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Microsoft Expertzone - Retail Employees Only

G

Gorilla

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Sep 14, 2007
Messages
8,546
Hey all, sorry if this isn't the place for this, but it's along the same lines as the Intel RetailEdge which was also posted in this section so yeah...

Anyway, a lot of you probably already know about this but it's new to me and I couldn't find any other threads about it. Microsoft has a retail training website at http://expertzone.microsoft.com and you can get some great stuff for cheap if you just do the stupid quizzes. My favorite thus far is probably the Halo 3 for $9. Gears of War for $9 is pretty nice too. They also have a nice Xbox 360 bundle available right now as well.

The gaming quizzes are probably the easiest because the first few questions are always about the Rating, number of players, and the Genre of the game.

It's funny, of all the times the MS Rep came into my BestBuy she never mentioned this site. She did give us pens though, lol.

Anyway, remember that you must be an employee of one of the eligible companies (BestBuy, etc...)

Oh and I got a $25 gift check from www.retailaccess.com not to long ago as well. Not to mention the free copies of Norton 360, Norton Internet Security, etc.

Heh, all of these deals almost make up for the crappy pay I get from BestBuy.
 
Yeah, from what I've read, the deals aren't as good as they used to be, but that seems true of a lot of places. Just like on MS live club Vista used to be a fraction of what it is now.

Oh well, you can still get some nice deals.
 
JapaneseGorilla said:
Yeah, from what I've read, the deals aren't as good as they used to be, but that seems true of a lot of places. Just like on MS live club Vista used to be a fraction of what it is now.

Oh well, you can still get some nice deals.
Click to expand...

The deals definitely aren't what they used to be. Only windows live onecare for productivity?? No more office or OS software at all. Their hardware section is junk now, too, other than the 360 bundle (which matches the black friday sale at circuit city last fall, so not too bad.)
 
JapaneseGorilla said:
Oh and I got a $25 gift check from www.retailaccess.com not to long ago as well. Not to mention the free copies of Norton 360, Norton Internet Security, etc.

Heh, all of these deals almost make up for the crappy pay I get from BestBuy.
Click to expand...

Just an fyi, if those free copies of Norton using points (or however this works) that could have been used towards something else, i'd suggest avoiding them. Virtually all security software can be had for free from Frys (AR). And those deals are frequently (always?) available from their website...there's still shipping, but it's not going to be that much.

OTOH, if it's jsut free and you can't pass on that software to get something else, then free beats free AR + s/h.
 
nilepez said:
Just an fyi, if those free copies of Norton using points (or however this works) that could have been used towards something else, i'd suggest avoiding them. Virtually all security software can be had for free from Frys (AR). And those deals are frequently (always?) available from their website...there's still shipping, but it's not going to be that much.

OTOH, if it's jsut free and you can't pass on that software to get something else, then free beats free AR + s/h.
Click to expand...

I was talking about the ones you can get from retailaccess.com for just taking a quiz (that you can't even fail). Completely free. I have more sense to than to pay anything (money or points) for a Symantec product. As much as I generally dislike their stuff, the copy of Norton Internet Security that they gave me was a 3 license version so I was able to take care of all of my family's computers.
 
JapaneseGorilla said:
Yeah, from what I've read, the deals aren't as good as they used to be, but that seems true of a lot of places. Just like on MS live club Vista used to be a fraction of what it is now.

Oh well, you can still get some nice deals.
Click to expand...

I wouldnt say they are all terrible. Getting relatively new 360 games for $9 isnt bad. Not to mention, if its something that doesnt appeal to you, take it to Wal Mart and get some store credit.
 
that is not cool to do what the above post is suggesting. this is how these programs go away.....:(

and it is illegal if you read the terms.....
 
