Best Buy rant thread - Blu-ray Forum

ReduxInflux · 07-15-2007, 08:34 PM

if you've had a negative experience at best buy, post it here...whether it was misinformation, poor customer service or shady sales tactics...or just plain left you confused post them here. also, i encourage you to send a brief message to best buy corporate:

Write to be Best Buy Customer Care here with your complaint

after shopping there for years, i'm done. though they do price match, their prices are a little inflated. you have to be diligent to get quotes before you enter their store ready to buy a product. ive primarily shopped there as a reward zone member but am finally realizing how psychologically weak i am.
i have a $20 gift certificate sitting in front of me that i will use to buy a blu-ray but being their blu-rays are almost all between 26 -35 bucks...i could just shop on ebay or amazon and spend less money without the $20 credit.

but this is besides the point.

what pushed me over the edge was when a best buy employee tried convincing me to buy a laptop loaded with an hd-dvd player because blu-ray would soon be obsolete. and why was this? because Disney just announced that day that they had abandoned blu-ray exclusivity and were hHD-DVD. nail in the coffin of blu-ray. oh and not to mention the fact that hd-dvds were outselling blu-rays by a large margin...so i'd be future-proofing my purchase if i leaped on the hd-dvd playing lap-top. oh and microsoft had an exclusive contract with hd-dvd ensuring that all pcs with microsoft based operating systems would be exclusively hd-dvd. and only vaios would have blu-rays... can you believe that?

the following day, while i was researching tvs, i had a best buy salesman try to sell me a tv. i explained to him that i wasn't ready to make a decision because i didnt have my finances in line and that i wanted to do more research before i took the leap. he told me not to worry and that he could finance me right then and there, he then grabbed an application for a best buy mastercard and handed it to me. i asked him questions and he told me that the card would double my rewardzone points. i said thanks and walked away..
curious, i read the fine print and guess what? you have to pay $60/year to keep the card which negates any rewardzone points one would accrue should they go on ridiculous shopping sprees there. i threw it in the trash and walked out...

Galley · 07-16-2007, 12:50 AM

Best Buy often charges more than MSRP on accessories, so buyer beware!

Slackr89 · 07-16-2007, 01:59 AM

I've had one bad experience where they charged me twice for the same thing. (machines werent working properly). i went there the next day and it took them friggin 2 weeks to refund my money because they wouldnt take my word for it and had to check records or something.

Sylin · 07-16-2007, 02:58 AM

My only negative experience has actually been with appliances. We bought a fridge in 2003 (with extended warranty) that started malfunctioning. Over the course of 12 months I had a Best Buy tech out no less than 7 times. When it came time to call them out on their "No Lemon" policy, they actually refused to honor it, stating that 4 of my service calls were for the "ice maker" and that, despite being built in, it was considered an "accessory". I explained to them several times that the "ice maker" referred to on my work orders was actually the digital control display and that the child safety features on my fridge kept malfunctioning. They didn't get it. FINALLY I wrote to the office of the president, and within 2 weeks we received a phone call telling us to go to our local store and "everything would be taken care of".

Bottom line? They ended up carting off the old fridge and replacing it with a new one that actually cost $1000 more, at no charge to us. The squeaky wheel gets the oil.

My CURRENT problem also concerns an appliance bought at BB. We bought a box freezer for our garage in March. By May, it died, causing over $1500 in food spoilage (we were on vacation when it happened). I wrote Best Buy, even providing a food replacement quote from our grocery delivery service, but Best Buy only sent me a check for a whopping $200. What's unusual is that their Food Spoilage policy states you can only receive $200 "per incident", but incidents are unlimited and there is no cap on how many TIMES you can be reimbursed, just the AMOUNT of each reimbursement.

This is insane logic. If I keep $200 in steaks in my freezer and it fails 100 times, they'll reimburse me $20,000. But if I keep $1000 in steaks and it fails ONCE, all I get is $200? Retarded.

