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Dear Best Buy: Past Performance != Future Performance
I walked into the Salt Lake City Best Buy today at 5000-ish South State Street in SLC, hopeful. I am looking for the needed stuff to hook up my iPod to my VW Passat’s factory stereo. I am expecting to spend about $500 on these adapters and wires and stuff, when I can finally find them.
I was there literally 30 minutes self-educating myself about the available products since nobody talked to me.
The only two people who spoke to me were the person greeting me when I walked in (very nice, thank you) and the person who said, “thanks for coming” as I walked out… ominously scanning my hands & pockets for any potential thievery.
Could I have done more? Maybe:
- I worried that I looked “too smart” in my business attire, so I stood blankly by the “car audio” desk where two Best Buy associates talked and joked with eachother about some interesting conversations overheard about two other employees.
- I worried that maybe Best Buy doesn’t do a good job at selling products, so maybe their employees didn’t know HOW to sell, and avoided me because of fear… until I overheard two employees giving each other high-fives because “yesterday [they] were the number three store in the district! Woo-hoo!“
- I could have dropped to my knees and begged for someone to help me… but I didn’t want to scuff their newly polished floor.
Who can explain what happened here. I surely can not. As a fan of Best Buy, I am stunned at the cold reception. No matter. I walked out, nodded to the “thank you” person at the door, and patted my wallet, knowing that my $500.00 was safe… yet to be used for another day.
They were third in sales yesterday… I wonder what their rankings will be for today??
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3 comments for “Dear Best Buy: Past Performance != Future Performance”
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Robert, I’ve had the same experience TWICE in that exact store. I’ve never gone back. The staff of the store in West Jordan are much more responsive when you walk in the door and assist you as quickly as possible.
However, what I am finding, especially with that chain, is they are hiring kids, and I mean kids, 16, 17, 18, to run the floor. What the heck do they know about cable, printers, cases and disks? Nothing. Those items aren’t on their personal radar what makes a company think they would be on their work radar?
In the end, a company shows how much it values its customers by the help they hire. If you have a store full of morons you can expect to have a bad reputation. Hire people who know their stuff and you get good reviews instead of bad ones.
Great thoughts, Thom! I was impressed with that store’s selection over the Orem store, but they actually have GEEKS working in Orem, I guess!