Computer Buying Experiences at B&M Stores 449
bob gnosh writes "The team over at [H] Consumer go into Best Buy, Fry's, CompUSA, and Circuit City and buy a computer at each store. They relate exactly what happened at each store, talk about warranties, and what to do to protect yourself or your friends when buying at these places." From the article: "Navigating these retail stores isn't for the faint of heart or those not armed with the right knowledge beforehand. As much as you'd like to go to your closest strip mall, have a salesperson discern your hardware needs, and walk out with a shiny new computer that does everything but load your dishwasher, such an experience is just not going to happen. Most retail sales people are simply not going to possess the necessary knowledge to correctly recommend or explain every nuance of a piece of hardware."
re (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:re (Score:5, Insightful)
Salespeople in many industries are very knowledgable, and are actually capable of listening to your needs and making informed, educated choices to guide you to the right purchase. The primary problem with electronics, however, is that many of the shops they visited pay their employees close to minimum wage, possibly with a marginal commission enticement. Given that, who do you think will fill those roles? I don't intend to demean workers at those shops, but it's inevitable: You're not finding the brightest stars of the tech world toiling away, with terrible hours, for $8 an hour at the local Best Buy.
Compare this to real estate where an agent might make $20,000+ on the sale of a single home. While there are exceptions, the financial draw does entice more intelligent, more motivated, more capable individuals. The same can be said for many other sales industries where representatives can actually make enough to earn a decent living, and to credibly call it a real career.
Re:re (Score:3, Insightful)
Obviously professional salespeople who sell B to B are different.
The salesperson who sells million dollar computer systems to industries and pulls in 500k in commisions each year is going to be more knowledgeable/professional that the guy at Best Buy making $8 an hour.
Re:re (Score:5, Insightful)
The trouble is....the service industry in the US has gone to hell!! This was not the case in recent past...(ok, I'm getting older, but, doesn't seem THAT long ago to me). You actually DID used to expect knowledgeable sales people in most any area of sales. People who sold clothes used to know a bit about clothes...used to people selling consumer electronics DID know a bit about the products they sold.
But, for some reason, this along with courtesy all went downhill.....and unfortunately, it has been with us long enough that the newer generations accept this sub-par level of service as the 'standard'.
Geez, even a few years back, most any waiter in a restaurant could explain a dish on the menu or special..of late, I've asked about a special, and they didn't have a fucking clue....had to go back and ask every time. This was not a new trainee either from what I could tell...just lazy. I'm a generous tipper...very generous, but, shit like that really does hurt what I give.
You used to have people that took pride in their work...no matter what level of pay it was...I dunno what happened to that work ethic...
Re:re (Score:5, Insightful)
No, really...
Yes people used to have pride in their work, but the problem is that for someone to have pride in their work, and to actually know something, they need to be able to stay there for a while, and for them to stay there for a while, they need to be paid a living wage. If you don't pay a living wage, you're going to get either those who stay there only until they can get a job somewhere else, or the people who are unemployable anywhere else.
And the reason, of course, that people aren't paid a living wage is that we the consumer are drawn to the lowest cost. There are still electronics and computer stores where the people who own the store run it, who are in there as a career, and those are the places I shop. Unfortunately, to support that, the prices must be higher. I'm fine with paying an extra 5-10% (or more) to get good service from intelligent people who know what they're talking about. Most people arent, so the minimum wage big-box stores with retail drones are taking over the landscape.
If people actually want better service, they should be willing to pay a bit extra to get it. You can only have one or the other, not both.
Re:re (Score:4, Interesting)
People have riduculous expectations. For example, they want to be able to buy a Dell for $300 that would have been considered a supercomputer 5 years ago (exaggeration) and then are upset when it has crappy support.
People want products cheaply- which makes margins thin, which takes away money for "better" employees....
There are still places around where you can get good service and a decent price. There is an independent electronics store near me that sells TVs and such. I was talking to a salesguy, who was super nice and knew about everything there is to know about TVs, and he said that people just assume that because they are small that they are more expensive. The fact is, they were w/in $5 of Best Buys prices on about everything... ($5 on $1000 items, and actually cheaper for some things.)
