The Consumerist is currently deep into the 2008 Worst Company in America contest, with 16 companies left in the round 3 bracket.
They just posted the third installment of its “Sweet 16” matchup: Best Buy vs Diebold.
Personally, I think Diebold is worse than Best Buy. Not only due to the voting machine fiasco, but to the fact that I’ve dealt with them many times in my prior job and I’ve found that the company couldn’t be more poorly run.
That being said, Best Buy is pretty terrible too. I should know, because I worked there.
My tenure at Best Buy was short, from 2000-2001, and things may have changed since then. (But from reading comments on sites such as the Consumerist, things do not seem much different.)
I was taking a break from school and my mother threw me out on my lazy ass to go get a job. The local mall had just opened a Best Buy few months prior. I loved technology, and I knew quite a few things, even back then. I wanted to learn more and share my knowledge with others…while getting employee discounts, of course. I applied, and I got in.
Best Buy offered paid training. My eyes shone like stars as I imagined all the cool things I would learn about the latest gadgets and technology. I would be given insider info, and all the facts needed to recommend the best product for each customer.
Pshah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt.
The first half of the training period consisted of videos and mini quizzes. History of the company. Sexual harassment policy. Safety rules. Employee benefits.
The latter half of consisted solely of sales techniques and what we should/shouldn’t be pushing.
Not one word on the products.
We were then thrown to the wolves and told to sell.
Salary was not commission-based. We were told to emphasize this fact as to gain the customer’s trust. “Tell them that you won’t make a dime from the product you’re recommending. Tell them that you’re only recommending this product based on their needs and preferences. Just sell something.”
The funny thing is, most large chain stores like Best Buy do not make much money off expensive consumer products. For example, the profit margin on a washer-dryer combo may be as low as 2%. The real money (and profits) come from the extended service plans and accessories, which may be marked up as much as 800%.
Thus it came to no surprise that we would constantly be told to quickly recommend a product, then try our very best to push the accessories and service plans on the customer.
Every three months, a manager would give me an evaluation. “Pretend I’m a customer looking to buy a new stereo system,” he would say. I would then start my spiel while he pretended to play dumb. At the end of the mock sale, he would tell me what I did well and where I needed improvement.
Once again, the evaluation was based solely on my sales technique, not my knowledge of the product.
In fact, most of the employees knew jackshit about our products. If someone was to come into a Best Buy and take away all the yellow labels (with the price and specs) at the bottom of the shelves, I’m pretty certain that the entire store would be filled with blue polo-wearing monkeys scratching their heads in confusion.
However, I have to admit that the employee discounts were pretty sweet. I ended up spending a large portion of my paycheck on new gadgets, CDs (remember those?), and DVDs. And although we weren’t supposed to, I hooked up my friends and family with large discounts on various items.
When the Game Boy Advance was released, moms and full-grown geeks flocked into the store, demanding the latest “it” handheld gaming system. I would answer every phone call with, “Thanks for calling Best Buy. We currently do not have any Game Boy Advance in stock. How can I help you?” People begged me to hide an extra unit for them when the next shipment arrived. I even got yelled at several times.
However, the fervor of the Game Boy Advance was nothing compared to the PS2. I distinctly remember having the 6am-10am shift on launch day. As I drove into the parking lot at 5:45 on that cold, dreary October day, I cringed to see the large crowd that had formed at the front door. I felt like a celebrity as I walked to the store. People shouted, yelled, and even grabbed. They begged me to hold one for them. Some even offered money (I should’ve taken it!). When the store finally opened its doors at 10am they stampeded into the building and 3 minutes later, all the PS2s were gone.
The begging and yelling would ensue for the next few months, and it grew exponentially as Christmas grew near.
And once again, Best Buy didn’t teach its employees a single thing about the Game Boy Advance or the PS2 – the two most popular items at the time. I read up on the gaming systems in my spare time just so I wouldn’t feel like a complete idiot when talking to the customers.
However, they did teach us all about the cool and fun accessories accompanying each system. Oh, and we can’t forgot the extended warranties.
