Best Buy vs. Circuit City: Notebook Shopping Review

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by Jerry Jackson and Kevin O'Brien

As a follow up to our wonderful mall shopping experience our undercover shopping team visited a pair of local big box stores (Best Buy and Circuit City) to see what these stores have to offer notebook shoppers. We compared both their online and retail stores in terms of product selection and display, sales and service, and in-store notebook repairs and upgrades.

We selected a pair of Best Buy and Circuit City stores in Mason, Ohio for our undercover shopping experience because both stores are literally located across the street from one another ... making them prime targets for consumers looking for the best deal on notebooks. While we believe these stores to be representative of most Circuit City and Best Buy stores in the United States, it's worth mentioning that store layouts, sales experiences, and service will vary from one store to the next.

 

Circuit City

Shoppers can immediately expect one thing upon entering the notebook computer area of the sales floor ... service before you even walk up to the first laptop. Our undercover shopping team experienced incredibly fast response from the Circuit City sales team. Unfortuantely, this is somewhat of a necessity for the salespeople because Circuit City chose to install proprietary software on all the notebooks ... preventing shoppers from playing with the machines or getting a feel for real-world performance. That said, the salespeople at the Circuit City were more than helpful, directing us to a laptop with dedicated graphics when we mentioned gaming.

Of course, the sales team in any &quot;brick and mortar&quot; store is going to be somewhat limited by the inventory on hand. Although we indicated that we were interested in a 14&quot; or 15&quot; notebook, one of the salesmen directed us to a 17&quot; model when we said &quot;gaming&quot; ... but this is likely because the only notebook in the store with dedicated graphics was the larger 17&quot; laptop. To be fair, selection at the store we visited was limited at the time because the back-to-school rush had wiped them out.

We noticed an even larger selection of notebooks on the Circuit City website before our visits to the store, and the in-store sales staff mentioned the availability of several models online that were not in the store. On salesperson even offered to search other local Circuit City locations for a specific notebook that was not in stock at the store we visited.

Satisfied with the sales experience, we began testing in-store service. When we asked about getting rid of bloatware on our new notebook, the sales staff was quick to recommend a $30 in-store service from Circuit City's &quot;firedog&quot; service department ... which uninstalls all bloatware and provides you with a clean setup. For those customers needing a more in-depth cleaning of their notebook, Circuit City's firedog service department offers a $130 &quot;pc tune-up&quot; which includes:

• Identifying and removing spyware
• Running a standard virus scan
• Clearing out Temporary files
• Clearing out Start-up files
• Configuring Windows updates
• Updating anti-spyware and anti-virus definitions and software
• PC optimization

The firedog service desk is a somewhat recent addition to Circuit City stores. The firedog service technicians offer in-store or at-home services ranging from standard pc service and repair, home theater installation and setup, and something they call &quot;integrated services&quot; which covers everything from setting up your new MP3 player to training you how to use your digital camera.

Unfortuantely, our service experience at the firedog desk was somewhat mixed. One of our undercover shoppers spent five minutes waiting for someone at the firedog service desk to help while four technicians in firedog uniforms stood behind the desk having a personal coversation that was unrelated to work. When technicians finally provided assistance we asked if they could install the 64-bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate on a new notebook. The technicians were completely unfamiliar with that version of the operating system and had to search for information on the Microsoft website while we spoke to them. To be fair, most consumers are focused on the 32-bit versions of Vista, but we were concerned by the fact we knew more about Windows Vista than the trained service technicians in the store.

Hardware installation and upgrades proved to be a much more positive experience. Hard drive and RAM upgrades are performed in-store for $30 (for RAM) and $40 (for hard drive) not including the cost of the hard drive or RAM. The technicians we spoke with indicated that most new hardware installations would be completed the same business day unless there is a need for additional services.

Best Buy

As nice as the selection of notebooks was at Circuit City, the laptop selection at Best Buy was amazing. The entire laptop section was brightly lit and open with plenty of room in the aisles. Although the Best Buy website featured an even larger selection of notebooks, most of the notebooks available online were available in the store. That said, there was limited laptop model information or specifications on display. Just like at Circuit City, software installed on the notebooks prevented shoppers from playing with the machines.

