What is Digg?Sponsored by Best Buy
Meet Keith: Best Buy Employee and Possible Singing Sensation. view!
www.youtube.com/bestbuy - One employee proves he has the chops and the passion to star in Best Buy’s holiday campaign.
381 Comments
- Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+90The only people who shop at Best Buy these days are the people who don't know better. It's a pity too, because they *used* to be a great store.
- PLUMCRAZY, on 10/12/2007, -5/+90People who purchase PSPs need to stop. It is the worst investment you can make.
If you add up all the money you would save not buying PSPs for all your appliances, when one fails you can replace it and still be ahead of the game. Think of it as self-insuring. - lnf69, on 10/12/2007, -1/+78I completely disagree with you. Maybe we can continue using digg as a way of protecting consumers and putting pressure on any commercial businesses that are scamming the public. Much like Best Buy, who make promises that they can't keep.
A great use of Digg!!! - fishinabarrel, on 10/12/2007, -2/+73You will all like this story. A friend had a laptop that had a defective battery and the extended warranty. Best Buy said naaah, it works fine. He said fix it. They said no. He left and returned with a full sized tour bus and parked it in front of the yellow concrete barriers, partially blocking the entrance. Best Buy was not happy. They threatened to tow the bus. He said go ahead. Turns out that the only way to tow a tour bus of that size is via a special tow truck in Tenessee, about 7 hours away. They called the police. The police couldn't do anything either. They then replaced his laptop and he drove away.
So you see, Best Buy will work with you. - Guard, on 10/12/2007, -3/+69"Are you a scientologist by chance?"
lol what? (And no, agnostic btw)
I was just saying, he spent hours of his own time across the span of the last month trying to get this problem fixed that should be a problem. I'm not saying "He needs a million dollars for this grave injustice," I'm saying he should be at least compensated for his time/gas used in resolving this conflict. All he's getting right now is a broken TV and harassment by his local Best Buy for trying to get it fixed. If you feel thats a fair deal, then fine. - ShuttleDisaster, on 10/12/2007, -2/+67"Thank you for your patients"
wow - Hickeroar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+49blackthorne-
PSP are the biggest ripoff in the retail industry. CNN even had a great article on why they're one of the WORST investments you can EVER make... Best buy was targetted as the worst offender by far. - MrStylz, on 10/12/2007, -11/+57Most credit cards double manufacturer's warranty...why even buy the BB one in the first place?
- Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -9/+53"They're what's wrong with Retail in America."
Yeah, damned American retail cong.. oh wait this happened in CANADA. - Guard, on 10/12/2007, -4/+47I only buy extended warranties through manufacturers personally, but that sucks for him. Seems Best Buy is starting to get a lot more press about their bad customer service.
Hope the US Best Buy gets the management changed at his and gets him a new TV though. Hell there should be a lawsuit for personal distress too and the time he had to waste to contact all those BB higher-ups. - Hickeroar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+36Does canada have their own version of the "better business bureau?" I know I'd be giving them a call regarding BOTH companies.
- SpacemanSpiff, on 10/12/2007, -1/+31I don't know that's worse than this line from the end of his letter: "Unfortunately, 20/20 vision is hindsight."
I believe the phrase he was going for is: Hindsight is 20/20. - Sphonix, on 10/12/2007, -2/+32Wow. Typical retail idiocy and poor quality technology. This guy's really getting screwed over by these people, nearly a month and still not corrected.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Hey do you really think it's just the number of diggs that determines which articles make it to the front page? Could it be, that in addition to the number of diggs an article gets the time frame that the article gets those diggs has an effect? Maybe 26 diggs in 4 minutes is sufficient to push an article to the top, but 26 diggs over 4 days is not.
- noamchomskeet, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22No you are right, bestbuy is really nice to their "own" employees. During the entire PS3 craze, I called my local bestbuy to find out if they are selling PS3's and the lady on the phone said they were, so I rushed down there to get one.
