LOLBest Buy need I say more?

[Dancingweapon]

My Gran bought me my N64 and my Playstation 2 for Easter. Then again, that was when she was still fairly mobile. Even still, my mother would probably be conned out of this extra $30.

Also, don't game discs have version updates on them?

 

[Hexx]

And honestly, how many grandmas are purchasing gaming systems for their grand kids. I think the most I got from my grandparents for Christmas was a shirt and maybe 20 bucks...

LOL seriously? Kids these days are pampered and babied to no end -.-

 

[Romper]

Its also to cover there bases. If they don't offer it someone somewhere WILL bitch about it. But if someones throwing a fit at customer service that they broke there PS3 because of a firmware update, the Best Buy employee can just say 'Well we offered you the service to do it for you, which you declined.' Same thing with insurances and their Black Tie Protection.

Also, god forbid, some people don't have internet. Now the chance that thats the reason someone has to have their PS3 updated is pretty slim, but it IS a possibility.

Sure, 30 bucks might be a little steep, but you need to set a price somewhere. Best Buy makes a majority of their money on services. They make maybe, 5 bucks on a PS3 sale, if that. I know when I worked there I got no discount on purchasing systems, its the same way with PCs. They have to make there money some how, and games aren't exactly marked up either. Its the accessories to an extent, especially cables, but mostly the services where they make their money.

Like Tristam said, if you're spending upwards of 300+ dollars, you should do some research. And honestly, how many grandmas are purchasing gaming systems for their grand kids. I think the most I got from my grandparents for Christmas was a shirt and maybe 20 bucks...

If they don't have internet then they probably shouldn't be getting a system that makes use of the internet.

I also don't know of a Best Buy that has wireless internet in their store in my area (There's 3 or 4 within 20 miles). So I don't quite see how Best Buy can update PS3 firmware if they themselves don't have an internet connection.

Also my grandparents would bundle christmas and birthday money if we asked. They also realized that the chances of me making use of clothes they got me, unless it was a piece of clothing I asked for, is basically 0.

 

[Tribalinius]

My grandma bought me my nes back in the days! It was second hand though lol.

 

[Valandil]

Sure, 30 bucks might be a little steep, but you need to set a price somewhere. Best Buy makes a majority of their money on services. They make maybe, 5 bucks on a PS3 sale, if that. I know when I worked there I got no discount on purchasing systems, its the same way with PCs. They have to make there money some how, and games aren't exactly marked up either. Its the accessories to an extent, especially cables, but mostly the services where they make their money.

Like Tristam said, if you're spending upwards of 300+ dollars, you should do some research. And honestly, how many grandmas are purchasing gaming systems for their grand kids. I think the most I got from my grandparents for Christmas was a shirt and maybe 20 bucks...

I doubt the system has changed much since I worked for Hastings, which has far less purchasing power than Best Buy, but even though our inventory system would show the "cost" of an Xbox or a PS2 to about $10-15 dollar less than the retail price, what it did not show is that Hastings received massive rebates, sometimes up to 42% for each unit purchased from Sony and up to 37% on systems purchased from Microsoft.

 

[Kotsu]

When my Grandma comes to visit, she makes me breakfast and dinner and packs my lunch for me. I love my grandma. Who needs gifts when an old italian grandma makes you food <3

 

[Hexx]

When my Grandma comes to visit, she makes me breakfast and dinner and packs my lunch for me. I love my grandma. Who needs gifts when an old italian grandma makes you food <3

LOL FTW right here, except in my case its my mom

 

[Uzor]

I've always been disgusted at how they try to sell extra things to customers, its why I don't do it unless I feel they really need it. Hell, if a customer makes a purchase for $300 or something, I give them those earrings they wanted to purchase for their girlfriend for free rather than have them purchase it.

I've always been of the opinion that if a customer feel you actually care about them and go that extra step to get a connection with them, they'll come back - rather than be upset you took advantage of them and refuse to come back out of principle.

Its why we give out free CD's to our customers - partly as a favor to new up-and-coming artists to get them known, for them to promote us, and also because customers always appreciate free things, even if its not necessarily something they need.

 

[jyakotsu]

I've always been disgusted at how they try to sell extra things to customers, its why I don't do it unless I feel they really need it. Hell, if a customer makes a purchase for $300 or something, I give them those earrings they wanted to purchase for their girlfriend for free rather than have them purchase it.

I've always been of the opinion that if a customer feel you actually care about them and go that extra step to get a connection with them, they'll come back - rather than be upset you took advantage of them and refuse to come back out of principle.

Its why we give out free CD's to our customers - partly as a favor to new up-and-coming artists to get them known, for them to promote us, and also because customers always appreciate free things, even if its not necessarily something they need.

Well like Raidr said alot of companies make little to no money on big platforms... this goes the same with laptops and desktops. Idk if you all know this but MOST brand new laptops sold at big chains net the store 20-50 bucks max. So a computer sold at 700 nets them 50 bucks. The services and such net them almost 85% profit because they already have to pay the employees.