Despite the nice layout, our sales experience was a completely different story. Our undercover shoppers got absolutely no help from any of the sales team. There were plenty of reps walking around, but no one approached any of our shoppers the entire time in the notebook section. This was more than a little odd since the Best Buy sales people were quick to approach us when we visited other sections of the store like the phone or gaming console areas.

On another visit we went and found a salesperson and asked them for assistance in the notebook section. The sales team seemed to have a reasonable amount of knowledge about the notebooks on display, though they did get some of the specifications confused between similar models. What was more interesting was the fact that not all of the in-store prices matched the current deals found on the Best Buy website. Many of our readers may have heard reports that Best Buy was caught posting different prices online than prices posted in their stores ... and that in-store sales reps use a Best Buy intranet site designed to mimic their official website but that lists higher prices than those listed on the store's public website. This fact alone may be enough to recommend that shoppers should buy online rather than visit the &quot;brick and mortar&quot; store if you are looking for the lowest price.

As for in-store service, the Geek Squad service desk has become a common sight at Best Buy stores around the country. The familiar Geek Squad uniform of a short-sleeve white dress shirt, black pants, black tie, and pocket protector have likewise become so much a part of our national pop culture that a parody of the Geek Squad (called the Nerd Herd) can be seen each week on a new television series (Chuck). More to the point, consumers have a very clear expectation in their minds about the level of service and support they'll get at the Geek Squad service desk.

We were therefore rather surprised to find the Geek Squad technicians acted as much like sales staff as the actual Best Buy sales team. We asked the Geek Squad an identical set of questions as we did at Circuit City, indicating that we wanted to upgrade to the 64-bit version of Vista, install a total of 4GB of RAM and upgrade the hard drive in our new notebook. The Geek Squad technicians were all very familiar with the 64-bit versions of Vista, even indicating that the Windows installation alone may take more than one day because of hardware compatibility issues with 64-bit drivers (correct). However, we were shocked to hear that the Windows installation alone would take more than one week! If that weren't bad enough, we were told the installation of 64-bit Vista, RAM upgrade and hard drive upgrade might take two or more weeks. Do most consumers want to be without their computer for that long?

What shocked us even more was the fact that when we mentioned that we wanted to upgrade our newly purchased notebook for Photoshop use the Geek Squad recommended that we purchase a new desktop computer instead of upgrading the notebook. Even more surprising, they suggested that we forget about a Windows-based computer completely and purchase a new Apple iMac desktop computer from Best Buy.

That's worth repeating. We went to the service desk indicating we wanted to upgrade our brand new HP notebook computer purchased from Best Buy and we were told to buy an Apple desktop. When did the Geek Squad service desk turn into the Apple Store?

Conclusion

Both of the major competing &quot;big box&quot; stores offer similar store layouts, sales knowledge and services that shoppers may find useful as the holiday buying season gets closer and closer. The ability to speak with actual human beings about your computer needs and get on-site assistance when you require computer repair or upgrades is something you just can't get from an online shopping experience. That said, shoppers willing to do a little research on their own and willing to shop for the best prices online are likely to find much, much lower prices from online stores. In some cases additional models or lower prices can even be found on the Circuit City or Best Buy websites compared to the models and prices listed in the stores.

Bottom line, both Best Buy and Circuit City offer notebook buyers plenty in terms of sales and service ... but you can probably do better going the &quot;self service&quot; route of shopping online.

 

Ironically I ran into an old article stating Apple had a prior agreement with Best Buy to train store staff on how to utilize & sell Macs to customers. Thought it was a funny coincidence after reading your review..........

http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0606bestbuy.html

 

What about Frys? they have computers too

 

Fry's is a great store that is slowly expanding to national coverage, but they still only have "brick and mortar" stores in a handful of states. Most of their retail stores are in California and Texas with only about one store in each of the following states: Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

That leaves 41 of the 50 states without a Frys. Best Buy and Circuit City have coverage in almost every state. Since we wanted to select competing "brick and mortar" big box stores we chose Circuit City and Best Buy.

 

:laugh: :laugh:

I can't stop laughing.

 

That is interesting that Bestbuy Sales Staff did not rush to your aid. When I go to BestBuy (I have two nearby stores, but one is larger so I favor that one) I'll usually get asked if I need assitance by 2 or 3 sales agence.

I think it is worth mentioning this: In days long past I applied for a job at Circuit City. At that time during the Company information stuff. I was informed that Circuit City focuses primarily on the sales of High Definition Televisions and that is what the majority of instore sales are for Circuit City. They also told me BestBuy sells more computers and fewer of everything else. I know that's probably all a bunch of you know what... but.