When I arrived, the manager told me they weren't selling any, and weren't planning on it. Later, I find out that the manager just opened up the sales of PS3's, but said only 20 gig ones were available.
While I waited in line to purchase my 20 gig, I saw they had all the 60 gig version sitting in the back behind some other boxes. Then some bitch in front of me signals to her boyfriend aka. bestbuy employee and he brings out a 60 gig for her. I go up the register and ask them why they are doing this and of course the guy plays dumb and says they never had any 60 gigs. Then I ask him why did the register rang up at $630 dollars for the girl in front of me, when all PS3's were $500.
He again played stupid and I soon realized how bestbuy hooks up each other at the expense of real customers. - lordkenthegreat, on 10/12/2007, -7/+27How incompetent, you do not transport a TV with the screen facing down. Those Best Buy employees should go smack themselves.
- MrBlackthorne, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23I'm not defending Best Buy's PSP. I'm just saying that if you buy an expensive piece of equipment that is not easy to service yourself, (see: DLP - the light engine is $1000 a pop) you're taking a gamble that may end up costing you more than the PSP. Best Buy's PSP may suck, but it still makes them legally responsible to repair your item if it breaks. Personally, I **WOULDN'T** buy a TV at Best Buy, but wherever I bought a new TV, I'd be buying some sort of extended warranty. If I was buying, say, a desktop computer, I wouldn't buy an extended warranty, because I would know I can fix it myself for cheaper than the warranty. DLP TV is a whole other ballgame.
- ThePerp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19As long as the GM doesn't subscribe to Internet Tough Guy Magazine, that might work.
- kloda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18Two years ago, we bought a laptop. The Geek Squad guys were insistent on selling us Norton AntiVirus because it wasn't installed and they just couldn't let a computer go out of the store unprotected. I said it was installed and that yes, it would expire after a short amount of time but why pay twice for the same thing. They still insisted it was not installed and said I could buy it and if it wasn't installed, to just return it without issue. The guy then pulled a copy from under their counter and put it in the box. The problem was, the container for the CD was unsealed. I protested that we should get another one because of the EULA but he insisted there wouldn't be an issue. Of course, NAV was installed and when I took it back, they refused to take it because the seal was broken. And this was the same guy we spoke to earlier in the day. After much protesting and my question what else was unsealed behind the counter amongst threats to contact the SPA, I was given a refund.
At the beginning of last December, my brother and I bought a Compaq desktop system and we were in something of a hurry. The Geek Squad guy said that it was store policy for them to take the computer out of the box and set it up for us. If we refused to have this done, we could not return the computer for refund. I told him that as part of my work, I've set up hundreds of computers and would rather do it myself so I know how things went. Besides, given the incident above, we didn't want them taking any CDs from the box. I demanded to see the written store policy on this. He said he would get the manager. Another sales rep came up and started telling us once again that this was BB store/corporate policy and again, I asked to see the printed statement for this given that right above his head was a big poster telling me I could return the computer within 14 days. He finally told me it wasn't store policy but something they liked to do. "So, you lied to me." was my response. He started hemming and hawing.
My father was looking for a printer and called me to ask about one model, saying the BB sales rep said this particular model was THE best one they sold. Uh, no, Dad, let me show you what to buy..."
I have no problem with offering that service to people. It's a good idea but I support computers for a living. I know what I'm doing and didn't want to hang around the store for 30 minutes more. Plus, the two employees flat out lied to me. That to me is inexcusable. I'll buy CDs, DVDs and games from BB but come TV, computer or other big ticket item purchase time, forget it. I'll buy the TV from a local company that stands behind the the products they sell. - linuxwarz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18I had something like this happen to me with a laptop. I was promised a replacement unit if I could replicate the issue on the laptop, even when I had logs of the hardware failing. When I reproduced the issue, the BB GM turned around and refused to give me a replacement unit.
- gravis86, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21@technopundit
A DLP TV is not a flat panel display. Know your stuff before you talk.
