Best Buy Says Customers Not Always Right 1754
linuxwrangler writes "Best Buy is one of the retailers that has now decided that the customer is not always right. Best Buy consultant Larry Selden has identified "demon customers" like those who file for a rebate then return the item. OK, I get that one (hey Best Buy: dump those customer-despised rebates and you won't have that problem...). Other categories like customers who only buy during sales are more interesting. Best Buy declined comment on how they are dealing with those customers. Some stores have actually "fired" customers. Welcome to the end result of all that customer information data mining."
Always right....? (Score:2, Insightful)
I hate canned interviews that make no sense (Score:5, Insightful)
If best buy is sick of people using rebates, then stop offering them. Rebates work by the majority of people not using them, while thinking they are buying it at a great price. If people are going to use rebates without actually buying the item, Best Buy is going to have to live with that. If they think they can get it both ways, they are wrong. It is just another example of horrible customer service and deception backfiring, and then the company having such a great monopoly that they can somehow blame it on the customers, the very people they rely on to make money. Just absurd.
Sales customers (Score:5, Insightful)
Not allowed to only buy on sale??? (Score:5, Insightful)
If it is an urgent purchase that can't wait, then buy it then and there, but if you're happy to wait until whatever it is goes on sale due to it no longer being the newest and shiniest widget, what is wrong with that?
This is penalising people who are swimming against the tide of instant gratification that our credit driven society has pushed.
People have done this from time immemorial in raiding the new years and mid year sales at department stores they don't otherwise shop at
it's true (Score:5, Insightful)
If I need a TV, I wait a few weeks until I find a good deal on dealsea or FatWallet. Then I price match to someplace with massive coupon discounts, then I try to even pricematch the rebate. Then if they try to get me to pay for shipping I bitch about it and get that charge taken off. The stores make nothing.
If I was running a business, I wouldn't want people like me as customers. I would want people like my mom. It's just plain business sense.
What this really is (Score:2, Insightful)
They can refuse a sale or refund to anyone for any reason (except race, sex, etc.) and are well within their rights to do so. They don't have the money like Walmart does to be able to absorb crap returns and BS like that.
What this will do is help to increase margin and somewhat prevent prices from rising to cover the cost of bad returns. Would you rather they let people get away with this or would you prefer to pay more for the products you buy to cover Best Buy's losses from abusive customers?
Contemptible Customers (Score:3, Insightful)
In all seriousness, comments like these tell me I should be taking my business elsewhere. Not that I didn't already know ths, but it just reaffirms it. "Firing Customers" is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've heard today. And that's saying something. It goes against the whole idea behind a business; that is, to get customers and meet their needs while making a tidy profit. (Perhaps they believe their profit isn't quite tidy enough with people who use rebates and buy sale items.)
New dispair poster. (Score:1, Insightful)
You might want to sit down for this. No the customers aren't always right. It's a bit of marketing that companies spout like what gets satirized on those dispair posters. A company should aspire to high customer standards, but that doesn't make the customer "always right", and in fact to insure quality standards for everyone you have to let some customers go, because losing them is better overall.
Re:Contemptible Customers (Score:1, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Whatever happened to "no upc: no refund?" (Score:2, Insightful)
Or is that when the whole "fitness of goods" type thing comes in (spurious missing capicator anyone?).
Hey, I buy mostly during sales... (Score:5, Insightful)
They don't like customers at all-Employee abuse. (Score:1, Insightful)
True, however this in part is everyone's fault. From companies that pay bottom of the barrel wages, and have lousy support policies. To customers that demand bottom of the barrel prices, as well as are abusive to employees in general. If people really want what they claim they want? Then people's actions would reflect that.
Makes sense to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's probably the same thing for Best Buy. Why would they want to bother with people they know are going to take up their customer service reps' time, which costs money, and thereby result in no profit for Best Buy? There is no "right" to shop at Best Buy. There's probably a "we reserve the right to refuse service to any customer at any time" notice somewhere near the entrance to the store. Best Buy is simply choosing to exercise that right.
Re:Sales customers (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not allowed to only buy on sale??? (Score:4, Insightful)
The idea is that they put stuff on sale virtually at cost to lure you into the store, and then you're supposed to be a good little consumer and buy a bunch of other crap at full price. The store would prefer not to do business with people who don't fall for this ploy.
Re:Contemptible Customers (Score:5, Insightful)
No, in certain unusual situations, it's the best thing you can do. (And it's a term I've heard for many, many years.) I worked in a graphics/print shop for a while, and some customers would drive us nuts, and lose us money over the stuff they did. ie. bring in questionable originals for copying, choose the cheapest photocopy option available, then return a 10,000-sheet job because there was a speck in the copies. Or, in a low-end design job, argue over nickle and dime issues for hours, eating up the designer's time that should have been spent on better-paying work.
A few times, we gave them the phone number for a competitor, and told them not to come back.
In the service industry, the customer who is paying the least, will invariably demand the greatest amount of service and attention. Big dollar-customers know what they want, know the value of what they are purchasing, and trust you to do it properly. I imagine there are similarities in the retail industry.
Where do they complain about rebates in general? (Score:1, Insightful)
My wife used to work for Pier One. They had several people who would buy something and REGULARLY return it. Now it's 'used,' and they got $0 for it. Fair? Hardly. Companies should crack down on these scammers, or even sometimes outright crooks. It's costing THEM money, and it's costing us money.
