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Best Buy sucks!

The title says it all. Which training school do their sales people go to?

I have had bad experience at Best Buy before. Last weekend, I was in the market for a PDA. My budget was $300. I had pretty much decided on Handspring Treo 90 or Sony Clie T615c. Best Buy had $25 mail in rebate for all PDA’s, so even with my dislike for shopping there, decided to try it.

So, I went to the store at Bailey’s Cross Roads, Arlington, VA. The old shop near my residence was relocated here and I thought, may be the new staff are better. I go there, look around and liked the Treo. My wife and I wait for 20 minutes to get a sales person interested in me after I expressed my desire for a PDA. 20 minutes and I was running out of time and patience - mind you, we were standing right behind the sales person - so we left and went to Circuit City. There was excellent customer service, but their price was $299.

Anyway, two days later, I again went to Best Buy. This time, the sales person responded in 10 minutes. I asked whether they’ve any Treo’s in stock. I get one word "No" without even as much as a cursory glance.

I went to Staples and got this for $280. I was even prepared to pay $299 and get it from Circuit City. Staples is pretty good too when it comes to customer service.

I’m looking to buy a laptop in 3 weeks. My budget is $1700 and Best Buy can kiss it good bye. They are not even an option. I don’t care for their glittering stores and bouncers at the doors. All I need is a bit respect and courtesy for the money I'm paying for these. Sales people who actually attend to you are more interested in forcing a useless product protection plan down your throat.

PS: To be fair, I’ve found customer service at one Best Buy store in Fairlakes Mall to be reasonable. Staff there are somewhat friendly.

Comment posters, please do refrain from using obscene language. I understand you might have strong sentiments, but let us keep this civil.

  1. Hmmm... Apparently, I'm not the only one who don't like Worst Buy.

    Posted by: Babu on September 3, 2002 06:15 AM
  2. I work at Best Buy. I hate everything about it, but I hate customers more than anything else. I can't stress this enough... 99% of the people that come in looking for anything are flat out retarded.

    Posted by: Jeff on September 23, 2002 10:56 PM
  3. I have to agree and disagree with jeff.
    BestBuy, yes kinda sucks. They rarely ever have anything in stock that is at a lower price than other products that are equal in quality. I will say that I like the store if I am looking for no advice, know what I want, and have no time to be pestered by a upselling salesmen.
    Jeff is right though customers typically suck. The reason they suck is that they typically take no time to research a product, price it out etc. That is why they shop at BestBuy. It is cheap and BestBuy has no time to really train people to ask you questions to find out what you really want.
    If you can stand a possible pushy sales person and will pay a little more on the product for a real salesperson who asks you what you are looking for and provides you with the right product the first time then do not shop at BestBuy.
    That place is for cheap people who do not take the time to educate themselves on a major purchas.

    Posted by: john on October 3, 2002 05:31 PM
  4. I Work at Best buy like jeff, and i would deffenitly say it sucks. Turth be told best buy could give a rats ass about its employees or its customers. and the simple fact is they dont pay the employees enough to even care about customer service. Hell when you go through there "Orintation process" when u first get hired u get all this hype about being the employer of choice and the place customers what to shop. Bullshit they tell you they are gona give you a raise after your first 3 months, guess what my rais was, (Nah your wrong try lower.) 32 cents, and this was after them telling me that i was one of the best on the team. 32 cents you gotta be kidding me i cant even make an extra phone call an hour. And they did not even tell me they were giving me the raise(probably cuz they knew i would just laugh at them) I just looked at my check and there it was.

    Posted by: Sean on October 6, 2002 09:02 PM
  5. Man, Best Buy is really the worst place to go shopping to. I once bought a digital camera from Best Buy here at Crossgates mall in Albany, NY. The salesman told me all about it, but didn't tell me about their famous "restocking fee" you have to pay if you decide to return or even exchange the item. Well, not knowing about it, I went home, didn't like the model and decided to go for a different model, same price and the same company, SONY. I went to the store again to get the camera exchanged, they said I'll have to pay a restocking fee of 15%. When I said I am not aware of this rule of yours, they called the manager. After arguing for about an hour with the manager, he decided to show me the tapes from their security cameras. And he never came back.

    Posted by: Amit on October 8, 2002 03:26 PM
  6. Also a former employee I have to say that the Best Buy does suck. They treat employees like second class citizens encourage us to input, then penalize for the input. Could someone tell Best buy that we are into a new millineum> The store in Henderson Nevada is the whitest good ol boy establishment I have ever seen in any chain.

    Posted by: Chrissy on October 10, 2002 01:51 PM
  7. i got a sonyvaio laptop for about 2000 bucks and spend about 217 more for their service plan, two months ago i i had some problem with my laptop so i took it back to service people they gave me a paper, and told me the completed schedule data was a month later, and it generally take about 3 weeks to get something fixed.. so i waited patiently as i go to school and i am programming major i really need a computer a lot, well one month past by and still no reply no call nothin so i went there questioned about my computer they said ohh we are reallly backed up and it will take time now its been like 2 months and still i hav no clue whats up, i have talked to their managers they say they cant help me since its the service center who is responsible...i fuckin hate that place now...i used to get everythign from there now they can suck it

    Posted by: uz on October 17, 2002 06:00 PM
  8. I'm an employee at best buy, and I have to say,, it does suck to some extent. True, they don't pay us enough for dealing with stupid customers like Amit there who can't read a stupid receipt with all the information about the return policy. But then again, a majority of customers are cool ONLY when you are cool with them. So to all you people complaining about Best Buy: "Customer FIRST". If you're cool with them, customers will be more likely to actually like best buy and you'll actually have more fun working there. And if you work hard and you actually show it, you'll get more than a 32 cent raise. I'm a media rep and I get paid $11/hour. Not too shabby, eh?

    Posted by: dave on October 21, 2002 03:14 AM
  9. I work for Best buy and yes, it does suck working there. The main problem is the f***ing numbers! Numbers, numbers, numbers you have them shoved in your face all the time! Customers need to realize that the employees are pressured to produce the numbers or suffer managments abuse. Why you may ask? Simple: Bonuses! Thats right all the sales floor employees at Best Buy work their ass off for too little money to make bonuses for managers! If the store hits a certian goal for revenue, margin, PSP, PRP, and that suck ass internet service the management get bonuses. I have even been told by one of the techs at my store that the free setup you get with purchase of a computer gets mamagment a kick back! So to all customers who hate Best Buy and its employees do try to remember they are doing what Best Buy forces them to do. If they don't they lose their jobs. I know many employees at my store alone who hate having to push the PSP and accessories. And for most of them it is their only job and can't just walk out and get a new one right away, they are stuck there. I read one post where someone who was a media rep got $11 and hour, you must be a senior or supervisor to get that money. I should know how bad employees at Best Buy get paid and treated. For the past 2 months I have been working full-time hours at part-time pay! Talk about getting over worked and under paid! So to all those who read this pay attention and understand what goes on in that company. Peace!

    Posted by: James on October 23, 2002 11:32 AM
  10. Just wanted to let the general public know about the service warranties at Best Buy, and how they are at most times useless.

    Purchased a Whirpool Gold Washer and Dryer totaling at $1598.79, then purchased an extended 5 year warranty for a Performance Service Plan at a cost of $69.99.

    The new washer and dryer were purchased on May 29th, 2001, which would make this 18 months old.

    On October 13, 2002, my wife had found that the dryer did not start, she placed a service call as the dryer was under warranty, the outside service company stated that it would take 2 weeks before they could get out to our home to repair the dryer as they are very busy and booked. We agreed to wait the two weeks, which is very hard to do in the first place. Imagine, purchasing a new washer and dryer, and then taking your clothes to the local laundrymat because they are not working properly, then sit in the laundrymat and wait for your clothes to dry, and you start to wonder why Best Buy can not service you in a few days apposed to what looks like it could be a few months.

    On the scheduled day of service which happens to be today (October 24th, 2002), Best Buy litteraly lied to my wife as she called back to see why a service technition did not arrive at our home. Best Buy claimed that a Service Tech arrived at our home and tagged our door. There were 4 adults home today, and we also have dogs that will bark at the sound of the wind blowing, there were no tags on any of our doors, and we know nobody came to our home, as we are in a very secluded area and the technition would probably have to call us for directions.

    Knowing this, we contacted multiple supervisors at the Countryside, Illinois Best Buy Store, who informed us that they understand our problem, but we will have to wait till November 1, 2002 in order to reschedule our service appointment. As most people have a life, this would mean that sombody in our home will have to schedule a day off of work in order to be home for this Best Buy Service Tech to come to our home, if they even do show up.

    We are at the point of pulling the dryer out of our home, and putting it in the doorway of the Best Buy Store that we purchased it from. We will never purchase anything from Best Buy again, as there have been multiple other issues on equipment, such as computers, televisions & cameras that we have purchased from this store.

    The service is really bad, we are writing this comment to warn the public not to purchase anything from Best Buy, unless you want it to malfunction and then go through the service nightmare like we are going through.

    We will be contacting our Lawyer to see what legal action we can take against Best Buy, as we feel they are in breach of contract with their service agreement.

    Signed,

    You don't want to be me - A customer who has turned into an X-customer of BEST BUY!

    Posted by: John Thomas on October 24, 2002 12:38 PM
  11. Two weeks ago I (the guy who writes this blog) bought a Toshiba laptop from Circuit City for $1700, including tax, rebates etc. I'm very happy with their service. Thanks Best Buy, I'm now an ex-customer and I did not want to shop at your stores though it is more convenient to me.

    Judging by what others have written here, I think they have a serious image problem to deal with.

    Posted by: Babu on October 24, 2002 06:48 PM
  12. I am an employee from best buy and yes their service stinks A$$. the managers are so woried about driving their numbers for their bonuses they forget how to treat employees and customers.they are greedy, lazy people.most of my managers need to grow a back bone.they want us(employees) to do their work...like tell the customers we can't help them...ummmmi know i don't get paid big bucks like they do. i don't get paid enough to be yelled at by some pissed off customer who was treated wrong or was just stupid.if the managers would show some concern to the employees and tell them they're doing a good job...maybe the employees wouldn't be so stressed about the numbers and could be nicer to the customers.you see we get in trouble if we don't sell the service plans or push the credit card apps...all that does is give them their raises, BIG HEADS AND SMALLER HEARTS!i agree with poor service....but consumers need to also understand how we get treated behind the sceens...you think you have it bad...lol

    and i understand about that 32cent raise...i got one too!hehe

    Posted by: jessikah on October 25, 2002 12:41 AM
  13. Let me say this much, I work for Best Buy in Knoxville, TN, and I like it. A lot has changed since I first started working with the company and I'll grant not everything ran very smoothly. I will however say this, in my time there, a lot has changed. For example, the former Restocking Fee is now totally gone. Second, it DOES suck that our best sales are almost always out of stock. What causes this is everyone rushing into the store on Sunday morning when the ad pops and buying up what's there. I'll grant we should get more in, and that's something that is being worked on, but that is as much vendor issues as it is store ordering issues. I also sympathize with those of you who had service plan issues. Something everyone is working very hard on is opening up more service centers, so that repairs can be processed faster. As of a year ago, the whole company had like 10 service centers. The surge that I think everyone has noticed in crappy products that don't last worth a damn caused a HUGE blast of product going through our inept service centers. We've got about 80 service centers now though, and many stores will now service all computers IN STORE. That means at worst, 2 days turn around. To the person bitching about selling Service and Accessories. If you can't understand the value of attempting to sell accessories to a customer, on both Best Buy's end and the customer's end, you probably shouldn't work at a Best Buy. For the most part, we don't sell anything that isn't useful to folks. If you can't make someone understand the value of a surge protecter, Monster Cable, Back UPS, and especially video game accessories, you need to re-evaluate your own understanding of the product. You also have to understand that yes, some people have a bad experience with Service calls. What you also need to realize is that MOST are handled just fine. With the HUGE amount of customers and products in and out of our stores, there is going to be some error. Remember it comes in a percentage for us. Circuit City may only have a service problem on a customer say once a day, and we may have 3. You might want to realize that we on average do about 5 times the business they do. To those of you that have had bad experiences with Best Buy, I'm sorry, really. The only thing I can ask is that as you travel around, more around, etc., try out any of our stores you haven't been in before. It really and truly isn't the company, but we have some bad stores, and we know it. If you're ever through Knoxville, TN, feel free to stop into our store, you'll find a very different experience.

    Posted by: Brian on October 29, 2002 07:05 PM
  14. I am fucking sick over hearing people bitch about Best Buy. I am in Best Buy all the time... My treatment there is wonderfull. I've stood behind another customer that is bitching, and they wouldn't even let the manager help them out, when the manager is trying. Now, do you really think you're going to get the best of service with an immature attitude like that? Grow the hell up! And as for the Product Plans there, they've come in great use for me. It may have taken them more than one try to fix my stereo system, but I didn't bitch one single bit, and they really took care of me. Thanks Best Buy!

    /*author's comment: Ha, this is nice. "Immature customers". I get a strong sense that the person who wrote this comment is affiliated to Best Buy. May be treating customers as "immature" is what makes Best Buy really suck.*/

    Posted by: T-Bone on November 1, 2002 09:55 AM
  15. Best Buy is terrible, there camcorder lady had no clue about anything. I visited Circuit City before and their sale counselor greatly informed me. After five minutes at Best Buy I was teaching her stuff that the guy at Circuit City taught me. Do you guys get trained there???

    Posted by: Kevin on November 18, 2002 01:55 PM
  16. I went to Best Buy at Bailey's Cross Roads, Arlington, VA 2 weeks ago to get a cheap mouse. Only because I was in a hurry and Best Buy was on my side of the road, than Circuit City.

    Apparently, the cashiers are now a lot more friendly - I think they realize that it is the customer who is paying the money.

    I didn't use a sales counsellor, because it was just a mouse and thankfully, no one was around!

    Posted by: Babu on November 24, 2002 08:26 AM
  17. After purchacing a brand new RIO Volt Mp3/CD player at best buy i was very happy with them - but, as i soon found out, the 2 year "add-on" warranty is completely useless. The rio started acting up one day and only the radio function would work - so i took it to the exchanges desk in the lobby area in a buffalo, NY store. As i had called to notify the exchanges personel that i had lost the replacement voucher and they said that was O.K to bring it in beacause they carry those items on record. After the grueling 1hr 30min drive through buffalo we finally reached the best buy returns and exchanges desk only to find out that you DO infact need the voucher for a replacement. Needless to say - I was pissed. After contacting the corporate office complaints center to get a replacement voucher i was increadably suprised to find that there was absolutely NO RECORD WHATSOEVER of anybodys replacement voucher! Later in the week i found the replacement voucher (in my attic of all places) and returned the item to the store for a replacement (which, of course, they didnt have) told them that all my future purchaces will be at circut city beacause of their wonderful replacement policy!

    Thanks,
    Steve

    Posted by: Steve on November 25, 2002 08:32 PM
  18. Best Buy does suck.. We get sooooooooooooo many complaints about them. That's why I work at Circuit City. Product knowledge is the key and we are way more knowledgable then them.

