Best Buy - Check Reseller Ratings first

[DB_Cooper]

Best Buy burned me on a rebate last year's Black Friday (shipped defective merchandise, then claimed the replacement (identical item) no longer qualified for rebate. If you compare all the stores on resellerratings com, you will find that Best Buy is the absolute lowest (1.85 on a scale of 1-10 over the last 6 months), Circuit City is a little better, and Sears, Kmart & Walmart are considerably higher. Then there are the good guys like B&H & Sierra Trading Post with ratings in the 8's or 9's.

 

Just a friendly heads up and cautioning not to be swayed by the rebates offered by Best Buy. They did not honor mine.

 

Better luck to all this year! :)

[MisterBill]

Someone is going to have problems with every retailer out there. Your situation is unfortunate but it doesn't mean that no one should buy stuff there. And the fact is that far more people who have problems typically rate than satisfied customers. I have had great experiences with BestBuy.com and I've never rated them.

[Nautical]

"And the fact is that far more people who have problems typically rate than satisfied customers."

 

Very true. If you have a good purchase (normal thing to happen) you're not going to go spend time to post a reseller rating. However if you have a bad purchase, you're going to want to post a rating for "revenge" if you will. It still helps to expose the negative things about retailers though, like dell, who has HORRIBLE customer service.

[DB_Cooper]

And that is why I referred to the resellerratings.com link.

 

Compare Best Buy to every other major retailer out there. They are at the bottom of the heap (ratings are on a scale of 0-10, 10 being the best)

 

Best Buy

Customer Satisfaction

Six-Month Rating: 1.85 Six-Month Reviews: 23

 

Lifetime Reviews: 390

 

Lifetime Rating: 2.03

 

 

Here are the averages for ALL stores:

 

Average Store: 7.30

High Average: 9.10

Low Average: 3.53

 

Circuit City has a 3.33 rating, for further comparison.

[DB_Cooper]

"And the fact is that far more people who have problems typically rate than satisfied customers."

 

Very true. If you have a good purchase (normal thing to happen) you're not going to go spend time to post a reseller rating. However if you have a bad purchase, you're going to want to post a rating for "revenge" if you will. It still helps to expose the negative things about retailers though, like dell, who has HORRIBLE customer service.

Not necessarily. companies like B&H dispell that theory:

 

B&H Photo-Video-Pro Audio

Customer Satisfaction

Six-Month Rating: 9.49 Six-Month Reviews: 624

 

Lifetime Reviews: 1300

 

Lifetime Rating: 9.14

[MisterBill]

Look, you are trying to claim that the majority of customers have problems with Best Buy, and it just isn't true. We all know you were screwed. It's not going to stop the rest of us from shopping there.

[DB_Cooper]

Look, you are trying to claim that the majority of customers have problems with Best Buy, and it just isn't true. We all know you were screwed. It's not going to stop the rest of us from shopping there.

If you go over to Fatwallet or other boards you will find that BestBuy (referred to on FW as "WorstBuy") has one of the worst reputations out there among electronics retailers. I have NEVER stated that "the majority of customers have problems with Best Buy", rather that more people have problems with Best Buy than others. There's a difference. (and the ratings on an independent site back that up). If you want to roll the dice and count on that rebate, then fine, your choice. Many people will (and many will have no problem) I'm posting information that I believe is relevant, whatever people want to do with it is their choice.

 

Of all the companies I have dealt with over the years, Best Buy is the only one that had a problem and not only would not make it right, but was arrogant and rude in the process. YMMV.

[Nautical]

Not necessarily. companies like B&H dispell that theory:

 

B&H Photo-Video-Pro Audio

Customer Satisfaction

Six-Month Rating: 9.49 Six-Month Reviews: 624

 

Lifetime Reviews: 1300

 

Lifetime Rating: 9.14

The difference with these companies is that they're more like the "little guy" and people will feel obliged to help them by posting a RR when they have a good purchase. Who ever wants to help a giant corporation? Most americans favor these inexpensive little guys and are more obliged to post ratings for them when they have a good purchase.

 

 

However, there is truth to your statement, but I'm just saying BB RR's are not great in reflecting OVERALL satisfaction. However, if you're comparing BB to other corporations like CompUSSR and CC, then its a valid comparison. You just can't compare BB to "John's Computer Store".

 

As for BB being the "WorstBuy", I find it to be much better than CompUSSR in so many areas. But compared to Newegg, BB sucks.

 

Look, you are trying to claim that the majority of customers have problems with Best Buy, and it just isn't true. We all know you were screwed. It's not going to stop the rest of us from shopping there.

He's just trying to help in showing that BB is worse than other large retailers...its not like hes trying to sway the 5 million Americans planning to shop on BF from not going to BB.