It is precisely for these reasons that I hardly ever ask for help when I walk into tech stores. I always do my research beforehand, and sometimes I even “play” with the employees to test their knowledge. And it’s always amusing to see the employees’ reactions when I ask them a question they can’t answer, and/or I refute their statements with cold, hard facts.
This is the way of the world of retail, and no store is immune. Radio Shack, Circuit City, Apple…yes, even Apple. I’ve had quite a few chuckles overhearing the so-called-specialists describing the products to potential customers.
But I have to admit that Best Buy trumps them all.
Please note the dates of my employment at Best Buy — I worked there over a decade ago! Things may certainly have changed since then, and I have no idea how things work there now, or if the company as a whole or the store that I worked at is running any differently.
I like books, gadgets, spicy food, and art. I dislike shopping, hot weather, and the laws of entropy. Although I am a self-proclaimed computer nerd, I still have a love for handbags and makeup... and I am always teetering on high heels. To learn more about me, visit the 
Hey! Great article and I gladly read your acknowledgment that things may have changed in the past decade. They have. As a current BB employee I assure you that:
– We spend hours a week studying material that covers cutting edge gadgets, computers, tablets, software etc. I work in the Computer department, and I still have to pass tests to show my knowledge on many products across our departments.
– Not only that but (much to my chagrin) our supervisors and managers will pop quiz us on the fly, and
– When corporate reps are in the store they walk up and ask us insanely tough questions. I still get stumped from time to time,
– But my training on our products has resulted in a knowledge base that I honestly believe is exclusive to us Blue shirts.
– We’re still drilled in sales but even those techniques have changed to focus more on customer needs/wants and less on profit margins. It’s a business, profit is still stressed of course, but we recognize that if we drive customers to spend money and don’t display knowledge and care those customers won’t return.
Keep in mind that some employees take these resources more seriously than others and you’re bound to encounter a sales associate who is just there for the paycheck and party, but there are guys like me who like their jobs and their customers too!
Thanks for reading my comment 🙂
Come in some time and pop quiz me!
I beg to differ. Don’t lie because no we don’t spend hours training. To be honest training is a joke still aka so your online quizzes then thrown to the wolves! I take my job seriously but at the same time I came in knowing more than people I work with best buy doesn’t train you also if you ask questions you are looked at liked a burden and my view of this company diminished immediately after I was hired.
I’m not lying, your store may be different from ours, as you have a different manager. Don’t just walk in and accuse me of dishonesty. Your comment reflects poor management at your store if your superiors look at you as a burden for asking questions you probably need to restructure/retrain your management. Please don’t assume I’m lying because your employee experience is different from mine. My supervisors do drill me and corporate in out area is brutal about asking us ridiculous questions on the fly and expecting us to answer.
P.S. Store 0052 must just be awesome, I’m ok with that!
Ditto here Tom. All of that eat best buy now is just normal retail hate. Store 230 keeps up on training as well. Some of tho stench based eLearnings can rock your world.
Yea, i would have to say at my store I work at geek squad, and our managers make us stay up-to-date on technology. Even blue shirts cant hide from that. The e-learnings are based on sales n stuff. they have added more technology stuff in their sales
I don’t know what store you’re from, Tom, but I currently work at best buy too and the only training I received was on how to sell accessories more efficiently, the more expensive ones. Sure there are learning modules, but no one’s got time for those when it’s customers all day every day. And when it comes to reviews, all the managers care about is that you’re making a certain amount in sales (profit margin, GSP, accessories, basket). No one ever mentions customer satisfaction or the high return and exchange rate.
And this new induction thing is a load of bs.
I like helping customers, I like tech, I enjoy seeing people walk out happy and with what they need. But none of that means anything if I’m not meeting the requirements.
