1) The magazine stuff has been gone for a long, long time.
2)The in-store web site is exactly the same as the one on your computer at home.
3)Restocking fees do not exist for ANYTHING anymore. They were removed before this past Christmas season.
and 4) stop spreading fud, try shopping there this decade, and don't expect Best Buy to have tons of iPad 2's when Apple's own stores don't have any in. Just because they advertise it and sell out does not make it trickery, it simply means it's a hot item. Apple advertises the iPad 2 at their retail stores, and tv, in print ads, on web sites... and they are sold out too. Is that Apple being tricky too?
...did you read how may posts are from people who were first/in front of the line? how did they get sold out when they were there BEFORE the store opened?
.. and their INTRANET site is not exactly the same as their public website - if you're using their LAN connections, you are on their network. whip out your phone an comparison shop (while you're on the cell network).
The whole iPad2 supply issue stinks, and it's not really Best Buys fault!!
It's totally Apple's fault!!
I really want a new iPad but I am not willing to play Apple's games!!
If more folks would feel the same way and refuse to buy them until they are really available!! Maybe Apple would take the hint and make sure that they have enough inventory before they make any product available!!
I am not forking over $100 on the off chance they will call me when it comes in!! Or stand in line at Apple store for hours on end! It is just WRONG!!!!
appl can't keep up with demand, but they don't tell you they have them when they don't.
order online from apple. it will ship on or before the day it says it will. easy. painless
Yep.. I dont know why Apple, with it's AWESOME image for customer satisfaction would even CONSIDER going to BestBuy as an outlet for their products..
Between their ploys for forcing magazine subscriptions on to you, having different prices on the "inside the store version" of the website, to various other forms of advertisement trickery, or their ridiculous restocking fees, I stay away from all things related to Best Buy at all costs. NO WAY would I buy the iPad there..
Magazine subscriptions? When was the last time you were in a Best Buy? 1995? I means seriously people. Don't bash a store you don't even patronize. I agree the ad was a little ridiculous, but is is really Apple's or Best Buy's fault that they have turned all of you into whining begging consumers who get pissed off when their shiny expensive toy is out of stock? Grow up. Use your brains.
I had a terrible experience with Best Buy where I was on the phone with their customer support for over 500 minutes over the course of two months. I vented about my experience on Best Buy's Facebook page. One of their reps contacted me and offered a free $50 gift card. I held out for $100 and surprisingly they gave it to me.
Sometimes it pays to complain.
500/60=8.33333 hours on the phone
8.33333/$100=$12 per hour
congrats. you just made the same hourly wage as the retail employee you spent all that lovely time with.
...did you read how may posts are from people who were first/in front of the line? how did they get sold out when they were there BEFORE the store opened?
.. and their INTRANET site is not exactly the same as their public website - if you're using their LAN connections, you are on their network. whip out your phone an comparison shop (while you're on the cell network).
Having worked at a Best Buy, I should know the "difference" in the in-store site compared to the "normal" one. I did plenty of comparisons, and some even on customer's request (because, like you, they thought I was lying, because that would somehow make me feel good... whatever). The web sites are identical. I can't speak for the past, but the past 2-3 years, this has been the case. And read the ad before you bash the store. It boldly states that you can come in to purchase OR reserve one right on the front, and never, ever guarantees that there were any in the store. The ad never says there are any in the store, only that there might be and if not, you can reserve the right to one. How is any of that wrong?
I used to love Best Buy and now it's quite the opposite.
The day the iPad 2 came out (3/11/11) I got in line at the Best Buy in Tigard, OR. They had so few in stock that we were promptly told to go home, and come back the following day to put our name down to reserve one. I did and was 2nd on the waiting list for the model I wanted. 5 weeks later, despite all the press about iPad 2 launch this weekend... zippo, nada, zilch. Still in the same spot in line.
The only reason I'm ordering it from them is because I have a Best Buy gift certificate I need to use, but I think the good people of Tanzania will have an iPad 2 before Best Buy clients.
