Best Buy: The customer is always right? Not anymore

You pay $10.00 per year. You get points for every penny spent. Once you have achieved 12,500 points ($125.00) you get a $5.00 gift certificate. It doesn't sound like much BUT, if you make a big purchase, it's a nice incentive. You can also get credit for purchases your friends and or family make if they don't have a card.

For example, I spent around $2000 on a computer and stuff. I bought the reward zone card at that time for $10.00 and got $80.00 in gift certificates.

My parents spent around $800.00 on a TV, stand, etc. They gave me a copy of their invoice and I emailed the invoice number and various details to Best Buy and I received Reward Zone points and got $30.00 in certificates.

 

I top very well, and I'm apparently sometimes one of these customers sometimes, at least according to the guy who runs Best Buy. If I dare try to get information out of a sales associate and then don't buy right away, I'm a bad customer that Best Buy wants to get rid of. Shopping around is BAD!

You pay $10.00 per year. You get points for every penny spent. Once you have achieved 12,500 points ($125.00) you get a $5.00 gift certificate. It doesn't sound like much BUT, if you make a big purchase, it's a nice incentive. You can also get credit for purchases your friends and or family make if they don't have a card.

For example, I spent around $2000 on a computer and stuff. I bought the reward zone card at that time for $10.00 and got $80.00 in gift certificates.

My parents spent around $800.00 on a TV, stand, etc. They gave me a copy of their invoice and I emailed the invoice number and various details to Best Buy and I received Reward Zone points and got $30.00 in certificates.

So is this going to end up like the supermarkets and their "value" cards where the prices increase to cover the costs of the program meaning you end up spending more for the same stuff that you otherwise would have before the program?

 

I suspect that remains to be seen. Thus far, Best Buy continues to have reasonable prices for the things I shop for as compared to other brick and mortar establishments.

 

BEST BUY SUX

 

In my business class the term "costumer is allways right" doesn't refer to the customer doing whatever he or she wants. the term "customer is allways right" means that if the demand for a product is high, then you as a store have to have that product in store at all times. It doesn't mean that the customer can walk all over you as a store and tell you they're right all the time.

 

I don't think it was ever supposed to mean that the customer can walk all over the store. There are reasonable limits to everything.

But one thing that has pretty well borne out is that you have to offer something that will get them to go to your store over another store. Whether that's the selection, or the store experience or the friendliness or knowledge of the sales associates or something else, if the customer doesn't like how you do business, you'll fail no matter how right you think you are.

I suspect that remains to be seen. Thus far, Best Buy continues to have reasonable prices for the things I shop for as compared to other brick and mortar establishments.

That's often true, though they did raise their DVD prices late last year and aren't putting them on sale as much as they used to. So, some prices are higher than they once were.

It just amazes me that the grocery stores can get away with not only getting people to give up private information about themselves (that could be used against them at a later point) in exchange for higher prices. That doesn't seem like a good deal, but people do it for some reason (though it may not be a coincidence that Albertsons lost their market share leadership in the Dallas area soon after initiating their card system to a store that doesn't have "value" cards).

 

First off, 'the customer is always right' is a load of crap. In fact, in most instances where the customer breaks out this line they are probably, horribly wrong.

Second, Best Buy is a bad example (and only one such used in the article), since their customer service seems somewhat subpar by even normal standards. (Though I have to admit their tendency to not bother me very much does have its merits).

But I can understand businesses getting fed up with part of their customer base. It's amazing how many dense people there are who still believe they are 'always right', or how many people make it their life mission to 'cheat the system.'

Thing is...BB can afford to ignore these customers for a long time. I'm not surprised that they are just now getting around to this. With their somewhat consistent prices and pure bulk of merchandise, they are like a Wal Mart chain. They have, until now, just let the 'bad customers' go about their practices.

Smaller companies, with smaller stores, have seen the 'bad' on a much more frequent basis. And many of them have already put different policies into place to try and fend them off.

 

This just sounds like a step toward closing the doors at Best Buy.

Walmart is expanding their electronics department as we speak.

