Best Buy, Your Biggest Asset Is Your Sales Associates.
This past Christmas at our house included a lot of electronic toys for overgrown kids. Car stereos were the big ticket item for three of the four members of our household. We did some comparison shopping, looking for high quality brands that had all the features important to each of us.
We ended up spending a lot of time at Best Buy. The store is, in a word, unimpressive. Christine and I both wanted a very high end stereo with GPS, that was both blue-tooth and Sirius Satellite-ready. There were none in stock (aside from the demo model) at the store with which we chose to do business, based on its location. We needed two, but no worries, there were more on order, and the shipment would be in well before Christmas. Needless to say, the units that were due to arrive tomorrow, always tomorrow, never did. I managed to find the stereo at another Best Buy, but there was only one.
So skip to January. Chris has her stereo, with all the bells and whistles she wanted, and it's installation day. I have a different stereo, having decided that I didn't really need or want anything that complicated, and Angelina has her unit, which was exactly what she wanted. Chris's installation is belaboured by the need for umpteen "extras" that are not sold with the stereo, and which, of course, are all out of stock. She leaves with the basics in place, only to arrive at home to find that two of three cords are missing and the one cord in place is the wrong one.
Angelina's stereo went in without a hitch, except that she has to wait for her Sirius Satellite add-on, which is, of course, on back order. Mine too. I'm okay with that, I have an i-Phone that gives me thosands of songs from which to choose.
All-in-all, Best Buy was a clusterfuck. There were angry people complaining (rightly) about false advertising...extremely low sale prices with only two or three of the sale items per store. Angry people complaining about the fact that items had been on back order for weeks. Angry people complaining about the lack of selection.
One thing I noticed was the very small number of angry people complaining about customer service from the sales associates. With good reason. These (mostly) young adults were literally run off their feet. We dealt with a young man named Jayke at the Coquitlam Best Buy. He was polite, friendly, knowledgeable and very good at his job. He answered our myriad of questions patiently, he made suggestions, helped us come to decisions and tried as hard as he could to make amends for the fact that his workplace seems intent on frustrating the hell out of consumers.
I also dealt with a young man named Michael at the Cambie Street Best Buy. He was as dedicated to his job as Jayke, and although he couldn't meet all my electronic needs, it certainly wasn't for a lack of trying. Michael was totally frustrated that customers had to wait for long periods and then often couldn't find what they wanted.
So to Jayke and Michael, thanks. And since I know they won't be reading my blog, I have sent thank you letters to them via their respective stores. It's something I always do when I have good experiences with retail sales associates. God knows they are woefully underpaid, and most put up with shit from all sides. I'm not sure why so many people feel it is acceptable to be abusive to those in the service industry, but sadly it's true.
Best Buy, I doubt we'll be shopping at any of your stores in the future, but if we do, it'll be because of people like Jayke and Michael.
We ended up spending a lot of time at Best Buy. The store is, in a word, unimpressive. Christine and I both wanted a very high end stereo with GPS, that was both blue-tooth and Sirius Satellite-ready. There were none in stock (aside from the demo model) at the store with which we chose to do business, based on its location. We needed two, but no worries, there were more on order, and the shipment would be in well before Christmas. Needless to say, the units that were due to arrive tomorrow, always tomorrow, never did. I managed to find the stereo at another Best Buy, but there was only one.
So skip to January. Chris has her stereo, with all the bells and whistles she wanted, and it's installation day. I have a different stereo, having decided that I didn't really need or want anything that complicated, and Angelina has her unit, which was exactly what she wanted. Chris's installation is belaboured by the need for umpteen "extras" that are not sold with the stereo, and which, of course, are all out of stock. She leaves with the basics in place, only to arrive at home to find that two of three cords are missing and the one cord in place is the wrong one.
Angelina's stereo went in without a hitch, except that she has to wait for her Sirius Satellite add-on, which is, of course, on back order. Mine too. I'm okay with that, I have an i-Phone that gives me thosands of songs from which to choose.
All-in-all, Best Buy was a clusterfuck. There were angry people complaining (rightly) about false advertising...extremely low sale prices with only two or three of the sale items per store. Angry people complaining about the fact that items had been on back order for weeks. Angry people complaining about the lack of selection.
One thing I noticed was the very small number of angry people complaining about customer service from the sales associates. With good reason. These (mostly) young adults were literally run off their feet. We dealt with a young man named Jayke at the Coquitlam Best Buy. He was polite, friendly, knowledgeable and very good at his job. He answered our myriad of questions patiently, he made suggestions, helped us come to decisions and tried as hard as he could to make amends for the fact that his workplace seems intent on frustrating the hell out of consumers.
I also dealt with a young man named Michael at the Cambie Street Best Buy. He was as dedicated to his job as Jayke, and although he couldn't meet all my electronic needs, it certainly wasn't for a lack of trying. Michael was totally frustrated that customers had to wait for long periods and then often couldn't find what they wanted.
So to Jayke and Michael, thanks. And since I know they won't be reading my blog, I have sent thank you letters to them via their respective stores. It's something I always do when I have good experiences with retail sales associates. God knows they are woefully underpaid, and most put up with shit from all sides. I'm not sure why so many people feel it is acceptable to be abusive to those in the service industry, but sadly it's true.
Best Buy, I doubt we'll be shopping at any of your stores in the future, but if we do, it'll be because of people like Jayke and Michael.
posted by Alphamutt at 7:40 PM
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