Why BestBuy shouldnt sell Klipsch speakers (My Expiernce atleast)

[michael hurd]

I hear you ear! I realize that not all minimum wage jobs are full of slow people, but most are. I was the best parts guy at the local canadian tire store in a long time with my extensive knowledge of vehicles. But alas, at the end of the pay period, my hard work showed small dividends in the net pay section. So when another opportunity came around with the promise of higher pay and a career, I jumped at it.

[Griffinator]

Coming from inside BB, all I can offer is that, like any retail chain with 600+ stores, there are good ones and bad ones. Ever been to TGI Fridays? Great place to eat - in Richmond, VA. Go to the one in South Bend, IN, and it's pure sh!t. Check out Payless in Manchester, NH - you'll think you've found Shoe Heaven. Stop in to the one in Escanauba, MI and you suddenly know what crap customer service is really about.

How do I know? I've been to all those places. I know what the retail chain system is all about.

Best Buy has a store ranking system in place. It's based primarily (now) on how profitable the store is. How much gross margin the store generates. For the smart salespeople in the HT departments run by smart supervisors, Klipsch is a boon. Why?

1) Synergy SF2 is the most expensive tower speaker in any BB. It's also the highest GMD - $300 a pair to be exact.

2) A Klipsch Quintet system with a KSW-12 sub costs $900 - second only to the Bo$e AM-15 system. The Klipsch sounds better and it generates exactly the same GMD - $400.

3) Best Buy has made it so easy for departments to sell Klipsch - the Yamaha/Klipsch combo deals were wonderful - save $300 on a solid Klipsch + Yamaha package for your home theater. BB has done everything it knows how to do to sell Klipsch.

Now, the problems.

1) Best Buy, in an additional effort to welcome Klipsch, attempted to get every Klipsch speaker in every BB store wired up with a completely new wiring interface - all Monster speaker wire, BTW. It took Lynchburg (where I work) nearly 6 months to get that system in place (because some idiot threw the box with all the new wire into the compactor)

2) When Klipsch and Athena arrived in our store, you could tell who was aggressively promoting their product - it wasn't Klipsch. We got a single pamphlet from Klipsch. We got reams of print from Athena - reviews from Sound and Vision and several other mags, complete spec lists, tons and tons of stuff we could hand to the buyer who said "I've never heard of Athena" - but Klipsch decided that they had enough of a name already to ignore those buyers. I'm here to tell you that 90% of the foot traffic in my store never heard of Klipsch before we demoed them.

That's a pretty tough pair of drawbacks.

When you consider #2 with the idea that maybe, just maybe, the schleps in the stores you're talking about never heard of Klipsch either, suddenly you've got some damned good reasons why Klipsch itself f*ed up when they launched the BB partnership.

Don't place all the blame on BB. The ones who aggressively market get the business, not the most prestigious names.

[Soundthought]

Ear - Yeah, that statement about $7/hour idiots was pretty harsh.

I take it back.

A few times I have started at the bottom of a company ladder and inched my way up.

Nothing cool about getting little paychecks for alot of work.

But, persistence and patience generally pays off, most of the time.

On another note....

I know for a fact that Klipsch has severely downsized it regional representative staff.

There is one guy for all of Michigan and he also handles northern Indiana and Illinois.

That's alot of stores for one man to keep a handle on.

[crotalus98]

My first post...be gentle. I just bought my Reference Klipsch from a brand new Ulitmate Electronics in our area. Great setup with a room that can be closed, the salesman new Klipsch inside and out, was very enthusiastic about the line and even explained spl meters to me. He even let me and my brother bring in our own CD's to test the music we like on them at volumes we like. Not too bad for a large retail chain.

Then we went to best buy, because my brother wants Klipsch but is on a budget so we thought we'd check the Synergy line. Cool, a couch, a widescreen HDTV and a Klipsch setup....we start by watching a clip of a movie, not very loud mind you, 25 seconds into it the dept. manager comes over and says, "do you mind if I turn this down guys, thanks" and turns it down to an inaudible level and walks off. Sorry didn't mean to test audio equipment in a supposed audio super store. What was I thinking. Good thing we weren't interested. He didn't even ask if we needed help. Oh well I guess it's back to Ultimate Electronics.