 

I was sad by the lack of help

At 3 different BestBuy locations the sales staff around the notebooks never approached me. It was mind boggling since I was going laptop to laptop playing with each model, so I was clearly showing interest. Each time in the gaming section though, I had a sales rep on my butt like nothing. It was almost like they thought I was going to steal the display game console off the wall.

The Circuit City staff were much different though, almost to the level of too much attention. My guess is each store has a vastly different opinion on how it should treat customers.

 

I totally got the same response from Bestbuy here in Canada. I was shopping around for a new notebook I tried several ones on site for about 10-20 minutes trying to figure out what I wanted and nobody approached me, by the time I decided I wanted the Sony Notebook I asked the guy if he had it he totally seem surprised, like he didn't even expect me to buy something just roam around looking and playing with computer stuff. I find the customer service in Bestbuy to be lacking especially in their computer and tv department. (From my experience in three different Bestbuy locations) Although when I went to their gaming and dvd area's almost all the time I get help so my assumption is they don't really focus on high costing products such as notebooks and tv's and probably worry more about selling some DVD and game at 20-30 bucks. (IMO)

 

I used to work for Circuit City and was actually the first hire for "firedog" back when we were just called PC Services (although before that they were going to call us the IQ Crew).

First off, CC employees are stressed upon during training to look for any lost customers and always greet someone when they enter your area. Everyone has to be asked if they need any help. Any laptops that are not in stock can always be ordered from any other store or from the main warehouse.

Employees are not going to be completely up to date on everything as A: back to school rush means things will be randomly sold out and we wont know until we try to sell it. B: New stock, especially laptops are always coming in and out and its impossible to keep up with all the current specs. We would usually have a decent familiarity with whats on the shelves now even if we have to read the card to see all the details.

Every store I've ever seen including the ones here in the UK run a demo programme on the computers to cut down on people just standing around taking advantage of free internet and treating us like an internet cafe, preventing people who might actually want to buy stuff from seeing the comps. If anyone ever asked us to check a computer out we would always put in the password and revert them to Windows. (Just to note, I worked for CC in America, before I came back to Britain.)

Now about the firedog team; seeing as that was my gig I apologise for them ignoring you. I can only vouch for me and the guys I worked with and we always dropped what we were doing whenever a customer approached. (Including whatever hardware or software work we were doing which was often annoying as we had to keep track of 3 or 4 computers at a time we were working on and remember where we were at).

I wouldn't expect them to be familiar with Vista 64 bit. Most of what we did was upgrading hardware, removing spiruses (spyware + viruses) and if we installed an OS it was a factory reinstall. Only once in my tenure did I ever upgrade an OS and thats when someone needed XP Pro. Its a bit worrying that they didnt even know what it is though. I guess with my departure the level went down a bit...

I should note, I was decently influential in CC. I even met (and high fived!) the CEO (though as of late I have a lower opinion of him).
I'm the reason they started carrying laptop hard drives a few years ago as I was constantly complaining how embarrassing it was to have to send customers down the road to Best Buy if I had to install a new hard drive for them. Its a testament to how much they liked me that they would always go there to buy it, then come back for me to install it instead of just saving time and taking it all there for the Geek Squad to do.

I was also constantly pushing for us to carry a greater variety of laptops. I used the example that BB had carried Alienwares as proof that we should carry some boutique brands or at least more than just the HP/Compaq, Gateway/eMachines, Toshiba/Sony's that we carried and for me were basically interchangeable.

 

Interesting, they're probably getting a decent margin on the Macs, I know there are some BB employees in the forums. It'd be great to know if they can confirm or deny that they get a higher commission if they sell a Mac.

I was wondering for the longest time what the hell a fire dog has to do with PC repair. Thanks to Wikipedia I pulled this quote from a rep there that spoke to Dow Jones:

"We chose the name firedog because it evokes the kind of qualities we intend our technicians and installers to provide: helpful, friendly, knowledgeable and reliable. When it comes to improving consumers' relationship with technology, we want firedog to be your 'best friend,'"

I still say it's a stupid name for a PC repair service.

 

IQ Crew is probably too close to Geek Squad in terms of meaning, probably good they changed the name from that.

