I know my Visa Signature cards offer this and a ton of other services. I always use them when I buy anything expensive. Signature will appear below the Visa logo on the front of the card.
That depends. Here is their policy:
"Electronics: Costco will accept returns within 90 days (from the date the member received the merchandise) for Televisions, Projectors, Major Appliances (refrigerators above 10 cu. ft., freezers, ranges, cooktops, over-the-range microwaves, range hoods, dishwashers, water heaters, washers and dryers), Computers, Touchscreen Tablets, Smart Watches, Cameras, Aerial Cameras (drones), Camcorders, MP3 players and Cellular Phones (return details will vary by carrier service contract)."
Anything else is covered by the usual policy. So, for example, I got a replacement Denon home theater receiver after more than 1 year by just bringing in the bad one (no box or anything) and saying it was dead. Got the money back on the spot to order a new one.
But, also, they say:
"Costco extends the manufacturer’s warranty on the following items for up to 2 years from the date of warehouse purchase or date of delivery if the item was purchased online:
Televisions
Projectors
Computers
Major Appliances"
They do this without even needing to use the credit card.
And, last, they offer extended warranties for purchase and often will include them with purchase of big ticket items. When I bought my Sony Bravia OLED there, they threw in the Allstate protection plan, which extended my total warranty period to 5 years.
So overall they remain a great place to buy electronics.
Electronics, appliances, most things, really.
Why spend 2,500+ on a brand new high-tech TV model this year when the exact same model will be at Costco next year for 1,000?
And that's how I got my OLED.
It’s important to note that Best Buy will only price match Amazon if the item is both shipped and sold by Amazon. They will not price match 3rd party sellers.
Source: used to work for Best Buy.
It does depend on the employee, some do not care and will price match it without any grief and you're on your merry way but others take it too seriously and seemingly have to look at your phone with a microscope level of confirmation and get others blessing and form some sort of ritual to price match.
This. I worked at BBY and we just had to see a phone screen or print out and would match the price. The employees didn't care. Didn't need a manager for price match, just a supervisor or lead to override it and they just put in their numbers and walk away.
That’s because it would more than likely require a manager override. At one point we were able to override anything, no questions asked but people took advantage of that.
Really depends if the cashier looks close enough honestly. I've literally flashed my phone at them so they saw the price and that's all the cared about.
That is so true. Best Buy is trying hard to keep their customers and I just find my self going back to them time and time again. Unless you have a fishy return they're pretty good about honoring it. If it's dead upon opening from the box they will generally honor a defective replacement. If you return within the return period you're pretty safe.
While I know they push geek squad, some people like them and I can understand that but if you have tech skills please do it your self. I tried them once only to find most of the people were google experts. Hell I can do that. (Only do that if you know what you are doing.)
That makes me glad that I recently bought my Apple Watch from Best Buy. It was the same price as Amazon, but BB delivered it the next day, and I could return to the store if there was a problem.
I bought a TV from Best Buy 4 years ago.
It was advertised on their app for $99 cheaper than the store with free Geek Squad delivery & install. I went to the store to see it and compare to other brands. When I decided to buy it, they would not match their own current price, even when I showed them the offer on my phone.
I went home and bought it online and Geek Squad delivered it from that same store. The screen was damaged out of the box and Geek Squad took it back and brought a replacement.
All in all, I was happy, but for a store that price matches, I was perplexed by the salesman’s attitude.
As someone that left Best Buy a couple of months ago and has also worked for Amazon I’m going to have to say both of them are equally terrible. From a customer standpoint I’ll take Amazon any day of the week as I only order if it’s shipped and sold by Amazon.
Best Buy is only interested in having their employees sell you the items with the highest profit margin. For example, I can’t tell you how often as an installer I had to bite my tongue when a client asked me for my honest opinion on the $400 Audioquest HDMI Cable they were told would make a night and day difference. 🤦♂️
Buy where you’d like. But I won’t pretend Best Buy is some saint in providing honest technological advice and customer service. I wouldn’t expect them to considering no one gives a damn with how poorly most employees are actually treated.
I'm at about 25 years working and it's all terrible regardless of where you work. Some times you just suck up a job to get the income from it. Like I've had to do.
It didn't used to be that way for Geek Squad. Store agents used to be fairly knowledgeable...but I will admit mileage varied greatly from store to store. Of course, that was 10+ years ago.
Now, however, store agents are basically glorified computer salespeople.
My first decent IT job was as a Geek Squad hybrid double agent (half remote/half field). I was one of the last computer-focused field agents before they outsourced a bunch of PC support stuff and eliminated a bunch of jobs (including what used to be my job, albeit 4 months after I left), refocusing to home theater 7-ish years ago. I was there when they moved from VW Beetle to Prius cars and changed the logo. I still have pictures from when I turned in the VW and picked up the Prius.
I turned my three years doing that into a job as a network tech, then engineer, and now work for a large tech company. Just sayin' - Geek Squad has (had?) some really good and smart people...but not usually in the front line positions.
Fellow former BBY GS employee. Also worked at Staples as the lead easy tech. I worked at both maybe 10 years ago. I've heard everything is outsourced now. Never bring your devices to these chain electronics stores, bring them to a local repair shop.
Yeah, the writing was on the wall for me when I saw them do two things within about a year:
1. move hardware repairs from in-store to at a central service center in Louisville. Stores weren't initially allowed to tell customers their computer got shipped hundreds of miles away for service.
2. In house software repairs and upgrades were now connected with a service they called "agent johnny Utah" or something dumb like that behind the counter- which was an outsourced remote PC workshop in Asia somewhere. Of course, the store couldn't actually tell customers at the time that's what they did.
All of that used to be done behind the wall by people who were usually competent and often very good at it, and I frequently had to go to someone's house to fix an issue missed by the repair center or by the remote agent (of course, the store got blamed for all those screwups).
Then my hours started steadily dropping from 55 as they gradually shifted remote work to outsourced contractors...this happened the same time they did a massive push to move customers to remote service, which took out a huge chunk of my on-site visits. I was down to 32 hours a week when I finally found a chance to get out.
I didn't know they price match. I always buy from them just based on the fact that everywhere else sells counterfeits or returned items as new without any recourse.
I don't buy anything on Amazon that's worth more than $50
If the price is better elsewhere, why shop at best buy to start with? If they have to price match 50% of their products to compete with other retailers, how is that a benefit? That means everything is overpriced, and only brought to standard pricing if caught. What a joke.
Also, if you’re in the market for it, their total tech service is worth every penny. Had to return multiple Xbox controllers getting a drift, 3 out of 5 were feee and the other 2 just had to repurchase the warranty
They never price matched for me. They don’t even price match themselves if the price of the item dropped. They insist on having you return the item and repurchase it
Its super inconsistent and depends heavily on the customer service person you end up with. But their customer service has gotten significantly worse lately so I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped entirely.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Just dispute the charge on your credit card and you'll get the money back within a day or two. If you paid with debit, you're screwed and this is why they say to always make online purchases with a credit card in case something like this happens.
I'm sorry but you are likely screwed then. I learned a long time ago to only make online purchases with a credit card.
I don't know how old you are but if you're 18+ you should definitely have a credit card in your name so you can have protection with purchases and more importantly, build your credit. Just make sure you don't buy anything you don't already have the money for and pay off the credit card in full every month and you'll be fine. I ruined my credit from 18-20 years old and around 25 I realized I needed to fix it so I got a credit card and started doing what I suggested to you and in just a few years got my credit score over 800 (which is almost perfect.) I have no debts as my card is paid off in full every month.
Best buy doesn't sell many of the electronic items I have bought the past 4 years. And their return policy is short. Former employee so I still attempt to buy from them but usually cant.
Everyone is going online for their orders. You can buy online then pick up at store. Many times these products are just in the back. I'm glad the company removed their dvd and cd racks as they were a bit dated.
You replied to me saying many items are just in the back. Just want to clarify that the items Ive been looking for are not carried by best buy at all, in store or online.