Granted, I don't agree with the customer being lied to.... Albeit I did it to make commission, but best buy employees don't make commission. At least that is what alot of my friends who worked various positions at multiple california best buys said.

 

[Dancingweapon]

Buyer-fucking-beware, 100% of the time. This might be dishonest or whatever you want to call it, but they're running a business. A business to make money, as often as they can. If you as a consumer didn't do your research and signed up for $30 additional for them to do updates you were too lazy or ignorant to do yourself, then that's your damned loss.

Did you not even read my post?

 

[Dancingweapon]

I stand by my assessment, DW.

A PlayStation 3 is not a gaming system for the "non-tech-savvy". Yes, some games do contain updates and patches, but I believe most of those are for the games, not for the system.

I could understand if they were offering this service in 2005 when it was released, when people were effectively buying it as a Blu-Ray player with an OMG gaming system attached, but they're not anymore.

Like I said, I stand by what I said. If you're spending more than $100 on an item, you better damn well do some research into what it can and cannot do.

The problem with doing some research into the system is this. When the average parent buying this system for a child does research for something of this sort, they are going to be googling for a long time until they find an article that explains to them how bestbuy are ripping people off. Now you may be making assumptions here that every family has 2 children and are happily married. One parent stays at home and has time to do this sort of thing. What about those parents who don't get a break? My mother is rushed off her feet everyday with illnesses of her own while also looking after her elderly mother. My father spends more time at work than at home and when he is at home he's either eating, bathing or sleeping. I'm just saying that when my mother did research into the PS1 before buying it for me, that research was purely on "Am I going to need 2 controllers so me and my brother can play together, what games are child friendly (given I was very young at the time) and what place is the cheapest/has the best bundle." The average parent is going to understand what the fuck a firmware update is, let alone they even exist for this system.

"Gaming system if for the non tech-savvy" My 11 year old cousin isn't tech savvy but she loves a mean game of singstar and the Lego games. What kind of assumption is that? The problem is, if the seller fully informed them of the free ways to do the update then it wouldn't even bother me. But I will bet my life on it that they don't.

It really isn't being lazy or ignorant either. My mother just isn't good at computer related stuff. She's just good at being a mother (albeit we have our disputes). Would I expect my mother to call you all ignorant because she could own your faces at cooking, because she was an chef back in the day? No, of course she wouldn't. People are good at their own thing, you aren't ignorant because you're bad at something.

 

[ShomeGhuye]

Ignorance, at its core, implies a lack of knowledge in a particular subject. So yes, if your mother was a cook in a previous time, I would fully expect her to call me ignorant regarding the finer points of cooking.

But that doesn't mean I'd go try and bake a soufflé without doing the necessary research, either.

This may apply to people who go there to buy a unit for themselves, but can you really picture two grand parents doing research on how to setup a PS3 because they were told their grandkid wants one? Do you think that would even occur to them? I know I don't.

The timing of this new policy seems just right to be targeting Christmas shoppers (like the ones I just mentioned) too. In effect a few months in advance so they don't look like the douches they are for targeting these shoppers.

 

[Stine]

In my family, if a grandparent was buying this sort of thing for me or my siblings, they would consult my parents about what they are buying or ask them to buy it and they would pay them back.. All you have to do to learn about the updates is go to playstation's website, click on PS3, click features, and it has a tab that says "Software Updates." When you click on that it takes you to a page that has in big print "Evolution is free and easy." It's not hard to find and doesn't require a web search. I know if I was buying something for $100+ for my kid then I would look at the website of the product to find out exactly what I was buying.

I agree that it isn't ethical and I personally wouldn't do it if I was working at Best Buy but I'm not. They aren't lying to the people about the service but it does seem like they are trying to take advantage of people who are too lazy to find out about the product or are out of touch with technology before they buy it.

 

[Georgebobbilly]

This may apply to people who go there to buy a unit for themselves, but can you really picture two grand parents doing research on how to setup a PS3 because they were told their grandkid wants one? Do you think that would even occur to them? I know I don't.

The timing of this new policy seems just right to be targeting Christmas shoppers (like the ones I just mentioned) too. In effect a few months in advance so they don't look like the douches they are for targeting these shoppers.

When my grandparents buy me big expensive things like new systems they make sure I'm there so that they get the right thing and don't get ripped off. and they've been doing that since I was 10.

 

[CidBahamut]

All you have to do to learn about the updates is go to playstation's website, click on PS3, click features, and it has a tab that says "Software Updates." When you click on that it takes you to a page that has in big print "Evolution is free and easy." It's not hard to find and doesn't require a web search.

But that's the thing though, most people wouldn't even know that they need to look into that. We all know to look for stuff like that because we've grown up with the technology and obsessively tracked its progression over the years. We're all aware of what to look for, but the average consumer isn't. Tristam keeps banging on about the consumer needing to do research, but this sort of knowledge is far enough removed from the mainstream that he's basically calling for potential buyers to plunge into gaming/tech culture for a few years to develop that awareness just so they don't get ripped off. It's hard to research the more esoteric aspects of a product when you don't have a solid foundation of understanding like the folks in this community do; a foundation years in the making.

