Best Buy Has No Problem With PS3 Update Charge

[Marcus Yam]

Maybe some people actually like the Geek Squad's help.

Best Buy Has No Problem With PS3 Update Charge : Read more

 

[p4nz3rm4d]

...might actually work. looks good

 

[asiaprime]

as a business I applaud them... as someone who knows better I hate them...

 

[adillhoff]

Need more nerds with GEDs to comment about how Geek Squad is bad.

 

[mchuf]

Of course they don't see anything wrong. They're making a lot of money each time they sell one. They won't tell a customer that all you need to do is connect to the internet, turn the PS3 on and it will update automatically!

 

[sstym]

Making a quick buck from ignorant people is the American way, there is nothing wrong with that.
Also prevalent in the USA: free speech.

"Best Buy and Geek Squad are a bunch of barely competent scam artists offering low value services at a high price. "

No, I won't apologize for that comment.

 

[iboomer]

Ever been in a customer service situation, either on the phone or in person, with someone needing something done with their computer?

@mchuf, they are providing something that many people want. They want you to pay for it. People in this society are lazy, lazy, LAZY. They will take the best deal they can get and do the least amount of work to get it.

As long as they don't push it on me, when I go in to buy my PS3, 360, or Wii, then I don't give a rats arse if stupid people do stupid things.

 

[mrmez]

Sounds fair. You have the choice.

Would be good for the disgusting xbx 360 i think. No wifi standard (on many models) means mine has gone nearly 2 years with no internet access.

 

[cknobman]

The problem is not the service itself, it is how Best Buy offers it to customers.

It is driven through associates heads that they must "attach" super expensive accessories and services to every sell made. Associates are brainwashed by Best Buy into a very good routine of how to fool customers into thinking said services and accessories are essential in order for their product to work "correctly".

If you have ever bought anything at Best Buy you know that the associates badger the ever living sh!t out of you to buy accessories and services. They will say just about everything underneath the sun to get you go buy it.

They do this because if the dont have "attachments" on every sale they are essentially punished and eventually fired.

I know this first hand because I was an employee and am still sometimes a customer. I was their worst nightmare employee being a hardware junkie, software developer, and home theater enthusiast. They brainwashing bs never fooled me. I even found the cheapest attachments in the store and pointed out to consumers how overpriced crap was.

 

[duckmanx88]

but normal people might not know they can do it on their own very easily. its misleading. it makes it seem as if "if you don't get the upgraded firmware model you're screwed". i hate best buy. $36 for an Ethernet cable that you can get for $5 online.

 

[hellwig]

Has Best Buy ever NOT pushed something on you? You buy a TV, and they try to sell you the Install Package (additional on top of delivery), and Geek Squad protection. I have to believe that if you buy a PS3, they will now try to push the Firmware update package too. The problem is, when Grandma goes to buy the grandkids a PS3, she won't know what Firmware means, and I'm sure you could convince her its necessary without even trying.

As many commentors discussed when this was announced on toms last time, consolers may not be the most technically inclined people (the point of a console is plug and play for one thing). Others mentioned that games come with the firmware they need to run, and if you have internet, it will update itself. Best Buy is selling a service no one needs, but they sure won't tell people they don't need it: "Yeah, you need firmware upgrades, and you need a $50 3-foot HDMI cable from Monster".

Lots of companies do this. How many times has a mechanic suggested that you should grease something or replace something you never heard of? How would you know if he's blowing smoke up your ass or recommending a legitimate service? If they want to charge you for it, you can be damn sure they'll tell you its important. Best Buy isn't exactly more reputable than "Joe's Transmission and Tire".

 

[zubikov]

The problem is not the service itself, it is how Best Buy offers it to customers.

I completely agree. There's a fine line between offerring unnecessary services vs misleading folks who otherwise don't know any better.

Using phrases like "play all blu-ray movies" under a $30 tag, makes you automatically deduce that it won't play blu-ray movies otherwise. While a lawyer may argue that the phrase says "play all movies, as opposed to some, we all know that this is meant to shamelessly sucker unaware consumers into buying this update without telling them about the easy alternative methods.