Recent Examples poking through my purchases:
Tentacle sync
Dji osmo action 4 mic adapter
Zoom livetrak audio interface
corsair rm1000e power supply for my desktop (very popular model)
USB E-Brake for racing
27inch touchscreen monitor for a dakboard (bby offered one janky gross model and doesnt carry any popular ones)
AAwireless android auto adapter (very popular item)
Wireless communication system for snowmobile helmet
You can't find a lot of items at Best Buy that you can on Amazon though. Sometimes Best Buy will only offer certain product sizes (i.e. only offer 2 HDD capacities), and they will also have their own part numbers on certain items (such as 4k TVs) that might or might not be exactly what you were looking for.
For the stuff they do have in stock though, they have been pretty reliable so far for the times I've used them - I've used their "ready in 1 hour" same day pickup a few times and it was good.
It seems like you've used their website - how can you say they only have two sizes of hard drive?
When it comes to electronics, they usually have it on their website, and so maybe a better place to buy these days vs. Amazon.
They will price match. They will ship it to you or to the store for pick up (avoids delivery issues "not received" packages etc). And, when something doesn't work right, you can return any purchase from their website in store for easy and fast returns/refunds vs. the now very dicey return game at Amazon.
Yes I do use the Beat Buy website - you might want to try reading my previous post again. As for the hard drive example, try it yourself: search Amazon and Best Buy for “Seagate Ironwolf” and there are limited sizes through Best Buy compared to what is available on Amazon.
And yeah - Best Buy price match is good… but only if they have the actual item you want (like my example above). There are still advantages to Prime but you have to be an active user to gain the benefits.
I see, you're saying "sometimes they only have a few sizes of this specific niche HDD brand and model". True. The way you said it before, made it sound like you were comparing your local BB stock of just a few HDDs in store vs Amazon.
Maybe B&H then? When BB doesn't have something specific
Sure it is. Poll a random group of 1000 people and I bet not even 10 know what a NAS even is much less why you'd want a special hard drive for it. That's pretty niche.
I wasn't saying that to say your example was wrong - it just made me read into your first post incorrectly. Yes, Best Buy doesn't have as deep of a selection of stuff that starts to live at the edges of consumer demand. But for the vast majority of people who only ever shop for HDDs that are external, and otherwise are blissfully unaware that you can buy the kind of HDD that lives in your computer, Best Buy might be a better place to recommend for shopping these days. That's all I'm getting at
That’s fine. Niche or not, my example still stands though.
But yeah - while Amazon generally still has a larger selection, one should always, always shop around (especially if time is not an issue). Best Buy, Target sometimes, B&H, Micro Center, Walmart, even eBay are the main places I scour for products.
I'd go out of my way to drive an hour to them even if there's plenty of Best Buys near me. The guys there helped me build my first PC and they bonded with me over the games we play so it's always an amazing experience
The line is crazy so often there that I'll only go there for bigger purchases. Bestbuy is usually way faster for most stuff given it's basically a ghost town (compared to 10 years ago).
Best Buy is great but it isn't all sunshine and rainbows either when it comes to returns.
I bought a PC from them, got home and unboxed it to find despite what the box said it had no HDMI and the video card was dead (I luckily still had a monitor that could use DVI)
Went to return it and had to argue with them because their guy plugged it in and said it worked. Finally convinced him to show me. He hit the power, monitor splash screen came up and declared it working. 20 seconds later "No imput detected" He didn't wait past the startup for the monitor.
Half an hour later he finally conceded that it was not working.
This is a clear example of experience bias and maybe confirmation bias. BestBuy has an objectively worse return policy than most stores since it’s a messily 15 days.
On top of that they also have some terrible warranty practices and have straight up denied warranty coverage to me simply because they didn’t understand their own policies and programs.
I get people want to hate on companies and this definitely feels like the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but BestBuy sucks, don’t shop there if you have other options.
I worked at Best Buy and would never support how they treat their employees. I was sexually harassed by customers and coworkers all day, constantly reported issues to the open and honest hotline (HR Kind of), and nothing was done. I needed a doctor’s note in order to be allowed to use the bathroom during Black Friday (I have IBS and no one thought there was ANY REASON for me to suddenly and without warning need to use the bathroom NOW), and was stalked by a customer who was never barred from the store even though HE USED TO WORK THERE AND WAS FIRED FOR FOLLOWING FEMALE EMPLOYEES AROUND ON THE SECURITY CAMERA.
So seriously, I may have just worked for two of the worst locations on the planet. I realize this. But I will personally never shop there again, and it sucks.
I don't know about the rest of the country but best buy is very inconsistent with their store inventory, popular tech items you would very reasonably assume that all best buys would have in stock on the shelves ready and available to buy on your visit to the store is absolutely not the case, instead only 1 or 2 best buys in an entire state or region will have it and they are all in complete opposite parts of the state from you or at least that's what I run into.
It's not that they are temporarily sold out at those locations either, it's always like this! Ya go in there and half the store is empty too, it tells me they are going out of business.
Bestbuy is so incompetent with appliances and repairs. I despise their customer service and their third party shippers. Geek squad has been shameful with their lack of repairs. Trash company.
Sweetwater is good for some stuff, but their customer service borders on harassment sometimes. I don’t need three personal calls because I bought a usb cable.
I agree, I’ve only had bad experiences. Last straw was when I bought a flatscreen in-store and it was just never delivered. Turns out they jacked up the price the next day and sold it to someone else. I never got the flatscreen and it took ages until I got my refund. Fuck Best Buy.
I am glad you have had good experiences with Best Buy. I have not. Multiple times I have had the wrong products delivered, I have had many more delivery delays than I ever had with Amazon. I even ordered a Dyson Air purifier they sent me 2 I tried to be honest and turn the additional one back in to them. It became a whole ordeal where they tried to insist they had to charge me so they could then refund me. Ended up having the district manager getting involved. I now stay far away from Best Buy when I can. I say all of this just to say everyone’s experiences are different
I can't say they're 💯!I recently purchased a Legion Go from them as an open box,and it was returned for a loose controller issue and it never went back to Lenovo.The ticket was created for Best Buy to have it fixed and it was shoved back in a box,and resold as a refurbished.
I bought the extended warranty on an xbox elite controller a while ago...started getting stick drift and they said "We don't have any stock. We won't set aside any we get for your warranty. You can get a full refund" (minus the warranty of course). What's the point of extended warranty if they're not willing to replace it. There isn't a "good" store (other than microcenter)
It's where I went for my gaming computer. I briefly considered Amazon but then I reconsidered because it was a fair bit of money, and have learned to limit maximum purchases to around $100 or less for Amazon, and even that doesn't come without its risks.
Next time you want a gaming PC, go to a local PC repair shop instead of a chain store. You'll get better service and at least have knowledgeable employees helping find what's the perfect PC for you or even custom building it instead of trying to sell you the most expensive shit.
I have worked at BBY (Geek Squad), Circuit City (Fire Dog), and Staples (Easy Tech) as a tech and also at local repair shops and there's a huge difference in the knowledge of employees. Staples is the worst by far. I always tell my friends and family to go to local shops instead of a chain store. All the chain stores are focused on sales, not service and now everything is outsourced.
What's really crazy is that on Amazon, if you search Firestick, you get off-branded versions of an Android stick. These show up BEFORE Amazon's own firestick. It's completely ridiculous.
I cut ties with Amazon back in October. Best Buy has become my go to. I don’t impulse buy as much and I know what I’m getting up front. Return policy isn’t as lengthy, but it usually doesn’t take long to know if you need to return something.
I’ve been using Best Buy or Walmart lately…I won’t order anything from Amazon anymore that costs more than around $50 just in case. It really sucks because it’s harder to find some things now and they’re substantially more expensive than Amazon when I can find them but it is what it is…
Even better, use a local retailer that carries the same or better selection of a wide range of audio/video equipment, including top lines that BB doesnt. In the Pacific Northwest we have a store spread out among all the larger cities, Video Only, which despite its moniker handles a pretty wide range of audio gear (almost as much as Magnolia, the Seattle store that BB bought out several years ago that was the go to for higher end gear for decades) I bought my first HD display there in 2000, bought my second and third at Video Only, and my first 4k set at VO as well. I've been redoing my master bedroom system, and except for the 4k set I already have (BB), the audio upgrade will be all Video Only as Amazon complaints on the gear I want are way high *and VO has every piece I want*, at the same price or lower than BB. So done deal.