Re:it's true (Score:5, Insightful)
Get rid of you and your mom just might decide to shop elsewhere as well. Get rid of you and your mom and they might just end up with noone.
The idea is to attract cusotomers. You'll like some better than others, but it's better than having none.
KFG
Re:(OT) After working in retail ... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:scammers (Score:4, Insightful)
Best Buy Worst For Rebate Items (Score:5, Insightful)
However, it's been my experience that BB more often then occasionally won't have a rebate item on stock/shelves right when the store opens on the first day of the rebate sale. 3 cases where I've tried to get a rebate item (modem, HD, monitor) I'd get there and be the first few when the doors open only to find the item NOT on the shelf. Ask a salesperson and they'll say there's no more in stock. When questioned about the promotion, it's the usual B.S. "The item has been on sale for the past week, so we ran out".
I see rebate sales going out of popularity soon. I won't dare touch BB, and once great-for-quick-rebates-turnaounds OfficeMax has gone down the crapper recently for denying legitimate rebate submissions. The second "denied" rebate from OM, I really let the guy on the other end have it on the phone. (got approved after "resubmitting") Since that day, OM's made it on my shitlist along with BB. My sanity and karma isn't worth it. There's only so much crap people in general will take, and more will start to ignore them and not care as word-of-mouth spreads. Perhaps that's the goal of some retailers...
Read The Articles You Submit (Score:4, Insightful)
The customer isn't always right (Score:5, Insightful)
Lets face it, if you haven't worked retail then you simply don't know what hell is. Customers are often devoid of communication skills, arrogant, flat out dumb or in such a god damn hurry that they just don't care about anyone or anything else. We've become a consumer culture where everyone says "gimme!" with complete disregard. I'm not even gonna get into the number of thefts frauds etc. Just enter a Fry's Electronics some time and try to find an item on the shelf that doesn't have a return label already on it.
People suck most of the time, especially during the holidays. Sales or no sales everyone is pinching pennies and it's usually the rich pricks pinching them hardest and giving you a hard time for no reason other than to be a complete prick.
What I find ironic is that Xmas is the worst time for all of this. A time supposedly for giving, for your fellow man, love, compassion etc etc which when put into perspective is complete hypocrisy from what it really is. Greed, parking lot arguments, massive crowds, bad tempers, increased suicide rates, fraud. I could go on and on. The fact is, people suck whether they are shoppers or the assholes who own the store.
I'm no fan of Best Buy, I go only once in a rare while. But I don't see them as evil or wrong in this. You and I can decide not to patron them, they however have no fucking clue we are coming or what we'll do when we get there. As far as I am concerned they have the right to refuse service to anyone they like.
Congratulations! (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously though -- discriminating against customers is inherently wrong. It goes against the principles of the free market. This type of thing is no different than charging wealthy customers more, just because you can. Or turning low-income people away from stores, since they usually don't spend much.
Re:Makes sense to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
You negotiate and decide on a per job basis. In retail there is no such thing; the prices are set and you are welcome to buy the items (in general). If the store can't really sell at those prices and expects you to throw away that rebate slip, then they are lying to you about their prices.
At least you have the decency to admit "No, I can't take this job." A better analogy is you taking that "trouble job" and then screwing everyone over later.
screw 'em if they can't take a joke (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly if someone takes the time to do a bit of research and sift through the ads in order to get free shit from promotional deals from companies like BestBuy that have horseshit customer service to begin with (anyone else remember the Native American dude arrested for trying to get his instant rebate on his pre-ordered NVidia card a while back?), then more power to 'em. Or maybe I'm just bitter because I've gotten screwed on so many of these rebate deals in the past.
Re:(OT) After working in retail ... (Score:5, Insightful)
What's funny is when someone would go "Oh yeah, I'll go over to store-in-next-city and they'll return it". So I call the closest few branches of our store and say "Hey, this guy blew up his radio and want's a refund, don't give it to him", and they don't.
Being a prick isn't always the best route.
I've found the best route is to be as understanding as possible w/the clerk and they will often help you out. For example, I had a cell phone die, and they wanted to repair instead of replace it. I calmly talked to the repair manager "Look, I know about your policy. I've been in your position and I know what a pain in the ass this is... thing is, I gotta business trip tomorrow, and I REALLY need it, " etc. etc. She was like "ok, I understand" and helped me out.
I made sure to thank her again the next time I went to that store, and they got my business. When my burner needed service, they expedited it for me.
Oh, and Mods.... this fellow might be abrasive, but it's not a Troll, c'mon...
Re:I hate canned interviews that make no sense (Score:1, Insightful)
I've bought a toaster oven from Target that had breadcrumbs in it and a pair of wrist-protectors that were scratched-up and smelled of sweat. If the stores sell goods that are not fit for sale, I don't see why customers shouldn't return goods that are not fit for resale.
Of course, we could go back to the old days where stores respected their customers and vice-versa, but where's the fun in that?
rebates (Score:3, Insightful)
As far as Best Buy, it's to high tech what McDonald's is to cuisine. I've never met anyone in that store that couldn't be more intellectually-challenged by delivering pizza. The store is crap; the selection is crap; the layout is crap, and nobody in the place has a clue.
