably, I'll take your advice.\" Of course he'd fail, since digital cables either work perfectly, or fail, unlike analog ones (but even $100+ analog cables aren't noticeably better than $10 cables).

2 replies

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Evil Otto - sleep deprived ftl

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@self-check: There is NO difference between a functioning $100 HDMI cable and a functioning $6 cable bought off the back of an eBay truck. You don't get higher quality ones and zeroes over a more expensive cable. It's either on or off.

This, among many other reasons, is why I won't set foot in a Best Buy if I'm spending my own money. (I had to go in recently for a MacBook power supply on short notice, and that was only after I found that the local Apple store was closed for renovations.) Oddly enough, I didn't get browbeaten about an extended warranty on it (not even Applecare.)

Everything a blue shirt says is either wrong or a lie. If you have to go there, the only things you should say to them are \"That one, please\" and \"No\" enough times to allow you to give them your money.

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pr0k

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Evil Otto - sleep deprived ftl:

I hate the comment \"There is NO difference in cables when they are digital, etc, etc\". I have bought a cheapo bottom dollar HDMI cable before. Sure, the picture was the same.. that was until the first time I went to unplug it and the tip of the cable literally came apart in my PS3.

I'm not saying a $125 dollar cable is worth it, but honestly there IS sometimes a difference.

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anduin1

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@pr0k:
mmm no...its never worth it. If your first $5 cable broke, get another one. You're still saving $115.

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nstonep

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@pr0k: No no no...detachable tip is a feature!

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I looked at stoves at Best Buy and the young \"salesperson\" had no clue as to what he was selling. You'd think Best Buy would have training videos or something.

1 replies

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katia802

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@zibplipperman: Okay, maybe i'm just a complainer, (very possible according to hubby). If i go into a store looking to spend hundreds of dollars on something and I get the crappy salesperson treatment, I immediately ask for a manager. I then inform him/her that I would have been happy to spend X amount of dollars in your store, but as you didn't bother to train your salespeople I'll go find some other competing store to spend my money at. Do this enough times and perhaps the message will get through that customer service is an important part of keeping people going into brick and moarter stores instead of going online to buy.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I should point out that you should absolutely never buy a TV based on what the picture looks like in the store. They're put up with default settings right out of the box, but those defaults are in \"Shop Mode\" (many TVs prompt you to choose that or Home Mode on first boot) which makes a complete dog's dinner of it. Not to mention that the lighting in Best Buy's probably pretty far off your actual viewing experience.

2 replies

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Sockatume: Beyond that, the TV sets out in the general TV section all have displays that look like crap. About the only thing you will be able to tell is the difference in contrasts.

The feed is split so many times, it looks like a standard definition signal. Over a bad antenna. Made out of a wire coat hanger.

The stuff in the Magnolia home theater area all have beautiful signals. But I've never bought anything out of that section.

I've done my research before hitting the store, and I just need a warm body to get the box.

There is very little I've ever asked of Best Buy:

- Have the price in the store match the advertised price, or the price on your site.

- Don't hide items at the such and such counter. If you won't hold 'em, don't hide 'em.

- Don't pawn the upsell off on me

- Don't spout technobabble when I decline the upsell

- Get that big heavy box and haul it up to the register and out to my car, please.

Other than that, my experience at BB is much better when I don't have to actually talk to anyone who works there.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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On that subject, does anyone know why So many manufacturers make TVs where you have to open a screen-covering menu to adjust settings, and then exit out to check what the picture looks like? Sony is particularly bad about it, as there's a several-second delay to get in and out of the menu.

I have an LG monitor, and when you adjust picture settings, it adjusts them on the left half of the screen, leaving the right half at your current settings. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO incredibly helpful.

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coren

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Huh.

I decided to get in on a \"before Black Friday\" deal and picked up a 500 dollar Insignia tv. I spent a good 15 minutes on the phone asking questions, then they offered (without me asking) to hold one for me even though they had six left on the floor and more in the back. Checkout was painless, they offered the extended plan once, made a note that if I could find my reward zone coupon and gift cards they'd be happy to do a return rebuy even if the item had gone up in price. They wouldn't even let me help carry the thing out of the store, which I was more than happy to do.

It was almost like they wanted me to have a good experience or something.

1 replies

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PTB315

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@coren: I went in knowing what I wanted because I had researched it on bestbuy.com and printed out pages so that I could check exact product numbers and confirm I was getting what I wanted.

The woman who assisted me was very different from this article's experience, she asked me about cables and I told her Amazon was selling HDMI cables for about 10 bucks a pop and she agreed that was far better than Monster's pricing. She offered the 4 year service plan and explained it very clearly to me, so I went with it.

She was helpful, and knowledgeable, but if she didn't know something she didn't try to bullshit me. She admitted she wasn't sure and went and checked. I was happy by the end of it all and had the entertainment center I wanted.

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Buffet

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I'd have just punched him in the face.

1 replies

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squinko

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Buffet: That is clearly the most mature and rational course of action in this situation.