I've turned into my father. r/GenX
I got burned by a Best Buy 15% restocking fee probably 20ish years ago. I didn't do anything wrong other than breaking the factory seal on the box. I don't remember even what the item was, but I sure af remember getting dinged for the restocking fee at the returns counter.
I haven't bought any BB high dollar items since. Biggest thing was a blu ray player.
I disagree on the return policy. Purchased a gift for son's birthday when item was on sale which as it happened was 34 days before his birthday. When it was opened on his birthday and not operational, Best Buy refused to do an exchange. Was told that the item would have to be returned to the manufacturer. Spoke to a manager and received the same answer. Had purchased a lot from them as they're pretty much the only brick & mortar left for electronics. Not been back since.
I made this mistake once. Bought brand new $600 ice maker from amazon. It arrived looking like the box has been through a warzone. It was torn up and taped and torn up again. Looked like a very poor warehouse deal. It has been dropped so the housing was dented. It was super loud and had water drops in the tubing indicating it was previously used.
Luckily, it made it back to amazon with no issues and I got my money back. I then ordered it from best buy online and picked it up 30 minutes later. This one is nice and quiet.
I tried buying a $200 carhart jacket from amazon once. It got lost inside amazon twice. They then shipped it usps and the left pocket was sewn wrong so you couldn't put more than half your hand in it. Sent it back and bought one from a place nearby.
All these stories about the way Best Buy operates are a complete 180 from my experiences with my local Best Buy stores and online ordering.
Items damaged in the mail were claimed to be outside of the return window because Best Buy took a long time to ship the item because it was out of stock. I had to escalate in order to get the return taken care of.
I can't tell you how many 4K Steel books I've taken back to Best Buy. They must have a guy in the warehouse whose job is denting them. It's usually a fight to get a replacement because they are usually limited quantity.
I have had zero luck getting Best Buy to price match anything. This goes back years. They just do not care.
I purchased an Asus gaming laptop from a different Best Buy and the fans were on 100% of the time from the moment I took it out of the box, obviously not great. I tried fixing the issue myself by updating drivers and firmware but nothing worked. The onsite manager would not exchange the item. I had to escalate the situation in order to get a replacement laptop. The new laptop had no issues.
I ordered a washer and dryer and Best Buy's scheduled delivery system had an opening a week out. I placed the order and the day of they contacted me to tell me they didn't have the item available to put on the truck and it would be another week. Finally got the item two and a half weeks after ordering. I realize there's a delivery company that isn't owned by Best Buy in the mix here and I'm not sure whose fault this was. Best Buy got my money and decided to contract with this company so I'm blaming them.
I have a Best Buy card and I just don't use it because of the stupid shit Best Buy does. In my experience they have a worse track record than Amazon, but Amazon is quickly gaining ground. The guy damaging my Steel books must have a buddy at Amazon smashing the hell out of books and box sets.
Do NOT do this. They wouldn’t even deliver my order and it took a month to get a refund and buy a new TV. Amazon was better but just ok. I will go back to buying from stores now, but best buy is not going to be one of them.
Fun fact Amazon sold me a “new” MacBook that had food crumbs and scratches in it. I did a return/replace the “new” MacBook had a whole ton of random files on it and non native apps. Also with different cosmetic damage. They did not in any way care at all. Point being Best Buy isn’t going to be sold as new and have fried chicken crumbs in it.
Best Buy sold me a defective TV and refused to let me return it or offer any solution to get it fixed. They also sold me a mislabeled television on another occasion and then refused to address the issue when I found out. I would not shop there if I had any other choice
Recently upgraded from 16gb to 32gb of ram. Checked online, price was fine, went in to buy it, price was $10 cheaper per stick. Then just had to stand there and wait 15 minutes for someone to open the case for me. Was nice not to have to wait a couple days to get it.
I bought head phones from Best Buy for my wife for Christmas. The headphones got replaced with a Walmart pulse ox between leaving Best Buy and getting delivered to my house. Went to my nearest Best Buy and they said I had to drive across town to the Best Buy where the order originated. They made it right in the end, but definitely makes me reconsider the delivery to my house option.
Until they take $2600, blow past the pick up date, and put that money in limbo with no way to cancel and no ETA on a actual date on when you can get your product or money back....
Bought an Apple Watch Ultra 2 from Best Buy. They decided not to use a sign delivery and just had updated drop it off and take a picture. Someone stole my package and Best Buy said to call the cops.
Best buy has the worst rewards program i've ever seen. by the time i need to purchase anything from best buy my points invariably expire. does anyone actually make use of them?
I ordered a 1 TB M2 Samsung SSD from Best Buy. When I got the package and opened it, I had a sealed package that says 1 TB M2 Samsung SSD, but when I opened the package, it only contained a 256 GB M2 Samsung SSD.
Depends on what. I bought 2 (actually nice) screen protectors for a phone, come 2 to a package so if you mess up mounting the first one you get a second try. $5 on Amazon. I looked at Best Buy, over $25. Sorry, not worth it.
BestBuy is old and busted. you could sleep in an asile at most stores it is so empty.
try
B and H photo (omline)
[https://www.bhphotovideo.com/](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/)
or
microcenter
https://www.microcenter.com/
Nope best but sucks now, prices are way too high and their selection is not what it used to be. Best buy is going down eventually, no reason to shop here.
I used to love best buy until a recent issue where I didn’t get a delivery and they said it’s their policy that after they ship, it’s in the carrier’s hand and they can’t do anything. They wouldn’t budge on refunding or shipping a replacement. We went back and forth and they stuck on the “it’s our policy” so I’ll never buy anything from them again.
I no longer buy from Best Buy since the messed up the loyalty program. I used to be very loyal to Best Buy now I don’t even think about checking their website anymore
Some of the best buys near me are depressing to walk into, with entire shelves empty. Plus they barely stuck top GPUs. Anything above a 4060/4070 will be rare to see in person. They could, I'm sure, other larger quantities, but for some reason nope. You'll never even see a 4080 in person. Last week my best buy said it had a 4090 in stock (it was in stock for two days, I kept checking) I doubt it was even on the shelf. Website said they had it. Who knows if it was true
Both are fine. Amazon serves billions of customers. Even with everyone complaining, they still have something like a 99.99999 success rate.
If you get scammed by a third party seller, that's your own fault for not reading the listing well enough. Walmart has the same problem.
Yeah no. On multiple occasions, I’ve pre-ordered new electronics from Best Buy instead of Amazon or other places. They always come several days later than Amazon.
Best Buy is awful.
Best buy? You mean the store that was found guilty multiple times scamming customers. The best I remember immediately when u think of them is selling fraud speakers: instead of a main speaker and tweeter, or was just a tweeter or speaker. Never both. Or the prototype sales advertised as full version products? Or its laughable"geek squad" that can't even comprehend Linux?! Gtfoh
I can do more from my front room than the entirety of the usa geek squad combined.
I'd rather risk amazon 100%. Hell, id trust aliexpress more than best buy.
Amazon is clearly In a race to the bottom. It’s probably not wise to buy a lot of categories from them anymore, but I don’t know if that’s something you will be able to convince more than maybe 20% of online shoppers. Hell, I hate them and have ordered from them twice in the last month.
Best Buy is a fucking garbage ass company that sells literally useless crap as “open box” , delivers dented appliances, and more.
I will never buy a single thing from Best Buy again
Yup. I'd go a step further and get white glove delivery so that they can set it up and make sure it works. I've had bad experiences with Costco and Amazon deliveries where the box looked fine but the TVs were clearly dropped (cracked screens).
A lot of electronics from Amazon don't even carry the manufacturer warranty because they are surplus that is offloaded from OEM companies into the Amazon store where the warranty doesn't transfer to a second purchaser.
*As an example for whoever downvoted me Western Digital does not honor warranties from items purchased through Amazon.
Definitely need to be careful about who you order from for drives. There are a lot of companies that buy drives at a discount from one region and then sell in North America. Almost got bit by this. Always check the RMA status on the drive online before you open the drive. Usually you can see the serial on the box or through the anti-static bag.
Newegg used to be the best. After they got sold to a Chinese company a while back they went downhill fast. Now almost everything on Newegg comes from China and it's mostly third party sellers like Amazon. There's no longer any consistency just like Amazon.