Re:scammers (Score:4, Insightful)
It's only illegal descrimination when you're manipulating prices or offers based on the so called "protected classes" mentioned in the laws. "One who frequently breaks stuff" is not such a class...
Re:Always right....? (Score:1, Insightful)
This is what I do - when the chap asks me to buy a extended warranty, I ask him if he feels I will need it i.e. does he think this will break/stop working in a year or so & should I not buy it & look for a better product instead ?
After reading your story, I have an observation (Score:4, Insightful)
That statement is only half right.
heh
Actually, I believe we have entered an era where PSP arn't as bad of a deal as they used to. In the race to get items for the lowest price as possible, manufacturing is cutting back to the point where stuff doesn't last as long as it used to.
I bought a cheap DVD player recently, and I bought the 'extended warrenty' for 4 years. Cost me 9 bucks. The DVD playes cost me 50. So for 59 bucks, I am gaurenteed to to have a DVD player for 4 years. If this POS dvd player doesn't crap out at least once, I will be surprised.
I mean, buy super cheap, get the extended warentee for a few bucks, and then when it breaks, you gte a new one, which will i all likly hood be an upgrade from the one you bought, because that one won't be sold anymore.
Re:Always right....? (Score:4, Insightful)
Rebates, as compared to simply lowering the price, are designed to take advantage of people who will forget to fill out the forms, or who will make an error in doing so. Perhaps stores and manufacturers who try to take advantage of consumers in this way shouldn't be surprised when consumers try to take advantage back...
A Problem with Society (Score:3, Insightful)
Who of us has not heard the phrase "the customer is always right". And I'm not just talking from a retailers point of view; I'm referring to parents, friends, newspapers, television, etc. What these sources fail to qualify is that this phrase has power only to the end of the customers desires. And this is what retail is supposed to be for; the customer knows what they want, and the retailer provides the product that meets the customers needs. Everybody wins! But society has bred a noticeable few retailers that care only about themselves, producing a noticeable number of customers who are "always right" on every topic, thus breeding a vicious cycle.
Retailers, stop trying to deceive your customers, you can trust them to buy your product if you give them what they need!
Customers, stop assuming that you you can get a deal just by demanding it, kicking and screaming. We all don't get a commission, and we all can't lower your price by X%!
Alternatively, do some research yourself. Go into the store knowing what you want to buy. Talk to the sales person, negotiate price, and if its going nowhere, leave. Don't walk in assuming you can get a 25% discount on whatever you like, especially when markups on most consumer electronics run below 10%!
Customer is not always right (Score:4, Insightful)
I vehemently believe that behind EVERY botched tech job, there was at least one greedy, obsequious player that was too afraid of telling the customer he is WRONG.
A few years back my company turned down a job for one of Stephen Spielburg's companies because what they wanted to do was ridiculous. We knew from the beginning that a bunch of detached executives had an idea for a net-based solution that would backfire on them, and we choose to not be the sacrificial lamb when the whole thing imploded. I lost some potential money in that deal, but I'm certain I would have been much worse off trying to patch the fatally flawed system they suggested we develop. Not a month goes by where I don't have to have one of these types of conversations with customers who want the earth, sun, moon and Jesus Christ piled on top of a rich creme filling that will rot in a few months time.
In the area of technology and application development, it's almost imperative for the customer to defer to the wisdom and superior working experience of the IT professional.
Back to the world of retail, how many of us have been in a store and saw some mindless consumer drool over a product that we knew was crap. Every day the goofballs in places like Best Buy have to nod and accommodate these people, even when, among the few employees that have a clue, are fully-aware the customer might as well toss their money down a drain.
Life is too short to go through that. I am so thankful I'm in a position where I have clients who respect the wisdom of my recommendations. If you're not there, you might want to strive to get there and not be a slave to the all the goofy, destructive, superficial mantras corporate america tries to brainwash consumers with.
Re:Always right....? (Score:1, Insightful)
I'm sure that left them shaking in their boots.
If there were witnesses, and you are as "in the right" as you say (remember Kosh's line -- "truth is a three edged sword), I would have been a royal pain and let them know I was going to report it to the police. If it were now, I'd let them see me dial on the cell and wait for the officers.
Granted, a push is not much of an assault, but if they were truly acting as store reps, and they were doing things like this, AND you had not provoked them to anger, then the only way you'll have any effect on the store is if you cause trouble for them. An official police visit, and notification of the "We're on Your Side" segment of the local paper or TV would be enough to make them think.
True, it'll probably never end up in court, and your legal grounds are very shaky, but the manager won't care unless he and the employees are severly inconvenienced, and may get bad coverage over it.
Re:scammers (Score:4, Insightful)
You sure will.
Re:Classic example of leveraging facelessness... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What this really is (Score:2, Insightful)
Yes and no (Score:5, Insightful)
But at the same time, anyone who says "the customer is always right" has never worked retail. Contrary to popular belief, at least 90 percent of the time the customer is full of shit. In the past, businesses only let them *think* they were right. Most businesses had to take that line, because they had a limited number of customers in a given location, and they wanted to make everyone happy. Thanks to an era of retailers on every street corner and nationwide sales via the internet, those days are over. I will admit that there are a lot of instances where businesses are very guilty of poor practices and poor customer support. But there are just as many instances, if not more, where the "customer" should be told to go shove his head up his ass and shuffle it on out the door.