Sounds like you were a great employee, and loyal. Thanks for the insight. Experiences will obviously vary by location and how well a group is trained and managed. And the quality of people they're able to hire.

 

Circuit City once offered a plasma tv to any employee who could come up with a name for the PC Repair department. Noone won it. Seems good names are hard to come by. Or at least names that management thinks are good.

 

The "services" at best buy are almost pure profit...they pay the technician 9 bucks an hour and charge the customer a lot more. They make more money on removing your spyware than they do on selling a new laptop.

 

This is true. Although to be fair they started me off at $10.25 an hour. Which is I think $2 more than the starting pay for the Geek Squad. On the other hand we never got cool Beetles to drive around in.

 

IMHO, all major retail chains suck when it comes to purchasing notebooks. Only 1/10 salespeople know thoroughly about the products they're supposed to sell, and to make things worse, the pricing. Yes, to be fair there's the usual 14-day return policy, but hey, why pay extra when you can get something of equivelant value at a computer specialty store for 10% less?

 

Both stores essentially wasn't a bit interested in helping when I was looking at notebooks. At Best Buy I ask if they price-matched their web site and one store said sure and one said no. Then the salesperson proceeded to check the web price and they went to "bb.com" and told me the price was the same at the store.. I told them to go to "bestbuy.com" and check. She was a little hesistant but did it anyway. The salesperson from another store said that the internet discounted price did not apply in "our" state (Hawaii)! I started to giggle a little because of how stupid a comment it was. I wonder how many gullible people he told that to! And he said that they didn't price match the web site. I said that the other store did when I bought an HDTV.. he went to his manager to discuss it and came back and price-matched the web site. Circuit City also price-matches their web-site also FYI.

The lesson to be learned is to do your homework before going in and get the best price. I have a friend and she told me BB told her it'll take a week to put in memory upgrade on her laptop! How laughable and sad at the same time.

 

All of these big name stores are going to have wholly different experiences depending on the individual stores and even employees. There's going to be the great salesmen - who can get you to buy nearly anything, yet not have full knowledge of computer. There's the computer guys - the ones that know the product inside and out, but really don't care to sell. And then there are the dumb****s - the ones that the other employees hate because they just stand around doing nothing, and when they are told to do something, it takes them 3x as long to do it than feasible.

There's no way you can review a company by going into one store. Because turnover is so high at these companies, you need to review each individual employee - something that's impossible. Instead, if you know stuff about computers, use the stores to browse, and buy online. If you don't know much, you're going to get suckered into buying the useless stuff - warrantees, services, etc... To the employee, it doesn't matter what computer you buy, since they aren't on commission. Instead, they are only ranked by services - so get ready for the hard-sell.

Realize that make nill if they sell you a computer that's on sale. Pretty much means they make more selling you a coke than they do on a laptop on sale. The biggest one is selling printers - they make more money selling you the USB cable than on the printer itself.

Pulling numbers out of your backside doesn't really help. Most of the people working in the computers department knows enough to sell the computers, maybe not as much as you and me, but easily enough to inform a normal customer. Unless the associate is new (<1 month), they will be able to have a good conversation about the products that they sell. The reason they don't know pricing is because it constantly changes. It's easier to just read the number on the card than to memorize the price of all the laptops each and every week, though they do usually know which ones are on sale.

 

I would like to state for the record that Best Buy employees are not on commission. I do not know if the same goes for Circuit City, but as a former Best Buy employee there are no commission-based sales positions in the company at the consumer level. Now, at the business level, known as Best Buy for Business, I do not know about that.

I would also like to reason with everyone in letting them know that Best Buy's all across the country (USA) are not entirely created equal. Stores are designed based upon different demographics and customer models. To be exact, they are based upon Customer Segments. For example, in Merced where I am going to the University of California Merced, the Best Buy #844 is among the lower demographic - therefore their store is rather small and does not have a Magnolia Home Theatre inside. Their Geek Squad is also rather small. However, they do great in the rankings.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Elk Grove, CA store # 349 that I originally am from and where my family is, the store is twice to three times the size of the Merced store. This store is designated as a "Barry" (one of the... I think there are 8 now... Customer Segements). Elk Grove is one of the fastest growing cities in America, so I heard in the news recently, and therefore it is a high demographic. The Elk Grove store is HUGE, and has a Magnolia Home Theatre where people sell big ticket home theatre products (such as a $10K plasma screen from Pioneer Elite... oh, and I think they are on commission). As the store is much bigger, therefore the departments are also much bigger as well (Geek Squad, Computers, etc).