Best Buy, bye bye.

 

I just don't see how asking questions of sales people and then shopping around is being a bad customer. Why are you only a good customer if you buy right then?

If that's an issue, don't have sales associates at all.

I can understand having things in place to keep people from cheating (limitations on returns for refund, limitations on rebates - though rebates are something of a scam on the part of the store, so it's really only fair that some people take advantage since the store sometimes uses rebates to take advantage of the customer - and so on). It's silly to let someone cheat you, but that's different than saying that someone who asks for help and then doesn't buy right away is a bad customer or someone who only comes in to buy things on sale is a bad customer. May not be a customer who maximizes profits for the chain, but I don't think they are customers that need to be gotten rid of.

 

I think you're misunderstanding what they're singling out.

Notice the 'never'. There's nothing wrong with coming in and shopping around and deciding against something. But 'ties up' and 'never buys' are the keys here. That's the minority number they are talking about.

It happens a lot. People who, for some reason, never intended on buying anything...but tie up workers regardless. And then they do it again and again and again... every time they come in.

Strange, but true.

 

Yes but Walmart sells only the CDs they want and only sell edited versions of expicit CDs. Try looking for "Rock Against Bush" at Walmart and you probably won't find it. Ok bad example, but any explicit cd will be edited, and lets be honest, most CDs this days are explicit. I agree that Walmart's a good and cheap place to buy electronics, but I don't think it's their right to censor CDs.

 

Well, the CD industry can't carry a store that sells everything from Mobile to Major electronics...

And I was kinda kiddin'.

btw- don't the artists or their record labels & studios edit the CD's?

Also... in sales we called the customer that "ties up" the sales staff, and "never" buys, a "student."

The "student" gets a free education and spends the money elsewhere, kinda like going to college "A" and paying at college "B" for the degree.

The real issue is the sales staff. A lousy sales training will earn you lots of lost sales to college "B" - whereas the trained sales person will get the "diploma" from that person, i.e. the sale.

When I was in sales we could spot the "just looking.... but can you tell me something?" crowd from a mile away.

This article is just wording it wrong... What they're probably doing is more training.

If they really mean they're going to basically run these types off, then they will eventually go belly up.

EVERY consumer, that's all of us, has this streak in us at first. Some are longer on the streak though, and it can be frustrating... especially to a 17-20 year old, zitsoid, kid with no real sales technique or training. Not every sales person is a natural, and even naturals should learn the art of the sale.

 

And yet, without a detailed customer tracking system, Best Buy couldn't possibly know whether those customers ever purchased. They say 'never', but without a tracking system all they could possibly know would be customers who didn't buy right then.

And it may be the sales staff not knowing anything about the product that prevents these sales rather than it just being tire-kickers. If the sales associate can't answer the questions, it would be harder to close the sale. But Best Buy chooses to blame the customer.

I know I tried to purchase a laptop one time and couldn't get anyone who was able to answer my question (and when buying a laptop, you have to have sales help since they have to get them from the back rather than having a stack of 'em at the display), so I didn't end up buying from them. Best Buy says that makes me a bad customer and blames me for that transaction failing to happen, apparently, when it was entirely the sales staff not being able to tell me the most basic things about their product and not wanting to spend the time to allow me to purchase their product that caused the problem.

And people who only take advantage of sales, while not the most profitable customers, are not bad customers. They're still buying, and probably most of the time, aren't doing anything to tax the store staff or resources.

Yes but Walmart sells only the CDs they want and only sell edited versions of expicit CDs. Try looking for "Rock Against Bush" at Walmart and you probably won't find it. Ok bad example, but any explicit cd will be edited, and lets be honest, most CDs this days are explicit. I agree that Walmart's a good and cheap place to buy electronics, but I don't think it's their right to censor CDs.

While I know this is the case, Wal-Mart still sells a massive amount of CDs. One thing that did surprise me when I was in a Wal-Mart yesterday buying some RCA cables and making sure they weren't on sale so I wouldn't be accused of being a bad customer for taking advantage of sales was that the Wal-Mart had the unrated versions of DVDs like Bad(der) Santa and Eurotrip alongside the rated versions. I thought that was weird given their stance toward not selling explicit CDs.