Lets start with customers who regularly come in to a store, tie up a sales person asking endless questions, then go home and buy the item on the internet from a mailorder business. And before anyone fires up a reply saying "well then, the store should lower its prices", no brick-and-mortar retailer will ever be able to match the price of a mail-order only business, and you are being totally unrealistic (and very ignorant of business) expecting them to do so.
Look at WHY you have sales. (Score:3, Insightful)
#2. To clear stock so you can put in different stuff.
Stores tie up a LOT of money in their merchandise. If it ain't selling at the price you've marked, then you ain't gettin' money. So you mark it down until it DOES sell.
I don't see anything wrong with shopping around to find the discontinued and going-out-of-style bargins that you're selling for less than you paid.
Re:I hate canned interviews that make no sense (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Contemptible Customers (Score:5, Insightful)
I'll take that one step further...
As a frequent purchaser of services, I make an effort to not piss the provider of said services off. Then, when I really *DO* need them to jump through some hoops for me, they're generally happy to return the favor.
Re: franchise - There's a reason it works... (Score:5, Insightful)
My old man was a cheapskate, but he grew up in Europe without a lot of money. I was with him one trip when he pulled up to the Texaco in his Jaguar and bought $1 worth of gas. (OK, that was 2 gallons in those days, but still...) That would keep him going until the Esso where he could use his Esso Credit Card. Oh, and he got a fantastic deal on the Jaguar...
I don't have that kind of brass, or I'd be the "you're fired" customer. If I go to Joe's Eats, I don't know what a burger costs til I walk in the door and read the menu, and I don't know how good it is until it arrives. If I was brassy, I could then reject it and walk out without paying , but it's so much simpler at the big franchises. Plus, sometimes (often) my wife and I will split a single meal; I feel imposing to do that in a small private business (lack of "brass"), but McDonald's couldn't care less if you order nothing but a small coffee and a cup of water.
People will agree that getting rebates on returned merchandise is theft, but I don't think BB will win customers by telling them not to take advantage of sales. I think they'll win more friends with a "let's get simple" approach. Also, here in Canada, eh?, you pay sales tax on the price before rebate - no rebate on taxes - 14% or more! Hmm... I wonder if they claim GST (VAT) back on that rebate? Rebates are a practice I tolerate because I have no choice - and usually take months for the cheque to arrive - and oh yeah, the bank will charge you a service fee to deposit - another 50-cent insult...
The rebate is a gimmick that (a) allows them to advertise a lower than true price - exaggerrated low price gets you in the door so the salesman can work his magic... - and (b) puts some limit on the quantity you buy (If like many box stores, the small retailer says "Their retail is lower than my wholesale!". The Grocery chains enforce limits with their "club" cards, but food is a whole different class of retail.
Those stupid warranty programs are a rip. When Sears first tried selling me one years ago for my fridge, my response was "are you suggesting you expect this product to fail??" When we bought coverage for our car tires from the dealer, and had to claim while away from home, it was almost as more trouble than it was worth. "Sorry, that warranty is through the dealer 1500 miles away, talk to them..." Had to buy a used tire as a spare and ask the dealer later for reimbursement of extra expense. Good thing they liked us...
BTW, notice that the world's biggest, most successful retailer is the one that offers NO gimmicks or sseasonal sales or other crap? Just "everyday, low prices". OK, so they're not always, but for all the (many) complaints thrown at Wal-Mart, the rarest are "I just bought it and then it went on sale", "I found it MUCH cheaper at another store", and "they tried to sell me an extended warranty".
Re:I hate canned interviews that make no sense (Score:3, Insightful)
From an employees perspective (Score:2, Insightful)
First humans in general are assholes. Humans work at best buy and humans shop at best buy. So people on both side are going to be aggrevated.
Now to my main few points.
rebates: Not all rebates are offered by Best Buy(the actuall company). Most rebates are manufactures rebates, so for the people who bitch about not getting those, call the manufacture.
PRP/PSP: For all the people who dont get them, yes there is a quite a people who actually do. I dont believe that a PRP/PSP necessary on all thebvitems that we sell, but on quite a few i think its worth it.PS2 for instance i get the damn PRP in a heart beat, best buy sends soooooooo MANY defective ones back it ridiculus. OR maybe a overpriced really big tv. Because they tend to produce the customers best buy wants to fire. Costumer buys $999 TV and it breaks 30 days later, cant return it and they didnt buy the service plan. SO they come to best buy and they throw a big tantrum. Sorry for ya, then i got to call the cops cause they wont leave.
and yes the sales associates can be a little pushy, but its not their fault, if they dont they get fired plain and simple.
oh yeah one more.
advertised price: If allcostumers actually came to buy an item at ad price best buy wouldnt be so upset. But alot of the customers that come in the first thing out their mouth is "what kind of deal can u get me?" These are the customers that best buy wants to fire. they want to wheel and deal and try their hardest to get a few extra bucks off of something thats already on sale. They take the longest to get to buy something thing and yes it ends up costing Best buy money.
Best buy is not the best company in the world, but it is in the business to make money.