Basically what I just want to say is that not every Best Buy across the country is built the same. Certain ones have specific services / features you may not see in other stores.

I for one would love to see the one that opened in China.

In retrospect, I really did like working for Best Buy initially for the first 2 years. Afterwards, though, I am unsure why but I didn't really like working so much. I changed stores to the Merced store and while there are some really great people there, I believe my experience in retail in a large store did not transition well into the store of the lower demographic. I ended up leaving the Merced store after about a year to work for IT on the UC Merced Campus, which is much better.

 

Circuit City was last on commission about 5 years ago. Now its just an hourly wage, just like Best Buy.

 

doesnt it seem wrong that when you buy a brand new computer that you need to pay 130 bucks to get rid of adware, spyware, and viruses??? i thought it was brand new!!

 

The $130 is to install software to prevent and remove adware, spyware, and viruses if necessary. The computers are brand new, and do not contain (hopefully) any of that. Preventative software is what you are paying for.

 

You're also paying for full copies of the software that generally cost a large amount of that anyway. In my time it was Norton Internet Security and Webroot Spysweeper.

 

best buy stores here in MN have Apple stores now built inside them

 

Best Buy's customer service is notorious for being substandard, in fact downright rude. I remember frequenting a store and getting help was like pulling teeth, and when I finally got help, the employee made me feel like I was keeping him awake

I then went to a Best Buy in San Diego, about 100 miles away (was visiting family) and thought it would be different, but again the customer service was all but non-existent.

I remember one occasion where I went to the store first mentioned and when I was looking for help, I saw about 5-6 teenager salespeople standing around the manager/floor manager, and the manager was cracking jokes with them all the while I was looking right at them, it was like I didn't exist. I remember another customer standing close to me looking at them as well with the "I need help" look, and both of us just being ignored. That's when I decided to always buy from Circuit City unless BB had something CC didn't.

I've always had good experiences at CC, and recently went into BB looking for a laptop and an external HD. To my pleasant surprise, the BB staff seemed completely different this time around, very helpful salespeople and more than one, so the obvious conclusion is that though BB customer service may be less than excellent generally speaking, it really depends on who you talk to.

It's worth noting that I hadn't gone into a BB for quite awhile, but in light of my recent experience, I'll give them another shot as I just need to "hunt out" the right people to talk to.

In fact the BB PC dept manager even price matched a Western Digital hard drive priced online at the Western Digital website, which the first salesperson told me they wouldn't do. However after speaking to said manager and explaining that I'd just as well buy the hard drive online but would rather not go thru the motions of ordering online to save $20, I'd appreciate it if he'd just give the green light and price match the hard drive right now ($159 to match WD site instead of $179), and lo and behold he hooked me up, so I can't complain.

My advice is if you know what you want, then either store will do, just go in, buy it, then leave. If you really need customer service, then I'd say CC is overall more consistent in the customer service they provide, but BB is good as well if you just find the right people.

End of rant/story.

PS - of course as the article said, a little research online and frequenting forums such as this one is undoubtedly the best way to go in terms of prices and customization IMHO.

 

That is what I"m saying, that you are paying for preventative software to prevent that kind of adware/spyware/viruses from getting onto your computer.

I am not surprised... Best Buy's headquarters are in MN... that is probably where they test new concepts / ideas first.

JarodSimon, I can understand that you had a bad experience with Best Buy, and I am not here to glorify or justify why your experience was bad, but do understand that everyone that works @ Best Buy are people. If you don't get any attention from someone, then go and approach them. I don't mean to be rude, but I cannot sense every customer if I am talking to a customer already. If you see me talking to a fellow co-worker and it seems not work-related, then approach us.

Again, like I said, I have seem and had some bad experiences with Best Buy as a customer, but I mean they are bound to happen. I am not here to glorify Best Buy or justify why x had a bad experience at y Best Buy stores.

 

It's $30 bucks to get rid of bloatware. $129 is for antivirus/antispyware, installation, and optimization (bloatware removal - but not really). $149 is all that plus restore disc creation. I'm not saying it's cheap, but that's the way it is.

 

You're just the opposite of me, Kevin. I do NOT want sales people approaching me. It annoys the crap out of me. I just want them to be nearby and approachable. If I want assistance, I'll ask for it.

