They don't have an in-store kiosk, but whenever I've told the cashier that the website price was $10 lower they've always been good about just accepting that. They also realize how ludicrous it is that if you were to buy something online for instant pickup you'd get a lower price than if you were to come in and browse for a while. You'd think they'd want to encourage browsing.

Another reason I go to Pricewatch.com and look at the 5,000 vendors' prices there!

Then, too, if I really and absolutely must have a local part, I print out the web page, in color, with the prices, and carry them with me.

But, I also don't have time to argue with idiots, so, I usually end up buying the item with the manager standing there, OK'ing the deal, on penalty of my cell phone flash mob riot, or the State Consumer Affairs looking into the matter.

I am the Customer, and I am always right. But, hey, I do not have to push it, as I "vote" with my money, my feet, and the Internet. I pick my fights, and that is why I am always right, and I always win.

Best Buy loses, as does their buddy, the multiple convicted pirate felon Microsoft. I run only Linux, and recommend you at least try out Mepis, PCLinuxOS, Kubuntu, or Ubuntu.

Then, you will be both smart, and right, too!

Best Buys practice of not updating their sales tags, where you end up taking a product to the register only to "discover" that its no longer on sale, has made me leave the store on more than one occasion. Another tactic that I've clued into is the habit of receiving coupons on upcoming sales for 10-12% off only to find out once I'm in the store that items I'm interested in have mysteriously risen in price by 5% comparable to other stores in my area. So what exactly are you saving?!!!

"Another tactic that I've clued into is the habit of receiving coupons on upcoming sales for 10-12% off only to find out once I'm in the store that items I'm interested in have mysteriously risen in price by 5% comparable to other stores in my area. So what exactly are you saving?!!!"

5.5%?

This absolutley happened to me. I was buying a rolling computer case and it was $99 on Bestbuy.com but $119 in the store. The sales person looked it up, showed me the screen and said I must have misread it. When I told them I was absolutely correct, they told me to wait while 'they tried another bestbuy site'. Viola $99. Something fishy here.

Circuit city is bad because they fire their employees just because they've been there too long and got one to many raises.

Best Buy is using bait and switch

Walmart is a price forcing behemoth

Target never has anything in stock that a reasonable person might actually wish to buy.

Maybe it's time to start that goat farm I've been thinking of.

My first (and last, due to the events described below) attempt to buy an item online for 'instant pickup' from Best Buy resulted in me spending /vastly/ more time in the store than I would by just browsing.

After ordering online, the instructions were quite clear: bring my photo ID and purchasing card to the store and head to customer service. Fair enough. After waiting in line for ten minutes or so, the confused service rep 'fessed up that she couldn't help me as I hadn't printed out my invoice (!) and she needed that to 'find' the item I'd ordered.

I'm sent to a printer demo area where they let me check my email and print out the confirmation message from my order. It's worth mentioning for amusement that the printer was out of paper, and I had to show them how to load in a few new sheets.

Added bonus: I now have to walk back to customer service and stand in line for yet another ten minutes, only to get a different rep who tells me that the email, ID and card are not enough; no, I must now go find the item that I'd ordered online and bring it up to the service desk. In as polite a tone as I could manage, I asked what the point of ordering online for instant pickup is if I need to go pick it up myself. His answer "Not much." Oh, and I'm just lucky that the part I'd ordered wasn't very popular, since they didn't take one off the shelf for me when I placed my order... even though the confirmation email was very specific in telling me to wait until they did just that before showing up.

Right, then. I walk to the back of the store, grab the part I'd ordered, walk back to service, spend some more quality time in line, go through the payment/validation process, and leave. This last step is strikingly similar to what a normal walk-in customer would do, except my card was charged a couple of hours ago, as opposed to being charged at the counter.

So, in response to the first comment on this article: ordering online apparently does encourage browsing... of the snacks in the service desk line.

I love the best buy reaction to the charges.

That so screams "yup... we ripped you off and loved every penny of it!"

.... suddenly about 3 years ago everything changed. After going to Best Buy for a few years & marveling at their low prices, I noticed that the only best buy in the store was their name. Specifically, I couldn't find a digital camera in the store under $200. I walked out & went to another store to buy a decent camera for far less. I've been back to Best Buy since, but with the knowlege that their prices are no longer a "best" buy.

Best Buy is only following a respected US tradition, which in the long run is simply a legal bait-and-switch tactic. First, build up the store's reputation by good service and low prices. Then, when reputation is established, fire the good help & hire the dumbest cheapest labor possible, while jacking up prices all over the store. Oh, and we must forget, don't bother to stock the items that brought people into the store in the first place -- they don't bring in enough profit margin.

The end game is often a disaster, but never ever for the primary stockholders. They've bailed years earlier with huge profits, before the bankruptcy, the store closings, the ruined reputation, and eventual sale to another chain at fire-sale prices. I would hope that Best Buy isn't going down that all too predictable route.

"Best Buy loses, as does their buddy, the multiple convicted pirate felon Microsoft. I run only Linux, and recommend you at least try out Mepis, PCLinuxOS, Kubuntu, or Ubuntu.

Then, you will be both smart, and right, too!"

Amazing. A completely non-Microsoft thread is turned into a self-congratulatory personal hand job by a a self-ordained Linux "genius."