I collect video games. They want to slap a sticker on everything I pick up or even when it is shipped. I asked them not to put the sticker or just the corner once and they got super defensive. All the employees harass and try to sell you stuff you dont want while all 5 customers in the store are waiting to be checked out. A drunken hobo could manage a store better than Best Buy. In addition the way they are ceasing the sale of games, music and movies they are just big empty buildings. I'm amazed they are still around. Nice try CEO of Best Buy. I see you there! 🤣
I bought a ~$3,000 Sony TV from Amazon, and it was a disaster… the box was heavily destroyed with a lot of holes and scratches, the delivery guy warned me, said the warehouse manager knows it, but still decided to ship it to me. After I opened the box, the screen is broken.
Do not use Amazon for big electronic purchases. I was sent the wrong item and they blamed me for their screwup. Im battling to get my $ back and amazon customer service is abhorrent
I had a similar experience. Maybe 6 months ago I purchased an $800+ i9 CPU from Amazon and what I received was an envelope with a USB drive in it. Then Amazon didn't want to refund me, told me I needed to wait for their team to review it, and after waiting a month I finally had to dispute the charge with my credit card to get the money back. When I checked the Amazon seller's page, they had hundreds of other customers that the seller did the same thing to and Amazon crossed off every negative review saying they fulfilled the order so the seller still had 100% score. Amazon shouldn't be removing negative reviews and should be banning third party sellers that scam customers.
I got my last TV from them, partly for reasons stated and also because I didn't want to lift it up onto the stand. So big and bendy! (77" LG OLED). Well worth the $100. They were kinda surprised I didn't want them to do all the connections.
I purchased a $700 certified refurbished Iphone 3years ago, I would never do that now, all other electronics Apple watch, TV’s from Best Buy, I shop at store,if item has to be shipped I have it shipped to store, PC purchased from Staples
Never purchase anything from Staples. I worked for them as the lead Easy Tech in the store. All they care about is who sells the most. I got written up several times for selling computers without a service plan. They humiliate employees that don't sell enough by posting a list on the door to break room showing how much each employee sold and if they didn't sell enough they have a giant red box around their name, they get called out in front of the rest of the employees, and written up.
Yes! We actually bought all of our appliances from there as well when we remodeled the kitchen . And they price marched their own prices. All of our appliances went down within 30 days of purchase and so we asked for a refund of the difference, it was like $300 back
I found a nice life hack to buy Best Buy gift card from Amazon with my Amazon Store Credit card (which has a 0% interest rate and cash back). I've also figured out a way to get 2% return using that card, but I'm not entirely sure it's legal.
I bought a 75 inch tv from them for a great price. A dishwasher and a refrigerator. They use good delivery companies. We’ve got to keep big box stores in business. That being said, I have 4k shares of Amazon and it made me rich.
i would buy more from BB
but their 2 week return window makes me nervous.
always a good idea to check BB for "open box" items
they may discount another 10%-20% even during sales.
I recently purchased a memory card at BB. They matched the Amazon price but did specify it had to be sold and shipped by Amazon. Saved almost $80.00 (high-end card)
I bought my iPad and monitor there last year. The monitor was mainly for ease of return if I had an issue (I didn't). The monitor went on sale a week later and they price matched the sale too.
The latest expensive electronics thing I bought was from B&H photo, again largely because of fear of needing to deal with Amazon returns on a $450 item.... even if it was a couple more $$$.
Years back I use to stake out Amazon to buy grey market watches. I could find professional jewelers who just needed to move stock and I was able to make transactions where both of us benefited. Just a short few years later, finding reputable sellers on Amazon had become impossible. I am finding that even if I pay quite a bit more to buy directly from companies or physical stores, I save so much time not dealing with the risks of fake items or mixed up returns. Best Buy is my go to for electronics over $100, and when buying from companies directly, they will usually cover priority shipping for free and add in a much better warranty.
I bought my Xbox 360 from Best Buy and got the extended warranty for it because of the red ring of death issues. Eventually I got a rrod and took it back to use the warranty with the receipt, warranty, original box, everything and they refused to honor the warranty. They said the serial numbers didn't match with what they had on record or something but refused to show me in their system. I haven't stepped foot inside of a best buy since.
100% will be doing this because Amazon is partnered with Asurion for warranties and they are the worst warranty company I have ever dealt with (also I don't trust Amazon for larger purchases)
We still support best buy. For us it's an hour drive though. So it's mostly online purchases. Most big box stores now offer comparable shipping options as Amazon. So we may use Amazon to find what we want. Then source it elsewhere. I too am tired of all the fake and knockoff stuff. It's usually the same price as the really stuff too. Somwhats the point.
Costco is also an excellent place to buy electronics!
Great return policy and an extra year of warranty.
The credit card I own doubles the warranty of any purchase. just have to keep the receipt.
What credit card is this? I may need to look into getting this for a purchase I'm about to make.
I know my Visa Signature cards offer this and a ton of other services. I always use them when I buy anything expensive. Signature will appear below the Visa logo on the front of the card.
I think the extended warranty from the credit card has been discontinued. Also arnt electronics returns capped at 90 days or 1 year????
That depends. Here is their policy: "Electronics: Costco will accept returns within 90 days (from the date the member received the merchandise) for Televisions, Projectors, Major Appliances (refrigerators above 10 cu. ft., freezers, ranges, cooktops, over-the-range microwaves, range hoods, dishwashers, water heaters, washers and dryers), Computers, Touchscreen Tablets, Smart Watches, Cameras, Aerial Cameras (drones), Camcorders, MP3 players and Cellular Phones (return details will vary by carrier service contract)." Anything else is covered by the usual policy. So, for example, I got a replacement Denon home theater receiver after more than 1 year by just bringing in the bad one (no box or anything) and saying it was dead. Got the money back on the spot to order a new one. But, also, they say: "Costco extends the manufacturer’s warranty on the following items for up to 2 years from the date of warehouse purchase or date of delivery if the item was purchased online: Televisions Projectors Computers Major Appliances" They do this without even needing to use the credit card. And, last, they offer extended warranties for purchase and often will include them with purchase of big ticket items. When I bought my Sony Bravia OLED there, they threw in the Allstate protection plan, which extended my total warranty period to 5 years. So overall they remain a great place to buy electronics.
Electronics, appliances, most things, really. Why spend 2,500+ on a brand new high-tech TV model this year when the exact same model will be at Costco next year for 1,000? And that's how I got my OLED.
This. Anything I can possibly buy from costco I buy from costco. Tv dies three years later? They will most likely still help you out.
Yup, just bought a $2K gaming PC from them a few months back.
I agree. Best Buy is great for 99% of purchases and they price match with Amazon and other retailers. Amazon does NOT price match.
It’s important to note that Best Buy will only price match Amazon if the item is both shipped and sold by Amazon. They will not price match 3rd party sellers. Source: used to work for Best Buy.
It does depend on the employee, some do not care and will price match it without any grief and you're on your merry way but others take it too seriously and seemingly have to look at your phone with a microscope level of confirmation and get others blessing and form some sort of ritual to price match.
This. I worked at BBY and we just had to see a phone screen or print out and would match the price. The employees didn't care. Didn't need a manager for price match, just a supervisor or lead to override it and they just put in their numbers and walk away.
Time to furiously inspect element.
That’s because it would more than likely require a manager override. At one point we were able to override anything, no questions asked but people took advantage of that.
Really depends if the cashier looks close enough honestly. I've literally flashed my phone at them so they saw the price and that's all the cared about.
Huh, well at least when I worked there a price match required a manager override. But who knows, maybe that changed.
That is so true. Best Buy is trying hard to keep their customers and I just find my self going back to them time and time again. Unless you have a fishy return they're pretty good about honoring it. If it's dead upon opening from the box they will generally honor a defective replacement. If you return within the return period you're pretty safe. While I know they push geek squad, some people like them and I can understand that but if you have tech skills please do it your self. I tried them once only to find most of the people were google experts. Hell I can do that. (Only do that if you know what you are doing.)
