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Best Buy is fighting against "devil shoppers", or *20%* of their customers!

sixwise.com — " These shoppers account for as many as one-fifth of Best Buy's 500 million customer visits each year, and according to Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson, 'They can wreak enormous economic havoc.' " But are the shoppers really the problem, or does the problem lay with Best Buy's shoddy business practices?

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  • yomamadudeyo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+42caveat venditor, I guess.
    • nullmind, on 10/12/2007, -17/+234Well, I'm guilty as charged in that 20% category. I constantly buy crap I see advertised ("loss-leaders") at insane prices only to walk directly out of the store and usually give the item as a gift or sell it at a higher price to someone I know.

      It's hard for me to really feel any sympathy for Best Buy: I consider the fact that I can exploit their system is THEIR problem. Any well-planned "loss-leader" marketing would require the purchase that makes it impossible to exploit the sale (such as purchasing another item that has a higher profit margin to make up for the difference)

      Best Buy, I hope you choke on it.
    • LavaHot, on 10/12/2007, -16/+22It's not you selling it or giving it away their worried about, it all about returns! You return it, they lose money reselling it. I used to work at bestbuy and I can tell you that at the end of every day there was a giant stack of returned stuff at customer service. It got so bad just before the holiday season, that one of our managers ordered us to give away opened computer cables with computers. Most of the time it was either the odd 5 pin firewire cable or 6' cat6 cable, seldom were they the classic 6' A-B USB cable that they really needed for their new HP printers. Ah, I miss getting a paycheck.

      Since when was KB Toys in business? I thought they closed almost all of their stores down over 6 months ago? (I should know, I picked up "Crossfire," one of those cool games on tv in the early 90's that were too expensive for your folks to buy) And Best Buy has had that 15% return on select items forever. How old is this article anyway?
    • berlamont, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11This article is from January '05 according the wall street journal source at the bottom. Not that I like the idea of this kind of thing ever happening, I've never heard of this type of thing before this article, so it must not be a big deal.
    • cdahlkvist, on 10/12/2007, -34/+13When did Best Buy ever sell devils? I WANT A DEVIL!!!!!!
    • mrFREEZE, on 10/12/2007, -15/+14One thing that sucks is that if you return items "a lot" (as decided arbitrarily by them) they eventually deny you future returns. Simple solution: give them fake info (name, address, etc.) but be careful, they ask you for your phone number twice @ the register (in case you decide to make it up) so remember your fake info!
    • HMTKSteve, on 10/12/2007, -13/+207I see no mention of the millions of dollars they make every year from un-used gift cards.
    • Pyrogen, on 10/12/2007, -7/+24@MrFREEZE

      One should always check the "defrauding a shopkeeper" or "defrauding a merchant" statutes in your state. In some states, that giving false information alone is a felony.
    • orbit1979, on 10/12/2007, -42/+19"I see no mention of the millions of dollars they make every year from un-used gift cards."

      And who's fault is that? It's Best Buy's fault that some consumers never use their gift card? Come on now!
    • sheepster, on 10/12/2007, -10/+91The age-old saying that "the customer is always right" may soon be put out to pasture. Why? Increasing numbers of stores are cracking down on what they call "devil" shoppers -- customers whose buying and returning practices, some legit, may actually cause the store to lose money -- and the stores believe they're better off without them.

      Best Buy stores have gotten so fed up with their "devil" shoppers -- a group they say makes up 20 percent of their customer base -- that they're actively trying to eliminate them from their stores. These shoppers (see below for a description of some of their tactics) account for as many as one-fifth of Best Buy's 500 million customer visits each year, and according to Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson, "They can wreak enormous economic havoc."

      So now Best Buy is fighting back. They've started training their employees to identify "angel" shoppers -- the ones who buy highly priced items like HDTVs or just-released DVDs without waiting for a markdown -- and cater to them while "blacklisting" the devil shoppers. The staff uses a quick interview of sorts to identify the different types, which they internally call:

      * Barrys: High-income men who like action movies and cameras
      * Jills: Suburban moms who want to help their families
      * Buzzes: Male technology fans who want the latest high-tech gadgets

      Other practices Best Buy has put into play include adding a 15 percent restocking fee and selling restocked items over the Internet as opposed to in stores.

      But Best Buy is not alone. Some stores will go so far as to remove "bad" customers from their promotions mailing list or put them on long holds if they call stores with too many questions and no intent to buy. And stores like Express, KB Toys, the Sports Authority, Staples and Guess have all adopted a new technology called the Return Exchange to monitor customers' buying habits.

      When a purchase is made, the device records the consumer's name, address, age and transaction details and sends it to The Return Exchange's database. The company says the device is meant to stop shoplifters and other fraud-doers, but it doesn't stop there. Each store inputs certain criteria, such as a high number of returns or a dollar amount on returns, after which a customer's return can be denied.

      Said retail consultant King Rogers, retail stores lose some $16 billion a year because of fraud. "Consumers are going to find more stores with tighter, more restrictive return policies than they found last year. When you look at the economics of it, $16 billion a year in losses, they have to tighten up," he said.

      But others are worried that consumers will get the short end of the deal.

      "I'm concerned about the 99 percent of consumers who are not abusing the system," said Edgar Dworsky, founder of ConsumerWorld.org, an Internet public service site. "It's the wrong size, the wrong color, the mother bought clothing for kids who didn't want it."

      Already the Federal Trade Commission has been asked to investigate the legality of stores monitoring and denying customers' returns, and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) proposed legislation to require stores that do limit returns to warn shoppers of the practice.

      Shopper Tactics That Might Send You to the "Blacklist"

      The following practices are among the most common and most offensive in the eyes of retailers. If you commonly engage in any of these practices, you may soon find that your next return is denied or your name has been added to a store's "blacklist" of bad customers.

      * Buying a product, taking advantage of the product rebate, then returning the product for a refund.
      * Buying clothing or another item, wearing it (or using it) once, then returning it (the classic example is the evening gown that's worn with tags on for a night, then returned).
      * Buying an item and returning it with the intent of buying it at the reduced "open-box" price
      * Buying clothing or another item with the intent of returning it later and re-buying it at a markdown price.
      * Buying a product at a discount, such as from the store's selection of "loss leaders," (low-priced products stores lose money on that are designed to attract customers) then reselling it on eBay for a premium price.
      * Finding rock-bottom prices on Web sites, then challenging stores to pay up on their lowest price guarantees.
      * Taking up an employee's time to ask questions about a significant purchase with the intent to buy it elsewhere.

      Most consumers do have good intentions at heart and make returns for legitimate reasons. Retailers are aware of this and wary of portraying a too-tough image to customers. Said Anderson, it's a fine balance to ward of bad customers without turning away the good ones.

      "The most dangerous image I can think of is a retailer that wants to fire customers," he says.
    • srneu71, on 10/12/2007, -7/+151I've already fired Best Buy as a devil vendor for major purchases. Let me tell you why.

      I needed to buy a 35" TV for work for a project several years ago. I found the one I wanted, it was about $500. The only rep in the TV department was helping another customer make a purchase (understandable). I got the guy's attention before he walked off and said "I need to buy a TV, I know what I want, when you are done can you help me." I was assured he would be right back. After 15 minutes of waiting, guess what, no sales rep. So I walked to the store manager, told my story, expecting the manager to take my money for the TV. But, I follow him back to the door for to the stock room, apparently looking for the sales rep. 3-4 minutes later, he exited the door, walked right past me, didn't say a word. So I assumed (dumbass me) that the sales rep would be following. About 5 minutes later, no sales rep. Running time so far is about 35-40 minutes of no one wanting to take my money. I walked back up to the manager, said, the sales rep hasn't shown back up, and I'm going to give my money to Circuit City, since apparently they didn't need it.

      A 3 minute drive and 5 minutes in CC resulted in a TV for me, plus they loaded the thing in my car.

      So, Best Buy has been fired for anything over $20.00. Piss on them!
    • FoxifiedNutjob, on 10/12/2007, -8/+127Anybody here feel sorry for big box retailers? Boo fuggin' hoo!
      The people at Best Buy corporate need to understand the difference between "profit loss" and the "cost of doing business". You can't claim a "loss" when it is really just the "COST OF DOING BUSINESS".

      Step 1: Pay cash
      Step 2: Never give out any personal info
      Step 3: Return the insta-landfill China made crap if not satisfied

      Business can only track you if you pay with credit or debit.

      ALWAYS PAY CASH!

      ANybody feel sorry for big box retailers yet?

    • FoxifiedNutjob, on 10/12/2007, -6/+28Pay cash, return as much as you want.
    • bpapa, on 10/12/2007, -50/+8"I see no mention of the millions of dollars they make every year from un-used gift cards."

      Stupid comment, nobody uses a $50 gift card and only spends $50, they wind up spending an extra $10, an extra $20 when they go to the store. Best Buy would much rather have people come in and use their gift cards and spend more money then just have them sit in somebody's wallet.
    • jkaiser, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12"One thing that sucks is that if you return items "a lot" (as decided arbitrarily by them) they eventually deny you future returns. Simple solution: give them fake info (name, address, etc.) but be careful, they ask you for your phone number twice @ the register (in case you decide to make it up) so remember your fake info!"

      3 times a year without a receipt is the limit and you cant make up info cause they want your driver lic. ....trust me, i know. as long as you have the receipt, it doest matter because they dont ask for personal info (at lest mine doesnt)
    • richwalkup, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Anyone who actually takes the time to compare prices and wants customer service would do exactly what smeu71 and I have done. Best Buy almost always is slightly more expensive than Circuit City and their service has always been horrible. The only time I ever walk into Best Buy is to buy one of those crazy loss leader products. If I can find an amazing deal, I'll shop there - otherwise, I'll take my money to Circuit City every time. Maybe one day we'll all get some great deals on Best Buy products during their liquidation sale.
    • spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@pyrogen
      "One should always check the "defrauding a shopkeeper" or "defrauding a merchant" statutes in your state. In some states, that giving false information alone is a felony."