Or do what we do in western Canada... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Wow (Score:3, Insightful)
Customer service is NOT customer harassment. They are two very different things. Good customer service/salesmanship is saying "we also have an extended service plan available which gives you these extra benefits (lists benefits). Would you be interested in finding out more about that?" Then, if the plan is well presented in a curteous manner, the customer may be interested in finding out more, and the sales rep can tell them more and get them signed up. If on the other hand the person doesn't want it, a good customer service/sales rep will back off, sell them the product, find out if there are any other items they may need ("do you need any cables to get that hooked up?" or "especially since you won't be covered by the extended service plan, you should be aware that the biggest killer of these widgets is power surges... do you have a quality surge supressor or UPS?"). Then the customer leaves well informed and having made a purchase, but feeling as though they were helped by a truly caring person instead of feeling harassed and pushed into buying something they didn't want.
You say you "see people all the time who enjoy getting pissed off at customer reps." Did you ever stop to consider that probably many of them have good reason? Yes I get the occasional inconsolable asshole in my store, but I probably have at most 1 or 2 pissed off customers every month.
All in all, customer service is what you make of it, and customers will typically treat employees much as they are treated by the employee. If the customers are treated with respect, they will typically treat the employees with respect. If the rep is rude and pushy, the customer will also be rude and pushy, to an extreme.
Re:Nothing much (Score:1, Insightful)
Good lord..
Re:Always right....? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Sales customers (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, you never said that you personally fault the customer. I just want to make sure that all the mods who called your comment insightful didn't think that, either.
Cost of Contemptible Customers (Score:1, Insightful)
It's their store. They have the right to serve whomever they wish (barring discrimination against protected minorities, of course.) If that offends you, you have the right to shop somewhere else.
I don't necessarily think it's a good idea to single out cheapskate customers, but I certainly don't think it's somehow immoral, either.
Re:The the hell is wrong with the US? (Score:3, Insightful)
It's a geographic thing. Go to any small town in America, and you'll get excellent service.
Go to New York, LA etc and you'll get shitty service.
Then again, if you have a shitty attitude, and you have ever uttered the phrase "I know my rights" or "I'll just go to your competitor" you'll get shitty service no matter where you go.
Re:Is this news to anyone? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Always right....? (Score:3, Insightful)
That guy should definately be sacked for pushing you. But still, you shouldn't have sworn at them. Sounds like a sorry tale of escalation - started by them, but contributed to by you too.
Re:I hate canned interviews that make no sense (Score:3, Insightful)
CompUSA used to be really bad about that. I also remember several companies getting some bad press a couple years back because they would not send out the rebates until the customer called back complaining, which most don't do, usually because they forget. I don't do rebates anymore, screwed out of too many of them. If there is a rebate, I call instead of ordering online, and get the price right or buy elsewhere. My time is worth more than the effort to constantly track down $20 rebates time and again.
In the late 90s, there were lots of "buy this $10 item for $20, and get a $20 rebate, so you get it for free!" crap at CompUSA (incompetentUSA) that scammed lots of folks. It was just a way to charge double. This from a company known for selling items for MORE than suggested retail to begin with. I still won't shop there. Best Buy is another store I won't do business with, for similar reasons.
Re:Nothing much (Score:1, Insightful)
If there were effective consumer laws that covered quality of goods, you wouldn't need to gamble like this. Those of us who don't habitually smash our TVs to peices, or don't plan on ripping off the company with a "new for old" scam don't need to pay extra, because if it breaks we'd simply return it to the manufacturer at their expense to have it fixed.
Re:The the hell is wrong with the US? (Score:2, Insightful)
In the rest of the industrialized world, service staff makes a decent wage, in much of the US, wait-staff can legally get paid $2-3/hr (in places where minimum wage is $7-8/hr). They also know that you're (the collective you refering to 'europeans' in general; and yes... as far as the average uneducated USian is concerned, an Australian is a Euro) not used to tipping, with 'gratuities' simply tacked on to your bill like another tax, so any time spent with you is time that is -not- going towards some other customer.
If you realize that they're getting taxed based on the assumption that they're making at least a certain percentage of sales (10-15% in most places), regardless of how much you tip, you can see why customers that aren't expected to tip aren't getting good service; where else can you take money from somebody's pocket and expect them to be nice to you?
Re:Nothing much (Score:4, Insightful)
this is one of those BOLD lies that Worst Buy employees push on people.
the PSP does NOT cover customer abuse and specifically states that LCD screens on pda's and laptops are not covered for any reason what-so-ever.
the PSP is 100% worthless as the supposed "3 years" is really only 2 years as they intentionally forget the 1 year from the manufacturer.
read it VERY carefully.
Besides, the best argument that shut's them up is... "the company will not let us buy the PSP for company items."
always tell them you are buying it for your work. it shut's them up and eliminates their sales-pitch.
I'm a demon customer, too (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Always right....? (Score:5, Insightful)
Reminds me of when I tried to buy a mobile phone in Phones4U (a UK chain). I did my research, told the salesman which phone I wanted and on which priceplan. He tried to upsell me to a different phone; I said no. He tried to upsell me to a different price plan; I said no. He tried to sell me insurance; I said no.