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DovS

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I think, when the cashier claimed that \"40% of these TV's come back to the store for repairs,\" I would have lost my patience and said, \"Oh, really? I guess I had better not buy it then.\" Then I would walk out and buy the TV at some store that didn't have incompetent salesclerks who don't realize that, if they're so obviously incompetent, they undermine any confidence I might have in their upsell pitch.

3 replies

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SatisfriedCrustomer

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@DovS:
That or \"Then why are you selling this product at your store?\"

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jwissick

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@DovS: No kidding. That would be a deal breaker right there IF I was still there. I would have left long ago though.

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aplusboy

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@jwissick:
I would have thanked him for that information and that at 40% failure this is a product I would not want in my home. I would shake his hand and thank him again for his honesty on the way out the door.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@aplusboy: Ah ha ha ha ha! Kill 'em with kindness!

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Ouze

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Well, what incentive does best buy have to do better?

At the end of the day, you bought the TV anyway.

Why serve them steak when they'll eat shit?

1 replies

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jeffbone

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Ouze: \"Why serve them steak when they'll eat shit?\"

Well said. That sounds like it could be the mission statement for any of the top ten WCIA finalists. Maybe the crew here would consider engraving that statement on the Golden Poo award.

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nocturnaljames

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Cables & Warranties are where they rake in the huge dough, so they try to push those as hard as they can. Buying a $125 monster cable is about the worst buying decision anyone can possibly make on anything. I used to work in an electronic store similar to best buy, so I can have some sympathy for the seller. They are expected to know everything about every model, but they get no training, and probably make minimum wage. Then of course the managers put high pressure to sell overpriced cables and warranties the customer doesn't really need, and not to provide good service. That said this salesman was very annoying and condescending when he clearly didn't know what he was talking about in the first place.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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A few weeks ago I bought a 50\" TV from Best Buy and was braced to deal with the BBB, Best Buy B***s**t. I wasn't upsold ANYTHING. I pointed at the TV, the nice clerk checked to see that it was in stock, I paid, walked to the exit to find my TV waiting for me and the nice security clerk helped be load it into my van. All as it should be in a polite society.

After all I've read about Best Buy, I felt as though I had gotten away with some sort heist.

4 replies

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nstonep

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@FogNoggin: @Keavy_Rain:

Still...ordering on the internet doesn't put it in your hand at a moment in time. And he needed to play cooking mama obviously.

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the_deliverator

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@FogNoggin: I recently had a pleasant experience at Best Buy as well! My parents's CRT broke, and they wanted a decent, not huge HD LCD. I did some research, found the one they should by, went in with them. Found the salesguy, pointed to my iphone with the one i wanted on the best buy website and asked him to get it. They didn't have it, so they sold me the next pricier one (it had an extra HDMI port, which apparently adds $80) for the price of the one they didn't have in stock. no cable upsell, nothing. My parents then proceeded to mock me for complaining about Best Buy crappiness.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I had exactly the same experience several years ago when I bought my plasma. The model I wanted was the priors years model that they were closing out. I found out which store still had one in stock, walked in was at the register in less than 5 minutes.

Actually, the guy ringing me up was quite pleasant. Didn't try to upsell anything and he actually arranged for the SD to HD upgrade on my cable plan with my cable provider (and the swap of an SD DVR with an HD DVR).

I was in and out in about 15 minutes with the box waiting by the front door. It was pretty damn painless.

Maybe it's because I'm an older, fat grumpy SOB and people are afraid to try that crap with me? *shrug*

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h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@FogNoggin: This is how our experiences were when buying two TVs from BB. We did our research, stopped into the store, found a salesgirl (luckily enough, the same one always seemed to be there whenever we came in), pointed at the wall saying \"Give me that one, please\" and had it loaded up for us. She did ask my fiance if he needed cables, but he replied \"No, I bought some at Monoprice already,\" to which she laughed and replied (sans sarcasm) \"That was a smart idea.\" When we came in 3 months later to buy the second TV she remembered us and didn't try to upsell me on a thing.
Interestingly enough, when I was looking at washers/dryers by myself the salesman tried to push me to the ultra-sexy, super-expensive LG ones. When I returned later with my fiance, the (different) salesman was super cool, and even advised us that the extended warranty wasn't worth the money since we had picked out a very sturdy model.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Can someone tell me what the story is with selling \"calibration\" services on a new out of the box TV? I would expect it to be in tip-top condition and working perfectly to spec if I bought it new?

What is the \"scam\"?

7 replies

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marsneedsrabbits

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@CharlesFarley:
As far as I know, all Pixar & Lucasfilm DVDs have a calibration section. If you own any of them (Toy Story, Star Wars, etc) find it and give it a try.

Here is an Engadget article explaining the process using Pixar's Monsters, Inc with screen shots and everything:

[hd.engadget.com]

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geekzapoppin

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@CharlesFarley: As has been mentioned above me, television manufacturers, for the most part, have default setting that are made to make the potential buyer say, \"Wow! What a bright picture!\" They know these televisions will be on store sales floors, usually under bright fluorescent lighting, and right next to twenty other televisions. The human eye is naturally drawn to bright, shiny things.