I almost think there is an automated LinBot that searches the Internet for any conversation whatsoever that doesn't bow to the deity of Linux and inserts pro-Linux/anti-Microsoft rhetoric into it, no matter the topic.

The ego alone of the advocates will insure that a percentage of the population will have no interest - and this from someone who runs it.

Look what happened with compusa. Half of its stores closed last month. Best buy is next on the chopping block .. Circuit city ? don't know.. i never go there...

I visited one of the compusa's the day before it was to close. Their memory cards ( XD Card 1 Gbyte . M version , not even the high speed version ) had a discount of 60% marked .. and they were still 3 dollar more expensive than Fry's regular price .... and people wonder why theyse guys go out of business.

The only real deals was their big pile of cables and power adapters. 1$ each.

i bought 20$ of power adapters worth well over 400$ ( heck, the power brick for my HP laptop alone is 100$ new. And there happened to be one in there. it's got a couple of scuff marks but works fine)

Dont get me wrong. Compusa used to be good .. 5 years ago ..

Best buy used to be good too...

You're better of buying from big trusted online merchants such as Newegg Tigerdirect, Adorama or B&H photo . And if you are lucky to have a Fry's in the neighbourhood ( ok it' mostly s the same dimwits that act as salespeople but at least the prices are good ). If you happen to live in 'The valley' go to Central Computer if you really need answers. They know what they are selling and their prices are typically less then fry's. I saved 80$ on a 400$ cpu last year... thats 20%.

comp usa,good guys and circuit city are all owned by the same guy. He thought he could just by thoes stores and they will run by them self. They do run by them self's, down hill.

The bigger bait and switch issue, as I see it, is the promise of all of these electronics and office stores promising to price-match the competition on the same item.

It sounds great, until you realize that Staples has RandomWidget 3000, while Circuit City has RandomWidget 3000i, Best Buy has RandomWidget 3000+, and OfficeMax has RandomWidget 3000 SE. All of these, of course, have the same manufacturer, the same feature list, identical packaging, and have manufacture dates within days of each other. They seem identical except for the (\+|i|SE) which makes them "not the same item". When you ask three out of the four stores where the "same item" you saw is or what the differences are, the answers are always similar to "The other store must be closing out old, inferior stock", or "I don't know... This is just the one we carry... See? The box here has a different last digit in its product code".

It's almost as if they coordinate which sub-sub-sub models of hardware or software (although hardware is the much more likely issue) to buy at which chain so they'll never actually have to match each other's prices. I wouldn't want to accuse all the major retail chains and all the major manufacturers of collusion, but I've struggled for years trying to find another explanation.

Fry's, Best Buy, etc., have some good sales now and again, but I got lulled into thinking their prices are good, particularly Fry's. In looking at some things there and checking online prices afterward, I noted that in a vast number of cases, Fry's is charging full list price. I can live with paying a bit more to buy something in a store, especially if doing so involves good, helpful customer service. Unfortunately, the differences can be substantial and the customer service is rarely so much as adequate. I've taken to seeing the products first-hand in stores, going home and ordering them online from any number of reputable sources.

A semi-related note about pricing: Wal-Mart and others are masters at placing a low-end item prominently, at a great price. In most cases, that microwave oven, TV, etc., is smaller, crummier, etc., than what most people want, but they see the screamin' deal, think that the others are at an equally good price. Shocking as this may be... they aren't.

I am pleased you all have such kind words to describe we Best Buy employees. I guess we're all just a bunch of mongrel idiots incapable of handling the simplest of tasks. Thanks.

On to the bigger issue, every Best Buy employee knows the kiosks don't provide a live internet connection and only an intranet connection. Employee's telling customers otherwise are not good employees and probably are part of the large turnover seen in retail (yeah we're not all great, they're typically weeded out quickly though). Of course most of you genuis folks who have figured out the great evil schemes of Best Buy base your experiences on one bad experience. Best Buy has over 100,000 Employee's and close to 1,000 retail locations. We're not perfect, and neither are any of you. If anyone here does their job perfectly 100% of the time, feel free to correct me.

Best Buy is still growing at a healthy pace and still making profits. Wal Mart is losing ground, Circuit City is closing half its stores, CompUSA is nearly out of business, Good Guys are out of business. Why? Best Buy provides customer service other large retail chains are unable/unwilling to offer. We provide products, accessories to the products, and services to the products in ways no one else can. We are not a product centered operation, we are a customer driven operation. That is why Best Buy is the largest and most successful electronics retailer and others have failed.

For those who use pricewatch etc to find the best prices, great! Even being a Best Buy employee and having an amazing discount on the same items, I will frequency use the same sites to find even better deals. As you can probably tell when you walk into a store, the sales associates are there to help people who don't know the technology as some folks here. And there's a lot of people who don't understand the technology and need the help. That is why our Geek Squad and Home Theater services have been so amazingly successful. Those who do understand the technology will almost always be better served by using the internet or wholesalers like Fry's who don't pay large numbers of educated employees to help customers. Most people are willing to pay a little more to have someone like myself explain that their old printer using a 24 pin LPT port wont work on their new laptop. You may criticize that all you wish, but we still have many customers who are quite happy with the service and support Best Buy provides.

as a former best buy employer i can tell you this. Its all about the profit margin. If a customer were to come and not buy all the aceseries, or the extended warningly plan, we would tell them the computer is not in stock. This came from the the sups

Other depts in the store did the same thing too...