Looks like I'm writing yet ANOTHER letter explaining how ridiculous their policies are. Who knows? I might just get all my money back, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm also considering replacing the box freezer with one from a store that actually has a consumer-friendly warranty for food spoilage. Back when CC sold appliances, theirs was $800 per incident.

PS... As for electronics or movies or music... I buy all of that online. Much cheaper.

Amon37 · 07-16-2007, 03:51 PM

I've never had any problem at Best Buy with appliances, or any electronics, movies games.

groovyone · 07-16-2007, 03:56 PM

I used to work at Best Buy, and I actually made a strong effort to get to know my products. It is sad that more employees don't put more effort into their jobs, but then again, they still work there and I now work for NASA.

dialog_gvf · 07-16-2007, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by groovyone

I used to work at Best Buy, and I actually made a strong effort to get to know my products. It is sad that more employees don't put more effort into their jobs, but then again, they still work there and I now work for NASA.

Best Buy is a huge chain with many thousands of employees. I never felt it fair to label the entire chain based on a few experiences.

Anyone intelligent shouldn't assume Best Buy will be a great source for information. On the other hand, there will always be upstanding individuals that pride themselves on their work no matter where they are.

We have BB employees on here. As well as some from other retailers around the world. And it seems clear to me from their posts that consumers at their stores are getting a heck of a premium for service over the norm.

Seek out the people you trust. Never trust a corporation.

Gary

groovyone · 07-16-2007, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Best Buy is a huge chain with many thousands of employees. I never felt it fair to label the entire chain based on a few experiences.

That is very true, in fact my brother works for Best Buy. It is unfortunate that so many people who work there give the good people a bad name, but that seems to be the ongoing trend in any retail store, BestBuy included.

aaronwt · 07-16-2007, 05:14 PM

Where have you been the last few decades. Misinformation has been rampant in electronics stores for a long time this is nothing new, especially from BestBuy(or is it Worst Buy, they are rarely the best buy)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReduxInflux

if you've had a negative experience at best buy, post it here...whether it was misinformation, poor customer service or shady sales tactics...or just plain left you confused post them here. also, i encourage you to send a brief message to best buy corporate:

Write to be Best Buy Customer Care here with your complaint

after shopping there for years, i'm done. though they do price match, their prices are a little inflated. you have to be diligent to get quotes before you enter their store ready to buy a product. ive primarily shopped there as a reward zone member but am finally realizing how psychologically weak i am.
i have a $20 gift certificate sitting in front of me that i will use to buy a blu-ray but being their blu-rays are almost all between 26 -35 bucks...i could just shop on ebay or amazon and spend less money without the $20 credit.

but this is besides the point.

what pushed me over the edge was when a best buy employee tried convincing me to buy a laptop loaded with an hd-dvd player because blu-ray would soon be obsolete. and why was this? because Disney just announced that day that they had abandoned blu-ray exclusivity and were hHD-DVD. nail in the coffin of blu-ray. oh and not to mention the fact that hd-dvds were outselling blu-rays by a large margin...so i'd be future-proofing my purchase if i leaped on the hd-dvd playing lap-top. oh and microsoft had an exclusive contract with hd-dvd ensuring that all pcs with microsoft based operating systems would be exclusively hd-dvd. and only vaios would have blu-rays... can you believe that?

the following day, while i was researching tvs, i had a best buy salesman try to sell me a tv. i explained to him that i wasn't ready to make a decision because i didnt have my finances in line and that i wanted to do more research before i took the leap. he told me not to worry and that he could finance me right then and there, he then grabbed an application for a best buy mastercard and handed it to me. i asked him questions and he told me that the card would double my rewardzone points. i said thanks and walked away..
curious, i read the fine print and guess what? you have to pay $60/year to keep the card which negates any rewardzone points one would accrue should they go on ridiculous shopping sprees there. i threw it in the trash and walked out...

