I caused a scene at BestBuy today...

[protege]

A family friend has had to send her iPod back to the company to be repaired, and it still does not work right.
Just something to think about...

I've had some strange problems with mine. Just recently, some songs disappeared Not all of them, but random ones. I grew tired of trying to find them in my collection, and just reformatted the damn thing. Before that, it didn't work at all, and the crApple store wanted $250 for a new one. No troubleshooting, no opening it up, nothing other than replacement since it was out of warranty. That was before I asked someone here (I forget who, sorry!) that pointed me to an online repair FAQ. After printing that off, popping off the iPod's cover, I had it taken care of. Turns out that the drive connector came unplugged. Once that was plugged in, it came to life. That same FAQ also had parts numbers (Toshiba) for new drives, and a place where I can get batteries for *lots* less than crApple.

[Catwoman2965]

Our Victoria's is the same way, plus I swear if anyone larger than a B cups heads for the bras all the sales staff hides so they don't have to try and find your size. Try ordering thru the brochure - those folks are excellent.

Thanks for the tip, but i honestly don't shop there; most of their stuff, in my opinion, is not all that well made, and overpriced. But i agree about the "over a certain size" - i am shall we say, on the larger side, not huge by any stretch ,but an odd size, and i find it VERY hard to find things there, on the rare occasions i look. Most of the time i go elsewehre, as i've found other brands that fit better, and are less pricy.

[Anastriel]

I don't have any experience with the zen, but both my son and I have iPods. Both have frozen and needed to be restored to factory settings - meaning all music is wiped off and it resets to the original serttings. It has happened once to mine and three times to my son's iPod. They have been treated carefully, not dropped or handled roughly. A family friend has had to send her iPod back to the company to be repaired, and it still does not work right.
Just something to think about...

I bought an iPod because my Dad had one and really recommended it. Well I had nothing but trouble with mine. The battery seemed to drain really quickly, it would freeze. They replaced it once when it stopped working completely (with the same type and generation), and then the second one had the same problems. When the second one broke entirely, they told me they couldn't replace it with the same type as it wasn't being made any more so they upgraded me to a video iPod.
Bigger hard drive, plays videos as well as music and best of all, it hasn't had any issues at all (touch wood).

I would definately recommend my new iPod but not my first. I think they must have had a lot of problems with that generation iPods. My Dad's was an earlier generation and his has been fine.

[Gravekeeper]

We dont have a best buy in our city but we do have a future shop.... one of the sales guys (who was great) and I had a fun time laughing that when he put through my $4 transistor radio it came up with an extended warrenty plan! HAHAHAHA he laughed and apologised and said "Im sorry I just have to ask" and not suprisingly I turned it down.

Yeah, I had them offer me something like a $12.99 extended plan on a $10 pair of headphones. He didn't even bat an eyelash either.

NCIX is great, I buy everything there now. Their Burnaby store isn't too far from me. It seems to be the only computer store in all of Burnaby that:

A) Does not look like a crack house
B) Has people who speak English
C) Has people who know what the Hell I'm talking about
D) Does not try to scam me and sell me crap thats not remotely close to what I'm looking for.

[kwdy]

Speaking of A-hole managers

I'm new to this forum here, well kinda. I have been hanging around reading but not really had much to contribute till now. I was working part time at a very small wallyworldesque store named after those pretty red flowers that cost an arm and leg.

One day I had an older gentleman that wanted to get some mulch. Well the A-hole manager was working that day and I was busy with another customer at the time so he had to get his hands dirty helping this gentleman. This same customer comes back in and wants to get some topsoil so I go out to help him load it up in his car. Now I happened to overhear some onesided friendly comments from the customer to my manager. Manager didn't say a word and just goes back into the store when he was done.

He strikes up a little banter with me and despite being a introverted person I respond to him. During our exchange he lets loose with this gem that I cherish to this day. "I'd like to punch that man in the face" he was refering to my manager whom was, is, and will always be an A-hole to associate and customer alike. Naturally I responded "Your not the only one" :">

[slick]

I didn't call the DM, yet. I am a regular at this BB for the past 8 years. Past 2 years have been big spending years in my book compared to the previous years. I NEVER HAD AN ISSUE THERE. Never, not once. So I am interested in seeing how this new manager does his duties.

I see the same employees there, so I figure they like the job and the higher ups, if the regular employees start to disappear, thats when I'll know something is up.

However, I went back today I had to, we needed a new TV in one of the guest rooms. I walked in, guy greeted me (same person that was there last night), looked at me good, probably realized who I was, and more than likely called the manager.

I went to the Television section, started looking for the set I needed (cheapest tube set with front A/V inputs thats atleast 25"). I see an employee helping a customer nearby, so I figure I will wait. Out of the corner of my eye I see this man, not in BB uniform, but in a blue button down shirt and black slacks approaching me. I thought to myself "lets get ready to rumble". He was walking really quick. But when he got to me, he said "May I help you with something today?". I was curious to why he walked from one end of the store to the other to help me. I told him which set I wanted, and he got it for me. I paid for the set, and the blue shirt fellow (asst. manager) helped me put it in my van.

I have no doubt they were sucking up to me, propably because the manager doesn't want to get in trouble, but its not like I was really mistreated in the first place. I don't care who you are, you do not reprimand employees in front of customers, its unprofessional.

[ShootMePlease]

Hey Slick:

As someone who recieves their ducats from BB, I feel for you. The magazine thing is stupid. I don't think I'd like it too much if I went to the grocery store and had some moron suggest cucumbers to go with my lettuce. Sadly, there are not many places anymore (mine included) that don't bother you at check out about some rewards or credit card sign ups. I can assure you that the cashier (and probably the manager, too ) hates offering as much as you hate listening.

