Quit crying then and take your money elsewhere. If Best Buy is really as horrible as you’re making them out to be, dozens of lawsuits will be filed against them sometime today or tomorrow, all their stores will burn down, and Satan himself will offer to sell me 30 dollar insurance on a 20 dollar CD player. Most of your post falls on the assumption that Best Buy is paying its workers to intentionally mess around with you. I doubt this is whats happening. The worst experience I ever had in Best Buy was them trying to sell my Mom extra stuff when she tried to buy a PC. But the kid was nice about it, and I know that’s his job.
Since you are the customer, you are the one with 100% of the power. Just don’t spend your money at places that you don’t think deserve it. Then you solve the problem instantly.
So I’m guessing warranties only exist in my own little world, or my theory from last week is fine and true.
In any case, 3 days isn’t enough time to determine how exculsionary this place really is. No really, stick around, and see just how bad it really gets.
yeah right, we know what game you’re playing here. first you’re gonna sell us your stuff, then it’s gonna break, then you’re gonna say Best Buy did it, and then you’re going to tell us to shop at Circuit City. Yeah well I’m not falling for that one!
Best Buy isn’t all that evil. There’s other companies that should be boycotted more heavily than Best BuycoughWalMartcough.
edit:(off topic)Fuck, the picture of the CATS card shows up as a red x on my mom’s computer, but it shows up as a CATS MtG card on my brother’s computer.
I work at a Circuit City, I used to work at a Best Buy. I’ve been a manager of a retail store in the past, so I take these things seriously, so let me try to tackle this.
As a retail employee, and former manager of a game store, the store itself is rarely responsible for the condition of the merchandise. That’s usually the product of the merchandise warehouse, or even the manufacturers. That being said, of course none of the copies of Star Ocean 3 are factory sealed. Square Enix doesn’t seal that game, they put it in a box, and put clear circular stickers on the ends to seal it. Inside is a sealed DVD case. If you’re looking to find a factory sealed copy, too bad. If that’s not a legitamate excuse, take it up with SEA (Square Enix).
That’s industry standard now, at least on open merchandise. And, as a former Best Buy employee, if the product is still sealed, you do get your money back, no questions asked. That’s also industry standard. Even then, US law prevents them from giving “money” back when it was purchased with a check or credit card. If purchased with check, it must be refunded with check, by US mail, within 8 weeks. If purchased with credit card, BB returns the money instantly to the card, without the card even needing to be present. That’s a step above many retail chains.
Again, open item. They can’t sell it again, they’re losing money. You had two options; replace the product, or get a credit towards something else. At least they returned the broken product, despite the fact that they didn’t have to. 15 years ago, a store would have laughed at you if you brought back a broken stereo. They would have said “send it to the manufacturer, not our problem.” Hell, Wal-Mart still will.
That’s just straight unfair. During the year that I worked for BB, they stopped carrying several products because they didn’t fit up to standards. When a lemon comes around (and they do in anything electronic), it’s not the store’s fault, it’s the manufacturer’s. Be knowledgable about your products? BB gives its employees bi-weekly trainings about all of the items in that employee’s department. Nowhere else I’ve ever worked has put that much effort into it.
Not do business with suppliers that neglect their merchandise? Have you ever even heard of supply and demand? If this were the case, resellers like Best Buy would stop carrying Sony because Playstations fall the fuck apart. Then, Wal-Mart would keep selling it, and Wal-Mart would sell ten-trillion Playstations because they’d be the only one selling it, and the demand is high.
Oh, but it seems their customers will settle for less, thus the expansion of Wal-Mart and Dell.
I did work for Best Buy, I now work for Circuit City, and I still say that BB takes better care of their merchandise, and that they’re more knowledgable of their products. But that’s for the support, we need it badly. If your local Best Buy is bad, call 1-888-BESTBUY and complain, their corporate office takes complaints very seriously, and the management of that store will get the message, straight in the ass, with a frozen boot.
Why do you confuse the manufacturer with the reseller? They’re not the same! Best Buy didn’t make your broken TV, or your broken video card! They just sold it! Blame Sony, or Pioneer, or PNY, or Frigidaire, or whoever made the broken product! When a store sells me a broken product, they don’t lose my faith. I become upset, I often even go back, but if they point me in the right direction to get it fixed (especially if they give me a refund, even in credit form), I realize that they’re on my side, they’re trying to help. You’re trying to pick fights where fights shouldn’t exist.