The trouble with this is that these settings aren't going to give you an accurate representation of the picture that was intended by the content creators. This is mostly an issue when watching films, where color, texture, brightness, etc. are carefully adjusted to exacting standards before ending up on DVD, Blu-ray, etc. By doing your best to make your television match the same standards as the content producers' monitors, you are able to get a picture that matches the intentions of the program creators. Of course, if you're watching ACCORDING TO JIM all the time and don't ever watch, say, a Kubrick film. It might seem to be a waste to bother with calibrating your set. In such a case, I'd say you're right. You'll still want to dial down the contrast and artificial sharpening. It may look strange at first, but you'll quickly adjust to it and find that the image is far-more-natural than when you use default settings.

If you have a large enough set that has the potential of displaying a great picture and you have the money, then, by all means, hire an ISF Certified Technician. You won't be disappointed. If, like me, you want as good a picture as you can get, but can't afford ISF calibration, there are DVDs and Blu-Ray discs such as Digital Video Essentials or the Avia 2 Guide to Home Theater which are great for guiding you through making adjustments to your television using the basic controls on your television, without having to navigate arcane service menus. While not providing as good a result as a more in-depth calibration, the results are still well worth the time and effort. These discs are readily-available online, through Netflix, or sometimes even at your local library.

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lukesdad

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@geekzapoppin: I should read farther down before copy-cat posting, sorry. ;)

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AndyMan1

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@geekzapoppin: You don't even need to buy another disk, assuming you have even a meager sized video collection.

Dig around for a THX certified DVD or Blu-ray disk (Indiana Jones IV is one, for example) and then jump through the menu settings, you'll find a calibration option. A few minutes with that, and you should be calibrated well enough for most people.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@CharlesFarley: Meh - I have never had it done, so I don't know if it would make that much of a difference. Personally, I feel it should either auto calibrate, or be available to the consumer to adjust.

When I get a new set, I spend some time lowering the brightness and adjusting the contrast and color and HD zoom, color temperature and what not.

That's about all the calibration it gets from me.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@CharlesFarley: Out of the box it is set to the highest contrast settings. A calibration adjusts all the color/brightness settings in the menu as well as doing stuff to a service menu that you can't really access. Most people wouldn't know the difference and I would say it's a complete waste of money. But for someone who is really into having the best home theater, it can make a difference. Even if you decide to do it, there are independent people who can do the calibration for cheaper than what BB charges.

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lukesdad

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@milrtime83: That's the thing -- if you're going to do it, don't let Best Buy do it for you! You can spen ~$30 to get a DVD/Blu-Ray disc that gives you all the test patterns, etc. that you need, along with a guided tour of what settings to change. This will get you about 90% of what a full-on calibration would do (and honestly, this - or less - is likely what the Best Buy \"tech\" calls a calibration).

For a real calibration - and for about the same $$ Best Buy charges - go to the Imaging Science Foundation ([www.imagingscience.com]) and find a certified tech. They will actually bust out hardware and access your TV's service menu to tweak settings you can't get to on the regular menu (because they could royally screw up your TV if you did something wrong). It's really up to the individual to decide if the difference is worth it. Some people want perfection, and a real calibration gets you pretty close.

As stated, the TV manufacturers jack up brightness, contrast and color to stand out on a showroom floor, not to show accurate color or true quality. Some (high end) TVs do have a supposedly color-accurate/calibrated preset, but most TVs will benefit from at least some basic adjustments once you get them home. Or just go to a real geeky home theater store where they actually calibrate all the TVs on display!

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@lukesdad: You are mistaken. Calibration techs for BBY are ISF certified, there aren't very many of them, and use actual equipment, as well as get into the TV's service menu.

Consumerist, whatever y'all think of BBY, can we please correct this once and for all? The employees and managers may be complete morons when it comes to explaining it, but the actual techs that do calis are ISF certified.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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This story is from a moron.
He said he paid $62 for an HDMI cable.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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So, we have spent years trying to force retailers to give us cheaper prices and in order to do that, retailers have hired less experienced workers who they could pay less to do the job and fewer workers with the requisite knowledge have been willing to do the jobs for so little pay (plus, lower prices likely mean lower commissions for them). And now, we are outraged that we do not get good customer service? I love it. This is not to say that if this person went to a higher priced store, he would have gotten better customer service. It's to say that we have fostered a culture that rewards lower prices more than it rewards quality customer service.

1 replies

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Joeb5

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@tasselhoff76:
it's not less experienced workers it worker who are pushed to up sell and they get there hours cut if they don't sell.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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You still got ripped off paying $60 for an HDMI cable.

www.monoprice.com

is your friend. That same cable is about $8 here.

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Wang_Chung_Tonight

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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don't go to Best Buy to hear about technology. Its best to find out online, and go there to get the right product. For Example..

I wanted a Sony XBR9 TV. I went there and all of them suggested Samsung (who pays them big $$$ to market). I took the Samsung home and it sucked (W series, claimed 240hz but seriously lacked). I took it back and got my XBR9. Wang_Chung is now happe :-)

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reimero

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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When we bought our TV earlier this year (also at Best Buy), our experience was nothing like that. I, too, came in with a very, very narrow list of TVs and criteria, and my wife (fiancee at the time) and I settled on one particular model. The salesperson gave us the rundown on everything, tried the obligatory service plan and HDMI cable upsells (but wasn't very pushy about it) and seemed quite happy to make a (rather large) sale. I did humor him enough to go over and look at the cables before stating that I really didn't want to drop another $40 on an HDMI cable. All in all, the whole process was fairly un-painful, beyond the research and cost-calculating.