[Bruinsrme]

My BB I find it disturbing to have eithe the Best Buy radio station blasting or some crap music coming from every system.

I would venture to say most BB managers (not meant to be insulting) have worked their way into the position, thru the food chain route or other smaller retail sales. corporate hands down store layouts and shelving configurations and it is their job to fit the bill. I would say most managers of such stores have little to no knowledge of the product lines. They are mere managers whose biggest concern is having enough people to cover the floor.

As much as I hate the blearing music the BB down the street has a woman running the A/V sections. It is evident she has a passion for her job and for the hobby. If you want to work in the area you have to know something. this is reflected by the sales staff that know Klipsch, Sony, Pioneer, Yammy and other product lines. Tho no experts they know the basics. That is what is needed at BB, basics.

[ob1clodi]

I recently went into the BB in Orland Park, IL, great if you already knew what you wanted. Stuff crammed into as little space as possible, surrounds foot above head like bo$e surround displays, great surround sound, felt like big head phones. Well you also only have 5 feet to stand back from 60 inch tv, suprising clarity, just like the front row at the movies. BB did have a athena bookshelf system set up around a big screen, with a chair to let the workers rest and watch movies on the sales floor. BB is not to blame, unless proper setup is completely their responsibility per their contract with Klipsch. I work for Coca Cola here in S. IL, and I am responsible for making sure all sorts of corporate package appearance policies are being met at all sorts of stores. Why doesn't Klipsch have the manpower to go from store to store and guarantee that their products are displayed in the best light? Coke is a very well known product around the world, yet they are obsessive about the appearance of every container in every store. Great product is meaningless, unless the consumer sees it as great. I was turned onto Klipsch by the PM 5.1 as my first HT, then moved up to a KG HT, after Tweeter salesman confirmed Klipsch was the way to go. I'm not able to afford the new models, so off I went to Ebay.

Y2Ray

[MD1032]

Here is my comparison of my local electronics stores including their setups, employees, and prices:

1) Circuit City: Their employees are amoung the few who will simply leave you alone and let you shop. When you have a question, they'll answer it. They're good at keeping their setups working. In my local Circuit City, I have never heard a set that is blown out or aged. They had a pair of AL 621's that had a blown sub and within a month they had a new pair on the rack. Circuit City is also my personal favorite when it comes to deals. For some reason, there's always good prices and good deals on GOOD stuff (I like CC's selection of electronics very much BTW) in every flyer I get in the mail. Although one of the lesser-known stores and certainly not the most popular, this store is my FAVORITE store to walk into and simply browse, and buying is even better. CC's also good with rebates, warranties, and returns.

2) Best Buy: Employees range from your average guy to complete morons. I don't particularly like BB's employees. The one that sold us our home theater system was helpful, though. First of all, he didn't immediately try to sell us the flashiest, most popular and most expensive product. He reccommended a very good for the price Pioneer home theater system, 5.1, 450 watts. It had a combination 5 DVD changer reciever which has served us well to this day, despite DVD changers sometimes getting a bad rep. The system itself is fine for our needs. It's not the best for music in terms of bass due to its 114 watt unpowered sub, but the treble clarity easily exceeds that of my PM's. It's GREAT with movies. The subwoofer really kicks out some bass when it needs to. Watching the opening scene to LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring was a real treat. He also tried to get us to buy Monster cable, but this was before I was an audiophile and so we said we weren't interested. I must say, though, that these guys can be a bit annoying when it comes to "just leave me alone, I want to shop". Rebates are average, so are returns, since they take forever. One thing I've come to despise is Best Buy's subday flyer. It's so bogus. Instead of having deals and lowering their prices or having rebates, they simply take the price of whatever they want to sell, and place it in the flyer. Sure, it's in the deals flyer, but it's not on sale. Also, the stuff in the flyers is crap. Onto the setups. The Best Buy computer speaker setup is the worst I've ever seen. Every speaker there has somethign wrong with it, or is completely fried. The setup is useless, utilizing a cheesy radio signal to test. Horrible. Overall, I'm beginning to dislike Best But more and more.