    Posted by: Stacie on November 26, 2002 04:28 PM
  19. Here is my I Hate Best Buy Story:
    This evening, after browsing at 5 other retail outlets for a Lexmark X73 MF Printer. When I reached the Best Buy Store on Hwy 75 in Plano TX, I was elated to find that indeed they had it in stock. As a matter of fact (and record) they had 24 units in stock. When the store clerk in 'Computers' inquired as to the whereabouts of said product, he was told (within earshot of myself) that they DID HAVE it in stock. but it was a FRIDAY hold for the "Reward the Stupid Bastards who'll line up at 4am the morning after Thanksgiving" Sale.

    I voiced my displeasure with the clerk, who sheepishly, tail-between-legs, said he was sorry. Nice Kid-No Nuts. I then went higher up the food chain. I spoke to the store's Sales Manager, who also shared his appreciation for my being a long-term customer by telling me that they were developing an allergy to my long-term patronage and that he, too, lacked the testicules to override the 'Holiday Hump' policy. He was kind enough to check their district RTI (real time inventory) to find that their store in Killeen, TX was showing said unit instock-and available. (Too bad Killeen is 3.5 hours from Plano!)

    I then asked for the General Manager, as I still had not acheived resolution. After a 10 minute wait, I left. Seems he was in a meeting with the store's "Brain trust" I decided to run across that street to CCity (another electronics retailer that I really hate) to determine if they had the X73 in stock. Since they didn't even have a SKU for it, I returned to BB. I asked for the GM and was then told that he was in a meeting. I then waited for about an hour +/- 15 minutes. When the little czar finally emerged, I extended my hand. He seemed reluctant to even shake my hand-the peckerhead that he is. I explained my side of the story, including the fact that they had 24 instock, etc. He then told me of the "stock hold policy", to which I responded "what is the minimum allowable limit?" He answered "15 units". (They had 24 in stock! Being the math wizard that I am, I figured that to be an overage of 9.) I then responded that there was 9 extra and that I would really like to purchase one of them. He then declined stating that they were "in back, on the truck." I responded my offering to pre-purchase one of the extras, as that still left his MINIMUM QUOTA in tact. He then proceeded to tell me that it wouldn't be fair to the other customers looking for the same X73 who were turned away (in masses, I am convinced).

    At that juncture, I blew my top. I tossed about a dozen sheets of paper into the air as I stormed out of the store. (I admit, I was wrong for doing that-OOPS!) I think I heard "Little Hitler" say " SIR, SIR, SIR, and something about my being banned from HIS store" as I stormed away. Oh well, Screw Him and HIS Best Buy Store! Mr Jeff Gilmore, thank you for alienating me. I am sure I am not the first customer you have done this to.
    I think I'll save the sales tax and buy it online.

    Posted by: Tim Blankenship on November 28, 2002 03:00 AM
  20. LOL. You people are funny as hell. I tell you this, you think it matters if you do not buy anything from bestbuy. Your just one fish in the sea. You are also that rare person that had a problem. You remind me of women sitting at home gossiping about nonsense. You think best buy is responible for products made by other companies. what about the companies manufacture warranty. Why do i not see anything posted about that? I dont know maybe becuase you have nothing else to do but cry about something. Please Get a life. Really !

    /*
    author's note: Best Buy could do well by listening. I don't
    think anybody has opined that Best Buy is responsible for manufacturer's warranty. On the contrary, majority of the comments seem to indicate that Best Buy is irresponsible on many fronts! Yes, it matters if I don't buy from Best Buy. It *matters to me*. May be the customer service folks in Best Buy should realize that customers want to spend money, if it matters to them, not to Best Buy.
    */

    Posted by: Scorpion on December 3, 2002 01:24 AM
  21. Best Buy Kicks ass... all the cds, dvds, media and electronics are always cheaper than anywhere else. Know your shit and tell customer service people to fuck off.

    I do have one asshole memory from best buy though. A guy worker there told me to buy $35 Audio CD-R media instead of Data Media that was $10 because the sound quality is better. Fuck him with the human ear and a shitty stereo you arent going to be able to tell the difference.

    Posted by: Grant on December 3, 2002 02:34 AM
  22. Probably walking into a snake pit, but here it goes...

    I am an employee at Best Buy...Ive been one now for about 1 year...I read the first 10 or so comments, and I have a couple thigns to say.

    First off, to address Sean...I know what ya mean...32 f-in cents...thats not much...here's what I have to say to that...maybe next time you should listen/read your employee handbook. It states exactly what percentage of a raise you are entitled to after 90 days...dont bitch about something you were supposed to know about to begin with, and be happy...most employers do not give employees an automatic raise after 90 days...Best Buy is one of the few.

    To address the main post...I truely am dissappoited you recieved poor service...I work at a Best Buy in Oregon, so im only familiar with my particular store...I can tell you I have seen situations where we are incredibly busy, and customers unfortunately have a small wait...I dont know what was going on in your particular instance, wehter it was understaffing or just a busy time...but it is disappointing to hear that.

    Best Buy, as a company however, does not treat their employees like shit...wait a second, let me restate that. Employees that are worth a shit, and do their job efficiently and correctly are not treated like shit. Like in any company, Best Buy cannot afford to employ people who cannot sell or who are just plain lazy...that is no fault of our own...

    Posted by: Joe on December 3, 2002 07:01 PM
  23. I am glad I found your Best Buy rant - I am going to be posting 2 Best Buy horror stories at holophrastic.com/javascopes/ by the end of the day today (12-3-02). If you need more fuel for your fire, check them out. Thanks again!

    Posted by: Queen Valvolene on December 4, 2002 12:34 PM
  24. Ok everyone, here is the issue, it is the employees and managers that you deal with. I work for Best Buy just like some of you, and if you have co-workers that know their ass from a hole in the ground then that usually makes everything work a little better. From what I have noticed it seems that all these stories relate to poor managers or employees that are un-motivated. News flash to everyone, but no matter what corporation it is, if you have the same situation then there will be issues. I have worked for Best Buy for a little over a year and will be a Sales Manager within 6 months, I like the people that I work with so much that I switched jobs from working at one of Forbes Magazines top 100 companies, Valassis, some of you may know what that is. Everyone on here that works for Best Buy that thinks they have the worst job ever needs to understand just like there is always someone that has it better than you do, there is someone that has it worse than you do. And for the customers, I would say that your experiences might have been bad, but it's a case by case basis, and if a customer is nice to me I am more than willing to go the extra mile to satisfy them, including giving them my personal cell phone number, but should they come in all hard nosed, pissed off at the world cuz something of theirs broke or whatever, god help them if they start to yell at me.

    Posted by: Dan on December 11, 2002 05:49 AM
  25. I also work at a best buy, and its really not that bad. I enjoy talking with people about our products and helping them with their purchases. The problem is that best buy is a HUGE company, the largest retailer of consumer electronics in the united States, and they have recently begun their international campaign. With a company this large it is impossible to please absolutly everyone. I understand this, but it makes me do the little that I can to make at least the people that shop at my store happy. Not every best buy employee feels the same, but I know that most of them do. It is the few that don't go the extra mile that perhaps give us a bad rap.

    I am only a grad student, and will not be working for best buy buy forever, but after putting my time in with this company and seeing what they are all about, I can honestly say that best buy will have my business in the future.

    Posted by: Noah on December 12, 2002 03:39 AM
  26. YOU PEOPLE ARE SO FUNNY! You really think your little postings on this website really matter. You really think that by venting in this manner you may in some strange way have some kind of effect on this retail giant. You will not. I am sure people at corporate best buy are raking in the cash from doing what they do best - good business. best buy is obviously out there for one reason: to make money! this is something that they do very well, just look at how they have grown over the last 10 to 20 years. Best buy operates many other companies such as Future Shop, Magnolia Hi-Fi, Media Play, On Cue, Sam Goody, Suncoast, and many more. They open around 6 to 10 new best buy stores every quarter and dozens of their affiliates as well. if you choose not to shop at best buy, that is your right - good for you... but their loss of your business is a very, veRY, VERY small price to pay in their quest to become the largest retailer of consumer electronics in the world, and I do hope they achieve that goal.
    Happy shopping-wherever you fools choose to go.

    Posted by: Laughing out loud @ you A$$holes on December 12, 2002 04:02 AM
  27. First off the people who write in on this website are all right and wrong at the same time. I used to work for best buy but left right before thanksgiving (hahahahha they were screwed)
    for one yes the customers are treated like crap, either its never instock, never gonna come in or some other lame excuse they use. This is especially true if your not buying the Service plan. I urge you all to check out Bestbuysux.org and read the comments there...i tell everyone do not work there you are nothing but a six digit number that they can replace with another...they hate people who stand up for whats right and have an opinion different from their simple minds... as for those that still do i know that most of you are not bad people and are stuck in that place...yes i feel bad for you...i was their for 4 yrs and seen them take the best company in the world and turn it into the worst. as for the postings on these websites bottom line is they make people feel better and like their opinion does count...

    Posted by: no were laughing out loud at you on December 16, 2002 01:24 AM
  28. I must say... Best Buy online sucks!!! I'm trying to find out where my order is and have been hung up on at least 5 times by the automated "customer service" line. Now, as I type this, I've been on hold for 15 minutes after speaking two two other departments who have no idea what's going on and admit that Best Buy online customer service gives customers a busy signal when they're too busy! HUH? What happened to good old fashioned holding on the line! this sucks. I will never buy anything at Best Buy online.

    Posted by: best buy online sucks! on December 19, 2002 02:14 PM
  29. sure dont honor their rebates

    Posted by: dave spigelmyer on December 26, 2002 08:34 PM
  30. best buy sucks and let me clue ya they all suck!! they don't give a fuck about you they care about getting your money and money only. and for the assholes that say venting and stateing your opinion don't do shit. my guess you r the same fucking assholes that don't vote and don't do shit for this country. fuck you. stating your opinion seems to be working for slim shady. i'm sure if he rapped one lyrical pursuit or did a skit on best buy or said to use someone else to get your shit that at least half of the people that bought the song would not shop at best buy. thats what about 3 4 5 million

    Posted by: best buy sucks on January 5, 2003 12:18 AM
  31. Best Buy sucks. Period. Even their employees hate them. As for you people who work at Best buy and HATE your customers, GET OUT NOW! You are poisoning yourself and the world around you. Sheeees. If you hate the people who make your job possible, what does that say about you? Are you willing to suck poop through a straw for a dollar? It is so obvious that Best Buy's employees hate their jobs and the people they serve (yes, SERVE) when you go in there. I logged on here to tell my story about how Best Buy Dweeb Lance looked me right in the eye and said he "really" wished he could help me, but ther 30 day return policy prevented him from doing so. Yeah, right Lance. Too bad I didnt buy an extended service contract on the thing so you could hose me out of a couple more bucks. Fact is, Best Buy sucks because they don't care. They really and truly could not possibly care less about you and your silly little problem because solving your problem: A.Takes more than 30 seconds. B. requires them to think. C. requires them to empathize with a fellow human being, and; D. Makes them no money. Well, I heard recently that their stock has tanked. Good deal. I only got ripped off $32. Pretty cheap education, really. Anybody wanna buy a v.92 PCI Fax Modem that won't install its drivers? Heh heh. Guess it just goes to show the cheapest price isn't always the Best Buy. (P.S. I am writing this to you via an E-Machines 466 id I bought four years ago from Best buy and it still sucks.)

    Posted by: Dano KNOWS Best Buy SUCKS on January 6, 2003 10:28 PM
  32. damn best buy they always trying to push that damn service plan... they'll push ti till you drop dead, they can't take no for an answer.

    Posted by: jerry on January 8, 2003 12:06 PM
  33. Pray for me as I go down the PSP path to hell... My cell phone is cutting off many times a day and BB says that its the battery and we'll get you a new one but you have to deal with your problem for 8-10 business days. I even offered to pay to have the battery overnited to me... all I got was a "Sorry we can't do that". They will never get another penny from me for a PSP. I'd rather buy a new product than deal with these jerks anymore than I have to. And yeah.. I'm seeing that Circuit City is winning the game in customer service, or should I say BB is sending all of their customers to them. I can't wait until the next salesperson asks me to buy a PSP. pitty the fool.

    Posted by: John on January 13, 2003 07:32 PM
  34. I work at best buy and love it. The mangement will push you to sell service but that was explained to you when you were hired. If you didn't want to do it you shouldn't have taken the job. The pay is not bad. I was hired as a full-time rep at 9.60 an hour. When I got my 4% iwent to full time at 9.98. Two weeks later i took the senior position in home theater and got a raise to $13.50. This is not bad pay considering I just turned 18. All my customers love Best Buy because our price is always the lowest and we have less upsale because we don't care about the commissioned pay. You people who complain about having to sell service and accessories are gonna complain if you had to flip the burger or do paper work. Point is you people should either do your job or quit. Why would you be a lumberjack if you are scared of climbing trees? I also read a post of a man who bought service on his dryer and it broke. First of all Best Buy did not make your dryer, Whirlpool did I think. So it's there fault it broke. You could have dealt with them and had to pay tyhe shipping fees and wait for them to fix it and then you pay shipping back. You are lucky someone was coming to your house to fix it or give you a new one for only 70 dollars. And thats for five years no more than 70 dollars.
    I love Best Buy I go to work, I do my job, and I get promoted. It's like a fun game. If selling isn't your thing, quit, and go do labor for the same pay.

    Posted by: Tim on January 14, 2003 01:10 AM
  35. For the most part I feel like Best Buy and Circuit City sales people are pretty good. These days, I take advantage of both. I usually review and shop on the Internet and then check them out at the store before buying on the Internet. Since I have done the research, I could evaluate the knowledge of the sales staff. Usually, Circuit City sales folks are more knowledgeable and friendly. Some I have seen in the same store for over 10 years at the same store. Best Buy has more youth and their experience may not be as refined as for Circuit City sales overall. But for the most part, most sales people are very reasonable and try their best, which I appreciate. Sometimes I feel guilty and buy from them especially when the price is right. One manager at Circuit City gave me trade in on my speaker for a Bose 123. Then when I traded in the Bose because I didn't like it, He still gave me the credit for the speakers for a new DVD and another speaker which usually is not their policy. I still have greater loyalities to Circuit City based on great customer service. However, in the old days I gave them a lot of money by not being a good shopper.

    Posted by: ccc on January 17, 2003 08:36 AM
  36. First of all I truly hate Best Buy, and I work there. In the Pembroke Pines, FL store 559. The managetment there are all a bunch of idiots who don't know what the hell they are doing (yeah I mean you Steve and Leo, you gay sons of bitches). I have been told to "LIE" to customers and tell them that the product is NOT in stock if they didn't want the service plan. I have made like 10 copies of the same raincheck and placed it on multiple items to tell the customer the item is on hold and we cant sell it, but if the customer wants to buy the service plan then we can sell it. The pay rate there also sucks shitty 32 cent raises or LESS (yes 32 cents is the most)! However there are customers who are morons like Dano. Mostly all stores have 30 day return policies, so dont get mad because your lazy ass took more than 30 days to return your modem. Also read up on the modem you are buying dont just pick one and assume it will work. Thats your fault, and as far as the eMachine that "they" sold you. YOU bought it moron, next time choose a better brand you cheap ass. You buy a sorry eMachine, it will suck, it's not the stores fault its yours! You get what you pay for. And for the guy who didn't get help till like 20 minutes, why didn't you approach the sales rep yourself and ask for help. If I see a customer standing there like a moron I try to approach them but it also gets really busy and its 1 employee to 10 customers. God gave you a mouth, use it! Don't assume that since you walked in everyone will go out of their way to help you out. As far as the company, they can go to hell and burn. People should sew the hell out of Best Buy for all the illegal things they make the employees do.