Sally,
If you are not getting the training you need, then you need to talk to your manager, if that does not work then go to your district manager. I am a current employee and love working there, but have realized each store is ran different. Training is mandatory and the stores are required under SOP to get behind it. If you are being evaluated solely on numbers then your Supervisor is not following the guidelines for ACR’s. Main focus on there is customer experience. Not numbers. I have worked for 2 stores and both are top tier performers. There is a reason for that. Management/employee engagement. If you have good leadership, this would not have happened. Good luck to everything! I am sorry that you are experiencing that!
what training? I am a bb employee and all that NO EMPLOYEE GOES UNTRAINED IS A LIE!! I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GET TRAINING ON PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE, AS TO MY SURPRISE, NOT A MINUTE OF ANY OF THE SO CALLED TRAINING WAS ON PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE all of the training that I did receive was only on selling selling and more selling. IT gets better the so called HR 800# that we are told is CONFEDENTIAL IS NOT CONFEDENTIAL AT ALL!! I CALLED AND COMPLAINED ABOUT OUR GM AND THE STUPID GIRL ANN (yes I have her last name) CALLED HIM AND TOLD HIM ABOUT THE CALL, I still work at bb for now I need the job, but look everyday but I NEVER WORKED AT A PLACE WERE SO MANY OF IT’S EMPLOYEES ARE UNHAPPY
Chuck-e-cheese employees usually look miserable. Just sayin’ I have to agree with Dave some stores have some big problems and some employees are miserable but not all stores are bad and (again I’m only speaking for my store) the managers and supervisors put customer experience and training first.
Margie, the training is there, you just have to do it. Skill sets and eLearnings can be done off the click at home and you stilL get paid for it. Confidential does not mean they won’t talk to anyone about it. It does mean you won’t be mentioned.
Sally, do you know what NPS is? Are you sure you work at best buy?
Unfortunately nothing has changed. Best Buy is still the same terrible work environment (2013) as you described back in 200-2001. It exactly how you describe it, they do not teach you about the technology, however, they make sure to teach you absolutely everything about their so called “protection plans” and rocketfish accessories (dont get me wrong the accessories are not terrible). Now I could write a dissertation about all the reasons I hate working a Best Buy and why I personally do not recommend it to anyone who is looking for part time work while they are in high school or college, or as a career job for that matter. I have worked 3 different positions for this company, first, I started out as a sales associate mainly selling computers. Now no one trained me about the product and technology, however, just the services that were offered with the product. I then worked project team (rearranging product and place new product on display such as computers and TV’s and any major appliance or product that comes to mind). Even though i was considered “part-time” i traveled across the state and stayed overnight and worked 45+ hours a week, all this while I was taking classes. Point I am trying to make is that the company wants to do everything it can to not shell out benefits. Even if this is a full-time career for people, there is next to no room for advancement, and when you do advance, say good bye to family, social life, and anything else outside of Best Buy for that matter. The only decently compensated position within the company is as a general manager, however, you are working between 60-80 hours per week.
Anyway, I currently work as a warehouse associate. I work under a supervisor that is probably the most unapproachable person i have ever met. For instance, if I have a question about an issue that arises (such as a costumer issue or product that I cannot find because our inventory count is f++cked up) he tells me to figure it out or yells at me for not having already dealt with it. I have never worked harder in my life to manage our warehouse and yet I am constantly talked down too and disrespected by our dickhead of a supervisor. However, this is a chronic problem with the store as well as the company because there is much favoritism among the leadership when it comes to addressing a situation or promotion.
Conclusion, Best Buy is a terrible work environment and I do not recommend it as an option for employment to anyone, part time or full time. The company is focused on achieving number by any means necessary without credit to some hard working employees (and usually credit to lazy ones). From the outside it may seem a like a good option for work, and on paper it is, however, its run by former college drop outs (mostly managers) and people who hate there lives so they feel the need to make it miserable to everyone else in the building.
The store I work at is run just like what is described in this article, actually one of the store managers was demoted recently because his department wasn’t meeting the sales numbers all the time even though he was the best manager in the store. He would be contently running around from department to department helping any customer he could well the rest of the “leaders” stand around or sit in the back of geeksquad and talk, usually personal conversations. Also the Ego surveys for my store always state complaints about our management but nothing has changed same managers with the same crap for at least the last 5 years.
