Dell vs. Best Buy

[JohnnyCNote]

At Dell, we love all customers, even the ones Best Buy Doesn't

The article that started it all:

Analyzing Customers, Best Buy
Decides Not All Are Welcome
Retailer Aims to Outsmart
Dogged Bargain-Hunters,
And Coddle Big Spenders
Looking for 'Barrys' and 'Jills'

[glockjs]

very smart move by dell. very stupid of best buy, i havnt liked best buy in years anyways....

[JohnnyCNote]

I hope it backfires on BB big time....

[jolo]

Terrible service is nothing new for Best Buy. That has always been their style as well as misinformation.

If you are in Best Buy, PLEASE let the manager know why you are not going to buy anything there or contact them at
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?j=1&id=cat12104&type=page

There have been times when I would talk to a customer after a conversation with a Best Buy salesrep because I could not take how much they mis-informed the customer.

They also love to sell those extended warantees.

I always would MUCH prefer to purchase something at a local store. They are hurting and I want employees to keep their jobs and have the money stay in the local economy. But that is getting harder and harder to do.

Now, staffs are being lowered all over, personal; service is worse in about every store you go to. We can attribute this to what I call the "second layer" effect of offshoring white collar workers in America.
This is where laid off Americans, either are not working, or have to take a job at a fraction of their former pay.

The effect of a deep increase of no shoppers or bargin shoppers.
Stores in general, if they are surviving have less staff , use part-time workers so that no benefits have tto be paid out as well. Service of all types is horrific , and inventory selections have been drastically reduced.

Stores like the Disney Store and Warner Bros Store chains have closed their retail stores. Local restaurants are closing at a rapid rate and the large chain restaurants that will do the best experienced a 17% drop last year and it is worsoning. But at least the waiting is a lot shorter, if at all.

In the strip mall that I go to when I am shopping here in Colorado, there is Best Buy, Circuit City, Media Play, Compusa and Office Max right near each other. I notice that they all never have what I am looking for anymore.

I notice that I have been increasing my purchases over the net (newegg is my favorite), mostly for inventory reasons.

Plus, what really is stupid is that the web sites of those stores are run by seperate companies and do not support the stores or even match prices. If I buy something at Best Buy on the eb and it comes in defective, I cannot bring it to my local Best Buy to return it or for servicing.

Then of course, we have the end of sales and stores not have sales at all, but deducting the rebate price into their advertised price, which is fraud.

Rebates are made to fool the consumers and hastle them. 90 percent of all rebated goods are not send it. Just look how supermarkets do it with coupons, which are virtually the same as rebates, except the customer gets th discount immediately and the supermarket takes care of the rest.

Staples, an except to the rule, gives excellent customer service in their stores, but I have noticed reductions in staff and inventory as well, but they work harder with less. But:

1. Staples is about to kick off a program (about time some store had smarts), help the consumer with rebates, like a supermarket.

2. Their web site and stores are coordinated. If you receive defetctive merchandise from Staples on-line, you can bring it to one of their stores.

3. I have had this happen when they were out of stock on an item I wanted, but it was available on their web site. So I paid for it, at the store with no shipping fees and they ordered it from their web site to come to my house.

Jon


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[DVDDave]

best buy does indeed suck. last week comp usa had the soundblaster audigy 2 platinum on sale for $199 witha mail in rebate for $70 making it $129 after rebate. i took the ad to best buy and got laughed at when i asked if they would honor. i then went across the street to circuit city, showed them the ad, and was out of the store in less than five minutes having only paid $129 for that same product. i may shop in both stores, but i always end up at circuit city paying the least amount and get the least amount of hassle!!!

[lordsmurf]

I don't get it.

[JohnnyCNote]

In the strip mall that I go to when I am shopping here in Colorado, there is Best Buy, Circuit City, Media Play, Compusa and Office Max right near each other. I notice that they all never have what I am looking for anymore.

If memory serves, Best Buy owns Media Play.

I don't get it.

It's just Best Buy's greed. I'm sure the underlying idea is to weed out customers who refuse to purchase their extended warranties, which is where the real profits are.....

[FulciLives]

I have had this happen when they were out of stock on an item I wanted, but it was available on their web site. So I paid for it, at the store with no shipping fees and they ordered it from their web site to come to my house.

That happened to me as well with some DVD media I wanted that was on sale. They let me order two packs even though I thought they would have restricted me to one because of the sale.