    Posted by: Me at store 559, guess who! on January 21, 2003 11:05 PM
  37. All of these best buy employees are all fuckn idiots. I work for Circuit City, best buys main competition. We make much beter money they you morons and our customer service is better at circuit city. The reason why is because we work off commission. Customers do not have to wait for hours to get help. With great service like this and very reasonable prices (because of our price match garrantee), i wonder why Worst buy is still in business.

    Posted by: HyeBaller on January 22, 2003 03:36 PM
  38. also, the user ccc is also a fuckn idiot. We dont need customers like your studip ass.

    Posted by: Hyeballer on January 22, 2003 03:38 PM
  39. Hyeballer, this goes out to you queer. First of all, Circuit City is no where near as busy as Best Buy when it comes to customers. You go into your store (Circuit City) and it's DEAD, a desert, there are more employees than customers. That is sad. So where is this "competition you mention?? You guys arent the "main" competition. You guys are nothing. Your store sucks. You even remodeled your stores to look like Best Buy. I went into an interview in Circuit City and when I told the manager I worked in Best Buy, he asked me: "What is their secret?" Damn thats sad. (I turned them down BTW) As far as better money, the only way you make better money is if you actually get a sale, but since you are always dead you are stuck with your $6.15 the hour. You are nothing but a DOOSHBAG who can't even spell or punctuate properly. That's the type of morons they hire at Circuit City.

    Posted by: guess who on January 22, 2003 06:15 PM
  40. Hey, I have a horror story of my own, well my friends anyway. He paid cash for a DVD at bestbuy, then brought it home and noticed someone in his house had also bought the DVD elsewhere. He went right back to Bestbuy and when he returned the DVD they automatically gave him a store credit card despite the fact he paid cash. Since he was a regular customer at the store he didnt think twice about the credit, but, after thinking about the situation for a while figured he was due the CA$h he paid for the DVD. Upon returning to the store AGAIN, and talking to customer service people they refused to give him cash for his credit, even though he paid cash in the first place. The guy behind the counter looked to be in the military or something, and gave my friend a real attitude, even threatening to take him outside and "settle" things (also using gay slurs). After another customer service person has calmed down LT. Anti-Faggot, my friend left the store schocked and outraged he had been cursed like he was in some kind of a barfight. After he told me what happened I marched him back to the store and demanded a cash refund, which they told me they couldnt do, and after some mroe fighting and a mention about how the other customer service person had practically assaulted my openly gay friend they made us sign a piece of paper saying no legal action would take place and gave us our cash. Luckily we didnt sign full names, date, or give details to the actual circumstances on the paper. ANyone think theres a chance for my friend to take any kind of legal action? He was obviously singled out because hes openly gay and I think it sucks. Id love to get some kind of group together to hand out copies of these stories in front of best buy stores. A good warning for people not to shop there. Mail me at alliancemike2002@yahoo.com with any ideas.

    Posted by: Mikey on January 24, 2003 02:43 PM
  41. Circuit City is ripping consumers off. Please visit www.circuitcitysucks.net for details.

    Posted by: admin@circuitcitysucks.net on January 29, 2003 03:28 PM
  42. I know how you guys feel, I am a nationally certified car audio installer at Best Buy and I work our ass off for $12 an hour as a part timer working 43-50 hours a week as well as go to school so my under educated over payed managers and district staff can get rich and take their little whores of girlfriends out. Another thing that I can not stand is little f@#$ers like DIST GAry Romel in district 26 who as a store sales manager took under age employees to a club bought them drinks and then proceeded to rub his head in ones breasts. This is the same guy who as the DIST took under age guys to mexico got them drunk and bought a few of them hookers. Is this the kind of place you would like to work at. That little Shit is my boss. They say that as an employee you can move up well I have been working at Best Buy for more than two years doing all of my dept. sups paperwork and having an open schedule and I still have not been able to get a full time position. While my manager does not even know how to put in a sterao into a F-150 or even how to use a registar. They do this so they do not have to pay 401k or medical "employer of choice" my ass. Great training should start by hiring managers with at least a college degree. Especially since most of the part-timers and full-timers have higher educations than the so called bosses

    Posted by: John on January 30, 2003 02:28 PM
  43. I think best buy sucks because there is poor management there. They only care about making money!!!
    The customers and the employees mean nothing to them. I am a former employee, I went there to get a job because my previous store that I worked at closed. I applied there and got the job on the merch. team and I want everyone to know that I like working with my team, they were great people except for the merch/media manager. I think she was a poor excuse for a manager. She didn't stick up for her team and she always had an attitude I didn't like. She would always help out media before she would help out merch. I always felt she didn't like me for some reason. I didn't understand why because I always showed up for work and I did what was asked of me. I asked to be place on full time because I needed the health insurance. They said they would have an opening in the spring then later they told me I wouldn't get full time because best buy wasn't hiring full time employees any more. I was very ticked and and I went and got another job that was full time and I cut my hours at best buy and the Merch manager didn't want to work with my hours in the end so I didn't show up for work anymore. BestBuy can kiss my A??. They also screw people over with their prices I know because I used to set the ads
    BestBuy is not the best buy.
    Store 166 Sucks

    Posted by: Nicole on January 31, 2003 10:50 AM
  44. Best Buy really does suck!!! I work there and the customer service does suck. We don't get paid on commition so we just don't care about the customers. I worked in the cashier section and we must sell Replacements plans in order to get more hours. When we give our speech about the plans... we lie, and the managers tell us to lie and I feel really guilty having to sell some non-sense to people. The plans rarely cover what we say they cover. READ THE PLANS CAREFULLY and don't buy a plan unless it's for a game console. You need it then. I'm soo ashamed to work there. I apologize to all of you and please go to circuit city if possible.

    Posted by: Cashier from 125 on February 3, 2003 12:24 AM
  45. Oh ya!! If you did buy a service planplease try to use it.
    1. Read the directions of the plan carefully.
    2. As reading find the best way to break the item.
    3. Return the item and it should be returnable through the plan.
    4. You should always do this towards the end of the plan because, you could get either a new version of what you have or, an updated version of what you have.

    If you want to fight back at Best Buy..don't buy the plans and never buy the accessories. Most of the Best Buy income is due to accessories. Go to a different store for them. it may be cheaper too!!!

    Posted by: Cashier from 125 on February 3, 2003 12:39 AM
  46. As a current employee at Best Buy, I'd like to say, "thank you" to all of you who have posted good and bad comments regarding Best Buy. I currently work at store 4XX and let me tell you something:

    I am still working at Best Buy because the economy in general sucks. I don't have a choice and I have kids to feed. Here is my "opinion" regarding Best Buy practises:

    Ok, first off, Best Buy is an establishment (just like all the others) to make money. Lots of money. However, it is very true that MONEY is the ultimate concern of the company. There is nothing more valuable than making money and hiring people who can MAKE THE COMPANY MONEY.
    You of course have to make money off of high margin items. Which makes logical sense. Now here is what is baffling:

    What is the deal with the PSP/PRP? I still haven't found out. Rumor has it that management (all the way down to the supervisors) make $$$ bonuses when each PSP/PRP is sold. Even MSN, digital services, etc., management makes money. Even the technicians make money (only the supervisor) if they ring up a tech "setup" (when they OPEN YOUR NEW PC to show you it works--a good thing actually)...they get some $$$ contributed towards the pot.

    As for the PSP/PRP, well, if you end up using it, it's worth it to some extent and that depends on where you "service" your items. If you ask most techs, only the honest ones will tell you THEIR JOB IS BULLSHIT.

    As for the rest of the people working at Best Buy, they are all working hard for peanuts. No one gets a good pay raise...people get promoted for all the wrong reasons and the every supervisor/manager just wants the employees to sell harder so their numbers will look great..so they can "move up" to another position. The problem with Best Buy internally is that everyone moves up the ladder way too fast and no manager/supervisor is around long enough to really give a damn about employees. As for customers, they leave it to the employees to C.A.R.E. But if employees offer and customers reject too often, they ride on the employees because they believe the employees didn't do their best in presenting to the customers.

    Who needs a battery back up for a playstation or a laptop computer? Who wants to pay $40 for a 6ft. USB cable when the buy-in price is around $3.50? It's so ridiculous after working at Best Buy to realise the amount of markup they have on items.

    Now the PSP/PRP's are the #1 money makers. To tell you honestly, THERE IS NO TECH SERVICES DEPARTMENT AT BEST BUY. It's just a front to show you that you can have a reliable source to take care of your $500 computer when it breaks....and when that happens, they usually send it down to the "service center" and it takes another month or two. Nothing really gets fixed at the store...the best advice from the store techs is, "how about a system restore"? it shoudld fix everything...well, it DOES eh? Frankly, the smart techs are the ones that don't work as a tech in the store. Most of the time they just do ring ups and push PSP/PRP's hoping to clean up after the sales guys who "miss the PSP/PRP closing".

    Come to think of it, I hate the company but i like my friends at Best Buy. If only management would realise that EMPLOYEES ARE THE ONES THAT MAKE THE SALE AND THE ONES THAT PUT FOOD ON THEIR TABLE, we'd get more respect. It's sad to see so many customers come in and get ripped off on PSP/PRP's. Especially the FREE MSN dialup. What a joke!

    The very worse part about Best Buy HAS TO BE THE NON-COMMISION bullshit! At least when i go to Circuit City/Good Guys, I know I'm paying commission to the sales guys....they don't lie about it. At Best Buy, they PRETEND to be non-commission by telling you, "by the way, we're a non-commission store" when really it's all about commission pressure to sell that stupid shit PSP/PRP!

    I really feel bad for the customers but then again, we're all just doing what we are trained to do at Best Buy. The sad thing is that everyone is brainwashed to the point of no return.

    As for the "lying" to customers when they don't buy the PSP from the store we tell them the item is not in stock, it is TOTALLY TRUE. I'm so suprised my store doesn't get audited for this bullshit we pull ALL THE TIME. I can say with great evidence that LYNNWOOD STORE is probably the most bullshit store in the whole nation. PSPs, Lies, and videotape can prove they're are crooks.

    Now here are some shoutouts to my homies:

    CR, SM, JP, RF, BB, SY, AN, JM, DT, SE, TR!

    PS- Most of the managers are from other stores such as safeway, fred meyer, and so forth. ALL the GM's are practically stupid and useless. Most of the managers are "numbers, numbers, and numbers".

    As a customer, remember to say "NO" when you are pushed to buy any "PSP/PRP". You have the FULL RIGHT!
    In closing, I'd like to say one last thing:

    REMEMBER THAT PSP's ON COMPUTERS IS NOT WORTH ANYTHING. EVEN ON THE LAPTOPS BECAUSE YOU GAIN NOTHING OUT OF THE DEAL. IN FACT, IT'S THE WORSE $250 YOU CAN SPEND IN ADDITION! WHAT YOU SHOULD BUY ARE PRP'S ON PERIPHERALS. SHIT BREAKS, GET A NEW ONE. YOU PAID FOR IT. IF YOU DO END UP BUYING A PSP ON A PHONE OR A PDA, REMEMBER THAT IF IT'S WITHIN ONE YEAR OF PURCHASE, YOU CAN GET A BRAND NEW PDA UNDER THE SERVICE AGREEMENT *** AND *** THE SERVICE AGREEMENT CARRIES OVER TO THE NEW PDA. DON'T LET THEM FORCE YOUINTO BUYING ***ANOTHER*** PSP ON THE NEW XCHANGED ITEM. YOU HAVE FULL LEGAL RIGHT TO REQUEST EXCHANGE FOR A NEW UNIT (EVEN COMPUTERS). THEY CANNOT TELL YOU OTHERWISE. IT'S IN THE CLAUSE OF THE PSP BROCHURE! Also, be nice to the customer service reps..they are way underpaid and under-appreciated. Just tell other sales guys on the floor, "NO THANKS FOR THE PSP". They have to shutup if they know any better!


    Posted by: JJ on February 3, 2003 09:05 AM
  47. Best Buy is always out of stock because the prices are great. Americans whine to goddamn much. Shut your traps and go to hell.

    Posted by: Codename JK on February 3, 2003 06:09 PM
  48. unbeleiveable, its all true.ive been a senior in pcho for 3mths and cant wait to get the hell outta here.trust me folks ive worked for some great companies and this aint one of them.i could probably move up in this company fast but its not worth it in the long run.psp/prp yeah right.i guess the saying is true if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck then its a f$$king duck...pissed off senior moving up to sup.while looking for another job....

    Posted by: john buras on February 8, 2003 11:53 PM
  49. >YOU PEOPLE ARE SO FUNNY! You really think your little postings on this
    >website really matter. You really think that by venting in this manner
    >you may in some strange way have some kind of effect on
    >this retail giant. You will not. I am sure people at corporate

    Tell that to SUN electronics, or Service merchandise... both had similar complaints that Best Buy has, both had huge firesales on products and many costumers until they screwed everyone they could and both are now defunct, out of business.

    Best Buy's day will come, I assure you.

    Dan K

    Posted by: Dan K on February 13, 2003 05:00 PM
  50. Okay for all you best buy employees, heres a question:

    I bought a sony VIAO laptop for $1699 last July... The damn thing has terminal problems, one of which is that when you power it off it wont power back on untill you remove/reinsert the battery... Another of which is that it won't run linux due to it's crappy internal CDROM being 1394 instead of IDE, and because it's video chipset is some private intel design.

    At any rate, stupid me bought the PSP, I THOUGHT I was getting a PRP like deal similar to what you get at COMPUSA where you can get a refund for any reason whatsoever... The salesman lied like crazy telling me this to get me to buy it, but now I realise I got screwed. I am hesitant to take the thing back now that I see that the PSP is a joke... I use this laptop for an internet business daily and cant afford to be without it for more than a day or so... from what I hear I'll be screwed if I take it in to get serviced under the PSP.

    Any recommendations?

    Dan K

    Posted by: Dan K on February 13, 2003 05:12 PM
  51. Following extensive research, I just purchased a laptop from Best Buy and plan to never return. The laptop is wonderful, the persistence of a sales clerk pushing the $250 warranty was entirely too obnoxious to ever return. I was also told that I would be provided with a new $100 battery every year with purchase of plan since the manufacturer claims the battery will die in one year. I have found no info. backing up this claim on the web or any other info. provided with the laptop. If you know differently, please post. Though my husband claims "it's just his job," once I say NO to the plan, I didn't want to be badgered with his next 14 attempts to sell me the plan.