He then started to plead with me that if I didn't buy anything extra or more expensive, he wouldn't make any commission. Eventually he said he'd need the manager's approval to sell me an item that was advertised on the shop floor and that I was trying to buy! At that point I walked out of the store, to his apparent amazement. (Though the amazement was all mine when I saw the same guy working there a year later. If he's as efficient at getting rid of other customers as he was with me, it's amazing the store is still open.)
Re:My Best Buy Horror Story - Still Pending.. (Score:3, Insightful)
It takes just a couple of seconds to flash your receipt. It's not offensive, it's a company trying to protect their assets. They aren't targeting you in particular, they check random people. They're just doing their job.
Huh? (Score:4, Insightful)
You're still on their property, and I think they have a right to monitor what is leaving their store. It's not like they searched your pocekts or anything.
The mentality that says, "I'm insulted if I have to participate in security screening" bugs the crap out of me.
Re:Always right....? (Score:5, Insightful)
After the heated discussion, I went out to my car and got a book I had laying in the car and went back to the same manager, now engaged in another discussion with a customer and said "Here! You take this book since I believe you have an urgent need for it!" The books name was "Customer Service for Dummies". I ended up getting a much more expensive woofer than the cheap one they bundled with the stereo system.
BestBuy hear this: Since 1999 I have not been inside one of your stores and I have spent over $20000 on consumer electronics. Money that your stores could have gotten if you had people with the faintest clue on how to treat customers. Remember BestBuy, it's customer like me who pay your paycheck!
Re: Rebates (Score:2, Insightful)
Don't forget, mail-in rebates are also a way to get you to voluntarily hand over your personal information to a third party so Best Buy can claim it didn't sell it without your knowledge, and the third party can claim it has an existing business relationship with you (calculating the probability of a kickback is left as an exercise for the reader).
Re:Nothing much (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Always right....? (Score:3, Insightful)
Customer is NOT always right! (Score:1, Insightful)
Nope. Customer's are not always right.
Don't follow Dick Chaney's example (Score:5, Insightful)
"Do not mention the fucking PSP again, this is abusive, I have stated clearly 3 times that I am uninterested and have also kindly asked you to simply just stop talking to me about it at all. You don't seem to get it. Here can you understand this "I don't want the fucking PSP"
Rule #1: Never drop the f-bomb. It gets you noplace and changes the basis of the conversation. Forty years ago, it was shocking and people would react by surrendering. Today it just makes them angry and you immediately lose any opportunity to win the argument.
Re:Always right....? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course not, and I didn't say that Best Buy had that right. But a store that is stocked with merchandise has the right, in my opinion, to request proof of purchase when they see that merchandise leaving the store. That's just a common-sense security measure. Otherwise, you're saying, "Because that product, which has our label on it and came off our shelves, is in the hands of a person, we will assume that the person paid for it." You'd get a lot of stuff walking out the door if this was the policy.
This is a completely different situation than, say, requesting to look in someone's purse upon suspicion of shoplifting.
The state likes rebates too. (Score:1, Insightful)
If it were a discount instead of a rebate, they would get less tax revenue.
Re:Always right....? (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, you most likely should have had the cops get the video and sue Best Buy for not having a safe store. They may not be able to prevent their customers from breaking laws, but they should atleast be punished for having their employees break the law. Actually, I'm not sure if "push" falls under assult, but you should have had the police involved as well.
Fire Best Buy (Score:1, Insightful)
The funny thing is, I'm an "angel" customer. I never talk to the salespeople, except to make a purchase. The only thing I ever returned was a refrigerator that didn't work (because of their delivery people). And I spent thousands there.
Best Buy should spend as much time trying to figure out why the good customers are leaving as they do trying to get rid of the bad customers.
Great Quotes ... (Score:3, Insightful)
"Those customers, they're smart, and they're costing us money."
The implication being that its the stupid customer they make money on?
Brad Anderson, Best Buy's chief executive, said:
"That would be directly equivalent to somebody going to an ATM and getting money out without putting any in,"
Um... isn't that the whole purpose of an ATM... you take out money without puttiny any in?
That manager was an ass. (Score:3, Insightful)
Keep in mind, waitresses get paid less than minimum wage in the US. Not leaving a tip on a $400 bill is literally taking food out of the mouths of that waitresses kids(or from her tuition, rent whatever). You probably ruined her whole day. My wife has come home crying because people somehow think that they don't have to pay a tip.
Actually I'm kind of surprised they didn't add gratuity to the bill. Usually a bill over 100 will automatically have it added to protect the wait staff from tightwads.
Next time, don't take it out on the waitress if she did her job. Demand that the manager cut you a break on the bill and then tip based on the full bill(15 to 20%). Otherwise you're being an asshole and contributing to the sterotype that foreigners are poor tippers.
New Suggested CRM Strategy....for stores... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Best Buy (Score:2, Insightful)
Everyone took the bait and shortly thereafter they had put every single other vendor out of business. Everyone seemed to forget at what price they had sacrificed the service they were used to.
15 years ago we used to buy our appliances at regional or local stores that specialized in such things, who had full time trained sales people that knew the products and cared about helping people make the right purchases and who would support the items after the sales. Almost all of these places have been killed off by the Best Buy juggernaught.
Music used to be bought at "record stores", stereo's at home audio dealers, refrigerators and washing machines at appliance stores. There were many brands to choose from and the sales people at each store were educated in the products and customer service. They serviced the items after the sale too and even had trained and specialized installation people.
