We know you're worried about what could happen; we saw that Liam Neeson movie too, the one where the daughter goes abroad and gets kidnapped and only after killing 351 people does he get her back. Taking trips to Europe can be risky, but our
Best Buy is old enough and responsible and can take care of itself, so we're okay with it taking a trip to the UK next year... even though we don't know exactly where it'll be landing. It's been talking about going for so long it'd be a shame to say no now. Yes, it'll be packing its blue shirts and yellow name tags so everyone will know what it is, and once it gets there sometime next year we're sure it'll call and tell us which franchise location will be first. So until then just try not to worry -- and maybe sign it up for some self defense classes or something.
[Thanks, Adam]
posted Oct 21st 2009 7:28AM
I'm guessing Thurrock and Southampton.
http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?storycode=3146413
I want to hear Jason Statham have to attempt to sell an extended warranty for a Nintendo DSi to someone with exact change.
You are just a year and a half late with this Engadget.
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/05/08/cpw_bestbuy_retail/
If you brits don't mind being trated like butt in the workplace, get a job at BB immediately when they open. Discount is AWESOME. Great for engadget readers. 5% above cost, so that $130 HDMI cable you're pushed frantically to sell to unsuspecting consumers, you get for $30. While some items like iPods and desktops you get no discount on (no margin), most electronics you buy with your discount will be at or below newegg prices.
oh, snap. just realized there's a conversion, but you get the point. Cheap electronic accessories for employees.
You don't want a Geek Squad Black tie on your Nintendo DSi?
But you Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed it.
To all our limey friends,
I apologize in advance. It's a shame that we export this crap. Best Buy sucks.
Speaking as a UK-ite on a predominately US blog, is this good or bad or indifferent?
That all depends on the consumer protection laws...
A lot of people will rail on bestbuy becuase its the cool thing to do, if you go into the store knowing what you want and have done your research your going to have a good customer service experience...
on the other hand, dont ask for advice, more than likely they are kids from high school or possibly college kids who think they know more than you do....
Mostly good, unless you're looking to buy HDMI cables...
Think Currys...
Its only bad if you actually purchase something at the store.
wozza is half-right.
Think Currys, only bigger.
Best Buy is, if memory serves, the world's largest laptop retailer and Samsung's single biggest customer.
Their buying power is incomparable, which will hopefully mean better prices than we currently see over here.
Also, from what American friends have told me, they have a really good 3 year protection plan/insurance that allows you to get the full value of the item back if it breaks down towards the end and there's no like-for-like replacement available, or something like that.
I for one hope they retain that service.
I agree -- if you've done your own research, know the product, know the prices, etc., you can find a good deal. I just bought a 50" plasma TV for $50 less than I found it anywhere online. I was able to walk out the door with it that day rather than wait 3-5 days from Amazon (and I LOVE Amazon). But the clerk continued to push the warranty and bring up incorrect information about the item as if he were trying to prove why I should buy the warranty. It's a gamble - like any insurance. They wanted $250 for it -- which would have made the purchase a poor price-point. Most manufacturers give you a 1-year warranty anyway, so you're really only getting 2-years out of BB's 3-year deal. If you're buying something that isn't likely to have a technology surge within that time (such as a console game system) then maybe it's worth it to you. But most things like TVs or computers will be so outpaced by the time you might need the warranty, that you'd likely just move on to new product and have wasted the money.
The point about poorly-educated salespeople is well-taken, too. None of the people on the floor know much more than what's on the box. I stumped most of them asking about the jack panel -- VGA inputs and analog / digital outputs on the models I was researching. They answered most of my questions with that unsure question-y tone, like they were asking me the answer. Most of the Geek Squad techs working on computers are simply trained on a few minor issues, and run a diagnosis disc. And that will cost you about $350 (not sure of the exchange rate - so sorry for US currency). Plus the "set-up" fee for computers -- where they go through and remove some of the shovelware and start your virus-protection for you. Don't fall for that one.
Nothing against the people working at BB -- they're just people working jobs. It's the business practices that leave something to be desired.
Don't know if tthis helps - but they're like the Wal-Mart or McDonald's of Electronics. As folks mentioned above - you won't gain any decent knowledge from staffers if you go into one already knowing what you want to purchase.
They are excessively high priced in the US. Also - with the pricing they tend to not carry the top of the line models of products. They'll carry high-end products - but they'll be the base model. And it's cheaper to go online and pay for the higher-end model of a product plus pay tax and shipping than it is to walk into one of their stores for most things.
If you want to test out something before you pruchase it elsewhere - it's a great sttore to go lounge around in.
The one exception to the above. they added a musical instrument section to most stores in the past 2 years. They cary very low-end entry level items and they actually carry some decent high-end items. We're talking "rock band" style insttruments - keyboards - guitars - drums. Haven't seen Saxophones or clarinets. But the keyboards and guitars are decent quality.
Lube up U.K., Best Buy is on it's way to rip you a new one!
@reisa: I get what you're saying about the warranty only effectively adding 2 years as most items come with 1 year thrown in but am I not right in saying that it adds accidental damage cover which manufacturer warranties don't cover?