    Posted by: disgruntled on February 16, 2003 01:35 AM
  52. its true the grass is actually greener on the other side, i gave my two weeks notice.i have 1 week left thank god.free at last of psps and mods...

    Posted by: john buras on February 20, 2003 04:52 PM
  53. I too work at the hell hole Best Buy. I hate that place with a fierce passion. Numbers, contact, CARE+, BULLSHIT! I have worked there for a year and a half and have had one raise!!! That too is BULLSHIT! Best Buy screws it people on pay but demands they work miracles in a downhill economy! That too is BULLSHIT!! I hate dumb customers. It's called literacy people-get some. I straight-up stopped offering PSP to people. If they ask I answer, but I don't do anything else! All Best Buy is is an upscale Wal-Mart(no ill will towards them mind you). In addition to selling the salespeople are expected to stock everything, clean everything, it's impossible! That place is rediculous. But I'm stuck there. I hate Best Buy!!

    Posted by: Denver guy on February 22, 2003 02:43 AM
  54. I have to laugh at most of the comments on this page as well as on the Best Buy sucks page. It all seems very funny to me. I have worked in retail for a long time, and have worked for both Best Buy and Circuit City. One thing I have ALWAYS found hilarious are those people out there, much like the guy who bought the "OPEN BOX" shelf system at a largely discounted price, only to find a short time later that it began to work improperly. So he goes back to the store, WELL after the typical across retail businesses as a WHOLE, 30 day return policy. Still in the MANUFACTURER waranty period I am sure. But he goes back to the store, in this case was Best Buy, complains because his stereo is broken and he wants a new one.
    Well, the FACT is my friend, you bought a "used" one. One that had been purchased already and returned for one reason or another. So WHY on earth would you EXPECT, not request, not "like", not "hope", but EXPECT that ANY business would GIVE you a BRAND NEW anything when you purchased something "USED" and brought it back WELL AFTER the NORMAL return policy????? Then have the nerve to be angry with the people who work there because they can't GIVE you a NEW one? It's people like yourself, that make shopping in places like that harder. Because there is ALWAYS someone, like YOU, that want something for nothing and whine and complain when they can't get it.
    If you check ANY retail business, they ALL have return policies, and procedures for getting an item repaired that you purchased at that store. Best Buy, Good Guys, The Wiz, Sears, and yes, even the GIANT of all retailers, Wal Mart! Even THEY won't just GIVE you something because you go in and throw a temper tantrum because the low end "el cheapo" peice of electronics that you bought stopped working right. There ARE rules that we must ALL follow. And, I have found, in MANY cases as a customer to one of these BIG companies, that if I go in with a GOOD attitude and do not lose my mind at the little 16 year old behind the counter, that they are MUCH more willing to work with me and help me, than if I go in and begin to berate them because they won't GIVE me what I want.
    You ALMOST seem to be an educated person, but, in the end, it seems that you have just studied some $50 words out of the dictionary and decided to show off with them in your internet forum. Which is fine, we are ALL entitled to our opinions and to express them however we want to.
    But, the next time you buy something from wherever it is you shop now, and it breaks on you or has some kind of problem, keep inmind that it's NOT just Best Buy that sucks --- It could just be YOU that sucks in the way you handle yourself and how you deal with others who cna't just GIVE you something that you in fact didn't pay for. It seems to me that you were probably that poor little kid that always got picked on and were always last to get picked when it was time to play kick ball. That is all very unfortunate for you, but you really shouldn't take it out on the poor kid behind the counter at any store you find yourself in......Take a long look inside yourself the next time you buy some cheap stuff and it breaks, consider what it was you bought, how much you paid, and do NOT EXPECT the place you bought it from to just GIVE you a brand new one 6 months later just because YOU WANT ONE. And, STOP WHINING!!! This is not a PRO Best Buy comment, this is a SHUT UP YOU BIG BABY comment. ALL retailers, electronics or any other have RULES and policies, and you'll find that if YOU as the customer, follow those rules and policies, you will get a LOT farther a LOT faster than if you just go in with a chip on your shoulder like THEY OWE YOU something. Fact is, they do not. They did not MAKE the item you purchased. Maybe next time, instead of going back to the store and whining, you might WHINE to the company that actually MADE the product. Oh, but wait, I guess they probably wouldn't just GIVE you a NEW one either huh? I guess it SUCKS....to be YOU!

    Posted by: Scott on February 25, 2003 06:51 PM
  55. I WOULD LIKE TO ASK ANYONE WHO HAS POSTED A GOOD THING ABOUT BESTBUY ON THIS SITE. HOW DID YOU END UP ON THIS SITE, IF YOU DID NOT THINK BESTBUY SUCKS?

    /* author's note: rest of this long rap is removed due to abundance of four letter words */

    Posted by: best buy sucks on March 2, 2003 10:04 PM
  56. I'm a former best buy employee. I have mixed feelings about best buy. I liked the atmosphere and the excitement everyone at my store had (58#). But its' true best buy does not reward its' employees for hard work. And Dave if you call $11 dollars a lot of money considering how much you have to produce to work there you are nuts. But its not just best buy. I think it is the industries move in general away form commision that is the cause of this but best buy was the first to be stingy by ending commision sales way back in 1993. 10 Years before they forced Circuit City to do the same. It's not just Best Buy corporations in general just do not honor hard work with loyalty, respect and compensation like they use to. Mama (s) don't let your babies grow up to be employees!!

    Posted by: KS on March 3, 2003 08:57 PM
  57. I had a funny experience with a Best Buy employee yesterday.

    I was trying to find a USB interfacing cable to link our new HP printer to our computer (why the damn printer didn't come with it, I will never understand...) and the sales guy pointed me to a bunch of cables which would do the job.

    That was all I really needed, but he didn't stop there. He tried to push this $40 gold-plated 10-foot monstrosity cable onto me. I told him I could just use the cheaper $20 6-foot aluminum cable for the job.

    Then he said one of the funniest things I have ever heard in a sales situation.

    "But the aluminum cable will rust!"

    My jaw dropped...then I just looked at him and said, "erm...aluminum doesn't rust".

    To this he indignantly replied, "Yes, it will...it will oxidize your printer port". I was going to launch into a quick lecture on oxidation and reduction but I was so intent on getting away from this idiot that I just grabbed the $20 cable and started to walk away.

    As I start to move away, he doles out another great one: "the gold plated cable runs faster".

    "How is that?" I replied.

    "It's able to conduct the signal faster".

    I spent only $20 yesterday, as you can imagine.

    Posted by: irishism on March 10, 2003 11:10 AM
  58. first off, i'm an electronics salesman at an office max 2 doors down from a "Beast Buy." all i can say is i get a good laugh from the customers who come into my store explaining to me what the Best Buy guys told me when they were "helping" them at their store.

    like how the best buy guy tried to push the gold cable usb cable on them, explaining how its super fast (as if standard USB 2.0 isn't fast enough!). now we sell those cables at my store too. my answer for the customer is, "the gold cables are excellent sources of higher profit."

    or like how the best buy guy told them (and this has happened several times) that you MUST USE USB if you have Windows 95, and that Parallel won't work. LOL.

    yesterday a lady came in distraught because a best buy salesman told her that her brand new dell computer's DVD+R/RW drive was completely useless, as practically no DVD players on the market support that format. i quietly corrected this lady's problem, even though we don't sell dvd players, explaining that nearly every DVD player on the market can support either + or - formats.


    the list goes on and on. other things i can say is that the novi best buy salesmen knows jack shit about optics, digital imaging, and printing. they may actually know a few things about computers. cell phones and pdas are easy sells.

    what gets me the most when i shop at best buy is the sales pressure. to me a sales environment where huge pressure is put on the customer to purchase add-ons galore, internet contracts, and performance service plans, is the exact opposite of how to sell. a good salesman should develop a friendly repoire with the customer, and should take time to research new products on his own (the internet's a great source!) so he can fully explain them and not sound like a jackass. for instance, for me to reccomend a laser printer over an inkjet, i need to help the customer understand the concepts of laser printing. best buy salesmen for the most part know jack shit how the products really work. ask any best buy salesmen, how does a laser printer work. i'm sure most of them wouldn't give you the slightest of an idea. also, you should never push accessories (some of them useless) on the customer. a standard cable is profitable enough. most printers come with fully or nearly full cartridges. offer them other unnecessary but cool accessories, but do not push them. don't shove internet service down the throats of those who have f-ing broadband! and finally, i never cram maxassurances down people's throats. i tell them the benefits, what we do, and how we actually do help them in exchanging it should they bring it back. it stops there. let the customer decide how to spend their money. and if they dont want it, thats it!

    Posted by: james on March 11, 2003 12:05 AM
  59. Are there any fomer/current Best Buy employees out there who can tell me how they are trained to present MSN internet service at check-out? I was recently signed up for MSN without my knowledge or consent at check-out. I noticed MSN data, user ID and password, on my receipt and asked the manager of the store about it. He confirmed that I was signed-up. The service was cancelled, but I want to know more about how that happened. The store put 100% of the blame on the cashier and said they(management) had nothing to do with it. I don't believe that's true and would like to hear from employees. Thanks

    Posted by: XBBcustomer on March 15, 2003 01:51 PM
  60. I work at Best Buy And I love it. I have been there for almost 2 years and I have been promoted 2 times already.And my managment staff is wonderful they care about there employes. And there customers I have seen my sales manager bend over backwards for customers and get in trouble sometimes doing so but he don't care he wants to make them happy. So to you people that want to bitch, the only reason you are doing so is because you did not get your way when you threw a fit like a 2 year old. So who cares we don't want people like you in our store anyway..We don't want to put up with your fits because you don't get your way. and if you would read the return police if you can read you won't have a problem. it's posted all over the place. and to the people that worked at best buy You probanle got fired for something and thats why your pissed. all you had to do is do your job and you wouldn't have this problem..

    Posted by: Me Best Buy rules on March 16, 2003 06:34 AM
  61. I have many stories to tell about BB however, this is the latest and last one. I purchased an HP computer in Nov 2002 with a $200 rebate right? Wrong! As of today I have not received any rebate. I decided to call HP and inquire. There was NOT any rebated offered on that model computer at that time however I did receive all the information from the sales staff offering the rebate and the cashier. Well now I'm off to customer service (if that is what you call it) and was greeted by a babbling young girl that would NOT shut up. She kept saying the same thing over and over and over until I told her to "shut up and listen" Well she did not like that, however, I then got her supervisor which was at the well experienced age of 22!
    Same thing, more of the same shit.She then refused me the store manager. I keep insisting, and at last another manager. Guess what. EXACTLY the same babble. I'm finished with them.
    This was in Evansville, In. fyi.
    I will travel to Circuit City or Comp USA before I go to Best Buy again. Please tell all your friends about this dump.
    Thanks

    Posted by: Ihatebestbuy on March 17, 2003 09:32 PM
  62. I don't mind working at best buy its ok better that most shit holes i wirked for ..FOR ALL THE PEOPLE THAT SAY BEST BUY SUCKS WELL I GOT NOTHING AGAINST YOU BUT WHAT I TELL OTHER EMPLOYEES WHY THE FUCK DO YOU WORK THERE IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT ? NOBODY IS TWITING YOUR ARM TO WORK THERE in regaurds to the customers sucking you are right they do suck but you got to take the time out and think you will be a customer too and you will probably bitch and moan cause you dont' get customer service wah! wah! wah! how would you like if your parents would go to est buy and blow them off and tell them get out of here.. I know customers can be abuseive sometimes but i tell you this much if it was a chick with a nice set of tits and a nice ass ill definitly give good customer service.

    Posted by: Lakewoodian on March 19, 2003 01:55 AM
  63. i only hate the fact that if i want something intalled in my car they put the cock sucking customers first and i hvae to wait im paying too its not like i get it intalled for free... fuck them i have to put up with customers shit they should have to wait if im already first i should go first you snnose u loose

    Posted by: lakewoodian on March 19, 2003 02:00 AM
  64. hi i would just like to say that i too work at best buy. I live in el paso texas and i would just like to say that the best buy here is very generous. I dont hire anyone i think will abuse the customer in anyway. As well as the raise that 32 cents does sound like it sucks, my highest raise here in el paso was about 25 dollars and ive given higher raises to people who deserve it. im not trying to insult anybody by saying this but im just trying to say that not all best buy stores suck. i find my store to be kind to the customers, and i expect the same respect from them.

    Posted by: john philindale on March 19, 2003 07:15 PM
  65. Hey, the simple fact of the matter is, if you don't like Best Buy, don't shop there. In this day and age, there are plenty of stores with the same product - you get what you pay for, so if you are getting the best prices, then you probably aren't getting the service you like. You can't have it all.

    Also, on the laptop battery bit, I've had a dell laptop for a little over a year now, and i'm lucky if i get a half hour out of my battery anymore...

    Posted by: Funny Shit on March 21, 2003 12:23 AM
  66. OK, here goes-

    I'll start by saying that I am currently employed by Best Buy. I was recently emailed a link to this page, and have now wasted almost an hour attempting to read what might pass for english in a daycare spelling bee. People, if you're going to try and sound like you're smarter than the supposed zit-faced teenagers that wouldn't do this or wouldn't give you that, try and convey your thoughts in a way appropriate to someone with more than a kindergarten education.

    That said-
    I fix things for Best Buy, and here's the deal. We don't stock most of the parts for repairs in the stores. Plain and simple. Those of you expecting us to magically fix this or that have to understand that Best Buy as a company has set up established service centers full of technicians and parts to handle warranty repairs. Only recently, PC repairs have been performed at the store level, provided it is a part that we carry in the store as an upgrade (we give you better parts than were originally in the machines by the way), and that the customer has our PSP.

    As far as the PSP goes, most of the employees don't know the true benefit. They are taught the benefits once or twice, and expected to go from there. If you want the real reasons to buy (or not to buy) these things, go to the people that are involved in repairing whatever it is you are buying.

    We recently shipped a laptop in for repair that was about fourteen months old (I'm leaving the manufacturer out, as this post isn't intended to cause harm, just show a different angle). The customer had purchased our PSP. From opening and closing the top of the laptop, the wiring had become worn from the motherboard to the display. About a week after it had been shipped, we received notice that the customer was authorised for a new laptop, based on the fact that the display ($1000 for the part) and the motherboard ($1000 for the part) would have to be replaced, and the original purchase was $1700. They weren't parts that our service center normally stocked, so had to go through the manufacturer to get, and that is what we would have been charged for them.

    In the end, the customer, really through no fault of his own, had worn out his laptop. Best Buy gave him a new one. He paid $220 for a PSP that got him another $1700 laptop. Do the math.

    Quick look at what would have happened if he hadn't purchased the $220 PSP-$2000 (plus labor, unless he has one of those great "friend in the business" types) to fix $1700 laptop. Numbers like that do two things-Add to a landfill somewhere, and get Best Buy a bad name because we would have given him that exact same quote, and asked if he wanted to fix it or not.

    According to some of the posts on here, Best Buy should replace worn out equipment regardless of the circumstances, and to those I say this-If you go into ANY retailer, ignore their policies, disregard the recommendations of their employees or treat them in a way that is less than the way you expected to be treated, and then expect preferential treatment, you're obviously someone that doesn't see the path this sentence is taking.