One thing I will criticize about the Retail Expert Zone is that I have to PAY MICROSOFT to wear clothing with their propaganda and advertising printed on it. So basically I get to do hours of training courses to learn how to sell microsoft better to my customers, and as a reward I get to BUY a T-Shirt that says windows vista all over it so I can advertise some more for them? GEE THANKS MICROSOFT! HOW MAGNANIMOUS OF YOU!! I WISH ALL COMPANIES CHARGED ME MONEY for advertising for them and giving publicity to their name.

The only good deal on that whole site is the video games. They have nothing worthwhile on their for anybody but gamers.
 
SirKronan said:
One thing I will criticize about the Retail Expert Zone is that I have to PAY MICROSOFT to wear clothing with their propaganda and advertising printed on it. So basically I get to do hours of training courses to learn how to sell microsoft better to my customers, and as a reward I get to BUY a T-Shirt that says windows vista all over it so I can advertise some more for them? GEE THANKS MICROSOFT! HOW MAGNANIMOUS OF YOU!! I WISH ALL COMPANIES CHARGED ME MONEY for advertising for them and giving publicity to their name.
Click to expand...

lol. Actually, I didn't think that the t-shirts were as bad as the iron on patches. Not only do you have to pay for those, but you have to do some labor to wear them. lol, not to mention the fact that there is no reason that anyone would want to wear a Vista patch on their clothing.
 
JapaneseGorilla said:
lol. Actually, I didn't think that the t-shirts were as bad as the iron on patches. Not only do you have to pay for those, but you have to do some labor to wear them. lol, not to mention the fact that there is no reason that anyone would want to wear a Vista patch on their clothing.
Click to expand...

I dunno, I'm pretty excited about wearing a windows "vista monster" t-shirt. Are they trying to get people to think Vista is a monster? They don't really have to try, lots of people really are scared of Vista. I'm not being sarcastic at all!!!
 
SirKronan said:
One thing I will criticize about the Retail Expert Zone is that I have to PAY MICROSOFT to wear clothing with their propaganda and advertising printed on it. So basically I get to do hours of training courses to learn how to sell microsoft better to my customers, and as a reward I get to BUY a T-Shirt that says windows vista all over it so I can advertise some more for them? GEE THANKS MICROSOFT! HOW MAGNANIMOUS OF YOU!! I WISH ALL COMPANIES CHARGED ME MONEY for advertising for them and giving publicity to their name.

The only good deal on that whole site is the video games. They have nothing worthwhile on their for anybody but gamers.
Click to expand...

No ones forcing you to buy said t-shirts.


The program is pretty decent. Halo 3, Forza, etc for $9 shipped for taking some quizzes that take less than 5 mins. Seems pretty nice to me.

A few years back I got Windows XP Pro for like $10, but I guess they got rid of that quite a while back.
 
SirKronan said:
One thing I will criticize about the Retail Expert Zone is that I have to PAY MICROSOFT to wear clothing with their propaganda and advertising printed on it. So basically I get to do hours of training courses to learn how to sell microsoft better to my customers, and as a reward I get to BUY a T-Shirt that says windows vista all over it so I can advertise some more for them? GEE THANKS MICROSOFT! HOW MAGNANIMOUS OF YOU!! I WISH ALL COMPANIES CHARGED ME MONEY for advertising for them and giving publicity to their name.

The only good deal on that whole site is the video games. They have nothing worthwhile on their for anybody but gamers.
Click to expand...

do you work for yahoo? letting your personal feelings about ms get in the way of a good deal? ;) :p
 
zrikz said:
No ones forcing you to buy said t-shirts.


The program is pretty decent. Halo 3, Forza, etc for $9 shipped for taking some quizzes that take less than 5 mins. Seems pretty nice to me.

A few years back I got Windows XP Pro for like $10, but I guess they got rid of that quite a while back.
Click to expand...

markt435 said:
do you work for yahoo? letting your personal feelings about ms get in the way of a good deal? ;) :p
Click to expand...

