Trigger

I know there are dummies at Circuit City and Blockbuster etc, but I'd prefer to limit this discussion to Best Buy as they seem to have a unique brand of idiot working there. It has come to my attention that Best Buy employees get info sheets and scripts on the products they sell and the information is often wrong or misinterpreted by these high-school drop-outs. In addition, they often listen to customers who often have wrong info as well. The result is a jumbled mess of information that makes you wonder what planet these people live on. Mods - if this post is too computer or A/V related, feel free to move it.

The other night I went into Best Buy and encountered 3 sales people - each one more daft than the previous one. I had one over in projection TVs tell me that everything is filmed in widescreen now so I should get a widescreen TV. I told him that things are filmed at the aspect ratio of the filmstock typically and then matted to look widescreen and he wouldn't have any of that. I really ticked him off by disagreeing with him. Anyway - there was more to that conversation, but I'll omit it since that arguement gets heated enough on these forums as it is.

We encountered a few more dunces until we were in the optical media section (that's CD-Rs) behind computers. I was looking for 40X media which they didn't have. The sales associate spent 15 minutes looking for someone smarter than he to ask if they have any. He comes back to inform me that he didn't. I already knew this because I had looked... I was going to look anyway, but he asked me if I needed help finding anything - it appears as though he's the one needing help finding things. Anyway - we then started into a conversation about CD Burners. The conversation went more or less like this:

Him- "What do you need 40X discs for? I don't think they make them. They don't make burners that go that fast."

Me - "Well I have a Plextor burner that goes that fast. I just got it."

Him - "What brand is it?"

Me - "It's a 40/12/40 Plextor."

Him - "I mean who makes it?"

Me - "Plextor"

Him - "Have you had a burner before?"

Me - "Yes, I've had a few before this one. The one I had before this was also a Plextor... that's the name of the company that makes it... Plextor."

Him - "Is it an external burner?"

Me - "No, it's internal... why?"

Him - "Have you ever had any problems with it?"

Me - "No... why?"

Him - "Hmm... that's weird."

Me - "What did you mean 'did I ever have any problems?'"

Him - "Well, those internal units can damage a PC."

Me - "What? How so?"

Him - "Well, when the information gets burned onto a disc, it's actually burning the disc and little shards of material fly off the disc surface and get into your computer and damage the what's inside." (he said with a straight face, I swear to god he was serious and he really did say 'the what's')

Me - "Ok, wait... what now? Say that again?"

Him - "Yeah - while the information is being burned onto the discs surface, the tiny shards are flying off the disc and getting into the rest of the computer... that's why you should get an external burner."

Me - "Oh, I see..." (I was pretty dumbstruck, so I didn't want to tell him the truth and spoil the moment)

When I got home little shards of CD came out and hit me in the eye when I burned a 68 minute music CD in a minute and a half.

About a month ago I went into a different Best Buy in another part of town and bought some stuff... the receipt police saw me buy it right in front of him and I hate stopping to have them make sure I bought what I bought... So when I got to the door I just kept walking.

He said "Hey! I need to see your receipt!"

I said "No you don't." and kept walking...

He said again "Hey I gotta check your receipt."

I said "No thanks, I got it all under control" without breaking pace.

He followed me into the parking lot saying "You got a problem with me seeing your receipt?"

I said "Yeah I do." and continued to my car.

He yelled "Don't ever come back here!"

Like I was gonna...

KennyBoy

LOL very interesting experiences, I have had a few myself, but I am so exhausted at the moment I will ahve to come back later and psot them.

Steelers Fan

Him - "Well, when the information gets burned onto a disc, it's actually burning the disc and little shards of material fly off the disc surface and get into your computer and damage the what's inside." (he said with a straight face, I swear to god he was serious and he really did say 'the what's')


MORON !!!!MORON!!!!

Lord Rick

He wants to see your receipt in order to combat employee theft. Unscrupulous employees can work with a friend. Friend comes in, goes to register with 3 items. Employee only scans 2. Friend walks out with 1 free item.

But you're right, there are so many ignorant employees at BB. I had one tell me the other day that Directv didn't offer any local channels, but they were about to do so. And they would all be HDTV.

But I've also met a few knowledgeable ones, too. I think they just mirror the rest of society. Mostly idiots. 5% of the population runs the planet, you know.

AGuyNamedMike

And it's a hell of a lot of work! Would somebody PLEASE give us a hand?

The dumbest thing I've ever heard from a BB employee:

"Can I help you?"