 

Not true. Like IROC said, training is a big part of it. You can spot these folks from a mile away...often because you've seen them before. Sometimes they are just plain regulars that employees who have been around for awhile know on sight. It's just what they do.

I think IROC has the idea of it down pretty solid.

And, like I said, you're focusing too much on one example. Best Buy is a bad one because their customer service isn't exactly ideal. But then again they can afford to I guess, since they are such a popular chain.

Really, this is nothing new. And a lot of the smaller chains/stores have already put different types of policies into place.

 

With the high turnover at my Best Buy, I don't know how they could possibly track them even through the sales associates. I'm sure there are people who are just tire-kickers, but you can't tell them from the people who shop around and buy later without tracking them. Nor can you know whether the reason they didn't buy is because of the sales staff or something within the store experience itself. Yet, the article was about firing those customers.

And that doesn't address how people who only buy sale merchandise are also bad customers Best Buy wants to fire.

I've never heard any other chain say they want to get rid of me because I buy stuff on sale (and I only go into Circuit City, for example, when they have something on sale) or because I want to shop around.

I don't understand why Best Buy wants to turn their stores into a used car lot.

The thing is Best Buy is doing quite well the way they've been doing business. Why they would even consider changing the shopping experience to turn at least some customers off is beyond me. It's playing with fire, and it makes me glad I don't own stock in that company.

It reaks of arrogance. The whole we can afford to get rid of customers who dare just buy things on sale or who dare ask questions and don't buy right away or don't buy from us (for whatever reason) and dare interrupt the valuable standing around not helping people time the sales associates are usually involved in is just asking to be taken down a peg.

As a former marketing professional, this is something we would never have done at any place I've ever worked.

Just a question, though, how can you tell a tirekicker on sight? By the clothes they wear (is that why I had to buy my laptop elsewhere because I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt?) Is that why I have had trouble buying cars? I walked into the Audi dealership wanting to pay cash for an A4 a few years back, and I couldn't get anyone to help me originally. Several Nissan dealerships lost sales because I had to stand around too long waiting for someone to help me. That laptop sale was lost because no one would help me.

Is that how you tell them? Because you may well be turning away more customers than you realize if you assume someone is a tirekicker when he isn't.

And there are many times I just look at stuff that I'm planning to buy in the future. Granted, I generally don't talk to the sale people (because if I want answers, it takes asking someone who knows. That's rare in sales associates in many of these stores, and I also don't want to interrupt their valuable standing around doing nothing time), but there have been many times when I was in Best Buy (probably buying at least one DVD that was on sale, horrible customer I am) when I took a detour to check out the various things in the store that I'm probably going to purchase in the not-too-distant future - televisions, stereo equipment, whatever - and just seeing what is available for what price.

Can a sales associate know not to waste their time on me then (since you can see them coming a mile away, we'd be talking about before I said "I'm just looking" if asked) vs. when I am trying to actually buy something?

Heck, Best Buy has already lost at least one sale since this article came out because I purposely didn't go buy my South Park: Season 4 set there this week. And I've gone out of my way to tell a friend of mine who is pricing washer & dryer sets since she's planning on making a purchase in the next couple of weeks not to go to Best Buy. And I've been a regular customer of Best Buy for some time and spent a good deal of money there (both my current televisions, both my DVD players, both my VCRs were bought there, along with at least $2,000 worth of DVDs), but I don't like the implication that I'm a bad customer because I bought one of those TVs on sale (and didn't buy anything else that day there) and sometimes look around without buying anything.

So, I'm done with 'em. And I'm done with 'em right around the time I'm looking to replace my laptop, am considering a larger TV, need a new DVD player for my room and have a friend looking for a washer/dryer (and I'm especially not going if they are going to start invading their customer's privacy by asking for a telephone number to buy anything).

 

I realize they were trite and their 15 minutes is up, but does the rest of the music industry really hate Gavin Rossdale that much...? I thought it was just me.

