# Another Best-Buy Rant.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-best-buy-rant/292294>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [February 28, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-best-buy-rant/292294 "2005-02-28T14:28:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-best-buy-rant/292294/21 "2005-03-01T10:24:38Z")

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I have to add to this thread because this is one of my biggest pet peeves.

I’ve bought some equipment from Good Guys a couple of times and each time they really tried pushing the extended warranty thing on me. The first time the salesguy started his spiel and I said I wasn’t interested and he gave me a hard time because I didn’t want to hear it. Then he went ahead and went over the entire warranty service and the prices, again I had to tell him I wasn’t interested. He then treated me like I was some sort of bum. I felt like walking out.

The second time I bought something there, another salesguy started ringing me up and added the extended warranty without even asking me. I told him I didn’t want it and he asked me why not. I told him that I felt it was a waste of money. He then became sulky and pissy and didn’t talk to me afterwards. I should have just told him to forget it and left.

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**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-best-buy-rant/292294/22 "2005-03-01T10:58:32Z")

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Heh, I posted a thread about this just last year about buying a laptop. Seems that Service Plans are a decent way for companies to earn extra money without really providing much in return. However, it stops being decent when they use the most high-pressured sales techniques possible (I had several guys make the spiel to me, telling me the Apocalypse would come unless I spent $300 on their little contract), some of them downright unethical (I recall them pushing some sort of package whereby they would charge you something like $30 to set up a firewall and other random crap, insisting that only experts should do it and that if I didn’t, my computer would be taken over by terrorist hackers perhaps directly working for Al Qaeda).

Think the next time I’m in the US, I should stop by that same Best Buy, pretend to want to buy something, and start throwing a fit when they push the CSP, demand to see the manager, and then storm out angrily while yelling “I’ll customer service your pants, you impotent turdmonkey!!”

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**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-best-buy-rant/292294/23 "2005-03-01T11:56:54Z")

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I used to work in the coprorate office of a large computer retailer handling return to vendor issues. I don’t remember all the specific prices but I do remember that profit margin on hardware and software were pretty thin. If we sold a computer system for $1,500 we’d make less then $100 in profit. For the most part I’ve not been bothered by customer services folks when I say “no” to extended warranties. Although I kind of wish I’d gotten one with my television since it buzzes all the time now. I might try to repair it once I have enough cash for another television.

Marc

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