It got delivered to me for free (no shipping cost).

Another time at Staples they had a DVD media sale and when I got there they were out. They took my name and phone number saying that when it cames in I could have the sale price. They called me 3 weeks later to tell me they were in and if I wanted the sale price just to come on by. I should point out that by that time the sale was no longer running but I still got the sale price.

How sweet is that!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
The end result of all this is when I need something from a store like Staples I will go to Staples instead of OfficeMax or Office Depot.

[edDV]

I think the
http://www......./BestBye is clever

[Billf2099]

How interesting. Yet another person with a bone to pick.
Look, Best Buy is in business to make money. What the 'genius' said about his customers is true. And its true at the supermarket, the drugstore, the videostore. If he takes steps to move those 20% out of the way however he does tend to alienate those other ones. Ones which I am a part of. If its not cheaper there, I don't buy it there. All that said. Best Buy has the BEST BUY this week on blank DVD media. When I went in I also got an X-Box game. Guess I'm not the unprofitable type. Look at it if its your business. If you had customers who were ripping you off playing an exchange game with you you'd put a stop to it also. As for how several chains went out of business. Notably the Disney Store and Warner Brothers Store. Their business models sucked and they lost money, consistently. That's not economic piracy, or a conspiracy, that's just bad business. Happens all the time. Restaurants are also very vunerable to change. I don't know what the economy is in your town in Colorado, but if its like everywhere else its just fine and you are noticing nothing. If you live in a small town that lost a major employer, that's something different.

Best Buy has always been good to me. They are timely with their rebates. I can tell you stories about some others, but not them. They do not stock bottom line merchandise for computers anymore. So don't go looking for a bargain 8X burner. They'll sell you 12X or 16X. If you are a business and you want to maximize profit that's your business. And a retailer deciding to go upscale and steel HDTV and Home Theaters for max profit is just good business. Personally I think the WalMarts of this world won't be able to deal with stuff that high end and with the muss and fuss that goes with it. I could be wrong. Best Buy is just concerned someone's going to eat their lunch. People who target a retailer for their 'wrath' need to get a life. Better you get positive and find someone you support. Online works, I agree with the poster on NewEgg. I myself have issues with Tiger, who delivers promptly but has sunk me into rebate hell. If they don't pull me out of it, I'll buy from someone else in the future. Not try to sink Tiger, support someone else.

[glockjs]

you can say all the good things you want about bestbuy, but it still doesnt change my opinion and many others that i know about how much that store sucks. maybe cause you dont have a fry's electronics in your town i dunno. but the whole point that makes this funny is bestbuy making this public knowledge. some genius that guy is, let's go ahead and tell the whole world about it. in my opinion thats how they run their operation, like complete retards. just my 2 pennies.

[JohnnyCNote]

Check out Best Buy Sucks, especially the Anti-BB section, and you'll see why so many people dislike Best Buy.....

[aanaravs]

Best Buy is one of the worst stores I have ever gone too. Gave them my camera to fix. Boy, that was a mistake. They ended up scratching up the lens

[Darth Paris]

Sure Best Buy may suck but Dell's supposed A+ in customer support is also crap. When I ordered a new PC with XP Media Center Edition I told the guy I need RCA jack inputs so I could hook up a game console. I also said I needed software to edit the video I record with MC so it can be burned to a DVD. Anyways the guy on the phone said that I had to buy an adapter that was separate. He said that the adapter would ship latter because they were out of stock. So I get the PC and I look inside and low and behold I find RCA jack inputs. I call them up and ask what the deal is. They say sorry and cancel the order for the adapter. Now I'm hooking the PC up and I can't figure out how to use the RCA jacks as their input source (no help from the manual). I give them another call and they say that you can either use the tuner or the RCA jacks, not both. So at this point I am pissed, but the guy sends me the RCA adapter. I hook it up and come to find out that there is a 3 second delay from signal input to the display on the monitor while the computer records the information like a DVR so it can be rewound or paused. So now I can't use my XBOX on it. SO I just say screw it because I am tired of dealing with some moron in India who doesn't know what he is talking about. So now I am messing around with the burner software, which isn't the version that works with MC so I look all around the website to find the update. I import the video and click on edit. A message comes up and says video editing is not a feature in Record Now standard edition, you must purchase the upgrade. The upgrade was $50 and it would have been $10 more if Dell had given me what I wanted. I am about to shoot the PC at this point, so I give Dell another call and end up spending 5 hours on the phone(not exaggerating). I was passed from person to person and no one knew what the hell they were doing or how to send me the software that I ordered.

