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130 Comments
- alcimedes, on 10/12/2007, -4/+94I've actually worked at Best Buy as an Apple rep, way back when the first iMacs came out. It was an interesting experience. I was told by the Best Buy employees to upsell surge protectors, service plans, USB cables, anything I could get the customer to buy. When I told them I was going to recommend people buy what they needed, they decided to have a Best Buy rep. "consult" with anyone who was buying a Mac, then the Best Buy rep would try to upsell items.
If I warned the customers in advance that it was going to happen, I got bitched out. The manager finally called me into his office after I had words with an employee who was lying to some 75 year old women to try and make her buy a bunch of crap she didn't need.
He asked me what the hell I thought I was doing. I told him I was telling people the truth so they'd come back and buy stuff in the future.
His reply? "Where the hell else are they going to go. We're the only game in town, it doesn't matter if we screw them they have to come back".
I quit that day and wrote an explanation to the 3rd party folks running the Apple rep. program at the time. (Marketsource)
Within about a month Apple pulled out of Best Buy. I can't help but think that a lot of that was due to similar experiences in other Best Buy stores. Really not the feel Apple was going for with their computers at the time. - longzheng, on 10/12/2007, -3/+46Microsoft is a software company. They don't sell computers.
- promethean, on 10/12/2007, -3/+44Or he could be buying a laptop to use at college. Many universities require them now. Stop showing your ignorance, ass.
- Bassguy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+35I think that this is a smart move. I want people that know what they're doing to sell me things.
- ani-pockdotnet, on 10/12/2007, -4/+26...just like they do at Comp USA. (At least the ones I've been to all have 'Apple Specialists')
- dh8r, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21Loans have to be paid back ... with interest....Your 'tax' money isn't subsidizing toys for anyone except Bush & Company.
- BassCadet, on 10/12/2007, -9/+26Yes, because Microsoft really needs specially-trained salespeople to push their stuff over the competition since they already have 95% of the desktop market.
(rolling eyes) - thewebguy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+21yikes hopefully that's the ONLY aspect they carry over from compusa
- kylefox, on 10/12/2007, -6/+22I'm sold. I can't wait until my student loan comes in September so I can buy my MacBook!
- parislemon, on 10/12/2007, -4/+19exactly they mention that in the article.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Very smart move... I just quit Best Buy a couple weeks ago for "conflict of morals". I worked for Geek Squad... I love helping people with their problems, not trying to screw them out of their money.
- lupinglade, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11This is great, because the last store that I was at that had Macs had an idiot sales rep that thought the Mac mini was not sold separately and was trying to connect it to the MacBook Pro for video out... he thought the mini was a DVD drive. Sad. So sad.
- tdhurst, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9That's because it's a warranty, not insurance...
- Atomic1fire, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13now arre ye sur it has an errorr me boy let me send yur call to an nother employe
lol scottish - EvilTesdall, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11best buy and apple in the same sentence makes me wonder what the hell the world is coming too....its not good.
- cphuntington97, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11I am always shocked when I hear that people just walk into stores and ask salespeople for information. I never do this. I always do extensive research on the product I'm interested in, not to mention I usually just end up ordering online from some kind of discount warehouse.
Still, many people I know just walk into a store, talk to a not-so-knowledgable sales person, and then plunk down several hundred dollars for some sort of electronics purchase.
I guess I am just not the "average shopper." - aliengoods, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Very smart. And I say that just because most Best Buy people can't tell the difference between their ass and an ethernet port.
- psychotron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Will there be a velvet rope and a bouncer at the entrance of the Apple section at Best Buy now?
- condimentman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8All of the major companies already do this. Check out retailaccess.com or expertzone.microsoft.com/welcome.aspx. HP also has one, but I can't remember what it's called. They have you read about the products, take a test over it, and give you points which you can redeem on their products. Product reps come out to retail stores all the time to "educate" the employees. This is nothing new in the electronic world, maybe just new for Apple.
- cambrown99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6What does that say about your company when a manufacturer doesn't fully trust you to sell its products effectively?