Also, once we got home, I hopped on Amazon and picked up a few HDMI cables and some optical audio cables (since we also picked up a receiver and some speakers, because the financing was right and we calculated we could afford it easily.) Total cost of the cables on Amazon was somewhere in the $15 range, including shipping. And those HDMI cables are working just fine.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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What they need to do is give you a GOOD experience, and then you will be inclined to linger. This is how they make money off me. If I'm having a great shopping experience (helpful salespeople, not pushy, nice ambiance, etc.), I'm much more likely to hang around and look at CDs, movies, turntables, etc. and possibly buy something else.

I don't always buy something when I linger, but I will make a mental note that BB or whatever has it, and I'm much more likely to remember it's there or want to purchase it there if my experience with them has been good.

Pamper me!

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arimer

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Does Best Buy work on Spiffs? At compusa if I could get you to buy the expensive Monster cables that was a 30 dollar SPiff in my pocket. One time they actually ran a contest that if you could sell the most monster cables out of all the stores you got a trip or something fancy like that.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Two words H.H.Gregg or Newegg.
Best Buy needs to die in a horrible death like Circuit City.

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cc82

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I went to Best Buy last month to buy the new HTC Hero since they offered the instant rebate... I usually do all my electronics shopping on Amazon/Newegg, so I was bracing for painful experience. Surprisingly they didn't push for any accessories, and only asked about their warranty plan once. All in all not a terrible experience. Still, I'll stick to online unless they actually have a better deal, which is extremely rare.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Sounds like the salesman wasn't really that interested in selling you a TV. Why reward them for such a lousy sales job? Go somewhere else where they, I don't know, are interested in answering your questions and selling you the TV you want?

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AliceMaz

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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We bought a 46\" Sony Bravia tv with Blu-Ray player on the same sale last weekend from Best Buy. $1034 for a BEAUTIFUL tv and blu-ray player just made our year!

I always knew that part of what I loved about my husband was that he was in retail all through college and knows how to get around bull-$h1t.

We didn't look anyone in the eye and bolted for the TV dept upon arrival, looked at all the Bravias that were for sale (we weren't sure what size would be best for our living room and wanted to see in person).

Once we knew which one we wanted, we found a sales person who was already getting someone's order to pull from the backroom and added our TV to his list to avoid the sales pitch.

While we waited for the TV, we found the Blu-Ray included in the sale (weird sale... the cheap players all over the sales floor weren't the ones in the deal, the sale one was actually the better one that was hidden in the aisles) and laughed at the prices on all the Monster Cable sets.

The only glitch we encountered was we got roped into purchasing at the Magnolia counter in the back and had to wait for about 15 minutes (!!!) just to find someone to ring us up!

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adamwade

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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PLEASE DON'T BE FOOLED INTO BUYING EXPENSIVE CABLES!

Even $60 HDMI are a rip-off!

Why? Because it's a purely DIGITAL signal. It's not like analog where cable quality did matter because of interference and signal degredation.

HDMI cables either work...or they don't. There is no difference in quality - your TV gets the signal, or it doesn't.

So buy $10 ones off the Internet - or if you need one in a brick & mortar, get the cheapies at Wal-Mart for $22 bucks. It makes no difference whatsoever.

When I see people being scammed into spending $100+ for a frickin' cable I feel like it's almost criminal for stores to try to get away with lying about their quality like that.

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PhilFR

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I think the moral here is \"Don't shop at Best Buy.\" Honestly, you'll get vastly superior service from Crutchfield, and it's hard to shake a stick at NewEgg if you just know what you want.

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laffmakr

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I am still amazed at how many people accept this type of treatment at any store. Circuit City lost about $3000 of my money over the years for this exact same bullshit.

Two stupid and flip answers from a salesperson qualify for a discussion with a manager. If the salesperson is still involved at that point, a trip to the front door is required.

I'm sure there are other retailers in the area that would match Best Buy's price.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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If you paid $60 for a cable, then I think you did make a bad choice.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Salesperson: Hello, if you just give $50 cash, I'll tell you everything you want to know, I'll demo the TV properly, I won't push you to buy Monster (please don't sue me) cables, I'll ring your sale up without giving you a hard sell on the warranty and I'll put the set into your car. One problem is that this scenario should be normal operating procedure at B.B. (without having to pay extra), but sadly will never be.

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Hawkins

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@vastrightwing: What an interesting experiment. Next time I have to buy something expensive, I'll try that.

How do you maintain control, though?

Maybe something like:

Hello. I want to buy a thousand-dollar-plus device today. I do not with to be patronized, pushed, up-sold, or lied to.
I understand that your job is to do all these things.
So here's the deal: I will pay you $50 cash to disobey your instructions, and treat me respectfully, tell me the whole truth, and load my car.
Here's $20 now. The remaining $30 is yours at the conclusion of the transaction, in the parking lot.