[lordsmurf]

I still don't get it.
Best Buy is doing.... what?
And apparently Dell is trying to .... take their place?

[glockjs]

I still don't get it.
Best Buy is doing.... what?
And apparently Dell is trying to .... take their place?

tryin to drive away 20% of their customer base that they dont want, and dell is lookin to pick up that 20% that best buy is pushin away....

[FulciLives]

I still don't get it.
Best Buy is doing.... what?
And apparently Dell is trying to .... take their place?

Apparently you didn't follow the two links in the original post :P

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[dnix71]

Best Buy's real problem is not having stable legitimate prices. I won't shop at BB anymore or KMart or OfficeMax because they offer sales week after week at prices so low that they sell out the first day, or 2/3's of the sale price is multiple rebates.
Best Buy was being robbed by people who bought at the sale price and waited for the sale to end so they could return the item for a credit or refund at the regular price and after cutting off the bar code and mailing in the rebates, too.
My other beef with Best Buy is selling refurb and scratch&dent without making it plain that's what you're getting.

[shelbyGT]

tryin to drive away 20% of their customer base that they dont want, and dell is lookin to pick up that 20% that best buy is pushin away....

If any company could rid itself of the 20% from the generic "80/20" rule, they would reap huge benefits. If another company wanted to take those money draining customers off their hands, they'd be the losers. PR wise, however, is different.


and it's funny how everyone on here hates best buy yet they still continue to dominate. Same thing with walmart, windows... etc. Everyone hates the big guy. I dont like everything about best buy, but i'll still shop there.

[JohnnyCNote]

Best Buy's real problem is not having stable legitimate prices. I won't shop at BB anymore or KMart or OfficeMax because they offer sales week after week at prices so low that they sell out the first day, or 2/3's of the sale price is multiple rebates.
Best Buy was being robbed by people who bought at the sale price and waited for the sale to end so they could return the item for a credit or refund at the regular price and after cutting off the bar code and mailing in the rebates, too.
My other beef with Best Buy is selling refurb and scratch&dent without making it plain that's what you're getting.

I have never seen any store that will issue a full refund for an item without the original box and the barcode! At best they'll subtract the amount of the rebate from the refund. Also, no store I've ever heard of will refund more than what an item was orginally purchased for, period. You show them the receipt and that's what the refund (minus any rebate, if the barcode's missing). I don't know where people get these ideas from......

[glockjs]

tryin to drive away 20% of their customer base that they dont want, and dell is lookin to pick up that 20% that best buy is pushin away....

If any company could rid itself of the 20% from the generic "80/20" rule, they would reap huge benefits. If another company wanted to take those money draining customers off their hands, they'd be the losers. PR wise, however, is different.


and it's funny how everyone on here hates best buy yet they still continue to dominate. Same thing with walmart, windows... etc. Everyone hates the big guy. I dont like everything about best buy, but i'll still shop there.

but the way dell is set up they are gonna make money. and how do you push a specific customer away? you cant, your gonna lose others business in the mean time.

BTW best buy pissed me off a few years ago, i have yet to buy anything at all from them since. same with a few people i know. i go into walmart once in a great while, but i make it a habbit to shop at target first. walmart=money hungry illmoral owners...so yes they way a company does business does effect me and where i take my wallet

[FulciLives]

... and it's funny how everyone on here hates best buy yet they still continue to dominate. Same thing with walmart, windows... etc. Everyone hates the big guy. I dont like everything about best buy, but i'll still shop there.

Pretty much the only thing I buy from BEST BUY are DVD movies, sometimes blank DVD/CD media and just recently a replacement mouse for my computer.

I haven't bought any BIG ticket items from BEST BUY in like ... I don't even know when!

Well actually about 3 years ago I bought a $69.99 Cyberhome DVD player and SONY speakers that were like $200 for the pair.

That's about it.

"Big ticket" stuff (televisions, computers, etc.)I have mostly bought at Circuit City but then again they have been around my area longer than BEST BUY has.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[JohnnyCNote]

I only get "big ticket" stuff at Costco nowadays because of their return policy and low prices....