Nope, because I know more about the things you sell than you do, I know more about your store's policies than you do, and (unlike you) I am able to find a given item on the shelf in less than 15 minutes.

Venusian

no they dont. well atleast when i worked there i didnt. if i didnt know anything, i jsut made it up

also, as a high schooler, i was probably the most informed person working in my department (won MVP of the entire sales force 3 times in my 5 months of working there)

Coral

I used to always wonder why places like Best Buy, Future Shop, etc. have employees who know so little.

then it occurred to me...

if they knew more, they wouldn't be working there in the first place.

Brian Shannon

"We don't work on commission".

Having worked in commission sales before I finally asked one of these losers what he meant by that.

His response was "We don't work on commission so we are here to help you"

I said "So you don't really care if I buy anything or not?"

He said "That's right we don't care if you buy anything or not."

Then he hung his head in shame and skulked off to some dark corner.

nemein

You actually talk to them I only thought they were there to keep the shelves stocked and run the cash register

broadwayblue

this

Patrick G

"How can I help you?"

Thunderball

ChiTownAbs, Inc

I don't get it ... what did this guy do?

Brian Shannon

I really try not to but I had heard this about 5 times in a row and got a little annoyed.

Here is another one . . .

"Finding everything ok?"

Uh, no. Your store is nearly always empty, empty shelves, empty displays. No releases on release day, few copies of anything to sell.

Best Buy is a total blight on the world of consumer electronics.

Iron Chef

yeah

I could barely read it

nemein

Someone needs to introduce this person to the concept of scanning documents (as opposed to taking a photo which is what this looks like). Tell him to check out BB they have some pretty cheap scanners

dek

They had a price error pre-order for a 400 video card IIRC @ 160 or so. Some people got them, 99% of us didn't. From reading the report, he went it, and tried to get the card at the pre-order price and also had a printout of the reciept which they claimed was fake. He wouldn't leave so they had him arrested for criminal trespass.

I think

Cat

I received two Planet of the Apes DVD's for Christmas and took one of them back to Best Buy. The lady tried to scan it, it didn't scan, and she handed it back to me and said, "I'm sorry, but we don't carry this movie". There were 50 copies of this movie on the shelf and it was in their ad for that week! I showed her the ad, she tried to scan it again, it wouldn't scan and she just set the movie down and walked away. Several minutes later someone else came over, punched a few buttons, rolled their eyes at me and walked off. Then they gave me a stupid gift card to use because I didn't have a receipt and it took forever to find something to use that on. I miss the good old days when you could take anything back and they gave you cash for it.

Cat

ChiTownAbs, Inc

If you want to talk about scams -- I could talk about a few, but I think I might get arrested for some of them.

schlitz100

I took a friend to Best Buy who wanted to buy a cheap, but good computer... we picked out a HP in one of those mini-towers. The moniter that came with it was out of stock so we had to get some dunce to help us. Of course he tries to sell us the extra's...

BBGuy: OK, you'll also need a printer cable and a surge protector.
Me: That's ok, i have extra
BBGuy: But do you have a surge protector with 5 minutes of battery backup? They are required for P3 chips and higher. We have them on sale for $70.
Me: Really? Can you show me something that says that?
BBGuy: Umm... we also offer a service protection for $110 for 2 years (if i remember correctly)
Me: That's ok... i know how to fix computers.
BBGuy: Well, these micro-towers are really hard to work on... and 20% need service within the first year.
Me: So 20% of these break within one year?
BBGuy: Yes
Me: Well... i'll get a gateway then... later. (walks out)

Draven

I was looking at graphics cards and overheard a employee telling an 40-something couple that the GeForce4 MX was the graphics card to get. Better than the GeForce 3 200/500. I had to walk away from that one.

I was in a Best Buy a few years ago when I was in college and overheard an employee telling another 40-something couple that they didn't need the original Starcraft to play Broodwars. I politely corrected him, and they all thanked me. A few minutes later the employee came back and said that his manager wanted to talk to me and offer me a job. I just smiled and said "No thanks."

phantom_azazel

i was reading about another guy that kind of happened too, but best buy had given him a rain check for the geforce 4 at 170 or so, but they wouldnt honor their rain check when he went back for the card.

Venusian

WHAT THE??? THAT'S THE BEST BUY I WORKED AT!!!!!!!!!!!




but anywho....when i bought my gamecube they told me to buy the PSP because it doesnt have a fan in it and it'll overheat (i played it the night before and it had a fan) and they told me 100% of PS2's were returned in the first year for service.

Venusian

oh and that best buy aint in decatur like the report says

Sockmonkey

This sentence does not compute.