That's like asking someone to have full working knowledge of everything that goes on under the hood of a car before they purchase one. Sure it's useful but it isn't practical for most folks to take the time to become professional auto mechanics just so they don't get ripped off when purchasing a vehicle.

 

[Kotsu]

I've never operated on a human being, worked as a mechanic, or worked as a software/hardware engineer. I, however, understand the functions of the human body, am capable of working on my own car, and can work on my computer + program some thing on my computer. I did that by not being ignorant and lazy, and either learning from hands on experience or reading.

People making purchases could do the same. If you're exploited, it's your own fault. Knowledge is power, GI Joe. Get some to protect yourself.

 

[Stine]

But that's the thing though, most people wouldn't even know that they need to look into that. We all know to look for stuff like that because we've grown up with the technology and obsessively tracked its progression over the years. We're all aware of what to look for, but the average consumer isn't. Tristam keeps banging on about the consumer needing to do research, but this sort of knowledge is far enough removed from the mainstream that he's basically calling for potential buyers to plunge into gaming/tech culture for a few years to develop that awareness just so they don't get ripped off. It's hard to research the more esoteric aspects of a product when you don't have a solid foundation of understanding like the folks in this community do; a foundation years in the making.

That's like asking someone to have full working knowledge of everything that goes on under the hood of a car before they purchase one. Sure it's useful but it isn't practical for most folks to take the time to become professional auto mechanics just so they don't get ripped off when purchasing a vehicle.

It comes down to if you're buying something for someone and you don't know anything about it, ask someone who does before you buy it. It's not assuming that someone has to know everything about a product before they buy it. I think a common question when buying something is, "Does it need anything to start?" Kind of like finding out if a toy needs batteries before you buy it. If I knew that my mom was buying my kid something that expensive then I would research it. If I knew that my grandmother was buying him something that expensive, then I would make sure she knew what she was buying and what she would need. Most people who would be buying a PS3 would know about their website thus know how to find out information about it. My grandparents would more than likely ask us before they got charged anything else just to make sure that they aren't getting suckered.

I know little about cars so when I look for a car or get it repaired, I ask someone who knows something about it especially if they are adding up the dollar signs. I find a friend or relative who knows at least something about a car what they think about it.

 

[Dancingweapon]

In my family, if a grandparent was buying this sort of thing for me or my siblings, they would consult my parents about what they are buying or ask them to buy it and they would pay them back.. All you have to do to learn about the updates is go to playstation's website, click on PS3, click features, and it has a tab that says "Software Updates." When you click on that it takes you to a page that has in big print "Evolution is free and easy." It's not hard to find and doesn't require a web search. I know if I was buying something for $100+ for my kid then I would look at the website of the product to find out exactly what I was buying.

Well that's great. My mother can just about browse QVC on her own (usually calling me in every 5 mins (Justin to attest to this...) to come fix something she thinks she's broke) she never browses the web on her own out of pure fear she'll break her laptop. "Evolution is free and easy" nice and ambiguous there. I'm sure my mother if she did get onto this website would automatically know "oh this must mean if the PS3 ever needs a firmware update (which I also didn't know exists until I became less ignorant somehow) at least it'll be for free!"

And for the last time, people aren't being lazy. The majority of people have to scrape together enough money to even get their children a good xmas present in these times. They work over time when it's offered and save in advance when needed. It's almost opposite of lazy right now. They are just being exploited.

Not everyone is based on your family either. I know of cases where a surprise is actually a surprise sometimes. Sorry if I came off as a dick in this post.

 

[alanon]

I agree with Tristam on this 100% - he has done all the arguing for me. Is it annoying that they are trading on someone's ignorance? Yup. Is it their right? Yup. It's also our right as consumers to go somewhere else. Maybe if enough of the "informed" leave, you can hurt them where it really counts.

You guys think what Best Buy is doing is bad? Check this out: Last week I went to a Midas to get an oil change. I usually don't go there but they had a $14.95 special which is pretty damn good. While in there, my car's computer was giving off an "engine code" and the tech called me at work to see if I wanted to hook up my car to their diagnostic equipment to see what the code meant. Cost of the service? $245.00!!! I said no, and when I got my car back I drove a block down the road to autozone where they offer to hook up to your car's computer for FREE. 5 minutes later, I was back on the road - having tightened my gas cap, wondering how Midas was bringing in the money hand over fist on that scam......

 

[ShomeGhuye]

The majority of my grandparents are either blind or have no idea what they're doing on the internet. 1 month ago one of them learned what google is. You say they should just ask the grandkids' parents about what they're buying, but the fact is in many cases even they would have no idea. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if my mother told my grand parents that yes, you do need to pay bestbuy to do that for you because it sounds important.

Sure, you could say my parents could ask me, but where do you draw the line between smart shopping and being ridiculous?