This past weekend was tiring and not quite long enough, but mostly enjoyable. I worked from midnight to three Sunday morning, and that ruined my sleep cycle for the weekend, which made Sunday worthless as I cat-napped all day in-between starting loads of laundry. But this is not the purpose of our tale. Nay, it is an epic of the trials and tribulations of a Best Buy shopper.
So, while I'm not an avid fan or a wild detractor of the retailer, Best Buy has been my default for electronics purchases pretty much since they opened in my city years ago. Over said years, however, I have grown increasingly dismayed at the state of their employees. As time progressed, the employees of the day grew more and more surly with us customers. To the point that I felt like I was shopping at Circuit City when it was at its low-point many years ago.
At the start of this year, after months of saving in addition to birthday and christmas gifts, my wife and I went to Best Buy to purchase a big-screen television. We still hadn't enough for the full price, but we saw an advertisement for 12 months same as cash. My wife and I love these deals. They allow us to get something we want, at the price we want, with a fixed payment plan. Now, you have to be disciplined, and pay off the full amount before the expiry date, lest you be charged a ton of back interest, but we generally have no problems doing so.
So we went to Best Buy's audio/video area. I have to say, this is simply one of the worst areas in Best Buy. Never before have I encountered such surly and unhelpful employees. We browsed for a while amongst the large-screen televisions, noticing how we couldn't even think of affording any of them even with twelve months 0% financing. We finally happened on the more affordable units, and to our delight, there was a Sony WEGA unit that was at the very top of our price range. Sure, it would be pushing us a little, but only by a few hundred once you tacked on cables, tax, et cetera. And we love Sony (talk about a love-hate relationship...their products can be stunning...their corporate actions can be atrocious). Much to our dismay, the unit was halfway up the wall. Yes, a large-screen TV, on a shelf ten foot from the ground. How are we supposed to ensure we like the picture?
No problem, I thought. I finally got a sales clerk's attention, and when he joined us I told him of our desire to see the Sony head on, to ensure we liked the picture. We were told we had no option to do so, as it was on the shelf and there were no floor models. I then asked if we could use the rolling staircase to get us even with the TV, so we could see the picture. After much cajoling, he finally (grudgingly) agreed. My wife and I took turns standing on the staircase at eye level with the Sony. We ended up liking the picture, and decided to go ahead and purchase it. All in all, an OK experience, even if we did have to take charge and bully the clerk somewhat into letting us stand on the stairs.
Fast forward several months to last Friday. We had recently paid off the TV just days before. I decided to use the discount coupons from the TV purchase (every 100 spent gets you 5 back) to shop for a new AV receiver. Our receiver was seven or more years old, and was finally aging to the point that it wasn't useful for the new TV and new DVD player. So again I find myself in Best Buy's worst division: high-end audio/video.
I walk in, looking for the receiver I had already researched -- another Sony. I had done extensive research on the web to ensure it was the model I wanted, even diagramming how I would connect it to the various components. What do I see? None of the old models for which I had information were available. So I flag down a clerk. In his most unhelpful surly attitude he explains that I'm "out of luck" because "those were last year's models." Fine, I say, please show me this year's models. "We don't have the new models out of the box yet," he says, "and we don't even have the new high-end Sony that replaced the one you wanted." I ask him to show me what he did have, and was again told he didn't have one on display only one on the shelf in a box. I expressed that I really couldn't purchase an unresearched unit without first comparing it to a researched one.
So after much sighing and eye-rolling, he finally looks up the new models in the computer. Their computer (and Sony's website) had no additional information. He said, "You can go ahead an buy it, and return it if it isn't what you want." By this point, I'm ready to blow, so I tell him I'll be back once I've made a decision. Now, I really wanted this whole thing resolved, so I called my wife at home (I had been in the store so long dealing with this jerk she had made it home), and walked her through finding information on the web about the new receiver line. She read off the features to me, and I figured out that the new second-to-top model (of which the store had one on the shelf), was the equivalent to the old top-of-the-line model from last year. So basically, the receiver I wanted was available under a new model number, at 30 bucks less cost. Amen.
So before going back to the land of surly A/V clerks, I shopped for a couple of CDs. While shopping for the CDs, I had to ask a clerk for help as I couldn't find one that I thought had been released. He checked his computer, gave me an answer, and politely asked if there was anything else I needed. I asked about other CDs, and he walked me directly to them, and got them off the shelf and handed them to me. Amazing! What a counter-point to the surly A/V guy. I thanked him and went on my way to the back of the store.
I load up the cart with my CDs, some cables, and the receiver. I ask the surly A/V jerk if there were any financing options. "I dunno," was his erudite and helpful response. As I'm at the checkout, and the cashier scans the list item (the receiver), the register beeps and pops up an information window. Because of my purchase of four or more cables, I was to receive a 10% discount on each cable. In addition, my purchase of an expensive A/V component qualified the entire purchase for 18 months same as cash! EXCELLENT! It was a pleasant surprise to find out I was not gathering interest on the purchase, after such a horrible ordeal of the crappy sales clerk. I thanked the young woman and went merrily on my way.
Saturday rolls around, and early morning sees me unable to sleep. So I get up and start disconnecting the old pile of stereo equipment. I spent the morning hooking up the new setup, getting equipment into the A/V racks, routing cables, testing connections, et cetera. All goes pretty much as expected and I'm quite pleased with the new receiver. I do find out that I bought one too many optical audio cables (I thought my CD player had optical out, and it didn't), and that I don't have enough ports to properly connect my various video game systems. No shock there, since that was already the case with the old equipment, I simply didn't know exactly what I would need until I had the new setup in place.
So after everything is connected and tested except for the video games, I get cleaned up and go back to Best Buy. This time I know exactly what I need: a Pelican super system selector, twelve foot cables for the various connections from the Pelican selector to my receiver, and a new surge supressor. I found the switch just fine, and had one polite sales clerk ask if I needed help while I was reading the switch's box. I told him I was fine, and thanks for asking without being pushy. I then spent twenty plus minutes wandering the nooks and crannies of the A/V area trying to find twelve-foot versions of the various cables I needed (component video, A/V composite, S-Video, digital optical audio, analog audio). FINALLY, I'm looking for a surge-suppressor that was what I wanted without being overly expensive. As I'm doing so, a young sales clerk walked up and said I looked like I needed assistance and could he help. I asked him to help me find a surge suppressor of a certain price, and after checking on the computer then walking me to my item, he handed it to me while asking if I needed anything else. I told him no and and thanked him profusely.
As I was checking out, the cashier was very polite and helpful. And I got out of Best Buy for the second time in as many days, with only a slightly sour taste in my mouth for poor product placement and bad display management. I only had a crappy unhelpful sales clerk once out of the two days, and overall the good slightly out-weighed the bad. I guess the point of the story is that Best Buy's customer service is a hit-or-miss affair. Unfortunately I apparently shop in areas (A/V being one of the worst), where surly jerks abound. Ah well...I now have the A/V setup I've wanted for a few years now, and I only had to deal with one jerk to get it.