Re:re (Score:2)
Re:re (Score:3)
Re:re (Score:2)
That's like every retail store. I don't expect much help picking plants from the employees at Wall-Mart either. Home Deopot/Lowes employees are just as bad as best buy employees. The only reason the slashdot crowd knows the best buy guys are full of shit is because they actually know more about electronics than the average
Re:re (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:re (Score:3)
That's a hasty generalization, and a very incorrect one.
I was doing some plumbing in my basement, and the dude in the plumbing department was a licenced plumber who was on disability. That doesn't make him incompetent. He was quite helpful, and didn't demean me in any way when I asked him really dumb questions. There are quite a few people who work at Home Depot who are either retired and bored, or are unable to work in a trade any more
Re:re (Score:5, Interesting)
I gotta say..it really hurts me to be in a store like BB, and hear the crap they are telling people, and it sometimes takes everyting I have in me to keep my mouth shut. On more than on occasion, I've had to tell people the truth. I saw an older couple wanting to buy an HD tv...and the sales goof was telling them all kinds of shit...I caught then when he walked away for a bit...and told them about the need for HDMI, for future use...that they'd need an external tuner or cable box with that model...and that one of the ones he was pushing, wasn't really HD...it didn't even have 720p resolution levels...
I mean, I'm no expert..but, I just can't stand when they spew crap at people that is either ignorant or down right deceptive....
Re:re (Score:2)
I think that is a big problem for nearly any retail store, not just ones that sell electronics. Electronic products are generally more complex than others
Re:re (Score:5, Funny)
Q: What's the difference between a computer salesman and a used car salesman?
A: The used car salesman knows when he's lying to you.
Re:re (Score:4, Informative)
Best Buy Experience (Score:5, Insightful)
All in all, Best Buy "geeks" (*cough* *sputter*) tend to have the computer knowledge of a third grader who's been throwing around factoids with his friends at lunch in a desparate attempt to arrive at a miniscule of real knowledge. It used to be amusing to ask the sales staff complex questions just to hear their wonderfully made-up answers, but these days I'm far too busy for that sort of nonsense. They would honestly be a lot more helpful if they just gave their recommendation (the same "here's the popular product" one they give everyone) and went away. For everything else they need to either profess ignorance or point the buyer to websites where they can do their own research. (Not that they're actually going to do that. They need to sell overpriced "Geek Squad" cables and useless warranties somehow.) *sigh*
That being said, I feel sorry for the well-intentioned geeks who spend some small portion of their lives with a Best Buy name tag affixed below their lapel. It must be horrifying to be expected to be so disinformative just to sell warranties and accessories.
Re:Best Buy Experience (Score:2)
Re:Best Buy Experience (Score:2)
I went to look at wireless access points, and while they still exist on the shelves of CompUSA
One thing... (Score:2)
I'd like to see/hear more about that myself.
Re:One thing... (Score:4, Informative)
If they just don't have media, they come sealed in the box without it - we aren't taking it out at my store.
I'm guessing what is happening is a combination of manufactuers *not* sending reinstall media, and customers either
a) not making it at startup for whatever reason - they don't understand, don't care, or we said ask later and the program never asks later (got to check on that one)
b) no option to make disks, manufacturer only provides partition (really bad if the HD goes, but I've seen this setup on some machines we sell).
The Geek Squad doesn't charge "more" (per SOP and where I work) if you don't have install discs, we just insist that you have legal install media - we don't care where/how you get them. Our fee to install an OS is the same in any situation.
The other confusion may be our modular fee structure (or maybe confusing). We bill per service, but it may be badly broken up, IDK.
There is the HD cost if you are doing COD. Then there is our install fee for the HD - $39 for a desktop, $59 for a laptop IIRC. Finally, it's $59 to install an OS, but again, *you* MUST provide legal install media. We can sell you a boxed XP copy first if need be.
If you have a PSP, the whole thing is covered under that, except you still have to provide legal install media. Due to what I think is beuracratic issues (could be legal, contractual, or just coporate is lazy) we cannot obtain restore discs from the manufacturers for you, the customer has to do that. Some manufacturers charge for restore discs, I've seen quotes from $20-$90 so that may also be the issue, but that clearly IS NOT going to Best Buy.
What we CAN NOT do is pull a CD from the back, slap in your install code and go to town, Activation, and probably legal issues make this a non-starter. This is a PITA all around, and I wish it wasn't so, but those are the rules.
