Well, that was fast. The reader and Best Buy employee who wrote in earlier this week about the threat of termination being used to make employees generate more credit card applications from customers. (Or, as the headline put it, “cram credit cards down customers’ throats.”) The tipster wrote back in to let us know that management in this particular region has backed down. While offering credit applications is still an important part of the job, working twelve shifts without persuading any customers to apply is no longer grounds for automatic termination.

I am the Best Buy employee who submitted the letter about the credit card applications the other day. I wanted to thank your website and give credit where it is due. Simply put, The Consumerist helped to change our territory’s policy.

Upon arriving at work recently, I was told by a supervisor that management had suddenly had a “change of heart” and decided to “clarify” the credit card policy that had been issued previously. Now, the managers of our store are to insure that we are doing our job by listening in on our conversations and verifying that we have offered financing each and every time. If we are doing it improperly (or not doing it at all for that matter) we are to be “coached” on the ways of offering credit cards to our customers. If we are deemed to not be doing our job, which is to offer credit cards each and every time, we may be subject to termination.

The funny thing is, the supervisor also noted that the policy change may have in part been due to an “article” that was “floating around consumer blogs” and other websites. He told me that an employee made our company look bad and things needed to be changed.

Thanks for the help!

Yeah, those stupid consumer blogs, whining about every little thing that retailers do. They really should be stopped. It’s great to see that Best Buy management realized that their employees’ job is to offer financing to customers, not force it on them.

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