Yackety Shmackety. I never said the games WEREN'T a good deal (even though Expert Zone isn't as good of a deal as WindowsMobileTraining) but I stand by my point that Retail Expert Zone has good rewards for gamers, only. I was being a bit sarcastic about the T-Shirts, because I think that charging anything for them is silly. I'm not an MS hater. I actually LOVE Vista 64-bit Ultimate edition. I admire Microsoft's push for 64-bit, and the actual real, live trainings I've been to have been excellent. I think Office 2007 is great, too, and I totally agree with the ribbon system and other changes they've made. But this would really be a good training/rewards program if MS would give us a way to purchase OS's or Office Suites, or perhaps even office addons like Expressions Web or Expressions media at a reduced price. Something other than games, that's my point. Maybe a nice mouse? They had a nice keyboard at a good price, but it's not there anymore!! I was going to buy it, too! Maybe they'll put on the Reclusa.... :eek:
 
SirKronan said:
One thing I will criticize about the Retail Expert Zone is that I have to PAY MICROSOFT to wear clothing with their propaganda and advertising printed on it. So basically I get to do hours of training courses to learn how to sell microsoft better to my customers, and as a reward I get to BUY a T-Shirt that says windows vista all over it so I can advertise some more for them? GEE THANKS MICROSOFT! HOW MAGNANIMOUS OF YOU!! I WISH ALL COMPANIES CHARGED ME MONEY for advertising for them and giving publicity to their name.

The only good deal on that whole site is the video games. They have nothing worthwhile on their for anybody but gamers.
Click to expand...

You should go rally at just about every clothing store in your local mall. ;)
 
Aleks said:
You should go rally at just about every clothing store in your local mall. ;)
Click to expand...

Lol. They sell clothing to make money. Microsoft sells OS's, Office Suites, and Games to make money. Big difference.
 
SirKronan said:
Yackety Shmackety. I never said the games WEREN'T a good deal (even though Expert Zone isn't as good of a deal as WindowsMobileTraining) but I stand by my point that Retail Expert Zone has good rewards for gamers, only. I was being a bit sarcastic about the T-Shirts, because I think that charging anything for them is silly. I'm not an MS hater. I actually LOVE Vista 64-bit Ultimate edition. I admire Microsoft's push for 64-bit, and the actual real, live trainings I've been to have been excellent. I think Office 2007 is great, too, and I totally agree with the ribbon system and other changes they've made. But this would really be a good training/rewards program if MS would give us a way to purchase OS's or Office Suites, or perhaps even office addons like Expressions Web or Expressions media at a reduced price. Something other than games, that's my point. Maybe a nice mouse? They had a nice keyboard at a good price, but it's not there anymore!! I was going to buy it, too! Maybe they'll put on the Reclusa.... :eek:
Click to expand...
man you must have not used the sony one if you have all this to say about the microsoft one haha

Sony requires you to do these super difficult quizzes with tons of reading, and each quiz is worth about A QUARTER of what a microsoft quiz is worth.

such a fucking waste of time!

oh and this is the real kicker... if you dont use your points within a certain amount of time and keep "renewing" them then sony just deletes them. I didnt log in for a month or two and because of it they deleted my points, they would send warning emails before they deleted your points, but that time they just decided not to and be cock suckers.

Oh well what can you expect from sony?
 
SirKronan said:
One thing I will criticize about the Retail Expert Zone is that I have to PAY MICROSOFT to wear clothing with their propaganda and advertising printed on it... and as a reward I get to BUY a T-Shirt that says windows vista all over it so I can advertise some more for them? GEE THANKS MICROSOFT! HOW MAGNANIMOUS OF YOU!! I WISH ALL COMPANIES CHARGED ME MONEY for advertising for them and giving publicity to their name.
Click to expand...

So many companies are doing this now. I have to pay if I want a Mapex Drums t-shirt or a Sabian cymbals cap. Companies have evolved and these items are no longer considered advertising expense or promotional items. Now they are considered market items.