- posure, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6All student loans have interest. The government sanctioned ones just have much lower interest rates (2-5% depending when you got it). I guarantee you I'm right; I just graduated and I'm looking at the statements right now. ;-)
- chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5When I worked at Best Buy the guys in the TV department were BRUTAL on customers that didn't speak English well. One Chinese guy was looking for a TV and the sales guy was like "Yeah, you just press those two buttons and someone comes by to give you a blowjob." Needless to say, the customer had no idea what he was saying.
- Elxx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5If you're talking about the service plans, I agree. I've purchased two laptops (Compaq and HP), opting to get the service plan with them as well. First laptop battery died, got a free replacement. Power cord broke, replaced free again.
The HP laptop went flying down some stairs (wasn't me, it was a 3-year-old tyke who got hold of it) - killed the hard drive and there were 5 or 6 vertical lines running down the monitor. Took it to Best Buy, two weeks later the laptop was shipped back to my house with a new screen and hard drive. Didn't pay a dime, not even for shipping.
Currently have a Sony digital camera that had coffee spilled on it (little tyke again), and it wouldn't start up. Had a service plan, took it to BB, and yup - fixed again at no charge.
No problems with Best Buy here so far, have been a customer for 6 years. - Bigfat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Did you break it? Most of the accident protection plans have a catch, where I work we have them for all the brands we carry except for Apple and while paying a couple hundred extra to potentially save you hundreds and hundreds of dollars is nice, it's typically only good for one time. Or the cost increases the second time, third time, etc. Moral of the story, treat your laptops like the fragile pieces of technology they are, not like your cellphone or iPod.
- kingfoot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4my words exactly! and truely, every comapny could use this, because the people at compUSA have helped me so much, and so have them folks at Fry's (wonder if they are trained as well)
- brennankeller, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4actually if i remember correctly, the call centers are in the United States, Canada, and the newest one will be in Scotland. The Scottland one will replace the one India one that was shut down, and even when that was open i was never transferred to that one. I've always been transferred to the Canadian or US one
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6joel8x: haha, yea... I mean, don't get me wrong, I had a good time in the start... but they changed policies again to make money pretty shady (overpriced packages, etc.)
zoziw: The thing about best buy is that none of the employees are on commission, so you immediately think "Wow, they must be giving me good advice." In most cases this is wrong. I'm not saying BB employees will lie to you, but--while there is no commission going towards the employee helping you--the managers do push to sell. Basically, you should worry more about the BB employee pushing you to buy something so they can get their numbers up rather than worrying that they want the commission.
Most likely, however, the person you were dealing with was just really unexperienced and probably chose the cheaper camera because (a) you'd be happy that it was cheaper and would most likely buy it (many people walk out before actually purchasing something)... (b) he thought the cheaper camera was prettier .... or (c) he heard a rumor that it was better.
You have to remember that just because people standing in the sections have a badge that says "cameras" or "computers" or "wireless", most of them don't know their job. Now, where I worked, I knew a guy that worked in the printer section that was amazing, I knew a couple guys that worked with me in geek squad and are amazing (they also plan on quitting soon too, haha), and I knew a guy that worked in cameras that was great. Other than that handful of people, the rest had as much knowledge about their section as someone randomly pulled off the street.
My advice to not get screwed at any retailer, especially BB is:
1) Don't go in looking to find what you want to buy. You will not find what you want to buy... you will find what the store wants you to buy.
2) When you figure out what you want to buy, google it like a monkey on crack. Research it, check out reviews, etc. etc.
3) Ask a nerd friend (and if you can't find one, feel free to visit my site) for info on what they think of the product you are going to buy.
4) Other than warranties, don't buy anything else. You don't need a $39 customization on your newly bought computer. You don't need to pay us $10 to install norton.
5) Get the names (and employee # if possible) of everyone you talk to about the product you are going to buy (if the product is expensive). This is because 9 times out of 10 you will be told something completely wrong and when you go back to complain, they will say, "Who did you talk to?" If you have a name, you have power.
I'm actually thinking about writing a "How not to get screwd" guide, but I doubt anyone would believe me on half of the things BB did to customers. They'd probably just say, "You're trying to promote your site, OMGZ!" - Zonkzor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Have fun trying to use that warrenty. Read some of the horror stories online.