As a current best buy employee, some of the things you mentioned stayed the same, some have changed. They do still push the extended warranty, and now their credit card. But they do provide you will product knowledge, I’ve actually learned a bit. The nice thing is the learning lounge is open, you can do whatever courses you heart desires. My only issue is the fact that some of the people are just lazy. Not team players at all… I enjoy my job, and even tho you’re right about some people not knowing much, with best buy it’s really a matter of you get what you take out of the company. You could grow if you wanted to. Most just choose not to.
where did you get your product knowledge from the learning lounge all (at least 90 %) of the store I work at all the new hires ask when do I get my training? I tell them if your out here on the sales floor you got ur training already and you will continue to get trained on the computer. what, thats right if your out here you already got it BB IS FOS, OUR STORE MNG COMES TO ME WHEN HE SEES ME IN THE MORNING AND ALL HE SAYS TO ME BESIDES GOOD MORNING, OH I WENT OUT LAST NIGHT AND DRANK SCOTCH I DIDN’T GO TO SLEEP UNTIL 4 WHAT MAKES HIM THINK THAT I CAREF
I’m working at Best Buy Mobile, right now, and it seems nothing has changed. Only thing these dipshits care about are sales. They make us watch stupid videos about how customers always come first and how we should best suit their needs but that’s impossible when all the stores have fucking score cards and compete with one another. It’s all about who’s best at attaching warranty, who’s best at scamming the customers and selling tech support without the customer realizing. When they say “best suit the customers needs” they really mean:
– If the customer can’t afford to buy the 3 yr warranty outright ($467) or they don’t have a credit card to pay the warranty monthly ($12.99/month), then don’t sell them a phone at all. Instead what they deserve is a SIM card activation. This way the score card isn’t effected.
Basically, if the customer wants an iphone 5s, and they’re perfectly fine with the shitty overpriced plans, but they don’t have a credit card, we have to find ways to persuade them to get a sim only activation. This way the warranty attach rate won’t go down. (I want to say more but I’m getting tired of typing on my phone)
If that’s true of your store then it is reflective of poor store management. The goal is to service the customer and their needs before all else. If you’re providing less service or options to them because of attachments than that’s a shame on you as the employee. Remember, today’s prepaid customer is tomorrow’s postpaid customer.
Also, if you really feel the plans are a sham, I can understand why you might be having a hard time selling them. The customer only has as much confidence and buy in as you do. If you really feel it’s not worth it, why are you selling it?
Best Buy can kiss my ass. They just let me go today… why? Because my availability wasn’t good enough for them. 8-5 monday-friday? No crap, I have a four month old! Yeah yeah yeah, SOP SOP SOP. Screw their SOP and their knit-picking. The point is, Best Buy will sell you anti-virus you don’t need, GSP you don’t want, and try to give you “rewards” for being an idiot drone. Blah blah blah. There is nothing good about Best Buy.
On Christmas eve, I called Best Buy and asked if they had a Wacom Pro Tablet. I gave them the model number and the price from Amazon. The Best Buy fellow looked it up on Amazon and said he would match the price (so he HAD to know what model etc. I was talking about, right?) I asked if he had these in stock. He said he’d go check. Came back suspiciously fast and said, “Oh, we have a LOT of them in stock!” Ten minutes later, I was in the store, only to find out–predictably–they had ZERO in stock. I called a manager over and told him, “This is why I hate Best Buy, this is why I haven’t shopped her for the past 10 years–but I thought I would give you another chance. And now, this is why I buy everything on Amazon.” He looked suitably abashed. I think he actually cared but he’s working for a bad company. I then related this story to the sales clerk at very next store (Nordstroms) I went to. She said, “Oh my gosh, that exact same thing happened with my parents when they went to buy a TV at Best Buy!” LISTEN UP, BEST BUY. YOU JUST LOST MY BUSINESS FOR LIFE!!! YOUR PHONY SALES TECHNIQUES DON’T WORK. Just because you lured me into the store, KNOWING you did not have the product I wanted, doesn’t mean I’m stupid enough to buy something else from you. Good bye, Worst Buy.
