Lately, I've had an issue with Best Buy employees and their attitudes. Now, don't get me wrong, not every Best Buy employee has been holding a 'holier than thou' attitude, but I have been treated more with an attitude than not.  This treatment by Best Buy employees was not isolated to one instance, and it's really uncalled for.

 

 

The last occurrence was about a month ago (give or take). Let me set this up so you have a better idea or the circumstance... it was beautiful outside, temperature was in the low to mid 70's, so I had on jean shorts and a short sleeve shirt, nothing too unusual about that.  For some reason, when people in businesses see my arm is tattooed, in their mind my IQ drops about 75 points. You know those people that as soon as you look at them you think to yourself "they've got a ton of money to burn"? Apparently my clothing and tattoo made them think "we've got a broke moron here". I went in with the notion of buying a new LCD monitor for my work computer, and I already knew that I wanted a nice 26" or larger monitor.  I walked in Best Buy with $1100 in cash in my pocket, and went in just wanting to be pointed to the monitors.  After being directed to the correct section, I began to look around, and found a 30" widescreen that I was interested in.  I waited patiently for literally 15 minutes for an associate who was apparently contemplating the complexity of the universe as he stared at the ceiling, and after finally getting him to come back to reality, I told him I had found what I wanted, but since the boxes were locked behind a metal gate, I would need him to unlock it so I can finally make my purchase. He walked over, asked which one I wanted, and then he literally turned to me and said "you do realize this costs almost $600?" I tried to blow it off, hoping he was just checking to make sure I was aware of the price. I informed him that I was fully aware of the price, and asked if he could ring me up since he did have a cash register right in the same section (which is where I found him in his deep contemplation), to which he replied "Aren't you going to wait for your parents permission?".  I literally did a double take, and decided to ask him how old he was, to which he told me he was 19. Here I am, 30 years old, being asked if I want to wait for my parents permission. Needless to say, I walked away without a monitor, telling him "Yeah, I don't think my mommy and daddy would like me to buy something like that with my allowance".  The last thing I made sure he saw was me pulling out the $1100, doing a 'quick count', and shoving it back into my pocket.  I still have the same monitor that I've had for the past 5 months, a perfect working 20" widescreen LCD monitor and used the money to have fun.

 

 

Their treatment, in my opinion, has been uncalled for... the Best Buy employees are coming off as though they are there to just collect a paycheck and not to help any customers.  These days, it is not in anyone's best interest to be ignorant nor to take their job lightly. I realize it's not necessarily the fault of the company... after all, some people can put on quite a 'front' as to how they really are when getting interviewed for a job.  The treatment I've gotten has however caused me to stop shopping at the stores themselves, and if unable to find the item I want to purchase at a different store. I occasionally will order it from  bestbuy.com ...more often though I just don't purchase the item. Best Buy loses my business one way or another most times, and frankly, if things keep up, it won't surprise me to hear that they are suffering from poor sales.  I know I can't be alone in their poor treatment.

 

This rant written by Joe Rosendorf Jr.  This is merely an opinion based on personal experiences, and is intended to inform based on those experiences.