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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

#361
every-time I go nearby store it's mostly empty... (price/sq.ft. ratio)

I'm also not happy with their price match... I had a BB gift card so went there with Costco headphone deal to price match, which they did with shipping of 3 weeks from order day... If you'd have to guess it... yes... shipping after the Costco deal would expire... I wanted to give benefit of doubt but when they canceled my order after 3 weeks... it kind of felt like a trap...

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#362
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…

The counterfeit issue seems to be getting worse, not better. It's also become harder to differentiate legitimate listings from the manufacturer versus a third-party. I bought my smart TV from Best buy simply because I don't trust Amazon anymore. I'm having a hard time thinking what I wouldn't be suspicious of on Amazon...clothes are regularly counterfeit, colognes, electronics... Maybe books?

Anything worth counterfeiting likely is. A mass-market Dan Brown novel? A book is a book; as long as it's in English, you don't expect much from it, and it won't explode if improperly printed. A first-edition Lord of the Rings? Yeah, no. At that point it's less a book and more a collectible.

Software is also pirated on Amazon/eBay-- everything from resold OEM licenses (sans disc) to hacked binaries (sans DRM).

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#363
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bundled crapware has nothing to do with where you buy your PC. Best Buy doesn’t install anything on the PCs they sell. Dell does, HP does, Lenovo does. You get the same crap if you buy direct or from a retailer. If you buy a “Microsoft Signature” device, you pay a small premium essentially for the manufacturer to agree not to install crap. You might (or might not) get the same from the manufacturer if you buy a “…

> Best Buy doesn’t install anything on the PCs they sell. This isn't necessarily true. Some PCs are Best Buy specific models, with extra bloatware from Best Buy (in addition to the OEM bloatware from Dell / HP / Lenovo). This also affects physical components sometimes. I remember from laptop shopping a few months ago, that the MSI GS63 Stealth laptop ships with a crappier screen specifically for the Best Buy model ,…

Reading something like this I have two thoughts:

1. Why would PC manufacturers de-value their own brand like this!?

2. It almost makes sense why Apple can get away with charging a premium. No mystery meat hardware/crapware regardless of retailer.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#364
post #356
post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> vs. Amazon's "two day shipping" that regularly turned into three or four days Where are you that this is true? This is directly opposite of my experience. I genuinely can't remember the last time a Prime/2-day shipment was delayed. In fact, I'll routinely and deliberately pay a premium to purchase something via Amazon Prime (both within Amazon and across internet vendors) precisely because of the confidence I have…

> Where are you that this is true? This is directly opposite of my experience. I genuinely can't remember the last time a Prime/2-day shipment was delayed. It happens all the time where I live. It's also not uncommon for my Prime packages to get totally lost by Amazon Logistics (I've never had that happen with another courier). At least now they automatically cancel those orders, I previously used to have to call the…

I've had multiple bad experiences with Amazon Logistics. They routinely ship things 2-3 days late and update the tracking information with some nonsense about "attempting to deliver the package but no one was home," which I don't buy for a second. They also routinely deliver to the wrong address. One time tracking information was updated to "delivered" and my package showed up at the building next door to mine 3 days later. I came close to canceling prime the last time this happened.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#365
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 don't have to give my information so I don't feel like I am being tracked." Uhhh, you for sure will. First - BB is very aggressive on getting this stuff from you cleanly, i.e. name, addy, phone number - so they can 'track you'. Second - VISA/MC transactions will absolutely be used for that and they'll try to match up their in-store with online experiences. FYI - Visa/MC/Amex will literally sell your transaction da…

> FYI - Visa/MC/Amex will literally sell your transaction data to almost anyone

Any way to opt out of this? I try to opt out of all the sharing I can with my bank, but if it's being sold at the Visa/MC/Amex level, I'm skeptical that helps.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

agreed. MOST people don't know much about technology. I'm 44 and teach at a community college. I have 17 year olds (taking dual credit classes for high school) and 60 year olds. Most of them don't know how to use computers well and I can't assume that someone will or won't because of age. The problems they have do tend to be generational - younger people tend to do most things on phones and don't know how to use a mo…

I'm 44 too and hate people that maximize their window, as they are so many things running at the same time, don't you tile your applications, ah interesting there is more than one way to do it I guess.

that is valid if you do have multiple things going at a time. I do it frequently. These students don't have multiple things going. All they have is the browser and I see them having to scroll left and right because the site doesn't fit inside the browser window. The rest of the monitor is just the desktop.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#367

This is rather off-topic, but the only thing that saddens me about Best Buy is that it just doesn't feel the same walking in as it used to. I remember when I got my first job, at age 14, in 1998. I cut, baled, loaded, hauled, and stacked hay in a barn for a local farmer. It was extremely hot and tiring work for an overweight geek, but it paid better than anything else I could have gotten at that age - I was paid by t…

Wow 32MB? Fills up after what, 10 songs? For 350$, which is like 500$ today? :( I understand your family reaction lol

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#368
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.

It's great for a big-ticket, low-margin purchase like an MBP, but poor for cheap, high-margin items like cables and accessories. Which is, of course, where they really make money. They'll price match a laptop to Amazon, but cannot price match a $2 Ethernet patch cable because they're retail space, not a warehouse.

"low-margin purchase like an MBP"

Thanks, I needed that.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#369

This is rather off-topic, but the only thing that saddens me about Best Buy is that it just doesn't feel the same walking in as it used to. I remember when I got my first job, at age 14, in 1998. I cut, baled, loaded, hauled, and stacked hay in a barn for a local farmer. It was extremely hot and tiring work for an overweight geek, but it paid better than anything else I could have gotten at that age - I was paid by t…

I still sort of get this feeling going into Micro Center. They still have a ton of in-store inventory and cool stuff like electronics components and prosumer networking gear that you'd otherwise have to order online these days.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#370
post #25

Like most Americans I order a shitload from Amazon. However the last item I bought from Best Buy was a TV (my old LG just ... died). Ordered online, chose to pick up in store. Drive 35 min to store Pickup process takes 10-15 min Drive 35 min home. Left after dinner, was watching it that evening. The only condition that would have prevented me from using this model would be traffic, as it could extend the trip by 60-9…

I ordered a TV from Amazon. They use a third party service that schedules delivery with you. Two dudes came out with TV, unboxed and set it up (put on stand, plugged in power to verify its working). A few days after delivery I noticed a red line running along the top of the screen. Contacted Amazon about replacement. There was some issue with doing a direct replacement so they had me purchase another TV and then refu…

I can't tell whether you're happy with Amazon's service. It sounds to me like you waited for delivery, got a bad TV, waited for delivery again... but at least you don't have to deal with the box?

No thanks.

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