Regarding the Geek Squad person steering you towards buying a Mac instead of a Windows-based computer... I think that sales and service people are just as opinionated as everyone else, and it may just reflect this one person's opinion. It wouldn't surprise me if you were to go back next week and ask about the Macs and a different salesperson or technician suggested you buy an HP instead. Of course, I don't know, maybe they steer people toward Mac as policy, but it's just as likely to be this one worker's personal opinion.

 

It is not a policy to recommend a particular brand. We of course naturally recommend services from Best Buy ... i.e., Geek Squad and such, but again we are all not programmed to recommend brand X for purpose Y.

 

Dont get me wrong, I dont like pushy sales people. What I do like is a sales staff that first asks me if I need help, and then listens to my request. If I dont want help, great let me go about my business, but if I do want help I dont want to have to hunt you down to ask.

 

Here's the official stance: There's a 30 second rule, and a 10 foot rule. They're pretty self explanatory, but if there's a customer within your department for 30 seconds, or you get within 10 feet of them, you're supposed to contact them. To be honest, no one actually follows these, and they just use common sense.

However, with the "help me" look that was mentioned - just to let you know, that's the "I'm constipated/angry/a child molester" look to them. If you need help, for the love of god, just ask them and don't get all pissy.

 

Amen to that!

 

I simply could not imagine walking into a store these days and asking for help. After the one guy I worked with who would make up things that "sounded right" just to sell a product....ugh....I just want the employee to tell me 1) if the item is in stock and 2) ring it up for me. I don't want service plans, warranties, or anything else. Greeting me is fine, but otherwise keep clear until I'm ready. If you're going to come try to sell me something at least approach with an open-ended question.

I used to work retail back when Sears was Sears and actually tried to compete with Circuity City and Best Buy. Obviously Sears didn't put much effort into it and eventually began to abandon the idea, but I was there working back when they were trying. Your experience will vary from associate to associate. Also, your personal appearance, body language, and what you're doing heavily influences whether or not some employees will come up and talk to you. The addition of commissions, "spiffs" (bonuses), and other internal sales promotions can also make employees more likely to approach you or less likely if those items are absent. I'm not sure how things work at BB and CC though, but I do know those used to be common practice.

EDIT: Yeah, the "help me", random coughing for attention, grumbling, or angry stares about being ignored instantly tells the employee that you're trouble and significantly increases the chances they'll try to hide from you rather than simply avoid you. The customer can determine if they want to deal with you in 4 seconds or less. The employee is the same way. Depending on the "help me" look or coughing you're employing, I recall I would purposely avoid people doing that and wait for them to come over to me. There is such a thing as a pushy customer.

 

From my experience @ Best Buy we do have "contests" and such, both within the store and within districts / areas / company. They vary in terms of focus, but the prizes are generally minimal. The REAL big contests are for the managers / sups, who push it off onto us to win since they need us low level sales to get the reward which goes to them, for the most part.

 

Here's the thing, unlike the customer, this is all the employee cares about. They'd much rather sell, get more hours, or get the managers to like them, than to care about annoying you.

 

The computer market is extremely competitive. I worked at Future Shop all summer selling computers.

The profit margin on computer is extremely low. Example: a macbook for $1000 has a "cost" of like 990 or something. The commission on it can be ~15$ (most desktop have a commission of 1% and laptops a bit more sometimes). So at the end of the day, FS pretty much loses money on the laptop sale. (Although the "cost" that employees can see is probably jacked up a bit...). How do they make their money then? 1) = warranty ,2) = service, 3) = accessories. Warranties are pure profit, and service is pretty much the same. And ironically, more money can be made on a carrying case than on the laptop it self!

At least now you know that if you go into the store and just buy the laptop, you're not getting ripped off.

 

Not every employee is as oblivious to the customer... you make it sound like we're all bad guys.

 

Your BestBuy must be a lot nicer than mine. Since CompUSA went under and left BestBuy bereft of competition, BestBuy's selection of computer equipment has dwindled to the point of almost being mono-brand. The number of laptops on display are under 20, many of them broken or dirty, and not one of them has dedicated graphics.

The display areas look "messy". All in all, the place is a waste of the 6-7 acres of land that was paved over to build it.

 

Apple's profit margins range from 18-36%.

