My BestBuy shopping trip wasn't horrible. Have they changed?

kindasmart

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tl;dr My trip to Best Buy wasn't a total shitfest!!! Have they changed?

HardForum discussion of monitor here.



I went to a BestBuy to buy a Samsung S27D590P montior, and the experience was actually pleasant?

It had been a few years since I've been to BestBuy and their price on the monitor I wanted was the same as Amazon/Newegg so I thought, "WTF, I'll give them a shot and be able to pick up monitor right now."

I walked in and the greeter / loss prevention dude barely noticed me. I then noticed a total redesign of the store, darker color scheme, more open and less busy. Nobody came up to me asking if I needed anything. Walked to the center of the store, saw where the computer monitors would be and walked over to them. Still nobody asked me if I needed any help.

I walk withing 8-10' of a BestBuy associate as they were walking in the opposite direction and they slightly nodded to me. Again not asking if I needed any help. Got to the wall and noticed the monitor, looks good. Glance down and see one box on the shelf with the correct model number and looks in good shape, not obviously been dropped, opened/re-taped, etc.

I pick up Samsung box and start toward the register. Again nobody asks me if I need any help and I get to register to buy monitor. Young woman asks me if I want extended warranty with my purchase and I say, "no thanks". She never mentions it again. She tells me to click "no" when the "apply for BestBuy card" comes up on the card swiper terminal and I run my card, sign screen, and take monitor and receipt to exit. Receipt wasn't checked as I walked out of the store.

And I'm outside of BestBuy with my purchase without having to navigate the usual BestBuy BULLSHIT.

Have they changed or was I just lucky?
 
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I've never had a problem with them and actually buy a lot of stuff from then. Just picked up a Samsung 840 Evo tonight for $149.
 
I hate when store clerks ask me if I need help. If I want help then I will ask for it. Since I didn't ask you, that means I don't need help.

I went in there last November and was looking at camera's and someone asked me if I needed help. I also think it can be due to that maybe certain times of the year they want to sell, so they put pressure on employees to attempt to sell more products than at other times of the year? Just a guess.
 
I can understand if clerks repeatedly come up to you, but I don't have any problem with someone asking once if there's anything they can help me with. Just say no and the y never bother you again. Seems like proper customer service.
 
My store has been fantastic. When I bought a $200 shitbox laptop (it's horrible), the guy warned me in an honest way about what I was buying, and after I let him know why (just need it to store photos on vacation) he never made a fuss, and actually told me that buying the $150 warranty would be kind of silly.
They have fixed my good laptop twice in the last year, getting it back to me within 3-4 days with a new screen each time. My camera was fixed under warranty and it only took 1.5 weeks.
And since they started price matching online retailers, I find myself going there more than I order online because it's just easier and if I have to return/exchange something, it's instant gratification.

I really hope they keep this up. I'd hate to have no real electronics store to go to, and HH GRegg does NOT count.
 
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And since they started price matching online retailers, I find myself going there more than I order online because it's just easier and if I have to return/exchange something, it's instant gratification.


I avoided BB like the plague until they started actually making an effort to be competitive with their price matching. Now I have been giving them more business, especially on big appliances that would be hard to return when ordered online (like my Panasonic ST60 plasma). Amazon now charging me tax makes it an even call as BB will price match them for most items.
 
I don't like Best Buy. Proper customer service is them asking if you need help. How did you dress OP? Perhaps you darted to the displays and darted out without looking around? From what I've read, they push real hard to have their workers try to get people to buy warranties, other services, or whatever they can get. If you were in a business suit, I'm sure they'd be flocking at you like vultures. I went there about a month ago or so. They were slobs and unknowledgeable. There was blaring ghetto trash music that made want to leave.
 
Does Best Buy require customers to wear pants or pants analogues? That's kind of a deal breaker for me.
 
tl;dr My trip to Best Buy wasn't a total shitfest!!! Have they changed?

HardForum discussion of monitor here.



I went to a BestBuy to buy a Samsung S27D590P montior, and the experience was actually pleasant?

It had been a few years since I've been to BestBuy and their price on the monitor I wanted was the same as Amazon/Newegg so I thought, "WTF, I'll give them a shot and be able to pick up monitor right now."