Surely you'd save more than $50, if, for example, you didn't know what a ripoff the cables were.

I'm trying this.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Here's an analogy for you: Best Buy is to Monster Cables as Radio Shack is to Batteries.

Its just that Monster Cables cost 100 times more than a pack of batteries.

1 replies

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@allnitecp:
Agreement on the cables. Monoprice online has the price for cables and their support is excellent.

I haven't shopped at best buy in a long time. The last time I was there, I was accused of being a thief, trying to rip off the store. (Picking up a set of speakers that was offered by buying an AV stereo was the most humiliating shopping experience of my life.)

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Truthie

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I remember when I was buying a 27\" tube TV like 10 years ago that the salesbot guy at Best Buy gave me the same line about how 40% of these TVs are returned.

I looked him in the eye and just said \"Really? Because if that's true I am not going to buy such a poorly made product in the first place.\" He shut right up after that.

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Kricket

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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on the scale rating my most recent best buy experiences - i would rank this one as pretty typical - not too bad for us people who have done their research and are somewhat \"in the know\" - but it terrifies me to think that my parents might walk into some best buy and think they are being \"educated\" on technology by some 19 year old kid who's only looking to sell the most psp's that weekend (performance service plans - not the handheld)

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npage148

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I'm tired of the Monster Cable bitching. So what he bought a 60$ cable, I know he could have gotten it at monoprice for 14 cents. He wanted it now so we could use his TV (Cue bitching about poor planning). It's less than 5% of total cost of the TV. I'd gladly pay that to use my TV when I got home

1 replies

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@npage148: Patience is a virtue, and you are a fool.

After waiting for so many weeks to get a TV, and you can't wait another day to watch TV, then I guess you deserve to be separated from your money.

If you were my child I'd give you much more of an earful. But since this is the internet and the sole purpose of this post is to boost my own ego, I'll stop now. :D

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lupodwdm

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Companies like Best Buy wonder why their sales figures are so poor; this is a great example of it. I rarely go to any of these stores anymore since the people they have there are such idiots and will flat out lie to your face. I have had more than one experience where the sales person there would argue with me and tell me that I am wrong when I contradict some stupid thing they have said to me. It does not matter when I tell them I have been a member of the ISF for 15 years and I worked as a broadcast engineer for 20 so I know more than a little bit about audio and video.

One of my favorite best buy experiences; I was in the Best Buy in Rockaway, NJ about a year ago. I was bored and I was wandering through the \"Magnolia\" room of home theater components. There was a nice young couple looking at some speakers. As I was in there I heard the husband say that they mostly listen to rock and dance music and wanted speakers with a lot of bass. The sales person walked them over to the $1500 ea. electrostatic speakers and told them that these would be perfect. I kept quiet and listened to the sales person spout some of the most creative BS I have ever heard.

\"Electrostatic speakers are known for their incredible bass\"

\"They have very deep bass because of all the surface area of the film inside\"

\"You will not need a sub woofer since they play down to 10hz.\" (I loved that one. 10hz huh? Wow, I guess I should have come to best buy first before dropping $2.5k on my sub that only plays down to 22hz)

\"These speakers will literally last forever\" not sure where he got that one from.

etc, etc, etc.

As they were ready to buy I just could not keep quiet anymore. I would have felt bad watching these people spend $3k + on speakers that were quite literally the exact opposite of what they needed. Long story short I politely informed them about the true performance of the speakers they were looking at and said how electrostats are wonderful speakers for some types of music but would be horrible for what they wanted to listen too.

I even went to the manufactures web site on my iphone and showed them the frequency response of the speakers. They were so angry at being lied to they went to the manager about what the sales person said and then left. I in turn walked out of the store a few minutes later only to hear someone yelling at me as I waled out. The sales person actually followed me outside yelling at me about costing him a sale. I pointed out to him how he was flat out lying to them about the speakers and he told me it was none of my business and that I didn't know what I was talking about. He then made a vague threat that I should watch my back around this store from now on.

It just makes me sick how 90% of the sales people at these stores will pray on customers that don't know any better.

The good thing is eventually stores like Best Buy will either wake up and get better sales people or simply go out of business like circuit city. (Which was one of the worst when it came to idiot sales people.)

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Geez freaking idiot, 40% of the TVs don't come back to the store, if your TV is bad BBY will send someone to your house to fix it (usually takes 2-3 times, but it's cheaper for them to send someone to your house than to ship it to the svc center).

Also the 1yr Mfg warranty is covered by best buy, so at least for the first year, if you have any problems, call 800-Geek-Squ and have them send someone to your house to fix the TV.

CALIBRATION:

TVs out of the box are calibrated for electronic show room floors, meaning TONS of BLUE, very bright, lots of bloom. You're a dumb ass if you don't either calibrate the TV yourself or have someone help you do it.

1 replies

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@Android8675: I hate my posts in the AM, I sound so bitter.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Wait a second....so the guy does a lot of \"research,\" sure of his knowledge, and he does the following:

Shops at Best Buy
Buys $60 cables
Expects something different from a Best Buy salesman?

Yeah, he did a lot of research alright. Probably a whole five minutes on Best Buy's site.