    Quick answers
    Dan K --

    If you're going to purchase something and wipe off the OS that is originally installed (intended) by the manufacturer, make sure you do your research on the product before buying. Plain and simple. Retail employees that have no real exposure to linux are not going to be able to tell you if it'll work, and if you've had any experience with the OS, you'd know that driver support can be sticky in some instances. As far as the battery issue is concerned, yes, it will have to go to one of our service centers. If you want, have one of the techs at the store clean the contacts and check it out, but it does sound like something would have to be replaced (battery with poor leads, motherboard with same, etc.) Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it happens.
    As far as the replacement thing through CompUSA, I just checked their site, and only see Service plans, that look suspiciously like Best Buy PSPs (even some of the same wording). I can't imagine a company that would sell a plan of any sort that would allow you to outright return something as pricey as a laptop with no questions asked. Hard way for a company to make money, unless equipment rental is the company's business.

    Gold cable vs other--I won't try and count the number of people that have come back happy with gold A/V cabling, so I'll mention printers. Years and years ago (before I even thought about working with this stuff), I had an HP deskjet 660C that wouldn't print properly. I tried exchanging the non-gold for another non-gold cable, and doing everything the troubleshooting portion of the directions suggested to no avail. I then called HP, ran through some things over the phone, and the technician suggested I get a gold-plated cable. Went to a store (long enough ago I don't remember where exactly) and picked one up and the printer functioned properly. I'm not going to try and explain why for fear of the gentlemen from an early post going into a lecture on chemical reactions, but needless to say it did actually make a difference. Buy as you will.

    If/when you buy something at Best Buy or any retailer, check their policies BEFORE something goes wrong. That way you know what to expect (4 year old universal remote control- probably not going to be replaced because it was kicked down the stairs by an angry in-law, week-old dishwasher that is leaking in the basement-No problem) and aren't surprised when the employees "babble" policies at you instead of simply handing over keys to the store. In my position, I deal with these issues every day, and have heard some interesting stories as to how the cell phone was flattened, or the camcorder dropped in the lake, as well as some things that truly made me feel bad for the individual, and I have to tell you that, at least the people at my store, try and treat everyone equally under the same corporate-set policies.

    And one more quick thing-The next time you go storming around a store(public place for those of you that didn't know or thought that other people wanted you to be the one to expose their children to that kind of language) yelling and screaming that the employee didn't tell you that this or that would go wrong with the unit, think of it this way-Car dealerships that sold the Pinto didn't post signs on them that said "Brand-new death trap" or make print ads that claimed it to be the "Best way to die this year!". The reason for this is simple-The only people that could have known that the placement of the fuel storage on the vehicle was a problem were the people that designed it, not the dealers. And the question is, were the dealerships sued over this problem, or the automobile manufacturer? Keep that in mind when the Sony dishwasher you purchased from ANYWHERE begins throwing fireballs through your livingroom. Sony makes it, and doesn't exactly hand out Why Not To Sell This Product manuals when they arrive in stores. And if you buy a new car, and six months down the road you total it driving to work, would you immediately call the dealership and demand a new one? No, you'd call your insurance agent and file a claim.

    Well, I'm done.
    I almost hope that this post is longer than the truly insightful piece of poetry/rap further up the line. That was inspiring.

    Posted by: JMG on March 21, 2003 03:24 AM
  67. My wife and I bought a $499.00 top of the line dishwasher at the Fairfield CA Best Buy. The sales clerk was an idiot!! we wanted a built in dishwasher and installation, but what they punched up was a portable..( neither the clerk nor their (POS)computer caught the error!) but another clerk (who also did not catch That error) stopped us as we were leaving and said the sales clerk forgot to sell us a hook-up we had to have for their installers to install the dishwasher... I asked why this $35.00 kit is NOT included in the price of installation and was told "it just isn't!" with that both clerks exited the sales floor. They left me standing there with a receipt for a dishwasher in one hand and holding a kit other hand and no one to ring it up except for the long lines at the front registers ..
    I got mad, I realized what they had just pulled , best buy entices you in with a discount price but then they add on extra charges such as the Free delivery was not free, I had to pay for it first and was instructed to fill out this form and would reqiure sending the recipt off to get a rebate for the cost of delivery. (no receipt = no refund! get it!!!)

    I decided that this was not the Best deal that I was getting ripped off and looked for the clerks who had vanished, they were standing in the back room just off the floor just standing there, not talking or doing anything but apparently trying to avoid me... I told them I wanted to cancel this purchuse they told me to go to the refund desk, I walked up there and saw a long line about 15 people having things to return This pissed me off more "I now am a priosoner of their buracracy!", so I went back to the clerk who stuffed the $35.00 kit into my hands and demanded that he void my purchuse he said he could not do that I demanded to speak to their manager, (the manager would not come out of his/her(gender was never discussed) office) I was totally belligerent at that point there was no excuse for their manager to refuse to help I was becoming so loud that they gave me the hookup and asked if that would make things right, Like an idiot myself I just wanted out of there by that point and this seemed like a compromise.. But then on the delivery was moved up a day, my wife had to take off work an hour early to be there, and that is when we learned that the clerk had sold us a portable rather than a built in dishwasher. The delivery installer told my wife the clerk had to be stupid because portable dishwashers don't require installation. My wife refused the delivery and when I came home that night we drove to best buy to get our money back! But Best Buy wont give us our money back they said the needed to call the wharehose first to verify the diswasher was there (they must think we are thives!) the wharehouse was closed so they said come back in 48-Hours! we did reluctantly but 48-Hours put us into sunday and the idiots at best buy on Sunday told us to come back Monday I HAVE HAD IT They are ripping me off, without that money credited back to my account I can't buy a dishwasher elswhere so they totaly have screwed us up.
    I don't have their Fvcken dishwasher and I want MY money Back.. but they won't give it to me!!!

    NEVER EVER WILL I SHOP AT BEST BUY AGAIN I am just so pissed off right now thank God you guys have this web site for me to vent and share this with I hope a lot of peopl read the posting on your site I will love to hear one day and soon I hope that they go out of business...

    Posted by: James Underwood on March 23, 2003 05:57 PM
  68. well james not all best buy's are the same some do give good service, some don't ..and your issue on refunding your money and you waiting in a line in front of 15 people well you are just going to have to wait just like everyone else if they skipped you infront of other people that have been waiting already im very sure they would not like that one bit...and your issue on the install kit for the dishwasher not being free nobody will give that the maker of the dish washer wants to make money too...NOTHING IN THIS WORLD IS FREE NOMATTER HOW MUCH YOU SPEND.......employees dont treat customers good cause of a few bad apples who act like dumb ass motherfuckers who abuse the customer is always right shit. and act a fool with the employees i don't put up with that shit...i don't let a customer talk to me any kind of way. ill talk shit back to them and if they wanna fight ill fuckin kick their ass right there, it aint the first time and it wont be the last niether..yea ive been fired so what i could always find another job. how would the customers like if i go to thier jobs and act a fool with them i bet they wouldn't like it.....i bet they would wanna kick my as too they dont see it from our point of view.....

    Posted by: theez nutz on March 24, 2003 11:24 PM
  69. always read the fine print and keep your goddamn recipt anybody can walk in a store and grab something off the shelf and go to the counter and ask for a refund..thats why they made that policy dickwad.........man for some one who biches allot you sure don't know much

    Posted by: htown on March 24, 2003 11:28 PM
  70. to JMG (the one with the long ass posting):

    Hey, you are one stupid ass person to NOT REALISE that you are being taken advantaged of. How can you possibly defend this company when they clearly are there to take as much money from customers as possible but before doing so, lead them to believe they are getting the best service...the reality is that they aren't even serviced properly.

    You fool, your day will come when you understand how this evil company works. What goes around comes back around...and Best buy will sure get what they deserve...in due time.

    LAST BUT NOT LEAST...YOUR PSP CASE...haha, do you think that happens to everyone? I don't think so..not unless the victim makes a big issue out of it...as long as I was a tech at the store, I don't recall being allowed to be THAT gracious...

    Posted by: DKNY on March 25, 2003 03:16 AM
  71. I myself work at a Best Buy as a tech and we are not a front. To all of you who bitch about how long it takes to get your product fixed (which I am sorry it sucks to be without any toy for any amount of time.) Feel lucky you do not have to deal with the manufacture to get the damn thing fixed. They take almost twice as long as us to get anything fixed and thats even if your lucky that they are even covering whats wrong with the unitand that even if your with in the manufacture's warranty because if you not they are only going to give the old f*** you routine. Now with the PSP/PRP thing. It is worth getting it on somethings and not on others. Realize what you our buying and your past experience with said item. A good salesman will offer the service, let you know of the benefits and not jam it down your throats. I offer it to the customers tell them the benefits and if they say no f*** it. If it breaks on them it is their problem, not mine. Now about the lack of knowledge of the employees. Yes there is some people who do not have a rats ass idea on the products they are trying to sell you but can anybody truly say that every person they work with is compentent, probably not. I know my s*** as a tech and even when I was a sales person working for multiple departments. Just because theres one dumbass in the place does not make everyone a dumbass. Just realize that the people who are trying to help you are just that PEOPLE. They do make mistakes just like you. A good sales perosn will try to take care of the problem as fast as they can. So to the next time you walk into Best Buy, if you do, put yourself into our shoes and treat us as you want to be treated. Trust me if you are patient and nice to me I will try everything to help you out but if you throw a fit like a two year old and screaming.

    Posted by: toki05 on March 30, 2003 06:58 PM
  72. Seems to me that except jmg, every other Best Buy employee who has commented here has an abundant supply of foul language.

    And they were arguing for great customer service?

    Posted by: Babu on March 30, 2003 07:36 PM
  73. As a former Bestbuy employee I have to agree it's all about the numbers.And as for the managment there,they are pressured with do this or you are fired everyday from above.There is no recognition or respect.And s#%t rolls downhill.So I can say that I understand why the employees are treated like s#$t.Its one big boiling pot.Make the numbers or you are gone,thats the mentality.I feel bad for everyone that works there.

    Posted by: goffer on April 2, 2003 05:59 PM
  74. I work there and it does suck, the funnest part of my day is when the managers stop whining and the customers start yelling at me, thats when I FINNALLY GET THE CHANCE TO RESPOND. I hate it when customers call me on the phone and say "Hey do you guys have fridge and if you do could I get some prices?" Yes and No is my general response, come on down you fat fuuck and talk to me like a man. I will tell you to your face that best buy sucks hardcore aass and that no we don't have it in stock. But don't yell at me because I will kill you because the only reason I work there is because I drive a badaass car (mustang 5.0) and I need to put gas into it, and I only get 8.00 an hour so if you want to waste your time yelling at me, I DON'T CARE! I get paid by the hour biitch. If you are nice, I'll try to get to you whenm I can, if thats too long or you to actually wait because we have better stuff I appologize or the wait but if you are just gonna biitch at me, I'm glad you waited and I hope you wait every time you go to any store. I also hope that you think of me evey time you fuucking wait in line to get your baskin robins fuucker. Just come on down, talk coherently with me, and I'll try to guide you through hell safely or you can bask in the fires biitch. And would you be interested in the 5 year Product Service Plan with that fridge?

    Posted by: Camdemonium on April 3, 2003 01:32 PM
  75. Best Buy can kiss my ass!!the staff and the dumb a$$ customers who shop there. Give the sales guy a break,but no.. u keep insisting in being helped and even call the freakin store manager. U dumb sh*t customers, i'll sell u a piece of sh*t camera and i hope ur sh*t breaks if u dont buy the service plan. Lazy ass seniors and sups. do paper work..right..ya lazy asses go to the break room and watch tv while were busy with customers..Best Buy can shove their numbers in their ass. And as for that computer sheduling shit..bullshit..why put 2 or 3 people on a very slow day..and on saturdays/sundays.. only like 1 person opens..and 1 closes..and expect the department to be clean,downstocked, "clean and brite" my a$$. LP..all ya freakin do is check out the girls in that 5'in. tv monitor so ya can try to get a mental pic. so ya can wack off.

    Posted by: employee at a$$ buys on April 4, 2003 12:46 PM
  76. Now that Best Buy is expanding into other countries, here is another good link.

    www.ByeByeBestBuy.com

    Posted by: ByeByeBestBuy on April 8, 2003 05:07 PM
  77. This page is awsome. I work at best buy and love reading this stuff. I have no idea that there was any anti-best buy feelings. In lansing Michigan everyone loves best buy. I work in media, just moved from computers and people love comming to my store because i'm not on commission and don't rape them for sales. I tell the customers that I am not on commission and nothing I sell gets reported to my supervisors, which is truth. I am a computer genius, and console gaming freak. Anyone that will PAY me to talk to people about video cards, 8mb buffers, Xenosaga, and wavebirds is the place I want to work. I have people everyday that ask for my buisness card. I tell them "nope, I'm not on commission, so I don't have one". And yes, tacobell employees make more money an hour that I do, but, ( and no one has mentioned this yet) I get a "SHRINK" check of arounf 1500 dollars every year in Febuary for not letting stuff get stolen. I was a great customer at best buy before I became an employee. I went into Circut City ONCE in junior high to buy the new Diablo game. The sales men where rude, didn't know what game I was talking about, and tried to sell me a controller (for Diablo?!). I guess its a demographic thing for those best buy haters above me. But if you are ever in Lansing, stop in and see (untill I finish MSU) I will definatley be able to assist you with any game known to man.

    Posted by: Kurt Lausman on April 10, 2003 12:23 PM
  78. Oh yeah, and the fat discounts on stuff like speakers (50% off) and 60% off anything by Monster, makes it easier to swallow the $7.33 I get paid.

    Posted by: Kurt Lausman on April 10, 2003 12:29 PM
  79. One more. Anyone who doesn't get the service plan on a PS2 or Xbox are dumb. Wait until the 2 years is almost up and break the damn thing. You get the $200 you paid for it originaly, even if they cost less in 2 years. Then you can put the money towards a PS3, which should be in stores about then. It is the best $25 you could spend. My fan died on my Xbox, so I brought it in and got a new one. No questions asked. Also get the performance plan on speakers. They are cheap and before the plan expires, plug them into a wall socket and fry them. Then get a new model. Its that easy. I always sell the service for the game consoles and tell the customer "I hope to see you back here with a broke console in 2 years". I love best buy and untill they fire me, or I am done building the greatest entertainment center/ dvd library, I will come to work with a smile.