First of all, I'd like to say that the service programs are HIGHLY PROFITABLE. I know; I had access to all of that information when I worked at CompUSA. You have between 10 and 15 percent margin, or profit, on major hardware like TVs. You have between 40 and 80 percent margin on replacement plans. They are very profitable.
They are also underwritten by insurance companies. When something is replaced, the store does not lose the money, except temporarily. They replace the product, and are then reimbursed by the insurance company.
To cut losses, the insurance company employs the cheapest service technicians possible.
Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer in the insurance programs that stores offer and I buy them on everything over 50 dollars. But I am no sucker. I know before I buy.
Laptop: 3000 dollars + 300 for three years replacement THROUGH THE MANUFACTURER = WORTH IT
Before you buy the insurance, know who it is underwritten by. Ask the store manager who does the repair work. At the CompUSA I worked at, we employed reputable local service companies that were certified by the manufacturers. That's the best way to go.
Your service also greatly depends on the local management. I was fortunate to have the regional manager in my store, so problems escalations were very easy. Not like they ever really happened, though, because the other managers in the store were hand-picked by him.
Anyway, thought you might need some info before you put your foot in your mouth again. - spiritamx79, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18my dad bought a Panasonic vacuum from BB a few years back and it was having problems (smelled like the motor was burning up)
took it to them 3 times, and each one was 'nothing wrong - educated customer how to use product' even though you could really smell it, and even see smoke from the machine.
on the 4th time (yes, past their 3 return no lemon policy) my dad was fed up and asked to talk to the manager. the manager was ready to 'teach' my dad how to use the vacuum when my father pulled out his business card (he works for Panasonic as a technical service trainer) and made the manager stumble around like an ass trying to back peddle.
we ended up getting a new vacuum after that. their warranties are jokes. they are pure profit for the store. they don't honor them, and give you a hard time if you try to.
i now avoid best buy like the plague. - walkingdogs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17@technopundit
"Sure, they're nice to look at, but overall manufacture, transportation and setup costs cannot be covered on the impossibly thin profit margins these things sell for."
I was a Best Buy employee for 2.5 years. (only stayed that long due to several raises) and the margin on any high end TV is actually very good. They tend to be the highest margin products other than accessories or car audio products. for example a typical $2200 - $2500 dollar TV can be purchased at employee cost for about $1600 - $2000. thats 20% margin right there and employee cost is supposedly 5% over the stores cost(although i think they are shady with even those figures). Plus the margin on a PSP and the delivery and install service is around 60-85%. This is in comparison to pc's which carry a 3-5% margin. So NO there is not impossibly thin margins on these products which makes stories like this even more infuriating. But hey what do you expect to get from a company run by 18-20 year old kids who work for 8 dollars and hour with no incentive of commission. ***** service. And don't even get me started with the geeksquad.
Have you even worked in a retail setting? I hate typical diggers that post comments with no knowledge of what they are talking about. - logicalnoise, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18You are not alone BEHOLD!
www.bestbuysux.org
Thousands of stories from both employees and customers. - ThePeteStanis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16"Thank you for your patients," is a prediction for when this guy goes off the deep end at the BB store.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14JINX
- Technopundit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Thanks. It's good to see that Abt's employees read digg. BTW, our family was screwed over by Abt's service department years ago. Nobody is bullet-proof.
- mgenovese, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13I submitted a link to this digg story via BestBuy's contact form on their website. Just said "I would take a look at this, and forward to your management", and I pasted the link to this comment page on digg.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=cat12104&type=page
Maybe if enough of us did that, they'd know how many people are reading the author's story and sympathizing. I sure would think twice about buying something at BestBuy, and would never ever get a replacement plan. - lnf69, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Well, I get really pissed off when I hear stories of consumers being lied to.
- noamchomskeet, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15This is why i don't shop at bestbuy anymore. Circuit city is a 100 times better and actually, any other big box store is better than bestbuy. Somewhere along the line, bestbuy forgot how to treat customers and only really enjoys selling thigns to "angel" shoppers, the type of people who buy things without cost in mind, and when it breaks, they just go and buy another one, without any complaints.
