This practice has been going on for MANY YEARS in retail. One major player who just went under used to have the same attitude and policies. Look where it lead them. I have worked in several retail stores where you made more on the "paper" than the "product"

Circuit City did the same thing. Where are there now?

Those perks that employees get for selling warranties and add-ons arn't really that great, either. When I was a CompUSA employee, you would get less then 5% of the cut for a warranty. Imagine selling a Warranty that cost the customer $500, and seeing less then $20 on your paycheck because it was taxed 20%.

Big companies likese these don't give a shit about their employees, not one bit, and they think that a crappy spiff with the added incentive to be fired is enough to motivate employees and drive sales higher? It does the opposite, and makes customers resent them even more. I hope Office Depot is next in line on the chopping block.

wow, best buy do and compu usa did the same thing, you would walk in to the store ask for it, we don't have it, it comes later in the week, ect. walk around get another sales person, sure we have it, it's in the back, we are saving it for our preferred customers, ourselves, ect... if you beg / pay enough they walk out back and get you a copy. they usually have stuff that runs out or is limitedly available for their friends...

I had to deal with this problem several times. One day at BestBuy, the salesman was pushing extra warranty by "advertising" that the notebook, that I was interested, is giving all kinds of problems and how expensive is to repair it would be. Finally, I ask him: "Why I want to buy a notebook that is so bad!?" As you can guess, I did not purchase it.

Microcenter did this exact same thing. Sales associates get 10% of plans sold, only 1.5% of the main item though. And if you never sell plans, the management gets all over your ass complaining about THEIR "ratings." Dont believe me, try buying an Intel Core i7 920 for the 229.99 sale price they got right now, good luck if you dont "Attach" to the sale. I work there and still had to web order one for in store pick up to get out the store with it. When I worked there, my manager told me to tell customers that they had to buy something else (motherboard and/or memory) with the cpu). Only if the customer got especially uppity would they allow me to sell the processor to them, and even then the manager told me that it will hurt my "rating."

Was some serious bullshit.

Yeah this happens and when you find a good deal at a place they are always out of stock because employees hide the merch and then buy it themselves before it even hits the floor. Seen this at Wally World a ton around Xmas time with those super cheap laptops. granted I wouldn't purchase something so cheap but still.

Wow great review, ill make sure i never shop there again, hope everyone tells their frends

Circuit City never forced me to buy a service plan on any product I ever purchased at their store. They were even so nice to give me the old sale price on the last CRT TV I bought after the sale was over and they let me keep the rebate as well. Circuit City was a good store. Hope you haters enjoy dealing with Worst Buy.

If you really suspect they'll lie about having the product, use the same hardball negotiation tactic - lie about interest in the add-ons. Then say you need to get a couple of other things and meet at the register. Don't forget to grab an item from another department. Once at the register, say "oh yeah, I changed my mind - I want just the laptop without the add-ons, and I guess I'll wait to buy this too."

Your only other options are to walk away from the negotiation or have a higher-up come over and restart your negotiation.

Me? I never was refused an item because of a service plan, but I have often been thwarted by employees "reserving" items for one another so I didn't have a chance to buy it.

The managers of those stores should be fired. There may be a great deal of pressure to sell services to make up for margins lost by the decline in spending by businesses on the more profitable supplies and furniture items but this is now how we do business. I've worked for Depot for many years and I've never seen this happen in any store I've worked in. In every company you'll find bad apples though, but I can tell you it would be no higher in the management chain that at the store level. If you feel this has happened, call customer service immediately or just buy a stick of gum and do the online Bizrate survey at the bottom of the receipt, they go straight to the DM and CC'd to the store. This practice is not part of our sales culture.

Again, this article comes in at almost 4 days. If I read all this crap way before hand somewhere else, what reason do I have to even come to TH?

Great more sites propagating this BS. Yes office depot has strict sales quotas for their employees, same as any other retailer. Some stores (office depot, office max, staples, bestbuy, etc) may resort to unethical behavior to make these quotas, but the companies as a whole do not endorse this behavior. In the original article at laptop magazine .com they even said they visited their local OD and were able to get a laptop without a PPP/TDS with no problem.

You cant just take a few instances of dishonesty and make an accurate judgment on the company as a whole.

BTW the original article didn't mention that OD just cut one management position from every office depot about two weeks ago. So im sure everyone can guess who they got the interview with, disgruntled ex-employees trying to get a little bit of revenge by bashing the companies reputation

Great more sites propagating this BS. Yes office depot has strict sales quotas for their employees, same as any other retailer. Some stores (office depot, office max, staples, bestbuy, etc) may resort to unethical behavior to make these quotas, but the companies as a whole do not endorse this behavior. In the original article at laptop magazine .com they even said they visited their local OD and were able to get a laptop without a PPP/TDS with no problem.

