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Posted by ThisisJeff Promoted 173 days 7 hours ago 8238 views
editorial
Informative / Informative General
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56 comments
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Why you should never step foot into this retail nightmare. Nor give them one dime of your hard earned cash.
I am going to go ahead and go out onto a limb here and say that most people who will read this editorial or those who frequent Shoutwire are technophiliacs. Some more than others obviously but we all love to enhance our lives with the latest and greatest high-tech gadgets, quad-core processors, and videogames. We need to find the best resources for purchasing these gizmos and our options are virtually limitless. In America, we have a slew of corporate options to dump our hard earned legal tender into. We have Circuit City, Radioshack, Sharper Image, Microcenter, Fry’s Electronics, Conn’s (which I think is only located in Texas, but for every one retail company occupying only a certain state there is another vying for consumers’ business in yours) , and finally Best Buy. Of all those retail corporations the only one I will highly recommend you never step foot in is Best Buy. This evil conglomerate is running an unethical business as well as doing its part to eradicate “mom and pop” electronic stores.
When I was 16 years old I had my first job repairing computers, building them for sale, as well as buying back and selling various electronic gadgets. Within a few months of a Best Buy store relocating to less than a half of a mile away from our store we noticed serious losses of clientele that would have come in looking for repairs or new computer purchases. Less than a year later we were packing our stuff and I was looking for a new job. Now, where you ask did my dumbass start to look? Of course, the corrupt and evil monopoly that caused me to go job hunting in the first place. Now, I am not even going to go into further detail on what an awful and condemning place that was to work. That is not the problem, it is your choice where you work no one else’s. Since this time I have been freed from my bonds of slavery (well it feels like that anyway) and found a much more healthy work environment. With all that being said, I feel I have an insight into this evil empire that your average consumer has no clue exists.
The absolute worst and most unethical action Best Buy has taken is the segregation and profiling of customers. Here is a snippet from an article taken from Timeinc that sort of defines how they facilitate this:
“To see centricity in action, let's meet Barry, Jill, Buzz, Ray, and a person we'll call Mr.
Storefront. They're archetypes of the lucrative angel groups Best Buy covets: Barry is an affluent tech enthusiast; Jill, a busy suburban mom; Buzz, a young gadget fiend; Ray, a price-conscious family guy; and Mr. Storefront owns a small business. Other segments interest Best Buy too, like young single women (Carrie) and empty-nesters (Helen and Charlie), but for now the company is focusing its redesigns on the core five. Best Buy's researchers comb through reams of sales and demographic data to determine whether a particular location should be tailored to, say, Ray or Buzz. Nearly 40% of the 300 stores that have been redone aim at Barry--in them you'll find a separate department of hometheater systems, expert salesmen, and specialists in mobile electronics. Jill stores feature personal shopping assistants (PSAs) who know how to steer a homemaker to the right digital camera for her family. Buzz stores have broad assortments of videogames. Stores can target more than one segment--Jill and Barry departments often share a location--and a handful of Best Buys, like the one in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, have all five segments going at once.”
OK, let’s go over that again in more simple terms; we’ve got Barry who is a “tech enthusiast” that means he likes the latest and greatest in technology and won’t mind forking over some extra cash to buy it. Jill is a suburban mom who can be marketed to because she has kids that constantly beg her for new toys, ipods, and videogames. Oh yeah, we can also talk her into buying a camera and a camcorder to pictures of her kids. Buzz is your typical douchebag techie that knows all there is to know about whatever it is he came into the store to buy and he has probably done considerable research on the internet before he decided to make his purchase. Mr. Storefront is the type of guy who will buy massive quantities of TV’s or other appliances for business. Finally, we’ve got good ol’ Ray. Ray is the kind of guy on a budget and he is just looking for items like a family computer, an inexpensive camera to photograph his kids and other items more relevant to productivity rather than play.
