My open letter to 25 Best Buy Executives

[Critical Kills]

I was recently in a Best Buy here in Virginia Beach where I am on the road for work and stopped by a Best Buy to pre-order some games. This is the end result of that trip below. As of today, 7 days later I have not gotten any response from Best Buy.

Hello,

I found your email address on the internet as a Best Buy executive. I am emailing you this to make you aware of a situation I recently encountered while at a Best Buy located at 217 S Independence Blvd Virginia Beach, VA 23462. Below is my Yelp! review of my experience. This experience bothered me so much that I feel compelled to write to you in hopes of some sort of action from the corporate office.

I am sending this to you because as a former frequent patron of Best Buy I feel compelled to do my part in trying to help Best Buy survive in it's current incarnation as a brick and mortar store. I have read the financial struggles of Best Buy versus Amazon and I feel there is a real disconnect among those who run Best Buy on a day to day basis as to why Amazon is beating Best Buy so badly in sales. It's not just prices. As a 43 year old man who makes good money, with a large amount of disposable income and an addiction to technology I am the prime demographic of who Best Buy and stores that compete with it are targeting. If you cannot get my business and those like me then Best Buy is destined to go the way of Circuit City.

Please read my review below and feel free to read similar reviews located on the Yelp! site for this store. You will see that it's not just my issue with the store, many others have had the same exact issues that I speak of. The URL is http://www.yelp.com/biz/best-buy-vir...D_cPg/src:self

--MY YELP REVIEW:

I am a huge technology freak and always have been. When I first moved to the big city of Columbus, OH and got to visit Best Buy on a regular basis back in the 90's I was like a kid in a candy store. I'd find a way to get to Best Buy three or four times per week. Usually I'd purchase something and often I spent way too much money there. Those were the days before Amazon changed everything.

Eventually going to Best Buy became something I did less and less of. The stores weren't exciting, the sales people were disinterested and the idea of watching uninformed people spending $59 on $2 HDMI cables became something that more or less put me off visiting Best Buy on a regular basis. Then along came Amazon for all of my tech needs. Not only did they have better prices but, unlike Best Buy, they truly had a no-hassle return policy for when things didn't work and/or work the way I wanted them too. There's a certain sense of irony there I think, that a mail-order company would be easier to return items to than a brick and mortar store. What once was a hallmark of why people would go to brick and mortar stores had now become a weakness.

So for the past several years I have rarely visited Best Buy. Usually during the holidays I'd go to pick up special deals and use my Best Buy credit card but trips became sporadic and usually without any purchases.

A recent business trip has me in Virginia Beach. I read online about Best Buy offering $20 off when you pre-order certain video games. That combined with not really wanting to hassle with mail ordering via Amazon while on the road bought me to this Best Buy today. Little did I know that the trip would end in such anger and frustration that I not only remembered why I quit frequenting Best Buy but it has been reinforced tenfold.

I strolled in on my lunch break with about 30 minutes to spare. There was hardly anyone in the store but employees were huddled about, some talking with others, some doing something with the merchandise. I'm not sure if the latter were actually working or just pretending to work but they seemed to be very involved in what they were doing. Much too involved to look up and make any eye contact with a scumbag customer like me.

So I went to the video game department and there was a young man working there at the register just finishing up a customer ring-up. Another guy was there with 5 PS3 games. The clerk said something to him and left to go to the car stereo dept. I talked to the guy who said he was going to buy a new PS3 and 5 games. We kept waiting for the clerk to come back, he plainly could see us, but he just kept talking to someone in the car stereo department. Once an employee wandered near me and the other guy but when we looked his way he hurried up and literally nearly jogged to get away from us, averting his eyes as if he had not seen us.