      I think the way around this is to ask before buying something "I can return this if I don't like it, right?" If the salesperson just says "yes", and doesn't mention anything about providing your real info, then you're certainly not obligated. If they give you trouble when you return the item that would be bait and switch which IS against the law. Paying cash is the best way to remain anonymous.
    • dancallahan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20@bpapa

      It's not a stupid comment. Plenty of people don't spend all of their cards, or even any of their cards. See this story and be enlightened: http://digg.com/tech_news/Best_Buy_reports_43M_Profit_from_unused_Gift_Cards
    • Dedpoet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@bpapa

      Another article, not just about Best Buy.

      http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/122606/met_7014709.shtml
    • andydumi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Its their fault for trying to use bait and switch with smart customers who wont fall for it.
    • TexRob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Not a single one of these "Shopper Tactics That Might Send You to the "Blacklist"" can be proven or even suspected of anyone, with the exception of someone trying to price match, which is the companies fault for allowing it, and not the customer.

      What a bunch of idiots. I hated Best Buy before this, and now they've gone from hated to boycotted. I'd much rather shop online or from Fry's anyhow.

    • unicronband, on 10/12/2007, -5/+17@lavahot

      You said "Crossfire" You're my hero.

      "Crossfire!
      You'll get caught up in the..
      Crossfire!
      Crossfiyaaaaaaah!!!"
    • devo6273, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@jkaiser

      I was at Best Buy a few days ago actually, and the employee helping me told me 1 return with no receipt. Has the policy changed or was she just making stuff up?
    • wowbagger, on 10/12/2007, -19/+2@nullmind : You're an ***** of gargantuan proportions.

      The fact that you are a scum bag is their problem and they are actively trying to weed you out.
      I hope YOU choke on it.
    • piper999, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4wowbagger - you're being a little over the top there.

      What nullmind does is both reasonable and perfectly moral.

      The people that are the problem (in my mind anyway) are the people who effectively 'borrow' items from places like Best Buy, use those items and then return them. These are the people that cause the prices the rest of us pay to go up.

      Also, I'm constantly getting offers and promotional material from Best Buy yet I only ever buy stuff when it is on sale or I have some kind of discount or its regular price at Best Buy is as cheap as anywhere else. In other words I'm a 'smart' consumer who Best Buy makes less money on than other people yet they have never attempted to prevent me from shopping at their stores. In other words, the whole thing is nothing to really worry about.
    • RockBandit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@FoxifiedNutjob

      While I agree with your idea of paying cash so as not to be tracked, that's somewhat of a problem on big purchases (whether you have or are willing to pull out enough cash or not). Most companies have a policy on cash returns over something like $250. If so, then they mail you a check from the corporate office, so they still ultimately have to collect your information in order to do that.

      So if you're really paranoid, it's not that far out of line to think that when they scan the receipt, setup your return and collect your personal information to mail you a check, they can still ultimately track you and perhaps even deny your future returns based on this system.

      Aren't they're laws that require businesses to allow customer returns (for any reason) within a reasonable amount of time?
    • BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Let's see. Multiple choice - the reason they do these things is:

      1. Someone put a gun to their heads and force them to
      2. They are bravely taking losses to cure aids and prevent kittens being stamped on
      3. They are actively taking losses in an attempt to make lots and lots of money.

      If the answer is 3, it's their business decision, their risk and nobody else deserves having insults thrown at them for acting perfectly lawfully.

      Besides which, aren't these loss-leaders specifically meant to rope gullible people into buying stuff they didn't really want?

      Doesn't that mean their complaint is "some people are not stupid, we want our money for exploiting the stupid!".

      Wow, my heart really bleeds for the registered charity^w^w large company that is Best Buy.

    • Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4Why are we hating on Best Buy about unused gift cards? The expiration is a standard clause in every gift card I've ever seen. Why are you singling out Best Buy on this. Are they supposed to keep a database of the millions of gift cards with 20 cents on it for the entire life of the business?

      Besides, it's not as if it's Best Buy's fault someone is too lazy to use the entirety of the gift card. "Boo hoo! There's less then a dollar on my gift card! Let's throw it away and then bitch on DIgg when Best Buy steals the money"
    • whiskeymb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Best Buy is worthless. We've all seen the stories on digg lately so let me quickly tell you my own.

      A few months back my fiance's parents were in town and they wanted a new TV. We went to the local best buy and I quickly gave him the rundown on DLP vs Plasma vs LCD. He decided a samsung 56" DLP was the way to go. We left and met my fiance and her mom for lunch. Afterwards we went back to BB to buy the TV. We looked around a little more just to make sure and decided to buy the TV and a stand for it. We grabbed a salesman. I'll quickly summarize the next few hours:

      1. We have the TV.
      2. We don't have the stand.
      3. We have the other stand you like.
      4. We don't have that stand cause it turns out it's the same as the first stand and we labeled it wrong.
      5. We have to order the stand for you.
      6. I don't know how to order the stand for you.
      7. I'll get my manager to order the stand. said to the manager "so this is the only piece of paper they need?".. "yes" she said.
      8. Walking out we get grabbed by another manager "you need another piece of paper".
      9. TV loaded in the car with assurance we'd get a call when the stand came in.

      Steps 1->9 took 3 1/2 hours to do. We mostly had to sit around while the salesman tried to figure out if he even carried the stand.

      We never got a call from Bestbuy. We went by there to find out what was going on and were told the stand had been in for a week.

      This is not customer service. This is customer annoyance. I guarantee you my future father-in-law will never buy anything from that store again, and if he's smart, he'll never buy from a BB again.

      I bought a TV last year from CC. I had it purchased and was out of the store in less then an hour, and that includes a credit app. They delivered the TV (it was a projection TV so I didn't want to have to touch it) for free.

      Oh, and that story the other day about the BB that made the guy go pickup his "free" stand from the warehouse, yeah that BB is about 5 miles from my house. This was the other BB in Denver. They both suck ass.
    • ericrous, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Yes, BB service is often crap (depending on the store). But, personally, I'll take it over Circuit City ANY DAY.

      I remember back in 1998 when Circuit City tried to kill off DVD with their bastard Divx format (concocted by Circuit City in cohoots with a bunch of Hollywood lawyers). Divx players essentially let the studios OWN you, requiring a phone line so the player could call in every time you viewed a movie that you had bought or rented. The studios could essentially "turn off" any movie or movies in your collection anytime they felt like it, much as with modern DRM. This incredible display of anti-consumer evil makes Best Buy at their WORST look like a bunch of goddamned saints.
    • Monolith2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3http://www.duggmirror.com
    • syberghost, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I die laughing every time I see stories "I had such and such bad experience at Best Buy, so now I go to Circuit City." Google Circuit City and you'll find the same stories the other way around, and ditto for any other big electronics chain.

      My uncle went into a Circuit City once and couldn't find the floppy drives. He asked a salesperson, who confidently informed him that it's not possible to buy one of those separately from a computer. That's when my uncle noticed the guy was standing in front of the floppy drives, which is why he couldn't see them. So he left and went to Best Buy.

      You could replace either of those store names with the other, or with CompUSA, or with Fry's, or with anything else you can think of, and there'd be somebody out there with the same story. And you don't want it to change, either; because for it to change, they'd have to have higher prices.

      If you want informed service, go to your local computer store or electronics store, pay more money, and get better-informed service. If you want to save money, go save money, and STFU about the people who work there being idiots. Of course they're idiots; if they weren't, they'd have real jobs that let them read Digg all day.
    • nickj6282, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@fett101

      I've got three BB gift cards in my wallet. They don't expire or have fees anymore (Target was the first retailer to do this). Rules just say that they have to wait 48 months to count unused gift cards as profit. You can still use them for their full value after this point.
    • Lixie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@srneua

      Did you at anytime, or any previous time make it clear you had no intention of buying their Extended Warranties? Do you have a history at that store of buying things without getting the ESA?

      An old co-worker of mine at GameStop used to work at Best Buy and told me quite a lot about how it works there. This could all be BS, but he seemed honest to me.

      According to him their superiors don't care about sales per se, only about how effective they are at selling warranties and accessories relative per dollar of total sales. Essentially, for every 500 dollars of product they sell, they are pressured (under pain of being fired) to sell maybe 50 dollars worth of warranties.

      If you had made it clear you weren't going to buy the ESA warranty on a 3000 dollar tv, then that looks VERY bad on their record, which could threaten their job security even the manager's. It would certainly make getting a raise or promotion more difficult. As a result, my co-worker informed me, employees would avoid, or flat out ignore, customers who they knew would not buy warranties. They did this to protect their own hours and/or a chance at a raise.

      I don't know if that's what happened to you, but it sounds very close to it. In the weird world of today's retail companies, Best Buy likely makes more profit selling you a 25 dollar CD holder than 100 dollars worth of CD's (which Best Buy sells at little to no mark-up).