If Best Buy keep using those deceptive methods, I don't give it long before Best Buy joins the fate of the CompUSA and Circuit CIty of the past...
The whole iPad2 supply issue stinks, and it's not really Best Buys fault!!
It's totally Apple's fault!!
I really want a new iPad but I am not willing to play Apple's games!!
What "games"???
If you are talking about Best Buy withholding inventory for a promotion and then not having enough inventory for a promotion...that is Best Buy's game. Apple didn't tell them to do this, and the rumor was that Apple was unhappy with it.
Apple has a pretty fair system for selling iPads: First come first served. I woke up at 3am on March 11 to order mine online. I beat you to it, which is why I'm typing this on my iPad 2
BestBuy's marketing practices are uniformly vile: bait and switch, deceit, exploitation of the ignorant... If it's unethical and will make them money, they never hesitate.
BestBuy's customers get what they deserve, just as Apple deserves the bad reputation they get from doing business with organizations guilty of scum business practices.
I think Best Buy got caught by Apple hoarding iPads day by day in order to make their internal numbers better. In order to get out of it they lied and made up this saving them for a promotion thing. In case you haven't noticed BB is a pretty scummy organization.
I am with you on this one. I think they got caught and made up this fake promotion in order to make right with Apple. The whole promotion is a joke as I know that certain Best Buys did not hold any iPads for this promotion as they sold them as soon as they were received. This supports my (our) theory that the promotion was thought up so Apple did not pull their iPads from Best Buy stores.
This is just an observation from dealing with the iPad stock, but it seems the 3G models are more readably available over the wifi models. I do not think this is some ploy to sell 3G models but rather a lack of interest on the consumer's part. Although, I see way more 3G models come in than the wifi ones.
Why would Best Buy run a special promotion for something that already has crushing demand? Sounds weird.
Because Bestbuy is an awful company that assume their customers are brain dead slaves...this is insane.
of all the stupid law suits we hear about in tech these days, a good ole fashion fraud class action would be great here. Be it tech or not, bait and switch is old as the hills and still a crime
Having worked at a Best Buy, I should know the "difference" in the in-store site compared to the "normal" one. I did plenty of comparisons, and some even on customer's request (because, like you, they thought I was lying, because that would somehow make me feel good... whatever). The web sites are identical. I can't speak for the past, but the past 2-3 years, this has been the case. And read the ad before you bash the store. It boldly states that you can come in to purchase OR reserve one right on the front, and never, ever guarantees that there were any in the store. The ad never says there are any in the store, only that there might be and if not, you can reserve the right to one. How is any of that wrong?
(A) It's wrong because they didn't tell anyone waiting in line that they didn't have any.
(B) Some stores were making people buy $100 gift cards as a condition for reserving one.
Magazine subscriptions? When was the last time you were in a Best Buy? 1995? I means seriously people. Don't bash a store you don't even patronize. I agree the ad was a little ridiculous, but is is really Apple's or Best Buy's fault that they have turned all of you into whining begging consumers who get pissed off when their shiny expensive toy is out of stock? Grow up. Use your brains.
My local Best Buy was doing the magazine subscription thing (Entertainment Weekly) as recently as 6 months ago. There are often employees there goofing off, yelling, swearing with children present. The only decent employees in the store are in the Apple section. They are actually friendly and knowledgable. Head over to the car stereo or gaming sections and I swear there must be a meth lab nearby.
The whole iPad2 supply issue stinks, and it's not really Best Buys fault!!
It's totally Apple's fault!!
I really want a new iPad but I am not willing to play Apple's games!!
If more folks would feel the same way and refuse to buy them until they are really available!! Maybe Apple would take the hint and make sure that they have enough inventory before they make any product available!!!
There is an easy way for Apple to solve your dilemma. Apple could have jacked up the price $200 or $300 from the very beginning thereby reducing the crazy demand. Then to avoid looking like they are gouging the buyers, just say that 20% of the proceeds go to charity. Heck, give the buyer an opportunity to select which charity gets the funds.
Alternatively, to help keep demand down so it would be easier for you to obtain one... they could have made it more like a Windows 7 netbook.
