MooMooMooMoo

I just had an unbelievably bad CS experience at BB. Wonder why they're close to going under?

2 weeks ago, I decided to buy the Yellow Sub BR from them. I have more room on their card than any other was the main factor along with the same price as Amazon.

The store closest to me was out on 6/6/12 & gave me a rain check.

Since then, bb.com has shown it in stock at every store in my region, EXCEPT the one closest to me.

I went there today, because as we all know, the bb web site is often wrong.

No Yellow Sub Blu or DVD.

CS told me:
1. Corp has not reordered the item for this store (&the rep believed they would not be doing so)
2. All other stores in the area do have it
3. They would/could not have another BB transfer one to them
4. They would/could not order it for me from corp
5. I could order it on the web site, but the website would not honor the rain check

In other words, "screw you, potential customer". and they wonder why biz sucks

Oh, & the cd & movie racks that they still had were both no more than 1/2 full.

Yes, I could drive 20 miles each way to another store, but the gas kind of wipes out any savings........

My Other Self

I had one thing transferred to another store once but it sounded more like a courtesy than something Best Buy normally does. You should order it from BestBuy.com with in store pickup then use your rain check;

movieguru

What does the bolded mean?

The DVD was probably something Best Buy does not normally carry in-store. They had Magnum P.I. on sale a few months back but they were sold out of a few seasons I wanted. When I asked if they would get more in, they said they wouldn't because it wasn't a regular in-stock item. Probalbly the same thing with the DVD you wanted. "Limited supplies only"

I doubt they could do a store to store transfer. That would require either them hasving an employee drive the DVD from one store to another or mailing the DVD in the mail. The labor and expense wouldn't be worth it for them.

Why not just order it fromn Amazon?

My Other Self

Sounds like he has more room on their credit card.
Like I said, they do it. It probably depends on the item. The thing I purchased was $250 which is probably why they went ahead and did it for me. For a $20 DVD, not so much.

MooMooMooMoo

The cs rep said they would not honor the rain check if I did that. She was very clear about it. Part of what pissed me off.

MooMooMooMoo

The bolding isn't mine. It was the new Yellow Submarine Blu-ray which was featured in their Sunday ad 2 weeks ago.

TheBang

He wasn't asking why you bolded it. He bolded the section he didn't understand.

thetao

It's possible that his was the only store that sold out their initial shipment, but then BB shouldn't have provided a raincheck. If the latest CS person had apologized and explained the raincheck was a mistake, I could understand. As Jerry Seinfeld might say, "See, you know how to write the raincheck, you just don't know how to fulfill it. And that's really the most important part of the raincheck, the fulfillment. Anybody can just write them."

In this situation, I'd debate whether I wanted to be part of the solution, i.e. talking to a manager or contacting BB Corporate, vs. taking the most expedient route. (If the CS person was high school-aged, they could also be more concerned with quoting rules vs. doing right by the customer. So the situation could still be correctable.) But more often lately, I decide that life's too short and go for expediency, i.e. Amazon.

MooMooMooMoo

Yeah, the only reason I messed with it at all was because I had room on my BB credit card, & money is really tight. Would have also saved $3 Amazon shipping, as I was in the neighborhood anyway both trips.

If I had $'s, I would definitely tell BB to go screw themselves. I've had numerous bad experiences with them, as have many others.

For what it's worth the cs clerk was probably college age, & seemed to think that BB was going to be getting out of the cd & dvd business soon; though I took it as her opinion rather than insider info.

She at least did take several minutes to look things up on her terminal.

WallyOPD

I can certainly sympathize with the frustration you felt with the lack of integration within Best Buy's structure (the website not honoring the rain check when the local store does not plan on restocking the item), the actual customer service seems to be fine. And it seems like more of a minor annoyance than something "unbelievably bad."

MooMooMooMoo

I wouldn't have any costumers if i put that many obstacles in their way. I don't expect BB to last much longer either. I've had 1 bad experience after another with them.

Shannon Nutt

Wow, that's not even CLOSE to a horrid experience by BB standards. I was expecting more opening this thread.

whotony

Meh.

Brent L

Yeah, a bad experience, but not tooooooooooooo awful by Best Buy standards. I once did in-store pickup on an item, they got it in stock but didn't notify me, so I grabbed it off the shelf and took to customer service and not only did the employee refuse to sell it to me, but I demanded to speak to the manager about it and the manager not only refused to sell it to me, they told me they could refuse to honor any in-store pickup order from the website at any time.

Best Buy stores suck, just awful, the worst customer service of any retail store I've ever dealt with. The corporate side however is fantastic, and will do anything to make you happy. The ending of the above store was corporate mailing me $150 in gift cards for the awful service.

Even with that happy ending, I despise the store and only shop there when I can openly take advantage of their offers and sales. The only reason I don't full on wish for their closure is because I would miss being able to go to a retail store and view the selections in person. I don't have another store like Best Buy in town, so I guess I'm stuck with it when I want to be able to do that. I have a horrible experience every single time I have to interact with any employes on the floor or have to ask any question at all, no matter how simple the question is. It's ridiculous. My local store is the worst of them all, so bad that their last store manager was arrested herself for shoplifting iPads!

whotony

I don't understand that one.

