Complaint Review: Best Buy - Internet

Good morning readers and/or interested parties.

The purpose of my letter is two fold. First, to give you an ex employee's slant on things. And second, to reach out to Best Buy and ask them to contact me directly. That is, any manager who knows me personally.

I want to give you a brief history first before I give you my slants on individual stores. I started working for Best Buy back in October of 1997 and my employment ended around the same point in time in 1999. So what I know about the company then may not apply now. But, in the interest of trying to convey the culture in this company, I would imagine not much has changed.

Chronilogically I will start with the first store I went to work for. This store is located in Pleasent Hills near Century III Mall in Pennsylvania. Store #588. There I met some incredible people, fell in love with them and developed a sense of pride and family spirit. I want to name a few names here. While it's been a few years now, I have forgotten some. But their faces remain before me on a daily basis. Roxanne Reagan, Al Steele, Vince, Alfredo, Mike McPherson and Al Kosiak are in the forefront of my mind and my heart. When I went to work with Best Buy these people were and still are like family to me. They took me in, taught me the Best Buy way and embraced my personality. They did not pressure me. Try to mold me into something I couldn't become. Nor was I ever threatend with loosing my job if I didn't perform to their expectations. As a result, I took Best Buy into my heart. I won Employee of the Month in the two years I was with Store #588 around 8 or 10 times during my stay there.

The mentality, family structure and leadership in Store #588 was the most professional I have ever seen. And, I have been in retail for more than 26 years to date. You could even feel the customers' sense of confidence in all of us. They felt as if they could trust the information and suggestions we had for them. I started with Best Buy Store #588 as a stark beginning Product Specialist (part time) and began my climb up the ladder. I went full time as a Product Specialist then was promoted to Senior Product Specialist. In some retail stores that would be seen as an Assistant Supervisor. I felt like I was becoming a part of something much bigger than my wildest imaginations could have came up with. I made a commitment to live and die with Best Buy. Forgive the poetic phrase.

I grew up in Austin, Texas and it had been a 25 year dream to one day return to live there again. I had left my heart literally in Austin. My daughter, Nikki was to graduate from high school and I couldn't figure out how to get there to see her receive her deploma. But, Best Buy is an immecnce company and the sky is the limit where you can go with them. So, with deligent work and effort began to look into a trasfer into that area. Understand, at that point in time, I only had around one year of employment with Best Buy. However, my current managers felt like I was ready for advancement. So, finally I found a store near Austin wanted me. I was to trasfer there in the capacity of Department Manager ie Department Supervisor with a bit more authority and control. You have no idea just how exciting this period of life was for me. Like dreams, prayers and wishes all coming true at the same time.

I left with high hopes, stars in my eyes and a very loaded Honda Civic Wagon with all my worldly possessions. Headed down Victory Lane. A short note here, my mother still resides in Austin and I have a son along with my daughter from a previos marriage. So understand there were more blessings than just to see my daughter graduate and live in a city where my heart never left. I arrived in the Austin area in record time. Filled with possitive anticipation and fueled with the passion that I developed with Best Buy in Pennsylvania.

Enter Best Buy Store #178. I won't be quite as breathy here because this is where I hit an Iron Curtain. Naming names in this store...Anthony Mestratta, Mark Feramusco, Steve Hoxmier, Tim and Chad Waker were among the first people I met upon my arrival. They greeted me, thanked me for joining their team and then we rolled up our sleeves and got to work building our store. Anthony and Chad were the ones I interviewed with long distance from PA in order to secure my promotion.

Things were going well. We were building our store, training new employees and with all the pomp and circumstance of a politial convention instilling in the new arrivals the Best Buy Way. A thrilling time to say the very least. Then the stark reality of a dream turned into a nightmare for me. Anthony was the General Manager and I acutally witnessed him throwing a tantrum about how aweful the store looked cleanliness wise. I saw Mark acting like some sort of brainwashing cultist as he made his statements of loyalty. I overheard Steve state that he just didn't talk to perspective employees that had long hair. At that time my hair was almost at the middle of my back. I began to discover that I made a grave error in judgement leaving behind people I grew to love.

Then after grand opening matters turned from bad to worse. Supervisors were required to write up every single infraction of the rules made by subordinates. We were required to counsel cultlike cultures into the minds of young people. And, those who were students were not given consideration to the vital education they were trying to obtain in their schools and colleges. And, finally, all of us, supervisors included had an employment gun held to our heads if we did not meet up to the managers standards of excellence. The managers used tactics like shame, guilt and other demeening methods to get supervisors to bend to their will. Then we were required to pass that mentality on to our employees. Is this solid leadership? Does this type of behavior generate a sense of pride and team spirit? Well, what started out to be a love realtionship with a beautiful company turned to hate for me. But hate with qualifications.

In the interim of my employment I met who was to become my future wife on the internet and we met and I just abandoned ship. Disappeared never to be seen or heard from again. Untill now. I have seen many reports on Best Buy and I felt the need to tell my story.

In Store #588, the one I started with, the almighty dollar wasn't their goal. Training, embracing and making all of us feel important made us give back the best we had. Warm, genuine smiles and appreciation for our efforts made us feel welcomed and brought into us a sense of loyalty and dedication. Though that kind of leadership, success is a logical outcome.

In Store #178, the sale was the most important goal. The Product Service Plans and the Product Replacement Plans were more important than the people who sold them. Then the accessories (cables, memory cards, video tapes etc) were the ties that was to bind us together. Numbers, numbers, and more numbers and statistical information were shoved down our throats...ad naseum. The employees don't work on commission, but the supervisors and managers bonus for hitting sales and other goals. Commissions by any other name is still the same, Through that kind of leadership, all you have are a bunch of very disappointed and unhappy people working for you. In short, the dollar was God there. Not a good master to serve and success will be an elusive butterfly with no one ever happy with just doing the best they can.

I said all of the above for one reason. It all depends on the store you do business with Best Buy. Some are only out for themselves and others are out for the customer. You will know the difference by the amount of pressure you get from the employees. I will always support Best Buy no matter how bad my employment experience was. Part of my heart still remains there and I miss some of the people I met along my journey with this company. I still have Blue and Yellow in my veins and would go back to work for them in a heartbeat. So, in closing, choose a Best Buy that feels right for you and avoid the high pressur, used car sales techniques found in some of them.

I will always love the company in general. So, if you know who I am. Best Buy even through the bad experiences I had with Store #178 still remains one of the best companies I have ever worked for.

Charles

Eldora, Iowa
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Best Buy