My last trip to Best Buy

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went to Best Buy yesterday to look at cameras. finally got a sales person to acknowledge we were there and he went to find someone to help us. another 5 minutes and a young kid showed up. I told him I wanted to hold a certain camera and he said he couldn't take them off the stand. I asked if he had one in the box. said he couldn't take one out of the box.(this I understand). I told him I hoped he worked on commission and walked out. went to a camera store and had great, knowledgeable, help and got to hold, fiddle with and take one outside to check out the telephoto lens at various distances. will go back there Friday for their sale. end of rant. Lee
 
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We don't have a Best Buy in driving distance. I wish we did. My son says good things about them and I shop there when I visit him.

Sorry for your bad experience. Don't let it ruin the 'whole barrel'. I think the service experience is systematic across the country.

I just went to Lowe's looking for a plumbing probe. Couldn't find it anywhere in plumbing. No one anywhere to ask. Finally asked a cabinet guy to look it up. "Aisle 29 Section 17" was the answer. Looked at section 17, 16, 15...no probe. I looked up and saw a box in the stock area that looked about the right size. The visible label didn't indicate what was inside. There happened to be an 'employees only' ladder near by so I climbed a little ways up it and brought the box down. Sure 'nough...48" plumbing probe. Five were wrapped up inside so I cut it open and took what I needed to checkout. Just another day at Lowes...
 
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My local Best Buy was like that for several years (during and post-covid). Last couple of times I've gone there, a person who seems knowledgeable shows up and understands me when I drop into techno speak, looking for computer parts and such stuff. Locally, maybe they are getting better hires.
 
They have cut their sales staff to below the bare minimum. To add insult to injury the only people they hire are people that think the world owes them a job. Customer service is non-existent.

IMHO, they will not be in business much longer.
 
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All I can say is all the Founders of most retail stores are rolling in their graves. Seldom find any one in retail that has a Clue. Took distributive education in high school and had a job in an upscale mens store. Learned So Much that helped me going forward. Shame and sad the way things are these days….
 
We don't have a best buy in driving distance. I wish we did. My son says good things about them and I shop there went I visit him.

Sorry for your bad experience. Don't let it ruin the 'whole barrel'. I think the service experience is systematic across the country.

I just went to Lowe's looking for a plumbing probe. Couldn't find it anywhere in plumbing. No one anywhere to ask. Finally asked a cabinet guy to look it up. "Aisle 29 Section 17" was the answer. Looked at section 17, 16, 15...no probe. I looked up and saw a box in the stock area that looked about the right size. The visible label didn't indicate what was inside. There happened to be an 'employees only' ladder near by so I climbed a little ways up it and brought the box down. Sure 'nough...48" plumbing probe. Five were wrapped up inside so I cut it open and took what I needed to checkout. Just another day at Lowes...
The Lord helps those who help themselves........ :D
 
In the 90's I bought my first Sony digital camera. The only problem I had with it was it only had a small amount of digital magnification. I took it back and explained my problem to the salesman the to the department manager. They said to return it, problem was I wanted to keep it! My "Suggestion" was they give me a discount on the next model up with good magnification, I pay cash for it and not return either one. My logic is it saved them from having to sell a returned camera, They understood my logic and agreed with me.

I bought 2 new computers from them, The Geek Squad helped my wife set hers up over the phone. When we got to mine, that part of the Geek Squad lives on the West Coast of Panama! When we ran into a snag, he set up an appointment with the in store Geek Squad to take care of me.

When I went to my appointment, all some kid in a Geek Squat tee-shirt wanted to do was, put my new and old computers on a shelf for a week until they got around to looking at them. I refused! I asked for a manager, she came and said I would have to leave the computers. I REFUSED! I said I had an appointment. I paid $193 for tech support, and I want it NOW. So, somebody walked over and ask what the problem was? I showed them what I wanted. It took 15 seconds to hook up another 15 seconds to do the function and 15 seconds to unhook!

I consider the who staff to be fraudulent!

Ivan
 
Hate to hear that.

Though I haven't been there in years, I have bought several items there, including my last camera. I did get to hold it though. It may have been on a cable- can't remember.
Every time I have bought there, the service was great. Had quick service from a kid that knew everything about the item I was buying. And I mean true knowledge in answer to my questions.
I bet Covid caused the decline!
 
went to Best Buy yesterday to look at cameras.



The LAST place to go to buy or look at a camera is Best Buy. The ones local to me are a complete joke for cameras & lenses.

I don't blame the kid for not knowing anything as kids only use cell phones for pics & video these days.

Glad to hear you got one eventually. I would urge you to look at lenses with B&H Photo. Terrific selection, even better prices. As an added plus, they sell used photo equipment at good prices.

Nikon D850 owner here, along with a boatload of lenses. :D
 
If I am looking to purchase an electronic device I will spend time doing in depth research. After I have refined my search and narrowed down my choices I then hand off my findings to my 17 year old tech wizard

He will sift through my findings and say "here's what you want".

I then tap on my magic portal and a truck brings it to my doorstep.

Signs and wonders!
 
If I am looking to purchase an electronic device I will spend time doing in depth research. After I have refined my search and narrowed down my choices I then hand off my findings to my 17 year old tech wizard

He will sift through my findings and say "here's what you want".

I then tap on my magic portal and a truck brings it to my doorstep.

Signs and wonders!


Cameras are different. Lots of varieties in functions, shutter speeds, processer size, quality, etc.

Cameras have to be held & played with, much like a gun, to see if it's a fit or not. Kinda like a woman too............ :D
 
…….
Every time I have bought there, the service was great. Had quick service from a kid that knew everything about the item I was buying. And I mean true knowledge in answer to my questions.
……!

Ditto the one closest to me, but it’s been awhile. The techy geeks we engaged knew their product.
 
If I am looking to purchase an electronic device I will spend time doing in depth research. After I have refined my search and narrowed down my choices I then hand off my findings to my 17 year old tech wizard

He will sift through my findings and say "here's what you want".

I then tap on my magic portal and a truck brings it to my doorstep.

Signs and wonders!

This. Also a tip: look for the grungiest looking skinniest kid with the most piercings-they are the rock stars :D
 
It's unreasonable to expect a clerk at a big box store to be an expert on each of the tens of thousands of gadgets that they sell. If I need an expert on a product, I'll go where they specialize on what I want to buy. I rarely go to the one local to me because local is a 50-mile drive, but purchasing online gives me access to everything they carry, not just what the local store has in stock. And for 99.9% of what I buy, I'm quite capable and comfortable with online research.
 
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