Re:One thing... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:One thing... (Score:3, Informative)
As a part time employee at the retail level, I am not privy to coporate legal affairs, their contracts, or the specifics of said contracts.
I also have no specific idea how customers are ending up with machines without restore CDs. I can, however, list what I believe to be the likely senarios - far more l
Re:Best Buy Experience (Score:5, Interesting)
So one night, a woman comes in looking to buy something for her son. She singles out my brother and starts asking him all sorts of questions about the various floor models on display. My brothe fields all of her questions, and unfortunately goes a little over her head with some of his explanations. In a good natured sort of tone, the woman replies, "Well, you may know a lot about these things, but I bet you wouldn't know anything about cooking a roast."
My brother smiled, and said, "Well, if you want it medium rare, it should cook to about 140 degrees..."
The woman just stared at him, and then thanked him for his help and took the completed order form. My point is, not all the underpaid Best Buy drones are completely useless. Some of them are just there because it's the job they can have while waiting to do something else.
Re:Best Buy Experience (Score:2)
You: I work at a Circuit City B&M store [...] Don't be so quick to rate an entire store based on one associate.
Who said anything about other stores? I was just ragging on Best Buy. Their teenage "associates" make more shit up than the worst episode of Star Trek Voyager. I'm sure there are better stores out there, but Best Buy isn't it.
I don't believe it! (Score:2, Funny)
I am shocked, shocked I say, to see that there are incompetent employees at a retail store.
That's not their goal. (Score:3, Insightful)
Not only that, but that's typically not their goal. They're typically on commission, so if grandma comes in looking for a computer, they're not going to try to find a computer to fit her modest needs--they're going to try and give her the biggest, most expensive computer with all the add-ons and extras they can manage. Buying a computer at one of these stores involves (a) knowing what you want, and (b) dodging the sales team's efforts to saddle you with extra stuff that you don't want.
Dlugar
Re:That's not their goal. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:That's not their goal. (Score:2)
That's true; I spoke hastily. What I meant is that they're highly pressured to make sales and to add extras that the customer doesn't really need. A friend of mine worked at Best Buy (in the compute
Re:That's not their goal. (Score:2)
And the customers who meet those criteria most likely would not be shopping for their system at a place like Best Buy. They would get what they need from places like Newegg, ZipZoomFly, their local geek shops, etc. and build it themselves to their own exacting specifications.
Re:That's not their goal. (Score:2)
People that rely soley on the salesperson... (Score:2, Insightful)
Apple (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Apple (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Apple (Score:3, Funny)
Olds (Score:3, Insightful)
The thing is, for the margins of your average retailer, you can't afford quality staff. And that's not just computers, that's everything.
Re:Olds (Score:2)
They seem to have done quite well for themselves since then so it seems some of the smaller retailers who were around could have survived to this day.
A geek's favorite past time (Score:4, Informative)
My experience though is that best buy has a comparably small amount of BS. Circuit city certainly has more, but the worse is at the small mom-pop shops. These little places are TERRIBLE! They can't compete on price, so they stay in business by selling old hardware at inflated prices. They must hire used car salesmen to push 2 year old hardware. Buyer beware.
Re:A geek's favorite past time (Score:5, Funny)
"SD cards will protect your computer from viruses - you know, StD's."
"Make sure to demand LRF-5 support for your computer."
"Tell them you want a wireless ethernet card that can dial-in to the Internet - they'll know exactly what you want."
"Tell them you want a Pentium of RAM and a 2.3gigahertz hard-drive from AMD. If they try and tell you you can't have those, they're lying - they just keep the good stuff in back for themselves."
Okay, so I'm more of a misanthrope than a geek. Potato, potato.
Re:A geek's favorite past time (Score:5, Funny)
That just doesn't work so well when written...
Re:A geek's favorite past time (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:A geek's favorite past time (Score:4, Funny)
Setting screensaver passwords on the Windows 98 machines on display (easy to get around if you're quick after the machine reboots, but of course the staff don't know that.)
Adding a restart command to the startup folder on one machine. We figured the constant cycle of reboots would be good for a few giggles. We had no idea it would still be going 2 months later!! Cracked us up every time we walked past that shop.