I blame consumers, so eager to boost their pride by showing the world that they spent big money on the latest product.
 
JapaneseGorilla said:
Anyway, remember that you must be an employee of one of the eligible companies (BestBuy, etc...)
Click to expand...

Somehow, I read your post and completely missed that line... 'till the registration site asked me to choose. Maybe it should have read:

you must be an employee of one of the eligible companies (BestBuy, etc...)

;)
 
turns out working for walmart means you cant be involved with this. I find it amazing that the worlds largest retail store isnt part of any retail training. You would think that microsoft would want walmart employees to be trained also.
 
badz24 said:
turns out working for walmart means you cant be involved with this. I find it amazing that the worlds largest retail store isnt part of any retail training. You would think that microsoft would want walmart employees to be trained also.
Click to expand...

I agree!! Some of them could REALLY USE some training in electronics. Let me write down a conversation I had with Wal-Mart not too long ago:

I call Wal-Mart.
Customer Service: "Thank you for calling your (city) Wal Mart Supercenter, this is Carrie."
Me: "I saw that you had a GPS on sale on your Website, and I was wondering if you had it in stock."
Carrie: "Let me transfer you to electronics."
I wait on hold for about 13 minutes - no joke
Electronics: "Electronics."
Me: "I was wondering if you guys had the Garmin Nuvi 350 in stock."
Electronics: "Um. I don't think we have those... What is that?"
Me: "Uh, it's a GPS."
Electronics: "What's a GPS???"
Me: "Are you serious? It stands for global positioning system. It helps you get from place to place. I need it for work, and you have the model I want on your website. Do you have any in stock."
Electronics: "Oh, I don't think we have any of those here."
Me: "Would you please check for me?"
Electronics: "I guess."

Ten minutes later of being on hold he came back and said he couldn't find any. I called the customer service lady back and said she needed to switch jobs with the electronics guy because at least she knew what a GPS was. She laughed and said thanks. So yeah, their staff could use more training, but honestly people don't go there for information about computers or to get the latest and greatest, they go there to get cheap stuff.
 
I pretty much gave up calling local stores to check if stuff was instock, unless it was something super-common... like... an Xbox 360...
 
Blazestorm said:
I pretty much gave up calling local stores to check if stuff was instock, unless it was something super-common... like... an Xbox 360...
Click to expand...

Yeah, same here. From working in retail I've come to realize that when they say the don't have them it probably means that they don't feel like looking and they don't care.

lol, sometimes I like to call the media department at my BestBuy just to ask if they have Wiis in stock, just because I know how much those guys love that question. Heck, I work in the computer department and even I'm tired of people calling about Wiis. How hard is to to distinguish between "Computer hardware and software" and "Video Games."???

Oh and whenever I've called Walmart to find out if they have something in stock when they ask which department I want and I say electronics they always ask if it's about the Wii, which I say no because it's not. Anyway, I always ask the person who picks up in electronics if they have Wiis before I ask about what I really called about.
 
LMAO, too funny... especially since my local Walmart almost always has one or two Wii's in the case. Heck, I got mine there last February. There was like 5 or 6 of them... no lines... no fist-fights... I guess I have a hard time believing that Wii's are in short supply! :confused:
 
lol, well today I randomly got a copy of NFL TOUR for the 360 from Microsoft. I guess I must have won it because I certainly didn't order it. There wasn't a note or anything.
 
I did the points thing and ordered Mass Effect and PGR4 and then they canceled my order. No explanation, just said it was canceled.

On a side note, my 360 that I have meticulously cared for and rarely play got the red ring when i wanted to play Forza 2 for a bit. =(
 
Aleks said:
I did the points thing and ordered Mass Effect and PGR4 and then they canceled my order. No explanation, just said it was canceled.

On a side note, my 360 that I have meticulously cared for and rarely play got the red ring when i wanted to play Forza 2 for a bit. =(
Click to expand...