      Thus breeds a retail culture where retailers pressure their employees to push the higher profit-margin products like accessories and ESAs, From my own experience in the retail industry, the sad truth is that employees get promoted more on their ability to sell an ESA than on their product knowledge or customer service. It sounds like you were the victim of that.
    • bebop717, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I was going to post this but then I saw this is from 05/03/01 and is a bit dated.
    • S1ngular1ty1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Maybe if places like Best Buy would hire people who knew anything about the products they were selling less people would return things. I can't even keep track of the number of instances of bad advise that I've witnessed while shopping at best buy. I will sometimes ask an easy question just to see if they know anything and if they answer wrong I'll just thank them for their time and then go home and look up the answer to my real question online.
    • malavalla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1caveat emptor, its the 20% that raises prices. you can also shop some where else, they don't hide the fact of their policy
    • jkaiser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@devo6273

      Not sure, maybe it varies from store 2 store.

      I returned a christmas gift (no receipt) then an xbox 360 i got as payment from a side job (no receipt) and then a pc game from my b-day. at the pc game, the rep told me i reached my limit for no-receipt returns for the year.
  • Djmc, on 10/12/2007, -17/+4Doesn't statutory rights protect you from this kind of thing?
    • Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -10/+36Didn't you hear? Your rights are forfeit the moment you walk through the door of a Best Buy (or CompUSA).
    • nullmind, on 10/12/2007, -16/+4Somone never attended public schools?
    • LavaHot, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12You mean, you have to be 18 (or 16) to get screwed by BestBuy?

      And which rights are you referring to? These businesses have the right to refuse service.
    • dougm68, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3@Djmc
      Doesn't statutory rights protect you from this kind of thing?

      No. Bestbuy is allowed to rape us at will. Its called big business.
    • SEMW, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7LavaHot: I'm assuming he's talking about the right's of a consumer with respect to a vendor. Which, considering *that's what the story's about*, would make sense, you know.

      And he's completely correct. The story talks about stores refusing all returns after a certain number (or dollar amount); but if the product is not as described and advertised (and that includes the store clerk's sales pitch), or is not of "satisfactory quality", or is faulty, etc., then the stores are legally required to accept the return. They cannot refuse it, and it would be illegal of them to try. In the UK, the relevant legislation is the Sale of Goods act; I'm not sure what the equivalent is in the USA, but I'm fairly sure it's the same in all the major points.
    • cliffzdude, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4SEMW,

      In the USA when you buy something an offer has been made, acceptance occured, and consideration is involved. A retailler does not have to take back your product. There is no law stipulating a retail establishment offer or ever give you a return. They also don't have to warranty the product.

      Now IF they lied to you, you may sue in small claims court but you can't walk up to the manager or owner and claim he "has to" do anything. He doesn't.
      Now, the fact is most retail establishments use a generous return policy as a marketing position. An benefit you get from buying from retailer "X".
      Also if you claim the quality is not satisfactory, then you can take it and shove it where the sun don't shine, unless the retailler WANTS to be a good guy. Nope, no law requiring it.

      Schmoe Retail TVs can sell you a TV that doesn't turn on the second you get it home, unless the state you live in has an electronics lemon law (is there such a thing?) he can simply tell you to contact the manufacturer and kick your smelly ass out of his store. Now no retailler will stay in business longer than 3 months behaving that way, but if they want to its totally legit and legal. Stupid, but legal...


    • merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2"You mean, you have to be 18 (or 16) to get screwed by BestBuy?"

      "Statutory" just means "Legal". The use of "Statutory" you were attempting to mock was completely valid, and in doing so, you've revealed your own ignorance.
    • SEMW, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1> Schmoe Retail TVs can sell you a
      > TV that doesn't turn on the second you get it home, unless the state you live in has an electronics lemon law (is there such a thing?) he can simply tell
      > you to contact the manufacturer and kick your smelly ass out of his store.

      You seem to be completely correct -- I can't find information on any USA retail or consumer protection legislation after 5 minutes of Googling. There's the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Truth in Lending Act, Fair Credit Billing Act, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, but nothing to do with retail. A bit off, that, isn't it? I can't think of a single EU country without rigorous consumer protection statutes.

      But surely; as you say, "you buy something an offer has been made, acceptance occured, and consideration is involved" -- i.e. you effectively have a contract with the vendor for the provision of products or services in exchange for cash. So if you get your TV home and it's a lemon, isn't the retailer in breach of contract? (I'm just guessing here, I don't know and I'm *not* a lawyer).
  • AniceAtheist, on 10/12/2007, -11/+139What they say: Buying a product at a discount, such as from the store's selection of "loss leaders," (low-priced products stores lose money on that are designed to attract customers) then reselling it on eBay for a premium price
    What they Mean: We don't care if you resell it actually, we're just pissed your smart enough to take the bait(loss-leader) and still get away from the hook(overpriced crap).

    What they say: Finding rock-bottom prices on Web sites, then challenging stores to pay up on their lowest price guarantees.
    What they mean: We like to advertise that we have the lowest prices, plus advertise anything else to make you trust us as the tech experts, but to
    actually make us have to follow through with our promises!! a travesty!! you don't make bush follow through why us
    • nullmind, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22The only thing more annoying than how blatantly ***** these advertisements are (such as the lowest-price schemes), is the fact that they must be working on some insanely intellectually-challenged but economically-inclined section of our population.
    • Munja, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I at target in Australia, the lowest price only applies to the exact same item when both products are on sale. Also no quotes or online promotions are accepted. Also if the lowest price is below the price we paid for it, we have the right to deny the customer for the lowest price. They are told to go buy it from that store.
    • brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -2/+35Any "lowest price" guarantee is utter *****, especially at Best Buy. When I worked there, I was told our price policy only covered the exact same model number, plus we didn't price-match on stuff from Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Costco, or any online retailer.

      The problem is, stores get away with this because manufacturers will make different model number items for different companies. Computer A at Circuit City will have a different model number than Computer B at Best Buy, but everything else will be identical. Bottom line: take any price "guarantee" with a huge grain of salt, because the store will make every excuse in the book not to follow-through.
    • LavaHot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12I was, until recently, in the employ of Bestbuy, and trust me, they don't lose money on anything. The "loss-leaders" such as printers, etc. are almost never sold without something else, such as a USB cable, that makes the sale worthwhile if they can help it. And almost all of them in the ads are compensated by the manufacturers.
    • Farmer77, on 10/12/2007, -14/+5@AniceAtheist

      "What they say: Finding rock-bottom prices on Web sites, then challenging stores to pay up on their lowest price guarantees."

      Actually, Best Buy has a reason to be mad at this, I used to work at Circuit City, and some customers would come and challenge us about a price they found on a website that was WAY lower. We would punch up the website through the computer terminal and see that the site looks like a 2-bit POS that was put together by someone in 15 minutes, probably by themselves.
    • goostoff, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I can understand returning products after submitting a rebate or to get the open box price would create a hassle, but price matching stores? Come on.

      How does trying to get the lowest price make you a devil customer? I understand that attempting to price match personal stores created on Yahoo with ridiculously low prices would never be approved, but if CircuitCity, CompUSA, or Fry's has a product priced lower, don't make a fuss about it. I'm going to get the product at the cheapest place I can find it, and if I have store credit or Rewards Cash, I'm going to get it at BestBuy, but matched to the lowest price a competitor is offering it at. Why should I let myself be screwed out of money when it is my right as a customer to follow company policies ethically to get the best deal.

    • bmartin, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6@brstilson

      I have one better. RadioShack refused to match a RadioShack price because the SKU# was different, despite the same make and model number. I showed the clerk the sales ad - same product, same color, same model. Same product. ***** RadioShack and Best Buy.
    • android8675, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@brstilson: It's always been that way since the day I started retail (The Good Guys, CA), and to this day (I'm at a Best Buy part time as a second job), same model for the discount, if the discount is NUTS then tell them congratulations for finding such an awesome deal, and I wish I could honor that deal, but I'm trying to feed my kids, and pay for my new Humvee. ;)

      @AniceAtheist: Well said, brutal honest truth. I like the bait and hook analogy.

      Theres another category of shopper BBY uses, but i can't remember what it is, but it's like the young dude that's gotta have the latest and greatest. I don't know, I find working at BBY to be quite enlightening. Its tough at times and I hate it when we turn away people, but some people just ask for crazy stuff. Guess management has to draw the line somewhere. At the same time I see some people come in with 5 year old notebooks and end up getting a new one for no out of pocket expense, and they STILL complain when their new computer costs $500 less than the one they bought even though it's 5x's faster and has the same features if not more.

      I could go on, but i'm about to be dugg down and no one will read this. ;)
    • sirhomer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I use to work for Best Buy I can tell you their price matching garbage is a joke. I worked there for two years and only managed to get a price match approved twice out of the dozens of times customers asked me about it. Anyways don't ever go into Best Buy without any knowledge of what you want to buy. Most sales people work for Best Buy's interests, not the customers, and often times then not these interests collide. I am one of the few that refused to "offer" (sell) garbage to the customers that the management asked me to (unless they were looking of course).
    • nicko68, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I did a price match once at Best Buy, and was successful. The only stipulation they had was that the other store had to have the item in stock. They apparently phoned them and verified that they did, and I got the lower price. After reading this story, I wonder if I have a black mark next to my name now. :)
    • nickj6282, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I don' t understand the difficulty. I've never ever had a problem price matching at Target, Best Buy, Walmart, or Circuit City. Ever. I've never had one denied, but then again I've worked retail and I know the rules:

      1. The item has to have a specific sale price - no rebates, percent off, buy one get one free, etc.
      2. The item has to be pictured
      3. The item has to be identical and in-stock
      4. The ad has to be with you and current (meaning you can get that price right now at the store it's printed for)

      For the record, Walmart used to match online prices (plus shipping) if you had a printout, but I don't know if they still do.

