Today for the first (and LAST!) time, I went to B&H Megastore, a giant electronics store near NY Penn which I’ve walked by many times, but never entered. I saw on their website that they had dual layer blu-ray blanks for sale for $7.95 (you can’t get those for less than $12 anywhere else).
I should have known what I was getting into when I saw that they had a “we’re closing early today for Yon Kippur” sign at the entrance…
Anyway, of course they were sold out on the product I wanted to get, but they had a relatively cheap $18 spindle of single layer Blurays, which I decided to pick up as long as I was there. I bring them to the register in the computer hardware section, and the cashier told me that I was supposed to leave the product hanging on the rack, and that it would be brought to me at checkout. I’m already confused. I then take out my credit card and he told me that I pay downstairs, but he needs to process this sale first. I’m even more confused. Then he asks me for my phone #, so I give him a fake #. He says I’m not in the database, and he needs my address too. I ask him why, and he says “internal processing purposes, incase you need to return the product”. I remind him I’m buying blank discs, so I can’t even return them. He says he needs my address in order to complete the sale, so I give him a fake address too. He gives me a receipt and tells me to go downstairs, and then takes back the spindle and told me I will be given the product at checkout.
I do so, and go to the sales cashier area. This is where I give them my receipt and pay. I’m then given a SECOND receipt, which gets stapled to the first one, and am directed to the pickup area. Yes, for a 1 lb box of blank discs.
So I get to the checkout area, and give them the receipt. Surprise, surprise, the discs aren’t ready for pickup yet. I have to wait there another 5 minutes before somebody brings down the same goddamn box which I could have carried down myself.
What the fucking christ is going on with this store??? If this were Best Buy, I would have been out of there about 10 minutes sooner. It’s not just me either - this is how ALL of their business is done. Is this some insane anti-shop-lifting method? Well congrats B&H. You stopped me from shoplifting an $18 product. But that’s the last $18 you will EVER get from me. It’s no wonder nobody has EVER recommended your store to me before, and I will tell all of my tech-saavy friends and coworkers (and I know a TON of them in this city) to never shop there either.