Is BestBuy.com the Best Buy?
Written: Mar 02 '05
| Ease of Ordering: |
 |
|
| Selection: |
|
|
| On-Time Delivery: |
 |
|
|
| Full Review |
This past holiday season I decided to purchase two items from BestBuy.com. One item I could only find online at Best Buy. A family member had their heart set on receiving the Ultimate Pinball handheld game. Every place I checked was out of stock, but BestBuy offered the item at a terrific price. Since I was ordering that item from BestBuy.com, I decided to also order a DVD interactive game from them as a birthday gift.
Navigating the Website
At the Top
The top of the Home Page offers text links to the: Weekly Ad, Store Locator, Help, Research Center and Contact Us pages. The Weekly Ad displays in a pop-up window and features the print brochure for the current week. A great feature is that the brochure can be searched by category instead of clicking through every page. The Research Center is a compilation of links that include a wide range of information, including Frequently Asked Questions about products, Buying Guides, Glossaries to search for unfamiliar words or phrases, and even product demos.
Beneath this section are search boxes. When I searched the entire site using the keyword “Pinball”, three pages of results appeared. It is easy to narrow the search by searching in a particular category.
There are also clickable tabs at the top of the page to immediately search in those categories. The tabs are for: Computers / Music, Movies, Games / Electronics / Cameras, Camcorders / Home Appliances / Phones, Communications / Office Products.
To the Left
At the top of the left column is a section titled “This Week”. Here are text links that lead to: This Week’s Specials, Free Shipping Events, Weekly Ad, Hot Deals Wednesday, Outlet Store.
Beneath this section is a large area that breaks the categories (such as Computers / Electronics / Home Appliances) into subcategories for easier searching. For example, under the heading Computers are these subcategories: Desktops, Notebooks, Printers, Software, Accessories, See All. There is also a link to “See All Categories”.
At the bottom of the left column is an area that allows one to shop by Brand. The brands listed are: Sony, Toshiba, Linksys, Pioneer, Samsung ... and “See All”.
To the Right
The right of the page offers an area to create an account or to sign in. It is not necessary to create an account or to sign in to navigate the website. Beneath this area is the shopping cart where you can view your purchases. Beneath the cart icon is displayed the total dollar amount purchased and the number of items in the cart. There are also text links for: Your Account, Best Buy Credit, Order Status, Wish List, Gift Cards.
There are a variety of links regarding the Best Buy Credit Card and how to exchange or return items. There are also more links to various areas of the website to shop.
At the bottom of the right column are text links to: Order Status, Shipping Rates, Returns, Rebates, Store Pickup and a link to the Site Map.
The Middle
The center of the Home Page features sale items and accessories. There is also an area titled “Best Of”. The current offerings include: Oscar Winners, Best Music of the year, Best video games of the year.
The Bottom
The bottom of the Home Page is broken into several categories: Company Information, Store Services, Shopping Services, Product Services, Installation Services. Beneath each of these categories are links to more specialized information. For example, the Shopping Services subcategories include: Financing Offers, Gift Cards, Best Buy Credit Card, Affiliates Program, Offer Sign-up.
Shopping the Website – My Experiences
I knew exactly what I wished to purchase. So in the search box I typed the name of the products I wanted to buy. First I typed in the keywords, “Ultimate Pinball”. The screen changed, offering three search results. The second item was the pinball game I wanted. The search results showed a small photo of the item and a brief text description. I clicked on the text description and a page featuring that item appeared.
The item page for the Ultimate Pinball game showed a larger photo with the option to view additional photos of the item. The price was listed in bold print beneath the photo and a convenient red “Add to Cart” button was under the price. Beneath that button was bolded text that said “In Stock” and how long it would take to ship the item. There was even a link to click that calculated an Estimated Arrival Time. It also showed that the item was not available in stores; only available for purchase online. Another button offered me the opportunity to add the item to my Wish List.
To the right of the above information were several paragraphs of text describing the Ultimate Pinball game. There were also tabbed links that offered: Product Specs, Accessories, Product Research. Even more options were offered such as: Compare with products in this price range.
I clicked the “Add to Cart” button. The screen changed, showing my item added to the cart. Here I could change the quantity if I wished. There was also the option of choosing store pickup, but my item did not qualify. The page also offered the option of buying batteries to go with the product. On this page you can also choose how you wish the item shipped (Ground, Second Day, Next Day), and an estimated shipping total is shown. Enter your zip code to calculate the tax. A Subtotal is displayed at the bottom of the item area. If you wish, you can also remove items from this screen. I chose “Continue Shopping” and added another item to the cart. Then I clicked the “Checkout” button.
