SchnappM wrote:The CDs in Best Buy are in alphabetical order, by genre, so it's not really like I need someone who works there to guide me around.

That's fine, if you know exactly what you're looking for. If you're on a search for something that you're not exactly sure of, or something that you'd like an educated opinion of - you're screwed.

Example of a situation that came up recently at a local record store with an educated and capable (if sometimes smug) staff: I was searching out a copy of Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle", and was not sure which of the four or so versions would be to my liking. Since I trust the background and opinions of the staff they were able to direct me based on, recording style, artist, language (sung in Hungarian or German), and performance quality. This was helpful, as making a choice by myself would have been an educated shot-in-the-dark at best.

I suppose this type of thing doesn't matter much if you're just out buying a pop CD, but for those who dig a little deeper into jazz or classical it's very helpful to have good, knowledgeable staff, who know where to get things not in stock and find things that you may not be completely sure of.

Best Buy cannot serve this market at they are out to move large volumes of the flavor-of-the-moment and could care less about customer satisfaction or loyalty.

And they are SUCH fetid steaming CRAP as a result....

Why my question is, why even bother with stores like this? Huge chain stores are really good for nothing, unless there is a really good sale on tv's or something. Other than that, they are pointless. These stores are all the same, outragious prices on things like hard drives and other computer parts, and a bad selection of music.

CRAP.

SchnappM wrote:The reason they have people at the door is so that you don't walk out with a bag full of RAM that you didn't buy.

maybe, but they could also just get those magnetic beeper things to alert security when it's actually needed. instead, those guys end up sitting there most of the day pestering people who just walked away from the registers; people who are kind enough to support their tacky company in the first place.

i was just there yesterday. they had the cat5 crossover cable that i needed. previous times i went there to purchase specific things, they had my laptop, my television, my playstation... i even went there once looking for new music and was happy to pick up a copy of gene pitney's greatest hits, which to me was totally new.

i know best buy is viewed as evil, because they suck, and they're stupid, and stuff. and also because their ability to sell massively overpriced stuff (i.e. compact discs by bands) at a slightly less massive overpricing is able to put smaller places out of business. my take on it though is that the world has changed, and the world is changing. before i blame best buy for selling cd's too cheap or having a shitty staff, i'm gonna blame globalization and the general idiocy and bad attitude of americans. cause best buy has tv's and laptops and stuff.

i think its safe to say that service-wise atleast, bestbuy=crap

Complete, utter crap.

For walking around in a daze, or perhaps while hungover, it's ok.

So is the grocery store.

Blood-sucking zombies. I bought a crap printer that would not accept its own cartridges (each sold separately). I made an extra trip, receipt in hand, to return this heap of junk, and was offered "store credit," or the promise of a check in the mail in 6 to 8 weeks -- despite the fact I'd paid cash the previous day.

Thanks for chewing up my time and leaving me with neither printer nor money to buy another one. Total crap.

Lori Barbero said it best: "If they were giving away big-screen TVs, I would run in the opposite direction."