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122 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+31Another good article that will get mocked by the local slack-jaws here at digg.
- richid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14I have to totally agree. I've worked at both Best Buy and Circuit City (high school and college, respectively, so cut me some slack) when they weren't commission based. It doesn't matter how much product you get out the door, but rather the extended warranties and worthless accessories you can tack on. As such, you tend to get people who can sell anything and everything, rather than a knowledgeable and informed sales teams. I worked in Home A/V, and monster cables were the holy grail. You could have sold a dozen $6K plasma displays but been reprimanded if you didn't get service or monster with them. Ultimately, I would say that this crap makes up a good deal of their profits. I ended up leaving these stores because I couldn't push myself to lie to customers and tell them they needed something when I truly did not believe in it (read: monster cables, but that's for another story.)
- jebo4jc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Unfortunately, unless somebody is brave enough to order online through Dell or etc, a brick and mortar store is the only option. (Not that Dell is much better, IMO)
I used to sell PCs at Best Buy, and I can say that my experience mimicks what the author found. It's really a crap shoot--you might get a guy who is very helpful and knowledgeable, and who looks out for your best interests, or you might get a guy who was in the refridgerator section last week, who is merely looking to sell you warranties and overkill accessories.
I think the main culprit here is the store managers. At Best Buy, we didn't make commissions (2 years ago, anyway), or bonuses or comps or anything. However, when we didn't sell the highest level of warranty, or convince the customer they need a RAM upgrade or a $200 battery backup for their $500 computer, along with $150 of ink for their $50 printer, we got blasted by the managers. I hope there isn't as much negative pressure on salespeople there anymore. - soogy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16Time to mock it... Not. [H] always has the best articles. They're interesting, insightful and other things that start with "in."
I have to say, though, Circuit City lucked out and had a TECHNICIAN filling in for a sales rep on that particular day.
And, I have to quote it.... "After we stood by an eMachines T3410 system for five minutes, we finally had to approach a sales representative and ask for assistance. She left for a brochure and returned with the brochure for the T3418, not the machine we were looking at. She handed us the brochure and then walked away. After flagging down a second Best Buy representative and asking about upgrading the memory in the particular system, he explained we could upgrade the memory, but he didn%u2019t know the price. He told us he would find out, and promptly left. He never returned with the information." Not exactly what I'd call the "best buy." - SoccerBoy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15A lot of people buy computers from B&M stores... that's why there are so many of them?!? Dumb ass.
Secondly, Best Buy is by far the worst story I have ever shopped in for electronics (TV, computer stuff, etc.), and Circuit City and Comp USA are pretty good - just what I think. - PantherX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Yeah, the margin on cables is 80-90%, which is one of the reasons the printer makers don't bundle the cables... the stores don't want them to when they can make such a big profit.
Also the reason digital cameras don't come with a lot of memory. - PantherX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10As someone who works the computer dept at a retailer (Staples) and formerly worked at the cesspool known as Computer City, I can attest to all of this. I hate being the only one in the store who can answer questions. I also hate it when people come in looking for high end video cards and I have to tell them that all I have is midrange cards.
Two really bad things can happen during these 'sales' conversations:
1. They'll ask something I don't know... so I say I don't know. Usually they just go "OK" but occassionally I'll get "Can you find me someone who DOES know?" in a snotty attitude... at which point I usually say "I'm the guy they all come to find when you ask them that." or if they are being particularly rude or smell bad, I'll find the resident stoner in the store who knows nothing.
2. They know everything. "My friend told me that I need a lot of RAM, so give me something with a large hard drive." and when you try to correct them they won't have any part of it. Stuff like that... "I don't want AMD, Intel is better! My friend said so!" Makes me a sad panda.
Anyway, I guess my point is that if these people were computer geniuses or had any clue, they'd be working somewhere with better pay, and managment that actually appreciates them, which from what I understand is something you don't find at any of these stores. I just work there PT while I'm in school. Pays for gas money. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11All I learnt from this is that geeks like to buy computers from other geeks rather than sales critters.
