Shopping at Best Buy

[Doughboy71]

Went to Best Buy today to purchase a Desktop PC for my Mother In Law. The pc went on sale this morning, we showed up shortly after the store opened and they were already out of that pc and the next two more expensive computers. The stores withing 20 miles of the Maplewood store were already sold out as well. How do you sell out within minutes of your store opening and ad week starting? Poor planning or something else? This seems like a pattern. Forgot to ask if they had any in stock in the first place.

[rocktivity]

1. It could be online ordering

You might be better off ordering online for in-store pickup.


rocktivity

[MilesColtrane]

2. They don't care that they don't have enough to meet demand.

I'd venture to say that they pick certain items, of which they actually only have a few, then blow out the price simply to get people in the door.

It's a way of circumventing bait-and-switch laws.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait-and-switch

[Stuart G]

6. Actually, it is a form of bait and switch..

Yea, I taught Consumer Ed for years in a high school in Chicago.
OK, well technically they may have had a few, but they knew what was happening.
In the past, an occasional Atty General in some states would go after them but unlikely now..

Key...shop elsewhere........

[HopeHoops]

3. That's called a "hook". Look at the fine print.

Somewhere in the tiny little print on the ad it will say "quantities limited" and "no rain checks". Best Buy is notorious for that one.

[Tallulah]

4. Best Buy sucks rocks

Next time, order online. They keep a certain amount for their online customers. Chances are you would have done better that way.

I don't care for Best Buy. I find their stuff over priced and you rarely get the help you need from their floor people.

They also profile the customers. If you dress down and look like you don't have money, you will be ignored. Fact. Have seen it with my own eyes.

[nadine_mn]

5. We normally don't shop at Best Buy (OP is my spouse)

But my mom wanted to get it today. My husband is a computer geek, so he found a better model and deal and ordered from Dell directly - it was just the overall experience that left us grumpy.

We KNOW that they deliberately only have 1 or 2 of the sale items (although the employee helpfully stated that the Dell computer was not in any store in the state) - its just their culture of shitty service.

[MH1]

7. Well I'm not really a BB fan, but I did get a great deal on a backpack on Black Friday.

I normally don't shop on Black Friday and we went late in the day. I got a fine laptop backpack for $9, that was in the sales circular and of which they had plenty of stock. Also picked up a couple other things.

So not to defend Best Buy, except maybe some stores are run better than others, like any other franchise.

I've also done online ordering for in-store pickup in the past, and that's normally my preference, as I know the item will be there when I go to get it. I was actually shocked that they weren't out of the backpacks by the time we got there.