 

My main problem with that is that after declining, a second salesperson asks if you need help, and then a third, and then a fourth....

You may differ, but in my ideal store, no salesperson would ever speak to me unless I speak to them first.

 

I have no clue how much Apple makes on their laptops, but the retailer - like BB or CC - barely makes a few bucks out of selling their iPods and iMacs.

 

I would never, ever buy a computer from a brick-and-mortar store. You can find a much larger selection and lower prices online from each manufacturer's website or even from Amazon.com, where you don't pay tax or shipping. I've had nothing except low-quality service from Best Buy with their bunch of snot-nosed punk kids.

 

Hey, we aren't punk kids. Well, most of us aren't.

And sometimes you actually *DO* need to see the computer in person before ordering ONLINE... there may be things that you dont know until you see it in person.

 

After reading this thread, I have to post an experience I had about 2 years back.
I've been building my own computers since 98, and I'm quite knowlegeable.
There was once, I was building a new computer, and although I recieved most of my parts already, I was stupid and impatient, and desperate to find a good processor to put in it. I wanted a working system that day... I know the brick and mortar stores don't carry such a product, like a specialty computer store, but I thought I might try anyway.
After calling circuit city and talking to 3 different sales people, I finally discovered they indeed did not have what I was looking for. Even one directly asked "what's that??". Oh, I was looking for something around a Pentium 4 3.2ghz Prescott. The P4 "640" to be exact.
Anyway, I had some things to do anyway, and decided to just drop by a best buy since they were on the way. After being told by a salesman to go see the geek squad, I explained to 2 of them, what I was looking for. Believe it or not, they both gave me this dumbfounded look, didn't know what I was talking about!!! Then one said, well, we have new computers if you want to buy one, it's got a pentium in it. I couldn't help but laugh, and walked out.
True story. So I waited the 3 days for shipping, and just ordered one from newegg.
Knowlegeable???? Not in the least. I couldn't believe it.

 

Probably, but that's not how much FS or BB makes on selling it!!! Apple sells it to FS for almost the MSRP!

Salesmen in some big box stores jump on you just because of commission.

Working at FS, you can make 12% commission on a warranty. So if someone buys a $300 warranty, you make $36. If you sell service (restore disk creation, AV install, Office install, etc) that goes for around $300, you can make around $25. Then you can make 20$ on the laptop itself, then a bit more $ on accessories...if they didn't commission their staff they wouldn't make as much money because salesmen would just be lazy.

So if you make 2 "good" sales, you can have a pretty nice day...to be honest I was pretty shocked to find out that's how it worked. There's a lot of other information people would find interesting but I don't want to put FS down or anything. The people who I worked with were super nice, and (some) of the managers were, too. Makes for a great summer job!

 

Is this how it went:

You: I want a P4 processor.
GS: Umm, we have computers with P4's in them...

?

 

No, I had to give a quick course in processors 101 cause they didn't know what the hell I was talking about! Then after explaining in detail, that I wanted a processor to install myself, then that's when he said "well we have computers with pentiums in it if you want to buy one".
I thought that was the point of me building my own computer, so I don't have to buy a whole new premanufactured one.

 

Know what you want BEFORE you go into either store, because the employees from both will lie straight to your face, even when confronted with evidence that proves you're right.

(cue long, boring, technical story)

Example: I did some research on car speakers and decided that I wanted either a pair of $50 or $80 Pioneer speakers from Circuit City. Good speakers for the money, but I wanted to hear the salesperson's take on them. I knew that they were 30W and 35W RMS power and 160W and 220W max power, respectively. I asked the salesman what the specs were for the $50 pair, as they don't really list specs in-store. He told me 80 watts RMS for those, and 110 for the $80 pair. I told him he either didn't know what he was talking about or was lying to me, especially since the only pair in the store that even approached 50 watts RMS was also approaching $150.

He went over to the computer and I looked over his shoulder. He brought up the page for the $50 pair, and the RMS wattage wasn't listed. Fair enough. He scrolled down to peak wattage, which was listed at 160W, and told me that RMS wattage is peak divided by 2. Ok, so now I'm thinking he's an idiot. He then goes to the page for the $80 speakers. "Watts RMS: 35" is the first thing on the specs list, but he QUICKLY SCROLLS PAST IT SO I CAN'T SEE IT ANYMORE, AND LOOKS OVER HIS SHOULDER TO SEE IF I NOTICED IT and goes down to where it lists the peak wattage at 220, and again uses his super math skillz to divide by 2.

