Shannon said Best Buy, apparently suspecting her of shoplifting without wanting to confront her, sent out an employee to hide in the trees and report her actions into his headset as she entered her car.
She writes:
It is very strange. I went to Best Buy in [redacted], Ohio. I needed a replacement battery for my camera. They didn’t have the one I need. I browsed the store and left without buying anything. On my way out of the parking lot I noticed a kid wearing a Best Buy polo standing in the trees watching my car/talking into a headset.I’ve seen Best Buy employees at this location do this before: stand in the parking lot and announce a license plate into a headset. I thought maybe they were doing it because the person in question actually stole something, I didn’t realize this is what they do to every person that buys nothing. It is very creepy. I can only assume that they went back and reviewed security camera footage to see what I stole. Must’ve been a real boner killer when they found out I stole nothing.
This explains why I just never felt comfortable shopping in Best Buy, they see their customers as adversaries, and anyone merely browsing is most likely playing games and deserves to have her license plate recorded. It’s not the end of the world or anything, but I wanted to send it in as a “tip” just in case anyone else had problems arise because they didn’t buy anything from Best Buy.
Bonus points to Shannon for her use of “boner killer.” Have you ever noticed Best Buy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfare unit pulling this move on you?
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So let me get this straight. According to the OP, the Best Buy employee was scoping her out. Her opinion anyway. Did he follow her? Did he take pictures of her? Did he write anything down? Did he approach her and accuse her of anything? NO. He was TALKING into a headset. The OP may want to go on Oprah to talk about her horrible experience.
Best Buy in fact does this in certain stores to protect their customers from inflated prices due to actual theft. Contrary to what you Consumerist tools believe I’m sure, there is not a certain looking or type of person who steals. It could be anyone. Guess what? She didn’t steal anything, and by it not going further if they were checking on her they know it too. What’s the harm done? Nothing. Except more venom from Phil directed at a company trying to protect their customers. Sad.
I’m a current employee of Best Buy. Naturally, I’m not going to tell you which one, but I can at least reassure some of you of a few things. As I read over some of these comments, of course I’m disgusted at some of the behavior I see being described about other Best Buy employees. If these things truly did happen, that’s not right. Customers shopping here certainly deserve a higher standard of service. I can assure you that I and my co-workers at my local store devote 110% to customer care, and I also am familiar with Asset Protection, I’ve never been told to go out and pull license plates. Nor have any of the coworkers that I’ve met. I wish I could apologize to you, but it wouldn’t be an appropriately placed apology because I have no connection with any of the employees of the store you were at. Have a nice day, though.