CompUSA vs Best Buy

13 Responses (Add) | Thursday, May 17th, 2007 at 2:30am

I still remember the first time I walked into a CompUSA - it was in Des Moines, Iowa. For the first time in my life, I felt like a store had been made just for me. Granted, I couldn’t afford anything inside (but that wasn’t the point).

Best Buy satisfied several needs at once - entertainment, computing, etc. Remember when they had an aisle full of minidiscs sitting across from the cassette tapes? Those were the good ol’ days.

Can’t say I was surprised to hear that CompUSA was closing its stores - it’s always been overpriced, and I don’t remember ever being completely keen on their brand (over all others). Mind you, I took a winter job at Best Buy once (and was almost fired from that position when I refused to sell Packard Bell machines).

I hit the Bellevue CompUSA a few weeks ago, just to see if I could snag any deals (and wound up scoring 20% off a business-class Linksys Gigabit Ethernet wireless G router which I’ve yet to install). This weekend, Ponzi and I spotted a sign for a 90% closeout sale on software still on the shelves - so we stopped by and found… nothing.

Click the image to see a larger version of the sign. Ironic?

Some pundits might argue that this turn of events was due to a market downturn, or increased competition. I’d argue that CompUSA pwnd itself. Like I said before, they were far from the cheapest option in town - and I’d only use them as a last-ditch effort, or when I needed to get something and it was convenient.

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13 Comments

Tech for the Non-Techie

November 30th, 1999
at 12:00am

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November 30th, 1999
at 12:00am

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November 30th, 1999
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New Tech News Blog Network ~ Lockergnome

November 30th, 1999
at 12:00am

How To Pursue A Career in TechnologyMiranda vs Adium vs MeeboWinZip vs WinRarmobile media madnessGaboogie Teleconference 2/2Gaboogie Teleconference 1/2Dance a Dance with DDRThe error code is 2739Wanna Take a Pzizz?CompUSA vs Best BuyPR Pitches and Marketing GlitchesFire Extinguisher Spam?What did I do today?Windows Vista and XP BSOD ProblemsCopernic Desktop Search FeedbackHow to Record and Upload Media from your Mobile PhoneLive Behind the Scenes video in Leo Laporte’s TV Lab

Christopher Knopick

May 17th, 2007
at 7:45am

Yes Chris I agree, the CompUSA here was the only decent place to buy computer parts in the Milwaukee area. Over the years I bought 3 laptops, several routers and access points, many desktop parts and video cards, and I don’t know how many blank CDs and DVDs. I’ll miss em’

AAwoken

May 17th, 2007
at 10:01am

I had a horrific experince with CompUSA last year. I ended up talking to the store manager, who basically talked “down” to me and did not resolve an easy problem. I told her then and there to start looking for a job for if that was how CompUSA was treating customers it would not be long before they shuttered their doors.

Bad customer service is the downfall of too many businesses. You would think people would learn by now…..then again…

Fry’s next?

Randy Stewart

May 17th, 2007
at 12:05pm

Chris-

I’m totally with you on this. I actually waited in line overnight when they opened a CompUSA in Dayton, OH. They were giving away free CD-ROM drives to the first X number of people in line. Most of the other stores in Dayton at the time weren’t so consumer friendly.

Having left the midwest and flash forward 15 years, CompUSA wasn’t cheap, comprehensive nor did they provide exemplary customer service.

If you look at Fry’s, you get comprehensive and cheap but customer service, well, we need not go there. The Apple Store represents the other end of the spectrum which is definitely not cheap, nor comprehensive, but they excel at customer service.

CompUSA’s stores were kind of a miserable experience all around and while I’m sad when people lose their jobs, I can’t say I’m going to weep for CompUSA’s demise.

Cheers,
Randy Stewart
randy@boxbe.com

David Parmet

May 17th, 2007
at 12:54pm

It wasn’t that they were or weren’t the cheapest game in town. CompUSA is toast because too many customers decided they could buy the stuff on the Web and not have to deal with rude and useless staff.

Have you ever had a decent customer experience there? I haven’t and I stopped going there years ago.

Reid Sprague

May 18th, 2007
at 8:08pm

Ever had the pimply-faced kid’s detailed, down his nose, & wrong answer to the question you haven’t asked? He jumps in before you’ve finished asking, to answer the question he thinks you were going to ask, and then gets that wrong anyway — at length.

One of the first rules of customer service is listen before opening your mouth. Second one is know your stuff — don’t give wrong information. CompUSA was staffed with those bozos.

If they’re gone, it’s for good reason. Not many will miss them.

Jay

May 20th, 2007
at 2:10pm

I find it amusing that the company that found it uneconomical to maintain the majority of its stores in Massachusetts still pays to slip a circular into The Boston Globe. No wonder they can’t afford to stay in brick-and-mortar with economics geniuses lie they have in marketing!

If I feel so inclined, I guess I could travel an hour+ to Southern New Hampshire, or two+ hours to Western Mass where there are still CompUSA stores….

Best Buys Blog

June 5th, 2007
at 5:03pm

CompUSA vs Best Buy ~ Chris Pirillo

bitbucket.kylewelsh.com

December 1st, 2007
at 9:26am

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