Best Buy versus Circuit City

i like best buy better. bigger, more selection, and more likely to offer instant rebates instead of mail-in ones.
 
I'd vote Circuit City as the better of 2 bad choices. Best Buy's pricing policies leave me cold. Reminds me of Chilkoot Charlie's (Alaskan Bar) slogan -
"We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you".

Especially devious is when they "go online" to their website in the store. The site and price you see there is different than the price you'd see from home. Just strikes me as very very sleazy.

When you absolutely positively gotta have it NOW, yea I'm standing there too. Any sort of major purchase - no way.

"All art is a revolt against man's fate."
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Brian - love the tag
 
I worked at best buy for a while and I still prefer them...as stated before I feel they have a larger selection. Also, Pixelated talked about how when they go "online" in their store it is different from at home. That isnt true, they can go onto the normal website or what they call like the in store site which is basically an inventory site for their store and surrounding stores, and the prices do not change on there so they shouldnt be using that for reference points on price.
 
I think I told this story before... but one day I went into Best Buy to get a car stereo (we're talking about 10 years ago now... it was the Bridgeton location. So I'm picking one out... and the guy is standing there explaining the cost to me, including the extended warranty. I say I don't want it... he says "you HAVE to get that"... and I kind of laugh and say "dude, I'm sorry if you'll miss out on the commission or whatever you get for the extended warranty, but I'm not getting it."... so the guy says AND I QUOTE... "I'll bet you a thousand dollars I don't get anything if you get an extended warranty."...

I say "yeah OK dude, you guys push these so hard that you obviously get something. Either the store wins a prize or you get something."

Then the dude starts saying "I'm going to SUE YOU for that thousand dollars if you don't pay me!"

I kind of laugh thinking "is this guy nuts or what?"... and I kind of wave my hand like "dude get out of here, I'm looking at car stereos"...

So the gist is... this guy stays in my face escalating this whole situation... saying (virtually YELLING) that he is going to SUE me for this $1,000.

I was trying to blow him off... but it got ridiculous... so finally I'm yelling back "what the hell is your PROBLEM dude!? Do you want to take this outside?"

And all the guy keeps doing is yelling about how he's going to sue me... so I finally start heading towards the door as the guy is following me... and I tell him to keep following me all the way out the door, because at this point I'm ready to take this wherever he wants to... and the guy won't come outside of the door... so I figure "screw this" and start to just leave... but then decided it was ridiculous to not go tell a manager how WACKY this whole encounter was...

I got the manager... all the while this guy standing there continuing on about the law suit... and the manager is just laughing about how enthusiastic "johnny" was and how "he can get a little carried away about doing his job"...

My jaw was hanging... I was totally STUNNED... it was like a scene from a Jim Carrey movie... to this day I can't believe the whole incident... trust me it was every bit as bizarre as it sounds.


So anyway... these days I don't care either way... I don't think that situation was representative of EVERY Best Buy... but also around that time there were tons of law suits from consumers about bait and switch tactics.

So for me... if Circuit City has it at the same price... I always go there... but if Costco has it FOR EVEN MORE then either CC or BB... then I buy it from Costco. I'll pay $20 more for an item from Costco and still be glad I got it there instead. Costco has FREE 90 day no-questions returns... and some items can be returned at ANY time... meaning free extended warranty.
 
Any more I just avoid both stores like the plague. Maybe go try something out at Best Buy (there's one a lot closer to my house) but then I'll go buy it online. I do however shop at Best Buy when I'm in an impulse buying mood for a DVD or Wii game.

Matt - damn... Never had much luck with the salespeople there either, but thats just crazy.
 
pixelated said:
Especially devious is when they "go online" to their website in the store. The site and price you see there is different than the price you'd see from home. Just strikes me as very very sleazy.
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Holy crap! I thought that only I thought this. I priced a point and shoot camera several years back. I had done my research. I knew exactly what model I was interested in, I knew what price it was in the store, and I knew the online price was considerably cheaper. So, I went in there, this kid approaches me, I point out the camera and it was like $300 bucks or something. I said, "online its $240.00". He says, "well let me check". He checks and of COURSE its on a monitor away from the customers, (he could have been playing Donkey Kong for 3 minutes for all I know) then he comes back with a straight face and says "no, actually, its 310.00 online." In other words, 'buy it here now. its cheaper'. I told him that he's full of it. Its $240.00. I JUST left my home. I saw this exact model. And he said "no. you must have looked at something else". Then I say, "okay. let me look at the site you were looking at to show you." Caught off guard, he then gets defensive and says "well, we couldn't honor a web-price anyway. The Online store is not affiliated to our locations." WHAT?!?!?! I said, "forget it pal" and left.