It is Apple's games!!! apple shouldn't have given new companies the right to sell iPads or even debuted them in other countries until they caught up on the sales adn wants in this country first. It makes no sense to say you can now but iPads at Best Buy and Toys r us when even Apple's own stores have none for sale!! It's just stupid!!!!
... on the other hand... Best Buy (BBY) has been on a slow and steady decline for the last 5 years... but they do give a dividend...
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM
Yeah, I don't think the long term outlook for Best Buy is good.
But here in the northeast first CompUSA fell and then Circuit City. Best Buy sits now as having the field to itself in some territories, not that it's a great field. In the NYC area, maybe even tri-state, I can't think of a CompUSA kind of place that has popped up in its wake. It's really the Staples/OfficeMax places that have the common computer sections (with office supplies as the rest instead of home electronics) that compete for computer Sunday circular attention.
Naturally, in NYC, J & R and B & H are on another, higher level. But unless BB loses some serious money in deals that have to do with internal investing, I can't see how they can fail too soon. Unless some other big chain with a foothold elsewhere decides to come into the area they're pretty much the only Big Box consumer electronics place here.
It is Apple's games!!! apple shouldn't have given new companies the right to sell iPads or even debuted them in other countries until they caught up on the sales adn wants in this country first. It makes no sense to say you can now but iPads at Best Buy and Toys r us when even Apple's own stores have none for sale!! It's just stupid!!!!
Apple needs to ramp up production!!
Maybe Apple should have sold the iPad in Australia or the UK first. It is a global economy after all, and Apple is an international company. Who's to say that people in "this country" have the right of first refusal?
Maybe Best Buy should have provided some cheese & crackers to go along with all the whine. \
My local Best Buy was doing the magazine subscription thing (Entertainment Weekly) as recently as 6 months ago. There are often employees there goofing off, yelling, swearing with children present. The only decent employees in the store are in the Apple section. They are actually friendly and knowledgable. Head over to the car stereo or gaming sections and I swear there must be a meth lab nearby.
LOL!! Sounds exactly like all of the NYC ones. BTW, since I had to do the midtown accountant/uptown Fidelity office/Sunday 34th St Post Office tax special yesterday, I decided to do a tour of the Best Buys in each of the neighborhoods. None had iPads in stock at opening.
Comments
Try shopping there this decade, please.
1) The magazine stuff has been gone for a long, long time.
2)The in-store web site is exactly the same as the one on your computer at home.
3)Restocking fees do not exist for ANYTHING anymore. They were removed before this past Christmas season.
and 4) stop spreading fud, try shopping there this decade, and don't expect Best Buy to have tons of iPad 2's when Apple's own stores don't have any in. Just because they advertise it and sell out does not make it trickery, it simply means it's a hot item. Apple advertises the iPad 2 at their retail stores, and tv, in print ads, on web sites... and they are sold out too. Is that Apple being tricky too?
...did you read how may posts are from people who were first/in front of the line? how did they get sold out when they were there BEFORE the store opened?
.. and their INTRANET site is not exactly the same as their public website - if you're using their LAN connections, you are on their network. whip out your phone an comparison shop (while you're on the cell network).
The whole iPad2 supply issue stinks, and it's not really Best Buys fault!!
It's totally Apple's fault!!
I really want a new iPad but I am not willing to play Apple's games!!
If more folks would feel the same way and refuse to buy them until they are really available!! Maybe Apple would take the hint and make sure that they have enough inventory before they make any product available!!
I am not forking over $100 on the off chance they will call me when it comes in!! Or stand in line at Apple store for hours on end! It is just WRONG!!!!
appl can't keep up with demand, but they don't tell you they have them when they don't.
order online from apple. it will ship on or before the day it says it will. easy. painless
Yep.. I dont know why Apple, with it's AWESOME image for customer satisfaction would even CONSIDER going to BestBuy as an outlet for their products..
