JohnnyDaBull

Best Buy used to be my favorite store. I could go in and find what I wanted at a fair price. However in the past 6 years or so I noticed a steady decline in not only the quality of the store itself but also the prices. The one I frequent doesn't even have a new release table anymore, and god forbid you need help finding something, because no one seems to ever know what you're talking about. Not to mention that the "store locator" on the website constantly lists the one I go to as having a product "in stock", however, when I get there it's nowhere to be found. Anyone else have this problem???

MooMooMooMoo

Is there any BB that isn't terrible!!!?

EdTheRipper

I haven't been a regular Best Buy shopper in roughly 7 years. I go occasionally and do notice that it's gone waaaaaaay downhill since I used to be there all the time.

Double_Oh_7

Why do you think everyone calls it Worst Buy?

milo bloom

We occasionally find it useful for ordering a medium/big ticket item online, and doing local store pickup, but for DVD/Blu's I've basically given up. I pretty much buy from the used stores locally and online for new.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

It's a retail store filled with retail workers.

al_bundy

one or two i go to are bad, a few others in NYC are top notch. big, clean, huge selection, etc.

my favorite is the 62nd and Broadway store in NYC.

Pizza

They all suck ever since they started with the new floor plan. It forces you to look through everything to find what's on sale. CD selection is terrible.

al_bundy

CD's have been loss leaders for a while and sales are down over the last 10 years. no one cares about them. the future is itunes and services like spotify. i don't think blu ray's and DVD's make a lot of money either.

geek squad, service plans, smart phones and smart phone accessories is where the money is at

Pizza

So? I hate itunes. I like CDs as well as DVDs and blu-rays. Without those items I will have zero reason to even enter a BB to give them the opportunity to sell me the other stuff that is where the money is at. Just saying.

SexualPudding

Then start your own store and run it the way you see fit. I am not a huge fan of Best Buy either, but you act like they are just supposed to accommodate you and your own likes, even if it is in the minority.

Pizza

Don't personally attack me. All I said what I enjoy shopping for like most folks. Double check the name of the thread.

sleepyhead55

Yeah I agree with this. While the new floor plan has made my local BB a bit more organized, the in store CS has gone down the toilet. I couldn't find 13 Assasins and tried to look for some help, but it seems that most of the other CS reps were either doing nothing or helping other customers. I finally spoke to someone who told me that they were OOS and didn't know when the next shipment would come in the store.

brainee

This. I don't know why you'd really expect anything from a store like BB. And aside from gimping their Reward Zone program, I can't say I've noticed any big difference in the last 10 years. It's a store that exists for general consumers, not people with more advanced electronics knowledge (which most of us at DVDTalk are).

I don't buy things very often there. Occasionally there's a sale that'll give me a competitive price on something. And sometimes I just want something now, and I'll forgo the online savings. Their prices on bundled computer systems aren't bad, but there's no varying from the bundle.

Last time I walked into BB, I made the mistake of wearing tan khaki pants and a blue short sleeve shirt. After multiple customers kept bothering me for shopping help, I realized my mistake and split

Throw in the big ticket items too ... computers and (especially) HDTVs. And shilling ridiculous items like $100 HDMI cables.

Geek Squad and those service plans are pretty laughable though. I just found out Geek Squad have been taking my parents to the cleaners. They got a new desktop a few months ago, and paid GS for a setup fee ($150) and two additional at-home visits for minor things ($300). Each of these things would've taken me a couple of minutes to do. I asked my parents why they didn't ask me or my brother for help with these things, but they said they just didn't want to bother us. It kind of pisses me off that when stores like BB see senior citizens shopping for electronics, dollar signs flash in their eyes and they'll take them for every dollar they can.

Something else I've noticed in BB: if you're just browsing (or don't need help), their floor people have a talent for sneaking up behind you and bothering you. But when you want help, they keep their distance. It's amazing really. There must be special training for this.

Eddie W

This, this, & this. Last time I was in Best Buy I was asked if I needed 'help' no less than 9 times in 7 minutes while browsing the Blu Ray section (I know my alphabet, but thanks). Then I wandered over to the hardware section, picked a receiver I wanted to buy that day but it wasn't on the shelf. Crickets chirping.

And of course NOTHING I've ever wanted to buy has been in stock. I'm talking laptops, recievers, TV's...whatever I've made up my mind to buy right then & there. I used to joke that Best Buy was where I went to pick out what I was going to buy at Circuit City. Until they went away.....

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Red shirt at Target or just dressing nice. Even if it's not a red shirt, some old lady will ask for help.

al_bundy

believe it or not the big ticket items don't generate that much profit. it's the accessories like hdmi cables, wifi adapters, warranties, power strips, tv stands, etc

smartphones are the big ones especially since people buy cases, head phones and other accessories for them at the same profit margins as hdmi cables. but people seem not to mind paying that much with smart phones

al_bundy

spotify

less than the price of a CD per month and all the music you want to listen to

Trout

They cut their DVD selection waaay back, so now it's harder to find anything I really want. I usually find a better selection at Barnes and Noble even if it is pricier.

conebone69

I like CDs as well. But it's not Best Buy's fault that Vinyl is a more viable format these days.

Thanks to technology, CDs are going the way of the Cassette Tape. Outside big ticket artists, carrying a vast surplus of artists doesn't make much sense.

TheMovieman

Mine apparently. Only have had a problem with them once or twice over the years...

Brent L

*peaks head in*

kayak99

Every visit is a joke. Sometimes you get bombarded with people asking if you need help, but it never fails, when you really do, there are no blue shirts to be had.

I found someones credit card on the floor and took it to the customer service desk. The guy had a deer in the headlights look, so I walked away and watched him. I was in the store another 10 minutes and he never did broadcast a found card. He just stood there with the card in his hand. What, no loud speaker system in the store? Or maybe he planned on making some purchases!!

I recieved a refund recently, on a gift card, along with a $5 Rewards thing. The receipt even stated it. Cashier kept giving me the same sentance about not being able to accept that at their store. (She actually began sounding like a robot) She finally asked where I got it. At their store was my reply. Same sentence about not being able to accept that came from her lips. I gave up the $5 Rewards thing. Hope this HHGregg store will make them eat some dust!

Timber

I realized I wasn't a fan of the new Best Buy last Summer. I had an impulse to buy the first 2 seasons G.I. Joe. They were in the ad on sale so before I leave home I check the website to see if they're in stock, they are. I get there and spend 15 minutes walking up and down the DVD aisles having no clue what category they'd be in. Can't find anybody to help me. When I finally do get somebody he looks it up and sees they have 4(?) copies in stock but he can't find them either. I gave up and was about to leave when I see a small "TV on DVD section at the front of the store right before the registers and the gift cards. Sure enough they're there.

I much prefer just adding something to my virtual cart and being done with it.

JohnnyDaBull

When I purchased Toy Story 3 on BD, the young man entered my coupon and RZ card in the wrong order, and needed to void the purchase and start over for the coupon to register. Instead of doing that he goes "can't you do this at home?!"....WTF no. Thankfully someone with common sense was there to help me.