On another note, there is nothing worse than giving someone a bestbuy gift card. - KeirGordon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12I hope this gets enough diggs that some Best Buy exec's see it.
- mateo60, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15Someone tell Chompy that Canada is in North America.
- MrBlackthorne, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14This is typical of Best Buy. My folks had almost this exact problem with a Samsung DLP. Their light engine blew. Took a couple months to get it squared away. During that time, the contracted repair guy (who was VERY unprofessional) insisted that he HAD to take the TV. He had it for weeks, never making any progress on the repair, making excuses left and right. They never saw that TV again.
It took screaming and yelling at their local Best Buy store (and many visits) to get a refund. Yes, they actually got a monetary refund for a new TV (which they did not buy at Best Buy), but it took persistence and two months of patience. The only reason Best Buy gave them a refund rather than a new TV is that they no longer had a DLP in the store that would fit their entertainment center, but the newest Samsung 46" version (which they were not yet carrying) would. - BradC, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11"Your case is priority for me, thank you for your patients."
I don't think I would rely on the competence of a "Senior Customer Support Consultant" who can't figure out when to use the word "patience." Sucks for this guy. - fhg1893, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10LOL. This is no surprise what-so-ever. I WORKED for the company that administers Best Buy's PSPs in Canada. The company that Best Buy deals with in Canada, are a well-known American insurance company, largely with no ethics what-so-ever.
When you call 1-866-Best-Buy for service, you're NOT speaking with an official Best Buy representative, they don't even work for Best Buy. The person on the other end of the phone, works for an American insurance company which Best Buy pays to deal with their PSPs. A Canadian PSP is OUTSOURCED, and why anyone would buy a PSP plan from them is beyond me.
About his specific problem, here's the indepth insider analysis:
"December 7th: Best Buy Extended Warranty dispatches discount repair service. XXXXX Ltd sends Dodge Caravan to transport DLP unit to service facility. XXXXX places DLP face-down. Both XXXXX and BB Customer Service insist that TV must be taken in for diagnostics despite my protest that this type of service can be performed in home" -
This is a problem. Normally PSPs for 61' TV's are sold with in-home service contracts. Here's what the rep on the phone did: They found the first repair center that their computer told them was authorized to repair a Samsung PRODUCT, and not necessarily a DLP TV. Mayber they were, but probably not. So the phone rep creates a computerized authorization which gets faxed to the repair folks, in which, the repair folks are allowed to claim $450.00 to the insurance company that the phone rep works for, the same company I used to work for. Since the repair center figures that $450.00 is not enough to repair the TV, they say it has to be brought in, and there's the problem. The insurance company doesn't want to pay very much for decent service, and the repair folks aren't convinced that they can reliably fix the TV for ONLY $450.00. If the insurance company was willing to pre-authorize the repair folks to spend $750, he probably would have had his TV fixed in-house, like it should have been.
"December 11th: Spoke to the night sales manager Mr. Don Pameli and informed him of XXXXX's methods. Explained to him the consequences of transporting a DLP face down and the incompetence of XXXXX Ltd... Told me to wait and see what happens. Upon my insistence he did agree to call XXXXX on Dec. 13th ( he had the 12th off ) to convey my concerns and to ensure any negative effects of improper handling are rectified. He NEVER called XXXXX or myself."
Store managers will tell a customer anything to get them out of their faces, or off the phone. Phone reps normally do the same thing. Store managers also patently don't want to deal with repair folks, as far as the store manager is concerned, that's the insurance company's problem. Store managers in these situations are NOT YOUR FRIENDS! BTW, their name begins, litterally with A-S-S. See if you can figure out which ASS-HATS I'm talking about.
"December 22nd 2006: Contact BB Customer Service and inform them that their failure to address my concerns has ruined my DLP unit. No apology, they just said XXXXX will come and take away my TV again for another 2 weeks. I insist they use someone else that doesn’t use a mini-van. Reply, IT MUST BE XXXXX !!!!!!!!!!"
