Best Buy sells 'last Wii' twice

Counterproductive?

Erm, doesn't this BB tactic seem really counterproductive? After all, it wouldn't take a genius to work out that if there's enough demand to sell one every half an hour with a nudge, they must be able to sell more if they're on display. in that 40 minutes, how many people are going to look around, see there's no Wiis and go to another store?

By the way, to James Pickett above, I don't think he was complaining of the number being sold as such. Just that the ever-increasing demand makes it nigh-on impossible for them to judge production and get enough units out to meet that demand.

Traditional Marketing at Work

While sort of sketchy in this context, this is traditional marketing at work. Products used to be flogged like this in every retail outlet - in fact they still are at street markets, flea markets, bazaars, etc... Best Buy corporate needs to find out who came up with this scheme and move them into a big shiny corporate office.

@Confused

It's about velocity. The faster you can move product through a retail store the better off you are. Even if the product is already selling out on the shelf, if you sell an extra eight units a day that's a big win.

(personally I'd rather be lied to about available quantity of stock for a product I wanted than lied to about a product I didn't even know I needed and did not meet the original promises made about it)

Short Term...

To those that believe that it is so wonderful to manipulate a customer are the same that can so easily cross the line. A customer used to be someone who was valued, a company cared about its reputation. Nowdays? It is all in the fine print and ways to rationalize bad behavior. Its for maximizing profit? Then no problem. No need to think any further.

Is it any wonder that American car companies chased the quaterly profits at the expense of long term planning? Oooops. Who would have expected? Gee, I don't know, Honda, Toyota, Nissan? Or American banks going after subprime loans... who would have figured that in a couple of years when rates went up people wouldn't be able to pay the $600 to $800 more a month?

It really saddens me when people are not only supportive but applauding behavior from a company that they would not tolerate in a person such as a friend, family member or neighbor.

Really, I am sorry, but if you absolutely must deceive a customer to maximize your profits then that speaks volumes of how you value me as a customer. Hmmmm, just possibly there are other stores that I will be willing to go to instead? Ones that don't see me as a mark, but as someone to build a relationship with. How old fashioned.

Frys

the only problem with Frys is that you better know what you want or you will get sold on the most expensive worthless kit they have in stock. their associates don't really know much about anything they sell. but if you know what you want... it's a great place to get stuff. don't get their extended warranty though... it's cheaper in the long run to just take care of your kit... or know a geek that can fix the parts that break. it's more trouble dealing with their warranty service than it's worth.

But is it bad practice?

It keeps it down to one per customer rather than someone buying £20 and then floggind them for huge profit @ebay.

Wiis are like magic dust here in the UK

I was over in the US a few weeks ago and there were loads in the store I visited in Las Vegas. Cheaper too. I had to pay through the nose to secure one via eBay a few weeks ago as they've been sold out over here for weeks.

You lot don't know you're born. ;-)

I wouldn't mind, but prior to this console I wouldn't have a Nintendo in the house as I always thought they were for kids. Anyway, I've got one now. Bask in my smugness.

Misleading advertising

@people who thinks it's ok the "last unit" show:

I can't speak for your countrie's law - but here in Brasil (sorry, I hate to write it with "z") it's against the law theses tatics. Think about:

"Now! Now! Last WII goiing (pun intended) out!". See the word "last"? If there's more than one it can't be the last. And, if it can't be the last... this is a lie.

Now. Whe have the CDC - Código de defesa do consumidor (Consumer defense code, I think). A set of laws that protect people from beeing abused by anyone selling something.

One of the protections is: YOU SHOULD NOT LIE TO THE CONSUMER. period. If you get caught, things "will go bad" for you.

Don't get me wrong. Put the darn thing in or out the shelves - I don't care.

Use a clown to carry one of them around the store - and make him yell "Wee! Wee! I have one, and you don't!" I couldn't care less.

But lie? If I get a store lying to me it will get my eternal disliking. And I would make shure everyone I could spoke to would have the same view.

Oh, yes. A nice black jack as an icon - since their pirates in the seventineth century way to me. Never like their CDRs anyway...

Bank This Thought

It may be a good way of selling your own Wii after Christmas when you've realised that with the possible exception of Zelda, none of the games are of any real interest to anyone with an attention span of an average human.

