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[The Shadow]

I haven't been to Best Buy in a while so things were a little different. I was looking for mp3 players in the computer area because that's where they used to be but now they weren't. I looked around in the audio department, and kinda browsed the home theaters in a box before beginning to walk away to look elsewere.

So this tall guy in a Best Buy shirt was kinda watching me but I didn't pay him any mind because I assumed he worked in that department. As I was leaving, he ran after me. I didn't see him but I could hear his footprints. He ran after me and shouted accross an isle asking if I needed help. I told him I was looking for mp3 players and he told me they were with the cell phones at the front of the store. I said thanks and walked off noticing he had a radio on his hip.

So I go and check out the mp3 players, looking at the features and prices and then I start looking at the iPods. I'm there maybe 5 minutes, I'm comparing the sizes and looking at them from the edge to get a good idea of the size and another guy with a radio comes by and asks if I need help or have any questions. I told him no, waited another 5 mintues and left.

WTF is this? Neither of these two guys worked in the departments they stopped me at and both of them were the only guys I could see carrying radios, which to me seems like they were with security. I know the first guy for certain was casing me and because the mp3 players were near the front of the store, I'm sure the second guy was watching me too.

I half expected the second guy to say in the radio, "Hispanic guy browsing expensive items. Says he's 'just looking'. Need further instruction" or something.

 

[Jim Bowie]

I was told that Best Buy employees get paid extra for commission. That's why they're so... helpful.

Hey, I actually like the guys. If you need any help, you're going to fucking get it. And if you don't, they usually leave with a "Nope, I got it."

 

[etiolate]

I've had the same thing happen to me. It happened more when I had long hair, but once in awhile I still get 'watched' and harrassed if I'm wearing a big coat or something. But seriously, it's fucking cold! You should suspect the guy in a hawaiin shirt and shorts walking in during the middle of winter. You know something is wrong with that guy.

 

[LinesInTheSand]

I was told that Best Buy employees get paid extra for commission. That's why they're so... helpful.

Hey, I actually like the guys. If you need any help, you're going to fucking get it. And if you don't, they usually leave with a "Nope, I got it."

Best Buy doesn't pay commision.

 

[talking head]

sure they do.

 

[Tortfeasor]

http://www.bestbuysux.org

All of your questions/suspicions/etc are addressed.

 

[Darias]

Best buy doesn't pay comission.

 

[Lemurnator]

80 percent of things at Best Buy are refurbished and sold as new.

Best Buy is horrible.

 

[Lemurnator]

http://www.bestbuysux.org

All of your questions/suspicions/etc are addressed.

That link caused a security alert to pop up in Norton.

 

[Pfucata]

Best Buy does not pay individual commission but they have "department" commission, so it's about the same.

Ironically, I get the best service at Magnolia Hi-Fi and they're on commission -- so it's more about the individual salesperson versus the policy. At Mag HiFi, I figure that the commission and pay are high enough where someone can actually make an honest living doing that, whereas Best Buy seems to be geared more toward the first-job market (which is good in its own way too though).

 

[Nintendo Ate My Children]

Best Buy does not pay individual commission but they have "department" commission, so it's about the same.

I work at Best Buy and I've never heard of "department commission". Irregardless, we are trained to harrass customers to the point of annoyance and beyond in order to get sales, though.

WTF is this? Neither of these two guys worked in the departments they stopped me at and both of them were the only guys I could see carrying radios, which to me seems like they were with security. I know the first guy for certain was casing me and because the mp3 players were near the front of the store, I'm sure the second guy was watching me too.

Were they in yellow or blue shirts? Yellow shirts are loss prevention, the closest thing most Best Buy stores have to security. I think stores that have actual security guards are dressed as security guards. It's possible you were being "helped" by overly enthusiastic employees who haven't yet learned to ignore their training. EVERY CUSTOMER EVERY TIME NO ONE JUST COMES INTO THE STORE TO LOOK SELL SELL SELL, etc.

 

[fart]

do you get to carry a hip holstered radio though? sounds like loss prevention was on him

 

[Nintendo Ate My Children]

do you get to carry a hip holstered radio though? sounds like loss prevention was on him

We don't normally use radios. They're there, and when they are used, they're used by merch and inventory to communicate between the sales floor and the storeroom. I work at a smaller Best Buy in a low-crime area, though. Maybe the larger ones use them for loss prevention, I don't know. But having radios doesn't necessarily mean loss prevention.

 

[pnjtony]

A while back Best Buy was KNOWN for getting shit ripped off from them. All the stores around me were getting hit. Like a fucking epidemic. Prolly why they're so nervous

 

[Tortfeasor]

That link caused a security alert to pop up in Norton.

Obviously a cabal between Best Buy and Norton.