15 years later, the prices are no better than they used to be before Best Buy, demand has brought a staff and support services to the chain, but they are nothing close to what they've replaced. Our greed and trying to save a buck has brought us to where we are today, selection of the three brands that happen to make it to their shelf, sales from minimum wage employee's on their fist job who know little if nothing about what it is they're selling and contracted support staff operating on a bare minimum price quote where it's become more cost effective to just throw the item away and sell new.
We reap what we sow, and hopefully someday the pendulum will swing the other way and the days of the small appliance store or the mom and pop record store will return.
Re:Always wrong (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:SuperSize Me (Score:2, Insightful)
Basically, he was eating 5000 calories a day - double the recommended amount, high in sugar, starch and fat, low in vegetables, fresh fruits, fiber etc. Do you think he didn't know what was going to happen? And, his girlfriend was a vegetarian, so his body REALLY wasn't acclimatized to this diet either.
McDonald's sells what people want to buy. If you want healthy, they have salads, they have small regular burgers, they have frozen fruit'n'yoghurt parfaits, and - hey! - they have SMALL soft drinks. Maybe 200 calories of sugar water is a better idea than 700?? They have plain milk too!
Someone else is now doing a movie about losing weight by eating McDonald's food. They're going to eat healthy and sensibly... Do you think it'll get as much publicity?
BTW the guy in the movie said that he wasn't picking on McDonalds (hmmm...) After all, he said, their food is pretty much the same nutrition as any other fast food places. It's the sheer volume that causes the health problems.
Remember when a regular coke - those little greenish bottles - was 8 oz.? Probably before your time, but that was what passed for a regular serving then. Now, you only see that small a serving on the nutrition label "suggested serving" of packaged foods...
It isn't amazing (Score:3, Insightful)
You were part of the problem that kept him there, not the solution that might have helped.
Re:Extended warranties (Score:4, Insightful)
On which side of the glass is there more money?
That's not to say you can't make money out of gambling, far from it. If you can estimate the odds better than the bookie, then you're on a winning ticket. But electronic component failure is fairly random -- more like the lottery or the roulette table -- whereas performances in sports are somewhat predictable (and, crucially for a gambler, can be influenced by events occurring after the odds have been fixed, but before the game is played).
On rebates. (Score:5, Insightful)
Rebates are somewhat tricky, and I agree that the plot of the rebate is that Joe Consumer forgets about ther rebate or fails to follow the proper instructions to recieve the rebate. However, if you follow the instructions to get your rebate, you will get it in most cases.
Future Shop (Canada) is guilty, too (Score:2, Insightful)
The saleswoman asked if I wanted the PSP. I said no, if it breaks, it will break in the first year, and it has its own 1-year warranty.
She said if it breaks and I don't have the PSP, then I'll have to ship it to Canon and it could take months to fix. And, if they don't sell that model anymore, they don't *have* to fix it.
So I said, "you're telling me that it has a 1-year warranty and they don't have to honour it?"
She looked kind of sheepish and said, "well, that's what the store told me."
I bought the camera and have been using it for almost 2 years without a problem. (Canon Powershot A40.)
Re:I hate canned interviews that make no sense (Score:3, Insightful)
Solve the problem (Score:2, Insightful)
If you don't like your previous Best Buy, here's the easy solution: Don't buy at Best Buy.
If you want to contribute to making your experience not happen to others, complain to the Store Manager AND write a letter. In fact, if you're going to do one of the two, just write a letter. Not an email. Not a phone call. Maybe even write it to their corporate headquarters, but be specific: mention the store location, the time and date, and (if you know them) the names of the employees involved.
(Heck, if you want to scare the employees into treating you better, take notes as you're talking to them!)
If you don't mind shopping at Best Buy or the like, but one or two things bother you about your shopping experience (like the product replacement plan pitch), let them know (in writing, natch). Let them know you'll take your business elsewhere because of it.
As for rebates, most consumers find them annoying and frustrating. So don't play the game. I used to have a hard time not playing the rebate game, but I finally figured out it just wasn't worth my time. So what if I can get $8 off by filling in a rebate? If it takes me even 15 minutes to read the minutiae of the rebate terms, cut out the appropriate UPCs, fill out the form exactly as described (oh, and waiving my privacy, BTW), buying the stamp, mailing it off... then waiting 6-8 weeks for a check that MIGHT come through if you did everything right (factor in interest from the cash that could've been sitting in your bank account, not theirs)... then making the trip to the bank to cash that measly check... how much is your time worth to you?
Further, do NOT trust Best Buy (or other megastore employees) for tech advice. Get a second opinion from a techie or another user. Read Consumer Reports and other reviews. And don't trust that just because a sales employee says they'll make good on it if it doesn't work, that they'll do it. Get it in writing if you're concerned. Otherwise, figure that you may have to throw away money if it doesn't work, and that you're taking a chance.
I honestly believe that somewhere in the Best Buy training manual, there is a section under computer/technical questions that says: "If you don't know the answer to a customer's technical question, make something up that sounds good." I have personally tested BB employees by asking them technical questions I know the answer to (or know there isn't a good answer) and heard some pretty entertaining made-up answers. I encourage you to try this.