I walked in and the greeter / loss prevention dude barely noticed me. I then noticed a total redesign of the store, darker color scheme, more open and less busy. Nobody came up to me asking if I needed anything. Walked to the center of the store, saw where the computer monitors would be and walked over to them. Still nobody asked me if I needed any help.

I walk withing 8-10' of a BestBuy associate as they were walking in the opposite direction and they slightly nodded to me. Again not asking if I needed any help. Got to the wall and noticed the monitor, looks good. Glance down and see one box on the shelf with the correct model number and looks in good shape, not obviously been dropped, opened/re-taped, etc.

I pick up Samsung box and start toward the register. Again nobody asks me if I need any help and I get to register to buy monitor. Young woman asks me if I want extended warranty with my purchase and I say, "no thanks". She never mentions it again. She tells me to click "no" when the "apply for BestBuy card" comes up on the card swiper terminal and I run my card, sign screen, and take monitor and receipt to exit. Receipt wasn't checked as I walked out of the store.

And I'm outside of BestBuy with my purchase without having to navigate the usual BestBuy BULLSHIT.

Have they changed or was I just lucky?



I work at a best buy and have for a long time. The customers are all 50/50.
They never want help until you don't offer to help them ,the ones you offer to help get mad that they are being bothered. The customer mindset has been completely ruined by amazon and new-egg. They want instant gratification and the same prices yet no help until they think about wanting help but don't want to ask for it and don't want to be bothered.

All retail with the exception of walmart are on the slow decline.
 
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I work at a best buy and have for a long time. The customers are all 50/50.
They never want help until you don't offer to help them ,the ones you offer to help get mad that they are being bothered. The customer mindset has been completely ruined by amazon and new-egg. They want instant gratification and the same prices yet no help until they think about wanting help but don't want to ask for it and don't want to be bothered.

All retail with the exception of walmart are on the slow decline.

Yeah....... you shouldn't be working in retail.
 
I don't work instore anymore.
Its a great change of pace.

bestbuy goes out of their way to take care of everyone that walks through their doors. Or at least my Store did. There are some terrible stores out there I'm sure.
 
i've never had an issue with the bestbuy employees asking if i need help.

my problem with bestbuy is the visiting shills for directv or whatever other service they're partnered with constantly following me around.
 
Just say no and they never bother you again. Seems like proper customer service.

Well, been a good long while since I've set foot in a BB, but the whole "never bother you again" thing has always been kind of a pipe dream. I would regularly get badgered about every 5 minutes even though I knew and looked like I knew WTF I was doing there.

Does Best Buy require customers to wear pants or pants analogues? That's kind of a deal breaker for me.

Yeah, probably. That is the big deciding factor, isn't it? Not wear pants and get item in a couple of days or put on pants and get today. Has to be a really sweet item to be worth it.
 
Well, been a good long while since I've set foot in a BB, but the whole "never bother you again" thing has always been kind of a pipe dream. I would regularly get badgered about every 5 minutes even though I knew and looked like I knew WTF I was doing there.
I have bad news for you... There is no visual difference between someone that know what they are doing and someone that does not.
 
lol at the op for appreciating lazy employees. easily satisfied customer ahaha
 
I walk in best buy and I get asked if I need help literally every minute or two. I'm not sure why that's annoying, I just tell them no and they move on. If that is annoying I think bigger issues are at hand.
 
I walked in there last Saturday looking to replace a broken keyboard with some beater model (so I have time to research my replacement, and I get a usable spare).

Not only did I find a decent selection of non-wireless, non-premium keyboards - they also had the decency to charge the same prices as Newegg. I walked out of the place with a $11 Dynex Chinese POS, which was exactly what I was looking for. I would have paid the same (with shipping) online, and would have been forced to wait until Tuesday.

The lines were uncluttered, and nobody tried to sell me a stupid warranty or satellite service. I will be visiting Best Buy again in the future for general accessories.

Can't comment on whether their HDMI cables still cost as much as the TV :D
 
My last purchases were some Kodak AIO printers for 28 cents apiece, and the employees weren't nearly as bad as in the past.
 
Well when i go into best buy office max and so on i always have somebody asking me if i need any help. idk maybe its because i just look and fiddle with models cuz i never buy anything from the stores everythings cheaper online and im not afraid of used stuff either. but its fun to strike up a convo with them just to see how much they actually know :)
 
I can understand if clerks repeatedly come up to you, but I don't have any problem with someone asking once if there's anything they can help me with. Just say no and they never bother you again. Seems like proper customer service.