So you shop on Christmas Eve and expect everything to be in stock? And if you were only (“suspiciously”) 10 minutes away, as you claim, why did you call? Why not simply go to the store? Did you receive your tablet from Amazon in time for Christmas??? I guess the $20 you saved by purchasing on Amazon was maybe enough to purchase a pack of Nordstroms Peppermint Gum in the fancy packaging. And “Oh my gosh” the salesperson you talked to also had the same thing happen to her? Nice story lady!!
I worked the seasonal circuit this past year (2013-2014) and it’s basically as described in your article. Training might have improved a bit. I received e-learnings on products, mainly basic knowledge on cameras and appliances. I also received lessons from microsoft and sony for the xbobx one and ps4 to sell the products. Of course the majority of product training was how to attach accessories and Protection Plans. Regardless of training, I felt like I was thrown to the sharks the first week on the floor. A lot of the time I felt stupid because I was sent to departments that I had no training for and I felt guilty trying to pass off fake knowledge to customers. If anyone decides to work for Best Buy I do highly suggest doing lessons and independent research for ALL departments, it is very likely that you will be asked to assist customers in areas that you aren’t familiar with. The pay was actually pretty great for a first time part time position, for the most part it was good because I am bilingual and was asked multiple times to translate. The discounts were great too. In the end I don’t think I would want to work for them again though. The things most stressed to us were numbers, i.e, revenue per hour (and honestly with a goal of $500/hour this is so close to commission I should be getting paid for the amount of stress this caused daily), credit card apps, and percentage of sales that had a protection plan attached. No one really checked up on my knowledge of the products or how many lessons I had completed, but my numbers were always reviewed. I loved working with customers in the departments I was knowledgeable in, but felt like a failure if I didn’t attach accessories and protection plans to sales that were already over a couple thousand. It’s a stressful and almost crook-like work environment, but a job is a job and I needed both the money and experience. I wouldn’t take it back, but I also wouldn’t be happy if I were to work there again.
So can’t even begin to completely explain my problems with this company. My husband was hired for one store, and quickly transfered to another. Once he was hired in Mobile, he told me they were hiring a few people for the busy season. I applied, went in for an interview, and was hired pretty quickly as part time. (not O/S) After completing all my paperwork, drug test, etc I went twice to complete more paperwork. When the hiring manager actually had time for me, she called me into an office, and had me fill out three papers. She then explained that even though I was hired part time, I was actually O/S. So I started about a month before I was supposed to. The training issues are very true. I took a half day of watching videos, and playing multiple choice. Then I was on the floor. The only reason I was taught how to activate phones was because my husband taught me. Most days I was there, I was sent to “host” mobile where you just greet customers. So when my first evaluation came up, I was reprimanded for not selling enough, and not activating enough credit cards, gsp, etc. Through the busiest season I would work approximately 15 hrs per week. Hosting, all the while unable to make a sell. Black Friday came, and again I was asked to host. I was so upset I called the CBG manager above my mobile manager in tears. I was told not to worry, to continue on, and that I was appreciated. Nothing changed. I was Employeed for 4 weeks after black Friday, all the while hosting, all the while getting 10-15 hrs per week. (at my store you received hours based on sells, so I was sol on that with all the hosting). Then in January I abruptly was removed from the schedule, not one week, not two weeks, but three weeks later after my husband, and I asked several times I received a call stating they were not going to keep me past the busy season. I was never late, and never called out. I should mention my husband, and I told our managers at a meeting that I had just found out I was pregnant. They let me go, and even though my husband has the best numbers in the district, now they gave dropped him down to less than 20 hrs per week. He has begged to get more hours, and applied numerous times for full time. (We need the insurance with my pregnancy, and he is a disabled vet) however he keeps getting denied, being told they understand the situation we are in, and eventually he will get full time. (our baby is due in 4 months). This company has been a nightmare. I’d say they want you to sell, and if you do you get rewarded. However in my husbands case this is not true. The managers are horrible. They lie constantly. The day they let me go I checked the opening, and there were two. This was minutes after the manager told me on the phone he was so sorry to do this, but they had to keep up numbers, and would be letting many people go. I later found out I was the only new hire that was let go. Everyone that was hired with me was kept on. I was also the only one who never called out, and was 15 minutes early to every shift. I was also the only employee in the store that found out they were pregnant… I’m sure they let me go for that reason, however no one will ever be able to prove that.