The site is safe... And entertaining!

http://www.bestbuysux.org

 

[aoi tsuki]

Best Buy is one of the worst first jobs you can have in terms of training you how to treat to customers. They push their employees to sell PSPs/PRPs and superfluous accessories and sell like they're on commission when they're not. A lot of managers encourage lying to employees to sell, or talking customers out of higher purchases to insure that they get more accessories. Granted, a lot of this is simply how things are done in retail, but Best Buy has refined the formula so well. Best Buy was my first job, and if i wasn't able to see through the bullshit (admittedly, i didn't see through it all at the time), i'd be an asshole salesperson like most of the others that graduated from BB.

 

[human5892]

That website is astounding. I couldn't believe some of those stories.

To be fair, I've never personally had a bad experience with Best Buy, but if even half of the stories on that website are true, it sounds like if I continue to shop there, there's a good chance that I will eventually.

 

[MetatronM]

We used radios sometimes (especially during holiday season), and I worked in Media.

We used it mostly to communicate between the floor guys and the guys back in the warehouse. That way we could check our actual inventory without having to trust the computer system or leaving the sales floor.

No, Best Buy does not pay on any kind of commission. The only thing really even close to a commission is the once-a-year loss prevention bonus, where every employee in the store gets a certain percentage of how ever much money under our LP budget we were for the year.

And Best Buy was definitely turning into the Gestapo as my time was winding down their. They started to get really overbearing on the employees and working there just stopped being any fun. Corporate started to take a more active role in the way the individual stores were managed, and it sucked. Hell, I lost my job there on the say so of some official in the corporate offices in Minnesota and not from my more immediate bosses in the actual store or district. They even told me as such.

 

[MetatronM]

It's possible you were being "helped" by overly enthusiastic employees who haven't yet learned to ignore their training. EVERY CUSTOMER EVERY TIME NO ONE JUST COMES INTO THE STORE TO LOOK SELL SELL SELL, etc.

Yeah, I ignored my training from day 1.

 

[aoi tsuki]

If you're curious about what was posted in regards to a store in your area in on the Best Buy Sux site, try the following link, replacing "XXX" with your store number:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...q=site:bestbuysux.org+"store+xxx"&btnG=Search

If you don't know your store number, go to www.bestbuy.com and use the store locator.

i found comments from a girl i'm pretty sure i worked with towards the end of my BB career. i knew the company was shit, but i just applied a couple weeks ago, and i despite the fact i need a second job, i'm kinda hoping i don't get hired.

 

[MetatronM]

Hmm...the only complaints from my store were from 2002. Only 2 of them too. One from before I got there and one from a month after I started...right about the time we got new managers.

 

[Celicar]

Best Buy blows. God, I hate going there. Their prices aren't that good, and they won't let you price match and get the rebate. Fuckers.

I will say that their rebates are pretty good. I usually get them well before the 6-8 weeks noted on the receipt.

 

[Goreomedy]

Yeah, they're bastards. So just fuck with them right back.

I got my PSTwo from Best Buy because they were the only retailer to have any in stock. Four different people tried to push a two-year console warranty on me. Four! The final guy, who heard me reject the offer three times, resorted to condescension in a last pathetic attempt. "It's the smart thing to do."

A string of expletives later, the employees were ghost-white and I walked out with my system.

 

[etiolate]

Hell, I lost my job there on the say so of some official in the corporate offices in Minnesota and not from my more immediate bosses in the actual store or district. They even told me as such.

I had a sort of similiar experience, except I didn't lose my job but just got sick of it. A district manager was not ever going to approve a promotion for me and I had been there three years. I didn't know this till one day he was in the store and he stopped me on my way out and checked my bags. He actually brought me back in the store to do it. Next day I found out he said "thought I had him" and then I learned the whole story. He had pegged me as the theif who had been stealing from them for awhile. If he had talked to the people there then he'd know that I was known for my honesty. It turned out the two people stealing from the store were the two people he promoted instead of me. It seemed other people knew this, but they wouldn't tell me because they figured I'd be honest if asked and they didn't want the drama. That store fell apart and employees kept leaving because upper management kept making mistake after mistake.

It seems the bigger of a dumbass douche you are the higher up you go in management.

edit: This wasn't at a Best Buy.

 

[Triumph]

Heh, yeah Best Buy sucks it hard and long. Since I'm fluent in German I usually just ask them a question or two and they go away.

And for those of you complaining about how you got fired from BB, that doesn't hold a candle to how I got fired from GS.

 

[Matlock]

Heh, yeah Best Buy sucks it hard and long. Since I'm fluent in German I usually just ask them a question or two and they go away.

And for those of you complaining about how you got fired from BB, that doesn't hold a candle to how I got fired from GS.

How'd you get fired, anyway?

 

[Triumph]

How'd you get fired, anyway?

When I'm Triumph again, I'll tell ya. Should be soon.