[Roundabout]

I have almost completly stopped even going in to BB. Compared to Fry's, their selection and prices suck. Not that I'm so crazy about Fry's, especially their sales people, but I've never had a problem returning anything I've ever bought there. Sure, they have to call a supervisor over for every return, but there's never been a question.

If BB is going to charge a 15% restocking fee, they'll never see my business again. I'm not about to pay a fee to return something. I think they are shooting themselves in the foot on this one. To label customers as "undesirable" is suicide. At least, he should have kept the memo private and not released it to the public. What a bonehead.

Just gives me all the more reason to avoid their stores. Guess Fry's will be my B&M store of choice, and most of my purchases will be online (which is where I've done most of my shopping in the last couple of years anyway).

[Pop's]

This is funny, but then again so is Dell's cheap ass pc's...

!LMAO!

[budz]

Yikes! Best Buy is opening up 2 stores here in Hawaii next year. Is this what we have to look forward to? I've known about BB reputation for some time now. My friend got farked over by them when she purchased a pc for her college age daughter. I got my friend to put in a complaint to the Better Business Bureau which resulted in a $200.00 credit.

[hech54]

Once again another old saying that our parents knew has gone by way of lawyers and litigation.
Buyer Beware is now in the same place as Sticks and Stones may Break My Bones.

One company has a slogan that says "An Educated Consumer is our Best Customer". Think about it......that is a crack on "most" consumers and "most" consumers don't even know it.

[Capmaster]

Best Blight has always pissed me off. years ago we were shopping for a laptop. The local BB store had them, but they were in a locked cage stored at the top of one of their shelves - about 20 feet off the ground. I'm sure they did that for security, but are the employees that bad that they have to keep it out of reach, with no display units?

I had them drop the skid, and the model I was interested in didn't have the AC adapter, and there was no battery in it. I got fed up and left. They wanted me to buy it without trying it out first. Very amateur operation, and they were pretty snippy about it too

We did buy an HP laptop from them a few years ago, but only because the price was so much lower, and Circuit City didn't have the model my wife wanted. So I made an exception ....but it's just been that one time.

Circuit City has been just the opposite. They have the greatest return/exchange policy I've ever seen, are always friendly, the stores are clean, the selection and prices are outstanding, and their "buy online, pick up at store" is so handy and works great. I see Best Buy has copied that :P

I always try Circuit City first before looking anywhere else

[Roundabout]

Buyer Beware is now in the same place as Sticks and Stones may Break My Bones.

Good point. Now we can say our abbreviation for Best Buy (BB) means "Buyer Beware"

Circuit City has been just the opposite. They have the greatest return/exchange policy I've ever seen, are always friendly, the stores are clean, the selection and prices are outstanding, and their "buy online, pick up at store" is so handy and works great.

I agree, and the last PC related item I bought was at CC. I ordered it online (it was a one day special of a 17" LCD for $269.00 A/R about 9 months ago, a really good price at the time). Then I just went to the local CC store and picked it up. Simple, easy.

When I got it home and it had a couple of dead pixels, I took it back and exchanged it the same day. No arguments, no problems. They were nice enough to hook up the replacement one and make sure there were no pixel defects. The people there are always friendly and there's no pressure, at least none that I've noticed.

I bought my ADS Pyro A/V Link there last year at a bargain (closeout) price too.

The only thing I've bought at BB in the past couple of years was some RAM that was a good price A/R. I almost never go near the place anymore, and after reading that article, I will be sure to tell everyone I know that BB doesn't want your business unless you're a "high roller" or "whale".

KMA, BB!

[VideoTechMan]

Check out Best Buy Sucks, especially the Anti-BB section, and you'll see why so many people dislike Best Buy.....

I love that site, and I read it on a regular basis. Truth is, I do believe some of the plights alot of the people havd had with that place.

I remember about 3 years ago when I bought a laptop from BB, they wouldnt even sell it to me unless I bought the warranty! I was kinda pissed, but went ahead and gotten it; had I known of that website back then, oh man I would have SO gave BB the boot at that moment. Fortunately, my laptop had no problems since that time so im really glad I didnt have to return it.

Now that I have been reading the website, I know for sure that I will never buy any high-ticket items from them. As for PC computers, Dell isnt all that great either in my opinion. But since I build my own PC's I dont have to worry about that stuff.

My dad told me recently tht BB is eventually going to go under. And I hope they do because a chain like that that constantly uses bait and switch tatics and crap dont deserve to be in business.

VTM