Sorry for this.

Ditto here.

Meh, Best Buy is hardly the worst of the lot. I suppose these days I'm rather indifferent towards them. I used to go there all the time, but now there's just no reason to. They've scaled way back on their computer components, and instead have focused on home theater, computer systems, cameras/camcorders, cell phones (they recently ramped this part up big time), and lastly larger items like fridges/ovens/microwaves/etc.

I certainly don't buy movies or music there, as it's always far more than I can get it online. Actually, the last time I was in there I would say their music section was down to about 4 20' ailes, and half of one (for some unknown reason) was taken up by copies of Chinese Democracy.

So yeah, it's not the greatest store. It's just sort of "meh."

...though my opinion of it certainly wasn't helped by those trips to Fry's

Mmm... yeah... you know what they're saying in the article about how PC World are useless? They're not lying.

I've been to a couple of Currys shops in the UK, and they were leagues above the likes of BB.

Not that that is at all a difficult thing to achieve.

The joys of PC World. On the few occasions I've had to shop in there I've left in awe at the absolute lack of product or technical knowledge displayed by their staff, coupled with a total lack of desire or ability to communicate with potential customers.

As long as you ignore the sales staff PC World isn't all bad. It used to be that all the stock was vastly over priced, but nowadays a lot of it is more competitively priced.

Of course when I know I need to buy something from them I go online and get their "collect @ store" price, which usually matches or comes very close to the best online price.

I have also found their support people surprisingly helpful. I needed screws to mount a laptop drive one Sunday and couldn't find anything at home to fit. I happened to be near PCWorld so I popped in and asked at the support desk, sure enough they came out with a collection of various screws and let me take what I wanted.

When something breaks on a Sunday and you need to fix it then and there they are the only place open...

Helpfully they also have some Dell machines in store now, which meant when my mother finally decided to join the PC age I could take her to have a look at the Dell laptop I was suggesting she should buy.

But yes, the sales staff are hopeless. Thankfully the ones in the Norwich branch the other week got the message fairly quickly that we really didn't need any help

I should have addressed the sales person issue in my first post. I do not vouch for the sales people at BB. But that's only because I don't ask sales people for their opinions or technical expertise at any electronics store. I always go into the store knowing what I want to buy (well, that's how I go into every store, actually). So I never ask the sales staff anything other than "where is ____?"

I do have a theory about the sales staff at stores that sell consumer electronics: If you walk into these stores with purpose, knowing where the item you want is located and making a beeline for that item, you will be stopped by one to three employees asking you if you need help.

However, if you walk in completely unsure of where your product is, looking around hopelessly for some assistance, there won't be a salesperson in sight.

This theory even works mid-visit. I'll think I know where something is, and get stopped by two people on the way there. Then I can't find it, and suddenly nobody will be around to help me.

Perhaps it's just my imagining things, but I swear that this happens to me the majority of the time.

---Separate Issue---

All I know is that I'm glad Circuit City is out of business. I'd get stopped by people no matter what in that store. I hate the commission model in consumer electronics, as it always results in dishonesty. It's the main thing I dislike about Micro Center. When they talk to you, they'll practically beg you to put their employee barcode sticker on anything you're carrying, whether they helped you find it or not. Once I was looking for replacement ink cartridges for a client, and noticed that an employee had put his sticker on the back of every single box. That's just sneaky.

God, I love online shopping...