That does not sound too bad does it? No, not really. You can see hints of racial stereotypes and racist undertones in some of that but not really. Now let me put these profiles into more unadulterated terms. What the average consumer does not realize is the way employees are trained to profile you the second you walk into their view. They are trained to look how you are dressed, what items you initially look at, who is with you (kids, parents, or spouse), or simply what predisposed profile you fit into. Their logic is that every single person who wanders into Best Buy will fit into one of these profiles and will be treated as such. When being trained I was asked to look at a diagram of stereotypes and pictures of Guy A or Woman C and match the correct letter to the customer profile. I kid you not, Ray was a black man dressed in jeans and a shirt while Barry and Mr. Storefront had a suit and tie and was of course, white. Once this training has seeped into the mind of the average young sap, that employee will almost immediately profile you into a group and speak to you in a certain manner in order to maximize his sale. The flipside of that is if you look like a “Ray”, who might not have the cash to buy the top model laptop with a full extended warranty, you might just get an “I’ll be with you in a minute” from more than one employee trying to maximize his time. Same goes for Buzz, you are taught that these people are out to spend as little money in Best Buy as possible because they do research at home on the internet. If you fit this profile and are talking to a brainwashed employee I can almost guarantee you will have trouble getting sincere questions answered or general help around the store. Best Buy cares nothing for the consumer, only what is inside that piece of leather in your back right pocket or purse. You are encouraged to tell those who claim that they can not afford a warranty or accessories that they can go easily become more in-debt to credit card companies by signing up for the Best Buy card! Imagine this scenario (I wish it was just a scenario honestly): you are helping a single mom who is with three children. She is attempting to purchase a very inexpensive computer with little to nothing to go along with it. During the process of helping her you are pulled away by your supervisor and told not to “waste too much time with her”. After shrugging it off you offer her an extended warranty and explain its benefits. She politely declines and you move on through the transaction, you can see the hurt in her eyes as she swipes her Master Card for a 600 dollar total sale. After the process is done and you are confronted by a manager who tells you “next time, if they refuse the plan tell them that you don’t even feel comfortable selling this computer to them. Tell them it covers whatever they want to hear.” This happened a few weeks after I started work there and gave me a good idea of the kind of pricks who run the company.
So, basically Best Buy advocates racial profiling, practices cutthroat sales tactics and a general apathy for customers. How do they stay in business with all this bullshit going on? Well number one is publicity. Take for example the website: www.bestbuysux.org a popular website that had thousands and thousands of horrific experiences outlined by customers and a section for some downright disturbing things written by former and current employees. Why don’t you go to that link right now and see what comes up? It is a practically blank website that will link you directly to shop online at Best Buy’s website. If you’ve got massive amounts of cash because of your flagrant quest for profit you can pretty much buy out anyone.
(side note: If you would like to see what sort of content was on bestbuysux.org you can use the wayback machine to find it.
Best Buy also purposely moves into locations to crush any opposition. You will frequently see a Best Buy store go up right next to a Circuit City or other electronics store and sure enough there can only be one victor in the eyes of Best Buy. I can not find any credible statistics for how many businesses that Best Buy as a whole is responsible for shutting down. In the area of the Best Buy where I worked I can tell you 100% fact that at least 3 smaller privately owned computer repair shops were closed down because of Best Buy. OK, I have ranted too long. It’s time to fix the problem. The more people who do not shop at this company the better they will see that the consumer comes first. I strongly urge anyone that is thinking of buying a computer, camera, or even a videogame to not step foot into a Best Buy and give your money to a company who actually wants your business and needs it because of monopolies like Best Buy.
What can you do to help out local business you ask? Well for number one do not shop at the following stores:
1. Best Buy
2. Best Buy Canada
3. Future Shop (a Canadian company that BBY bought out, it still retains the title and operates alongside Best Buy Canada)
4. Best Buy China
I would suggest going to a business listings website that has local businesses and searching for a close privately owned electronic store. If you have to shop at a Best Buy watch out for clues that you are being profiled and make sure the employee really understands what you need. Also, DO NOT buy the extended warranty they will try and offer you. I have seen it countless times where a customer hauls the computer or TV to the store and is either told we that his or her problem is not covered under warranty due to a technicality or loophole. Instead after you purchase a TV from LG for example, call the manufacturer and ask what extended warranty options they have. It is usually cheaper than a “PSP” that Best Buy will offer you and a hundred times more credible. Also shopping online is a very positive alternative to shopping at a retail store. I’d suggest Newegg I have never had a problem with their customer service and have rarely had a problem with items I buy from them. Newegg is just one of thousands that are available to choose from though.
I’m sure others have had similar experiences with this company and others. You don’t have to take the abuse but if you shop at Best Buy you probably will. It is time for consumers to push the bullies back and remind them exactly how they stayed open for business in the first place.
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