Hefting the full MCSE training guide (4 books, around £160) to have a look. Replying to the spotty 16yr old who asked "Can I help you with that?" with a condescending look and the words "No, I really don't think you can.".
Spotting their webcam demonstration on 2 PC's at the back of the store, and realizing that the webcam was sat on the monitor of one, but actually plugged into the other... no self respecting geek could walk past that without asking for a demonstration
While working for a local computer shop, we heard a PC World was opening just around the corner. We had a quick scout around on their opening day then had a merry 4 hours handing out flyers to their customers, beating every single one of their opening offers
But by far my favourite was one day I was working in the shop and got a call from a lady who already had one of our computers (and of course knew our quality of support first hand). Her friend was in PC World, ready to buy a computer but she had insisted that her friend speak to us first. Now her friend already had a price from PC world and a computer in front of her, but needless to say she'd been told complete nonsense by the sales staff. I told her a few things to check before parting with any money & she soon had the sales assistant struggling for excuses. I then spent a minute finding out what she actually wanted & gave her a quote over the phone, beating their price by a good couple of hundred pounds and with more features to boot.
The icing on the cake - she placed the order right there & then, giving me her credit card details over the phone while standing right in front of PC World's sales assistant.
Happy, happy days
Myx
Re:A geek's favorite past time (Score:2)
retail marketing (Score:2)
No you may ask why is this better for consumers: the reason is that the closer the consumer gets to the point of purchase, the more rational are her communication needs. It's not so much about image or coolness, it's also about "so what does the expansion port look like, and, can I hook this to my laptop etc".
Good, Fast, Cheap - pick any two. (Score:5, Insightful)
I think a better way to say it is; Most shoppers won't pay the prices needed to ensure that retail sales people posses the necessary knowledge to correct recommend and expllain every nuance of a piece of hardware.
I used to have some friends who ran a small computer store. They built machines and sold hardware. They were friendly and knowledgable and did at-home-at-office service calls. Their target was a small but fairly affluent town and they did well for those customers who realized that "cheap" and "quality service" are often words not uttered in the same sentence.
When they saturatued their small town they were not effective at finding more customers that fit their demographic. The tried to compete with Best Buy and Dell and they failed miserably because at the end of the day they couldn't justify selling a computer for $20 profit.
They could answer a customer's question knowledgably and spend the time needed to make sure the customer ended up with a very good fit for their needs. They just couldn't find enough customers who were willing to pay for this level of knowledge and personal service.
Re:Good, Fast, Cheap - pick any two. (Score:2)
Consumers have shown time and time again that they'll go for the lowest price wherever they can find it - that's why WalMart is wiping out the local hardware store, and why Best Buy et al are wiping out the small computer retailer. Very rarely do I ask for a salesperson's advice anymore. First of all, their motivation is to make a sale, not satisfy your needs in the most economical fashion, and secondly, there is a treasure trove of information available online. I'll do my
Re:Good, Fast, Cheap - pick any two. (Score:2)
Re:Good, Fast, Cheap - pick any two. (Score:4, Informative)
There is definitely a market for smart helpful people, but I find that most people smart enough to help don't have the patience or interest in doing it.
Re:Good, Fast, Cheap - pick any two. (Score:4, Insightful)
When they walk in, they look at MHz, GBs, and maybe screen size... and price. That's it. If even that (we had plenty who wouldn't know the difference and just wanted "a good computer"). Most people don't even notice warranty details... you know, little things, like LENGTH. Try and explain the nuances that distinguish quality from crap, and their eyes glaze over.... THEY DON'T CARE. Until later, when the crap they bought from Gateway shits the bed and they come crying to you for help.
Not just computers (Score:5, Informative)
Yup, and this isn't just true of computers.
Circuit City sells audio equipment, for example. How many salesmen there know the first thing about any of it? My experience has been zero.
Try asking someone in a Wal-Mart a question about their bicycles.
The replacement of speciality stores with larger, general-purpose stores has, in my opinion, vastly reduced the amount of domain knowledge that the salesmen offer. Of course, it costs more to have salesmen with domain knowledge, and general-purpose stores pass on much of those savings to you, so it's a tradeoff...
