Damn your marketing scheme, Best Buy!

I went to Best Buy on Thursday evening because they sent me a $5 coupon. I decided to get an SDHC Card for my DSLR Camera. I have been using SanDisk SDHC for a long time, so it was the one I was looking for. Then I found these:

Best-Buy-SanDisk-Ultra-Pixtor

I’ve never heard of this Sandisk Pixtor. It looks identical with the Sandisk Ultra and so do the specs on the back.

So, what’s the difference between the two?

The price!

Sandisk Pixtor SDHC 8GB is $9.99 on sale, and $24.99 regular price.

Sandisk Ultra SDHC 8GBis $24.99, not on sale.

Best-Buy-SanDisk-Pixtor

Best-Buy-SanDisk-Ultra-SDHC

I looked for “Pixtor” on Sandisk website and found nothing.

SanDisk dot com no Pixtor

I assume that the “Pixtor” line is an exclusive Best Buy only branding.

Damn your marketing scheme, Best Buy!

There ought to be laws against what Best Buy is doing.

I am currently helping acquaintances with their new computer. The plan is to set-up the new one and transfer the files from the old one. So they decided to pick one up from Best Buy for there was one nearby and they needed to get it before they left for vacations. Best Buy is definitely not my first choice to buy computers and I prefer not to recommend it to anyone.

There are many reasons why I do not like Best Buy and this is one of them:


Best Buy breaks the seal from the box, takes the computer out, turns the computer on, installs some Best Buy programs and reseals the box. All of these are done before the computers are sold to customers. Best Buy tries to sell the already opened computers to customers as new and adding some extra fees. Customers can always refuse to pay the extra fees.

The problem is that Best Buy does all these before the computers are being made available for sale. Best Buy breaks the seal. Best Buy turns on the computers and agreeing to the license agreement imposed by manufacturers and Microsoft. When an end user buys a computer from Best Buy, the same computer that Best Buy took out of the box and agreed to the license agreement without user’s consent. Doesn’t it mean that the end user never agrees to those license agreement?

What would the manufacturers such as Lenovo say if you call them?

I will call Lenovo and ask them the question.

 

Best Buy loves to rip customer off.

Walked in to a Best Buy the other day to kill some times and I saw something that reminded me why I don’t spend my money there.

Best Buy is selling an AirPort Express Base Station 802.11n for $109.99 and that is $10 more than Apple’s own price. Maybe Best Buy thinks that their customers are stupid.

AirPort Express on Best Buy

iPhone 3G in Best Buy. Why Oh Why?

Best Buy will be selling iPhone 3G starting September 7th, 2008. With stellar customer service and The Geek Squad support, Best Buy is expecting to exploit make a killing with the iPhone 3G craze.

When you think buying a computer is not painful enough at Best Buy, wait till you are buying iPhone 3G and having Geek Squad services shoved down your throat.

“Bring your computer so The Geek Squad can sync your newly purchased iPhone 3G to your iTunes.

Wait a minute, the Geek Squad can optimize your computer for a little fee, and we will sell you softwares you don’t really need.

We also offer in Home service so that you can connect your newly purchased iPhone 3G with your computer. Don’t worry, the Geek Squad will optimize your iPhone home screen for a little fee.

By the way, this iPhone is not an open box item even though we’ve already opened it and optimized it.”

Seriously, Best Buy might have the presence in many places, but their service is horrible. How much money does Best Buy throw at Apple to have the opportunity to sell iPhone 3G and screw provide service to more customers?

Definition of Open Box Merchandise

What is the definition of “Open Box Merchandise”?

It seems that retailers have different opinions about wht it really is. In general, “open box merchandise” is a product that has its packaging opened and seals (if available) broken before it is sold to the end customer. Open box merchandise could be a product returned by a customer to the retailer or a demo product.

Would you buy a computer which is already taken out of its packaging, turned on, and had some modifications done on the software (no matter how little modification is made)?