Suggestions for Best Buy

[snickstx]

Okay, for those that had bad experiences this year or in past years, take the time now to let your voice be heard. Call Corporate (not just Customer Service, ask for Executive Resolutions), send an email, write a letter. Thoughts from my experience this year.

 

1. At ticket time, Give tickets for ONE item, starting with the lowest stock item, to ONE employee and have them go through the line staring in 5 minute intervals. The employees this year had 3 to 5 tickets each which led to confusion and I wasn't especially on top of things at the time. I missed a had to have item, but I still got it, even though I was 1st in line. My buddy, number 2, almost lost a had to have item as well but scored the last one in stock.

 

2. Set up the cart-barricade beforehand. If theft is a concern in some areas, secure with chains or something.

 

3. Chain a few large trash cans to the barricade so people can keep the mess to a minimum.

 

4. Rent a couple of cops....I mean c'mon, I know the deals are really good but the volume will make up for the unit profit. Spend the couple of thousand to protect your customers and reputation. Heck, even pay one of them to stamp people hands with a store stamp and mark their number in line to prevent late additions.

 

5. Allow groups of 25 or 50 into the store in 5 minute intervals.

 

6. Place ALL TICKETED ITEMS in a one secured area and have cutomers pick them up after they have paid. Staple the cutomers receipt to the numbered tickets. Have the ordered puller mark the receipt (I know, I hate that too) and confiscate and secure or shred the tickets.

 

7. Post a list of which items will be ticketed and inventory totals on the front door of the store so that there will be no question as to quantity. I can't remember how many times I was asked what I was buying while someone was trying to count back to their place in line. They could also post some CC and RZ apps so people can have them filled out and ready if they need one of those.

 

I'm sure there are more or better ideas, and BB may care less. But I know I'll feel alot better about it if I at least let them know how I feel.

[gogophs69]

My suggestion for the ticket distribution is to KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid). I remember when the process used to be simple and it worked well. It should not be difficult to disseminate the few number of tickets for each item.

 

These are my suggestions:

 

1) The representative should go down the line, loudly call out the item, establish eye-contact and get verbal positive response from each person. The sales people must be very assertive and accurate in the ticket distribution. I think they should practice before the actual event.

 

2) All the tickets should be distributed before any additional forms (e.g. BB forms, computer accessories/plans) so one process does not interfere with the other.

 

3) The ticketers should not overlap one another to avoid interference in the process.

 

 

We encounter several problems this year with the ticket distribution. I have listed a few of the problems below:

 

a) This year, the representatives were so busy handing out additional forms (e.g. computer accessories/plans, BB forms) that it significantly interferred with the ticket distribution. Individuals were bypassed because of interference by another representative handing out the forms.

 

The first person in line for 19 hrs. was passed over for the HP computer because the representative simply skipped to about the 5th person. I was 3rd in line (15 hr. camp out) and was passed over for two items! Fortunately, we caught one ticketer to get a ticket and the manager did give a substitution on an item.

 

c) One ticketer was initially going down the line and handing out tickets to each person whether the individual wanted the item or not. People had to refuse the ticket and give it back to the representative. It almost looked as though the directions were to "hand out the tickets to the first people in line."

 

 

The Best Buy personnel were very nice and helpful. I think it was the process itself that caused the problems. The managers should establish effective strategies and train sales (including practice) personnel in the process.