      Also, for three years in a row, I did this on Black Friday to get low prices with no lines: I waited until 11am (before the noon sales ended) and went to Target after the craziness had died down with the Best Buy ad. Got all the things that Best Buy had run out of (since Target didn't have them on sale) for the Best Buy doorbuster prices. No muss, no fuss. Do I feel like I exploited Target? Hell no. I spend plenty of money every week there buying groceries, clothes, DVDs, games, cleaning supplies, and all kinds of things. Target makes thousands a year from my family, so I don't feel bad about taking advantage of price breaks when I can get them.
  • magic6435, on 10/12/2007, -15/+5***** em. they cant even sell you a good tv or explain why one is different from the others. I cant wait until tech stores start going the way of sporting good stores, no one goes to sports authority any more and why would you when REI is now starting to get a foot hold with excellent trained staff in each department.
    • broomett, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Sporting goods stores are dying? Tell that to Dicks Sporting Goods who are doing quite well. Their stock is about DOUBLE what it was 16 months ago and up over 50% in the last year.

      Just because ONE sporting goods store is not doing well (in your area, as The Sports Authority is not doing bad everywhere) and one store is doing well in your area means nothing.

      (By the way...how does the fact that REI...a SPORTING GOODS STORE...is doign well a good indicator that sporting goods stores are going downhill?)
    • sohlemac, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5magic6435 kind of sounds like an REI shill.
    • BuddhaChu, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1REI is great for outdoor sports gear. Try going there and buying weight lifting chalk or a set of dumbbells. 'Aint gonna happen. Sports Authority FTW (no Dick's in Oklahoma City anymore).
    • aposter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1But... But... REI isn't a sporting goods store, its an OUTDOOR GEAR store! Don't you know the difference. ;)
    • tdowling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Dick's...I will never be able to support them after they bought out and basically destroyed Galyan's, one of the last few decent sporting goods stores out there.
    • mahoneyxp, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Dick's are popping up everywhere in Minnesota...

      Wait a minute... That doesn't sound right...
  • vassili151, on 10/12/2007, -13/+59***** Best Buy.
    • LavaHot, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5I agree, but not for this.
    • nullmind, on 10/12/2007, -12/+6I don't care how drunk you get me: I don't think I could ***** something THAT big...
  • rhesuspieces00, on 10/12/2007, -5/+17I made my first Best Buy purchase the other day: a Wii remote.

    Maybe I should take it back.
    • techpimp, on 10/12/2007, -5/+21Don't give into the mob mentality. Make rational decisions. I don't shop at best buy but seriously how is that going to help the situation?
    • fishbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9How will that help? Read the article...
      "But Best Buy is not alone. Some stores will go so far as to remove "bad" customers from their promotions mailing list..."

      Now I'm seriously considering buying (and returning) a bunch of ***** I know I don't need just so I can stem the tide of junk mail!
  • clavarnway, on 10/12/2007, -17/+25Um...good for them? Honestly most of the things on that list, if people tried that in my store, we would feel the exact same way. If somebody returned an item, then attempted to turn around and purchase the item they just returned from some sort of open box policy so they get a discount, I will deny them.

    Buying something, doing the rebate, then returning the item, same thing, I'd wanna get rid of this customer too. I hate these type of people. They are the reason products cost more for everybody else, because when they return the item, some stores can't sell it, or not sure if they can, which means higher prices for all consumers. Nobody likes that.

    Most things on those list, I would be ecstatic if anybody that shops at my store that did those simply never came back. They are a drain on the store revenues and create a pretty negative atmosphere.
    • JBlaze, on 10/12/2007, -3/+42if they are getting burned with their rebate programs I am not the least bit sorry. They are a scam in first place. Most times they rely on people being to lazy to submit them or they find a sneaky loophole to deny the rebate. If they really wanted to get around people pulling this scam they could just sell the product for the price they are advertising (the price after rebate) and not require you submit a rebate. If there is no rebate people can't pull this scam.
    • Munja, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I know some stores, you cannot recieve the same item you returned. If it was refunded, that means you dont want that exact item anymore and can take another one. The refunded item has to go through the complete RTS process and be returned to the floor before the customer can purchase it.

      Same with open box returns. The item has to go through a damage check, which during peek periods can take anywhere over one week. Also at that point employes have the first chance to buy this stock. So it may not even be returned to the floor.
    • Wonderkind, on 10/12/2007, -1/+38I HATE rebates schemes.
      Instead of putting an item on sale, they offer a rebate.
      IF you bother to fill out the crap, and mail it (always to Young America, right?) you might get you rebate.
      The last one I did was for Verizon. They sent me a form letter saying, literally,
      "You have either filled out the address incorrectly or did not include the bar code. You have 14 days to reapply"
      but they did not return my paperwork. I KNOW I did it all correctly. I went to Verizon and raised hell, and they got me my $50. BOY was I pissed.
    • broomett, on 10/12/2007, -17/+6Are you stupid ***** really that ignorant about rebates? They factor in the people that don't apply for the rebate when they determine how much to make it. Therefore, if they offer, say, a $500 item with a $100 mail in rebate, they are NOT willing to accept $400 for that item. They have done the resaerch and determined that on average, for a rebate that size, 60% of people send in the rebates. Therefore, their expected revenue per product is $440.

      In other words, the store is not gaining money on rebates...YOU are if you take the time to send them in and do it correctly. You are getting an item they would otherwise sell for $440 for $400.

      Yet every time the subject of rebates come up, the Digg community (who amazingly think of themsevles as MORe intelligent than the average person) always posts the same ignorant crap showing that they htink that stores are willing to sell it at the rebate price An every time you do that, you prove that you are far LESS intelligent than Britney Spears and KEvin Federline put together.
    • nattybohman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25Best Buy has denied or just plain not paid several of my rebates. The most blatant incident was when
      their cash register printer broke on black Friday. The manager said the rebates would still work if he printed my receipts on his special proprietary best buy office printer. I was doubtful so I even asked him to personally sign the receipts and provide a written explanation.
      When I sent the rebates in, they were denied. When I called they told me that it was because I didn't send in the original receipts. When I explained the situation to them, the response was that it is best buy policy to deny the first time for rebates on anything other than an original receipt. (even though my receipts were on their special printer and signed by the STORE MANAGER!)
      Anyway, I sent everything back in and guess what? Denied again.
      At this point I just gave up and I will never buy anything that requires a mail in rebate from them again.
    • curunir, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14Obviously this is old news. Apparently no one realizes it, but BestBuy no longer does mail-in rebates. All discounts are sale prices or "instant rebates" (they apply the discount at the register). For this reason I *am* shopping at BestBuy again (although most of my shopping for electronics is still done online).

      Circuit City, it seems, advertises a *lot* of items with mail-in rebates, often with small print indicating that that's how you get to the discounted price. CompUSA's ads seem to contain nothing *but* items that require a mail-in rebate to get to the advertised price - sometimes requiring several separate rebates.

      I stopped the rebate game *ages* ago. I simply won't acknowledge a "price" if there is a mail-in involved - I only check the "out-of-the-store" price. Office Max is another place that has stopped doing mail-in rebates, but I still don't go there because I hate the place. But I have to commend them for this policy. Best Buy, too.
    • Hamletlere, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@curunir

      When did Best Buy stop doing mail-in rebates? They certainly were as of November, 2006! I bought two SanDisk SD cards for a camera I bought my wife for that Christmas, and both had mail-in rebates ($10 and $15).
    • patw85, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3False...you know anything that says "Check" on a bestbuy tag = mail in rebate.
    • aposter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I don't think they have stopped all retailer rebates, but they have gotten rid of most of them. Almost all of the rebates I see there now are manufacturers rebates, and they are available on the item no matter where you buy them so they aren't Best Buy specific.
    • mbabauer, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2I agree to a point, but even when BestBuy sales at "open box" they are STILL making money. The BestBuy I go to hardly ever discounts open box more than 20%, and usually its only maybe 10%. They are making CRAZY money on that stuff.

      Case in point, a brand new Sony Bravia XBR2 46" LCD, on SALE at BestBuy is $3799 (MSRP was $4200 or so), but I know for a FACT the *list* price from the manufacturer is only $3299, so even on sale they are making $500.

      I say, there are PLENTY of reputable dealers on-line that are willing to sale you items much lower than the retail outlets, and they can because their cost of doing business is way lower because they do not have to maintain store staff and all that comes with having brick-n-mortar. Most of my big purchases come from there now. I only buy sales items at places like BestBuy, CompUSA, and CirtcutCity (guess this makes me a "devil" customer).
    • dilbertmouse, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@curunir
      Looking at this week's ad, I can safely say that they have not ended the practice of mail-in rebates. To name a few, Vonage equipment and digital camera memory have some mail-in rebates. What's worse is now they are moving towards "free gift card with purchase". THAT'S WORSE THAN THE MAIL-IN REBATE!! Not only do you have to wait for your gift card in the mail, but when you're done, it only works at a Best Buy! (And, as has been said before, who spends *exactly* the amount of the gift card? No one! You always spend a little more!)

      I will say that the majority of sale items are "instant rebates", which I do appreciate, but don't tell me that MIR's are over!

      Edit: @aposter, Looking at the items a second tiem, that is likely what is happening. Most of these rebates are probably through the manufacturer, but I'm sure the manufacturer isn't giving out Best Buy gift cards. :-)
    • sgamer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2all mail-in rebates in the computer section (excepting vonage, which is going to have mail-ins everywhere) are extinct.
    • jfpersona1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2@ broomett

      I would digg you up much more if I could.

      People need to understand that rebates would not exist in their present form if they did not provide a benefit to _both_ sides of the transaction. The fact that there are people that miss the dates or don't fill them out correctly is inherently part of the package. I am guilty of this periodically and I bitch about it, but the fact of the matter is that my behavior is _expected and required_ to do a rebate-type 'sale' correctly.

