[BayMoWe335]

Specifically TVs.

What do you do when the pushy sales associate all but calls you an idiot for not buying the extended warranty to cover issues with your TV?

I was at Best Buy buying a low priced secondary TV and decided to go with a 42" Panasonic Viera for around $699. When I was asked if I want to buy a warranty for only 1 year additional to the manufacturer for $150 (2 years total), I politely said no. When he asked again, I just said, "nah, no thanks." This guy was not hearing me. He was hard selling me and saying it was so cheap and I could even finance the whole thing if I wanted. I said $150 on a $675 TV is simply not worth it for me being over 20% of the item's value.

He then told me I'd regret it and people are crying all the time about their TVs needing service out of manufacturer warranty.

I just said, no thanks and smiled...AGAIN. He then tried to compare this to having insurance on my home and my car. I told him very kindly that if this TV breaks, I am betting it will be after the manufacturer and extended warranty both expire (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/m...anty-11-06.htm) and that I don't buy insurance on inexpensive products like this TV because I can always buy a new one. I added that in a car accident, your risk is unlimited because you could hurt someone, get hurt yourself, etc. In this case, I knew my risk was $699.

Shocked, he then told me I must be "rich" because $699is not a big deal to me. He told me he was broke and thus, he would have to get the warranty because he couldn't afford to buy a new TV. (In my head I'm thinking, you're poor because you always buy the extended warranty on everything!)

Fed up with the hard sell, I kindly asked him to write it up and I was in a hurry to get back to meet the U-verse installers. He almost looked physically disappointed that I didn't see his logic and declined this offer. He finally just said "ok, it's your money." I would have normally bought online for a little savings, but this was kind of a spur of the moment thing and I wanted to get it at the same time as the U-verse install.

Are these dudes on commission or something? I know they aren't for the TVs, but MAN he was pushing this warranty. I like Best Buy a lot and even own the stock, but whew! On the way out, even the dude helping me load the car asked if I "had any cables to hook this bad boy up?" I LOL'd in my head and just said, yes thanks!

Thanks for reading.

What would you have done?

[san~man]

I'm almost positive that the make commission off the warranty, but not the product.

[pmeloche]

You are very patient. I would have left the store right away. I am not sure if the salesmen are on commission but extended warranties are basically pure profit for Best Buy. I once bought an iPod at Future Shop (the canadian equivalent of Best Buy) and they refused to honor their warranty when the battery on it died after Apple's warranty expired. Their reasoning was that there was too many iPods dying and they were replacing the failing ones by a brand new one then they would make no money, even though that's what the extended warranty I had bought was for that occurence.

You're right in not wanting to pay for extended warranty on a product worth $699. You should get at least 5 years of good operations from that television.

Cheers.

[stimpy]

Not sure why he was pushing so hard, they don't work off of commission.

[DougLikesBMW]

I would have told him to kick rocks. Only go to Best Buy if you are going to ask for the manager and then negotiate a discount, which you should be doing anyway. Otherwise Newegg ftw.

[bosstones]

If they don't get commission off of it, there's probably some employee incentive-based program behind it (like a monthly competition).

Just after college, I was shopping for a digital camera (years ago), I wanted to see my choices in person to get an idea of ergonomics before I bought from B&H. I went into a ******** and there was an older couple getting "help" from an employee. They seemed like they might buy that day and the employee fed them a total load of BS related to cameras and had already hyped up what a lifesaver the extended warranty/maintenance plan was. One example he cited was the lens falling out and how it was a problem with digital cameras. Stupidly, the couple bought into it. While they mulled over their decision, the employee moved over to another customer. While he was away, I enlightened the couple. Distugested, they declined business that day. I sometime listen to the BS some employees at places feed people and it disgusts me.

If I need computer stuff, I'll go to Newegg. If I need stero stuff, I'll guy to a stero place (Simply Stereo in HE for anyone in IL that doesn't mind driving out to the Woodfield area). Camera stuff....B&H. I used to know a guy @ Abt so I bought my TV and some misc stuff there. With the exception of the latter, I tend to avoid most places that hire high school kids to sell and/or educate me on electronics. Not trying to knock them all, since some actually know their stuff, but as a majority (in my experience) they don't have a clue as to what they're talking about.

[AllydNYC]

This is how it worked at Staples.... I'm going to try and keep this really short, but it's inevitable it wont be. Staples isn't commissioned based but you do get bonus and stuff. This is how staples is currently (no I don't work there anymore)

I with it be easier to do bullet points (*takes off watch to make it easier to type*)

• A minimum of 200 on each sale (this includes a warranty) say a warranty for $150 for a laptop, a mouse for $30, and then a flash drive $25.
  
• This is called a market basked and Ultimate Electronics, Best Buy, Staples and other go by it. If you consecutively, not hit it they will either shorten your hours to make you quit, transfer you to other department or this is done if you miss it 3 times usually, just keeping hounding you about it.
  
• Staples went like this (something like this ): Out of ALL the electronics sold that week a MINIMUM of 6% much be achieved on warranties... So say you did 20,000 in sales that week, $1200 of it needs to be warranties. If the store stays at 6% you will be bitched at for 'not using the right tools' to sell. Then there is tech work, something like %5 also I think out of the total. Most stores do around $15000 a week in electronics.
  
• You do get a REALLY small bonus out of it. Some really "good" weeks that end at like 9%. You would get a bonus of like $6 TOPS. Also there are incentives, like if you sell ____ product with a computer you get an extra $2 bonus..... split between the rest of the electronics department.
  
• If your trying to become a manager (aka a 'lifer' or I call them a low life, sometimes) this is what they care about. They don't give a shit how you treat the customer for the most part, don't give a shit if you can put the weekly truck away in only 1 shift.
  