I will never shop with them again. I will be erratic when my husband can finally leave that POS company. I will also throw a party if the company ever goes bankrupt.
Hmmmm….I am really confused at most of your comments. One comment states he doesn’t recommend Best Buy as a place of employment yet he has been there for multiple years and has worked in 3 different areas? If you hate it so much then leave. As for all the people, including the author, Best Buy isn’t a non-profit organization. They have bills to pay so they need to make money just like any other company. What company have you ever heard of that doesn’t have any margin on what they sell? This is ridiculous. Yeah, their accessories are priced higher but when did it start being a bad thing that consumers pay for service? And protection plans?? Do you know how many people complain and get upset when their product goes down and isn’t covered by manufactures warranty? I will agree that a lot of employees couldn’t do much without the tags, but whose fault is that?? It definitely isn’t Best Buy’s. They provide all of the necessary tools to learn about product knowledge, they even have positions that are focused solely on training on product knowledge. Employees that are only there for a paycheck and couldn’t care less about the customer doesn’t take that time to learn, instead they screw around the sales floor and treat it as such. People are not “demoted” or “disciplined” in any way for not hitting certain numbers. They are trained to hit such numbers, and if they aren’t doing their job in offering then that is when they are disciplined. Seems to me like you were one of these people that didn’t care about the customer and was only there for the discounts and a paycheck.
So basically you’re telling me that you stood beside me the whole time, and watched me, and none of this ever happened?
I can promise you it did. Maybe where you are from, or the best buy you were employees with is a better place. I have heard stories of other locations having “wonderful” management, and being “a great place to work”. This unfortunately was not the case at this store.
Yes in fact we did get “disciplined”, and “reprimanded” for not meeting sales. We were told by two separate managers in multiple meetings that if we did not meet a certain quota we would have our hours taken away, and those hours would be given to the people who were making the numbers. Also yes the training was exactly as I have stated at this store. A few hours of honest training, and then push, push, push to make sales. Sale phones, sale tablets, sale credit cards, sale gsp, sale accessories. You name it. Plus you were required to try, and put screen protectors on, with no training, transfer information, with no training, briefly explain gsp, and NEVER under any circumstances were you to mention that anything wrong with their phone under gsp was an immediate $150. The customer left thinking they pay their $10 a month, and if the phone broke, we fixed it for free.
So yeah, my husband transferred stores to be a bit closer to home, once. Not three times like you stated. Yes I worked there for a few months being asked to “greet” customers, having my hours cut because as a “greeter” you don’t sell, and then finally being told I was a seasonal employee when I was literally looking at my paperwork from HR that stated I was part time.
Didn’t care about customers? Only there for a paycheck… Hmmmm after the drive to the “closer” store, and the money I paid my parents to feed my kids, I was just the negative. So I highly doubt I was there for pay. However please go ahead, and tell the world how you know me personally, and how my husband, family, and I are completely full of it. I guess I’ll talk to you about it at the next family reunion.
First lets straighten something out:
You were hired as a sales associate, yet you complain that he company kept tally of your sales. Also, best buy is not shy about being a pay for performance employer. They actually state that on their hr site.
The proper term you were looking for is sell, not sale. I know they sound the same, but we are governed not by Ebonics but by grammar.
With the bbym contracted phone geek squad plans the company has listed in sop that you MUST tell the customer about the 149.99 service fee.
And finally, I don’t know how horrible your now unemployed mobile manager was, but we were required to be trainer properly on how to install shields, or take them to a geek squad agent who was. And as far as transferring data. You plug in a phone, select the carrier and device. Then you follow THE NUMBER INSTRUCTIONS SPECIFIC TO THE DEVICE. I believe kindergarten trained you to follow steps 1-4. Or am I mistaken?