Re:Not just computers (Score:2, Insightful)
If you know about computer... (Score:5, Insightful)
Worked at Staples ... Sell Warranties! (Score:4, Informative)
Obviously... (Score:2)
Don't let them con you into buying extended warranties though. You might as well burn $20 bills right then and there, for all it's worth.
Would have liked to have seen an Apple Store (Score:4, Interesting)
My experience has been nothing but good in there (Regent Street), but others have reported problems so I'm perfectly happy to believe I've just been lucky and that flaws exist.
Not a fan post claiming superiority or anything, it's just something I would have been curious to see. Apple make a lot of their 'shopping experience' (ugh, really dislike using the experience word) and it would have been interesting to see how they stacked up.
Cheers,
Ian
It's spreading.... (Score:3)
BTW, for those who were wondering -- "B&M" is "brick and mortar". (And "BTW" is "by the way".) I'd thought the HardOCP guys had gotten confused and tried to by a computer at H&M and then either the submitter or Zonk had misspelled it.
Re:It's spreading.... (Score:3, Funny)
Either that or a new wireless book service... Barnes & Mobile.
Re:It's spreading.... (Score:2)
Seriously... will it cease to go around one's neck at some point?
Office Depot Fun (Score:2)
"Linksys is the company that invented networking and wrote all the specs for the wireless stuff"
Now, I don't expect that everyone should know WHY a certain brand of anything is better than it's competitors, but spreading misinformation just to sound like you know what you're talking about and sell something?
Re:Office Depot Fun (Score:3, Informative)
I told the Best Buy tech guys up-front that little story, and they laughed their asses off.
It's sometimes funny just how fragmented and demented a single company can be.
Re:Office Depot Fun (Score:3, Informative)
Of course, seeing as hardly anyone ever upgrades a CPU (hell, most geeks don't even bother), it's a moot point anyway.
Ahhhhh Best Buy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ahhhhh Best Buy (Score:3)
Don't worry, they've fixed that problem. They now only carry the silver cables, but they're branded with the Geek Squad! logo and cost twice as much as the gold cables. See? Best Buy is simplifying things for their customers! You give them lots of money, they give you cheap crap in return. It's a Win-Lose situation!
Re:Ahhhhh Best Buy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ahhhhh Best Buy (Score:5, Funny)
Video Cable Comparison (Score:3, Informative)
Mindless link propagation: various composite and s-video cables [videohelp.com].
Printable Link (Score:5, Informative)
http://consumer.hardocp.com/articleprint.html?art
On another note, I used to work at Best Buy. I really needed a job at the time and couldn't find work anywhere else. I certainly know my stuff about computer hardware and software, so did a few other employees. One was even a computer science major fresh out of university just waiting for a real job opportunity to come by. Of course, a few employees knew absolutely nothing. So it's sort of a mixed bag, you could get lucky and find an honest and knowledgeable salesperson or you could get someone who knows nothing about computers and just wants to sell you an extended warranty.
On that note, stores are given a quota of extended warranty sales per day (usually they want 10% of profits to be extended warranty. Extended warranties are a major cash cow for these stores. Thus, employees (especially computer and home theatre) are told to promote the extended warranty and go through the checklist of it's features to EVERY customer, even if they flat out refuse upon first mention. So try not to go
My recommendation: buy online, avoid the sales pitch, do the research yourself.
Retail Store Perspective (Score:5, Informative)
P.S. Commissioned sales staff tend to make a LOT more money than non-commission. Personal shoppers often work on commission, and their higher payrate gives them more weight to fight for you (the customer) when going through beauracracy or other paperwork functions.
Re:Retail Store Perspective (Score:2, Interesting)
One of my professors (Larry Selden) shaped their business model to focus and prey on people who had loads of money and didn't know anything about co
Then there was Future Shop (Score:3, Funny)
Cut to a few days later, I go in the next day to get some game or something. I over hear a different salesperson talking someone about a monitor. He continues to go on for about 5 minutes about how he got it for his dads computer never had any problems, works great, blah blah blah. You will notice the verbaitem cut and paste from above. Yep same spiel as the first sales guy almost exactly word for word. It seems, like most sales peoiple those at future shop lacked a soul and just had a clonded soul implanted from a master super salesman. Well maybe not, but I heard that same story a few more times. It has been a while, but I think it was five times I heard that.
What do you expect from minimum wage workers? (Score:3, Informative)
Come on now!