- DamienThorn, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12It's nice to see some *real* reviews and not some crappy ones like on Cnet or anatech or something.
- blacktigers91, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12I think this was a great Article. Good job, [H] Consumer.
Oh, and nuclearpenguins, your comment could be considered SPAM. - brom42, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11I go there to ask them questions that they don't know. My favorites are:
1) How many ram slots does it have and
2) Does this computer have an AGP slot. Even with computers that are advertised as PCI-E, you'd be surprised how many sales people say yes. - lydon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I agree, BB sucks for buying a computer. My laptop crashed on a Saturday and I have to have a laptop, so I went the next day to Best Buy and bought another one. I had to stand there for 30 minutes before I could even get anyone's attention, then when I finally got someone, they told me they would have to find a sales clerk, so that took another 15 minutes.
When I finally did get someone to go get the computer I wanted, I was asked AT LEAST 5 TIMES if I wanted to purchase the extended warranty, they will not take no for an answer.
Though I did leave with a very nice laptop (hp dv1550se) at a pretty good price, the service there really blows and anyone that didn't know much about computers would have left with that overpriced extended warranty because they make you think that your computer will not boot up without it. - Nighthawke, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12Ah sorry, but the pressure has increased sevenfold since then.
http://www.bestbuysux.org/ - grimmda, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9I don't even know anyone anymore that goes to the B&M Stores to buy a PC... The reasons found in the article are probably why :)
- thewebguy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7i'm a little surprised at the results, especially comp usa. everyone i've known who has told me about their comp usa experience has been much worse..
- PantherX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+795% of the people on this site can't either. Hell I remember learning all that in a class, but I never bothered to remember any of it.
- UNL1M1T3D, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I just started at Staples and for the most part from what I can see, most of our electronics staff in our store is actually pretty knowledgeable and if their is something they don't know they will ask someone who does. I can't speak for all Staples stores, but I know ours is pretty good. It's cool because when we have downtime we can take product knowledge tests on the companies intranet, so if I need to polish my digital camera selling skills I can. That and most of us are dorks and will go home and read reviews on the products that we carry.
- fani, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Give them a break. A tech savvy person like yourself wouldn't be working at BB, CC or CU or other stores.
If they don't know you complain.
If they outsource to India to someone who knows, you still complain.
Get off your high horse and work with them rather than trying to prove you're superior to them. - jumjum, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I had some work done at CompUSA. They unintentionally wiped my HD out, I had two HDs in the comp, they didn't copy anything over, and the whole thing was a very amateurish job. I would not recommend CompUSA or Best Buy in an x amount of years.
- joel2600, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6the sales people are going to be different for every store and every locale. i think that is a large part of the shopping experience in a store.
how they act, how knowledgable they are, etc.
that's a really hard thing to generalize - loup, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Yeah, Circuit City probably did really luck out on having the technician filling in for the sales person.
I do have to say though, even though the constant attempts to upsell at Circuit City are a bit annoying, I've never left there feeling like I couldn't get help from a sales person. - dWhisper, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5You need to get out more; retail sales have been growing far faster than direct sales for systems. It was a very interesting article, especially from a prespective of recommending people. I always push my relatives to just go pick up a system like this, instead of either building it our buying a home-built. You might get a better deal, but I don't want to be a personal tech. A warranty can make all of the difference.
In my experience, the service at any one of these places can swing back and forth. The best and the worst experience I've ever had came at the same Circuit City. One visit, I had a guy going out of his way to help me find all the components I needed. Another time, I stood waiting for 15 minutes for someone to pull a locked item for me, while there were 20+ employees standing around their customer service desk talking. Not a meeting, just chatting. Needless to say, I purchased the $600 item from a Best Buy down the block. It all depends on the people working there, not always the store. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5You might not have a problem ordering, but their parts are by far the crappiest in the market.
That's why they're so cheap, and that's where the bravery comes in. I've yet to see a Dell last more than 2 years without any major problems. - sergio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Unless I'm buying an Apple or laptop, in which case I order directly from the manufacturer, I tend to custom make my PCs. However, in general, I've always experienced better customer support from Circuit City then Best Buy, even if they tend to be slightly more expensive.