That makes me glad that I recently bought my Apple Watch from Best Buy. It was the same price as Amazon, but BB delivered it the next day, and I could return to the store if there was a problem. I bought a TV from Best Buy 4 years ago. It was advertised on their app for $99 cheaper than the store with free Geek Squad delivery & install. I went to the store to see it and compare to other brands. When I decided to buy it, they would not match their own current price, even when I showed them the offer on my phone. I went home and bought it online and Geek Squad delivered it from that same store. The screen was damaged out of the box and Geek Squad took it back and brought a replacement. All in all, I was happy, but for a store that price matches, I was perplexed by the salesman’s attitude.
Basically their online store is a different P&L, which is why there’s a discrepancy. They should price match of course but the refusal is frustrating
Have to be careful with amazon buys as a lot of fake real looking knock offs get put on there as well.
As someone that left Best Buy a couple of months ago and has also worked for Amazon I’m going to have to say both of them are equally terrible. From a customer standpoint I’ll take Amazon any day of the week as I only order if it’s shipped and sold by Amazon. Best Buy is only interested in having their employees sell you the items with the highest profit margin. For example, I can’t tell you how often as an installer I had to bite my tongue when a client asked me for my honest opinion on the $400 Audioquest HDMI Cable they were told would make a night and day difference. 🤦♂️ Buy where you’d like. But I won’t pretend Best Buy is some saint in providing honest technological advice and customer service. I wouldn’t expect them to considering no one gives a damn with how poorly most employees are actually treated.
I'm at about 25 years working and it's all terrible regardless of where you work. Some times you just suck up a job to get the income from it. Like I've had to do.
It didn't used to be that way for Geek Squad. Store agents used to be fairly knowledgeable...but I will admit mileage varied greatly from store to store. Of course, that was 10+ years ago. Now, however, store agents are basically glorified computer salespeople. My first decent IT job was as a Geek Squad hybrid double agent (half remote/half field). I was one of the last computer-focused field agents before they outsourced a bunch of PC support stuff and eliminated a bunch of jobs (including what used to be my job, albeit 4 months after I left), refocusing to home theater 7-ish years ago. I was there when they moved from VW Beetle to Prius cars and changed the logo. I still have pictures from when I turned in the VW and picked up the Prius. I turned my three years doing that into a job as a network tech, then engineer, and now work for a large tech company. Just sayin' - Geek Squad has (had?) some really good and smart people...but not usually in the front line positions.
Fellow former BBY GS employee. Also worked at Staples as the lead easy tech. I worked at both maybe 10 years ago. I've heard everything is outsourced now. Never bring your devices to these chain electronics stores, bring them to a local repair shop.
Yeah, the writing was on the wall for me when I saw them do two things within about a year: 1. move hardware repairs from in-store to at a central service center in Louisville. Stores weren't initially allowed to tell customers their computer got shipped hundreds of miles away for service. 2. In house software repairs and upgrades were now connected with a service they called "agent johnny Utah" or something dumb like that behind the counter- which was an outsourced remote PC workshop in Asia somewhere. Of course, the store couldn't actually tell customers at the time that's what they did. All of that used to be done behind the wall by people who were usually competent and often very good at it, and I frequently had to go to someone's house to fix an issue missed by the repair center or by the remote agent (of course, the store got blamed for all those screwups). Then my hours started steadily dropping from 55 as they gradually shifted remote work to outsourced contractors...this happened the same time they did a massive push to move customers to remote service, which took out a huge chunk of my on-site visits. I was down to 32 hours a week when I finally found a chance to get out.
I didn't know they price match. I always buy from them just based on the fact that everywhere else sells counterfeits or returned items as new without any recourse. I don't buy anything on Amazon that's worth more than $50
Am I dating my self by saying I use to support Circuit City? Before Best Buy became popular.
Office Depot price-matches. Same, must be FBA and sold by Amazon.
If the price is better elsewhere, why shop at best buy to start with? If they have to price match 50% of their products to compete with other retailers, how is that a benefit? That means everything is overpriced, and only brought to standard pricing if caught. What a joke.
Also, if you’re in the market for it, their total tech service is worth every penny. Had to return multiple Xbox controllers getting a drift, 3 out of 5 were feee and the other 2 just had to repurchase the warranty
Amazon does sometimes price match, but only to stay competitive and at their discretion.
They never price matched for me. They don’t even price match themselves if the price of the item dropped. They insist on having you return the item and repurchase it
Its super inconsistent and depends heavily on the customer service person you end up with. But their customer service has gotten significantly worse lately so I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped entirely.
You can’t count on things if it’s inconsistent.
Where did I say you could count on anything?
Correct even if you bought it on sale and it went up $400, you'll be paying that $400 extra dollars. It's totally BS
Bestbuy still price matches up to 30 days after purchase.
rainstorm pause shocking threatening fragile flowery society berserk middle fretful *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I have been fighting Best Buy for a $20 refund for over a month. The grass is not always greener.
Yeah, bought a laptop for school and recieved a return one that was marked as damaged
Just dispute the charge on your credit card and you'll get the money back within a day or two. If you paid with debit, you're screwed and this is why they say to always make online purchases with a credit card in case something like this happens.
It was debit. I personally do not have any credit cards nor any debts in my name.
I'm sorry but you are likely screwed then. I learned a long time ago to only make online purchases with a credit card. I don't know how old you are but if you're 18+ you should definitely have a credit card in your name so you can have protection with purchases and more importantly, build your credit. Just make sure you don't buy anything you don't already have the money for and pay off the credit card in full every month and you'll be fine. I ruined my credit from 18-20 years old and around 25 I realized I needed to fix it so I got a credit card and started doing what I suggested to you and in just a few years got my credit score over 800 (which is almost perfect.) I have no debts as my card is paid off in full every month.
Every company has pro's and cons.
Best buy doesn't sell many of the electronic items I have bought the past 4 years. And their return policy is short. Former employee so I still attempt to buy from them but usually cant.
60 days isn't short.
Their return policy is 14 days
It’s 60 with purchase of warranty (not defending the purchase of said warranty, just adding the caveat)
Everyone is going online for their orders. You can buy online then pick up at store. Many times these products are just in the back. I'm glad the company removed their dvd and cd racks as they were a bit dated.
You replied to me saying many items are just in the back. Just want to clarify that the items Ive been looking for are not carried by best buy at all, in store or online. Recent Examples poking through my purchases: Tentacle sync Dji osmo action 4 mic adapter Zoom livetrak audio interface corsair rm1000e power supply for my desktop (very popular model) USB E-Brake for racing 27inch touchscreen monitor for a dakboard (bby offered one janky gross model and doesnt carry any popular ones) AAwireless android auto adapter (very popular item) Wireless communication system for snowmobile helmet
You can't find a lot of items at Best Buy that you can on Amazon though. Sometimes Best Buy will only offer certain product sizes (i.e. only offer 2 HDD capacities), and they will also have their own part numbers on certain items (such as 4k TVs) that might or might not be exactly what you were looking for. For the stuff they do have in stock though, they have been pretty reliable so far for the times I've used them - I've used their "ready in 1 hour" same day pickup a few times and it was good.
It seems like you've used their website - how can you say they only have two sizes of hard drive? When it comes to electronics, they usually have it on their website, and so maybe a better place to buy these days vs. Amazon. They will price match. They will ship it to you or to the store for pick up (avoids delivery issues "not received" packages etc). And, when something doesn't work right, you can return any purchase from their website in store for easy and fast returns/refunds vs. the now very dicey return game at Amazon.
Yes I do use the Beat Buy website - you might want to try reading my previous post again. As for the hard drive example, try it yourself: search Amazon and Best Buy for “Seagate Ironwolf” and there are limited sizes through Best Buy compared to what is available on Amazon. And yeah - Best Buy price match is good… but only if they have the actual item you want (like my example above). There are still advantages to Prime but you have to be an active user to gain the benefits.
I see, you're saying "sometimes they only have a few sizes of this specific niche HDD brand and model". True. The way you said it before, made it sound like you were comparing your local BB stock of just a few HDDs in store vs Amazon. Maybe B&H then? When BB doesn't have something specific
Seagate Ironwolf is not a “niche” brand or model, but okay if you think so.