      The short version is that the retailer gets to advertise a much lower price than they or other retailers are willing to normally accept and the buyer can theoretically get a very good deal IF they can meet the deadlines and requirements.
    • Sk8SkaNJ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"Not only do you have to wait for your gift card in the mail," - dilbertmouse

      All gift cards are issued at the purchase by the cashier.
    • nicko68, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The other thing I HATE about rebates (mail-in or instant) is that you pay tax on the price BEFORE the rebate.
    • koolaide, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1FWIW, Best Buy has gotten rid of *most* mail-in rebates. Most rebates are now instant, with kickbacks from either the vendors themselves or from corporate. I work there, and I've seen it change drastically over the last couple of years.
  • ajifans, on 10/12/2007, -2/+34Admittedly most of the tactics on the blacklist are pretty low but surely not:

    "Buying a product at a discount, such as from the store's selection of "loss leaders," (low-priced products stores lose money on that are designed to attract customers) then reselling it on eBay for a premium price.

    Finding rock-bottom prices on Web sites, then challenging stores to pay up on their lowest price guarantees."

    They only have their own marketing to blame for those two. It's not unethical in the slightest for me or anyone else to use those two tactics, in fact it's stupid not too.

    • ericcc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Most big retailers around here (CC, BB etc.) won't price match websites unless they have a brick and mortar store in the area and sell the item there at their websites price.
    • Novagenesis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The general rule is that, on electronics, you can't price-match online. That's in the fine print for any price-match store I've ever seen. Nobody will share why, but I've had some store workers I've known personally tell me that on some products, their purchase cost is equal to newegg's retail.

      And with re-selling... They don't want that. In the old days, being a middle man through supply and demand was a great way to get profit. I wonder if real estate companies feel the same way about houses... "They're devil buyers.. they buy the house at our discount price that we set to draw business (and they do that a LOT) and sold it to someone for $100,000 more!" That's considered good business, and a lot of people sell overpriced books that summarize that process.
    • mbabauer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Most Price Match policies dont include websites because:
      1) These are EASILY faked
      2) Legit sites can STILL beat any B&M store because they do not have the overhead of store employees, maintenance of the store front, lights, water, etc, etc. Those costs get written into the price of the products you buy at any B&M, but online retailers do not need those costs, as their store front (the website) is VERY cheap to run.
  • knyghtryda, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9You can't even pull off some of the stuff on the list. Stores don't normally take boxes with MISSING UPCs for a reason. That's a very reasonable policy. The open box thing? Has anyone honestly tried this at any store? I know some stores are pretty liberal about returns, but they normally process the item before putting it on the floor again. As for buying a product and waiting for a markdown... tough cookies on the retailer for that one. Its essentially a pricematch TO THE SAME STORE. They better be able to honor that. As for the last one... what the *#$(@ do you think the floor employees are there for? To stand around and gossip? It seems like best buy is just trying discourage careful shopping.
    • mbabauer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think they are refering to items with multiple rebates. In these cases, you send the UPC to one, but a copy to the others. All you would have to do is copy the UPC, send it to the ones that take the copy, and return it, never once removing the UPC. I know a person that does this durring Christmas every year becaues a lot of items at that time do the stacked rebates.

      This same person also buys stuff at one store on sale and returns it to another different store where it is not on sale.
  • threadweaver, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6I had read this about Best Buy in one of the business magazines about 6 months ago. Basically it costs too much to sell to grandma and grandpa, or for the really aggressive shoppers. American re tailors have always liked consumers to be stupid, its just now they are stupid enough or brazen to brag to their brethren and their employees are willing and able to tell on them. Clearly we have the makings for class warfare between the minimum wage clerks and the 210 million dollar retirement package presidents (home depot). Unleash the smart mobs! Let's all go to Best Buy and pester the manager on our lunch hour today...viva la revolution
    • mbabauer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@mrgreen4242

      The manufacturers will never allow that, as its bad for their bread-n-butter brick-n-mortar stores.
  • davidrools, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2I don't really mind them cracking down on the blatant abusers of their policies, like price matching and returning. In the end, it'll benefit the normal consumers, including moderate bargain hunters, with better service and hopefully lower prices. It's just those super stingy bastards with too much time on their hands that mess it up.
    • ericcc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Hey if Circuit City tries to sell me a TV hookups and USB cables at 1000% markup they're asking for it. 28$ for a 6' run of the mill generic USB cable is rediculous. Also they will sell you a two year warranty but if it breaks down within the first they will refuse to fix it and will demand that you go through the manufacurer first. This isn't a one sided fight here.
    • nullmind, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I will restrain from discussing my experience with Best Buy on warranties for the sake of my family, neighbors, and personal health.
    • mrgreen4242, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Agreed... I'm all for good customer service, and I am sure that Best Buys 20% "Devils" includes lots of people who they just don't think make them enough cash, but there's probably a lot of people buying camcorders just to film little Bobbies baseball game and returning it, HD TVs just for the SuperBowl, etc etc who deserve the label by intentionally abusing a service they offer for "real" customers.

      There's probably some way to market a "10% store". All prices are labeled with a wholesale cost and then a flat 10% markup. No price matching, no returns, exchanges for similar items only (ie, get a crap DVD player and you can't have your $30 back, but you can get another brand that is the same price or pay the difference, etc). No "sales" or rebates or bait and switch loss leaders. People might find that refreshing and convenient, knowing exactly what kind of deal they are going to get when they walk in the door.
    • nattybohman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you really think they're going to pass on any savings to the customer, you're living in a fantasy world.
      They will continue to charge whatever price they think the customers are willing to pay.
  • MrESaulved, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25FTA: "Buying a product at a discount, such as from the store's selection of "loss leaders," (low-priced products stores lose money on that are designed to attract customers) then reselling it on eBay for a premium price." [Will get you Blacklisted from Best Buy]

    It creeps me out that Best Buy monitors Ebay for items that it's prior customers have purchased. I would very much like to know how they go about this process. I'm not kidding.
    • joelcass, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I'd guess that they'd know when you go to the register with 15 "loss leaders", when it seem logical that most people would only want one or two. They wouldn't necessarily need your eBay ID. That could be good for the rest of us who go in the store and want ONE.
    • LiquidPenguin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Apparently they actually pay people to go on eBay and look for Best Buy materials. For instance, the Geek Squad gives (sells?) their employees a die-cast metal badge made to look like a police badge complete with name and serial number. In the past, ex-Geek Squad employees attempted to sell their badges on eBay. Best Buy would then create a shill war pushing the badge price into the four digit range. For instance,
      http://digg.com/design/Geek_Squad_Badge_sells_for_over_$1500
      http://digg.com/gadgets/Geek_Squad_badge_bid_for_over_$8,000+
      amongst many others. Another tactic is they would notify eBay and have the auction taken down on the basis that it's an actual "Police Badge" and police equipment is apparently one of the forbidden items. There was even an article written on one guys attempt to sell his badge (but the Digg search function appears to be overloaded today :( )
  • TheFunny, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18Why do they offer a "Lowest Prices Guarantee" if they are upset that people use it and then TRACK the people that do it. This makes me hate Best Buy even more. Between this, the guy who got screwed on his TV stand and the nVidia incident where a store manager had someone arrested for trying to pick up an item he bought online w/ the pick up in store option I am shocked people still shop at Best Buy at all.

    Damned wankers.
    • Novagenesis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Everything they offer is to sucker you to make a purchase.
      They don't want people to price-match their $30 USB cable with some place's $4.
      They don't want people to make a profit off of a loss-leader...heck, they don't want people BUYING the loss leaders without buying a bunch of other stuff.
      In an ideal world, to them, everyone would walk in, buy an HDTV for $3000, with an extended warrenty, accidentally break it on the way home, forget about the warrenty, and come back to buy a second one in tears for having destroyed the first.
    • blofeld9999, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Haved worked at Best Buy, I can tell you that a PSP or PRP wouldn't cover accidental damage (like a customer dropping a TV or something). At least that's what management told me.

      Otherwise you'd have customers destroying their merchandise right before the warranty expired and getting a new one (in the case of a PRP at least). I know people who did that actually.
  • danielphi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7So what happens if they add you to their list? Do they refuse to attend you? Do they ask you to leave the store?
    • chasenyc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I presume they won't sell to you.
    • Munja, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Depends on what list your added to.
      You can be denyed entry to the store. Your refund can be refused. You can be refused service.
  • justintsmith, on 10/12/2007, -12/+0Its a good thing my modded box has every mainstream arcade game and console game ever made since Atari 2600.
    Screw flash, Ill take 450 GB please. Thanks
    • WickedIllusion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@Munja

      Wow, your an idiot. When have you ever gone to a Best Buy or any retail store and seen someone denied entry?? What do you think they have systems with facial recognition software or somthing.... your a sensationalist idiot... end of story.
  • Chicagorocks, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Most of these stores don't even know who you are. Best Buy doesn't even have you sign upon returns. WalMart has you sign a slip but you could put Joe Blow and they'd never know. The only stores I know of that take info at time of purchase are Radio Shack and Circuit City.

    I've never had a problem taking anything back really. I've never paid a restocking fee. Oe time I took something back with no box and only a roughed up sales slip and they took it no problems.
    I am very picky about my gadgets (not so much clothes,etc) and I'm always taking mp3 players and whatnot back but not out of malice to the store. I buy something,I pay $200,300,400 for it,yeah,I expect to be happy and if I am not it's going back,sorry. Now,I could be a little less picky and be more patient when I shop but whatever. I've never done 99% of the stuff they hate but you could call me a chronic gadget returner and I need to learn to be more sure before I buy something costly.

