Kevin
Fayetteville,#2UPDATE Employee
Fri, November 19, 2004
In this report and the rebuttal after it. I noticed a few statements that could have been misleading. I noticed that the rebuttal contained a sentence stating that knowlege isn't valued. Well, I was hired because of my strong knowlege in circuits and audio as an installer and product specialist of car stereos. My knowlege is greatly appreciated and I can tell by my ineractions with customers that they appreciate what I have to tell them. I do understand that we DO push the sale of the PSP (performance service plan) and that it IS important to THEIR numbers. But man I'm an everyday Joe like you, and I think it would be morally wrong for a company to harass and victimize you for that. It's terrible that a company such as Best Buy which seems to care a lot about its employees (at least where I work, Corporate, and the Princeton store) would be so ill-represented by one man who JUST cared about numbers. Yes they do matter because they regulate how many hours we work, but under no circumstances would I or any of the men and women I work with ever refuse to make a sale because someone didn't believe they would ever need it. I'm sorry that your manager did this, he wrong and I'm glad to know that someone is doing something about it, maybe with him (your manager) gone, Your store can become a little more respectable. It sucks that you had to endure this and have such a negative feeling about what I feel is a great place to work. respectively,
Rob
Tucson,#3UPDATE Employee
Fri, January 17, 2003
I read the employee's letter, and what he was experiencing is a west coast practice of "cherry picking" The Best Buy western region is run by some very ambitious folks who's histories go back to the Federated Group a now defunct sleazy retailer of electronics. Many of the "tricks of the trade are being used to make the "numbers" look good to the stock holders mostly, and to ensure fat bonuses to the district and regional managers. This practice of "cherry picking" customers started in california, mostly San Diego area and South Bay stores, the practice has now infected Arizona stores in Phoenix and Tucson. The company officially takes a hard line take against this practice, going so far as to threaten people's jobs for it. The truth of it is no one has been fired yet, and most likely never will. The mantra of all Best Buy managers is "It's all about the numbers", they have no care what so ever for the customer, none...A good employee is one who will get what they can from a customer by hook or crook, no ethical barrier considered. Product knowledge is not valued, ethical sales practice not valued, truthful presentation not valued, good customer feedback not valued. The sales format on the west coast is a sleazy operation, making used car salesmen look like Boy Scouts. I get by on real talent, I don't need to lie to get a sale. This practice is born out of laziness, they do not want to spend time teaching real salesmanship, they rather take shortcuts to get the maximum bang for the buck. Buy on line if you can to avoid this bad business practice. Sadly I think even the competition has picked up this habit.