You cant just take a few instances of dishonesty and make an accurate judgment on the company as a whole.

BTW the original article didn't mention that OD just cut one management position from every office depot about two weeks ago. So im sure everyone can guess who they got the interview with, disgruntled ex-employees who blow stuff out of proportion

Bought a 500 GB USB HDD at MicroCenter for $99. Seagate FreeAgent Extreme. Great buy, they had a tonne of them and I didn't feel pressured to buy extras.

Annoy others with your own crap?

Same thing happens at best buy. Management gives computer associates a hard time about selling service plans, aka Black Tie Protection, and Geek Squad services. The on-sale laptops are usually sold under cost. The sales person isn't to blame. They are just doing their job. No one there makes any commission, they are just trying to keep from getting hassled by their boss . There's nothing wrong with a company trying to make a profit, that is the point of a business right? I agree its wrong for the sales person to push it too much but nothing wrong with them offering it. For some customers it comes in handy, and for people who don't have a clue about using or fixing a computer its not a bad deal.

article:"Due to the competitive nature of computer sales
, Office Depot 'like many other brick and mortar stores'"
That mean it's not only Office Depot but almost every major retailer is doing it. Does this mean you're not gonna shop in an electronic store at all? You can say no, but provoking everyone to not purchase anything leads to low economic and jobs.

Yeah this practice is everywhere in retail stores...it's probably the least in Best Buy (Canada) since there's no commission (but sales quotas to meet)...honestly I could give a shit for selling service plans, because all I get is a pat on the back if I do, no "extra incentives"...the only time people get fired is because they discourage customers to buy it or something (or if they're seasonal workers, at least in my store)

I've only often heard stories from friends who were fired at Future Shop for not selling enough service plans.

Selling people cr@p isn't the only thing that bring down Circuit City. I remember buying an MP3 player inside a glass door and ask someone to open it for me and 30min no-one came and so I ask another person and 15min later they finally open the glass to get me my MP3. When I return that battery sucking MP3, I waited 1hr and there's only 1 person in front of me. Service like that deserved to close its door. Not to mention Black Friday. The line almost doesn't budge after 3hr of waiting in-line for a laptop. Bought a laptop at Office Depot during Black Friday and they didn't try to sell me cr@p and it took like 10min to buy it.

This article is a little fishy. I wouldn't trust it since it can be written by an individual and not a marketing researcher team of some sort.

Haha, when I was working at Fry's they pulled sh*t just like this all the time. I don't know about other retail stores, but Fry's gives no kind of tech information/training to it's employees. I would constantly watch customers walk out with over-the-top, more expensive items simply because they gave a better commission, or with the wrong item completely because the associate knew nothing of the products. I was lucky cuz I had experience with PCs/electronics from personal use.

I work at Staples as an "Easy Tech" and we do the same crap. A coworker of mine just gotten "Written up" for selling whats called a "Naked PC" (When someone buys a PC with nothing else). Also we are forced to confront our mangers every time a customer wants to buy a PC (Or any high priced tech item Cameras, printers, Phones, Monitors and even chairs)so our mangers ask all the Techs "What are you getting on it" If you say that the customer isn't looking for anything else they tell us to say it is out of stock and have them order it online on staples.com .

I used to work sales from an OD in Atlanta, Attachment sales is SHOVED down your throat relentlessly. My manager refused to sell me a laptop when I wouldn't buy a case or a PPP. So I had to buy a case just to be able to make the purchase. And for the record sales staff makes something like 5-10% on the sale of the warranty ALONE, so at most we have to try to convince people spent 200 bucks and we make like 10..if that.

This couldn't be more true. I worked at Office Depot for two years in college before I got an internship and it was laughable.

They call the extras "market basket" and you are supposed to get 50% "market basket" on each sale. The store managers and down would honestly DISCOUNT a product substantially if it meant they could get a Plan, a Case, a Printer, Ink, and Paper. If you ever sent a laptop or desktop out at 0% (nothing but the unit) you immediately got a call from the manager. It isn't as if you could hide it either because the cashiers are supposed to call out when any "market basket item" is sold and they ask you what you sold with it.

I have come to a manager telling him I need a laptop from lock up and he'll ask me "what are you getting with it" and when I tell him nothing I'm told to tell the customer we don't have any. Even worse is when the MANAGER would send the customer to another store despite having inventory of the product.

Not all managers were bad. The supplies manager, furniture manager, and print services managers never dealt with market basket. The store manager, assistant manager, and technology department manager were PATHETIC. Absolutely PATHETIC.