    These stores like to talk tough but I don't buy it. Yes,there are 'bad' customers just as their are bad store managers,bad clerks,bad department 'experts' who know less about the items they are supposed to help people with that the people buying the items. Just as stores get frustrated with certian types of customers I know we've all walked out of a store frustrated as well. It goes both ways.

    As for why people shop at Best Buy. Not all of us live in a big city with 9 electronics stores. I have Best Buy and Circuit City...period. WalMart and Target have jack. Kmart,Radio Shack? I don't have a Costco,CompUSA or Meijer.

    • BoredAtWork, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Best Buy doesn't even have you sign upon returns."

      They do at all the Best Buys that I've ever had to return anything at. Last time I believe they needed name, address, phone. I rarely return items, so I'm sure it's not due to me being red-flagged.
    • WickedIllusion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Chicagorocks
      Finally someone with a clue, thank you. Be cool with best buy / people and best buy / people WILL be cool with you.
  • bowdie, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8I had something like this in the UK. Electronics Boutique (now game) used to have a No quibble returns policy on games back in the Saturn/PS days. I'd buy games on the friday, and either keep them or return (if I didn't like them) them on the monday. For ages they were cool about this. I kept way more games than I returned (I guess the ratio would have been around 3:1) but one day the store manager took me to one side and told me they would no longer accept returns from me.

    I've not brought a game there since.
    • broomett, on 10/12/2007, -22/+11So, you were being a ***** little prick and "Renting" games for free and you are bitching like a little pussy that hey stopped it?

      You abused the system. It is entirely your fault. Being a little bitch about it makes you look even worse than you already do.

      The fact that you claim to have kept more games than you returned does not make it right. There are video rental sotres to try out games before buying them. Maybe get a ***** job and you can pay the rental fee.
    • bowdie, on 10/12/2007, -5/+19Whoa. That's some quality rage there.

      They actually used to use this as a method to sell multiple games. Many times I heard the sales staff telling families that couldn't decide which game to buy to just buy both and bring back the one they don't like. I do tend to rent these days, seeing as my home town mow has a blockbuster (it didn't then)

      I don't think I sounded like a bitching pussy (not that I have any idea what that would sound like), I don't think I abused the system, and I fail to see how any of this is my fault.

      In closing, you fail it... Oh, wait, I've responded, you win. Damm.
    • Novagenesis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4*GASP*, he got the right to see if a game was worth buying before making a final financial commitment on that game... What a HORROR.

      Actually..wait..that -is- a horror, it's anti-capitalistic and makes the rich gaming companies spend more money on making sure the games are actually -worth- the money...it -has- to be stopped!


      Games and Movies are the only industry where you will buy a product for a fairly large sum of money with a nonexistant awareness as to the quality of the product...and where you can't return it for not being as high-quality as advertised, even if it doesn't work on a system it's promised to work with.

      I bought Neverwinter Nights at BestBuy several years back. I met all the specs on the box, but it turns out there were a few obscure functions used that just didn't run on my graphics card at the time. They refused a return, even after Atari told me to return the product to the store (in writing). I ended up saving up and buying a new computer (NOT from best buy, obviously) before I could actually play the game. I never bought anything from Best Buy ever again... Had an EBgames manager buddy at the time pulling a fit about Best Buy not having a legal right to refuse me that return....not like I'd sue for it if it was.
  • captcanuk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18Best Buy is an extremely EXTREMELY frustrating store to deal with. I have 5 "returns" at Best Buy; 4 of which were returns I made within 20 minutes of purchase because the idiots behind the cash registers and the ones answering questions on the floor are incompetent. 3 times I've had to return something and repurchase it due to their constant messing up - I ask for a gift receipt *twice* in my 3 sentence conversation with the cashier and they neglect to print one out and ask me to go to the returns center because they don't know what to do. The returns center has a super long line-up of disgruntled people and so I have to be assertive to get to a cashier there who doesn't know how to print out a gift receipt but would rather have me return and re-purchase.

    Why am I getting penalized for their incompetence? One time I was so pissed that it took so long and was so frustrating that I complained and requested a manager. She walks over to us and asks "What do these angry customers want now?". We requested a complaints card to which she replied "We ran out" - to which I couldn't help but reply "I'm not surprised". When asked to speak to the head office, she said there is no direct line but we can call the mainline for you... aka "You can stay on hold for another 20 minutes while we laugh at you since nothing will happen of this".

    The best way that Best Buy can save money and retain customers is to HIRE COMPETENT people or TRAIN THEM and UPGRADE their outdated 1984 terminal systems.

    I nearly had another near return when they had a product with a SINGLE price marker in front of it that was hand written and when it rang up at the register, the price was double and required a mail-in-rebate. That has got to be illegal.
    • Elric1977, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Sounds like someone has a case of the big box blues ;)
      Perhaps, if you need assistance you should shop Locally (by locally I mean Independent). Big Box Stores are for the people that "know what they want" because they hire students that know very little to nothing about the products they sell. If you ask them a question (try this out if you like!), to get some kind of answer they will look at the box to try to find out the details you need. If the answer isn't there, they will say "I'm sure it'll work with your system" so you will buy it and try anyways.
      Seriously, if you need help, go into a reputable ma and pop store (while they still exisit), they hire competent people that know the products they sell.
    • tempusrob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"That has got to be illegal."

      It's been a while since I worked in retail, but if an item is marked at a price (sticker OR signage) then they are required to sell it to you at the marked price. At least in New York, but I don't doubt that other stats have similar laws.
    • khellendros1984, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Big box stores are perhaps for people who know what they want, but not how much it ought to cost. On my last trip to Best Buy (a couple of weeks ago), I couldn't bring myself to buy anything. Compared to the internet prices I've become accustomed to, their prices were horrendous! I've come to consider brick and mortar stores to be an option only when I care for the convenience of purchase over the price (which isn't often, me being a poor university student and all!)
    • archlich, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Anecdote: I bought world of warcraft burning crusade a few days back, with my preorder box in hand. The cashier charged me again for the preorder and also didn't take the preorder cost off the game. I should have done the math at the register but I realized her mistake just after passing the exit. I had to go to customer service and get it sorted out. Luckily they sorted it out.
    • WickedIllusion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Novagenesis

      Damn, did you hit your head or somthing? OF COURSE Best buy couldn't return that OPENED game.... Thats FEDERAL LAW. So now you decided your not gonna shop there again??? wow, your an idiot.
  • Wonderkind, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Best Buy refused to honor their Price Guaranty because the store I asked them to match (B and H Photo) was not nearby. "Within a few miles", they said. I took my money to B and H.
    • Gerbil, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Always a good idea. Have you been to their store? One can visit it almost like a museum.
  • ncdoyle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Some stores will go so far as to remove "bad" customers from their promotions mailing list

    Oh no I... wait, they are threatening not to harass me? I can check their flyer online should I desire.
  • my10cent, on 10/12/2007, -7/+8I am going to play the devils advocate here.

    1/ I used BestBuy's price guarantee 5 times in my life and they all went smooth, I went in there, showed them my receipt and the competitors ad, and they gave me money, no questions asked.

    2/ I have always been threated nice both at BestBuy and CompUSA.

    I have a feeling that the people who is moaning about this is just the unsatisfied few shoppers which comes with ALL kinds of business.

    [This ad was paid for by BestBuy j/k]
    • BradleyBo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"2/ I have always been threated nice both at BestBuy and CompUSA."

      I'm sorry but this has to be a Freudian slip.
    • bigsteve, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Better digg him down, he pointed out the possibility of a vocal minority on Digg!!
      *gasp*
  • somabc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Why don't you pay Cash and then give them a false name and address? Problem Solved!

    Also with price matching why not give the store that already has the lowest price your money, this way you there is no need to engage in price matching!
  • Elric1977, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I only shop local to begin with, but the "Loss Leaders" loss is their loss, if they don't want someone to buy it to resell it, then they shouldn't be selling it so low, people (in general) aren't stupid. Our store lost all sales related to Pop and Dance music because our Local Wal-Mart sells these titles below our cost. Sometimes if we run out of an album that's a "Loss Leader" at Wal-Mart, we go there to buy a few copies to resell, sometimes it's cheaper than ordering direct even WITH the taxes.
    If they take a loss, big fricken deal, it's their decision to try and dupe their customers. Indie stores don't need to trick someone into the store, it's all about service baby. And Indie's know their shiznit!
    • broomett, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Walmart is not selling those CDs at a loss. They are selling it at a price that may be a loss if YOUR store sold it at that price. But they are paying far less than your store.
  • DrunkChimp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4About time this happened, too many tight-wads here. I know guys who buy expensive crap only to return it then they wait for the store to put it back on the shelves and buy the same returned item at the "opened item" discounted price.
  • diggsIt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Best Buy is evil. They make money screwing over people who don't know better. They deserve all the bad press they get.
  • broomett, on 10/12/2007, -14/+6shody business practices? Every single thing described in this article is not at all helpful to a store. So they have EVERY right, both egally, and ethically to try to limit the number of people that do this.