    Posted by: Kurt Again on April 10, 2003 01:20 PM
  80. I work for the Musicland group that consisted of Oncue, Sam Goody, Suncoast and Media Play. We were purchased By Best Buy a little over two years ago, and since then I can tell that things have changed for the worst. 1. They (best buy)promised better pay to Musicland employees,never happened.
    2. They promised to bring in bigger sales promotions and product. never happened. Instead they cut our product inventory in half, substantialy causing us to appear as total idoits and directing customers to big brother-Best buy.
    3. The ever promise of large incentive bonus's. Let me tell you guys out there that are complaining over a 32 cent raise. How you you like an $8 bonus for pushing accessories? That was our quartley.
    4.Incorporating "every customer every time." A concept devised to help customers? How about to cram as much sales down the customers throat as possible?
    Our stores used to be filled with people who loved to shop our stores because there was a friendliness that customers enjoyed. Now there is only a cold sterile enviroment, reminiscent of best Buy as we march out in our uniforms to nail as many of you as possible.
    5. Allowing Bestbuy managers and assosciates to transfer to our Stores, but not allowing us to transfer to theirs or even apply there while we still work in the Music Land group.
    6.Best buy has closed 119 Sam Goodys, and has liquidated all of the Oncues.
    7.Best Buy has decided to sell off the remaining Music land stores in June 1, 2003. They give no more information than that to it's employees.
    So it makes you wonder as you may enter one of our stores and get asked if you want to join the Replay Card Club for 9.99, if it will even be accepted after june, or if a prp is purchased, where you going to redeem it, best buy?
    But if you really want to know a nasty they that we are forced to push, and I mean forced as in a nazi sort of way, is the Entertainment weekly scam. If you pay with a credit card you are eligable for eight free issues of entertainment weekly. Now if you have been nailed with this then you know that after those issue come to you, your credit card may will be charged the 19.99 amonth for the subscription. Now understand that we are instructed to tell everyone this, but we won't sell any. And then the management staff lets us have it for missing our sales goals, and cut our hours for it. So don't be suprised if it's not mentioned. Just make sure to read all the matierals given to you if you are stupid enough to sign up. It's a best Buy push.

    Posted by: Mack on April 21, 2003 10:28 PM
  81. I just quit Sam Goody today after I was questioned by a lost prevention guy about a comment that my manager said I told her that I was fired from my last job which is not true and have statements from my district manager and former manager stating that is not true I have been accused of lying on a application which I did not and they have done nothing about loss prevention issues with the manager who made this statement. There is alot more to this story. Also this manager edited my time on payroll and wasn't going to pay me I am sure that is a federal offense but I can't find anyone to help me.

    Help KCMO

    Posted by: Thom Ponte on April 23, 2003 08:36 PM
  82. Mr. LP was just trying to get you to confess under duress or like you've stated, quit. Without evidence they were questioning you in a fact finding interview, it is possible to contact the Labor Board in your Area to report the problem. Also if the manager was editing your time, that is a federal offense as you thought, and the Local labor board can also help you with that. Also you may need to contact human resources for your district and explain to them what transpired. Don't be surprised if they don't get back to you. Also Randy Abbot, the regional manager of district 803 will be around, bringing complaints like these to him sometimes gets things fixed in a hurry.
    -Mack

    Posted by: Mack on April 24, 2003 10:21 PM
  83. "Were not on commision, were just trying to be helpful"

    I walked into BB to get a 27" Toshiba Flat Screen TV, which is well worth the money. I selected BB for TWO reasons: 18 Months same as cash and the lowest price I could find, even online.
    I walked to the TV section , grabbed the 18 year old working there and said I am taking one of these home.
    He then gratiously gave me a testimonial "I just bought this exact TV, it is a nice one, but my Boss just bought the Sony($100 more, top of the price range for this size) and he likes it better. I dont work on commision, I am just trying to help you in making the best choice"

    I reply "NO I want this one, thank you."

    "Well sir, you have seleted a nice TV, but I just thought you would like to know the Sony is better, but if you want this one I will see if we have any in stock"

    He started heading to the back, then stopped and came to me and asked "Will you be interested in our extended 4-Year service plan?"

    I replied "No, I just want the TV, I cant gain any enjoyment from watching the serice plan sitting in the slot of the entertainment center"

    "Are you sure, what we are offering is a piece of mind that is ANYTHING goes wrong with your TV we will replace or fix it"

    I said "I never buy the extedned plans, they are not worth the money -- EVER--"

    "Well lets say the TV tube goes out on you. What will you do?"

    I said " I will use the manufacturers warrantee."

    "Well something you probably did not know, Toshiba only warrantees parts and service for 90 days, after that they only cover parts for the remainder of a year. The labor for the service alone will be more than the plan"

    I said " How much is your plan?"

    He said "$49.99"

    I said " No please get the TV"

    In the time he went for the TV, his manager came out and used my name in greeting me. He tried an additional 4 times to get me to buy the plan. Once the sales rep came back he also tried another 3 times.

    I fully expected this car sales approach, I have had it almost every time I buy there. Where I started getting mad is when the lies started pouring in.

    Lie 1: I bought this exact TV, and my manager bought the Sony.
    When his manager came out, I asked him how he liked the Toshiba. Interestingly he had ALSO bought a Toshiba just like mine. He liked it, but he had a friend who he watches sporting events with which has the Sony and he thought it was better.

    Lie 2: 90 Days parts and labor, then parts only for 1 year.
    Toshiba's listed warrantee is as follows - One Year parts and labor, at your home. Two Year parts only on tube.

    Lie 3: Monster($50-$60) cable is the only brand we sell that will not cause a DVD signal to degrade between the DVD and the TV.
    Give me a break...

    Lie 4: Actually deceptive buisness practice - They had a top of the line Toshiba remote zip-tied to the TV display. Had all the cool stuff on it.
    Once I got home, the remote was pretty basic, though interestingly enough, it was the same thats shown by Toshiba in their sales information.

    Lie 5: The plan is just $49.99.
    In fact as I was at the register both the manager and the sales rep continued to try and get me the plan. I looked once more at the brocure they handed me but it listed in black and white the plan was $99.99. When I asked them, I got a "Whoops, my bad"

    Lie 6: Were not on commision, were just trying to be helpful.
    There IS MONEY involved with moving the service plans. There is money invoilved with moving the higher end acessories. THIS IS A FORM OF COMMISSION, even if its not the standard commision structure used at places like Circuit City.

    I have written a letter like this to Best Buy headquarters, including the store name and employees involved.

    I will still buy there, they have nice prices. They almost always have what I am looking for. They have a inept legal/accounting department, I have gotten over three 2ghz computers from them that were under $100 after rebates, including monitor (watch the big sales, change the printer out and the monitor out to the other one which happen to be on sale that week, watch the rebate certificates that you get back). They have some of the cheapest CD prices. All in all I like shopping there.

    I just dont like people lying to me.

    Posted by: Electronics Manufacturing Engineer on April 26, 2003 10:44 AM
  84. I'm an employee of Sam Goody, and thank you Best Buy...Yes thank you for ruining a good company. You've taken our DC and made it your own. Made it so that we can't get our stores filled. And now you're going to sell, no, get rid of us. The $11 for EW's that we sell from now on, does that go to you or to Sam Goody, I'm guessing to you. You have squeezed the life out of some very good people. And they talk about you raiding the Sam Goody/Musicland employees. But deep down I know you'll only take the "yes" men and women. Heaven forbid they should want people with imangation, drive and ideas.

    Posted by: Bandit on April 26, 2003 11:36 PM
  85. I worked at Best Buy for a year and a half or so.

    For the first few months, we built our store, and learned from trainers how to SCREW with the customer, and dodge bad sales. We got poor pay, bad hours (They'd give me 7 hours a day, instead of 8 so I couldn't legally take a lunch.) And odd hours on 'truck nights' from like 8pm to 2:30AM. Total BS. Anyway, they scarred me probably for life, with the constant lying, and my justification for the lying. (Oh, the manager says it's right, blalalalabla bla bla.) I didn't believe it, but I didn't make a stand until I quit. Anyway, Best Buy employees don't make commission, but are trained to act like we're on commission. (Wheel and Deal and lie. Etc.) So GO SOMEWHERE that's on commission, so at least the person who SUCKERS YOU will get some cash, and not just his fat ass manager.

    Posted by: Matt on May 1, 2003 08:21 AM
  86. I have worked for Best Buy for over a year now. I love it there. Granted, there is BS to put up with (as is with any other job). I work in a store just out of Cleveland, OH. The store is great, and MOST of the customers i help like it there too. Sure, some people do have problems with the performance service plans. You're gonna have problems with a service plan when you shatter your laptop LCD. The service plans don't cover stupid people. I'm always helping customers who come in to service their laptops and they end up leaving with a new laptop that day. It's not Best Buy that sucks so bad. It's the stupid people that seem to be infecting some of the stores. Now, many times I do try to push for the sale. I do try to sell extras that you'll need with the laptop. But you know what, this is stuff you'll need. Also, if I'm using my time to explain things about computers to you and you DON'T buy something then i'm gonna be mad. What people need to see is that Best Buy is a RETAIL STORE. NOT A SCHOOL. If you ask me a question that takes a half hour to explain, you better be buying something.

    Posted by: Eric on May 1, 2003 01:46 PM
  87. i work at best buy and the reason customers have bad experiences is because they are morons and return the products because they can't even figure out how to use it. we always get the question, "do i need a degree to work this system?" no you don't, try reading the damn manual or getting it installed professionally. they get so frustrated at us because they realize we are just salesman and not troubleshooting, ladies and gentlemorons, our job is to sell the product, not spend all damn day on the phone with you teaching every single feature of an item. let's try thinking before you decide to return something because it "doesn't do what i needed". wah, wah , wah
    car salesman don't teach people how to drive a damn car. remember honey gets more bees than vinegar.

    Posted by: thomas on May 2, 2003 05:26 PM
  88. I've shopped at BBY and worked there and sure, there's been some bad situations, but overall my experiences have been great. I know there are certain stores that have practices that are shady, but I'm sure that 99% of the stores are following the rules. Most people's bad experiences (in my experience) revolve around the same basic thing - they don't understand what they're doing or buying. Yes, I know, people don't get helped right away and occasionally you encounter an employee who doesn't know what they're doing. Those are small things. Like I said, the main thing is that people expect everything to be plug-and-play, and when it's not they come back bitching, complaining, or returning. Also for some reason, people expect BBY to be Wal-Mart and take any item back no matter if it was bought a year ago or if it was damaged. There are really some obnoxious and stupid people out there, I tell you. Some of those people post to this website.

    Speaking of these posts, I've seen many posts on here from alleged BBY employees that are patently false, making claims about working environments that are simply unbelievable and illegal if true. When I see a BBY employee post on here, I can't help but think it's from a typical first- or second-job situation and the poor kid just couldn't handle the world of retail. I've got news for you - you're just beginning to see how unfair life is. And once you've matured and learned what it's all about, hopefully you'll learn how to form complete sentences and spell correctly. As far as customer posts go, for those of you with legitimate gripes, don't let that stop you from going to BBY. But if it does, I've got news for you too - you're going to get pissed off by some other company. In fact, you probably complain a lot. I really don't want to get on the subject of professional complainers, but Best Buy gets them as much as any other store does.

    I gotta say that in the major metropolitan area I live in, everyone loves Best Buy and the chain clearly dominates the retail landscape. People get good deals and have great experiences at the stores. There are exceptions, but I assure you that no self-respecting manager would allow a stupid, dishonest, or lazy employee to remain in their store for very long. That manager would get fired. And if the store's bad enough, all the managers get fired. That's just the way it is.

    Here's some advice for you all... to the customers: Don't go in any store, Best Buy or not, expecting them to give you something for free, or to help you before other people who've been waiting, or to hold your hand because you're not smart enough to figure out how to use simple electronic devices. To the employees: You're going to hate a lot of jobs in your life. Don't cry because someone actually made you work. And if you think your managers don't have backbones or your store is doing things wrong, then step up to the plate and take charge yourself. Become a manager and change things! One forceful type-A personality in a store can change everything! Don't sit back and let people do whatever they want - make sure they're doing their job.

    I'm a manager at Best Buy. I don't tolerate jerks, complainers, slackers, or liars. If any of my employees fit into those categories, I fire them. I can't afford to have other people bringing me and my department down. If one of my employees pisses off a customer, I bring the smack down on them so hard that they will never forget it. If a customer comes into my store and makes an ass of themselves, I escort them out of the store and flatly tell them that we don't want their business. I'm just glad those employees and customers have a place to go and whine after I'm done with them.

    Posted by: Shrike on May 2, 2003 08:37 PM
  89. After reading a few dozen comments on this page (and nodding agreement with many), it boggles my mind that you people who posted probably drove past half a dozen RADIOSHACKS on your way to a Best Buy... After dealing with both CC and BB, I am now a dedicated RadioShack customer. First of all, there are 2 of them within 5 minutes from my home, and get this, 8 more within a 30 min drive from my home. No hour trips to go pick up a New DVD player, no waiting in line to ask someone about a wireless phone... Here's what happens on my visit to a typical RadioShack: Withing a solid 30 or so SECONDS of walking in, I've been at the verrry least, said "hello" to...Almost immediately I'm being politely asked what they can help me shop for today. Can you believe that? The last time I was in a BB, I got so tired of looking around for help with whatever i was buying that day, that I actually took my wallet out, and started waving it in the air hoping that someone would at least be interested in acknowledging my presence in their store! Guess what else, the same person that greeted me in the RadioShack is also either a sales associate or the Manager. Could you imagine that? Being helped almost IMMEDIATELY by the store manager? Out of stock at BB? Not too much of a problem at RS! Simply pick one up from the other store 15 mins away or you could simply have them ship it to you for free! Think they're overpriced? Compare their wireless phones with those at BB or anywhere else...not only are they competitive or cheaper, they actually know what the hell they're talking about! Anyway, I'll end my rant here, because lets face it, for customer service, I'm sure many people can agree that no one compares to the one on one help that RadioShack can provide for you locally--ShackShopper

    Posted by: Better Alternative! on May 4, 2003 03:15 PM
  90. A little disturbed by the way everyone seems to be slating these guys. I wonder how many customers Best Buy has that they serve. In the UK where our level of service compared to the expectation of your average American is far lower, we have some stores that provide really pants service. For the times that I have experienced service inthe staes in most stores it has always been exceptional, even in Best Buys!! But tell me I beleive Best Buy to be worldwide, are they as poor in other countries or do oinly the americans complain about the service as they have a level of expectation that these guys are not achieving. I work in a DIY store in the UK, sometimes customer Service gets on my nerves,at the end of the day it is a DIY store, so Do It Yourself!!
    At the end of the day, I found Best Buy in the states to be pretty cool, if you know what you wqant you go buy it! So the suggestion I would make is do your research prior to doing your shopping, dont touch extended warranties as they are generally a rip off!! And stop bitching about everthing life is too short if you dont like it shop elsewhere!! Vote with your feet.......As fir Thomas and Erics comments about customers, well said, if they can take the piss, they do, I have people return Christmas Decorations and Trees even (Live ones) after Christmas, the decorations because there is something wrong with them, often if its lights because a bulb has gone, and the live trees cos the needles have fallen out! For crying out loud it was a live tree its been cut down, its dead!!If someone killed you then your hair would fall out after a while! As for Christmas lights they break a bulb and expect refund! As fr the following Christmas, had one guy in my store this year trying to return some lights he bough the year before as one of the bulbs wasnt working and felt it was bang out of order to have to buy spare bulbs a year later, when he started swearing at me I threw him out, when he realised he wasnt getting anywhere he cam eback all appologetic and bought some bulbs.
    The moral of the story is act a twat, andget treated as one!! Leave Best Buy alone, not there fault they get loads of twats in as customers. And this is from Brit!!
    Live long a nd prosper....