Working at Best Buy I put a lot of effort into learning more about products and will even look at customers for wisdom. I’m not afraid to say, “I don’t know” but I do like what I do. What I don’t like is even though we’re allowed to take “no” as an answer to things like extended warranties, accessories and cross sales we’re secretly not allowed to. I worked 4 hours so far this month and I checked my GSP % and had a bit over 2% and checked it today it dropped to .86% without me doing anything. I feel like I have to beg for people to get the warranty or else I’m going to get a write up at the end of this week for poor performance. And with people being so money conscious no one really wants to give up their personal information for a credit card. I feel like I’m more concerned about numbers than the happiness of customers, and I’m going to let it be known on my evoice.
I agree with Tom the best buy I work at constantly drills me on current technology, and because I love the best buy I work at I take the extra incentive to do all e-learnings I can possibly do, I spend countless hours researching products. I want to work in IT for any major corperation like intel or AMD. So I am using Best Buy as the perfect opportunity to soak up everything I can. I work for Geek Squad at the moment and all the extra time I put into e-learnings and all my research has paid off a lot. Simply put you only get so far with the effort you put into stuff. I have learned that a lot in life and all the effort and time I have spent getting “ahead” in traing and research has paid off greatly.
Yesterday I went to best buy to get some new Samsung Galaxy s5 phones on Verizon, I had $320 in best buy card. Waited a while for a salesperson to take my order. I asked about the 1 gb per phone sale that Verizon has for new phones. She knows nothing about it, she asked a coworker he says that’s only for new contracts (thats a lie) She Immediately tries to sell me on the Verizon edge plan trying to tell me I will save all this money. Well I did my research online and know its not a good deal if you only need 2 phones and less then 10 gb’s of data. I could tell she was not pleased with me. She then tried to sell me on the geek squad protection and I refused she shakes her head at me. (look If something happens I know how to take apart a phone and fix it. I replaced the screen on an I phone twice changed the battery out and an Antenna and it continued to work just fine). I refused accessories as well those are very overpriced at most if not all brick and motor stores).
Well the rest of the transaction she rushed the sale and got me out of there I check Verizon online she set me up on the nationwide plan instead of share everything which would have cost me $6.00 more a month and the data wasn’t shared in addition both phones were eligible for the extra gb of data for 2 years. I went on online chat with verizon and they fixed it all.
I would just like to say that your experience as a Best Buy employee greatly depends on the store management and atmosphere. I love my job at Best Buy. They let me be extremely flexible with my schedule with no questioning, I am constantly acknowledged for my hard work, and get rewarded path to excellence points each time I do exceptional in a certain selling area. I feel like I can approach any manager in the store about a problem or concern I have, and know that they will listen, and try to help me to the best of their ability.
It is true that services and accessories are constantly pushed, but as stated in a comment above, this is a business trying to make a profit like any other business, and services and applications is Best Buy’s technique.
As far as product knowledge goes, there’s really not any person-to-person training… but that’s why we have a million e-learnings on almost every single product out there (which nobody ever takes their e-learnings anyway). There are so many different products and features that it would be very costly and almost impossible to train each new employee. The best way to gain knowledge on different products is to watch other sales associates who are experienced in selling the particular product.
i currently work for best buy in Maryland and have been working here for around 6 months now and all of these hate comments i am reading on people saying that nothing has changed is completely uncalled for and ignorant for that matter. like stated above there is TONS of training you can do as an employee to learn more and more about product knowledge, you are even PAID 2 hours a week to go on to the learning lounge and do as much elearning as you’d like, even then when i was hired i had 155 elearnings to complete ALL of them on product knowledge and information like Tom said only us blue shirts know about televisions, video games, preorders of games how the game plays, more and more videos on cameras stats on all what those stats mean, the list is never ending. and if i ever feel like i do not want to know something i can ask a supervisor for the answer and not only will they praise me for asking but give me an extravagantly in depth response diving deeper into the question so that i will know even more than i asked for.