    Just because Digg has this insane irrational hatred of Best Buy does not make it a fac that they are bad. The average Digg person is not normal, and I mean that in the worst possible way. The avarage Digg user has this pathetic need to be agasint what everyone else thinks because they feel that being different will excuse the reason why they have no friends and no hope of ever getting any.
    • IAMANOGRE, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4dude, spell check your rants before posting

    • gungaroo22, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@broomett
      "The avarage Digg user has this pathetic need to be agasint what everyone else thinks because they feel that being different will excuse the reason why they have no friends"

      Is that why you have been the one flaming everyone who has a problem with Best Buy? It seems like you have the "pathetic need" to have the opposing view here. Most people's stories and bad experiences at Best Buy are true, happen often, and show the company's colors. What exactly are you flaming everyone for?
  • jwt0001, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4What kind of store lets you return something with a rebate when the rebate has already been applied for??? (#1 in the blacklist list)
  • jordandiggsit, on 10/12/2007, -13/+4Anyone who buys a product to return it and hope to get it as 'open box' should not be allowed in any store, period. Who buys a product to use it once and return it???

    Only worthless bums would fall into the category of a 'black listed' customer.

    I love best buy and hate all the scammers out there trying to save a buck or two. Man up and buy your products like a real man.

    I hate techie nerds who try to find anything by any big name company to gripe about. Go watch star trek.
    • sifelltneytandi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Man up"? Give me a break. I don't have a problem with Best Buy, but I think it's hilarious that some guy is trying to be macho by telling me to buy my products "like a real man." Awesome.
  • jackdangers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I can't say that I like Best Buy in the least. But, having at one point been a retail slave, the thought of banishing those annoying or downright rude customers who I'd see time and time again trying to work "the system" is definitely one of those guilty pleasures. Seriously, though, I am a firm believer that every citizen should have to work retail for some small portion of their lives in order to be on the "other side" and see how sometimes decent people treat those they think are there to be their servants...
    • b_flats, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Absolutely. Everyone should work retail for six months to a year. That, and food service (waiter, waitress, busboy, etc.).
    • nikkesen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Been there, done that, got the t-shirt; damn most miserable months of my life, and NOT because of stupid clientèle...
  • vinnie175, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7I am not saying that I hate best buy but this just sounds like another excuse for corporations to raise their prices and give the higher ups a bigger paycheck. I bought a TV, not from best buy, for 1000 less than what best buy had it "on sale" for. If they can sell these items at such a high mark up than I don't see how they are losing money on the few people per store that take advantage of these loopholes. I don't make a million dollars a year, so I have to shop around and get the best price that I can on items that I buy. I don't see how I should be "blacklisted" for that. If best buy has "the lowest price guarantee" than why are they complaining about ad matching. Because they buy in such bulk the manufacturers sell it to them at a phenomenal price in which they in turn mark it up, sometimes over 100%. It is companies like them that are making it hard for hard working people, who don't make a lot of money, actually buy stuff because of the extremely high markup. I would rather see less commercials and celebrity endorsements, that we the consumer are paying for any way, in exchange for lower prices. Here is an idea, how about all of the big wigs at the top cut their pay a little bit and pass the savings on to the people that are signing their paychecks.
    • nikkesen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Wow, dugg down for making a smart comment.

      You do make a very valid point of the need to shop around.

      I feel that if you're buying something, and you ask the clerk for information and they can't help you, this isn't the place to buy it. If the can answer you and help you properly then it is the place to buy it once you've done your comparative shopping.
  • blaghness, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I actually work at Circuit City. I sell tvs, the firedog service, and the protection plan. My sales tactic is this: I tell them everything they have an option to get, what they will get out of it, warn them of everything, and if they don't want to get it, at least they know what will happen without,, lets say.. a protection plan on a rear projection tv when the bulb in the back breaks and some companies charge over 300$ for one.. I try not to swinder people into stuff they don't need, while keeping my sales high. It keeps my managers happy, and it keeps my customers happy. Devil customers who wont listen to you no matter what suck though (never used this term before) reason being.. I tell them they need an hd source or there basic cable will look like *****, they don't listen, plug it in, return it.. and I start that day on a negative budget that I have to beat. At least at CC.. we do like to sell stuff, but we don't make commission, so it really doesn't matter to me.. but hey, that's me, not the rest of the place, so it might be different other places.
    • sgamer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1BB doesn't make commission on sales anymore either. I know plenty of people have had crappy problems at Best Buy, but if this article said Fry's, Circuit City, or CompUSA, you can bet there'd be a whole other section of people slagging XY brick-and-mortar retail store. All of the problems people have with any big box...bad service, bad selection, bad price, bad return policy, etc, can be found at any of those places. It's all about the individual stores and which one you go to, in most cases.
    • LittlemanTAMU, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@sgamer
      The only company you list where I haven't had a problem is Fry's. They generally have knowledgeable staff that are actually helpful more often than not. The only time I go to any of the others is if they have a great deal on exactly what I want. It's probably a loss leader so I might be blacklisted I dunno. In summary, I love going to Fry's and wandering around and getting a real answer when I ask a question (or they at least point me to someone who can answer) and loathe going to any of the others (unless it's not terribly busy, which is rare, then it's remotely tolerable).
  • deadinsect, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5This is a stupid move from Best Buy. The reason they have so much trouble with "devil customers" is that everyone hates them, and sees Best Buy as a big faceless horrible 'system' that is there to be taken advantage of.

    If they just had better customer service and treated people like humans, then people would show them some goodwill. Think about it - people are proud to boast about screwing over Best Buy. What does that tell them about their brand??

    By taking an even more 1984 Big Brother view of their customers, they just increase the distance between "them" and "us", and increase the problem. This is drvien by them taking a slavish lead from the retail fiugures they can measure easily - e.g. percentage returns, electronic tracking of customer habits - and not giving a ***** about things they can't measure so easily like - "do people like us? are we nice?"
    • zoom1928, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1> a big faceless horrible 'system'

      It's hard not to be seen that way when locally they beat a guy to death because they didn't like the way he signed the credit card receipt. They never even issued an apology. It came out during the civil trial that knowingly hire criminals to work in their stores. The main aggressor in the killing was a guy named Ricky Coleman, and he had several outstanding warrants for assault. Even a friend of mine named Tom Davies who was the Best Buy asst manager at the time, and he kicked the victim repeatedly in the lower back. He was later rewarded with a promotion. When you beat and even kill customers of course you're going to be seen as a "horrible system."
  • NickRamos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I used to like Best Buy until they lied to me about what the warranty was on a PSP. They said it was 90 days and started to tell me about fictitious problems people were having with it, just so they could sell an extended warranty. This gets nowhere with me, I immediately abort the purchase and find out from the manufacturer what the warranty is. If I found out they lied, they go on my "blacklist". CompUSA pulled the same trick with a laptop. They were pushing hard; telling me that NO manufacturers warranty covers the display, the hard drive or the battery. Thats funny, Apple just replaced my battery under warranty. And they sell Apples at CompUSA. Hmm....
  • KingDog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I know that all businesses have some upset customers, but the sheer number at Best Buy seems to be more than I've ever seen anywhere else: http://bestbuysux.org/cust.html Then back up a bit and read some of the things employees have to say about working there: http://bestbuysux.org/comments.html

    Personally, I've decided to let my wallet do the talking and I no longer shop there.

  • griz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I'll agree that most of these tactics are evil, however, these 2...

    "Buying a product at a discount, such as from the store's selection of "loss leaders," (low-priced products stores lose money on that are designed to attract customers) then reselling it on eBay for a premium price."

    "Finding rock-bottom prices on Web sites, then challenging stores to pay up on their lowest price guarantees."

    Fall under the heading of "Too damn bad!!"
    If BestBuy can use tactics such as loss leaders then they should have no problem coping with the fact that someone is going to buy those items. What they do with those items after they buy them is none of Best Buy's business.

    As for challenging them to match an internet price, that's plain and simple economics 101. If there is competition, you had better be ready to deal with it. Frankly, you get about as much sales support from Amazon.com as you would walking into any Best Buy. Heck, the internet is full of more useful infomation than most sales clerks at a Best Buy so a store on the internet can be seen as a one stop shop for info and a good price.
  • joblolboj, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Read it like it is:
    www.bestbuysux.org
    • bagatonovic, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3I really didn't need another reason NOT to shop at Best Buy, but thanks for the info.
  • nobullmouth, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Once again. I refuse to even walk inside their stores. Circuit City get's all my business. Wal-mart once tried to change their return policy and they realized that people stopped shopping there. People want the security of knowing they can return something if it is broke or it is not as advertised. Yes, there are rejects that abuse the system, however, you don't base your business on the 20% you base it on the 80%.
  • Evildudetx, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Screw Beast Buy. I've only shopped there once in the last 2 years and that was only due to a gift card.

    If you've got a Fry's they are a much better retailer who will pricematch anything from a circular or flyer, but not from the internet. Returns there are a non-issue.

    If you don't have a Fry's, I would petition them to put one in your area. We've got 3 here in Houston and I don't shop anywhere else.
    • LittlemanTAMU, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Parent dugg down for???? Posting the truth? I must admit though, I avoid rebates like the plague unless I like the price before rebate anyways. Maybe that's where people don't like Fry's I dunno. Maybe it was a bunch of Best Buy employees digging him down.
  • vannyx, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1I used to work at Radioshack , as far as getting a return on an item without the UPC you get the cost of what you pay minus the cost of the rebate. anything but an instant rebate is a ripoff. See a few years back some retailers got creative with their accounting. When a manufacturer cut them a price break on an item, instead of passing on the savings directly to their customers they setup the rebate program. So our favorite company on digg (sony) decides to sell the a walkman to store A for 10 less per unit than they usually do because they want to drive sales on that. Usually store A would have a sale for it being 10 bucks less, now store A buys a few hundreds or thousands of these from sony for the normal price and sony agrees to reimburse them for the different in a few weeks. Mind you Store A still hasnt payed sony yet because sony gave them at term payment plan something like pay total amount by the end of the month and we will give you 10 percent off the regular price or pay by the 15 of the next month for regular price. (thats on top of the rebate they are going to get from sony to pass on to the customer for units sold within a certain time frame).