If the Wii was a person, it would be Paris Hilton.

Before anyone starts the "I bet you've never played one" routine, I was indeed one of the lemmings desperately trying to get one the last time stock was a problem. I've never been so disappointed by anything.

People say the PS3 is expensive for £300, but at least you'll actually still be using it in a few months' time. It even has state of the art functions the Wii hasn't, like a DVD player.

Best Buy = Boycott

A few weeks ago my home was burglarized by illegal aliens from Mexico. The first store they hit with my credit cards was Best Buy. On the back of my credit cards where the signature should be it says in very bold, RED letters, CHECK ID!!! Due to the credit card company I knew very shortly about the burglary and due to the items stolen the burglars ended up on the Department of Homeland Security radar. Best Buy morons could not give the detectives the number to their Security department or their corporate headquarters because they did not know it!!! The dirtbag Mexicans could have been caught inside of an hour if Best Buy had an ounce of intelligence. Thankfully white trash WalMart was smarter and gave up video evidence shortly thereafter and the filthy Mexicans were mercilessly flogged. A happy ending for all....except Best Buy where I will never shop again.

As a side note, I now have in bright PINK on the back of all my credit cards, I AM NOT A MINORITY!!! Let's see how well that does.

If you ask Nintendo UK when they'll be more Wii in the UK...

...you get the below polite answer...

"Dear Customer, thank you for your e-mail.

Nintendo is working at its maximum production level to supply as many Wii hardware units as possible during the busy Christmas period.

The demand for Wii hardware globally has been unprecedented and higher than Nintendo could ever have anticipated. Nintendo are now in a position in which seasonality demand trends are being broken, therefore the demand for Wii hardware is constant throughout the whole year globally. Due to this phenomenon it is possible that the demand for Wii hardware may outstrip supply.

As an indicator of the commitment to ensure stock reaches the market to meet demand, Nintendo have continually been increasing its annual Wii hardware shipment forecasts throughout the year. For the fiscal year beginning 1st April 2007 and ending 31st March 2008 Nintendo have raised their annual shipment forecast for Wii hardware by a total of 3.5 million units globally, Nintendo now plans to ship 17.5 million Wii units globally, versus the 14 million units initially planned in April 2007.

Production levels for Wii hardware are also at the highest they have ever been, with a maximum production capability of 1.8 million units globally per month.

We are doing everything possible to supply continued levels of stock and meet demand as quickly as possible.

Kind regards,

Your Nintendo Team

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nintendo Service Centre,

CoDEstorm House, Walton Road, Farlington, Hampshire, PO6 1TR.

Tel - 0870 6060247 (Calls charged at the National rate)

Service Centre Hours 08.30 to 19.00 Monday to Friday (Excluding Bank Holidays)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hey

they're just like car salesmen now!

Do they sell it with $100 gold plated cables?

Most stores in San Jose and surrounds are out of these within a day or less of receiving their shipments. But there are plenty in less affluent areas.

and Fry's? Definitely not deserving of any "customer service" awards or any praises as being any better than BB. Cheaper, yes. Better in any other respect? Not. (see "Fry's Upgrade" for example, or the accusations you get when someone has already done a "Fry's Upgrade" return that their people missed.)

You know Best Buy's jumped the shark when...

You walk into the store knowing EXACTLY what you want, you go to the section of the store where the product is located, you park your butt in front of the display model of said product, at least four sales associates look you straight in the eye as you try to SIGNAL them with that "Excuse me, but could I get a little HELP over here?" look on your face and after being blatantly ignored you hop on your cell, call information, get the number for Circuit City, call Circuit City to ask if they have the product you want - within earshot of Best Buy sales associates - and they continue to ignore you.

Now for the ultimate irony - when I asked to speak to a manager to complain about the blatant disrespect of their sales associates the first person who ignored me wound up being the MOD at that particular time. I'm pretty sure that, a month later, the man is still trying to find the remains of his nuked gonads.

For the record, I find virtually all electronics stores deplorable and whenever possible my family uses my father's faculty discount at the university from which he is retired to shop at the university's bookstore. We can get pretty much anything we want there that is related to electronics, get a discount and since my father is a Professor Emeritus we get a level of sucking up that even commission-earning employees elsewhere just can't begin to match ;)