I've returned products to Best Buy then cross the street to buy the same thing at Circuit City, and in one case filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Got a free $50 gift card that way. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I totally agree...seems like a lot of self-stroking here.
I'm guessing that for a fair number of people who live outside of cities, these stores are the only stores around where people new to computers can walk in, talk to someone for advice, but a moderately priced PC. I still think it's that case that a families first computer is bought in a store and not online (this is the reason why Gateway opened their stores like five years ago.) - jsleno, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@richud
Yeah, I used to work at Computer City (anybody remember them?). Sales were commissions-based, and the highest commissions were on the closeouts and extended warranties. We actually had a quota of how many extended warranties we were to sell. You had to balance how bad you wanted to meet your quota against how annoyed the customer got while you were trying to sell it to them. - UNL1M1T3D, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Yeah I am pretty sure I would have to go get someone on that question. Here is the kicker though, if you knew what that meant I am pretty sure you wouldn't ask for my help.
- RickySan65, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4How does that make you dork?, I'd rather buy something from a dork then some jockstrap who hasn't got a clue about what he is selling.. And believe me there's less "dorks" out there then the opposite.. which means you're doing a fine job ;)
- adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The Best Buy part sounds 100% right.
I'm not saying all the stores are like that, but all the ones that get their montly sales goals and get to goto all the "events". Our dept. manager used to teach us if they don't come in REAKING of money, and only hang around the emachine section then let them walk. They might buy the computer, but odds are they won't get any attatchments (ink, cables, service plan, battery backup, anti-virus install, ect...) so it wasn't worth best buys time to even screw with them. It was commen practice in my store to pull someone off a sale in the emachine area and get them into a sale with someone that was looking at a sony or hp. - PantherX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5haha, I just sent a guy to Newegg on Saturday.
- Drahknon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I've always liked CompUSA better than the rest. Most of the salespeople seem knowledgeable and friendly, without being pushy. Best Buy, however, is the opposite--they're tech-stupid and alternately incredibly pushy or MIA.
- UNL1M1T3D, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I don't mind helping people one bit, and in fact I really enjoy being able to find a computer that fits that persons needs. It is just more difficult if someone comes in to where you work thinking they already know a lot about computers, but have the information all wrong. It is kind of a lose lose situation, because if you try and correct them they get all defensive of themselves or the person that gave them that information, and if you just agree with what they say and send them home with a computer with a huge hard drive thinking that is going to give them a lot of speed, they are going to come back bitching at you.
'Give them a break. A tech savvy person like yourself wouldn't be working at BB, CC or CU or other stores.'
Ever think some of us are still in college trying to get that better job? Plus I think it would be difficult to outsource retail workers to India, since you kind of need them right here in America. I think you should get off your high horse and go work retail. - UNL1M1T3D, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Dang I didn't even realize that you worked at Staples PantherX. Yeah when I was browsing our graphics card section I was like WTF "Where are the higher end cards?", but it was explained to me by one of our managers that since a lot of the computers we sell are to businesses, it doesn't make sense to stock a lot of high end cards. Oh well looks like I will have to recommend Newegg for people looking for graphics cards.
- jk_baller23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Maximum PC had a similar article, so I'll give this a read. Always interesting. Plus, I heard one guy at Best Buy tell a customer that there is NOT a difference between a flat screen monitor and an lcd monitor.
- PantherX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yeah, to clarify my post... the electronics guys can answer 90% of what you throw at them... I get the other 10%
- justinvt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3While it would basically be impossible to hire people with the proper know-how to work at these stores for economic reasons, you gots to admit that there should at least be ONE person in the store who can explain what the advertised benefits of each model are. If they use LightScribe as a selling point, someone should know what it is. Anyway, I pretty much agree with you.
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I buy from the Austin Fry's because it has the best selection of stuff bar none for the do-it-yourselfer (plus they have plenty of other non-computer goodies). I like the brick 'n mortar experience because you can look at things up close and get a better feel for quality, size, etc., plus you get your stuff RIGHT NOW instead of waiting a few days for UPS.