Lord_Stewie · 07-30-2007, 03:24 AM

Hey guys,

So I get in an argument with someone at best buy today (Yes he is an employee and I thought he might be missing a screw in his head). so he goes, (may I help you) he said. I said (nothing I am just checking which movie to get on BD). He says (you are wasting your time and money on such products.) when i asked why he said that? he replied and i am seriously aching of how !@#$%^^^%& #$#$@#$ someone could be (I suggest you go with sony's top choice HDDVD!!!!)

(you mean bluray?) i said. he said (no its HDDVD.) I mean seriously what is wrong with some people that work at best buy. I showed some of the releases from Sony that are on BD (Underworld, XXX, and many more), and somehow still the idea in his head is that i am WRONG (whatever happened to the customer is always right.). I was arguing with this guy for about 15 mins (which felt like hours, I started getting a headache.) so i decided to not argue anymore and asked him if they have any nintendo wiis . he said they are sold out, but he would be happy to sell me one for 360 dollars. I told him no thanks and i would like to speak to your manager. he sent me to the customer service, and they called me the manager, and he blew me off. He said and I quote (I AM BUSY, GO FIND SOMEONE ELSE.) I couldn't get his name, but I left the location pretty angry and surely will not go back.

I have already contacted the customer service line and told them what happened, and how they lost my business.

That is not a good customer service and unacceptable, and they should be informed.

Blu-dock Saint · 07-30-2007, 03:32 AM

I guess its all luck of the draw, everyone at my bestbuy fully supports Blu ray and tells people to shy away from hd dvd. My local Circuit City however doesnt even know wtf a hi def disc is.

MPoozy · 07-30-2007, 03:36 AM

yeah, I NEVER talk to those guys. They never know what the hell they are talking about. I was in there looking for HD tv's. One of the sales guys started talking to me and within the first 5mins I knew he didnt know anything. He tried telling me that 720p was full HD. I was like, "umm......no". I had to break it down for the guys and explain to him what 1080i and 1080p were. Im sure it was very educational for him, but a complete waste of my time. After that, i had a new rule....dont talk to them unless its to see if something is in stock!

takezo · 07-30-2007, 03:45 AM

Yeah, It's sad. Walmart has pressured all retail chains to be more competitive, thus they resort to hiring any a-hole off the street because pay, and availible sucks too much too keep the good employees around very long.

Though being in retail for a while, I have had few customers that were complete dicks. It's very hard keeping your cool with those types, you just feel like snapping.

If I were you, I would say, oh i see, you rather me buy this blu-ray somewhere else then. then leave.

Lord_Stewie · 07-30-2007, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MPoozy

yeah, I NEVER talk to those guys. They never know what the hell they are talking about. I was in there looking for HD tv's. One of the sales guys started talking to me and within the first 5mins I knew he didnt know anything. He tried telling me that 720p was full HD. I was like, "umm......no". I had to break it down for the guys and explain to him what 1080i and 1080p were. Im sure it was very educational for him, but a complete waste of my time. After that, i had a new rule....dont talk to them unless its to see if something is in stock!

That moron's job is to show customers what is better on the market today. I just can't believe it. dude he is seriously convinced that SONY is 100% and the mastermind behind HDDVD. how lame could it get. and on top of it, the manager blew me off. I wish if I got his name but he just walked away and I was really angry that I left. I always liked Best Buy before. I thought the term BEST BUY stood for QUALITY, ECONOMIC, AND BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICES. But, unfortunately i might add, they don't deserve the name BEST BUY. it should be CRAP BUY. i don't mean it to be funny but it is seriously now embedded to my brain that it is crappy buy to my opinion (crap, crap, and Sh!@ to my opinion).

Lord_Stewie · 07-30-2007, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by takezo

Yeah, It's sad. Walmart has pressured all retail chains to be more competitive, thus they resort to hiring any a-hole off the street because pay, and availible sucks too much too keep the good employees around very long.

