Best Buy requires ID if you're returning something?

With my recent dealings with their sales reps I will say Best Buy is Lame

You're experiencing the downside of cheap retail trade. I was in a Best Buy recently, and the only action was in the phone dept. The rest of it was some kind of zombie land. Employees (the few of them) were only partially visible, peaking through display shelves. ANy of them foolish enough to move from cover, was immediately set upon by the customers wandering through the isles.
 
Eventually, we wont even have the current quality of employees to deal with. When in the Best Buy, I realized they only had a small number of items that were actually in the store. It's becoming an Amazon world. Not that they're any better.

I think the next stage in the business model might be to have a large store where people can go in and physically see and try what they want to buy, but then they must make the actual purchase online.
 
Not being able to be touchy, feely with an item is about the only downside to buying in the virtual world (well, along with the loss of instant gratification).

sharke
Yeah man...nothing like getting home with your new purchase and unboxing it that day. I know online purchases are often cheaper, but it's a real PITA for me because I don't get packages easily at my building (no doorman and the super is rarely around) so I always end up having to trek to the UPS pickup joint across town. And if it's a heavy package then it's a taxi fare back....sometimes if the item is small enough I can have it sent to an Amazon Locker near me, but if it's anything substantial (like the monitors I just bought) then it's a hard slog. 

Sounds silly but I miss that feeling I had in NY when I walked back home with a new guitar under my arm, all the way from Sam Ash to lower 42nd. In spite of the heat and the humidity and the people on the sidewalks all, there was something so real about it...

sharke
 
 
Had pretty much the same experience when I bought my Telecaster from Sam Ash. Walked all the way home to the East Village with it. It's like bringing a new pet home. Sam Ash has now moved to 34th St just off 9th Avenue, so you would have probably had a shorter walk home to the Silver Towers had you lived here now. 
 
Here in Vegas, walking home really isn't an option. :s

I thought I'd heard about that a bit after we left. I'd be curious to visit - I've always felt like there was something magic about the old place - all of my favorite musicians had either shopped there or even worked there - from Hendrix when it was Manny's to Charlie Clouser...

sharke
Yeah it was Manny's when I first moved to New York. Very special vibes indeed. So many autographed photos on the wall. The new one is all shiny and new and everything...I mean it's an OK guitar store but it doesn't have that historical feel like the old location. On the plus side it's right next to B&H Photo Video, which as you probably know is an absolute beast of a store and a Mecca for all things electrical, including a very well stocked audio section. So between that and Sam Ash across the road, you're pretty much covered for musical equipment on that block. The only downside of B&H is that they close for every Jewish Holiday in existence (including all the ones you've never heard of) and as luck would have it I ALWAYS seem to arrive to find it closed when I really need something. Oh and it's closed every Saturday as well. I mean come on guys...I know it's your religion and all...but I need a fricken mic stand!

LOL - Indeed - I do remember that B&H and the only memory I have of it is that it was systematically closed every time I wanted to go. I never managed to get there, even if it was pretty close. I mean, who else closes at 1 pm on a Friday, out of nowhere?

The Not-So-Best Buy? 

I had a similar experience with a return at Best Buy, and usually only go there as a last resort. Almost anything they stock can be purchased cheaper, often even from local retailers. When I stopped in to pick up a SATA cable, I was shocked by the $22 price tag. Two blocks away I bought the same cable from a mom & pop computer store for $4.
 
Part of the problem is that shopping-mall rents are very high. Every inch of shelf space has to generate constant revenue, so their business model depends on stocking only fast-moving items.
 
When my DSL modem was taken out by lightning, I went there to buy a replacement because that's where I'd bought the first one only a few months earlier. However, they no longer carried that model. In fact, they no longer carried any DSL modem that could be operated in bridge mode, which I require. Not only could I not buy the identical item, I couldn't even replace it with different product. An online purchase was my only option.
 
Interestingly, Amazon's original business model was the same. They were only going to sell best-sellers. Then they figured out that their real advantage over traditional bookstores was that they could have unlimited virtual inventory, and the rest is history.
 

Karyn
How did you purchase a replacement online if your modem was fried?

Oooo...  Busted!!! 

I'm trying to remember if Circuit City was any better.