- amandaw33, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@jebo4jc
"Unfortunately, unless somebody is brave enough to order online through Dell or etc," -- I've never had a problem ordering online from Dell... I think it's very clear you get what you choose, actually. The trick is for less knowledgeable people to have someone help them choose what they need. - thelastknowngod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2dude. i worked at compusa in jersey a few months ago. if the kids in these store werent offering service to them by 5 minutes into recomending a system it would be really unusual. we would hammer people to buy this stuff. most of the time people would just buy it to shut us up. we had the best numbers around and we were one of the smaller stores.
this one time a customer was pushed into buying it by the store manager and he got pissed and started yelling at him... "I CAN BUY THIS RIGHT FROM HP AND NOT HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS *****!!" the manager responded, "then take your ***** money elsewhere. we dont need your business."
it was crazy. - AnotherName, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i work at microcenter and this article made me want to vomit. we pay our sales people well, and it shows, granted they'll ask for the service plan, but they know their *****.
I must also say it's not fair to have one sales experience from just one visit to one store in order to suddenly have a review of an entire company with hundreds and hundreds of stores. You'll find good and bad at any retailer, including microcenter. - PabloIV, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Loved the article. As I mentioned above I used to work at CompUSA a couple of years ago, this was back when they had commissions; and it's really a crap shoot. Many of the sales reps were serious techies a couple were even A+, (not too impressive but not bad for a CompUSA sales rep) but they had the social skills of horribly disfigured hermit crabs. The other bunch were sales reps switching jobs from appliance stores who couldn't tell you the difference between windows 98 and windows 97. I once overheard one of them sell an early model G5 claiming it could run any PC game better than any PC ever could. Finally there were literally 3 of us who knew enough about computers to be useful, and were decent enough not to be condescending with clients. When you go into one these stores you have to find one of these guys, funny enough it'll usually be the sales rep of the month, whose picture, at least in my store, was always posted right next to the door.
- gotamd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You left out Newegg ;)
- jeffsiler, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Another great article from [H]ard OCP.
- Psykus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Here's the "printable" version, which is all on one page, no clicking around to get to the rest of the article.
http://consumer.hardocp.com/articleprint.html?art=MTAzOQ==
And no, it won't automatically print when you go to the page. - jebo4jc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I actually wasn't trying to badmouth Dell. Dell is probably OK for a lot of people. I'm just saying that for a lot of our grandparents, parents, etc., ordering anything "online" or over the phone is a scary prospect. They would much rather order from a brick and mortar store where they can touch what they are buying and walk out with a box.
- smithpcrepair, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I work as a tech at CC part-time. The comment of doing your research before going to a store is the best thing I've heard in a while. As a former tech salesman I would get a varying degree of intelligent and mostly unintelligent customers. One of the first questions I asked a customer walking in the technology department was, "Have you researched a certain product for your specific needs?" Most say, "No." and have no clue what they're buying. I don't understand why anyone would drop $100+ before at least researching what the heck it does.
- schleppo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Asking a Best Buy sales rep technical questions about computing hardware is like asking your local McDonald's cashier to explain the pros/cons of beef gene-tampering. Good article, though.
- MadOgre, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2CompUSA wasnt pushy about their TAP?
Some Manager is going to be pissed.
I purchased a laptop last Saturday and when I didn't buy the TAP, they brought out the store manager to try to sell it and basically make me feel like I was making a mistake by not getting it.... like I was taking a risk. And if the computer doesn't turn on - I'd have to deal with HP and they wouldn't take it back.
Hate CompUSA. Farkers. - jacobbp25, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2that article nailed best buy...sales people don't really know a whole lot about computers...but what do you expect for 7.50 per hour
- jayhawk88, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5A good article, but what exactly does it prove? You're always going to find a mix of people who care and know what they're talking about, as well as those who are clueless or don't care, at any random "big box" store like this. Just because they happened to get a good tech at CC and some lousy sales drones at BB does not necessarily mean that you are always going to get superior service at CC.
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