[Guest general41391]

I had rebates and all these ratings..ugh

[DB_Cooper]

The difference with these companies is that they're more like the "little guy" and people will feel obliged to help them by posting a RR when they have a good purchase. Who ever wants to help a giant corporation? Most americans favor these inexpensive little guys and are more obliged to post ratings for them when they have a good purchase.

 

 

However, there is truth to your statement, but I'm just saying BB RR's are not great in reflecting OVERALL satisfaction. However, if you're comparing BB to other corporations like CompUSSR and CC, then its a valid comparison. You just can't compare BB to "John's Computer Store".

 

As for BB being the "WorstBuy", I find it to be much better than CompUSSR in so many areas. But compared to Newegg, BB sucks.

 

 

 

He's just trying to help in showing that BB is worse than other large retailers...its not like hes trying to sway the 5 million Americans planning to shop on BF from not going to BB.

B&H is hardly a Mom n Pop operation, next time your in Manhattan check em out (or ask any photographer). Plenty of other large outfits (like Sierra Trading Post 22 8.07 ) too, including the world's largest retailer (Walmart 62 5.67) As for others mentioned, they are also covered in Reseller Ratings, and although not stellar, their ratings are generally higher than BestBuy.

 

Best Buy 408 2.03

Circuit City 224 2.96

CompUSA 330 2.37

 

Even more telling is taking the time to read some of the complaints. I would note that valid order numbers are required when rating a store (so spammers can't trash or inflate a store's rating)

 

btw, ChompUSA's ratings for the past 6 months have also been in the dumper. No particular fan of theirs, although they did work to resolve a problem last year while BB told me (in essence) to pound salt.

[mugs]

Not necessarily. companies like B&H dispell that theory:

 

B&H Photo-Video-Pro Audio

Customer Satisfaction

Six-Month Rating: 9.49 Six-Month Reviews: 624

 

Lifetime Reviews: 1300

 

Lifetime Rating: 9.14

Don't you think it's interesting that Best Buy, a national chain, had 23 reviews in 6 months, and a much smaller camera store has 624 rewviews in 6 months?

 

Most people will never have a problem with Best Buy... as long as they read their return policy (it's the only store I've ever seen that has the return policy on a huge 15'x15' sign in the store... they're not trying to hide anything).

 

If you're worried, ALWAYS pay with a credit card. If you have a problem with them, do a chargeback.

[DragonSlayer1500]

"And the fact is that far more people who have problems typically rate than satisfied customers."

 

Very true. If you have a good purchase (normal thing to happen) you're not going to go spend time to post a reseller rating. However if you have a bad purchase, you're going to want to post a rating for "revenge" if you will. It still helps to expose the negative things about retailers though, like dell, who has HORRIBLE customer service.

I agree/disagree about Dell's customer service. I had a problem with my printer and went on tech support to try and get it solved. All they kept telling me was to buy new ink cartridges. However, when I asked them if I could return the ink cartridges if they didn't work, they said no. After griping and complaining for almost an hour, they gave me a $75 coupon for whatever I wanted. I ended up getting a black ink cartridge, color cartridge and a Nero Photoshop program for $12.

 

To make it even better, the ink cartridges did fix my problem and I just got a lot of free stuff. Can't complain about that

[Rob9874]

I use reseller ratings to check out the credibility of online stores that I've never heard of, to make sure they don't just take your money and never ship the item. I think most people know what they're getting when they go to Best Buy. I won't let reseller ratings influence which major chain I shop at. And yes, it's funny they have 23 ratings in 6 months. I have a feeling people don't use online reseller ratings for major chains, unless they have a problem. You're more likely to log in and give a good review for a company like B&H, which has awesome customer service, but isn't known by the majority.

[DB_Cooper]

Don't you think it's interesting that Best Buy, a national chain, had 23 reviews in 6 months, and a much smaller camera store has 624 rewviews in 6 months?

No, because good service is rewarded with positive feedback. Enthusiastic because it's that good. Other stores were also listed (including WalMart, STP & others) as were the composite averages of ALL stores (big & small). Best Buy is at the bottom of the heap. The nadir. The abyss. Lower than a politician slithering for a vote.

 

Most people will never have a problem with Best Buy... as long as they read their return policy (it's the only store I've ever seen that has the return policy on a huge 15'x15' sign in the store... they're not trying to hide anything).

Hope you are not hinting I did not read a policy, I exchanged a defective good at the store as per directions from BB. Since the exchange transaction was after Black Friday, they claimed they were no longer bound to honor the rebate (although I had all original transaction slips).

 

"Most" is a relative term... what % of people have a problem at BB? 1%? 5%? 10%? Who knows (and doubtful that BB would let that sort of data out). All we can say is that there is comparative data from a site (with no axe to grind against any particular store) that indicates BB has a far poorer general rating than ALL stores.

 

If you have data showing BestBuy has average or better than average customer ratings, I'm sure everyone would like to see it, until then, my BF dollars are anxiously awaiting being released elsewhere.