Best Buy discussion thread

Well, Best Buy usually isn't. After shopping around & not finding what I want I end up at (wait for it) Amazon.com. They are the Sears catalogue of the 21st century. If I don't need something immediately I might as well just find it online & save time.

People can shop in only so many stores & spend only so much money. Too many shopping centers were built so some will stay empty or become empty.

When Circuit City disappeared I didn't miss them. When Best Buy disappears I won't miss them.

 

It just reenforces the idea that there is absolutely no money in retail electronics. (See also The Good Guys, Future Shop, (in the US) Circuit City, and dozens of others that have built big box stores and failed.)

I can't say I would miss them if they went under, but occasionally it is nice to be able to have a brick and mortar to run into to buy something like a car charger you don't want to wait for, even if you pay 30% more.

Amazonesque (on line retailing) is, the wave of the future.

Icarus

 

I really learned to hate best buy after they screwed me on a cash purchase. I bought a $300 gift for someone and found out within an hour that the gift I purchased was the wrong model number. When I went back to the store to take it back(never opened) they would not give me my money back for two weeks, and only by corporate check. They did not carry the model I needed.

I even told the store manager that I had no credit cards and this was the only money I had to buy the gift. ( not true, but I thought it had a chance of working). This was 3 days before Christmas. Waiting two weeks to get my money that I just gave them less than a hour before was crazy. The manager gave me the old company policy BS. I told him I spent at least 4000 dollars per year in his store, and this would be my last purchase unless I got my money back today. He could care less so I kept my word and stayed out of all best buy stores. I hope they go broke.

 

On two occasions I bought stuff from best Buy. In both cases the items failed just after the warranty expired. I concluded that Best Buy sells exclusively or preferentially end runs. End runs are the last units to come off an assembly line before it is re-tooled. Due to wear and tear on assembly line components, the last units off the line are more likely to have problems. Manufacturers extend production runs into this low-quality phase because stores like Best Buy will retail them.

I prefer brick-and-mortar stores, and will ALWAYS shop local first, except for stores like Best Buy and Radio Shack, which have lost my trust by selling me poor-quality items. Amazon is my go-to place for anything I cannot find locally. Of course, my Kindle has pretty much put an end to buying books locally. I feel bad about that because I love bookstores and libraries, but my aging eyes and arthritic thumb have just made print books too hard to read, and the Kindle makes reading so easy. I suppose my 100% positive experience with Amazon was a factor in choosing the Kindle, but another was the large format of the Kindle DX. And I suppose my love of the Kindle has reinforced my selection of Amazon when I do buy stuff on line. I really love my Kindle.

 

It is also the wave of the past. In the 19th century big box stores like Sears were huge. They mailed large catalogues everywhere. People bought or tried to buy everything (including husbands & wives). The catalog could also be used for insulation in the home, dolls & toys for the kids, and tp in the outhouse.

The Post Office Department provided Rural Free Delivery and Parcel Post so the customers didn't have to pay huge shipping charges.

So now in the 21st century this big store "Amazon" has a catalogue that can be accessed from just about anywhere (their website), is updated constantly, and contains just about everything. Spend enough & shipping is free, usually by UPS.

Amazon's catalogue is not good for making toys, insulation or tp but their boxes may be big enough for floor mats & might be useful for grill blocking.

IMO, there's nothing new here. Only the names have changed. Grant's Woolworth's, McCrory's, Glosser Bros. (if you're from western PA)...

 

When I first moved to rural North Dakota in 1974 I started to get the Sears Catalog, and bought a lot of stuff from it, including a wood-fired cook stove which I used at first to heat the basement so the plumbing would not freeze, and later, after switching to LP gas for the basement, the wood stove went into the yard where it served as a summer kitchen so the house would stay cooler in hot weather.

The house that served as a homeless shelter where I worked for about five years started its life as a Sears home. It was a large, three story building plus basement, with about 14 rooms (if memory serves) including a bathroom on every level and very large kitchen and even larger living/dining area. It was shipped from Sears with every board and piece coded for where it should go in the assembly.

At some point (I forget exactly when) Sears phased out the catalogs.

I was not aware that Sears sold spouses at one time. Too bad Amazon does not do that.

 

i like to fondle before buying. i will miss bestbuy when it's gone. we don't have much else here, a few small home theatre shops, sears and such, but nothing with the display space of a bestbuy.

 

Wow, crazy to hear about all the bad BB experiences. I've had nothing but good experiences shopping at BB. Maybe the stores around here take it up a notch because their corporate headquarters is here.

I do think they opened too many stores though.

Love the Amazon comment! They are the 21st century sears catalog. Eventually they may bring many B&M stores to closing. However the whole internet sales tax thing may even the playing field a *bit*.

 

If you know what you want- and have done your homework (re- research) and simply go in to BB, make your purchase and go home... then it's fairly easy to have a positive experience. In this scenario- the worst you've done is overpay for the privilege of instant gratification. Sometimes it's pretty much unavoidable as people are occasionally up against time constraints and deadlines.

BB gets a (deservedly) bad wrap when their sales clerks are brought into the decision making process to give (usually flawed) advise to the prospective buyer. But then again- it's the customers fault for being lazy in not performing their due diligence pre-purchase. If you're dumb/lazy enough to rely on the advice of a 17yo part time high school kid for buying your 57" TV and home theater system- then you deserve what you get.

BB is also the corporation who's CEO publicly referred to up to 1/5th of it's patrons as "devil customers" and "they'd rather not have 20% of their customers as customers" (Best Buy hopes to exorcize devil patrons). Well looks like their wish is coming true about declining customer traffic

 

Hahaha nice, you hit the nail on the head with me. I always know what I want, if the price is right etc.

If you go in expecting that teenager will give you good advice good luck! :rockon:

 

I generally enjoy going into BB because brick and mortar is fun at times, but their staff are not by any means experts and I've OFTEN had to wait an inappropriately long amount of time for service, even when buying expensive items (laptop, tvs). That's the worst thing to me. If you cannot find somebody to grab a $600 tv off the shelf I'm going to buy something on amazon instead.

For all the reasons some of us hate BB, though, their main problem is simply basic economics: they have to compete with places like Amazon on price, and yet maintain a store. It's a frankly impossible situation they find themselves in, which is why their business IS going to crumble away. It's inevitable.

 

I agree that BB will have trouble translating their value addition to an end sale, but my point is "what value?"

The salespeople are ignorant, and try to cover it up with arrogance
They operate against the best wishes of the customer by pushing the product that gives them the highest commission, or the store the highest profit.
They push extended warranties for the same reasons

 

There are only 2 times when I go to Best Buy:

1. When someone gives me a BB Gift Card that I have to use.
2. Black Friday.

 

I originally got a nook, since B&N is the local store. Then I got a iPad 2, and I have a nook reader, kindle reader, and iBook reader, and can get books where ever I want. I have th old eyes issue, too.

 

Actually, I go to BB to see and handle an item that I want to purchase online sometimes. They are Amazon's showroom as far as I am concerned. I will make small purchases there. Plus it's a convenient rest stop on the way home from work. So you see, there are more reasons to go to BB.