Best Buy Reports A Drop of 77% Of Earnings
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Best Buy which remains as the major leader in the electronic retailer supplier reported a 77% drop in their earnings during the 3rd quarter of 2008. The retailer stated that in 2007 they posted earnings of some $228 million dollars compared to earnings of $52 million dollars for the same period in 2008. According to the article it stated that:
The retailer this week reported Q3 sales of $11.5 billion, with earnings of $52 million. That’s a sharp drop from the year-ago earnings amount of $228 million, causing CEO Brad Anderson to indicate cutbacks were afoot at the retailer soon. Among them: offering voluntary buyouts to nearly all of its 4,000 corporate employees along with the possibility for layoffs if too few of these employees take up the retailer on its offer.
With the demise of Circuit City looming, will Best Buy be the next victim in this recession to face cuts? Hopefully in the last quarter of 2008 the giant retailer will be able to pickup some much needed sales and not be forced to layoff employees.
Comments welcome.
3 Comments
the oracle
December 20th, 2008
at 10:33am
In SoCal, Best Buy faces some things that it has not addressed.
First, it isn’t - that is, anyone who is willing to do just a miniscule amount of looking can find a better buy on the same product. (The one possible exception to this is the CD/DVD section - that requires a longer trip, to a Fry’s, or similar store)
Second, the employees are both ignorant and lazy. Getting one of them to offer any service is like pulling teeth from a chicken. When a few of them are found at a help desk for a section, approaching the desk cause their scattering, in the manner of cockroaches when the light goes on. When one of the employees gets unlucky, and gets cornered, it is soon apparent that they have no knowledge of the products on the shelves, the advertised specials, or the store’s current stock levels.
Third, when the inattentive behavior, and nescience of the customer service representatives is brought to the attention of the manager, it is like water off a duck’s back. (I have been told “What can you do? They’re just kids.”)
With these barriers in front of them, I don’t hold much hope for their bottom line to get better any time soon.
Ron Schenone
December 20th, 2008
at 3:33pm
Hi Marc,
Good points, Customer service has gone down the toilet in many businesses.
Have a great holiday.
GS
December 21st, 2008
at 7:17pm
Personally, I work in the Geek Squad at best buy, and hearing people talk about bad customer service reeks of bias and single store issues.
At the best buy I work in, if you don’t get asked if you need help, or have the customer service team assist you instantly then the store is closed and you are still outside.
Our manager actually watches for employees not working and calls them out over a radio, telling them to do their job.
Also, in many areas, the best price on some items might be lower at other stores, but EVERY best buy offers price matching to local competitors, all you have to do is ask them, and they will make the calls to varify the price.
Service is the 1 thing Best Buy wants people to use, because service industries make more money then just retail, and the only reason services are going down in terms of visability, are people not buying.
The downside is, if no one wants me to fix their computer, then I don’t get to work. These sales concern me, and most people who have a beef with Big blue are very uninformed on their policy, something any manager is happy to share with you and 1-888-bestbuy is happy to help with.