    Posted by: Neil on May 4, 2003 05:44 PM
  91. It seems to me like the people allegedly representing the Best Buy Organization on this site, aren't doing a very good job of offering reasons why Best Buy doesn't suck. I too am in retail and have been for some years, and one thing you don't do, no matter how "troubling," is refer to your customers as stupid!! I think this is the mentality that is upsetting everyone leaving the negative feedback. I believe one of the Enterprises' core values is "Showing Respect and Humility." I'm very sorry, but the phrase "Stupid Customer" seems to be neither of these values to me.

    Posted by: david on May 5, 2003 03:48 AM
  92. SCOTT AND CORY AT BEST BUY EDMONTON HAVE DESTROYED THE BEST BUY VALUES AND VISION.STAFF ARE UNHAPPY AND UNFAIRLY LET GO,IT IS TIME FOR BEST BUY THE CORPORATE OFFICE TO FIRE THE MANAGEMENT AT EDMONTON LOCATION STORE 933.SCOTT AND CORY MUST GO OR UNION WILL BE FORMED.

    Posted by: RACHEL on May 13, 2003 04:26 PM
  93. life is good, quit best buy 4mths ago as a senior in computers.People if you truly dont like your job there, please for your own good try to find work elswhere.That company is run off psps and prp bottom line, so glad im not there anymore.I got so much shit crammed down my throat every %#^#%day, even thou the numbers were well above our goals...down with best buy.

    Posted by: john (happy i left bb)buras on May 14, 2003 03:15 PM
  94. I bought the first season of Frasier on DVD Tuesday. I brought the set home and the first disc did not work in my DVD player. I brought it back today, one day later, with the receipt. They tested the DVD on their player and it worked. They would not take it back. Being from New York, I said "Give me a manager" in a louder than normal db of my voice. Another girl came over and gave me the new copy. I spend at least a hundred dollars a week in Best Buy, but will never go to the store in Superstition Springs in East Mesa, Arizona ever again. They made me feel like a criminal.

    Posted by: John Truglio on May 22, 2003 02:43 AM
  95. first off, "Hyeballer"....you said you are "BETER" because you work at circuit city.. Well, just maybe you should take all that commision you make and get an education to learn how to spell better. There are two T's...Secondly, Best buy is a more inviting enviroment because the employees are not on commision. So, their opinion might actually be truthful and not devious like at circuit city.

    Posted by: Kakjsdhf on May 28, 2003 12:11 AM
  96. I have worked for Best Buy for five years going on six, If you customers would get of your high horse and stop thinking your s*** dosn't stink, may be some one at the stores would take care of you. And please no one cares if you spent hundredes of dollers at the store stop using that excuse. If you need somthing done for you ask to speak to the manager and talk to them like a human, oh and another what ever you do DONT CUSS.

    Posted by: stop whinning on May 28, 2003 11:23 AM
  97. stop whinning? find a better site please, this one is not for you...

    Posted by: john buras on May 28, 2003 05:03 PM
  98. I share your views on BEST BUY and generally all of the stores that try to do "everything". I purchased a car stereo based on the recommendation of one of the sales reps..err kids at BB. I mean it wasnt a bad choice but I could have purchased a slightly better version with better features for like $ 20 more. However, BB does not carry the upgrade. At least I didnt let them install or touch my car!! I like BB for certain things but things I know about like computers...those kids think they are smarter than I on that subject...but I am a professional IT consultant with like 10 + yrs of network admin xperience!!!

    Posted by: Ali on May 29, 2003 11:19 PM
  99. representing TAUNTON MA. ok let me start off by saying i dont work for Best buy but i do work for suncoast motion picture who is owned by musicland.. which is now owned by best buy inc. all i can say is that the job sucks and there is no lying about it... no matter if u work for bestbuy or one of its under stores like i do.. it still sucks.. everyday u go into the store and u hear so much shit about how u need to sell 5 relpay frequent shopepr cards.. u need to have 10 special order... and like 10 pre-orders... well i am about fed up with it.. i never realized how much one company can really suck.. until now i just recently bought a stereo for my car... (oh yeah im 17) and we do get a big price break on it.. but i didnt tell the guy that i was an employee until he was done trying to sell me everyting... he offered me everything in the book.. but the best part is when i gave him the same bullshit back.. "young man do u want to purchase our extended 2 year warranty on this" are you aware that if u buy this... no i interupt what if i buy this u and ur manager will make a lil comission.. he says excuse me sir.. i was like yeah i work at sam goody (at the time i worked at sam goody and not suncoast) i know all the shit u got to sell and believe me most normal customers dont want that shit.. u try to sell them... so then he got all pissed off cuz i knew what he was up too and i had to find a diffrent salesman to finish off the sale.. but now i can say the only reason i still work for this damn company is because i have a car and i need money to pay for it.. SO BEST BUY AT THE END OF THIS MONTH WHEN UR LOOKING TO SELL MUSICLAND INC. U SHOULD BE WORRIED BECAUSE AFTER UVE MESSED WITH MUSIC LAND THERE IS NO GETTING OUT OF THIS HOLE.... PEACE OUT... JOSH N.

    Posted by: JOSH N on June 2, 2003 09:13 PM
  100. Well I agree with all of the people on here that think the people who post on here with their complaints are funny, because just like they are saying...if you walk in there and treat the associates like crap, expect to be treated the same way back. I work retail as well and that is exactly how I feel. But anyhow, on to my postive experience at Best Buy. I purchased a digital camera at the Oceanside, California Best Buy and when I bought it, the promotion was for 12 months 0% financing on a Best Buy credit card. So I bought the camera and the following Sunday, the ad read 18 months 0% financing. So I actually just got home from there. I walked it, went to the customer service counter, explained what happened, the girl filled out a form, faxed it, gave me a copy, and I was set. Not to mention she helped three other people at the same time. For the people saying that they can never get help. Just wanted to post my positive experience to show that Best Buy is not that bad. I'm sure there is a group of people that hate Circuit City, Comp USA, and The Good Guys, so you're going to find people like that somewhere.

    Posted by: Evan on June 9, 2003 10:00 PM
  101. I purchased a 55" TV from Best Buy and it has now been in the shop longer than it has been in my house. To hell with Best Buy and there service. They suck ass, they will not honor the service contract I bought and they told me it was my problem. Kiss my ass every best buy employee. Go to hell you nazi fuckin bastards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Posted by: Clem on June 13, 2003 06:47 PM
  102. I purchased a complete Sony computer with a all-in-one printer 4 monthes ago.The printer broke,I went to the Best Buy in Lafayette La.. I was asked did I purchase the service contract?I tolded him (NO),I was told Best Buy would not help me....If i purchased the contract they would exchange it.NO CUSTOMER SERVICE.The FOOL behind the counter got pissed when I said Best Buys service SUCKES.All the employees(manager-idiots)kept saying next time pay for the benefit-buy a service contract!!!! I will never purchase anything from Worst Buys-I will use them---GO IN AND GET THE PRICING AND GO TO SEARS-TARGET..I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH SERVICE.They work with you and don't screw you......BEST BUYS SUCKS!!!

    Posted by: earl on June 17, 2003 09:09 PM
  103. OK, I have spend 20 minutes of my life reading the worthless comments on this page. I will admit up front that I am a Best Buy employee. I started part time with the company and in 3 years was promoted to Sales Manager.I just have a few comments. To those that bitched because they were not offered help in what they considered an appropriate amount of time, I am sure you would bitch if every employee in the store said hello as well when you walked through. To the Circuit City employees posting, how did it feel when your company modeled themselves after us and went to a non commission sales floor and your wages were drastically cut (that shit was hilarious I have hired so many former Circuit employees because of that), and the PSP and accessory pushing doesn't happen in my store. We attempt to educate the customer on why it would be a benefit to them, and if they don't want it, then fuck them! If there shit breaks and it is far past there return and exchange period, I ask " were you offered a service plan when you bought that?" and you can tell by the look on there face when they say no that they know they should have and then they release their anger on me. LOVE IT!!! Just a little secret to share with all you Best Buy haters, we are a multi billion dollar company. The jank ass $5000 you spend a year in my store doesn't mean shit to this company, be an informed consumer before you make a purchase. And for the upset employees, do you job and work won't suck! Its always the useless lazy fucks that wanna complain when someone tries to hold them accountable for their behaviors. Sounds like bad parenting and not a bad employeer problem. And get a clue...bitching on this useless website isn't going to do a damn thing. All of the voices combined on here are not loud enough to be heard. Get off your computer, stop masterbating on the keyboard because you feel tough because you left a posting on this site, and remember that you only get what you deserve. KMAB!!!

    Posted by: Big Daddy Cool on June 17, 2003 11:24 PM
  104. I find it ironic that so many of you that complain know you dislike best buy before you even go shop there. Does it make sense to go to a place you despise? No, it doesn't so if you hate it so much, take you bad English to a comission driven, used car lot type environment......idiots.

    Posted by: Matt on June 21, 2003 10:33 PM
  105. THIS GOES OUT TO ALL YOU MAD AT THE WORLD CUSTOMRERS, HERE ARE SOME LESSONS IN RETAIL; DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR RECIEPT, ESPECIALLY IF YOU PAY WITH WHITE TRASH CASH, DON'T THINK BEST BUY OR ANY RETAIL STORE IS THE MANUFACTURE OF THE PRODUCT YOU BOUGHT AT THE STORE, MAYBE A $700 LAPTOP ISN'T THE BEST PRODUCT EVER MADE, DON'T THINK IT IS THE SALES GUYS' FAULT THE PRODUCT YOU CAME IN FOR ON A SATURDAY (THE LAST DAY OF THE SALE) WAS NOT IN STOCK SPECIAL FOR YOU, DON'T THINK THE SALESMAN MAKES JACK SHIT OFF THE SERVICE PLANS, WHICH ARE FOR YOUR BENEFIT WHEN THE MANUFACTURE DOESN'T DO ANYTHING FOR YOU, DON'T THINK IT MAKES SENSE TO GIVE A CASH REFUND FOR SOMETHING YOU BOUGHT WITH A CREDIT CARD, BEST BUY'S NOT AN ATM CASH BACK MACHINE. DON'T THINK IT'S A PERSONAL JUDGEMENT CALL TO TAKE A CREDIT CARD OR CHECK WITHOUT AN ID, THEY'RE JUST PROTECTING THEIRSELVES, I.E. STOLEN CREDIT CARDS AND FRAUD PROTECTION, AND DON'T THINK THEY'RE WORSE THAN THE "COMPETITION" SUCH AS CIRCUIT SHITTY AND SOUNDTRACK. LASTLY BUT NOT LEASTLY, BEST BUY IS NOT IN THE BUSINESS OF LOSING MONEY, SO YOU JACKASSES WHO THINK YOU ARE GOING TO GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING, EITHE5R IN A FREE REPLACEMENT OR A COMPLETE REFUND, NEED TO TAKE A REALITY CHECK. TO THE DISGRUNTED EMPLOYEES WHO "HATE BEST BUY", JUST QUIT, I'M SURE THE MANAGERS AND STOCK HOLDERS WOULD BE MORE THAN GLAD TO GET RID OF LAZY, NEGATIVE EMPLOYEES WHO CAN'T HANDLE THE "PRESSURE" OF DOING THEIR OWN JOBS. FOR ALL YOU BEST BUY HATERS, LOOK AT BEST BUY STOCK AND IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM. THEY'RE ONLY GETTING BIGGER AND STRONGER, SO LITTLE COMPLAINING WEBSITES LIKE THIS HAVE NO EFFECT, SHIT HALF OF THESE COMMENTS ARE PRO BEST BUY. HAHA I THINK THAT'S FUNNY, OH YEAH, AND DID YOU SEE I AM AN EDUCATED INDIVIDUAL????

    Posted by: CLARK on June 22, 2003 02:27 AM
  106. let me vent... best buy is for idiots and idiot retailers (for the most part). They ruined Rockford Fosgate and they will ruin Klipsch. Well, I blame the dumb**** customers rather than the corps. Nonetheless, go tweeter go.

    Posted by: boblowsam on June 22, 2003 07:05 PM
  107. Here is a little info on the service plans if you own one. If they don't fix your product or replace it or even if they do fix it return the plan afterwards. There is no 30 day return policy on the plan. You won't get your full amount back but it will be pro rated. This is the best way to piss off those dumb f@&*%!g managers.

    I do work for BB and got to tell you that Monster cables are better than your normal wires. I bought monster before I worked there and will always buy Monster.

    Circuit City however does suck more being that how could a company fire their best salespeople. In fact I see a kid that works there shop in Best Buy.

    Posted by: Best Buy Sucks on June 26, 2003 03:27 PM
  108. I'm an employee at Best Buy and a light fell on my head and I got written up for it. I did nothing wrong. Best Buy is so fuckin gay, and the only reason I work there is because I get an awesome discount and oh yeah the managers don't give a sheist about the employees or customers.

    Posted by: Ryanie on June 27, 2003 10:28 PM
  109. I work at Staples in Augusta, ME. I wasn't trained at all, they just throw you out on the floor, but they remind you that customer service is key and managers at Staples will bend over backwards to please any cutomer they can. The protection plans we sold use to be a problem since we had people that only cared about selling them to get the commissions on them. The company has since discontinued that so no one ever tries to sell the plans anymore. Not only that but Staples pay really badly and they will only give raises if you ask for them, and if you don't ask you'll only get one 25 cent raise every year. Yet somehow they keep employee moral higher than other places it seems bacause everyone that works at my store are nice to customers and will drop everything to help them. Staples, however is higher priced than most stores, and I only go to BEST-BUY and WAL-MART when I know what I want and want it for cheap.

    Posted by: Mike on June 27, 2003 10:50 PM
  110. Big Daddy Cool, you obviously have no clue, yourself. A first amendment opponent it seems. People can voice views that don't agree with you own and believe it or not, you are not required to respond. I suppose it is your right to be nasty and add zero value to a conversation if you were born for no greater purpose though.J BTW, your post had some grammatical errors itself Mister judgmental. I'm done with you. You are dismissed :)

    Best Buy is pretty bad. They just hit strike 3 with me on major purchases. They are just fine for grabbing a DVD or any other small item. Buying anything computer related though is a nightmare. I used to work for IBM who provided 3rd part Tech Support to BB through a branch called TSS. The phone reps had 15mins to diagnose your problem or they would not make their quota by of worked calls by the end of the day. 15mins will barely get you through power cycling a system two or threes if you are trying safe mode and such. Then they shotgun troubleshot it with a random part ordered from the manufacture via THE SAME WARRANTY you already have on the device via the manufacturer. Plus the shipping time is 4 to 6 weeks. Image you just bought a system and 3 weeks later it fails. BB policy is 15days for a return with or without an extended service plan. Now you get ill advised troubleshooting and 15mins tops for your 3-digit figure you paid for support. Justification we were taught? Real service contracts cost thousands of dollars. "They are not going to get real service for just $199." said one manager. THEN WHY OFFER IT? Don’t know. Plus the sales people will harass you at least 4 to 5 times if you decide not to buy it. Anyway, no I don't KEEP going to them but I have given them several chances. They have failed them all and they will not get another. Just trying to warn others before they have to go through this as well. Judging by the other posts, I would say that I'm not alone.