- TinFoil209, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Best Buy BEFORE Apple Specially Trained Personnel *> Me: "Can you show me how to put this camcorder in still frame picture mode?" Sales Guy: "Umm I'm not sure, but I know the extended warranty plan covers tech support. Can I get a camera bag for your new camcorder?"
Best Buy AFTER Apple Specially Trained Personnel *> Me: "Can you show me how to put this camcorder in still frame picture mode?" Apple Sales Guy: "I'm not sure about that function but I do know that this camera can be connected to iMovie to make great movies! Can I get you some extra memory for your new iMac?"
:( Dammed if you, dammed if you don't. - sapo916, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4You expect them to know all the functions of every Camera?
- Berkana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3True. Most folks working in retail are students who don't care; they just want to make a buck on the side.
Props to Apple for doing this. If Apple had done this way back, Apple might have maintained a higher market share for longer.
By doing this now, when Macs are in demand, Apple stands a chance to really grow its share. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Maybe we should start our Best Buy Horror Stories list.
- posure, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3All major retail chains have reps from the various companies. Working at CompUSA we had permanent reps from Apple, HP, and Epson. We also had reps from Canon, Intel, and Microsoft and other companies come in occassionally.
- ferrari_f50, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5If you are a student, just go through the apple store online, you get a discount. 10% I believe.
- 4NDr01D, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3best buy sucks, they are some of the most clueless sales people pushing crap to the bottom feeding masses
- lupinglade, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That its time to start paying your employees?
- akira117, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4People that work at BB are usually dumb as a rock.
I'd say its a good move on their part. - tacos4me, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I've found that Best Buy employees generally don't know ***** about computers, but they are usually very knowledgeable about TVs, steros and the such.
- felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I wish I could say that having Apple reps instead of Best Buy employees would make a big difference.
There once was a time when that would have been the case, but has anyone tried to shop at an Apple store recently?
I took a friend of mine to the new Apple store on 5th Avenue in New York to buy an iMac. She's a programmer, has worked with UNIX since the early '90s, and knew what she was looking for. The first thing out of the salesman's mouth was "do you know about AppleCare? It's only $169 extra."
She had just finished explaining that she didn't care about warranties, as she was planning to crack it open herself if anything went wrong.
When she asked about replacing the hard drive, his response was to launch into a canned pitch for dot Mac - explaining what a great solution it was for scheduled backups!
Finally, after explaining that we didn't want to hear any more about extended warranties, AppleCare, or dot Mac (and no, we didn't want a 'free' printer if it meant having to mail in for a rebate), we convinced him to just ring up the iMac she wanted.
Unfortunately, the price was going to be $300 more than it was when she checked it online, because there was a premium cost for RAM if it was in-store rather than mail order.
All my memories of convivial Apple computer shops with honest, bearded computer lovers selling you what you actually wanted went out the window. We left the store empty handed, and she's currently putting together an Ubuntu box instead. - posure, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is obviously not the first company who has done this (HP, Epson, Microsoft, Intel, etc)...but speaking from experience at CompUSA where we had a permanent Apple rep employed by Apple, it was very nice to have them around. We had a good staff, but lets be honest, most people use Windows and they don't know $#!T about the features in a Mac, including the normal staff. Having the Apple rep around did help to educate everyone else though, and they were certainly not the only person selling Macs out of our store once everyone learned from them.
- PSUstoekl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2honestly, what does this say about Best Buy's reputation, and their salespeople? I, personally, have never been impressed by the veracity or helpfulness displayed by those at my local franchisee. It doesn't surprise me that apple would make this move, especially since best buy's "graphics card" selection is absolutely laughable. As in, they will actually sell unsuspecting people Radeon 5500s, thinking it'll run Oblivion. Oh, poor souls.
I'm glad to see that apple's branching out like this, but best buy is always just such a let-down. - KSUdesigner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"It's a student loan, now, IANABanker, but I'm pretty sure that student loans have no interest."