1 replies

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Jnetty

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I like Best Buy, buy there all the time and never had a problem. But yes i do my research. I'll look online for better price, shipping. If BB is almost the same i'll buy it at the store. But I will only go to the store for physical research. I always buy it online and pick up at the store, that way I'm not hassle by their stupid sales people.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Oh man. My brother and I went to BB to pick up a PS3. He almost ditched the sale, cuz the girl at the checkout was really pushing the warranty. \"Are you sure? These things break all the time. Really? Are you certain?\" The worst part is when they start to talk to you like you're an idiot for refusing. That's when my brother said \"you wanna sell me this or not? Cuz I can go somewhere else.\" Then she acted all hurt and whiny. Ugh. I don't buy any big ticket items at BB anymore. Don't really care if they know why or not. They can kiss my ass.

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koath

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I remember when I bought my Sony Bravia 40\" LCD that I knew more about the TVs then the salesmen. I also had one try to sell me the Monster HDMI cable. I told him the why I didn't need to spend that type of money on a cable and the differences between analog and digital signals. He didn't have much to say after that.

I also got Best Buy to price match the tv from an online ad from another store which was an extra 10% off. In addition I signed up for the credit card (yes I know not a great idea) but it had an extra 6 months of 0% interest compared to the other store.

I really felt like I stuck it to them.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I've got a better one. I had actually already bought a TV off their website for in store pickup. Everything went without a hitch. Two weeks later I get an e-mail asking me to rate the TV. I go to rate it and notice that the 1080p version (I had got the 720p version) was now only a few dollars more. I call and ask if I can exchange the one I bought off the website and picked up in stores for the 1080p version. Everyone I talked to said yes. So I bring in the TV explain my situation again and again confirmed that it is possible to exchange something I bought online for in store pickup with something in store. Go grab the new TV off the floor and head back up to the front. After fiddling on the POS for a second the CSR hands me a receipt stapled to my old receipt saying the money will be back on my card in 72 hours and how did I want to pay for the new one. My jaw dropped and I asked what she didn't understand about an exchange. I was then told, by the same employee that had confirmed it was possible not 10 minutes before, that you can't exchange stuff bought online for in store pickup with in store stuff; I have to return it first. I asked how he (not the teller, her manager who had been right there for the whole exchange and was one of the employees who had confirmed I could make the exchange) had not known this a second ago but now was speaking as if this is well known company policy. I then mentioned that this was extremely shitty to do to a customer who had already given them money and was trying to give them more. For this comment I was yelled at called names and ordered from the store. Basically they threw the money I had already spent there in my face, insulted me and my intelligence and then demanded that I get out.

I took my returned money added the same amount on top and went elsewhere to get a way better TV. I have never been back and I have no intention of ever shopping there again.

On another note, I scoured the website and there is no mention of this anywhere in any of the return materials. In fact everything points to it being entirely possible to do what I was trying to do. It looks as if the employee messed up and did a return instead of an exchange and instead of apologizing and making it right they blamed the system and attacked me.

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JGKojak

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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This is why Best Buy, somehow someday, is going the way of Circuit City.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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My Best Buy hobby:

Wen one of these idiots try to sell me the extended warranty by telling me the product is prone to breaking, I say \"Oh, so it's crap? Thanks for warning me. I'm not going to buy it anymore.\"

Then you watch their head explode while they try to convince you to buy it AND that it's going to break.

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Portalis

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Two words: \"BUY ONLINE\"! don't buy from these places, I can not stand dealing with best buy people either, but besides the people, the prices there are a total rip.

www.newegg.com is a good place to start.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I just hate Best Buy. I walk in there once in a while when I'm at the Mall of America and laugh at their prices. But they do have some good deals once in a while. I bought some computer cases a year ago. It was an Antec NSK 6580B for $40 and the a very nice Dynex case for $30.

Here's what I do when I walk in.
Go to the computer hard ware section and blurt out
\"I can get this off Newegg for half the price\", \"$60 for a 1 gig stick or ram?!? This is preposterous!!!\", and my favorite, \"Let's see what game I can download off torrent sites later?\"

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farker

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Wow. Shoppingfail. $60 for an HDMI Cable? I sure hope it was 50 feet long, but I suspect it was more in the neighborhood of 6 or 10!

After the first time that snotty sales associate sassed me, I would've turned on my heel and left to go order the same TV from Amazon or Fry's.

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Tvhargon

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Oh, yeah, my wife once bought a tv there, and they sold her over $1000 WORTH OF CABLES!!! I took them back, got on monoprice and got the same cables for $30.

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nstonep

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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They don't make commission right? His manager must've been up his ass all day.

Usually best buy employees run and hide whenever they see a customer not hassel you.

