American TV

  • After Iowa State won the Big 12, a Cyclone made a wonderful offer to We Will that now increases our match. Now all gifts up to $400,000 between now and the Final 4 will be matched. Please consider giving at We Will Collective.
    This notice can be dismissed using the upper right corner X button.

simply1

Rec Center HOF
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Jun 10, 2009
36,372
24,334
113
Pdx
I'll be curious to see if homemaker's/nfm look to grow from their current size in electronics/appliances.
 

urb1

Well-Known Member
Jan 23, 2010
3,360
1,912
113
Urbandale
I only made one purchase at American. It was a digital camera for my wife for Christmas. Took it out of the box and every picture we took was out of focus. I took it back and asked for an exchange. That's when I realized their policy was no exchanges. They said they would send it to Nikon in Japan and we would have it back in six weeks. It wasn't until I spoke to the manager and threatened to tell everyone I knew not to but at American that they agreed to give me a new camera.

Haven't stepped in there since.
 

Incyte

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2007
4,956
931
83
I had good experiences buying furniture there. Less competition is rarely a good thing.
 

bos

Legend
Staff member
Apr 10, 2006
29,671
5,256
113
I had good experiences buying furniture there. Less competition is rarely a good thing.


Yeah, we just got rid of furniture we bought when we got married back in '02. Held up great and had reasonable prices. Just needed something else now.
 

dmclone

Well-Known Member
Oct 20, 2006
20,690
4,810
113
50131
I do have to say that some of their electronics sales people were the worst I had ever dealt with. Really pushed the Monster cable and warranty.
 

bos

Legend
Staff member
Apr 10, 2006
29,671
5,256
113
I do have to say that some of their electronics sales people were the worst I had ever dealt with. Really pushed the Monster cable and warranty.


That sounds like Best Buy. Maybe they have the same training consultants.
 

Gunnerclone

Well-Known Member
Jul 16, 2010
68,676
68,575
113
DSM
That place creeped me out. Felt like a Rent-A-Center mixed with a lobby of a hotel that was last updated in 1992.
 

billpickles

Active Member
Apr 11, 2006
188
174
43
Stopped in there in December looking for a kitchen table and chairs, as well as a new refrigerator.
The table/chairs sales lady could not have been more disinterested. We looked at, opened, and took measurements on several fridges - 2 or 3 employees looked at us, but no one approached. Left and vowed to never return. Guess that will be pretty easy.
 

Cyclonesince78

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
14,395
244
63
That's too bad. I got a fridge, dishwasher, oven, big screen tv's and full entertainment center all from American. They always matched or beat any price quotes that I got from Best Buy. If anything this kind of sucks because it gives us one less option in the DM area.
 

BKLYNCyclone

Well-Known Member
Sep 16, 2007
2,122
104
63
Twin Cities, MN
Pretty obvious Best Buy and similar stores are having a rough time. Reality is that shoppers tend to do their homework on their high end purchases now, and uninformed salespeople reflect poorly on the stores they work for. The amazon review system (while it has it's flaws) is amazing and really helps when you're looking for the best product for the dollar, best product period, or just trying to weed out the crap. I actually hate purchasing these sorts of things in stores as I might not know anything about the item I'm looking at, and the sales people are generally no help.

I'm not sure BB will make it, but they do seem to be desperately trying to retool their niche. The return policy is outstanding, the warranties can be great in some cases, and the service related items (geek squad) probably are the only reason they didn't go under. I'm hoping they'll innovate somehow, and don't just wait for the tax equality laws to take effect.
 

Mr Janny

Welcome to the Office of Secret Intelligence
Staff member
Bookie
SuperFanatic
Mar 27, 2006
40,948
28,671
113
Only went to American once. Wife and I were looking at living room furniture. This was early on in our marriage. Didn't have a ton of cash to spend, so we were cruising the clearance section. I found a couch that I thought was nice. Called my wife over and told her to try it. She sat down on the other end and immediately was like, "I don't like it. The arm is uncomfortable. Too hard and angular." I said "Really? I think the arm is awesome. It's really plush and soft."

Long story short, neither of us had noticed that they had taken two damaged couches with similar colors(but completely different arms), Frankensteined them together, and still slapped a $400 price tag on it. There was nothing on the tag indicating what had been done. Seemed pretty shady to us, so we decided to go elsewhere.
 

dmclone

Well-Known Member
Oct 20, 2006
20,690
4,810
113
50131
I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon, NewEgg ,etc, but it does suck to buy some of these things online. I want to see a TV in person, if I want to hear headphones in action, if I want to hear speakers in action, if I need a computer part right now, and so on. I have noticed that more and more of these places are matching the deals on Amazon if you just ask. The one place I probably miss the most in the metro is CompUSA.

Furniture is another sore spot for Des Moines. Homemakers has about 99% of the share.
 

NickTheGreat

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Jan 17, 2012
10,442
4,292
113
Central Iowa
I had gotten my last two main TV's there. Thought they had a better selection and (slightly) more knowledgeable people than BestBuy.

Was in there a few weeks ago and it was just sad. Looked like a run-down trailer park after a nuclear holocaust. I was looking at speakers and they could not even get the demo equipment to work. It was clear they had given up and let themselves go. :skeptical:
 

kingcy

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Sep 16, 2006
22,571
3,351
113
Menlo, Iowa
I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon, NewEgg ,etc, but it does suck to buy some of these things online. I want to see a TV in person, if I want to hear headphones in action, if I want to hear speakers in action, if I need a computer part right now, and so on. I have noticed that more and more of these places are matching the deals on Amazon if you just ask. The one place I probably miss the most in the metro is CompUSA.

Furniture is another sore spot for Des Moines. Homemakers has about 99% of the share.

Nebraska Furniture Mart is also in Clive.
 

kingcy

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Sep 16, 2006
22,571
3,351
113
Menlo, Iowa
I have not had good luck at either American or Best Buy, but American was far worse. There are other stores in the Des Moines area that can fill the needs of what these two stores have.