 

Reading some of the stories on there, I would've "fired" many of those customers myself. While there are some legitimate stories where I don't blame the customer for being upset, there were many that were like "I didn't follow the rules, and now I'm mad because they do follow the rules."

I was reading about someone being mad that Best Buy wouldn't take a return past their stated 30 day return period. I saw one where the guy was complaining about some CD player or something not working, but not returning it until after the 30 days are up. And another that was talking about a problem with a computer that showed up nine months after purchase.

Personally, I would never have considered trying to return something that far after the fact. Nor would I have attempted to return something without the box like someone else talked about doing.

But I didn't see those "demon" customers mentioned in the article, only those of us who buy on sale or shop around are on Mr. Anderson's hit list.

 

1. You're still only focusing on Best Buy.

2. Best Buy doesn't buy into the 'firing' customers theory. (Says so in the article)

3. They are going to take different approaches to 'limit' or 'diminish' the most costly customers. Something they - and lots of retail companies - already do.

You just don't realize it.

Nobody is going to kick you out of a store when you come in during a sale, or if you don't purchase when about to leave. I don't think you're taking the point of the practices the way they are intended.

Well, of course they aren't going to tell you.

You are taking it all entirely the wrong way. From what I can read of the personal experiences you've posted...you're not the 'demon customer' they are talking about. You're just a regular customer.

Now, the folks on that 'Best Buy Sux' thing? Much more common...and the problems most retail chains are actually worried about.

 

My concern is multi-fold, though. One, I like the way Best Buy has done business. I don't want them to, for example, quit putting things on sale because they don't like people who simply buy stuff on sale (or start requiring a person buy something else to get a sale or require someone to give away their personal information to take advantage of a sale).

And, more importantly, I don't want it to become more difficult to get help from a sales associate when needed. I don't want to talk to them most of the time, but on those occassions that it's impossible to buy without them (my laptop experience, for example), I don't want them to not help me because I'm dressed a certain way and may look like a tirekicker rather than a regular customer (and I assume there are times when sales associates think of me as a tirekicker on first glance. I recall when I bought my digital camera, the clerk acted like I was really putting him out to be asking questions about the camera until I said "I'll take it". It sure seemed like his assumption was that I wasn't a legitimate customer, and if there had been anyone else in the store... or if he could've found another associate to talk to in order to avoid me, I wouldn't have been able to buy the camera).

At any rate, I wrote to Mr. Anderson letting him know that, at the very least, he worded his statements in a way that could be construed as Best Buy not wanting customers who end up spending a good deal of money in their store and who couldn't possibly be costing their store money (Yes, I'm often not maximized as a customer by sometimes just buying the sale item, but the vast majority of the time, I keep my head down and my mouth shut and just buy, usually even paying cash, which makes for a slightly larger profit for them since they don't have to pay the credit card merchant fee).

And, because of his direct quotes, they've already lost some sales, and I will be wary of stepping into their store in the future even though I've not had a single truly bad experience in a Best Buy myself beyond not being able to buy a laptop from them (other than their occassionally not having what I wanted to buy in stock, but that's been rare, and that's not the sort of thing to get worked up about unless it becomes a regular thing).

 

As I read more and more on that site, I'm becomming more and more convinced that's a parody site. Surely no one really refuses to shop at Best Buy anymore because they wouldn't cash a rebate check in their store or complains because they got a $50 gift card as a premium instead of a crappy chair that probably wasn't even worth $50.

It sure seems like 75% of the problems are related to the service plans Best Buy sells (with another 20% in people trying to return things after the return period had run out). I've never bought one of those service plans myself.

Seems to also be a lot of problems with the Best Buy computer technicians. I would never have dealt with them, either, since I wouldn't bother trying to get them to install or fix anything (As easy as it is to install a second hard drive, for example, or to install software on your computer, I can't imagine paying Best Buy money to do that for you).

If it was just people like that Mr. Anderson was talking about (though many of the complainers were probably very profitable considering so many of them bought those expensive and often worthless service plans), then I probably don't have anything to worry about.