Gift Cards
There are several types of Best Buy gift cards for purchase: Any-Occasion Gift Cards, Geek Squad Gift Cards (good for in-store purchases or Geek Squad computer services), Business-to-Business Gift Cards, Birthday Gift Cards. BestBuy.com offers gift cards in a variety of denominations up to $200. According to the website, there are no expiration dates or maintenance fees on gift cards.
Checkout & Payment
At this point, BestBuy.com prompts you to either set up an Account or, if you already have an account, to sign-in using your e-mail address and password. I had to open an Account. The site requested the usual name, shipping and billing address, phone numbers, e-mail address information. When the next screen appeared, I was offered the option of changing the shipping method for the order (or items). The default option is Ground. An estimated time of arrival is displayed beneath the shipping method selected. The screen also shows a subtotal before tax.
Then the payment screen is displayed. Here the order total is shown with shipping and tax included. The payments options are: Best Buy credit card, Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express. On this screen you can change the billing address if desired. There is also an area to enter a promotional code, which I did not have ... so I clicked “Continue”.
I reviewed my order on the next screen and submitted it.
Shipping Fees
Best Buy gift cards are shipped free of charge via First Class mail, and if valued over $200, shipped via UPS Ground. A signature is required for all orders shipped via UPS.
For Second Day or Next Day shipping, an extra charge of $10 is added to the order. Note that BestBuy.com does not have a list of shipping fees on their website. The only way to know the cost of shipping is to look at the estimated shipping cost that appears in the Shopping Cart or Checkout screens.
Communication -- And What Does “In Stock” Mean?
BestBuy.com was prompt sending an e-mail confirmation of the order. They were also prompt in sending an e-mail informing me that both the items I had ordered were on Back Order. So why did the website list them as “In Stock”? The e-mail presented the revised expected arrival dates of the items. I hoped I would at least receive the DVD interactive game in time to give at the birthday party.
A week before the expected arrival day, I received another e-mail saying that there was a delay to the Back Order. A new arrival date was given. I still had a chance to receive the birthday gift in time. Then awhile later, I received yet another e-mail saying that the arrival date had been pushed back again. Forget receiving the Ultimate Pinball game in time for holiday gift giving ... I still had an outside chance of receiving the DVD game in time for the birthday party.
Hurray! The DVD game arrived a few days before the party. It came in a cardboard carton with minimal packaging. The corner of the game box was slightly pushed in; however, the game was in fine condition. After waiting this long for delivery, I opted to give the gift. Thankfully, the gift recipient did not care about the damaged box (I explained about the order process and delays).
The Ultimate Pinball game did not arrive until a month and a half after I had ordered it. The game was in excellent condition. Like the first shipment, it arrived in a cardboard box with very little inside packing material. I had almost given up hope of receiving the game. The person who received this gift was thrilled when I presented it. So the wait was worth the delighted reaction.
Summary
Though my first purchasing experience through BestBuy.com was filled with uncertainty, it had a happy ending. It was also nice that BestBuy did not bill my credit card until the items were shipped. In the e-mails they sent me regarding my order, they always offered the option of telephoning them to cancel the order. Perseverance paid off, though ... and in the end, I was satisfied with the purchase.
Would I buy from BestBuy.com again? I always shop for the best deal and service. Whether I buy from BestBuy.com again depends whether they have what I want, if the price is reasonable, and what the shipping charges are. The best part about BestBuy.com was that they did not leave me in the dark regarding my purchase. They kept me informed. That means a lot to me.
I hope you have found this review useful.
Enjoy your day,
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com
Additional Information
www.bestbuy.com
Customer Care Phone #: 888-237-8289
Return or Exchange:
BestBuy.com Return Center
14405 County Road 212
Findlay, OH 45840
Please read my other reviews.
Buy.com Online Store
Hogwild Online Store
Harry and David Online and at the Mall
Betty Crocker Online Catalog
Cooking.com Online Store
The Republic of Tea Online Store
Johnny’s Selected Seeds Online Store
Park’s Seed Online Store
Dutch Gardens Online Store
Keepsake Quilting Online Store
Joann.com Online Store
Pogo.com Online Games
Copyright 2005 Dawn L. Stewart
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? games
|
|
|
|
|
View Information
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.