• If you went to another store and say you already have worked in as a sales rep for electronics the first question they ask is "what is your market basket"

I'm not reading this over, I'm sure there are typos and shit... 10 min is enough of one post....



On the other hand... working for this place is the shit

[CollinsE90]

No they don't make commission, they just get judged on their warranty, accessories, and install #'s

[Seminole]

As has been mentioned the employees get judged off it, but normally don't get a cut.

Most of these warranties are shit anyways. For whatever reason I got one on a TV I bought from Best Buy. After a year I noticed some dead pixels that had turned red. Probably 6-7 in total. So I call up the warranty number and make an appointment for someone to come look at it. Well, it turns out that just having dead pixels doesn't qualify for a replacement, it needs to be a certain size grouping. I think he said the exact number was the size of a dime or something like that before they would replace the TV. So that was a waste of my money.

[CollinsE90]

And as far as monthly incentive, its damn near impossible to get it as it is usually a team effort and not all of the guys pull their weight

I worked for Circuit and sold more in my department than the rest of the crew put together, for a measly 7.50 an hour

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by DougLikesBMW

I would have told him to kick rocks. Only go to Best Buy if you are going to ask for the manager and then negotiate a discount, which you should be doing anyway. Otherwise Newegg ftw.

Yes sir, love me some Newegg...but this was a scenario that I needed the TV today. I would only consider brick and motar stores in that scenario. I love buying online for the savings and less hassle.

[chungdae]

There's no commission at Best Buy. My brother works for them. They have to sell a certain amount of quotas or they will be placed on probation and have a certain amount of time to get their numbers up or they get laid off. Best Buy makes most of their money through their "warranty" guarantees.

[JayKay335i]

And thats why he works at bestbuy as a career choice.

[ideliver]

three things....

BB is going to have the Panny TC-P50U2 for $699 on black friday...

I have a four year old Panny 50" that was top of the line...it was $3,600 and was the first time it was offered for less than $4,000....the extended warranty (that I did not get was $1200)

I get the extended warrantys for my kids ipods and psp/ds...and register online and USE THAT WARRANTY every 17 months...broken or not (and they are usually broken )

[chungdae]

Originally Posted by JayKay335i

And thats why he works at bestbuy as a career choice.

Part time until he starts technical school. He may work on our cars one day.

[fdsasdasdf]

Yeah, Best Buy makes a lot of money off of selling those warranties. 90% of the time they aren't worth it. I'd only consider one if I was buying like a 60" TV or something big like that.

[lucas.kent]

I hate when they try and push warranties - but I have the fail proof answer: SquareTrade.

If you just tell them that you're getting a SquareTrade warranty instead, they'll have nothing to say. I've done it several times, and it always shuts them down.

SquareTrade's warranties are cheaper, last longer and cover more. In fact, you can even get the accidental coverage (spill something, drop it, sit on it, etc) and ST will send you a check to replace it.

The only time I've had anyone question it is when I bought an iPad at Best Buy. He tried to sell me that Geek Squad warranty and I told him I was getting a ST warranty instead. He said he would match the price of the ST warranty by taking the difference off the price of the iPad. I told him that the ST warranty covered accidental damage and if I dropped it on the street that they would replace it. He didn't believe me - so we looked it up right there on the computer. And that was that.

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Zell

Yeah, Best Buy makes a lot of money off of selling those warranties. 90% of the time they aren't worth it. I'd only consider one if I was buying like a 60" TV or something big like that.

100% of the time it's not worth it... there's cheaper alternatives that cover more (as mentioned Squaretrade is an example).


You have to remember it's an extended WARRANTY. 100% of the time it's not worth the 10-20% additional cost for more *warranty*. if I'm paying that much it should cover accidents too.

[solefald]

My GF is in retail. Cosmetics as at upscale department store.

They get judged on ALL KINDS of shit! Sales per hour, dollars per sale, number of store credit cards they push, how many customers they personally call and so on. If they miss the the quota even by $1 for 2 quarters in a row they get fired.

There is no way in hell I would be able to work retail or food industry. I have a very short fuse with stupid people, and I let them know when they piss me off.

All that said, if someone tried to push some shit on me like that, it will be a lost sale.

[Alexander]

Originally Posted by solefald

My GF is in retail. Cosmetics as at upscale department store.

They get judged on ALL KINDS of shit! Sales per hour, dollars per sale, number of store credit cards they push, how many customers they personally call and so on. If they miss the the quota even by $1 for 2 quarters in a row they get fired.

There is no way in hell I would be able to work retail or food industry. I have a very short fuse with stupid people, and I let them know when they piss me off.

All that said, if someone tried to push some shit on me like that, it will be a lost sale.

I know the feeling. I'm a coke dealer and boy if I don't sell enough 8 balls I get shit for it all day.

[JayKay335i]

I have been fired from all of my retail jobs. I have problems with people without educations, 6 children at 19, and still living at home with their parents calling me stupid and explaining I dont have what it takes to perform a minimum wage job made for morons.

On the other side, my last boss didn't appreciate my explanation of how to use a condom, so she didn't have so many fucken kids she cant afford.

[T-MC-G]

there is zero profit in those TVs, and with black friday sales they are usually at negative profit. I used to work at Tweeter (5 years ago). and if people came into the store and were only interested in buying the TV (no surround sound, home install or cables) it usually meant they wouldn't buy the extended warr. either. So with those folks I would go out back, chill for a few minutes, then come out to the floor and tell them we were out of stock. We usually only had like 30 TVs at the low low price and had to use them to hook people for larger sales tickets. The other salesmen would get SUPER pissed at you if they caught you just writing up a customer with a TV and nothing else on the ticket. Like a wasted up for them.