    Posted by: BigDaddyCoolSlayer on June 30, 2003 01:32 PM
  111. I went postal with Best Buy when they refused to honor my PRP. Hell no, we don't care that it's a phone, mail it to us, and maybe we'll replace it. That's not what your web site says! What the hell, they caught me on a good day, so I filed a complaint with the FTC, BBB, AIG, and will probably just keep on. I asked the clerk did he want me to speak on the phone with my ass while they had my phone to assess it? He suggested I buy a new phone. That's what I bought a PRP for asshole. That's what I call false advertising, bait and switch, you name it. If I buy a new phone it won't be from them! Anyone got an email or a fax number for corporate?

    Posted by: Plops Mom on July 3, 2003 10:15 PM
  112. This is just specifically written for "plops mom". Here is what is written on the Product Replacement Plan brochure, not once, but twice that you should not return the defected item to a Best Buy store and should simply call the 1-888 number. How hard is it to read the information that you get? It's that simple, call the number, they send out a special little envelope with postage paid so you can send your phone back to them, and guess what you'll get in return? A Replacement Voucher, mentioned in the brochure many times, worth the cost of your phone and sales tax. That simple!

    Posted by: mel on July 9, 2003 06:37 PM
  113. I am a former employee and left due to the fact that employees were not interested in really helping people. Managment which i was part of wanted nothing but to make their revenue and sell the psp and accesories. I felt I was doing an injustice to people who want to buy something and feel happy that they did so. This was the best thing I ever did. One of the worst things about being a bby employee is their lack of respect for their supervisors and managers lives and their abilities to have one. Major guilt trips if you would like a weekend off, or people who would like to go and see their family for x-mas. they even make you quite if you can't work the day after thanks giving. On the flip side they do treat their part-time employees very well. My only problem is their are to many kids selling electronics that should be sold by adults. If I am going to spend five grand on something or even two i want to buy it from someone who cares not from someone who wants a pay check.

    Posted by: JG on July 11, 2003 10:20 PM
  114. The one thing that makes me crazy is that people think it is bad to work on commission. I've shopped at lots of places that sell on commission and you don't even know it. The nice thing is that people that are on comission care more because it is benifical for both people. The only reason companies go none commission is to make more money. For everyone that isn't a BBY fan here is some advice. Just cause they are big doesn't mean that they are cheaper. In fact larger companies pay the same amount of money for products that small companies do. Support your smaller companies. You will end up with better service and happier purchases. If you do see something that you like at a big store, odds are smaller ones can order the same thing for the same price. The economy and manufactures determine price not the size of the company.

    Posted by: JG on July 11, 2003 10:30 PM
  115. I work at best buy and you guy's are all wrong there is more to look at best buy yes we give you a service plan because half of the time you thow the product away because it's more money to fix then what you paid for , plus when you bring a item back in a customer is post to bring back the box you think a another costomer is going to buy that same one with out it please... well i ask you ... you think a best buy work has you and only you to take of when looking for a p.d.a or phone,labtop there is more then one thing that a work must do like clean and brite and answer ? to people who dont now anything at all ok so please take a "min" or ten and look around just say hi and tell that work that you need help and that worker will get to you. oh yea another thing here is something for you now best buy is giveing you money back that!.. right you pay 10.doller's for a card everytime you spend you get store credit can't beat that are here for the customer and remmeber i was a costomer befor i became a best buy worker . "and" for all you best buy worker's that can hang with the best find a new feild cause i found my calling . who ever want's to find me ill be at best buy 313 the best store ask for ken in evanston. G-unit

    Posted by: KEN on July 14, 2003 02:06 AM
  116. So does every one at store 313 have awful grammar or just you?

    Best Buy sucks. I won't go into it these stories speak for themselves. The protection plan might as well be written on a cocktail napkin. This company will not stand by their statements or by their customers.

    Posted by: Andy on July 15, 2003 02:17 PM
  117. i went to bestbuy to return some car speakers i bought a few months back, cause they were blown. I bought a 4 year warranty plan wiht them for this reason. well it turns out that they sold me last years model but gave me this years model so the model number did not match that of the reciept. so when i went to another best buy to exchange them the said they did not have those cause of the model so i went back to the store they were purchased from to see what the hell they said they would exchange them but i had to pay the diffrence wich totaled to $200 since i bought them with an employee discount they were trying to charge me full price since i did not work there any more. so i asked for store credit and they said ok. well the exchange girl took them to the audio guy to check them out and he said they were working. well i went back there to see him hook them up and he hooked some punch he2 rated at 400w rms to a little ass amp turned up some trance music made them move a bit and said they were fine. well now i have to hook them up to some real power take them back show them they dont work and take them off so i can get some damn store credit that i would not even use in that good for nothing store!!!! MY ADVICE TO EVERYONE IS IF YOU SEE THE BIG YELLOW SIGN TURN AROUND AND RUN!!!!! cause that store is not worth the trouble.

    Posted by: tony on July 17, 2003 11:03 PM
  118. I HATE BEST BUY, Their online store sucks. I atemped to order a TV, I picked out the one I wanted, I filled out all the stupid order forms, and finnaly it tells me delevery is not availible in my area. It dosent cost extra to ship to my area or anything.

    Posted by: Jesse on July 18, 2003 03:38 PM
  119. I work at best buy in citrus heights california. I love my job and I love the store. We are not on commistion so we could really care less what you people buy, but if you think about it if you go in to a store and expect the service to be bad it will be. Normally if you have a bad experience it is your fault not ours.

    Posted by: moemoe on July 18, 2003 05:38 PM
  120. I work at best buy in citrus heights california. I love my job and I love the store. We are not on commistion so we could really care less what you people buy, but if you think about it if you go in to a store and expect the service to be bad it will be. Normally if you have a bad experience it is your fault not ours.

    Posted by: moemoe on July 18, 2003 05:38 PM
  121. ACHTUNG!!! Any and all customers who read the postings here should realize the bottom line: you are a giant wallet to this company. The nano-second you stroll through the door and accept the forced salutation from the WalMart greeter standing there in the day-glo yellow shirt, you become a walking dollar sign. Best Buy doesn't care about you or your situation or your background or your budget or anything else for that matter. If you're not there to purchase or if you refuse any one of the numerous add-on junk plans or accessories they offer, then you are about as useful to them as a BMW is to Stevie Wonder. I work there... take my word for it. If you want personalized service and quality products that the company will stand by, take a nickels worth of free advice and DO NOT SHOP AT BEST BUY.
    So now when you breeze into your neighborhood Best Buy and get a box full of junk with a service plan that will be honored just as soon as Christopher Reeve wins a gold medal in the olympic triathalon, you can't say you weren't warned.
    P.S. Any employee who jumps on here and types merry posts extolling the virtues of Best Buy is being forced to do so while sitting handcuffed to a folding chair with a pistol to their head in the back merch office. There is absolutely NO other explaination for ANY employee to post positive things about this cold-as-steel, oppressive company.

    Posted by: Spoon Luv on July 25, 2003 10:06 AM
  122. I am a working best buy member right now. I hate a lot of things about it, Customers i cant stand. One reason is because best buy tries to make more money so they dont have to many people working there for the 2 or 3 ppl in the department get stomped then get the customers angry. But the thing i dont get in my store a stort that averages a million a week, is how poorly they pay the employees. shit if i sell my ass off to make my department look good i dont see and extra penny. I mean what motivation do i have? besides being a "team" or r we? i think most of the managers have somethin up there ass and the last thing they care about is the employees. Hell if someone comes in i know and i visit with them ill get written up. Best Buy is a joke when it comes to treating there employees fairly. but it payst he bills and i like the ppl i work with so ill stick it out...for now

    Posted by: matt on July 28, 2003 12:15 AM
  123. Everyone needs to look at comment number 105 that man knows exactly whats up. Hes right if you dont like your service at best buy, please for the sake of everyone go somewhere else, but dont say its because the 100 dollar 27 inch tv or the cheapest computer you can get stopped working one day. Ever here the term "you get what you pay for?" so if u decide to go cheap, expect cheap. We carry products for all sorts of budgets but the cheaper you go the less you'll get.

    Posted by: Employee on July 28, 2003 12:33 AM
  124. I work in the Media Dept (video games, CDs, DVDs, etc) of my local Best Buy, and I have this damn company figured out. It's pretty simple. Although Best Buy makes billions upon billions of dollars in revenue per year, all employees are paid flat rates, and given no commission. Any performance reward comes in the form of a half-year raise, from 20-28 cents, depending on the department. However, the great upside to being an employee is the awesome discount. This is effective on many levels, becuase you will find that most of the same people who are employed at Best Buy are also some of Best Buy biggest consumers by default, and if they weren't before the job, they became one with the discount. What happens in this case is that some million employees (roughly) across the nation buy solely from the one electronic store, taking away business from the competitors. This creates a vicious buying cycle. Now the upside for Best Buy in not paying employees based on commission is in each department, they have the ability to employ specialized "professionals" on products, yet pay them no more than a Target or Wal Mart would. Naturally, consumers would rather go somewhere where the employees are well-informed. Employees are too blinded by their discount to realize that they are being sold out and doing work that deserves commission. Best Buy is a smart company, but intelligence is no justification for such treatmen. Killing millions of Jews wasn't okay because Hitler was smart. Severe analogy, I know, but we are all subliminally manipulated by Best Buy and it's malicious undertones of deceipt. You don't believe any of this? Learn how the store works, and you'll be printing a comment just like mine.

    Posted by: Andrew on July 28, 2003 12:48 AM
  125. Andrew you are good! i dont think anyone could honestly put that in better words, make better since, and make me or any other employee come to the realization you just accomplished. I thank you.

    Posted by: matt on July 28, 2003 12:53 AM
  126. Andrew you are good! i dont think anyone could honestly put that in better words, make better since, and make me or any other employee come to the realization you just accomplished. I thank you.

    Posted by: matt on July 28, 2003 12:54 AM
  127. People start filing formal complaints with the Better Business Bureau - http://www.bbb.org and Consumer Affairs at Http://www.consumeraffairs.com

    I too have taken a screwing from them. Start filing formal complaints. If every one of us do and a pattern develops quickly these organizations will work to fix it. We need to group together and create a loud voice and start taking some of the business away from them. It's all they understand!

    Posted by: Michelle on July 29, 2003 03:12 PM
  128. For those of you comlaining, that are still employed by this bultibillion dollar company simply QUIT, it is people like you that bring their perspective stores down with the attitude and grief, JUST QUIT, those of you who probably got fired, get over it, obviously you did not have what it took to work for the #1 electronic store in the WORLD therefore get another job you too will find that it is a wonderful co. to work for as you are kicking yourself in the butt, wishing to still have your JOB pal!

    Posted by: STILL EMPLOYED on August 1, 2003 07:13 PM
  129. I wont the direction's to Best Buy if you could e-mail them to me at J_Simmonds@msn.com thanks

    Posted by: Jason on August 4, 2003 08:48 AM
  130. As a current employee of Best Buy I totally understand almost everyone's frustration. Best Buy is by far the most unethical entity that has ever passed for a legitimate business. I don't know at least one of my friends who doesn't have a horror story about how Best Buy has burned them in the past; either on PSP's or returns. What is even more frustrating are prods and reps that actually buy into the motivational propoganda Corporate dishes out by the truckload (like MR "Still Employed" two spots above me). Best Buy needs to rework it's entire way of paying employees, first of all by going back to commission-based pay. Now I know what some of the brainwashed are saying "but we don't want a high pressure sales environment!" true, but right now the company has gone to a "I don't care" sales environment motivated by a complete lack of real motivation. Corporate needs to wake up - people are motivated by MONEY, not half baked propoganda such as "Tag-TV." Prods shouldn't care either, not with the totally unfair payment system currently in place. As an employee of nearly two years, I can tell you, this is how the pay system works at the store level -
    1. Managers get a decent salary and HUGE bonuses based primarily on Margain (primarily PSP's)
    2. Supervisors get a decent hourly wage ($13-$18 / hour), as well as a much smaller cut of what managers get for bonuses, also based on Margain and Revenue
    3. Seniors get all the duties and responsibilities of a Sup, but usually get around $10-$11/hour and less respect. No bonuses here.
    4. Prods get totally screwed, these are the sales guys working to get the Managers there bonuses and get there A$$es reamed when MOD's don't make their bonuses. These guys start at around $7 /hour, and are very lucky if they get to more than $9. I have never heard of a prod making more than $10 / hour.

    So that's how it goes, Best Buy has set it up so they only have to pay a small percentage of employees for the entire store succeeding; not only that, but the people who get paid are the ones who don't do the work, the managers who just walk around and yell at prods, do a stupid read every 5 minutes and tell the prods they are not getting enough attacments, and sit in the office. Oh yes, managers also shaft customers dumb enough to actually go with a PSP that now need service. Managers do alot of screwing their loyal customers.
    In short, Don't work at Best Buy unless you really can't find any place else; and don't shop at Best Buy unless you get a really good discount on stuff because you work there. Not that you have enough money to buy anything anyways. Best Buy is Bad to Employees and Customers alike.

    Posted by: Tyler on August 5, 2003 02:06 AM
  131. Hmmm ... I actually go to the same exact shop that the original poster is describing in Baily's Crossroads. And yes, unless you really look like you have money on you or you're attractive, you will have a tougher time finding help. I tend to prefer salesmen not to bother me until *I* need them -- I get annoyed by a salesman following me around. But then again, I tend to do a lot of research before buying anything that I might need from an electronics store.

    But as I said, I have noticed that you get no attention unless you're attractive. Then a guy will quickly come up to you. OR, you look loaded (definately not me!). But I usually go in there to spend so money, so like he said, their loss.

    But the guys in the home appliances section are very nice and knowledgeable, esp the new manager, who I had the fortune of having as my salesman when I went their to buy a refridgerator. He gave his honest opinion about things, and issues some people had with certain products, etc. He was good enough to ensure the things we had to keep in mind about the appliance (amazingly, despite all my research, I never stopped to think that I would have to consider the size) and a water line.

    Oh -- to the original poster -- SEARS is a PAIN to go too. The one across from 7 Corners. I always have a heck of a time getting any sort of attention there. I strongly dislike going there except to pay a credit card bill.

    Posted by: K on August 6, 2003 01:08 PM
  132. I work at Best Buy Inc. in the wireless department in California. I've worked there for four months and I have to agree with you. Both my supervisors have a lackadaisical attitude towards customers. They seem almost happy when we don't have something in stock or can't oblige someone's wishes. It's ridiculous. I worked for Jiffy Lube for five years and the customer service there was stressed more than budget or sales. Afterall, if you don't have customers, you don't have a business. Sorry you had such a rotten experience. If you were in my store I would have treated you courtesy and respect.

    Posted by: E on August 11, 2003 10:43 AM