Again, no surprise. As far as the insurance company is concerned, the repair people are on the hook to get the repair right the first time around. If they don't, it is a contractual obligation between the insurance company, and the repair company that the repair company has to go out and fix the TV again, free of charge. So when the customer calls 1-866-best-buy again for MORE service, the phone rep will create ANOTHER authorization, but will only authorize the company for $0.01. This is called a re-work. The whole idea is to keep the insurance company from paying more money for the same repair. The result is delay, after delay, after delay for the customer.
"IMPORTANT NOTE: the previous lamp replacement and the current blemishes don't count in Best Buys Lemon Warranty Policy. So all this BS counts as a single claim ( 4 claims needed for free product replacement )"
Yup. Accurate to the Nth detail. This is the insurance company again saying "Screw the customer, we don't want to pay the claim." If they count the repairs, they have to buy too many new TV's for customers. See how that works?
Guy talks to store managers some more.
Store managers DO have store operating budgets that they can use to replace customer's deffective products, but they will almost never do this. As far as the store manager is concerned, product problems AFTER the sale are a problem for the insurance company. Here's another hint, they have the letters "Assur" in their name. Oh, and you know those people who won't let you cancel the optional insurance you were bullied into for your credit card, where it's like $0.99 cost for $100.00 of balance? Those people used to work three or four rows down from me.
Life lesson: PSPs are a total rip-off. PRPs, (product replacement plans) used to be pretty decent, especially on Ipods under $250.00. When I left, the insurance company had re-introduced sending the product in for evaluation before we would issue a gift card. Here's how the PRP used to work (and why I normally LOVED doing PRP calls):
Caller: My Ipod is *****.
Phone Rep: Did you charge it?
Caller: Yup, it's still *****.
Phone Rep: It's under Apple warranty, did you want to try to ***** with Apple, or did you want a gift card?
Caller: I want the gift card. Do I have to send in the product?
Phone Rep: Nope, you do whatever you like with the ***** Ipod. Okay, you know that your PRP is disposable right, so you're going to loose the $15.00 you paid for the PRP right?
Caller: That's cool, send me a gift card. But say, didn't it ever occur to you guys that I could be lying when I tell you my Ipod is *****, that maybe I just want to sell boxed Ipods on e-bay for an insane profit?
Phone Rep: Yes it did, but we apparently don't give a *****.
Caller: So you're just going to take me at my word that my Ipod is *****, you have no follow up questions or anything?
Phone Rep: You betcha. Besides, I already asked you if you charged it and that's good enough for us. Still want the gift card?
Caller: Yes.
Phone Rep: Okay, done.
But that might have changed since I left, I don't really know. Anyway, the next time a Best Buy rep offers you a PSP, and tells you that everything is covered, you should immediately leave the store, and never go back. - Hickeroar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10I think my BB experience is worth mentioning. It's minor but shows the nature of the beast.
I bought a 360 in November (22nd I believe). When i was checking out, the salesperson asked if I wanted the one year PSP for my new 360. I said no. They said "are you sure? it's free replacement if it breaks." I said "Yeah, I'm sure." About that time ANOTHER sales person walks up and says "You really should consider the PSP for this item. If you get the three red blinking lights a month after the warranty goes out, you can just bring it back and we'll replace it." I repeated that I didn't want the PSP. Later in the sale, this other guy still standing there AGAIN asks if I'm sure I don't want it. Four markets, four denials. LEAVE ME ALONE.
I walked out of the store with my 360 and explained to my wife that Microsoft had recently said that they were fixing the "3 red lights" problems for free, even outside the warranty, and would be refunding all the money to anyone who paid for it already. The guy had been completely full of crap and feeding me a "pre-recorded line." Less than a month later Microsoft extended the warranty to a full year anyway.