Shame on you, Best Buy.

 

[triculious]

I certainly don't like it one millimeter but still can see why they do it... it's a business decision, one that provides nice cash back from little capital invested

most of us consider selling our old games to Gamestop a very poor decision (to put it nicely)... yet you can take a look at their places and see them flooded on used games and consoles!

if I have to purchase anything on Best Buy it will be darn annoying to hear the huge litany of deals, discounts and expensive services they offer... but nowadays, where can you peacefully purchase just what you want and if you need advise ask for it? not even online!

fortunately I still know how to say "no"

idiots are a great market... everybody is one, one way or the other

 

[r3t4rd]

As some have stated, its a business to get more cash. Nothing wrong with that. I guess its how BB goes about it that rubs people the wrong way.

Reality check - Some people are just too stupid. Some just don't have the resources (Internet/wifi). Some are too afraid of breaking thier hardware. And finally as stated above, some people are just too damn lazy.

Nuff said.

 

[tommysch]

BestBuy employees are trolling every single clients they can into buying useless stuff. Nothing new here.

 

[jsc]

Hey, they are no worse than an ISP advertising internet service as "up to n mbits/sec. Dialup bandwidth is "up to n mbits/sec".

And, regretably, if you have ever spent time eavesdroping there or a similar store, there are a lot of clueless people out there.

I don't condone it, but I do understand it.

 

[tommysch]

[citation][nom]triculious[/nom]I certainly don't like it one millimeter but still can see why they do it... it's a business decision, one that provides nice cash back from little capital investedmost of us consider selling our old games to Gamestop a very poor decision (to put it nicely)... yet you can take a look at their places and see them flooded on used games and consoles!if I have to purchase anything on Best Buy it will be darn annoying to hear the huge litany of deals, discounts and expensive services they offer... but nowadays, where can you peacefully purchase just what you want and if you need advise ask for it? not even online!fortunately I still know how to say "no"idiots are a great market... everybody is one, one way or the other[/citation]

Newegg, tigerdirect and others.

 

[superblahman123]

[citation][nom]iboomer[/nom]Ever been in a customer service situation, either on the phone or in person, with someone needing something done with their computer?@mchuf, they are providing something that many people want. They want you to pay for it. People in this society are lazy, lazy, LAZY. They will take the best deal they can get and do the least amount of work to get it.As long as they don't push it on me, when I go in to buy my PS3, 360, or Wii, then I don't give a rats arse if stupid people do stupid things.[/citation]

I disagree, if society can go from full-service gas stations to pump your own, then society can deal with needing to plug something in in order to get it to work. The issue here is that by even offering this "service", they make it sound like it doesn't happen anyway.

When something like this is as easy as a 4 word sentence, "It does this automatically", then they should be ethically inclined enough to say it. People go to services like these because they are trusting the staff to provide something that they otherwise cannot do themselves. This is purely them taking advantage of people that can't tell the difference between what the vendor can provide for them and what it does automatically anyway.

I wonder if Sony will come back and hit Best Buy for this?

 

[HavoCnMe]

If I owned a electronic store or pc store i would offer the same thing. Don't get mad because you didn't think of it first. You have to remember their are people out there not smart enough to complete such a task or try the Sony Tech Support Line.

So who is really at fault? The company offering the service or the consumer not smart enough to call tech support for a walk-through?

 

[djab]

[citation][nom]iboomer[/nom]Ever been in a customer service situation, either on the phone or in person, with someone needing something done with their computer?@mchuf, they are providing something that many people want. They want you to pay for it. People in this society are lazy, lazy, LAZY. They will take the best deal they can get and do the least amount of work to get it.As long as they don't push it on me, when I go in to buy my PS3, 360, or Wii, then I don't give a rats arse if stupid people do stupid things.[/citation]

If you see that they are trying to rip you off on subjects you know, it means than they will do the same on subject you do not know that much ...

I prefer shops where when you pretend to know nothing about a product, they will not try to rip you off and in better cases they will even honestly explain what is really best for me even if it is the cheapest option or no sale at all.
At least I know that the time I really won't know about a product, they will not try to rip me off.