Inaccurate Information (Score:2, Informative)
One service they (there ended up being like 3 reps talking to me about it all at once) tried to push was this one where I could get as many battery replacements as I needed for I think
This form of retail has changed! (Score:4, Insightful)
We wore a tie, blue blazer and had a name tag with stickers based on our certifications. They actually sent us for week long training at different times or when new products came out. We were tested and didn't receive each "icon" without passing the tests.
Granted, most of it wasn't difficult but it did require some general understanding of what you were doing! I was the only person in my store certified to handle the installs - I used to make so much money just installing graphics cards, etc. These days - how do you know the person knows what to do?
Best Buy introduced the "no hassle" shopping experience. They looked at things from a perspective of "everyone is an hourly employee, no specialized training - all you need to know how to do is work a cash register".
People who were in a hurry (most of the US these days) seemed to like the Best Buy way of shopping better than dealing with someone who could actually help them so Circuit City ended up switching over to the same business model. Notice the blue blazers and ties are gone? Replaced with kids in red polo style shirts who can barely point you in the right direction to find a product.
But hey, this is what America wanted. They didn't want to be bothered by someone asking them questions about what they needed.
Granted, some of the guys at CC did seem like used car salesmen but there were some that were very good at their job.
Re:This form of retail has changed! (Score:2)
Looking back at it, I can't remember ever hearing misinformation from their staff, but I generally assumed that they didn't know what they were talking about. Why? Well, it was probably the suits. In the computer industry, suits have always been the anti-thesis of knowledgable individuals. The fact that they were wearing blazers rather than sim
Interesting article (Score:3, Interesting)
While the Best Buy experience was inexcusable, the other stores seemed to have pretty good service, even if their expertise was less than ideal. But their expertise only needs to be limited.
First, retail is not the line of work you want to go into to get rich. Unless you're in management (at which point you're not talking with the customers), if you're well versed in computer hardware you can probably do better for yourself somewhere else where you'll enjoy greater pay, less hassle, and better hours. If you're in high school or college and need to raise some cash and already like computers, it's not a bad fit, but I would never expect to find a graphics card guru at my local electronics store.
Second, most consumers buying computers don't care to be educated in their choices beyond avoiding a bad choice. As long as the computer runs what they need to and won't break, that's all they really care about. One exception in this might be laptops, although I imagine discerning businesses are not getting their laptops from Circuit City but some other source. (At which point a knowledgeable salesperson is useful, as they are selling dozens of these systems at any one time). Knowledgeable consumers, expecting uninformed salespeople at retail locations, will research first and may have limited their choices to only a few models once they get in the store.
Third, with the exception of gamers, most people would have almost the same experience with any random computer that you select out of a store. As the article suggests, most people just want to go on the internet, check email, and run basic applications (Office, The Sims). There's no one computer that's best for that.
Therefore, retail stores don't need to have experts on hand to assist everyone. It would be nice for them to know some of the basics and you certainly want them to be honest to the extent where it doesn't hinder their job, but not much more is needed.
And if you really ache for that one-on-one advice, get in contact with a speciality seller like WidowPC or better yet, visit your local computer shop run by a bunch of geeks in shorts and ponytails, who will probably not steer you wrong.
Ah, the good old days (Score:3, Interesting)
I worked for OfficeMax on a couple of occasions in their Electronics department and was the authority on computers. Of ocurse their selection was not huge and it was easy to keep up with the differences between models, though usually customers were more interested in the price tags. At the time, the first GB hard drives were coming out and I couldn't imagine why someone would need all that room (can we say "software bloat" boys and girls?).
It was a considerable challenge to make the differences between machines evident to the non-computer person. Numbers are daunting and don't even go into acronyms. I made sure to stay up on things so I could anticipate the more technical users, but we hardly ever got those kind of customer. I always told the other associates that you should never try to bullsh*t the customers, but try to be helpful and remember to say "I don't know" when you don't honestly know. I found a lot of people returned to the store to buy from us simply because we treated them well, not always because we had the best price.
Of course today, you get either A) the guy out to pad his commission, who won't leave you alone, even after you make it clear you know more than he does about the machines, B) the slacker who is there to earn money because his parents cut him off and he'd rather be doing anything other than helping or customers or C) the guy who knows about 5 computer phrases and is pretty good at making up the rest as he goes along. For that eason, I order on-line now.