That's the most I've been hassled. I bought a 32" LCD HDTV from them and they asked once, I said no, and that was it. I'll buy from Best buy since they have good sales sometimes (my HDTV still goes for $300 more than I bought it for), but I'll never buy one of their service plans. - JoeMerchant, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12LocalGuyWithAShop has had our MacPro in for service for over 60 days now, no progress yet.
NotImpressedWithDisposableElectronicsDesign
What you don't hear about are the thousands of cases daily where BigBoxRetail just takes the product back and hands out a new one. Most times it's not a problem for the store since they can charge back to the vendors. - drmangrum, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10They tried to sell me a $8service plan on $15 logitech microphone. I looked at the sales person like they were an idiot and they just said "Yeah, i know. I have to ask no matter how dumb the deal is." Priceless.
- Hickeroar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11lord-
It wasn't the best buy guys. Best buy outsourced the repair to a 3rd party who screwed up the TV. Now neither company will take responsibility. - Feanor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9USB cable at BB - $30
USB cable at Local Retailer - $6.99
Saving $23 - Priceless. - mateo60, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10"thank you for your patients."
Is Best Buy now based in Nigeria? If so, it's ALL starting to make sense. - FunkyWitDaSysTm, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11@mrblackthorne
if buying an expensive piece of equipment is unwise without some PSP, and best buy's PSP screw you over, wouldn't the next logical step be to shop at another store? circuit city will price-match anything. well, that is, if they have circuit city in canada.
ps. i don't know about circuit city's policies of late--- the could be just as bad, but years ago they were very good. - lnf69, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Maybe BB honored that promise to you because you were an employee. How many times, that you know of; did a BB manager procure the same treatment for a customer who wasn't aware of that policy?
- DeepDoo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9thats a lie, I read digg enough to know that macs dont ever break
/sarcasm
you should do what ever consumer has the right to do, take your money somewhere else.
60 days is unacceptable for any reason.
I used to work at a PC repair shop. 48 hours was the maximum turnaround for any reason and zero comebacks was the expectation.
- CingleMolt, on 10/12/2007, -6/+13Hmmm... what continet is Canada on again?
- brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Ugh, seriously, why do people bother with store extended warranties? Knowing that these things are just a scam to inflate the store's profit margin should be common knowledge. Usually the manufacturer provides much superior service, and a lot of them offer extended warranty plans. Since Best Buy doesn't have a full-fledged repair service for all their products, they have to make deals with local contractors. I can see the creation of that dreaded PSP now.
"We're bleeding money here. Competition is so tight, and Wal-Mart is undercutting our prices by huge margins. What are we going to do about it?"
"What about extended warranties?"
"Extended Warranties? What are those?"
"I think Sears or somebody came up with them. What you do is charge people assloads of cash for an extension on their warranty. Most stuff breaks down in the first year anyway if it's defective, the manufacturer ends up handling it. So we'll end up getting a pile of extra money for absolutely nothing!"
"Sounds great, what are the downsides?"
"Well, it's sort of dishonest, since all it boils down to is a legal bait-and-switch tactic. Customer comes in with ad flyer expecting to spend X dollars and ends up spending double that with all the high-margin accessories and service plans we make our pea-brained monkey lowlifes push on them"
"What if people don't like that?"
"We won't make money off the people that aren't going to buy it anyway, so ***** em"
"You do realize we'll have to follow-through on some of these service calls, right? Hiring a professional repair team costs a lot of money"
"Yeah, I know. That's why we just farm it out to lowest-bidding lowlife contractors without even checking their credentials or holding them to any sort of standard."
"That sounds brilliant. I'm giving you a promotion. Let's have gay sex." - WarMace, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9The randomness here is hilarious, i chuckled.
- profOblivion, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9@Hickeroar
http://lookup.bbb.org/
The same BBB has offices in Canada. - lnf69, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I'd agree with you if BB and stores like them didn't make promises that they never intend to keep. Don't try selling services that will not be honored.
-
Show 51 - 100 of 383 discussions
The Digg Toolbar for Firefox lets you Digg, submit content, and keep track of Digg even when you're not on the Digg site. Download the official 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is