Though being in retail for a while, I have had few customers that were complete dicks. It's very hard keeping your cool with those types, you just feel like snapping.

If I were you, I would say, oh i see, you rather me buy this blu-ray somewhere else then. then leave.

Bro, I dealt with customers before. have you ever heard the term give them the pickle!!!. (it is a story about an ex army who decided to start an Ice cream store for business. the story goes, a customer walked in everyday and ordered the usual, Vanilla ice cream and a pickle. after several times that customer was able to get it, one day he walked in and asked for the usual, and the cashier said (you have to pay extra for the pickle. the customer explained is that he always got it for free. at the end he left unhappy and sent a letter of complaint to the owner. the owner replied with deep sincerity and concern, and started a campaign for give them a pickle) and that stood for ensure complete customer satisfaction, and service no matter what.). some customers can be pain and i dealt with them, you can make them either happy or more angry no matter how nice you tried to be. that customer service experiance was completely unaccepted and not good for business. Best Buy needs to wake up, and realize in order to stay Best Buy, you must provide the ultimate customer service or else....

and i am taking my business somewhere else.

jeremy_williams · 07-30-2007, 04:09 AM

Since when are parenthesis the replacement to quotation marks?

UltimateFighter · 07-30-2007, 04:15 AM

I stopped shopping at Bestbuy when they told their employees they couldn't say Merry Christmas.

Lord_Stewie · 07-30-2007, 04:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremy_williams

Since when are parenthesis the replacement to quotation marks?

I don't know...used whatever I thought i could use at the time....

Lord_Stewie · 07-30-2007, 04:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UltimateFighter

I stopped shopping at Bestbuy when they told their employees they couldn't say Merry Christmas.

wouldn't it make sense, since AMERICA is heavily diverse. no offense intended just asking what you meant by that...

jubaiweaponx · 07-30-2007, 04:19 AM

look at where these people are hired from ,I`ve had bowel movements with more intellegence and a better smell then some of the stains that work there if that person is there for a job and has no interest chances are your getting
someone there for the miniscule check they get paid.Just chalk it up to the fact that they work at best buy so they know it all,then ask him to explain deep color and the improvemets hdmi 1.3 will bring then smile ,fart and walk away leaving him in your cloud of disgust....yeah i said it ,lol having fun here

07-15-2007, 08:34 PM	#1
ReduxInflux Expert Member Member since:Jun 2007 Location:orange county, ca Blu-ray reviews:22 Trading Score:3	Best Buy rant thread if you've had a negative experience at best buy, post it here...whether it was misinformation, poor customer service or shady sales tactics...or just plain left you confused post them here. also, i encourage you to send a brief message to best buy corporate: Write to be Best Buy Customer Care here with your complaint after shopping there for years, i'm done. though they do price match, their prices are a little inflated. you have to be diligent to get quotes before you enter their store ready to buy a product. ive primarily shopped there as a reward zone member but am finally realizing how psychologically weak i am. i have a $20 gift certificate sitting in front of me that i will use to buy a blu-ray but being their blu-rays are almost all between 26 -35 bucks...i could just shop on ebay or amazon and spend less money without the $20 credit. but this is besides the point. what pushed me over the edge was when a best buy employee tried convincing me to buy a laptop loaded with an hd-dvd player because blu-ray would soon be obsolete. and why was this? because Disney just announced that day that they had abandoned blu-ray exclusivity and were hHD-DVD. nail in the coffin of blu-ray. oh and not to mention the fact that hd-dvds were outselling blu-rays by a large margin...so i'd be future-proofing my purchase if i leaped on the hd-dvd playing lap-top. oh and microsoft had an exclusive contract with hd-dvd ensuring that all pcs with microsoft based operating systems would be exclusively hd-dvd. and only vaios would have blu-rays... can you believe that? the following day, while i was researching tvs, i had a best buy salesman try to sell me a tv. i explained to him that i wasn't ready to make a decision because i didnt have my finances in line and that i wanted to do more research before i took the leap. he told me not to worry and that he could finance me right then and there, he then grabbed an application for a best buy mastercard and handed it to me. i asked him questions and he told me that the card would double my rewardzone points. i said thanks and walked away.. curious, i read the fine print and guess what? you have to pay $60/year to keep the card which negates any rewardzone points one would accrue should they go on ridiculous shopping sprees there. i threw it in the trash and walked out... Last edited by ReduxInflux; 07-15-2007 at 08:40 PM.