Finally, just a pitch for the local guy: Instead of going to a megastore like Best Buy for your computing needs, go to a local mom&pop computer store. You're pretty much guaranteed not to get the best price on computer components, but you can ask all the tech questions you want and not deal with a faceless minion. You'll get better quality service and heck, if you act halfway decent to them, probably exceptional service.
Re:Always right....? (Score:5, Insightful)
OT... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Always right....? (Score:1, Insightful)
Sounds like medical insurance. (Score:3, Insightful)
This kind of idea is exactly why you need medical insurance in the USA. The insurance companies are discounted down to as little as 10% what a cash-paying customer would.
To keep their discounts as low as possible, the insurance companies have to play stupid games like refusing a certain percentage of legitimate claims. The hospitals, on the other hand, raise their cash prices higher and higher so they can use "But look at the discount!" as a negotiating tool.
It sounds great until you realize what you're essentially doing is forming a quasi-governmental price-fixing organization and replacing a free market process with a political one. All manner of backstabbery naturally ensues.
In the end, the price-fixing organization becomes parasitic yet indispensible. Those who are in it enjoy a little slice of communism, with shortages, queues, people telling you what (or from whom, in this case) you may buy, and general lack of consumer choice, while paying for the privelege. Those who are outside the iron curtain enjoy hostile, punitive pricing and service specifically designed to drive people to join.
Re:Don't follow Dick Chaney's example (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:My Best Buy Horror Story - Still Pending.. (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Always right....? (Score:4, Insightful)
Buying a stereo at Best Buy? Ick...just can't imagine paying money for the typical consumer crap they sell there. If you bought $20K over the years...and started back then with better equipment...think of where you'd be now? A quality sounding system that will last....not some crappy bose system, with sanyo componets..etc....
Just advice...if you want to put together a GOOD lifetime sound sytem...buy quality...buy it one piece at a time over the years....it is worth it in the end.
Do your research...look for bargains, and they can be had...but, in the end...you WILL pay for quality in audio....but there is a difference and you will hear it..
Want better service? Pay for it. (Score:2, Insightful)
I haven't shopped at Best Buy for two years, and I haven't looked back, but I have paid more for items that could've been bought more cheaply there. I chalk it up to the cost of better service.
I agree that the customer is not always right. Dishonest and unscrupulous "customers" will take advantage of even the most honest businessman. Best Buy, however, is the last business that deserves to judge its customers in this fashion. Their staff are underpaid and undertrained, and in some instances, pushy and insulting. No Best Buy employee has ever been able to answer my questions about the technical specification of any product. And their selection is more and more limited every day.
For instance, if I want to buy a CD, I'll get a better selection, better service, and knowledgeable staff at the local record store. I'll pay more, yes. But I will get more in return, in the long run.
If you are not willing to do the same, then there is no sense in complaining about Best Buy. Their policies, along with their prices, are a direct result of cost-cutting, and the first cost to be cut is service.
Re:Those bastards (Score:5, Insightful)
If I had been older, richer, and had the time, I would have sued them. The terms of their warranty were clear-- they agreed to uphold the terms of the manufacturer's warranty. THAT warranty was quite clear that replacement, if the original model was unavailable, would be with an equal or better product. As it was, I was a poor recent college grad, and didn't realize I had such a high chance of winning. Lesson learned, though-- the next time it happens, we're going straight on to small claims court. Nothing else will work when a company refuses to do the right thing.
And while we're at it, why does *everything* suck so much? My recent experiences include the previously-mentioned fiasco with HHGregg ("it will be done in a week" when the part wasn't even ordered for another three weeks, despite knowing what was wrong) as well as:
1. Moved, set up new phone line. Three days later, SBC cancels both new AND old phone lines, removes DSL orders. 7 hours of phone calls later, I had my line and a $150 credit. But it shouldn't have happened, and it shouldn't have been that hard to fix.
2. Had Brighthouse cable at old house. Picture was snowy (not just "i'm a picky video nut" snowy, but roughly 50% noise) but technician claimed that quality was acceptable. When asked, technician was unable to read text on CNN on a 43" screen.
3. T-Mobile sidekick. So poorly built that I needed four replacement units in six months. Service was terrible-- calls never ring, etc...
4. DirecTV installer missed two appointments, failed to install grounding block (while lying to say that he had, and I just couldn't see it from the ground...) Installer at new house was better, but was still three hours late for his four-hour appointment window.
5. HHGregg delivered TV to wrong address.
6. Hotel on vacation last month tried to double(!!) my booked rate on checkout. I was lucky to have a printed receipt with me-- they claimed they had never offered the lower rate.
Does ANYBODY have good customer service anymore? Or is screwing us just "good business" now? I spend an awful lot of time fighting just to get the things I paid for. Which makes me laugh about this article-- the article makes it sound like Best Buy *just recently* decided that it wanted to treat customers like crap. It's been standard operating procedure there for years.
Re:Be smart about bad customers. (Score:1, Insightful)
There should not be any gray area or leniency in advertising. It's awful enough that we are bombarded with it anyway. If we have to look at it, hear it, etc. it ought to at least be accurate.
Demon WHO? (Score:3, Insightful)
You got a problem with that, you give me the "rebate" at the register so it's on the receipt when I return the phone.
Cool.