Having worked at a retailer... (Score:2)
I was astounded by the lack of knowledge my associates had. They knew quite a bit about selling computers, but not much at all about what a computer can do. There was plenty of talk about selling the 'right' machineto the customer, but this always ended up being the highes
Headline confusion (Score:2)
I've been there and here's a tip: Don't ask for the "extra RAM" unless you're sure you can handle it.
My favorite computer retail sales question (Score:4, Funny)
From an employee's view... (Score:5, Informative)
Secondly they move people around the store regardless of their knowledge. I wanted to go to the Geek Squad because i did know my way around the inside of a computer and the software. Again, many of the people hired up there didn't know to much. Some were meant only to run half automated "diagnostic" programs and install software. Only a few of us back there actually could fix a computer.
Due to little hours, i was "forced" to go work in a different dept. I was put in Digital Imaging. This was not one of my more knowledgable area. The only reason i was there was to pay my bills. Thanks to a sparked interest in the area and lots of external research, i do know a lot more than most of the other employees in that area.
Best Buy does not offer adequate training to its employees. The training provided is in the form of a online articles and quizzes. Although these are mandatory, they are easily skipped through. Also the articles for computer and cameras are generally outdated to the current hardware on the shelf. This is the only form of technical knowledge training given.
Another thing to consider is that the majority of people coming in to buy a computer have little or no technical knowledge. When asked a question such as "what is hyperthreading?" Most, including myself, resort to a very simple non-technical answer as to not confuse the customer. This is adequate for 90% of the customers. The other 10% first see you as someone without a large amount of computer knowledge. When i can identify the person with a higher knowledge of computers, i tend to use more technical terms and more indepth explainations. Also i do understand that the majority of people at best buy do not have the knowledge for more technical terms and explainations.
As a college student, this is only a job to pay the bills. Most knowledgable people in my store are the same way. The ones that actually know what they're talking about don't usually stick around that long. Just enough to get through school or land a good internship/co-op. All of these reasons would contribute to why many sales associates don't have much computer know-how.
Try your local computer retailer (Score:3, Informative)
You have a choice when you shop:
Big box: large selection, lower price, low service
local store: smaller selection (in stock), higher price, excellent service
A local retailer that only has a few stores tends to hire much more knowledgeable people. Granted, you're going to pay a bit more for the products, but that's what it costs to hire people who love what they do. The in-store selection will be smaller but chances are the local retailer can custom order almost any item you desire from their distributors if you are willing to wait a few days to a week or two.
I emplore you, though, do NOT pick the brain of your local retailer's expert for 2 hours only to turn around and purchase the item on the internet or at a big box store. You've now wasted the person's time and effectively stolen consulting services from them. Again... it costs more money to hire people who know what they are talking about. The smaller stores are not trying to rob or over charge you, they just don't do the volume to get discounts from the distributors.
BTW: It's not the large retailers, like Walmart, that put small stores out of business; it's the people who decide that low cost and mediocre service are more important than intelligent sales help.
What gets my gall is when people purchase from a big box but expect me, in my local shop, to provide free technical support to them. Many people get quite pissy when I tell them this is why my price is higher, I actually know what I'm taking about and can actually help (in most cases).
Warranties, loaners, and data (Score:2)
It struck me reading about "loaner computers" -- imagine if you swapped out your current computer with one that was identical but without any of your data.
Whats new? (Score:2)
Gosh, let's see (Score:2)
What do you expect? (Score:3, Informative)
I put myself through college working at CompUSA by peddling 5 year warranties on PCs and laptops. I would concentrate on the three best PCs and 2 best laptops that were in stock and sell only those machines. Typically I'd sell the warranty before the people even saw the computer. I never really had to lie, people are wary of computers and would rarely balk at the warranty unless the salesman is an idiot. (Which most salesmen are)
Was I selling the best possible product? Sometimes... the best PCs at the time were custom-configured machines from places like Dell. But I mostly sold Toshiba laptops which were top-notch. Even that wasn't really all that important... my job was to sell my employer's inventory.