07-30-2007, 03:24 AM	#10
Lord_Stewie Blu-ray Baron Member since:May 2007 Blu-ray collection:396 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:1	Terrible customer service... Hey guys, So I get in an argument with someone at best buy today (Yes he is an employee and I thought he might be missing a screw in his head). so he goes, (may I help you) he said. I said (nothing I am just checking which movie to get on BD). He says (you are wasting your time and money on such products.) when i asked why he said that? he replied and i am seriously aching of how !@#$%^^^%& #$#$@#$ someone could be (I suggest you go with sony's top choice HDDVD!!!!) (you mean bluray?) i said. he said (no its HDDVD.) I mean seriously what is wrong with some people that work at best buy. I showed some of the releases from Sony that are on BD (Underworld, XXX, and many more), and somehow still the idea in his head is that i am WRONG (whatever happened to the customer is always right.). I was arguing with this guy for about 15 mins (which felt like hours, I started getting a headache.) so i decided to not argue anymore and asked him if they have any nintendo wiis . he said they are sold out, but he would be happy to sell me one for 360 dollars. I told him no thanks and i would like to speak to your manager. he sent me to the customer service, and they called me the manager, and he blew me off. He said and I quote (I AM BUSY, GO FIND SOMEONE ELSE.) I couldn't get his name, but I left the location pretty angry and surely will not go back. I have already contacted the customer service line and told them what happened, and how they lost my business. That is not a good customer service and unacceptable, and they should be informed. Last edited by Lord_Stewie; 07-30-2007 at 03:29 AM.

07-30-2007, 04:19 AM	#20
jubaiweaponx Special Member Member since:Mar 2007 Location:collingdale,pa Blu-ray collection:304	well look look at where these people are hired from ,I`ve had bowel movements with more intellegence and a better smell then some of the stains that work there if that person is there for a job and has no interest chances are your getting someone there for the miniscule check they get paid.Just chalk it up to the fact that they work at best buy so they know it all,then ask him to explain deep color and the improvemets hdmi 1.3 will bring then smile ,fart and walk away leaving him in your cloud of disgust....yeah i said it ,lol having fun here

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07-16-2007, 12:50 AM	#2
Galley Power Member Member since:Apr 2007 Location:Greenville, SC 4K collection:117 Blu-ray collection:634 DVD collection:41 Digital collection:1 Blu-ray reviews:4 Trading Score:7	Best Buy often charges more than MSRP on accessories, so buyer beware!

07-16-2007, 01:59 AM	#3
Slackr89 Special Member Member since:Jan 2007 Location:Edmonton, Alberta PSN: Slackr Blu-ray collection:116 Trading Score:2	I've had one bad experience where they charged me twice for the same thing. (machines werent working properly). i went there the next day and it took them friggin 2 weeks to refund my money because they wouldnt take my word for it and had to check records or something.