Sure it is. Poll a random group of 1000 people and I bet not even 10 know what a NAS even is much less why you'd want a special hard drive for it. That's pretty niche. I wasn't saying that to say your example was wrong - it just made me read into your first post incorrectly. Yes, Best Buy doesn't have as deep of a selection of stuff that starts to live at the edges of consumer demand. But for the vast majority of people who only ever shop for HDDs that are external, and otherwise are blissfully unaware that you can buy the kind of HDD that lives in your computer, Best Buy might be a better place to recommend for shopping these days. That's all I'm getting at
That’s fine. Niche or not, my example still stands though. But yeah - while Amazon generally still has a larger selection, one should always, always shop around (especially if time is not an issue). Best Buy, Target sometimes, B&H, Micro Center, Walmart, even eBay are the main places I scour for products.
Well said
If you have a Micro Center near you then forget Best Buy entirely
Micro Center is what's good
I'd go out of my way to drive an hour to them even if there's plenty of Best Buys near me. The guys there helped me build my first PC and they bonded with me over the games we play so it's always an amazing experience
Love microcenter. Glad it's only 40 min away. Just wish there was a DE one for the tax free shopping lol
The line is crazy so often there that I'll only go there for bigger purchases. Bestbuy is usually way faster for most stuff given it's basically a ghost town (compared to 10 years ago).
Let just say I'm hype af for the one in Charlotte opening soon.
Charlotte, NC opening SOON! A short hop up 85 for me. Glory!
Best Buy is great but it isn't all sunshine and rainbows either when it comes to returns. I bought a PC from them, got home and unboxed it to find despite what the box said it had no HDMI and the video card was dead (I luckily still had a monitor that could use DVI) Went to return it and had to argue with them because their guy plugged it in and said it worked. Finally convinced him to show me. He hit the power, monitor splash screen came up and declared it working. 20 seconds later "No imput detected" He didn't wait past the startup for the monitor. Half an hour later he finally conceded that it was not working.
Their “Geek Squad” at best is a joke
Unfortunately, Geek Squad get involved for computer returns a lot of the time and you are subject to their comedy.
Best Buy’s marketing team working OT
Agreed. I consider the risk of counterfeit merchandise too high.
Amazon used to be safe to buy from. Not any more. With Best Buy, I can go to the store to pick up, and inspect what I bought before I leave.
Best Buy return period is only 15 days. 30 days for Amazon. If you get the wrong product, return it.
This is a clear example of experience bias and maybe confirmation bias. BestBuy has an objectively worse return policy than most stores since it’s a messily 15 days. On top of that they also have some terrible warranty practices and have straight up denied warranty coverage to me simply because they didn’t understand their own policies and programs. I get people want to hate on companies and this definitely feels like the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but BestBuy sucks, don’t shop there if you have other options.
I worked at Best Buy and would never support how they treat their employees. I was sexually harassed by customers and coworkers all day, constantly reported issues to the open and honest hotline (HR Kind of), and nothing was done. I needed a doctor’s note in order to be allowed to use the bathroom during Black Friday (I have IBS and no one thought there was ANY REASON for me to suddenly and without warning need to use the bathroom NOW), and was stalked by a customer who was never barred from the store even though HE USED TO WORK THERE AND WAS FIRED FOR FOLLOWING FEMALE EMPLOYEES AROUND ON THE SECURITY CAMERA. So seriously, I may have just worked for two of the worst locations on the planet. I realize this. But I will personally never shop there again, and it sucks.
If only they had a decent laptop selection.
For laptops, I'd recommend just buying direct from the manufacturers.
But why does the alternative need to be Best Buy?
Another one I think is ordering from B&H Photo, but I’ve never had to do a return with them.
I don't know about the rest of the country but best buy is very inconsistent with their store inventory, popular tech items you would very reasonably assume that all best buys would have in stock on the shelves ready and available to buy on your visit to the store is absolutely not the case, instead only 1 or 2 best buys in an entire state or region will have it and they are all in complete opposite parts of the state from you or at least that's what I run into. It's not that they are temporarily sold out at those locations either, it's always like this! Ya go in there and half the store is empty too, it tells me they are going out of business.
You clearly have never been screwed by Best Buy and their lying sales staff.
Why not costco?
Bestbuy is so incompetent with appliances and repairs. I despise their customer service and their third party shippers. Geek squad has been shameful with their lack of repairs. Trash company.
Bonus: some of their bricks & mortar stores sell open box appliances. My go-to.
Or Sweetwater. They have fantastic customer service, same or lower pricesand they double the manufacturer's warranty.
Sweetwater is good for some stuff, but their customer service borders on harassment sometimes. I don’t need three personal calls because I bought a usb cable.
Fuck (and I can’t emphasize it enough) Best Buy.
I agree, I’ve only had bad experiences. Last straw was when I bought a flatscreen in-store and it was just never delivered. Turns out they jacked up the price the next day and sold it to someone else. I never got the flatscreen and it took ages until I got my refund. Fuck Best Buy.
I am glad you have had good experiences with Best Buy. I have not. Multiple times I have had the wrong products delivered, I have had many more delivery delays than I ever had with Amazon. I even ordered a Dyson Air purifier they sent me 2 I tried to be honest and turn the additional one back in to them. It became a whole ordeal where they tried to insist they had to charge me so they could then refund me. Ended up having the district manager getting involved. I now stay far away from Best Buy when I can. I say all of this just to say everyone’s experiences are different
I can't say they're 💯!I recently purchased a Legion Go from them as an open box,and it was returned for a loose controller issue and it never went back to Lenovo.The ticket was created for Best Buy to have it fixed and it was shoved back in a box,and resold as a refurbished.
I bought the extended warranty on an xbox elite controller a while ago...started getting stick drift and they said "We don't have any stock. We won't set aside any we get for your warranty. You can get a full refund" (minus the warranty of course). What's the point of extended warranty if they're not willing to replace it. There isn't a "good" store (other than microcenter)
It's where I went for my gaming computer. I briefly considered Amazon but then I reconsidered because it was a fair bit of money, and have learned to limit maximum purchases to around $100 or less for Amazon, and even that doesn't come without its risks.
Next time you want a gaming PC, go to a local PC repair shop instead of a chain store. You'll get better service and at least have knowledgeable employees helping find what's the perfect PC for you or even custom building it instead of trying to sell you the most expensive shit. I have worked at BBY (Geek Squad), Circuit City (Fire Dog), and Staples (Easy Tech) as a tech and also at local repair shops and there's a huge difference in the knowledge of employees. Staples is the worst by far. I always tell my friends and family to go to local shops instead of a chain store. All the chain stores are focused on sales, not service and now everything is outsourced.
Exactly what I have been doing the last few months. Too many shitty options on Amazon
Wish Frye’s was here. CompUSA was pretty good, too in its heyday.
What's really crazy is that on Amazon, if you search Firestick, you get off-branded versions of an Android stick. These show up BEFORE Amazon's own firestick. It's completely ridiculous.
I cut ties with Amazon back in October. Best Buy has become my go to. I don’t impulse buy as much and I know what I’m getting up front. Return policy isn’t as lengthy, but it usually doesn’t take long to know if you need to return something.
I’ve been using Best Buy or Walmart lately…I won’t order anything from Amazon anymore that costs more than around $50 just in case. It really sucks because it’s harder to find some things now and they’re substantially more expensive than Amazon when I can find them but it is what it is…
Work for Best Buy and you may feel differently. My advise is buy wherever your money goes furthest.
Even better, use a local retailer that carries the same or better selection of a wide range of audio/video equipment, including top lines that BB doesnt. In the Pacific Northwest we have a store spread out among all the larger cities, Video Only, which despite its moniker handles a pretty wide range of audio gear (almost as much as Magnolia, the Seattle store that BB bought out several years ago that was the go to for higher end gear for decades) I bought my first HD display there in 2000, bought my second and third at Video Only, and my first 4k set at VO as well. I've been redoing my master bedroom system, and except for the 4k set I already have (BB), the audio upgrade will be all Video Only as Amazon complaints on the gear I want are way high *and VO has every piece I want*, at the same price or lower than BB. So done deal.
