I went to Best Buy today because I needed a new laptop for work. I havenāt stepped foot in BB in probably 10 years but they had the best price for the one I was looking at online. I thought this would be a relatively simple transaction: go into the store, find the computer I wanted, pay for it, and leave.
Instead, I was approached by two different people trying to sell me phone/internet services, then upsold by the employee helping me in the computer department. (Fine, it had more space, figured I could use it longer.) After all of that, I was finally told they didnāt even have the laptop in stock. But! They could order it for me, and it would be delivered in two days.
So I drove to a physical store, dealt with multiple sales pitches I never asked for, spent time being upsold on things I didnāt need, and ultimately couldnāt even walk out with the product I came there to purchase.
I basically stepped into the store and was immediately immersed in what felt like an endless series of sales funnels.
What frustrates me most is that I actually wanted to buy something. I had a legitimate need, had already decided to spend the money, and showed up ready to make a purchase. And somehow, the experience was so unpleasant that I left feeling like I didnāt want to buy anything at all.
This is what gets me about modern consumerism and why I stopped trying to buy anything except out of need. Even when youāre willing to spend money, companies are determined to squeeze every possible dollar out of you through upselling, add-ons, service pitches, etc etc etc instead of just allowing you to make the purchase easy.
I understand that employees have sales targets and companies want to increase revenue (bc the shareholders!!! /s). But ironically this experience made me want to consume even less than I already do.
I went home and just ordered the laptop I originally wanted online since Iād have to have it shipped anyway. But I miss when buying something in store could just mean buying the thing you came for.