I agree. If one clerk comes up once and asks, and when I say I don't need help and that's it, I'm fine with that. I think the problem in the past was that multiple clerks would wander between multiple departments so you'd get asked multiple times if you need any help and that is annoying.

I don't like Best Buy. Proper customer service is them asking if you need help. How did you dress OP? Perhaps you darted to the displays and darted out without looking around? From what I've read, they push real hard to have their workers try to get people to buy warranties, other services, or whatever they can get. If you were in a business suit, I'm sure they'd be flocking at you like vultures. I went there about a month ago or so. They were slobs and unknowledgeable. There was blaring ghetto trash music that made want to leave.

It's Phoenix, AZ. It's HOT 7-8 months/year. Shirt and sandels are worn by most people most of the time, regardless of the business. Obviously different areas of the country are different. I did NOT look like a bum. Nobody is wearing a suit on the weekend.

I work at a best buy and have for a long time. The customers are all 50/50. They never want help until you don't offer to help them ,the ones you offer to help get mad that they are being bothered. The customer mindset has been completely ruined by amazon and new-egg. They want instant gratification and the same prices yet no help until they think about wanting help but don't want to ask for it and don't want to be bothered.

All retail with the exception of walmart are on the slow decline.

I do NOT want to be asked 14 times if I need help. If I need/want it I'll walk up to a clerk and ask for it.

lol at the op for appreciating lazy employees. easily satisfied customer ahaha

Don't think they were lazy, I just didn't see that many "working the floor". LP guy as door, gal on register, two guys behind Geek counter and maybe 2 working the floor. And one walking by obviously going somewhere in a hurry. So I wasn't asked if I needed help. Better than being bugged 14 times.

I walk in best buy and I get asked if I need help literally every minute or two. I'm not sure why that's annoying, I just tell them no and they move on. If that is annoying I think bigger issues are at hand.

It's annoying because they don't understand how to not bother paying customers. At least for me it leaves the impression they are desperate for sales.
 
I hate when store clerks ask me if I need help. If I want help then I will ask for it. Since I didn't ask you, that means I don't need help.

I went in there last November and was looking at camera's and someone asked me if I needed help. I also think it can be due to that maybe certain times of the year they want to sell, so they put pressure on employees to attempt to sell more products than at other times of the year? Just a guess.

Two things;


1) Employees ask if you need help because they are there to help, they get paid to ask you if you need any assistance.....they don't know if you know about computers/technology.


2) Best Buy always wants to make money, it has nothing to do with "end of the year close outs!!!" or "SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!!" It has to do with general money making from a company who provides goods/services for profit.



Best Buy has realized that e-tailing is going to make way for the future until something new is created......they are trying to make a hybrid of the two cultures. So, price matching with Amazon and other e-tailers will be a start. Along with seeing/hearing a physical person who can answer some of the customers basic questions.......cannot really get that with Amazon or other e-tailers per-say...

Being nice has always been their forte.....they know that customer services provides an easier opportunity for sales.

Be nice....be informative with out drowning customers in tech jargon......and listen to the customer.


Its basic customer service 101.


You just get pissed because they are asking if you need help with something you already know about "herp derp y I need dis monsta cable dat is 100 dollraz?!!"
 
Lot of babies ITT;


You get upset because other retailers sell services at BB? So you want BB to sell phones but no providers? You want them to sell TV's and not cable providers?

And of course BB is going to ask every customer buying something of value if they want a warranty. Why wouldn't they? Does Apple ask you if you want AppleCare? Does Dell ask you if you want an on-site warranty? Name me a company that doesn't offer a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd party warranty service on hardware and for that matter, software.

How convenient is it truly as a non-tech person to walk in....buy a cell phone with a plan, a tv with cable service, and a stereo system with install all in one building?



You people truly do not know how to open your mind, you're too much into the world revolving around you and your needs and don't realize that the masses define what works and what doesn't, what gets implemented and what doesn't.

Tech-savvy are the minority.......a small spec, get used to being asked if you need help. Get used to being belittled by others......I know I am.



I could rant all day about how stupid all of your naggy little baby comments are about a B&M retailer.....boo hoo those meanies asked me if I want help, it makes me feel incompetent......


There there........there there....
 
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