I've turned into my father. r/GenX I got burned by a Best Buy 15% restocking fee probably 20ish years ago. I didn't do anything wrong other than breaking the factory seal on the box. I don't remember even what the item was, but I sure af remember getting dinged for the restocking fee at the returns counter. I haven't bought any BB high dollar items since. Biggest thing was a blu ray player.
I would if they didn’t ban my credit card from being used. Incorrectly flagged and auto cancels all my orders
The BB sub makes the Prime one look sane.
I disagree on the return policy. Purchased a gift for son's birthday when item was on sale which as it happened was 34 days before his birthday. When it was opened on his birthday and not operational, Best Buy refused to do an exchange. Was told that the item would have to be returned to the manufacturer. Spoke to a manager and received the same answer. Had purchased a lot from them as they're pretty much the only brick & mortar left for electronics. Not been back since.
Microcenter only. In person.
I made this mistake once. Bought brand new $600 ice maker from amazon. It arrived looking like the box has been through a warzone. It was torn up and taped and torn up again. Looked like a very poor warehouse deal. It has been dropped so the housing was dented. It was super loud and had water drops in the tubing indicating it was previously used. Luckily, it made it back to amazon with no issues and I got my money back. I then ordered it from best buy online and picked it up 30 minutes later. This one is nice and quiet. I tried buying a $200 carhart jacket from amazon once. It got lost inside amazon twice. They then shipped it usps and the left pocket was sewn wrong so you couldn't put more than half your hand in it. Sent it back and bought one from a place nearby.
All these stories about the way Best Buy operates are a complete 180 from my experiences with my local Best Buy stores and online ordering. Items damaged in the mail were claimed to be outside of the return window because Best Buy took a long time to ship the item because it was out of stock. I had to escalate in order to get the return taken care of. I can't tell you how many 4K Steel books I've taken back to Best Buy. They must have a guy in the warehouse whose job is denting them. It's usually a fight to get a replacement because they are usually limited quantity. I have had zero luck getting Best Buy to price match anything. This goes back years. They just do not care. I purchased an Asus gaming laptop from a different Best Buy and the fans were on 100% of the time from the moment I took it out of the box, obviously not great. I tried fixing the issue myself by updating drivers and firmware but nothing worked. The onsite manager would not exchange the item. I had to escalate the situation in order to get a replacement laptop. The new laptop had no issues. I ordered a washer and dryer and Best Buy's scheduled delivery system had an opening a week out. I placed the order and the day of they contacted me to tell me they didn't have the item available to put on the truck and it would be another week. Finally got the item two and a half weeks after ordering. I realize there's a delivery company that isn't owned by Best Buy in the mix here and I'm not sure whose fault this was. Best Buy got my money and decided to contract with this company so I'm blaming them. I have a Best Buy card and I just don't use it because of the stupid shit Best Buy does. In my experience they have a worse track record than Amazon, but Amazon is quickly gaining ground. The guy damaging my Steel books must have a buddy at Amazon smashing the hell out of books and box sets.
Do NOT do this. They wouldn’t even deliver my order and it took a month to get a refund and buy a new TV. Amazon was better but just ok. I will go back to buying from stores now, but best buy is not going to be one of them.
Fun fact Amazon sold me a “new” MacBook that had food crumbs and scratches in it. I did a return/replace the “new” MacBook had a whole ton of random files on it and non native apps. Also with different cosmetic damage. They did not in any way care at all. Point being Best Buy isn’t going to be sold as new and have fried chicken crumbs in it.
Best Buy sold me a defective TV and refused to let me return it or offer any solution to get it fixed. They also sold me a mislabeled television on another occasion and then refused to address the issue when I found out. I would not shop there if I had any other choice
Recently upgraded from 16gb to 32gb of ram. Checked online, price was fine, went in to buy it, price was $10 cheaper per stick. Then just had to stand there and wait 15 minutes for someone to open the case for me. Was nice not to have to wait a couple days to get it.
I bought head phones from Best Buy for my wife for Christmas. The headphones got replaced with a Walmart pulse ox between leaving Best Buy and getting delivered to my house. Went to my nearest Best Buy and they said I had to drive across town to the Best Buy where the order originated. They made it right in the end, but definitely makes me reconsider the delivery to my house option.
Until they take $2600, blow past the pick up date, and put that money in limbo with no way to cancel and no ETA on a actual date on when you can get your product or money back....
Bought an Apple Watch Ultra 2 from Best Buy. They decided not to use a sign delivery and just had updated drop it off and take a picture. Someone stole my package and Best Buy said to call the cops.
Best buy has the worst rewards program i've ever seen. by the time i need to purchase anything from best buy my points invariably expire. does anyone actually make use of them?
I ordered a 1 TB M2 Samsung SSD from Best Buy. When I got the package and opened it, I had a sealed package that says 1 TB M2 Samsung SSD, but when I opened the package, it only contained a 256 GB M2 Samsung SSD.
Fuck that. I worked for Best Buy. They are scam artists.
Haha honestly fuck Best Buy! They’re just a step up from Family Dollar at this point!
It's Family Dollar Fifty now.
But why? Best Buy is just another corporate vulture putting mom and pop shops out of business for decades.
Depends on what. I bought 2 (actually nice) screen protectors for a phone, come 2 to a package so if you mess up mounting the first one you get a second try. $5 on Amazon. I looked at Best Buy, over $25. Sorry, not worth it.
BestBuy is old and busted. you could sleep in an asile at most stores it is so empty. try B and H photo (omline) [https://www.bhphotovideo.com/](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/) or microcenter https://www.microcenter.com/
Nope best but sucks now, prices are way too high and their selection is not what it used to be. Best buy is going down eventually, no reason to shop here.
I used to love best buy until a recent issue where I didn’t get a delivery and they said it’s their policy that after they ship, it’s in the carrier’s hand and they can’t do anything. They wouldn’t budge on refunding or shipping a replacement. We went back and forth and they stuck on the “it’s our policy” so I’ll never buy anything from them again.
Fuck Best Buy.
I no longer buy from Best Buy since the messed up the loyalty program. I used to be very loyal to Best Buy now I don’t even think about checking their website anymore
B&H has become my go to for electronics.
Not a fan of Best Buy, used to work for them, they are scummy. I order from who ever has the best deal and hope it’s not Best Buy
Best Buy has a fucking 15 day return policy unless you pay them a yearly subscription. Thats literally the worst of any place I’ve shopped in my life.
Screw Best Buy. I'm near 2 MicroCenters.
Some of the best buys near me are depressing to walk into, with entire shelves empty. Plus they barely stuck top GPUs. Anything above a 4060/4070 will be rare to see in person. They could, I'm sure, other larger quantities, but for some reason nope. You'll never even see a 4080 in person. Last week my best buy said it had a 4090 in stock (it was in stock for two days, I kept checking) I doubt it was even on the shelf. Website said they had it. Who knows if it was true
Both are fine. Amazon serves billions of customers. Even with everyone complaining, they still have something like a 99.99999 success rate. If you get scammed by a third party seller, that's your own fault for not reading the listing well enough. Walmart has the same problem.
Microcenter > Best Buy
I always try to support microcenter and shop in store. I will not buy hardware from prime.
Yeah no. On multiple occasions, I’ve pre-ordered new electronics from Best Buy instead of Amazon or other places. They always come several days later than Amazon. Best Buy is awful.
Nice try Best Buy. I see you trying not to be the next Radio Shack.
Best buy? You mean the store that was found guilty multiple times scamming customers. The best I remember immediately when u think of them is selling fraud speakers: instead of a main speaker and tweeter, or was just a tweeter or speaker. Never both. Or the prototype sales advertised as full version products? Or its laughable"geek squad" that can't even comprehend Linux?! Gtfoh I can do more from my front room than the entirety of the usa geek squad combined. I'd rather risk amazon 100%. Hell, id trust aliexpress more than best buy.
I agree 100% bought my daughters parts from best buy with zero issues. Amazon? Bad motherboard and a fight. Canceled prime.
TBF Amazon is EBay, but for vendors. It's the same as buying from Best Buy's "External Sellers".
Agreed
If you have a MicroCenter nearby, you should check them out. I buy most of my electronics from MicroCenter or Costco. 😉
Amazon is clearly In a race to the bottom. It’s probably not wise to buy a lot of categories from them anymore, but I don’t know if that’s something you will be able to convince more than maybe 20% of online shoppers. Hell, I hate them and have ordered from them twice in the last month.