Simply put if you hate working for Best Buy then GTFO, chances are nobody at your job even likes you if your stay is that terrible, probably because you’re an ignorant individual who clearly can not retain any information and hence why you annoy people when you ask for help, probably because you’ve asked the same question a thousand times in a pay period.
I use to be a Rep in Best Buy, we had been brought in to help train the BBY staff on the products but there are several GM’s out in the BBY world that do not want any 3rd party reps in the stores because they run the store like their personal franchise. Every time we would try to train anyone of the BBY staff the GM would interrupt and state that they were not paid to talk to us. Even though that was part of our contract with BBY. So to be honest BBY training is lapse and the staff doesn’t know what they are doing. They are just told to sell sell sell and they do not know what they are selling when it comes down to it. That is why the major companies sent out reps to help with bring up bby’s very low customer service numbers. But when you have morons as GM that harass the reps and ban them from the stores for doing their jobs or making up bs complaints to keep them out of the stores it leave you the bby staff at fault for not knowing anything about the products you sell. There are even GM that push dress codes on the reps that are not even enforced on the bby staff ie tattoos, body piercings ect. I had even herd that a Rep was banned from a BBY over a belt buckle and wallet chain all because the GM wants all 3rd party reps out of his store. What made it even worse is the GM did this 2 weeks after the reps father passed away.
Hi.
My husband started the job in bestbuy 2 months ago.he was on a probation period.his performance was out standing.he was in mobile section.he use to sell 4 to 5 phones a day.he also work around the different areas in the stores.
Suddenly his manager called and told him that he is fired because he don’t fit into bestbuy criteria. He told very rudely to leave and didn’t allow him to punch out even.
But they didn’t gave any reason to fire him.inspite of his gud performance and customer service he got fired by some bully managers. Is that what bestbuy is.
If they don’t care for the employee then y the he’ll they care for the customer
Sorry to hear about all of your stores being so rough except for a few. I’ve been at best buy in Missouri for just under a year now and I love it. Some of your stories sound like you don’t give it what others have. I gave as much as I could while going to school and traveling in the reserves and I still have been taught more than I could of ever imagined. I don’t know what department any of you are in either but I’m in home theater and as you know that’s basically 75% of the store. Our managers make sure we are happy and pumped up to work and be in the store every time we walk in. If something’s going on they actually talk to us. Also seems like any of you complaining about best buy have rough managers. If you aren’t happy leave and make room for someone that will be. You have the majority control on how you are treated / how your time at best buy is. I know a few that complain at my store and they are the crap employees . Not saying you all are but in my situation that’s how it is. Best buy is an amazing place and if you just make the customer happy that’s all you should worry about.
I worked for BB in Florida. After writing in the e-survey that the only possible way to get promoted was to either drink or sleep with a manager, I was harassed until I quit. Meanwhile my supervisor worked less than 20hrs a week, even though her publish timecard showed overtime every week. She was “dating” her way to a new position every few years and relocating on Best Buy’s dime, so no big deal, I just tell anyone I meet about a terrible Best Buy experience. Eventually I will cost them money, because the company promotes sexist jerks!
Best Buy sucks ass
shittiest management I have met in my life
Yea not many of us blue shirts memorized the stuff about items. It was a pointless task that frustrated you when another product came along with new features.
I did my two weeks in mid December and started a new job Jan 2.
My experience with this company was a 6 on a scale from 1 to 10. It wasn’t bad and it wasn’t great. At first I was super Gunn Ho about the venture. I even enjoyed the free food from black Friday events, and the market training was the best. I also enjoyed the discounts they were great. People who I worked with were a wonderful lot. I got along well with everybody. After 2 yrs the blk fri,and holiday season became a hassle. What tore me up was telling my family and friends that I couldn’t spend thanksgiving because bby had started blk fri early. I began a downward spiral of resentment towards the company because of this. 2 yrs later I couldn’t take it any longer and luckily found another job at a law firm.
I don’t have any regrets leaving and nor do I have any resentments toward the company.
Bby is retail and retail in its natural form sucks. It’s just how it is. The company isn’t perfect but it’s better off than alot of others.