Stay away from Best Buy

[dtoman519]

I recently purchased the olympus stylus 1010. At first I was very impressed with the camera. It take fantastic photos of my children when they are close to the camera. Even using the zoom when they are close had good quality results. (EX. zooming in on their faces).
However, when I tried to use the zoom when they were farther away the results were HORRIBLE. They turned out very dark and grainy. I have never had such bad results on a camera before.
When returning it, I had to see 4 different people at best buy who each had to look at the camera to be sure that I did not damage it to cause the problem. After it was finally determined that the lens was the problem and not me, they returned the camera. I went to look at a new camera, which did not have a charged battery. They told me that I could not test the camera, they had no other batteries. I insisted that I get my money refunded including the restocking fee. After talking to 3 more people they did refund all charges. Although the man completing the refund kept on sighing the entire time he was at the cash register. They people I had to deal with were not very professional and i will never shop at Best buy again!

I went immediately to Circuit City and found a very helpful and friendly associate. There I purchased the Sony H-50. the LCD screen had a scratch, I took it back to the store and they replaced the camera, no questions asked. The associates there were all very pleasant to deal with and very helpful in making my purchase. I am very satisfied with my purchase there and the service I received.

[jekostas]

Not to sound unkind here... but from what you've posted it seems like there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Olympus. The maximum aperture got smaller as you zoomed in so the camera boosted the ISO to take a light enough picture, leading to the grain.

In other words, you returned a perfectly functional camera, saying it was broken, made a mess of it, and probably cost Best Buy and Olympus some money in testing/transport/wages because you didn't learn how your camera worked.

Not their fault.

[SpecialK]

You are lucky they took it back at all, "sighing" or not. They have every right to check it out for use/abuse by people who may or may not know what they are doing.

Or, they could raise the cost of their products store-wide to make up for frivolous returns.

Yes, Circuit City is now mostly staffed by fresh minimum wage employees who know little, and will gladly give away the store, until they close it.

[Rhys]

I have my own horror stories about Best Buy.

[dtoman519]

Not to sound unkind here... but from what you've posted it seems like there was absolutely nothing wrong with the Olympus. The maximum aperture got smaller as you zoomed in so the camera boosted the ISO to take a light enough picture, leading to the grain.

In other words, you returned a perfectly functional camera, saying it was broken, made a mess of it, and probably cost Best Buy and Olympus some money in testing/transport/wages because you didn't learn how your camera worked.

Not their fault.

Actually the "geek squad" guy checked the camera over very thoroughly and he determined that there was an issue with the lens. So it was not my lack of knowledge about how the camera worked. I am by no means a professional, but the pictures where extremely bad, much worse than a 6 year old camera of mine. The store has a return policy and I was returning it well within the time frame for returns. As I said, they determined it was the lens, so why should I feel at fault for their HORRIBLE customer service.

I have heard many, many stories about people having issues at best buy, and also know that around where I live they are no more qualified in the field than people working at any other store. Not saying that is the case for all employees that work there, but it does happen.

[jekostas]

Actually the "geek squad" guy checked the camera over very thoroughly and he determined that there was an issue with the lens. So it was not my lack of knowledge about how the camera worked. I am by no means a professional, but the pictures where extremely bad, much worse than a 6 year old camera of mine. The store has a return policy and I was returning it well within the time frame for returns. As I said, they determined it was the lens, so why should I feel at fault for their HORRIBLE customer service.

I have heard many, many stories about people having issues at best buy, and also know that around where I live they are no more qualified in the field than people working at any other store. Not saying that is the case for all employees that work there, but it does happen.

What you described is not a lens issue.

I don't know what the tech told you, but what described is not a lens issue. It's how the camera works. If the camera was not suitable for your needs fine, but lens issues in compact cameras would be more along the lines of blurriness (poor lens offset) or motor problems. If it was an aperture issue you would've noticed dark photos in your non-zoomed shots as well, but you've already said they turned out fine.

[dtoman519]

He did not give me any information, He played around with the settings for a long time and took some photos. He simply stated, "something is going on with the lens". Then he took it over the the associate at the return side of the desk and told him, "she didn't do anything to it, it's the lens." Then he told the guy to go ahead and return it. I honestly didn't ask any more questions because by this time I had already been in the store for about 35-40 minutes just while the tech looked over the camera. Then it took even longer to actually get the return rung though. And as I stated in a previous post, I was returning the camera well within the return period. So according to the gentleman who sold me the camera, I should have had no issues when returning it, as long as it was within the allotted time frame for returns.

I am not saying don't go to best buy because they have horrible products as this could have been an issue anywhere. My problems were with the customer service. Some people may have very good experiences, but that was not the case for me. And when telling my story to some friends I found out that many of them had very bad experiences at best buy as well. Shop where you will, I just wanted to share my horrible experience at this store.

[David Metsky]

Any big box store will have bad customer service stories. It's simply a fact of life; untrained sales associates and trying to keep cost low. If you go to big box retailers you will eventually encounter service like this at every store.

As to your camera, I agree, there's was probably nothing wrong with it regardless of what the service person said. What you described was pretty normal for that camera.

[Rhys]

It sounds like a crap camera design.

[DonSchap]

Using a store like BB or others of its ilk is a decision that is truly double-edged. You have the convenience of having the outlet close-by, but you also pay for it with less-than-superior staffing. Expecting top-drawer customer service is just asking way too much from this kind of vendor. If you want and expect real knowledgeable and professional support, plop your cash down in a more specialized store ... where the guy behind the counter doesn't change with the shift.

Personally ... if it isn't in a factory-sealed box, you are taking a chance on -> who's been in there ... and that your "brand new" item might just be "a return" or someone's playful experiment (not knowing how many times it has hit the deck!). :eek:

Good luck in finding true support any other way.

@Rhys - Check out this review of the Olympus Stylus 1010 (http://www.steves-digicams.com/2008_reviews/stylus1020.html)

@dtoman519 - That SONY H50, used properly, is quite a leap over the Stylus, though. Takes up more room, but a seriously good choice.

[jekostas]

Any big box store will have bad customer service stories. It's simply a fact of life; untrained sales associates and trying to keep cost low. If you go to big box retailers you will eventually encounter service like this at every store.

That's not entirely true... of all the stores I've gone to over the past two years, Wal-Mart, of all places, has probably given me the best customer service experience. It really does make a difference how you approach the people who can perform the service for you.

As to the actual camera, again, yeah, I'd have to say, nothing wrong with it. It's a compact camera with a long zoom, and the maximum aperture goes up quite a bit at the long end of the zoom.

[sw2cam]

I've never had a problem at BestBuy.