Jesus, you’re a Business Law major, and you still can’t differentiate between manufacturer and reseller? Customers do have standards. That’s why I don’t buy from Mad Catz, or Nyko when I buy memory cards and controllers. That’s why I don’t buy PNY video cards, but rather stick to pure nVidia or ATI. As a business law major, I’d really hope that you’d understand that, according to the terms of the contract of purchase (aka, the receipt), you’re not entitled to a full cash refund whenever you’re the slightest upset. You made a purchase, you didn’t borrow the product for a deposit. Just like any other contract, you can’t suddenly backout because you’re unhappy. You should be happy that the store gives you an out at all. Gift cards are far better than pure exchange or nothing, which is how most businesses operate.
You sure you don’t work for Circuit City? I <I>do</I> work for Circuit City, and I don’t speak that highly of them. Circuit City will NOT give you money back for faulty merchandise. I know this, because I work there. They will give you an exchange of the same product, or, in an extreme situation, they will give you a store credit. If someone did give you money back for faulty merchandise, they were performing against store policy, and could be written up, or even fired. As far as the quality of merchandise, both companies get their products from the same distributors. Both companies have almost the exact same rules for product handling. And, based on the stores I’ve worked in, the quality of the merchandise is about the same, though BB does have a bigger selection. Price varies per product per sale.
That’s simply business practice. Everyone discourages returns, but they’ll take them if the reason is true, and the receipt is present. Most Best Buys make around $700,000 per week, but they also return some $10,000 per day. Those returns add up, and hurt.
Having been a retail manager, and knowing many who currently are, I’d disagree. Most managers love to deal with customers. First, it’s a break from whatever they’re currently doing. Second, they’re the only person in the store who doesn’t have to worry about impressing a manager with personal sales figures. Third, being the manager, you want to have a bigger retail sales penis than the rest of your store, and what better way to show off than to have the biggest sale of the day? They may not hunt down customers to harass, but they certainly embrace them when approached. Besides, what better way to build up customer loyalty than for the customer to know that, not only were they given excellent customer service, but the store manager himself took time from his busy day to give it to you. That speaks very well for a store. As for the corporate complaint line, that comes back to hit the manager directly, often in their quarterly bonus.
Jesus, this is the first time in a long time that I haven’t seen the “bash the n00b” posts outweigh the rational argument? What did you want? A bunch of acceptance? Is any argument at all “n00b bashing?” As a law major, you should really get used to arguments, especially those with “examples” and “rational thought.” If you get upset any time anyone disagrees with you, you should probably find another major.
Was this maybe a Best Buy? Because, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but every store has different employees. When I was a Best Buy employee, I treated all customers (aside from one or two) with respect and dignity. I was a member of their “Geek Squad” or their tech bench, so I had to approve if every item was broken enough to merit a return. I had many customers angry with me, but I never replied to them with anything but respect. If you had a bad experience, complain to the manager, complain to the 888 number, but it’s ridiculous to complain to a message board, because we can’t fire that employee.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. If any company should be boycotted, it’s Wal-Mart. Of course, their prices are low, and they’re conveniently located, so they won’t be. However, I don’t know why no one’s boycotting Dell. That’s a terrible company, and their support sucks.
In closing, don’t complain about a retail store until you’ve worked for one. You’ll learn quickly that things aren’t like they seem, and NO ONE is interested in fucking the customer over, or they’d lose money. (well, maybe Dell and Wal-mart. :D)
Have you ever even heard of supply and demand? If this were the case, resellers like Best Buy would stop carrying Sony because Playstations fall the fuck apart.
Every time I hear this I giggle at either how collectively wrong every criticist of the PS2 on the planet is, or at how lucky I was to have a PS2 that, judging by what I’ve already done to it, I could take a nail bat to for 15 minutes and have it work better than ever.
I haven’t had any problems with best buy. Of course I think they’re all idiots so I do my best not to go there. However, if I do have to go, then I make it very brief.
I’ve had my PS2 I think since christmas of 2002, and it’s just now starting to falter on me. For some reason it’s having issues playing DVDs. But other than that it’s worked fine. And I take good care of it - never been dropped, I spray out the disc tray with compressed air often and clean out the vents.