Between their ploys for forcing magazine subscriptions on to you, having different prices on the "inside the store version" of the website, to various other forms of advertisement trickery, or their ridiculous restocking fees, I stay away from all things related to Best Buy at all costs. NO WAY would I buy the iPad there..
Magazine subscriptions? When was the last time you were in a Best Buy? 1995? I means seriously people. Don't bash a store you don't even patronize. I agree the ad was a little ridiculous, but is is really Apple's or Best Buy's fault that they have turned all of you into whining begging consumers who get pissed off when their shiny expensive toy is out of stock? Grow up. Use your brains.
I had a terrible experience with Best Buy where I was on the phone with their customer support for over 500 minutes over the course of two months. I vented about my experience on Best Buy's Facebook page. One of their reps contacted me and offered a free $50 gift card. I held out for $100 and surprisingly they gave it to me.
Sometimes it pays to complain.
500/60=8.33333 hours on the phone
8.33333/$100=$12 per hour
congrats. you just made the same hourly wage as the retail employee you spent all that lovely time with.
It's called "Bait and Switch" my friend.
Sad. BestBuy would do such a thing.
...did you read how may posts are from people who were first/in front of the line? how did they get sold out when they were there BEFORE the store opened?
.. and their INTRANET site is not exactly the same as their public website - if you're using their LAN connections, you are on their network. whip out your phone an comparison shop (while you're on the cell network).
Having worked at a Best Buy, I should know the "difference" in the in-store site compared to the "normal" one. I did plenty of comparisons, and some even on customer's request (because, like you, they thought I was lying, because that would somehow make me feel good... whatever). The web sites are identical. I can't speak for the past, but the past 2-3 years, this has been the case. And read the ad before you bash the store. It boldly states that you can come in to purchase OR reserve one right on the front, and never, ever guarantees that there were any in the store. The ad never says there are any in the store, only that there might be and if not, you can reserve the right to one. How is any of that wrong?
The day the iPad 2 came out (3/11/11) I got in line at the Best Buy in Tigard, OR. They had so few in stock that we were promptly told to go home, and come back the following day to put our name down to reserve one. I did and was 2nd on the waiting list for the model I wanted. 5 weeks later, despite all the press about iPad 2 launch this weekend... zippo, nada, zilch. Still in the same spot in line.
The only reason I'm ordering it from them is because I have a Best Buy gift certificate I need to use, but I think the good people of Tanzania will have an iPad 2 before Best Buy clients.
If Best Buy keep using those deceptive methods, I don't give it long before Best Buy joins the fate of the CompUSA and Circuit CIty of the past...
The whole iPad2 supply issue stinks, and it's not really Best Buys fault!!
It's totally Apple's fault!!
I really want a new iPad but I am not willing to play Apple's games!!
What "games"???
If you are talking about Best Buy withholding inventory for a promotion and then not having enough inventory for a promotion...that is Best Buy's game. Apple didn't tell them to do this, and the rumor was that Apple was unhappy with it.
Apple has a pretty fair system for selling iPads: First come first served. I woke up at 3am on March 11 to order mine online. I beat you to it, which is why I'm typing this on my iPad 2
BestBuy's customers get what they deserve, just as Apple deserves the bad reputation they get from doing business with organizations guilty of scum business practices.
I think Best Buy got caught by Apple hoarding iPads day by day in order to make their internal numbers better. In order to get out of it they lied and made up this saving them for a promotion thing. In case you haven't noticed BB is a pretty scummy organization.
I am with you on this one. I think they got caught and made up this fake promotion in order to make right with Apple. The whole promotion is a joke as I know that certain Best Buys did not hold any iPads for this promotion as they sold them as soon as they were received. This supports my (our) theory that the promotion was thought up so Apple did not pull their iPads from Best Buy stores.
Why would Best Buy run a special promotion for something that already has crushing demand? Sounds weird.
