So, here I was at Best Buy looking for a $250 Acer Laptop that was posted on WalletPop the other day. After walking up to the laptop section, I saw it right in front of me. I was so excited because it was perfect timing! My father’s birthday was tomorrow and he’d been looking for a cheap netbook or laptop with a webcam. I was kind of afraid that the specs posted on WalletPop wasn’t going to be the same specs when I actually saw it for myself.
I quickly noticed that the price tag had no specs on it. But, I saw the specs on the sticker and noticed it was the one I was looking for. Also, it came with an on-board Webcam. Oh joy! I asked the Best Buy employee for the laptop. The employee responded with “Sorry. We are sold out of those. But we do have optimized ones still.”
I quickly learned what the difference between a regular laptop and an “optimized” one. An “optimized” one has the “awesome” feature of having no bloatware. To have an “optimized” one, you need to pay $39 more. WTF?
Isn’t that backwards? To have NO extra software or trial ware installed costs extra? If they wanted, I could pull the laptop out, hook it up to their wireless hotspot, and install all that bloat crap myself to keep the price tag to $250. But of course they wouldn’t allow me to do it. I complained a little more towards the employee. She talked to her supervisor and came back to offer me a half-off discount on the “optimization fee.”
I agreed to the “deal” just so I can get this present to my father. Ugh. Best Buy, you win, but never again.
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The un-optimized laptops sales are subsidized by the companies that produce that bloatware, probably roughly to the tune of $39 per laptop.
Spot on. Companies pay the manufacturer or retailer to have their trials on the machine, a foot in the door technique which works well for those who aren’t particularly tech savvy. My parents for instance bought a Norton subscription just because it was on there and they didn’t know any better.
I don’t have a problem with it, the first thing I do is format a new computer and put my custom install on it, but then again I’m a bit of a control freak and want to know exactly what’s running. Both Sony and Dell tried the whole charge for a crapware free computer a while back, BB I guess has to try. The best way to stop them doing it is by voting with your feet and not caving to their demands, take your business elsewhere.
It’s annoying but it is understandable.
Ok this is VERY easy to get around. I worked at BB Geek Squad for 2 years in college and this is the optimization fee. Now if this is all they have left they are NOT ALLOWED to sell it to you for this fee, but they will make it seem like they have to. I had to do this when I worked there, and I actually ran into this once when I was buying a PC for my grandmother. All they had left was an optimized one. After arguing with Geek squad and the MOD (Manager on Duty) told them I worked at BB before and that I was buying a few other things and I would take my business elsewhere, they finally dropped the 39 and also dropped the 60 dollars for the restore CDS they created, but I did not ask for. Takes some hassle, but you will def be able to get out of it. They just made 20 bucks off you pure profit!
<BBy Chula Vista, San Diego. . . . .
and I HATED IT!
[...] Best Buy sucks [...]