They do detailing now? Yikes.

[Dan]

I don't see why everyone is so insistent that Best Buy washes cars "wrong". They just do it differently that you do it, and while there are significant disadvantages in that, it's certainly acceptable to their target market. If they wash a car, and the customer is happy, what could possibly be wrong with that?

Because we are talking about businesses that put boxes into bags and shove customers out. All of a sudden you have one of them venture into doing work on a customers pride and joy. If you haven't been around the auto biz, I don't think you can appreciate how livid a customer can get when things go sour with their wheels.

 

[Less]

Because we are talking about businesses that put boxes into bags and shove customers out. All of a sudden you have one of them venture into doing work on a customers pride and joy. If you haven't been around the auto biz, I don't think you can appreciate how livid a customer can get when things go sour with their wheels.

But they're ALREADY working on people's "pride and joy" so what's the difference. Best Buy HAS been "around the auto biz" and I'm sure they've dealt with their fair share of irate customers.

 

[Kean]

This discussion is really putting me on tilt. I can't understand how you can all ignore the indisputable evidence right in front of your faces.

....I’m not sure why you are taking this topic to heart. Also, I notice you make a lot of general references to *all* of us. I hope you realize that not all of us were/are demonizing Best Buy, Geek Squad or making the same comments. Argue the specific points but please don’t lump us all together because we may disagree with certain opinions you may have.

And Kean - Your story about the car wash is pretty typical of other car wash stories that are on this forum. Look, just about everyone here tells their dealership "don't wash my car". None of us would dare take our cars through the tunnel wash. And only a brave few of us would even go to the touchless at the gas statioin. And even then, it's only when it's 10 degrees outside and there's an inch of salt on the car.



Everyone here KNOWS that dirty brushes, harsh chemicals, and poor technique lead to marred paint. Yet somehow, someway, on that first warm day of the year, there is a line half a mile long waiting to get into the tunnel wash.



Just because Best Buy, or the car wash, doesn't do a job that is satisfactory for YOU, doesn't mean that it's not satisfactory to SOME people. It just so happens that those particular people have $40 Billion dollars to spend on home electronics each year, and Best Buy has the products and services to satisfy those needs. What could possibly be wrong with that?

….please re-read my comments in the context that they were meant in regard to your responses. The above remarks you are commenting on were in response to (and I’m paraphrasing here) your point that any kid off the street could be taught to do a decent job (gentle wash & dry, 95% scratch free) with just 15 minutes of training. My argument was that even those with much more experience (dealerships, hand car washes, etc.) can’t get it right. ….they use mar-inducing products, tools and/or techniques. Just browse these forums (i.e. “before and after” for starters). By your own admission these stories are typical. You also seemed to have missed my repeated point that not everyone is savvy or even cares about such things. These are folks that will likely take advantage of these types of services and are in your half mile long line. ….and no, I don’t find anything wrong with this. Kudos to BB for think outside of the box on this one.



….you seemed to have taken offense to the initial remarks folks like I made (asking why we wouldn’t use this service or trust BB/GS with our cars) and (folks like me) gave our own reasons why. I’m not sure why it blew up into this heated debate.

 

[Kean]

Because we are talking about businesses that put boxes into bags and shove customers out. All of a sudden you have one of them venture into doing work on a customers pride and joy. If you haven't been around the auto biz, I don't think you can appreciate how livid a customer can get when things go sour with their wheels.

....on the other side of the coin, not everyone considers their car their "pride and joy". It's mainly thought of as transportation. ....and they are happy if it simply looks clean once in a while. I don't see BB/GS doing any worse than your typical car wash that folks seem to line up at every weekend.