Since I already knew what I was going to buy, I got the $50 pair. Very good speakers, by the way, I would recommend them. I just hope that jerk didn't get any commission off that sale, not sure how Circuit City works.

(end of long, boring, technical story)

The moral is this: know what you're getting, then just go buy it; don't make the buying decision for something as big as a laptop while in a store, because people will lie their butts off to you to make a sale. Or just as often, they're complete idiots.

 

Well, I'm going to part from this thread and avoid it. Out of respect for everyone, I admit I cannot defend the company from which you have all dealt with. Just remember though - there are some honest hard working and good people in Best Buy... just one less now that I'm gone :X /wave

 

Well my experience wasn't exactly "unexpected". Unfortunately, it seems 99.5% of computer users don't know anything about them, so they have to rely on companies like best buy to do virus/spyware removals for them.
I understand that those type of companies sell to their demographics. 99.5% of users barely know how to operate a computer, let alone service one and god forbid build one themselves. So it's understandable (and I quite suspected) that they wouldn't have a retail boxed intel processor sitting on a shelf somewhere begging for someone to buy it. They just simply wouldn't sell in that demographic, and if they did, it would be overpriced anyway.
It's only the other 0.5% of computer users, that really understand how they function, and can troubleshoot and repair themselves. And those "power users" really don't have a business in those brick and mortar stores, but specialty stores, like newegg, etc.
I was impatient, not waiting for a few days to recieve one via ups, so I decided to try, and I wasn't in the least disappointed by what I found.
Unfortunately, people just want to buy whole premade computers, and don't want the fuss of putting one together themselves. So I think the geek squad and others, are trained in their demographic. Fix spyware and viruses, replace an occasional hard drive and memory stick, and try to sell the computers they have on the floor.
Really I should say *I* have no business in those places, they don't have anything I'm interested in anyway. Just rows and rows of movies, games, tv's, and a small section devoted to wireless routers. Everything that sells to those 99.5% of people.

And to Lithus, to make myself clear, they didn't even know what a processor was!! The 2 I talked to at the desk with the "geek squad" shirts on. Only after I mentioned the name "intel" did he understand somewhat, and proceeded to tell me that their computers on the shelves have them.
I think it's deceptive, they call themselves "geek squad" and everyone assumes they are so knowlegeable about computers and probably trust them. When as I said, they are really just trained in their demographic, to fix small things, replace a part here and there, reinstall an operating system, sell computers. And it doesn't take days or weeks to replace a part or troubleshoot some software, my goodness! I really had a good laugh at that though. Atleast that's my experience with two geek squad guys, I really hope that's an exception and not the rule. I really felt like I had to school them. Needless to say, I don't go to those places anymore.

To acaurora, I'm sure you were a hard worker. None of my posts are directed to you per say, just generally about these kind of companies. But I think, if someone really cares about their job, they should take the time and study the materials, specs, on what is sold, instead of just telling some unknowlegeable prospective buyer something like "it's got an intel processor, so it's really kooool". If you really want to do good (speaking to any brick and mortar electronic's store employee), take the time, hell even take materials home with you after work, study the specs, learn a little about what you're selling. Give honest and unbiased opinions. I couldn't tell you but I'm sure it's MANY, how many people have been suckered into buying something cause someone tells them how cool it is cause it's intel, or whatever. Just irritates me to no end. Again, it's not directed at you.
I'm done ranting.

 

I can attest to that.

Don't remember which models they specifically were, but one was a Sony with GMA 950 graphics and the other one was a Toshiba with a dedicated GeForce Go 6600 graphics chip. Both had a similiar CPU if I recall correctly. Considering the Sony was $300 more, the response I expected to get from the salesman regarding the gaming capabiltiies of each graphics chip was blatantly obvious - he's either going to lie to sell the machine that'll give him more commision or give me the dumb "I have no idea but the Sony looks faster" response.

Note: Little conversation I had with a Future Shop salesman.

Me: Would the GMA 950 run Quake 4 perfecty at 1280x800? Or is the GeForce Go 6600 a better choice when it comes to gaming?

Salesman: No doubt the GMA 950; should have no problem with 3D games released 2-years along the road.

Me: You sure?

Salesman: 100% positive.

Needless to say, I bursted out laughing.