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kent909

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Let's all remember what we are dealing with. Human greed. Best Buy is out to first and foremost make a profit. Every year they not only want, but their stockholders demand, that they make ever increasing profits. Based on this objective it is imperative that you keep costs down. To do that you hire people who are not educated in the products because you can pay minimum wage to someone who is uninformed. To train them to be knowledgeable in the products they sell would cost money and negatively effecting the bottom line. All you want to teach them is to sell the customer up. The ones that they hire that learn on their own will gain some retail experience and move on to a better job elsewhere. So blame the stock holders, blame the top level execs. They are just out for the money. These antidotal stories are few and far between, compared to how many times it works. I don't have this problem because I have an uncanny ability to make people very uncomfortable without saying a word. They just back off and leave me alone.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@ApupnamedShamus:

Not to mention that he ended up buying the TV from them anyway. If I get bad customer service from a place BEFORE I'm a paying customer, it is easy to imagine what the customer service is going to be like after they already have my money. I bought my last TV from Amazon, and I don't regret it in the slightest.

As for the price of the cables, as others have mentioned, monoprice is the way to go. They've got every type of cable known to man, and at absolutely rock bottom prices. Intelligent people think marketing doesn't work, but I've told relatives about monoprice only to have \"I don't want those cheap Chinese cables\" thrown back in my face. Cheap Chinese cables? What cables aren't made in China! A friend of mine worked at an electronics store, and the price he paid (inventory plus five percent or something like that) on cables was never higher than 5 dollars, and that is for the name brands. People are suckers.

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pyehac

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Personally, I'd just order the product online, and request an instore pickup.

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jenjen

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I think for the COMPLETE Consumerist Best Buy experience story we would find the OP getting home, opening the box and finding a box of cement bricks.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Perhaps I have a different prospective on it all, but I would have just walked out and went to a different retailer. I _might_ have come back to tell a manager about the experience, but then again it was Best Buy. I've only ever made two purchases there in my life - a flip-type camera and a blank digital tape for an upgraded video camera. I remember when customer service was something to take pride in - I guess badgering a customer is the credo of Best Buy. I would have went to WalMart over Best Buy any day!

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MrWhistler

November 23, 2009 5:32 PM

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I had a very similar experience with a similarly priced TV. The salesman seemed put off that I knew what I wanted and when I said I wanted it he said he had to \"check if it was in stock.\" 15 minutes of standing around later, I found him shooting the breeze with a guy about the new LED TVs. I finally harangued him into taking my money and got the eff outta there. I took the time to respond to the survey on the receipt and ended up with a email and phone call from the store manager saying sorry. Small victories.

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hornet21

November 23, 2009 5:32 PM

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This isn't surprising. Why would you step into a discount store and expect excellent service? You came for the price, and you got it.

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jrgman

November 23, 2009 5:32 PM

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On one occasion, Best Buy sold me a television, then wheeled me out a \"display model\" and offered me a 10% discount, after the sale had been made. When I refused, they had me go through checkout again and process a \"return\"...and then took 3 days to process it, so I couldn't go elsewhere and buy another TV until the charge had been cleared.

On another occasion, I decided on a model and asked to see an HD signal on the TV. The salesperson said that the coax cable that was connected to the TV was \"digital coax\", and therefore an HD signal :(

He, of course, pushed the warranty on me, but not overly, and didn't claim any failure rates. However, any attempts to use any of the 2 reward zone cards I had resulted in their inability to find any record of me having such a card.

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jrgman

November 23, 2009 5:32 PM

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(don't see my original post...forgive me if this is a double-post)

On one occasion, Best Buy sold me a television, then wheeled me out a \"display model\" and offered me a 10% discount, after the sale had been made. When I refused, they had me go through checkout again and process a \"return\"...and then took 3 days to process it, so I couldn't go elsewhere and buy another TV until the charge had been cleared.

On another occasion, I decided on a model and asked to see an HD signal on the TV. The salesperson said that the coax cable that was connected to the TV was \"digital coax\", and therefore an HD signal :(

He, of course, pushed the warranty on me, but not overly, and didn't claim any failure rates. However, any attempts to use any of the 2 reward zone cards I had resulted in their inability to find any record of me having such a card.

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PBallRaven

November 23, 2009 5:32 PM

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Two experiences have kept me from ever setting foot in a BB ever again:

1: Needed a router for our office, so went to BB and used my companycredit card. A few months later, my very conservative boss calls meinto his office and asks me why the hell am I getting these trashymagazines sent to our work address? He shows me issues of \"Stuff\" and\"Blender\". Seems BB signed me up for them when I bought the router.

2: Buying a TV for my mom. Had paid for it and pulled the truck upin front of the store where a employee was waiting with the TV. Got outof the truck and stepped up on the curb, and my left hamstring musclesnapped. I went down like a lead balloon and the employee took off likea French border guard with track shoes. If a co-worker of mine had notjust happened to walk up and help me out I'd probably still be layingon the sidewalk...

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Ghost703

November 23, 2009 5:32 PM

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I unfortunately worked at best buy for two years. I know how their business works, and how it's all about meeting/exceeding sales numbers. I may be mistaken, but the two items that Best Buy takes an immediate loss on when selling them are laptops, and TV's. When Best Buy buys a laptop or TV from a vendor, they are buying it for almost the exact same price as the consumer buys it for. If you go in and buy a 1300 TV, then best buy breaks even. I understand in simple terms you think \"I bought 1300 dollars with of merchandise, I should at least get a thanks.\" However you just brought their numbers down, by not purchasing any of the extras. In reality, they don't care about your 1300 purchase, as they saw none of the 1300 dollars. Instead they took a loss by purchasing the shipping/handling on top of the vendor priced TV. I'm glad I don't work in that hell hole anymore.