07-16-2007, 02:58 AM	#4
Sylin Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Jun 2007 Location:Nashville Blu-ray collection:1 Trading Score:159	My only negative experience has actually been with appliances. We bought a fridge in 2003 (with extended warranty) that started malfunctioning. Over the course of 12 months I had a Best Buy tech out no less than 7 times. When it came time to call them out on their "No Lemon" policy, they actually refused to honor it, stating that 4 of my service calls were for the "ice maker" and that, despite being built in, it was considered an "accessory". I explained to them several times that the "ice maker" referred to on my work orders was actually the digital control display and that the child safety features on my fridge kept malfunctioning. They didn't get it. FINALLY I wrote to the office of the president, and within 2 weeks we received a phone call telling us to go to our local store and "everything would be taken care of". Bottom line? They ended up carting off the old fridge and replacing it with a new one that actually cost $1000 more, at no charge to us. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. My CURRENT problem also concerns an appliance bought at BB. We bought a box freezer for our garage in March. By May, it died, causing over $1500 in food spoilage (we were on vacation when it happened). I wrote Best Buy, even providing a food replacement quote from our grocery delivery service, but Best Buy only sent me a check for a whopping $200. What's unusual is that their Food Spoilage policy states you can only receive $200 "per incident", but incidents are unlimited and there is no cap on how many TIMES you can be reimbursed, just the AMOUNT of each reimbursement. This is insane logic. If I keep $200 in steaks in my freezer and it fails 100 times, they'll reimburse me $20,000. But if I keep $1000 in steaks and it fails ONCE, all I get is $200? Retarded. Looks like I'm writing yet ANOTHER letter explaining how ridiculous their policies are. Who knows? I might just get all my money back, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm also considering replacing the box freezer with one from a store that actually has a consumer-friendly warranty for food spoilage. Back when CC sold appliances, theirs was $800 per incident. PS... As for electronics or movies or music... I buy all of that online. Much cheaper.

07-16-2007, 03:51 PM	#5
Amon37 Power Member Member since:Jan 2007 Location:USA,Arizona PSNetwork: Amon37	I've never had any problem at Best Buy with appliances, or any electronics, movies games.

07-16-2007, 03:56 PM	#6
groovyone Blu-ray Guru Member since:May 2007 Location:PSNetwork: groovyone	I used to work at Best Buy, and I actually made a strong effort to get to know my products. It is sad that more employees don't put more effort into their jobs, but then again, they still work there and I now work for NASA.

07-30-2007, 03:32 AM	#11
Blu-dock Saint Special Member Member since:Jul 2007 Location:Michigan Blu-ray collection:47 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:67	I guess its all luck of the draw, everyone at my bestbuy fully supports Blu ray and tells people to shy away from hd dvd. My local Circuit City however doesnt even know wtf a hi def disc is.

07-30-2007, 03:36 AM	#12
MPoozy Member Member since:Jul 2007 Location:Hollywood	yeah, I NEVER talk to those guys. They never know what the hell they are talking about. I was in there looking for HD tv's. One of the sales guys started talking to me and within the first 5mins I knew he didnt know anything. He tried telling me that 720p was full HD. I was like, "umm......no". I had to break it down for the guys and explain to him what 1080i and 1080p were. Im sure it was very educational for him, but a complete waste of my time. After that, i had a new rule....dont talk to them unless its to see if something is in stock!

07-30-2007, 03:45 AM	#13
takezo Active Member Member since:Aug 2006	Yeah, It's sad. Walmart has pressured all retail chains to be more competitive, thus they resort to hiring any a-hole off the street because pay, and availible sucks too much too keep the good employees around very long. Though being in retail for a while, I have had few customers that were complete dicks. It's very hard keeping your cool with those types, you just feel like snapping. If I were you, I would say, oh i see, you rather me buy this blu-ray somewhere else then. then leave.

07-30-2007, 04:09 AM	#16
jeremy_williams Member Member since:Apr 2007 Location:San Francisco Bay Area Blu-ray reviews:1	Since when are parenthesis the replacement to quotation marks?

07-30-2007, 04:15 AM	#17
UltimateFighter Active Member Member since:Mar 2007 Location:Snohomish, WA Blu-ray collection:1 Blu-ray reviews:11	I stopped shopping at Bestbuy when they told their employees they couldn't say Merry Christmas.

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