Wow, people act like "OMG I'll never buy from Best Buy because they do this now, EVAR!!!11one". I'm not going to not buy things from Best Buy because of this idiocy. I'll just not buy something like this from them. I'm very well technology inclined and rather picky so they'd know better than to try and pass something junky or stupid off on me (And I'd tell them so - but to be honest the people who work at Best Buy are useless tools who I kid you not make fart jokes and punch each other rather than help customers, and sadly that was spoken from true first hand experience). This sounds just like the crowd of complainers for L4D2. "We're not buying it!!11! Valve r t3h sux and we're boycotting!!" And when the game comes out, how many of them will go out and buy it anyway. What's a better choice than Best Buy for a local store - Gamestop? Now there are some real scumbags, overcharging on used games ($5 off - totally a fair price for a used game vs a new one). No, I think you people are saying one thing and will do something different. This incident will not hurt Best Buy's sales at all.
All I use Best Buy for is purchasing software. Never buy a PC there I build my own, never fix it there, I fix my own. Never buy home audio - I buy superior quality that they wouldn't carry (Unless you want to consider one of their Magnolia stores). TV - maybe, haven't had a need for another in some time. Movies and music - if I'm there. You people act like the fact they're a big store makes them this criminal organization. Please, if you want to pay highway robbery for outdated parts go to one of the small family run computer stores - their prices are outrageously high and most are very "Know-it-all"-ish. I buy all PC hardware online via TigerDirect or Newegg as should everyone else.
Still, when CompUSA was around they were the bad guys. I'll never forget the time I pushed the selector button to hear some computer speakers they had hooked up and some idiot had it cranked up (And it was the kind with a digital volume indicator) and it blasted my ears off and I turned it down right away, but some rude training manager came out from a private room and told me not to turn the stuff up as they were training on the other side of the wall. I told the manager and he got his ass chewed out for that one - like it's A) My fault someone turned it up, B) My fault they put the speakers next to their training room (Brilliant), or C) Not my right as a customer to sample something before I buy it? Then Circuit City is and have always been the underlying crooks (My father worked for them - first hand knowledge of it). If Best Buy goes out of business as the prior companies have who will you buy technology goods from? Wal-Mart? Target? No, Best Buy is an acceptable "evil" if some need call it that.
I disapprove of this nonsensery they're doing to the 360s but I'd definitely call them out on it and perhaps get a discount off the unit were I going to buy another 360 (But you don't deal with this silliness buying one at launch). And why criminalize them for charging installation fees for hardware? There are tons of idiots out there who call their computer case the hard drive and are totally clueless. Companies are out to make money and that's a real easy one.
Any of you people talking about buying these computers for someone would be best advised to just build one for them if you're this computer person you claim to be. Building PCs now is so easy, I remember when you had to read the motherboard manual like the Bible to get the computer running - I built my present rig 100% plug and play. I only needed the manual to identify the correct pins for the case accessories and other stuff. Far better than paying too much for an inferior product to one you build yourself and you have far more options when it comes to parts too. But this is lost wording to most...
