The “Break it Down” Blog

In my years reading AVS I have seen time and time and time again the basic theme of “Best Buy screwed me…” reiterated throughout the posts. Wether it’s a service call that they won’t honor, or a warranty (most popular), or a unit replacement or anything else, this store runs on the corporate policy of “Shut up and get out”.

In my own personal experience with some lesser purchases this has always been the case. The times I’ve had to speak with managers or assistant managers my experiences have always jived with what other folks are saying: Unpleasent, short, not willing to listen or work with you, etc. So when I see these stories I know they are the case.

I also find it odd that in a group of 20 of my technical friends, whenever the subject of “Best Buy” comes up, all of them sans maybe 2 or 3, have developed the mindset on their own of “Don’t buy it from Best Buy, try and find it somewhere else”. How is it that 17 or 18 technical (not necessarily like-minded) 20-30-somethings that are spread across the US all come to the same conclusion about a store? Sounds to me like corporate policy is so self serving and abrasive that it trickles down to every store and every employee… leaving them with the mindset and mood that the customers are annoying side effects of running an electronics retail store.

This gentleman had a similar story with a TV he got on special that was being sold with “a free stand”. As it turns out, because he paid an extra $250 for in-home-delivery (explain to me how many people buy a 61″ TV and DON’T get it delivered?) that magically invalided the free-stand offer according to the manager that wouldn’t let him speak and wouldn’t honor the offer. (Part 1, Part 2)

If you are thinking about making a major purchase at a Best Buy, I’d take some time to read up on how the store handles things like rebates and warranties. I’d also take some time to look at some Google results for “Best Buy Sucks” or “Best Buy Problems“. We aren’t talking about a few angry bloggers here, we are talking about millions upon millions of search results. So dig in, or just take my advice: shop somewhere else.

Update #1: If it hasn’t sunk in yet that Best Buy’s corporate policy is “Screw the customer”, have a look at another article about how that company is run.

Update #2: A ton of “me-too” comments here. If this is the norm, why do so many people shop there? Because of the super-low special prices is why… and guess what Best Buy hates? The people that buy these items. Way to go Best Buy!

Update #3: Fantastic, looks like Best Buy’s PSP (Product Service Plan) is complete crap and actually damaged this guys set. He logged every interaction with time and date stamp.