@Iain
You're right ... it is a very accommodating policy for accidental breakage. Unfortunately, I know a few people who treat it like a repurchase policy. They've bought things like Sony PSP's ... keep them for 2-3 years, then break them and take them back just to get a new one -- to extend the life of their purchase. That's partially the reason BB's prices are high on most product. It's also why the insurance is so expensive, and why they try to push it on every single piece of equipment they sell. If someone is buying a product like a TV, monitor, PC, etc... things that are set up and left in place ... I just can't see the insurance as being worthwhile. If they're stolen or destroyed in a fire, they're covered by homeowners' insurance. Best Buy is banking on the idea that you'll pay for the insurance and then never use it -- and if that weren't true, they wouldn't offer it. They'd lose their shirts taking $250 to replace a $1599 TV set.
And to clarify about the $350 for computer repair ... that fee is to "reset" the PC, not just diagnose it. But the "reset" is nothing more than wiping the hard drive, and reloading it with the programs that shipped from the factory. You lose all your data.
I bet the prices will still be Treasure Island prices...
Birmingham please
+1!
I want it to come to Birmingham too! That way I can just walk in after all the locals have gotten all they can carry before the flatfoots arrive.
Bit of competition for PC World, Comet and Currys. Nice.
reminds me of this...
http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2009/september/dixons
Except...actually it's then go buy it at amazon or ebuyer.
cant wait hope the can kill off pcworld once and for all
PC World is a rip off! With poor advice form annoying employees. Hopefull Bestbuy will be better, but not holding out much hope.
I doubt it - it will be the same sort of minimum wage staff.
And you think Best Buy won't be a rip off compared to online prices?
Thanks Adam? I mailed this into you 2 weeks ago... oh well. There is a massive store opening in Hedge End, outside Southampton. It's only a couple of miles from my house, so I'm looking forward to see what it has to offer. For people who know the area, it is the old Courts furnature store, which is being refurbed. It will be good to have someone give Currys (inc. PCWorld) and Comet a run for their money.
"Thanks Adam? I mailed this into you 2 weeks ago... oh well."
That's your problem, everyone knows that snail mail sucks... ;)
Two weeks?
These plans have been common knowledge for months now.
Had the recession not hit as hard as it has, the first stores would already be open.
joker, royal mail strike, whaddya gonna do?
Does this mean they're going to run around the streets of London (or Liverpool) in their cute little Beetles and act like blithering idiots whenever a clueless person calls them to install something?
Yes. It means exactly that!
No, They use smart cars in the UK. Geek Squad have been in the UK for years working with Carphone Warehouse
"and laugh all the way to the bank whenever a clueless person calls them to install something?"
Fixed that for you.
If I was a Solution Provider in the UK, I wouldn't exactly be quaking in my boots. I don't understand what the Geeksquad offers anybody. Very high fixed prices, low level of deep knowledge from the techs, and too much attitude from the (mostly) young men working there.
What they do have, however, is marketing. Lets just hope our brethren across the pond are a bit more intelligent about it than we have been. With the way they treat customers (not to mention employees), it is very disappointing that Worst Purchase has gotten as big as they have in the states.
Best Buy UK jobs page - so Thurrock is definite.
The UK had better get ready for the invasion of the tech intelligence snatchers.
There is one opening up at Lakeside in Thurrock, it's being built right now in the Retail Park, replacing the old TK Maxx building.
Oh and Croydon too - cool I need a new job.
First Walmart, now Best Buy..can you feel the love England =)
You guys must really hate us.
Walmart bought ASDA, so now every ASDA says "part of the Walmart family" and the UK is alot more than England, try England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland & the Channel Isles.
Best Buy is not very comprehensive when it comes to certain product categories. They only carry certain brands of computers; no WiFi radios (except Squeezebox), etc..., etc... It's good for a look-see, but rarely the place to buy.
Amazon US or UK FTW.
Sometimes, when you want to "touch" before you buy, it can be a useful place to go.
Sooooo you expect them to sell everything that exists? There's only so much space in the store. As for laptops, Sony, Apple, Dell, Toshiba, HP, Gateway, Acer, Asus...they have all the big name brands, don't know what more you could want....
Why does everyone compare the Best Buy stores (physical buildings) to online venders? If your gonna sit at the computer and e-hate on everything around you at least thoroughly think about your responses from an open minded point of view....hurts my eyes to read to close minded responses on here sometimes
I'm not entirely sure this'll offer anything different to the way curry's operate, except the possibility of slightly more interesting products.
geek squad have already been over here for a year or two. They operate out of carphone warehouse stores, of whom best buy half-own the retail operation.
@Zane, they drive Smart ForTwos over here.
I hope it's staffed by better employees than the usual untrained, gormless & completely I.T. illiterate staff that squat in PC world, Dixon's and alike.
I acctually stooped to applying for a PC world tech job once, they turned me down as I was "over qualified" for the post (their words not mine) becuase I'd worked in tech support before for 2 years lol
I predict this place will be a carbon-copy of PC World, full of people that don't give a monkey's, if not immediately then within a year. And the prices will be identical. Bet you. Shame, I actually find Best Buy a really good experience when I'm in the US on business.