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apetra

November 23, 2009 5:32 PM

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I don't understand why consumers still go to Best Buy. I simply had enough of their crap and quit shopping there years ago. There are always other alternatives.

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November 23, 2009 5:32 PM

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Buy the TV on-line, pick it up at the store, save yourself the sales pitch.

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Mock

November 23, 2009 5:32 PM

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I think, when the cashier claimed that \"40% of these TV's come back to the store for repairs,\" I would have lost my patience and said, \"Oh, really? I guess I had better not buy it then.\"

I've heard tell that this is not a calamity for them, they can just keep the set and sell it to some sucker with the extended warranty and with the $120 monster cable. That more than makes up for your loss of sale.

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legalguy

November 23, 2009 9:45 PM

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Yesterday I decided I had a need for a cheap external drive just to load some things onto a netbook. Didn't need to record - just play a cd or dvd. Pretty basic.
Looked online at Best Buy - because they are just around the corner. Spotted a cheap one made by Targus. $59.99. Called the store and asked if they had them in stock. I was assured they did. Found typical employee and asked where I might find this item. He laughed and said that Targus does not make any kind of drives. They only make laptop accessories like cases and mice, etc. I explained I saw it online and that an employee assured me they had them at the store. He searched for a couple minutes and then asked another employee. They too scoffed at the idea that Targus made such a device. Using one of the in-store computers I looked it up online and then, leaving it on the screen, went and found the clerk. I told him I had a question regarding the computer I was using. He quickly came to look - it was a very expensive computer. I pointed to the Targus drive and asked him where in the store I might find it. He pointed a couple aisles away and said, \"It's over there on that aisle.\" Yep - it was. I picked it up and on the way to pay \"thanked\" him for all the wonderful service he had provided.

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November 29, 2009 11:59 AM

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Oh my, you're all fools!

What terrible humans you are being so uneducated. Do you not realize how the process of retail works?

Look, this asshat above thinks he was doing Best Buy some justice by spending his precious green cotton slips in their store. False. Retail DOES NOT work that way I'm afraid.

Let me enlighten you ignorant sheep. When you waltz into a retail store understand that you are not the kings and queens and that your hard earned money IS NOT valued like it was when Sam Walton was alive. Today, companies purchase products from MANUFACTURERS at a wholesale premium and that product is then distributed. In this case, Best Buy likely paid around $1200 for that specific television given the average markup amount across the board. In comes you, the idiot consumer fiendiously drooling from the wallet attempting to garner some sort of hierarchy over these billion dollar industries and waltz over to said department, point at a product YOU KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT and claim you \"want\" it. You're NOT DOING ANYTHING to help Best Buy by purchasing this product. You're giving them about a ~$80-$100 margin increase overall. YOU ARE NOT SPENDING $1300 in Best Buy. You are utilizing Best Buy's facility that harbors products sent from a distribution center to countless stores so you're conveniently able to waltz in under a false impression of importance and claim you're doing Best Buy a huge injustice by NOT buying that TV because your service was bad. Doesn't mean a thing, I'm afraid. That employee selling you that product is a human. They're, in this case, smarter than you are when it comes to that product. You are the low man on the totem pole in this scenario. Your money means nothing unless you buy a warranty on the product, services to have the product setup, installed, etc etc, and all the proper accessories to enjoy it to it's fullest. You're an idiot if you think your high dollar margin purchases in a retail store mean anything to that business and their superiors. Sam Walton died years ago. Deal with it. The retail of the 60's is gone. Customer service is something you earn by showing your loyalty to a company. If you want good service, listen to the person explaining it to you. If you don't want a warranty or accessories on your product, use it with limited features and when it breaks (inevitable, you should all be bitching to the manufacturers) you can gladly waltz it back into the store only to be denied because you're too unintelligent to sit down and understand what it means to buy just a product from a retail store. The revenue and profit comes from you spending more money on those warranties, accessories, and installation/setup services. If you don't buy those with the product, you're meaningless to the company and can therefor deal with your own inadequacies.

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Wolfbird

December 2, 2009 12:52 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

\"Best Buy, your customer service is terrible! I was really disappointed and you should clean up your act! I'm still going to purchase items from you, despite your bad business practices, but you should know that I am not happy!\"

Ultimately, what incentive are we giving crappy companies to stop misbehaving?

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February 28, 2010 7:02 PM

Moderate |Flag for review

I question the use of the term \"salesperson\" for this guy. Mistake: disparaging any product. Mistake: lack of product knowledge. Mistake: failure to make a trustworthy relationship. Mistake: selling by fear. Mistake: making an assinine statement about reliability as if you even know what an engineer, statistician or tech specialist does. Mistake: emphasizing an extended warranty rather than the product. Mistake: lying abou the need for calibration.
Result: If BB had any integrity, they would fire this person. Since BB has no integrity, I recommend - after you do your research - buy online at one of many reputable etailers such as Amazon.. If you have time, even write a letter to Brad Anderson at BB corporate.

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