[hawkchick11]

I almost got fired from Best Buy because I wouldn't lie to customers to get them to sign up for the magazines. I'd ask, but if they said no, I wouldn't push it. I got written up twice for not asking more than once if they wanted them. One more write up and I would have been gone.

I think our managers said Best Buy gets like $12-14 per magazine subscription, so one of my coworkers figured out that if every person hit their goal for their shift, it would pay for their wages and then some. I'm so glad I quit there, when I left, I had been there the longest out of any of the Rep 1s and 2s, which was only months.

[slick]

I hate being asked, but I am never upset about it. When they ask, I let them finish (I hate cutting people off) and then decline. No one has ever been aggresive about it and asked again or anything like that.

Sometimes I do not get asked about it, like today, when I bought the TV. Thats why I found it odd that the cashier got in trouble for not asking.

I wonder if writing a letter to BB about the magazines would do anything? Doubtful, but maybe worth the effort to see what would happen (i.e. what kind of lame letter would I recieve?).

BTW, they ask for your credit card when you "sign up" for the free issues, right? Just wondering how it actually worked.

[CrazedClerk]

I activated a new credit card today and had to listen to a spiel on overdraft insurance, I politely declined...twice, but at least the lady was decent about it.

I blame corporations for this.

Marketing sees $$$ signs and sets up a magazine subscription deal that makes profit for the stores, but the subscriptions levels aren't great after the program rolls out.

Marketing to Sales managers: "get the sales up!"

Sales managers to district managers: "get the sales up!"

district managers to store managers: "Get the sales up!"

store managers to associates: "Get the sales up!...or be written up and fired."

It's a dangerous ladder in which everyone's survival depends on the person below you and unfortunately everyone on it can pass the buck to someone else, except the people on the bottom rung, the store level employees that deal with SCs every day and then have to further annoy customres by pushing these special offers on them all because they could lose their job if they don't.

It's easy for someone sitting in a nice corner office, miles away and years removed from any customer interaction to say "hey, this sounds like a good idea!".

[CancelMyService]

There's a website that has lots of stories of BB sucktitude. It's pretty much a company wide edict that they try to suck the life out of all their employees.

[Retail Associate]

...And seriously, who reprimands employees in front of customers anyway?

Our managers do it quite often. I had the night manager scream at me one time because there were girls bathing suits on the floor. There were two customers walking right behind him with looks of surprise and disgust on their faces. I felt like a two-year-old who hadn't picked up her toys in a timely manner.

We had a head cashier several years ago who was always cussing out employees. One day she called a cart pusher an asshole at the top of her lungs right in front of a store full of customers. She had such a big mouth that everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared at her. I believe that kid quit that day.

I argued with him, first words out of my mouth were "Why don't you leave her alone and let her do her job?".

Good for you!

[KaeZoo]

There's a website that has lots of stories of BB sucktitude. It's pretty much a company wide edict that they try to suck the life out of all their employees.

Okay, this is seriously getting to be a bit much. What's the deal with Best Buy bashing on this particular forum? Maybe I'm just more sensitive to it as an employee, but I don't see it with other companies that members here work for. Every Best Buy thread turns into a "why I hate Best Buy" thread.

I've worked for the company for over thirteen years (never in a management position) and I'm honestly pretty damn proud of where I work. I think overall it's one of the better retail companies you're going to find, both to work for and to shop at. Of course it's not perfect. I think most of the people who frequent these boards understand, or should understand, that local management is going to have a much bigger effect on your job satisfaction than corporate policy; and guess what? You can find a**hole managers anywhere. Based on my overall retail experience I don't think BBY has a greater concentration of poor managers than any other retail chain. I also don't think BBY policies force employees to act unethically; in my time with the company I've never felt pressured to lie to customers.

If you don't particularly like shopping at Best Buy, fine. I understand that. I just don't understand why it overflows so much on this particular board. I personally don't come here to vent on companies that I don't like. If I wanted to do that, there are other forums for it. It's just annoying when I come to a site designed to help let retail and service employees relieve some stress, and instead we get more stress tacked on. If I want to deal with people who hate my company, I can do that at work, thank you very much.

CancelMyService, I'm sorry if all this seems directed at you; it's been adding up for a while, from more than one thread on these boards. Your post just turned into the final straw.

[Catwoman2965]

BTW, they ask for your credit card when you "sign up" for the free issues, right? Just wondering how it actually worked.

I think so; and its probably that you get them "free" for however long, and after that, unless you cancel, they just keep automatically billing your card for the subscription.

I shop quite frequently at a beauty store, and am always asked do i want 4 free issues of a certain magazine. I always politely decline, and they never push. But its the same thing; those 4 free issues turn into a full subscription, unless you cancel within a certain time.

[Dreamstalker]

Heh, but it's the truth. There are some seriously out of whack Mac zealots out there. They balance the over-the-top anti-Mac camp.

The Twit was one of the zealots. After almost destroying my laptop, she said something about "if you had a Mac that wouldn't have happened" (WTF...so they're bulletproof then?).

I have a Rio Karma and love it. Yeah, it's a little cranky at times and the display isn't backlit, but it's oldschool cool ^_^ My dad has a few different ones; Zen Micro, Sandisk, and one other. I'm just about to get an iPod for my mom (secondhand from a member of a computer forum).

I just find their Geek Squad mildly annoying (yes, PC5300 may be faster but it's pointless in my PC3200 rig and I'm not going to try it!). I've had to clean up a few of the messes made out of some people's computers. Maybe that varies regionally as well, it seemed that all that a NM GS was doing was giving more business to myself and the local shop.