After 25 minutes or so of waiting in frustration I told the PS3 guy he should consider Gamestop. He was also upset and said he was going to leave and go to Gamestop. I left but he did remain there. When I was leaving I really let the manager have it. I told him I was going to preorder some games but now didn't have time. I also told him he better get back there and see if he could save a huge sale in regards to the PS3 guy who was going to buy a new PS3 and 5 or 6 games. He politely apologized a couple of times and gave me an understanding nod and that was it.

Apparently, from reading the reviews here this has been an ongoing issue that Best Buy chooses to ignore. They ignore at their own peril, as I have read Best Buy is pretty close to liquidating and becoming an internet only store. I made sure to tell the manager "No wonder Amazon is kicking you guys butt!" and he didn't seem to disagree.

The bottom line here is Best Buy has only two things to offer customers that Amazon doesn't. Great individual customer service and in-person viewing and demo'ing of the products. This is versus Amazon's superior prices, larger inventory and vastly superior return policy. When you stop and realize the only thing Best Buy is offering now is simply in-person viewing of products its simply not enough.

I'm not saying I won't be back to Best Buy. The next time I want to see something in person I may just mosie on over to my local Best Buy and check it out. Then I'll go home and order it from Amazon.

See ya Best Buy, we had one heck of a run but I'm afraid it's you, not me..

[kingkilla56]

Ive never had that type of problem with Best Buy. But that kind of stuff happens at alot of stores. Hope you get whatever you intended with that email though!

[ex carrabba fan]

With big stores like this, you're most likely going to get service equivalent to Wal Mart. Going into these types of stores with any expectations is only asking to be disappointed.

[ex carrabba fan]

Just wanted to clarify, ODogg, I totally understand your frustration and if the clerk really left you hanging for 25 minutes then that's pretty astounding.

[Critical Kills]

Quote: Originally Posted by ex carrabba fan

With big stores like this, you're most likely going to get service equivalent to Wal Mart. Going into these types of stores with any expectations is only asking to be disappointed.

I understand, and thus the problem that needs fixed. We should not have those low expectations, especially in March when retail is slow.

Quote: Originally Posted by ex carrabba fan

Just wanted to clarify, ODogg, I totally understand your frustration and if the clerk really left you hanging for 25 minutes then that's pretty astounding.

Thank you, yes they lost at least $60 and possibly more from me. And if that other guy left they lost probably about $600 worth of easy sales.

[SPTO]

I haven't had that problem here, if anything i'm always being asked if I need help LOL! but yeah that's really bad on their part. I wonder if this is indeed a problem with ALL Best Buys or it's particular to a few locations. I can totally understand your frustrations though. I don't know why these people wouldn't be eager to make sales. Isn't all based on commission for the sales people there?

Oh well...Hope you get a reply from the BB executives on this matter.

[Redacted01]

I've never had a problem like this, at Best Buy at least. Have seen something similar at other stores. I've never had to rely on the knowledge of people there as I've always known what I wanted (though people ask me if I need anything) or before smart phones were that common, I'd call up my dad and have him check it out since he was usually at his desk.

Best Buy was extremely helpful when I bought a flat screen a couple of years ago. I drive a Mustang so I was limited to a 42" and had to take it out of the box just to transport it upright. I didn't want to pay 25% of the cost of the TV to have it delivered, and with my schedule at the time, it was difficult anyway. So it did take a bit of time, but they had someone from the back bring bubble wrap and make sure it was safe enough to transport and they said if there was any problems, they'd send someone out to look at it. Now, transport was fine so I don't know if they would have stuck to their word on that or not.

I rarely go now since the closest Best Buy is a good 20-30 minutes away near Wilmington and I usually know what I want, Amazon is faster/cheaper and my schedule is flexible enough that shipping isn't an issue.

[trobinson97]

I've been having that problem lately. Wife says cuz it looks like I'm mad all the time. Was at Best Buy last week, walked around the same area for about 20 minutes waiting on an employee before I decided to go find one since they couldn't find me apparently. They ended up not having what I wanted in stock anyway, got it from Newegg.