Buckling on a Boycott

After four years, I dropped my guard and nearly dropped my boycott of Best Buy on Tuesday.

There are a few reasons for this, and I’ll try to keep them brief. First, here’s a quick rundown of why I stopped shopping there:

I was tired of going to buy CDs that were in the weekly sale flyer, only to find out when I got there that they didn’t have the discs or they hadn’t put them out on the shelves yet.

The selection sucked. Can you find ultra-mainstream selections? Yes. Seeking something from slightly out of the mainstream? Probably not. Looking for blues, folk, jazz and old country? Don’t bother burning the gas to get there.

If you couldn’t find what you were looking for in plain sight, you probably couldn’t find an employee who could help you. That’s if you could find an employee at all. Once you did track down someone from the polo-shirt brigade, there was a better than average chance that they didn’t know anything about music. There was virtually no chance that they would go to the stock room and look for what you desired.

I grew weary of the illusion that I was saving any money in the long run. Anytime I have to make more than one trip to the store looking for a CD, I’ve negated any savings. My time is worth more than that. And in essence that was the final straw with Best Buy.

They were advertising a special savings if you bought the CD and DVD versions of Paul Westerberg’s “Come Feel Me Tremble,” but the items had to be purchased on the same receipt. That wasn’t a problem for me. I was interested in buying both anyway. A lot more interested than anyone was in selling me both items. I went to the closest Best Buy location, where they had the CD but not the DVD. I then drove to another location, where they had – you guessed it – the DVD but not the CD. Enough was enough. I bought the DVD and drove back to the first store. When I got back there, I went and grabbed the CD, went to the customer service desk and returned the DVD so I could repurchase it on the same receipt as the CD. After a couple of hours and considerable consternation, I “saved” what couldn’t have been more than about five dollars. (This is one of the few details that haven’t been burned by anger into my mind). I finished my shopping just in time to drive over and pick up my wife at work. In a bizarre twist, I spent the ride home telling Sharon how shitty my day off had been.

Since that day, I haven’t spent a dime at Best Buy. Rarely have I even set foot in one of their stores. Until Tuesday, that is.

There were a few factors that led to me walking back through Best Buy’s door and ready to drop my boycott:

In a way, I’ve been fooling myself. I continue to shop at Circuit City, Target and Borders. None of them are really any better. Circuit City is Best Buy in a different-colored polo. Their selection is probably worse. Target only occasionally has what I’m looking for. It’s still a big chain store, so music is far from its top priority. Most Borders stores have a pretty good selection. But they have been sending out not-so-subtle signals for a couple of years that they aren’t really interested in retaining music customers or attracting new ones. The amount of space given to music has been cut to make way for more DVDs. Many of the stores have switched from traditional bins that are easy to browse to more vertical racks that require plenty of standing on your tip-toes or crouching near the floor if you just want to see what’s in stock. Not every music customer is just popping in to grab the latest Josh Groban or “High School Musical” CD, Borders. Impulse purchases do happen. Other than the most popular new releases, Borders rarely has new discs out on the shelves in a timely fashion on Tuesdays. Fortunately, they leave those metal carts with the new merchandise waiting to be stocked in plain sight. Otherwise, many more trips would be wasted.

Tower Records folded last year, taking with it the chances of getting knowledgeable help at a chain store.

I don’t have an independent music seller conveniently located near me. My preferred indie store, where I do my best to leave at least a couple hundred dollars a year, is three and a half hours away. There is another one located a short train ride from my office. A short train ride is all relative if I’m not at work. Even when I am at the office, the store is in the opposite direction of home and requires changing trains.

Independent stores cost more. I’m all for supporting them, and I know that in general you get what you pay for as far as service, but my family has to eat, too. With a limited music budget and a little one to feed, I need to stretch my bucks. And not just by seeing how many I can fit on my MasterCard. Getting the lowest prices appeals to me.

I’m tired of missing exclusives. Best Buy’s version of Ryan Adams latest disc, “Easy Tiger,” included a download coupon for an exclusive track. I’m fairly certain that they’ve had other Adams exclusives, too. Jay Farrar doesn’t have a problem with Best Buy. The last Son Volt disc, “The Picture,” was loaded with Best Buy exclusives. So, I ask you: What Would Jay Do?

On Tuesday, I found myself wanting to get my hands on the new Lyle Lovett disc, “It’s Not Big It’s Large,” and needing to pick up a birthday gift for my father. They were advertising the Lovett disc for $9.99 (though the ad mentioned nothing about the deluxe version, with the bonus DVD), and their disc prices tend to run about $13.99, so I thought that after all these years I’d give Best Buy a try.

I’m not going to reveal the birthday list, because Dad sometimes reads this site and his birthday isn’t until Saturday. The short list included two relatively new releases by well-known Americana and folk artists and a disc from a few years back by a well-known blues singer.

About two minutes after walking into the enemy’s lair, some of my old frustrations came rushing back. I couldn’t find anything on my list of potential birthday gifts. In fact, I couldn’t find Blues or Folk sections in the store. I also couldn’t find anybody who could help me. I made eye contact with the guy posted at the door, but since I looked like a confused guy and not a guy trying to steal a cell phone, he paid me little mind. He did tell me to have a nice day on my way out.

Over in the “New Releases” section, I did find the Lyle Lovett disc. And they did have the deluxe edition, too, for $14.99. I turned it over in my hands a couple times, thought about how much it might cost elsewhere, thought about how I was still going to have to go elsewhere to get my old man a birthday gift, and put it back on the shelf. For now, anyway, the boycott goes one. For how long, I’m not sure. Forever, I used to figure. Now I’m not so sure.

I drove down the street to Borders. There I found a gift for Dad. I also found the deluxe version of “It’s Not Big It’s Large.” I found it on the cart containing to-be-shelved merchandise. I paid five dollars more. What are you gonna do?