    Now Store A pretty much will run the promotion anyway they see fit. so they might give a 5 dollar instant rebate and then 5 dollar mail in , or if they are a nice store they will do the whole thing instant rebate or if they are total dicks they will do 10 dollar mail in rebate. Sony sends them the money promptly that was earmarked for that promotion , or send it to a rebate holding company, that money goes into a high interest account and sits their for a few weeks or a few months. Now when the rebate orgy started they did it by how much units sold and what wasnt paid out was returned to the manufacturer but nowadays its done by total units purchased by the retailer not total units sold to customers. (crap im writing too much) To make this short, its all about the interest at first and then it became about the interest and the money from unclaimed rebates.

    When a store ask for your info for a return, give them ***** information, even it ifs going on your credit card, you can always have your credit card company get your money back. If your getting your refund mailed by check then you need legit info but if not then dont let these bastards profile you.

    Retailers only loose money on items that are returned without boxes or incomplete, if you brought back everything, even with the barcode missing they get full credit RMAC is a retailers best friend, when you return that MP3 player with everything in the box and it fell in the toilet, they RMAC it and get full credit for what they paid for it. where they loose money is theft and fraud that cause them to loose goods or money, But you returning them only hurts them if you take up time they could have used selling. Nothing more.

    (i have no proof to back up most of what i said,Its my opinion and experience.)
    • guytoronto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1High-interest account?

      RMAC?

      You sir are an idiot.
  • est1979, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Okay, i know this may be going against the popular movement here. And don't get me wrong, i think best buy sucks too, but the practices listed for "Devil shoppers" in the article are things that Assholes do.

    If i owned a store I'd want to cut back on the number of assholes in my store too. It didn't say they were opposed to people buying an item at a low price, it said they were opposed to that person turning around and making a profit on the item. And the kind of person who returns an item to re buy it at the open box price is a low individual.

    Get the best deal you can, just be honest about it.
  • darylg18, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Speaking of retail stores having knowable people, retailers don't want them if they cost more than any other non skilled employee. I used to work for Circuit City back when they had commissioned sales people. Sure we could sometimes be snakes but at least we could tell you the difference between 2 televisions sitting side by side.

    Well ALL commissioned sales people were let go without warning and given severance pay here in Florida. We were replaced by high school kids and college freshman who just thought it was cool to look at big screens all day.

    The reasoning behind this is the consumer is educating themselves so why pay to have knowledgeable people working in the department, and there is no need to worry about stupid people, they can be sold water while wading in a river.
  • gallagherFTW, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3"I love best buy and hate all the scammers out there trying to save a buck or two. Man up and buy your products like a real man"

    its kind of hard when you're in college and have $17.54 in your name. i make ramen its own food pyramid with creamy chicken at the top.
    • Hubris, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4You can afford creamy chicken? Luxury! In my day we'd have a glass of water with a bowl of ice!

      You had a bowl and glass? I had to eat my ice out of a rolled-up newspaper!
  • dougm68, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I had to return a certain $399 xbox360 purchase to BB that had the "Ring of Death" problem.

    I wonder if I've reached my bad customer $ limit?
  • pmichaelson, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Best Buy has some nasty business habits of their own. Such as overselling and then not honoring their in-house warranties. I bought an iPaq PocketPC from them a few years ago, and the salesman convinced me that I should buy their in-house warranty on it. He specifically mentioned the rubber grips on the side, saying that they tended to wear out after a year or so and that I could get them replaced with the warranty. He gave the whole spiel that I could walk out of the store, toss the PocketPC on the ground, and bring it back in to get it replace if I wanted to. So 8 or 9 months goes by, and the rubber grips have worn off. I take the device into Best Buy, with the warranty paperwork (really just a receipt), and am told that the warranty I paid $100 for just extended the manufacturers warranty, and that it only covered defects. I pointed out that it seemed that the rubber grips falling off seemed like a defect, but they insisted that this wasn't covered. We had a back and forth about it, and ultimately my warranty was not honored. I know other people who've had this problem too. I have rarely heard good things about them, and won't buy high-priced hardware from them at all anymore.
    • Lonny, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you read it, it's a service plan that doesn't cover physical damage. This means that dropping it on the ground would void the service plan just as it would void a man. warranty. Something such as the sides being worn is not definitely covered. I'd recommend this to you: If you buy something at a store, don't always take the salespersons point of view...they're trying to make a sale. You should have asked the service department.
      And no, I'm not saying it should be put on the customer to check because Best Buy employees will stretch the truth, I'm saying that a responsible customer should check because that's what a responsible customer should do.
    • dvinnen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Working in the service department, I can say that that is generally covered with a PSP (at least now it is). Hell if you get a camera with PSP, and it is scratched and dirty we'll send it off to be cleaned and polished. Other little known things are you can get a battery a year for your laptop (we're suppose to test it but almost never do because we have more to do then waste 2 hours monitoring a laptop.)

      The salesperson did lie though if he truly said if your smashed it we would honor the PSP. We only do that if you purchase the more expensive AHD (accidental/handling damage).
  • orbit1979, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Reading the list of what shoppers do (and some do those things), I do not see what the issue is. I worked in retail and customer service and can comfortably say that this crap does happen, and as an employee you know when it's ***** and their trying to pull one over on you. Most scenarios on that list are basically customer scams and the store should have the right to protect itself. Granted, some retailers can rip off customers or give ***** service which should be address and the consumer should have recourse, but retailers should have the same rights. The article states that some returning practices are legit, which in fact most probably are. But I do not see anything legit about any of the returning practices on the list. All they do is cost the store money, and ultimately, cost the rest of the honest consumers money and hassle. Not to mention in some cases depending on the type of business, it could cost the employee as well.
  • davecor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I used to wear the blue polo shirt...
    I hated the customers who took an hour of my time with questions and then said they were going to buy on the internet. If you can't get help from an employee, sometimes it's because they are chained to one of these asshats. Retirees with nobody to talk to also tied us up and prevented us from helping everyone.
    I also suspect that 10% or more of the shoppers are buying out of boredom, with EVERY intent of returning the item later. Again, the lines at customer service would be much shorter without these clowns. We'd see some people buy and return stuff almost DAILY.

    I eventually escaped retail for this one reason....
    If nobody in your life treats you nicely and with respect, you can always hang out in a retail business where people HAVE to be nice to you.
    I think a LOT of people depend on retail drones for the ONLY positive human contact they can find...
    • orbit1979, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"I think a LOT of people depend on retail drones for the ONLY positive human contact they can find..."

      Given my experience in retail/customer service with these types, I agree and it quickly becomes obvious why. These people are just down right miserable and it seems like its their life's mission to bring as many down with them as possible.
  • ih8apple, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6This article is outdated. Best Buy no longer uses Buzz, Jill, Ray, and Barry......we realized it was not working so we changed......yes I work for Best Buy. One thing you all have to realize is companies do not exist to make the happiest customers in the world. Their number one goal is to MAKE MONEY. If doing this enables them to make more, they will.....and this applies to ALL companies.
  • radio1mike, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I have never had a problem with Best Buy when doing a return on a product.

    I do applaud that they have gotten rid of MIRs, and have lowered their prices for their loss leaders. But I do not like their price-matching scheme. Sometimes they don't even price-match their own website. Or that you need the actual flyer from a local competitor to P-M.
  • Zammo, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2not on duggmirror
  • rc_collins, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5I hate to admit it, but Best Buy is probably my favortie store on the planet. If I watch the ads and wait I can usually get the things I want at a pretty good price. No you have to work within there sytem of things, but over the last 10 year I have come out very nicely and feel no ill-will towards them. No I dont work for them!

    Here is some tips on Best Buy that I follow. I research the product I want first online. I make sure I understand all the teminology ect of the product line I am looking for. For instence I wanted to buy an HDTV. I didnt go into Best Buy and expect them to be able to tell me the difference between S-Video/DVI/HDMI. I did all my background reasear myself. and actually there website offers a ton of help in that area. Then wait for a product to be on sale. Do wander in and expect to stumble on a good price. You just need to read the flyer front to back and look at the product line. I did this and found a 51" 1080i TV for only $850. IT was a tiny spot in the corner of the flyer, I nearly missed it. Second once you get the Best Buy, dont wander around the store like a bum getting warm, walk up to an employee in the corect department, hold out the flyer, point at the product and say "I am here to purchase this". Sure you sound like a jackball, but right then you have a guy saying "I will grab one for you and be right back". Magically he brings you one and asks if you need accessories. If you did your reasearch you know the answer. At this point to ponder the question just say yes (and tell him exactly what you need) or no. He will then ask "Are in interested in the warrenty?". If this is something that you cant afford to buy if it was to brick on you, buy the damn warrenty. I know people think they are a scam, all I know is that I save probably saved $1000 dollars in the last 5 year from them. Sometimes thing just brick on you and you want your money back. No matter what the cerumstances, they cut you a check for the full amount you purchased it. It is a great way to upgrade that 3 year old item with the newest at the same price. Next, hand him your points card and payment. If you are not a points card member you are dumb. They pay you back a pretty nice percentage just for handing them that card each time you go in. With my TV, 360, and warrenty purchases I ended up with $75 in gift certificates from the points program.

    I do this for everything I buy there and I have zero complaints. If I ever had a problem with a pushy emplyee trying to ram accessories down my throut I simply keep saying no. Then when I get home I can the store and file a complaint, and I call the corperate customer service line and file a complaint. They take that stuff very seriously after CA sued them for forceing people to sign up for MSN internet service.

    --dan
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