Arg. I hate the red ring of death. I'm wishing I would've got the extended warranty on my bother's when we bought it for him for christmas... especially since they live in "dustville" wyoming.
 
Well its not too big of a deal, they'll be fixing it since I'm still within the 3 years, its just the hassle of sending it out and waiting for weeks, not to mention now that it's gone I'll have a hankering to play it.
 
Hmmm.... They just pulled the 360 bundle. Darn, I had been planning on getting one.

Hopefully it has something to do with the price cuts that people have been talking about for the UK. Maybe we'll end up getting an even better bundle.
 
JapaneseGorilla said:
Hmmm.... They just pulled the 360 bundle. Darn, I had been planning on getting one.

Hopefully it has something to do with the price cuts that people have been talking about for the UK. Maybe we'll end up getting an even better bundle.
Click to expand...

The days they have the bundle on there are few and far between. Other than the game prices I maintain that it's one of the poorer retail accommodations programs I've participated in.Thus, I've spent ZERO of my accumulated 25,000 points... Microsoft's own Windows Mobile Training is better. HP's infolab is better, intel's retail edge is better, the list goes on and on and on. Oh well, something is better than nothing, right?
 
What's the deal with the Windows Mobile Training? I had signed up a while back and did some of the trainings, but never saw anything indicating that there was a reward for doing them other than certification.

Well, hopefully if they don't bring the bundle back, the rumors about a price cut will turn out to be true, cause it's not like I really wanted the bundled games.
 
JapaneseGorilla said:
What's the deal with the Windows Mobile Training? I had signed up a while back and did some of the trainings, but never saw anything indicating that there was a reward for doing them other than certification.
Click to expand...

You're kidding, right? Just click on the rewards. There are several games, including Halo 3 for XBOX that you can get as rewards. They don't even charge 9 bucks like expert zone. They are strict about verifying your employment, though.
 
I've known about this along time ago. I've mad alot of money of the games. I only have 2200 points left to get :(
 
SirKronan said:
You're kidding, right? Just click on the rewards. There are several games, including Halo 3 for XBOX that you can get as rewards. They don't even charge 9 bucks like expert zone. They are strict about verifying your employment, though.
Click to expand...

Not kidding, there is nothing about rewards that I can find. There is a t-shirt contest that is new I think. Do you have to get the certification before you can see the rewards?

The links that I can see in order are:

Home

What Is Windows Mobile?

Courses

How-to Demos

Specialist Certification

Small Business Retail Certification

T-Shirt Contest

Resources

News

Key Links

Contact Us

FAQ
 
Well, I'm now certified but I still don't see anything about rewards. The only other thing that I can think of is that I don't remember having verified my employment, at least not recently, though it hasn't asked me to.
 
JapaneseGorilla said:
Well, I'm now certified but I still don't see anything about rewards. The only other thing that I can think of is that I don't remember having verified my employment, at least not recently, though it hasn't asked me to.
Click to expand...

You might not be verified. I suggest sending them an email. What retail chain do you work for? Here's a screen of what it should look like. Hope I'm not violating anything by posting this:

WMTScreen01.jpg
 
Nice, not only is the 360 bundle back, but they finally added some new purchase options. The sidewinder gaming mouse might be interesting, though I already have a nice Razer that I got from woot.
 
JapaneseGorilla said:
Nice, not only is the 360 bundle back, but they finally added some new purchase options. The sidewinder gaming mouse might be interesting, though I already have a nice Razer that I got from woot.
Click to expand...

SIDEWINDER? You're kidding... I gotta see this...

... checking...

Wow. That's a sick mouse. I wish it lit up blue instead of red, like microsoft's other gaming mouse and keyboard, and the rest of the LED's in my system. That's an amazing mouse with a solid feel, great customizability, and excellent performance, but I'm still considering getting the Death Adder instead, since it's a good mouse as well, but with blue LED's instead of the red ones. Should I care that much about color?? :p
 
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