I WISH! I've started paying back my student loans now and most of the payment goes to the interest accrued...only a little to the principle owed. I don't think you're going to find a loan out there that doesn't collect interest...that's kinda the point of a loan...the lender has to make something off of it somehow, otherwise what is their benefit of lending you the cash? - sapo916, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That description contradicts itself
Apple has decided to use its own specially-trained employees in order to sell its Macs at Best Buy retail stores rather then rely on the regular Best Buy employees.
Then you say
Apple will train select Best Buy employees using Apple Solution Consultants to sell their products.
...If you dont get what im talking about please visit some other site designated for Idiots. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Reward Zone has become a joke. When they started it (I got it for free, why would I pay to get a discount?), you got a point for every cent you spent and needed about 12,500 points (125 dollars) to get a 5 dollar certificate. Then, they sent out their "what customers want," "new and improved" Reward Zone change of plan (which I still got for free after letting it lapse, they renewed it, "on the house"). After surveying their customers, it appears that people wanted to spend more to get the same reward (now 150 dollars to get a 5dollar certificate). Just a couple days ago, I got their latest offer. NO FEE (whoopppeee!) and now, you get a "point for NEARLY every dollar you spend" (huh? nearly? so... they round down now?) and you need ONLY 250 points to get a 5 dollar certificate. Thanks Best Buy! In two years you (at least) doubled what it would take to get a whopping 5 bucks (2%!).
The people that work there, for the most part, are morons and I have heard them give really bad advice to people. I really wanted to say something, but you know, that just wasn't my style. If you haven't been to this site, you should take a look at it. http://www.bestbuysux.org ... if you think you are the only one who hates best buy, you will be pleasantly surprised to see that you are not. - Berkana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The specialy trained folks will be in the Mac coral. They won't be everywhere, taking over Best Buy.
In any case, Apple's own trained experts are simply there to counter the exact opposite tendancy, where the employees know next to nothing about the Mac, nor its advantages. Historically, Macs sold very poorly in mixed environments because the salespeople only knew about PC solutions to computing problems.
If Best Buy can hitch a ride or get a slice of Apple's success, more power to them. This is beneficial to both parties. - cal0140, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@ilyaq
best buy employees don't work on commission - xtr3m, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah, so is it "Apple has decided to use its own specially-trained employees" or "Apple will train select Best Buy employees using Apple Solution Consultants"?
Is Digg giving Apple too much credit again? - Thorlord, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2lol, my god they will need it, the best buys around here are so big that they dont even TRY to sell stuff anymore.
hell i shopped there only because i knew exactly what i wanted, not EVER did somone at best buy ever ask me if i needed help, or if they could help me, i always had to hunt somone down or wait in line..
mac is wize to get some of their own reps selling mac's in stores, it will ensure that they actually get sold rather than are passed by as some other product to get confused about if you want to buy.
comp USA and Circuit city seem to do better in the PR department, ive been helped at both much more often than at Best buy. then again i dont need help, but the old people who dont know computers do. - FeebleGenius, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Great move on Apples part.
I worked at Best Buy back in 98 when they brought in iMacs (I was 17). No one knew anything about them save myself, and my knowledge was minimal. It's worth noting that the only reason I had ANY knowledge of the product was because my mom was a teacher, she had a mac, and I started poking around with it out of curiousity. Management didn't know much about them either, and they actually DISCOURAGED us from selling them since we only had 1 service plan that would cover them, and it was only 8% the cost of the unit, AND we didn't have many high-margin accessories to sell with them.
With employees that actually know something about Macs other than the fact that they have 1 mouse button, they will sell quite well.
Oh, and yes, all that you hear is true (or at least it was back in 98.) Bestbuy demands that their empoyees sell the highest margin items no matter what the customer needs. They tell you it's what they need, but in reality they're just telling their employees whatever it takes to convince them to lie to customers. Their business is built on a shaky-ass foundation, and it will eventually catch up with them. - djnick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2who cares if apple trains them, they still wont give a rats ass. Bestbuy employee make a little over minimum wage with no comission, so its like like they have to sell to make money, so chances are you will find another employee that just wanders around and uses their employee discount
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