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Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

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Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#291

Post by joemi »

biggc wrote: post #281
kop316 wrote: post #10

I can't speak for the Geek Squad (as I have never needed to use them), but they price match to Amazon (and several other online stores), and will generally have what I am looking for (at least for consumer electronics). I know that I will get it that day (vs. Amazon's "two day shipping" that regularly turned into three or four days) at an Amazon price, it will certainly NOT be a counterfeit, and I don't have to give…

One issue I have with Amazon is the lack of a concrete return policy. I was looking in to order a relatively bulky item (soundbar) and I wasn't sure if I would like it. The best item-specific return policy information I could get was that I "may" have to pay for return shipping and that I "may" be charged a restocking fee. I went to a brick and mortar store instead, bought the same product for the same price with a w…

I agree that they don't have a clear returns policy, and this is a huge problem IMO. Also, if you buy from a "marketplace" (aka third party) seller instead of Amazon, they can have a return policy that's different from Amazon's (or other marketplace sellers).

As far as items ordered directly from Amazon, I've found them to only give free return shipping if the item is broken or there's another issue that's Amazon's fault. They don't seem to give free return shipping if I just don't like the product. (At least that's how it is for my account. I've heard some of these policies are different for different account holders!)

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#292

Post by kilroy123 »

kop316 wrote: post #10

I can't speak for the Geek Squad (as I have never needed to use them), but they price match to Amazon (and several other online stores), and will generally have what I am looking for (at least for consumer electronics). I know that I will get it that day (vs. Amazon's "two day shipping" that regularly turned into three or four days) at an Amazon price, it will certainly NOT be a counterfeit, and I don't have to give…

I agree about the counterfeit items on Amazon. I'm a long time fan and user of Amazon. My account is from the early 2000s.

After getting a few counterfeit items from Amazon, I'm officially done with them when it comes to electronics.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#294

Post by mmt »

fma wrote: post #100
at-fates-hands wrote: post #3

I worked at the Richfield HQ in 2010 before Joly came in and it was a disaster working there. Environments would go down and stay down for hours or days. I would come in at 8am and not be able to work until 1 or 2pm. They had such a consistent turn over, they would have 3rd party vendors and have no idea who the contact was or what company actually operated large chunks of their network. They essentially had a 70-80%…

I noticed that in the article, Joly gave back the employee discount and said it was a big morale booster. I think morale is important, especially for retail. Employees run the business, and store floor employees are the face of the business. I've gone to Best Buy mainly for store pickups - but generally a good experience. One time I was there for pickups, and in general looking for a new vacuum cleaner...so I wandere…

> Would you rather want free coffee, or hire more employees? (funny thing is we're not hiring)

Indeed, an amusing twist on the traditional false dichotomy: the truth isn't that you can actually have both, but, rather, that you can't have either one.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#295

Post by alexisnorman »

daphneokeefe wrote: post #203
duxup wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had a lot of "two day" Amazon shipping turn into 3 or 4... the arrival date even on Amazon will show in the past for a few days. What used to be a sure thing from Amazon, I now just think of as "maybe". Having said that the crazy mess (tiny isles and disorganized) and $20 USB cables were Best Buy stores made me give up on them a long time ago. I've visited a few times recently to hopefully get a look at some lap…

If you are a Prime buyer and your package is not delivered by the promised date, you can request and receive a free one-month extension of your Prime membership. I have done this several times. For obvious reasons, Amazon doesn't publicize this much.

I have had so many of these "free one-month extensions" from late Prime packages that I currently have six months of Prime membership credits applied to my account. I've been joking lately that if I were to actually pay for 2 day shipping, I'd get my package on-time.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#296

Post by joemi »

parenthesis wrote: post #151
byproxy wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend buying used on AbeBooks. You can find what you want in pretty good quality for cheap and will have no trouble accepting a couple of dings.

AbeBooks is owned by Amazon, so they'll still get their cut!

Alibris is site that's very similar to AbeBooks, but thankfully not owned by Amazon.

I think Alibris is _especially_ wonderful from a seller's perspective. Their chat support is friendly and efficient, and does not seem to be an outsourced and overworked call center, but actual Alibris employees who can fix things.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#297

Post by mieseratte »

ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #239
dropfrog wrote: post #172

But that call-in "customer support" is a deal killer. I made an online purchase, a cheap antenna (thank goodness). It arrived in a box with my address taped on it but with customized shirts inside. Boxes were damaged during shipping and when put back together, someone got my stuff and I got theirs. UPS - "it's not on us, contact Best Buy". So I decided to use this to test Best Buy's customer support. I call. Foreign…

I've had similar issues with Verizon support reps. What I've started doing is if I get the feeling they're not helping, I just hang up and call again. At least with Verizon I'd say 50% of agents know what they're talking about, so usually that works. I know this is a shitty solution (and to be honest, I've never had to do the same with Amazon) but it does help.

> What I've started doing is if I get the feeling they're not helping, I just hang up and call again.

How much time do you end up waiting on hold?! Every time I had to deal with Verizon support it was a 30+ minute wait.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#298

Post by widowlark »

gamblor956 wrote: post #288
mgleason_3 wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, Best Buy’s return policy and process has been awful. Granted it’s been years because it was so bad. Literally the worst of any store I’ve ever shopped at. Last time I bought a router from them it was defective. I had to stand in line for over an hour. The clerk was surly and didn’t believe it was defective. Kept opening the box, pulling everything out, looking at all the pieces. Putting it all back.…

I exchanged an item at Best Buy about 2 months ago. Took about 5 minutes. Forgot my receipt, but they were able to find it with my cc. They opened up the box to make sure the original items were inside, and brought me a replacement while I was at the counter. Still not quite as good as Costco or REI, but at least with BB I know I'm getting the good I actually purchased and not some cheap Chinese knockoff.

Where are people getting all these chinese knock offs? I have never had this happen on Amazon I am curious what products people are getting

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#299

Post by gamblor956 »

steveeq1 wrote: post #201
j79 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prime member for the last 8 years but I'm seriously considering canceling next year (mostly due to the price hike in Prime). I've had plenty of items arrive late or not even at all, with stretches where I've had back-to-back-to-back issues with Amazon, so frustrating that I considered canceling Prime right then and there (~3 years ago). A couple times they were delivered to our neighbors house next door (who dropped…

I live in Los Angeles and have had the complete opposite experience. Been a prime member for 4 years now, I order from them all the time, and shipments always come on time with no problems whatsoever.

I live in LA as well. While most of my Amazon purchases arrive on time (and even occasionally early!), more of them have begun arriving late. My Prime Day purchases, for example, were originally supposed to arrive same day...but are currently on track for Saturday and Sunday. I could have just stopped by Best Buy on the way to work.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#300

Post by scarface74 »

gzu wrote: post #12

You really can't beat going into a physical store for a large ticket item purchase. No waiting for shipping, easy to return, viewing the product in store. Recently purchased a MBP from Bestbuy. The first one I received had noticeable back light bleeding near a screen corner. Walked back in the store the next day to return. The process from an online retailer would have taken weeks.

Not Best Buy related but I tried purchasing an elliptical online from Amazon along with assembly. One company does the shipment and a third party does the assembly. The assembly guy cancelled on me because it was raining (not really hard) and he couldn't come out at a reasonable time.

I cancelled the assembly, had the box returned to Amazon (of course its not their regular shipping). I then ordered from Sears. They came on time with the equipment and they did the assembly.

Back on topic. I'm debating whether to use Geek Squad to mount my TV (I have no mechanical skills) or purchase it through Amazon for half the cost.

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