I work for one of the larger retailers who makes very little to no profit on laptop sales without protection plans. Technically stores have a right to not sell merchandise to customers, depending on what they will be purchasing with them. It is a business after all, they are trying to make money. How can someone be competitive price-wise and still turn a profit when the margin is so little, it barely pays for the associates hourly wages. Then again, with the company I represent it's not common practice and is discouraged by corporate and the managers to lie about stock. Replacement plans are an option, not required. However it is also common knowledge that if you're going to purchase a new computer from a store, prepare for a bag of tricks. Aren't car salesman the same? And all they are trying to do is make a living.

I used to work for EBgames part time while I was going to school. The manager used to ride me over the fact I didn't sell enough extended warranties. It was one of the reasons I quit and got a decent paying full time job.

I worked @ Best Buy years ago. And this sort of thing was a big deal back then too. (circa 2000?) We didn't get perks, bonuses, etc. However each department was held to a standard for attachment percentages. It was a rivalry between departments in some ways. But if your numbers were low, the heat came down on you from management to perform.

If you couldn't get customers to buy the attachments, you got transferred to another department, or got to run a cash register. After I left they started making cashiers offer free magazine subscriptions and such.

I like Best Buy in general, but it's not the most comfortable place to shop these days. There's to much extra crap they try to get you to add on to your sale and I just don't enjoy that.

Next time you're in a Best Buy, listen to see if you hear a manager announcing percentages over the loudspeaker. That's their way of publicly announcing which departments are keeping up and which ones aren't.

Nobody I worked with every lied about laptop stock that I'm aware of. But it wouldn't surprise me with the pressure put on these kids.

Not entirely true. In the USA, most businesses reserve the right to refuse service (as long as that refusal isn't discriminatory in nature, such as refusing to serve all Asian women).

However, if a product is advertised for a set price, then that is the price you must honor. If a customer is required to get a protection plan, that must be noted on the advertisement in some manner ('additional charges apply', 'with purchase of protection plan', and so forth). Otherwise, the business steps into the realm of false advertising and bait-and-switch marketing. (A price tag on a shelf does constitute and 'advertisement'.)

Unfortunately, if a business sets a price and advertises it to the public, they had their opportunity to ensure they would make a profit. If they say "with additional purchases" or "after rebate", they have put a way out - they have disclosed there are hidden charges that the customer is responsible for finding out.

Lets use another business as an example. I pull up to the pump at a gas station and say "fill 'er up." The attendant says "will you be buying any milk, cigarettes, candy bars, or sodas today?" I say "Nope, just want the gas." (NOTE: Gas is a very low profit margin item like the laptop, and the stuff inside is like computer cables - its where the money is made.) The attendant says "Sorry, we're all out of gas right now." Why? No profit in selling gas without add-on purchases, but I don't think any of us would say that they have a right to advertise gasoline at $2 or $3 or $4 a gallon, but sell it to us only if we buy enough to make a profit. Same goes with computers or fitness equipment or a car or whatever.

Of course, the belief that they have the right to refuse to sell you a product at an advertised price is exactly what they want. Can they refuse to sell? You bet. May they refuse to sell? Not a chance. If you really think you are scammed, immediately call a friend to inquire about the exact same product with all the extras, get it up to the register, and THEN step in and confront them with the "out of stock item" and have your friend conveniently defer to you for the purchase of the laptop alone.

i have been in retail 20 years and have seen it all. I have worked for depot longer than most people...its retail and thats life....we do not tell salesmen to lie about that but some managers take it upon themselves to do that and they get fired and by the way you wont get fired if you dont sell enough ppps or tds...thats bullshit...those guys that say they have been are pissed because they got fired for stealing or for stupid shit...ill be honest theres no way you can be fired from depot unless your stealing or you hit a customer or an employee...i should know i have been there more than ten years... and for those assholes that say they hope depot goes the same way cc did...fuck you thats my job and my life hope your job goes to the shits...

I've worked for Best Buy a while now, and I admit, there's constantly pressure to attach. We're always told to push for accessories, services, and Black Tie Protection (basically insurance) and that all those combined should total about 30% of the sale. That means someone has $1000 to spend, I'm supposed to show them to a $700 laptop (no matter if it's overpowered/underpowered/inadequate for their purposes) and push for the rest of those extras. Once I've attached everything I can as a computer associate, I'm supposed to take the customer up to Geek Squad where they get drilled *again* about getting these extras before they check out. I've had people so frustrated, by the time an "Agent" talks to them, they walk out. If we hand the customer off with a computer ala cart, then the manager at Geek Squad drills *us* in the computer department about keeping up our numbers. Personally, I think It's great that we can sell the computers without them being that expensive, especially for everyday home use. I've never been told to lie about our stock either. On the other hand, for some reason it becomes our job to pick up the slack. Our attachment goals that our manager gives us puts so much more pressure on the sales reps to perform. Fortunately, most of us back in our computer department don't care about the numbers, we try to focus on the person and what kind of computer they need. It is the only thing that keeps me from going crazy from being yelled at for doing my job some days.