3) CompUSA aka CrapUSA: Stay out of this store. Just stay out. The employees are the worst you've ever seen. They hover over you, reccommend you crap, and know abosolutely NOTHING. CompUSA is the worst in terms of rebates out of all the stores I've bought from. Their rebates can take at least 3 months, and that's only if you keep calling them up and demanding it. Their speaker setup is actually a good system, where it runs through some sound clips from movies, games, and different kinds of music. However, their speaker selection just keeps getting worse, and it's never setup right. The flyer has decent deals, but knowing you'll wait forever for your rebate will steer you away from even thinking about it.

[Bruinsrme]

Wow. First I have to give credit to all the individuals that work at said store for putting up with us, the know it alls.

Circuit City I am not sure why I would go there in the first place.

Best Buy; The younger employees there are not experts but they do know something about the things they are selling. It might not be a lot compared to some of us but they know enough to sell to the BB target audience. The audience is entry level to average. From what I have seen the people really shopping there for a tv or speakers have a price limit and a product in mind. They are not out to spend hours auditioning speakers and forming relationships with the sales staff. They are there so the husband can get what he has pleaded for, for months and the wife can get home before the Life time movie starts. (please we know there are a few exceptions that frequent here and this is not ained at you) Most of those people are working for peanuts and a decent discount.

Compusa; nothing good can be said for those people other than they are contributing and paying taxes. Luckily there is the internet

[dodger]

Hello:

Everyone over 40 take a minute to step back. When you were young and drooling for systems, I'll bet you could quote every spec, list price, store price, Allied or Lafaette prices.

I can still remember the Fisher 250tx, with the Garrard Zero 100 TT with Shure m75 cartridge and Fisher, I believe X-7 speakers or AR3s. It was time to throw the old tube stuff away.

Now we go into the store to buy and there are very good stores in one area, very poor in another.

Back then, I knew the local Fisher Rep, he checked the presentation.

Even if Klipsch has cut back on staff, they can pay some attention to the compliments and send a letter regarding the complaints - would have to be more than three (3) complaints from three (3) different people.

The Moderators could help keep track of this.

And instead of running contests for a free pair of speakers, a percentage off for long time contributors to the Forum, base it on your staus, Answering Machines get the most off.

If Klipsch made certain speakers available to forum members at a discounted price rather than selling them off to the auction places, they could make more money and perhaps more business if someone wants to complete a double two (2) channel or HT system.

I've noticed not one comment from any Klipsch employee in this thread. It makes me wonder and it also makes me wonder when I click today's posts there are numerous complaints.

When it was all in Hope and PWK was around I heard of few complaints. I got around to numerous stores that handled Klipsch. Kind of makes one wonder why the prices for used Heritage stay high and people are will to drive sixteen (16) hours to get a pair.

There's a lesson about quality product, proper presentation, enough literature for Klipsch and training those that will be selling the product - remember the Salesman's guides? That's an easy no brainer to hand out and make required reading for sales staff.

Again, my accolades to those who work at Best Buy and do their best, extended to the store managers.

The por displays are also having an impact on The Reference Line Dealers waiting for that line to be yanked (Buffalo), and the people that may hear about the Reference line and have been in a poorly displayed Best Buy.

I love my Klipsch and all of the Klipsch lines, I wish someone at the company would handle the quality, the sales areas, someone who would kick butt, not just collect a salary.

[Bruinsrme]

dodger,

I probably would have made a comment about the Klipschsters but they don't hang out a Best Buy, circuit City or comp usa.

I really feel the boards are a self help/ people helping people. If we buy our products from an authorzied dealer they should handle the problems. Klipsch should develop programs where when issues are resolved surveys go out to the customer to measure the quality of service. Perks for the good / no perks for the jerks.

Ah hell, we all can't be satidfied all the time.

time to ejoy the weekend.

Scott

[boomer9911]

Wanna trade??!!!

I'll take your Best Buy(which we have just now got 2 of here in Western Canada, the only place in Canada with BB)and you can have our "London Drugs", thats right, a friggin Drugstore chain that sells Klipsch...YUP

just a thought ehhhh.....so confuseddddddddd.....