CompUSA experience (Score:3, Interesting)
Good effort, wrong direction (Score:5, Informative)
However, I think they approached this as if they were grading the marketing propaganda. What I mean is this: they zeroed in on specifics, marketing specifics: 64 vs 32 bit, Vista, video cards for games, memory upgrades. Asking these sorts of questions is testing to see how well the salespeople know the marketing icons, and if they are gamers.
This is useless: no human being can explain how this marketing BS translates to real-world usage to a newbie in a 30 minute sales session, and no non-newbie is going to ask these questions.
I worked in retail for about a decade and went to many sales conferences. One thing I learned is: it's all about price point. Everyone has a threshold they are willing to spend, and the sales/marketing force tries to push them as high as possible. In my experience in bicycle retail, ~80% of the customers would be more than satisfied with anything at their price point. Pushing them to the next price point serves no one but the salesperson (my commission!).
In my recent experience recommending a computer to a seriously NON TECHIE people, I've found the same is true. Most of these folk were ready to fork over up to $1,000 (thinking there were no machines $1000). I've recommended this approach for 7 or 8 people, two were relatives. Basically, pick the best warantee and buy the machine at your price point.
100% were happy (3/4 bought a DELLs, 1/4 bought an candy-colored iMac
If you really want to be educated, go to a store that specializes in only what you want to buy. Don't rely on generic high-volume retail malls to give you any real information.
I think that is the real conclusion of this B&M research.
Re:Good effort, wrong direction (Score:3, Insightful)
This is absolutely true. I took a little time out of IT and worked in my friend's aquarium shop. He specializes in high end and unusual
Shoddy computer service at Best Buy? (Score:3, Informative)
If you want to buy a computer, go to a real computer store. We've all seen them, with the tiny shop space, store room in the back, fat white guy / skinny Chinese guy behind the counter, a few motherboards under glass and a price list printed out on a sheet of letter paper stuck to the counter with old tape. "We don't advertise" mumbles the sales guy, something about word of mouth being his best sales pitch, and from the looks of the greasy hordes in line behind you it seems to be working.
If you want a job done right, go to someone who does only that job, all day, every day. That someone would not be Circuit City guy, unless the job you want done somehow involves MONSTAR CABEL.
It's up to you to know what you're buying... (Score:3, Insightful)
That way when they try to 'upsell' you, you know it's just a sales pitch and that you really don't need ${FEATURE} since you'll never have any use to ${FEATURE_DESC}.
This does point to 'regular' folks going to buy computers; they're not going to get what they want, because they don't know what they want. I've walked a few friends/relatives thru computer purchases to insure they get what they need, and not more. Of course I think this is going to be true of anything; refridgerators, power saw, car...so I don't think this is a big revelation. Fun article though, I could just hear the subwoofers from the car audio section while I was reading!
Yes, thats what I'd like. (Score:3, Funny)
No, I think I'd rather rub my head with a cheese grater while chewing on aluminum foil.
Re:Apple store? (Score:2)
Re:My issue with it (Score:5, Funny)
If you're trying to buy a computer at the same time as abducting children, then you're just doing too much at once.
Re:My issue with it (Score:3, Informative)
Re:My issue with it (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:My issue with it (Score:3, Insightful)
No it is NOT!! Since when did common courtesy disappear? You do not have a right to impinge on MY rights to enjoy a quiet meal, or be out in public without your sceaming, annoying, undisciplined offspring YOU chose to have. You don't have any more
Re:My issue with it (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:This report is rubbish (Score:2)
The second rep (or the entire experience) was actually the first one they asked about the memory, while the first rep (of the entire experience) they talked to wandered back and become the second one they asked about memeory.
Re:Extended Warranties Aren't ALWAYS bad (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Extended Warranties Aren't ALWAYS bad (Score:3, Informative)
I disagree. Yes, laptops fail more often, but the warranties are more expensive. The manufacturer knows the expected failure rates, and prices the warranty to make a profit. Therefore, on average you lose. One thing to remember is that if you buy a laptop for $2000 and it dies 2 years later, you haven't lost $2000, you've only lost its replacement cost which at that point is much less. It only makes sense to buy an extended
I wholeheartedly agree with you (Score:3, Insightful)
It's clean, well-stocked, well-staffed, and they have a good Mac department (though that's less important now that Apple has their own retail stores). I usually end up browsing for at least 30-45 minutes, and I seldom l