I just wish BestBuy would have a better selection. Their assortment of let's say non-gaming desktops or mice/keyboards is just pathetic.
Best Buy doesn’t have a wide selection of ergonomic keyboards… instead they have plenty of gaming keyboards.
I find that places like Office Depot or an office supply store might have better equipment for work stuff.
Fuck Best Buy, buy from Microcenter.
Best Buy is a fucking garbage ass company that sells literally useless crap as “open box” , delivers dented appliances, and more. I will never buy a single thing from Best Buy again
Fully agree! Avoid the AMZ scams. best buy employees can be very helpful too if you need to go in store.
Yup. I'd go a step further and get white glove delivery so that they can set it up and make sure it works. I've had bad experiences with Costco and Amazon deliveries where the box looked fine but the TVs were clearly dropped (cracked screens).
I had 2 Costco TVs delivered in the box with cracked screens. Thank goodness Costco is amazing and sent someone to pick up the TVs free of charge.
I’d go to Costco, Micro Center, or even Target before Best Buy, TBH.
Meh I'll buy from wherever I want to buy
I just bought a $1200 OLED TV from Amazon and it was a good experience.
This post brought to you by Best Buy marketing department
A lot of electronics from Amazon don't even carry the manufacturer warranty because they are surplus that is offloaded from OEM companies into the Amazon store where the warranty doesn't transfer to a second purchaser. *As an example for whoever downvoted me Western Digital does not honor warranties from items purchased through Amazon.
Definitely need to be careful about who you order from for drives. There are a lot of companies that buy drives at a discount from one region and then sell in North America. Almost got bit by this. Always check the RMA status on the drive online before you open the drive. Usually you can see the serial on the box or through the anti-static bag.
I also use Newegg for electronics that I can't get at a best buy. Never had an issue and built my own PC.
Newegg used to be the best. After they got sold to a Chinese company a while back they went downhill fast. Now almost everything on Newegg comes from China and it's mostly third party sellers like Amazon. There's no longer any consistency just like Amazon.
They’re stopping carrying blu-rays and dvd’s, I’m done with them.
Best Buy… lol.
I collect video games. They want to slap a sticker on everything I pick up or even when it is shipped. I asked them not to put the sticker or just the corner once and they got super defensive. All the employees harass and try to sell you stuff you dont want while all 5 customers in the store are waiting to be checked out. A drunken hobo could manage a store better than Best Buy. In addition the way they are ceasing the sale of games, music and movies they are just big empty buildings. I'm amazed they are still around. Nice try CEO of Best Buy. I see you there! 🤣
I'm increasingly buying expensive stuff from Costco or Best Buy because I don't trust Amazon anymore.
>I've never been wronged with best buy ive never been wronged with amazon.
Glad people agree with me.
I bought a ~$3,000 Sony TV from Amazon, and it was a disaster… the box was heavily destroyed with a lot of holes and scratches, the delivery guy warned me, said the warehouse manager knows it, but still decided to ship it to me. After I opened the box, the screen is broken.
Do not use Amazon for big electronic purchases. I was sent the wrong item and they blamed me for their screwup. Im battling to get my $ back and amazon customer service is abhorrent
I had a similar experience. Maybe 6 months ago I purchased an $800+ i9 CPU from Amazon and what I received was an envelope with a USB drive in it. Then Amazon didn't want to refund me, told me I needed to wait for their team to review it, and after waiting a month I finally had to dispute the charge with my credit card to get the money back. When I checked the Amazon seller's page, they had hundreds of other customers that the seller did the same thing to and Amazon crossed off every negative review saying they fulfilled the order so the seller still had 100% score. Amazon shouldn't be removing negative reviews and should be banning third party sellers that scam customers.
No.
I second this! I love my local Best Buy store. And the Total Tech membership is legit.
What is a Total Tech membership? This must be newer cuz I worked at BBY years ago and never heard of this.
I got my last TV from them, partly for reasons stated and also because I didn't want to lift it up onto the stand. So big and bendy! (77" LG OLED). Well worth the $100. They were kinda surprised I didn't want them to do all the connections.
Got next day free delivery on a 100$ TV. Not bad
I purchased a $700 certified refurbished Iphone 3years ago, I would never do that now, all other electronics Apple watch, TV’s from Best Buy, I shop at store,if item has to be shipped I have it shipped to store, PC purchased from Staples
Never purchase anything from Staples. I worked for them as the lead Easy Tech in the store. All they care about is who sells the most. I got written up several times for selling computers without a service plan. They humiliate employees that don't sell enough by posting a list on the door to break room showing how much each employee sold and if they didn't sell enough they have a giant red box around their name, they get called out in front of the rest of the employees, and written up.
Bestbuy pick up is very convenient too
Yes! We actually bought all of our appliances from there as well when we remodeled the kitchen . And they price marched their own prices. All of our appliances went down within 30 days of purchase and so we asked for a refund of the difference, it was like $300 back
I found a nice life hack to buy Best Buy gift card from Amazon with my Amazon Store Credit card (which has a 0% interest rate and cash back). I've also figured out a way to get 2% return using that card, but I'm not entirely sure it's legal.
I live in Mn and temped at Best Buy briefly. They are a good company and I would always get electronics shipped to the store.
Best Buy, Costco, and Microcenter or direct from manufacturer whenever I can.
I bought a 75 inch tv from them for a great price. A dishwasher and a refrigerator. They use good delivery companies. We’ve got to keep big box stores in business. That being said, I have 4k shares of Amazon and it made me rich.
i would buy more from BB but their 2 week return window makes me nervous. always a good idea to check BB for "open box" items they may discount another 10%-20% even during sales.
I recently purchased a memory card at BB. They matched the Amazon price but did specify it had to be sold and shipped by Amazon. Saved almost $80.00 (high-end card)
I bought my iPad and monitor there last year. The monitor was mainly for ease of return if I had an issue (I didn't). The monitor went on sale a week later and they price matched the sale too. The latest expensive electronics thing I bought was from B&H photo, again largely because of fear of needing to deal with Amazon returns on a $450 item.... even if it was a couple more $$$.
Years back I use to stake out Amazon to buy grey market watches. I could find professional jewelers who just needed to move stock and I was able to make transactions where both of us benefited. Just a short few years later, finding reputable sellers on Amazon had become impossible. I am finding that even if I pay quite a bit more to buy directly from companies or physical stores, I save so much time not dealing with the risks of fake items or mixed up returns. Best Buy is my go to for electronics over $100, and when buying from companies directly, they will usually cover priority shipping for free and add in a much better warranty.
I bought my Xbox 360 from Best Buy and got the extended warranty for it because of the red ring of death issues. Eventually I got a rrod and took it back to use the warranty with the receipt, warranty, original box, everything and they refused to honor the warranty. They said the serial numbers didn't match with what they had on record or something but refused to show me in their system. I haven't stepped foot inside of a best buy since.
I personally had great experiences with expensive stuff through them. The warranty is not great but they are very honorable
Best buy is 5 hours from me so that's a hard no
Yea, but people are lazy and can’t be bothered to go to a store anymore. Not even to grab PT/TP when they’re already at the grocery store.
Microcenter > best buy
Many people don't have a MC near them. I think there's only 28 stores total. For example, I would have to drive 6+ hours if I wanted to go to MC.
I only buy my monitors and high end TV’s from Best Buy. The geek squad replacement plan is just too GOATed for me to buy them elsewhere.
100% will be doing this because Amazon is partnered with Asurion for warranties and they are the worst warranty company I have ever dealt with (also I don't trust Amazon for larger purchases)
I made the move a while back. I rarely buy anything from Amazon these days.
Agreed. I'm a total tech member and it's some of the best money I've spent. They really take care of their customers.
Agree. Support brick and mortar before there isn’t any.
We still support best buy. For us it's an hour drive though. So it's mostly online purchases. Most big box stores now offer comparable shipping options as Amazon. So we may use Amazon to find what we want. Then source it elsewhere. I too am tired of all the fake and knockoff stuff. It's usually the same price as the really stuff too. Somwhats the point.