Because Bestbuy is an awful company that assume their customers are brain dead slaves...this is insane.
of all the stupid law suits we hear about in tech these days, a good ole fashion fraud class action would be great here. Be it tech or not, bait and switch is old as the hills and still a crime
Having worked at a Best Buy, I should know the "difference" in the in-store site compared to the "normal" one. I did plenty of comparisons, and some even on customer's request (because, like you, they thought I was lying, because that would somehow make me feel good... whatever). The web sites are identical. I can't speak for the past, but the past 2-3 years, this has been the case. And read the ad before you bash the store. It boldly states that you can come in to purchase OR reserve one right on the front, and never, ever guarantees that there were any in the store. The ad never says there are any in the store, only that there might be and if not, you can reserve the right to one. How is any of that wrong?
(A) It's wrong because they didn't tell anyone waiting in line that they didn't have any.
(B) Some stores were making people buy $100 gift cards as a condition for reserving one.
Magazine subscriptions? When was the last time you were in a Best Buy? 1995? I means seriously people. Don't bash a store you don't even patronize. I agree the ad was a little ridiculous, but is is really Apple's or Best Buy's fault that they have turned all of you into whining begging consumers who get pissed off when their shiny expensive toy is out of stock? Grow up. Use your brains.
My local Best Buy was doing the magazine subscription thing (Entertainment Weekly) as recently as 6 months ago. There are often employees there goofing off, yelling, swearing with children present. The only decent employees in the store are in the Apple section. They are actually friendly and knowledgable. Head over to the car stereo or gaming sections and I swear there must be a meth lab nearby.
The whole iPad2 supply issue stinks, and it's not really Best Buys fault!!
It's totally Apple's fault!!
I really want a new iPad but I am not willing to play Apple's games!!
If more folks would feel the same way and refuse to buy them until they are really available!! Maybe Apple would take the hint and make sure that they have enough inventory before they make any product available!!!
There is an easy way for Apple to solve your dilemma. Apple could have jacked up the price $200 or $300 from the very beginning thereby reducing the crazy demand. Then to avoid looking like they are gouging the buyers, just say that 20% of the proceeds go to charity. Heck, give the buyer an opportunity to select which charity gets the funds.
Alternatively, to help keep demand down so it would be easier for you to obtain one... they could have made it more like a Windows 7 netbook.
Apple needs to ramp up production!!
... on the other hand... Best Buy (BBY) has been on a slow and steady decline for the last 5 years... but they do give a dividend...
Yeah, I don't think the long term outlook for Best Buy is good.
But here in the northeast first CompUSA fell and then Circuit City. Best Buy sits now as having the field to itself in some territories, not that it's a great field. In the NYC area, maybe even tri-state, I can't think of a CompUSA kind of place that has popped up in its wake. It's really the Staples/OfficeMax places that have the common computer sections (with office supplies as the rest instead of home electronics) that compete for computer Sunday circular attention.
Naturally, in NYC, J & R and B & H are on another, higher level. But unless BB loses some serious money in deals that have to do with internal investing, I can't see how they can fail too soon. Unless some other big chain with a foothold elsewhere decides to come into the area they're pretty much the only Big Box consumer electronics place here.
It is Apple's games!!! apple shouldn't have given new companies the right to sell iPads or even debuted them in other countries until they caught up on the sales adn wants in this country first. It makes no sense to say you can now but iPads at Best Buy and Toys r us when even Apple's own stores have none for sale!! It's just stupid!!!!
Apple needs to ramp up production!!
Maybe Apple should have sold the iPad in Australia or the UK first. It is a global economy after all, and Apple is an international company. Who's to say that people in "this country" have the right of first refusal?
Maybe Best Buy should have provided some cheese & crackers to go along with all the whine.
My local Best Buy was doing the magazine subscription thing (Entertainment Weekly) as recently as 6 months ago. There are often employees there goofing off, yelling, swearing with children present. The only decent employees in the store are in the Apple section. They are actually friendly and knowledgable. Head over to the car stereo or gaming sections and I swear there must be a meth lab nearby.
LOL!! Sounds exactly like all of the NYC ones. BTW, since I had to do the midtown accountant/uptown Fidelity office/Sunday 34th St Post Office tax special yesterday, I decided to do a tour of the Best Buys in each of the neighborhoods. None had iPads in stock at opening.