So yeah, they are wickedly shady.
 
Wow Matt that is crazy. That would have been a good entry for TwilightFest. I have delt with bestbuy quite a bit with a deck camera I have. I bought the 4 year warranty for both, brought the first camera in half a dozen times with problems, got it replaced at the end of the 4 years, and have brought my new one in twice. The warranty was worth it to me, but the hassle of stopping by there when I am so busy is a pain.

They take the camera for a couple weeks, fix it up, and send it to you. In that respect best buy has been good. The salespeople there, I cannot stand dealing with though.
 
I can't believe you told that story, Matt. I stand by my comment that I wouldn't have received any commission on the warranty. Oh, and thanks for trying to protect my identity by referring to me as "johnny".
 
Hehehe

I prefer Best Buy. For one, it is in the River Park area of Fresno (which is closest to where I live, and pretty nice) and for two, I have always had good experiences there. I went to Circuit City once and things were unplugged and somewhat dirty, it wasn't as organized as the Best Buy (not that other CC's aren't). Oh, and also, Best Buy now has a new music center that I checked out yesterday. I found some keyboards I want to buy...oh, if only I could afford them. :)
 
I heard Best Buy had the new music center. How good is it? Do they have a lot of stuff to choose from or is it limited? I might have to make a stop at Best Buy soon just to take a look at that.
 
I only shop online anymore, and go with whoever has what I want in stock. If its brand name, I don't cae about the source. For the real good deals I go to Fry's in Austin.
 
Tom Marshall said:
I heard Best Buy had the new music center. How good is it? Do they have a lot of stuff to choose from or is it limited? I might have to make a stop at Best Buy soon just to take a look at that.
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It is pretty good (at least at mine). Not as big as Guitar Center or something like that but they had two sound proof demo rooms (one with a bunch of guitars and amps and one with drums) and then in the main room they had keyboards galore, synthesizers and even an electric piano. I only wish they had a keyboard room because it would have been easier to hear the true quality of some of the machines.

They did have a lot to choose from, all things considered, including accessories. Take a look at the site if you want to.

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Brian, I don't have a Fry's near me so I couldn't say.
 
Matt -- Is that family-owned electronics store that isn't open on Sunday still around? I can't remember the name (it's only been 14 years), but I always liked that place. Wondered if they survived the big box wars.

In other news, I shop at Best Buy and then order online. I did get our LCD TV at CC last Christmas because they had a stupid-low price on the model I wanted, plus I had my 10% AAA coupon. Otherwise, CC is usually a bust. And while I was excited to have a Fry's around when we moved down here, their return policies left me cold. They automatically give you store credit unless you sit there and argue for a refund. Nice.
 
Never been to a Circuit City, they don't have them out here in the sticks, but my local Best Buy totally sucks ass. I stopped going because nothing I went there for was ever in stock. I get my PC hardware from Newegg, my music from iTunes, and my DVD's from Amazon now.
 
I avoid both places. The only way you get the great "Sales price" is through a mail in rebate, and very rarely have I ever actually received the check. Unlike a used car lot, I can't ever seem to find a salesperson when I need one, and then IF I do, they are clueless. And while I have never had anyone try to force the extended warranty on me like Matt, it is still one more hassle I would rather go elsewhere and avoid the whole drama, even if I have to spend a little more than the advertised savings. If I'm not in a hurry, I will go through NewEgg for most things.
 
When I worked at Circuit City, if you don't fill your quota for extended warranty, you'd get written up. With enough write-ups, you lose your job. So if you don't sell the warranty, you would soon get fired.
 
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