If you in store pickup an item you never actually have to pick it up. After eight days it drops off.

You can buy a in store pickup item, go to store and grab item off shelf, go to register and buy it. Pickup item stays there for eight days then goes out again.

Timber

I would guess the associate felt like he was being shown up by a lowly customer so he wanted to "show him who's boss" by refusing to sell him an item.

TheBang

It sounds like there are some crucial details missing from that account.

My Other Self

Could you elaborate on this story? There has to be more to it. It just doesn't add up.

Brent L

Alright, it was this past holiday season. There was a game, I forget which one (perhaps the Gears of War set), and to "save time" I ordered it on the site so I could go straight to just pick it up. I also ordered another item with it, I'm thinking the Citizen Kane BD deal, but I could be wrong. About an hour later I received an email informing me that both items were ready for pickup, so I went on my way. I went up to the desk and they only brought back the movie, not the game. They said there must be some mistake, someone misplaced it or they sold it on accident, or something, but whatever the reason they could no longer find the game after just a short while after informing me they had it ready to pick up. That visit ended with the CSR telling me that as soon as another copy came in stock they would let me know, so I said alright, no big deal. I was irritated, but I was ok with it.

A week or so went by and I got an email from Best Buy saying that since I have not picked the game up yet, I had to email back or call or something (I forget) to keep the order active at the same price, and I did so.

A few more days went by and I heard nothing back from the store so I went in to check on it. I went to where the game should be, and there it was, fully stocked on the shelf. I was never informed it was in stock, and I doubt I ever was going to be at that point. So like I said above, I grabbed a copy off the shelf and took to customer service.

I explained the situation, they looked it up, and they found the in-store pickup order, how it showed as active, and how I have not received the item yet. All of the information was there. I told them I was told I would be informed when it was in stock, but that never happened so I came in. She went on to tell me that she was told she could not sell the game to me at the price I had it ordered at. I asked to speak to a manager, and she told me the same thing, and went on to tell me that not only would she not honor the sale but that it is her policy to refuse to honor any in-store pickup order from the website at any given time that she sees fit.

I contacted Best Buy corporate (certainly not my FIRST time doing so either), and they said that was outrageous, bordering on illegal practices, and if they wouldn't honor the legitimate order what they would do is cancel the order for me, and reorder it for me once again. I said that's fine. She said to go back to the store and she will reorder it, and call them to speak to them about it. I said alright, and I went back to the store later that day and they had the new order, and I was FINALLY able to get the game at the original price I ordered it at, and after being told it was originally ready for pickup in the first place. And in addition to that, the head gal over customer service at corporate mailed me $150 in gift cards for the trouble. Not something I even remotely asked for, but she did anyway since she already had my address and information from the order that was giving me all that trouble.

If I remember correctly that pretty much sums it up. I'm sure I had to have posted about this when it first happened late last year, but maybe I didn't.

TheBang

OK, well, that sounds more complete. I think there might still be a few details missing in the exchange with the CSR and manager, because it doesn't make sense as to why they would refuse to give it to you. Nevertheless, whatever the exchange was, there is no legitimate reason why they shouldn't have given you the game right then and there. The order was ALREADY paid for. I would've called corporate on the spot. Nevertheless, it sounds like corporate eventually sorted it out for you, and you were well compensated for the inconvenience.

My Other Self

The whole story makes more sense now. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Brent L

As odd as it is, that is literally all that there was to it. They would not explain any further, and for whatever reason were getting pretty hateful about it, especially the manager. My only guess is that they, for whatever reason, didn't want to honor the sale price that I bought it at. It doesn't make what they were doing any less illegal or unethical, but still, that's all I can think of. I'm just glad corporate put them in their place. I walked in and out with a great big smile on my face, dealing with the same idiots that gave me trouble when it first went down, and I didn't even have to say a word.

This is not uncommon for my local store (Anderson, SC). They treat their customers horribly all the time. It isn't just me, everyone has bad experiences there. I work in a type of retail environment (printer/ink/computers) and I have customers tell me their horror stories all the time, not to mention friends and family and sometimes even customers in the store when I am in there. You can just see the frustration on their faces, and if you make eye contact or engage, my God, they usually will go into their situation in detail, and if not you'll at least get that eye roll/sigh that says yep, we're in Best Buy alright.

And no problem, I'm always more than willing to tell my Best Buy stories. I have plenty of them.

Pizza

Is saving $3 worth the hassle? If money is that tight I'd forget the bluray all together (now)

You got employees and/or a manager making up rules because they think they can. They probably thought it was too good of a deal and didn't want to honor it.

MooMooMooMoo

I don't hold BB corp in high regard either. on at least 2 occasions I've been given telephone quotes by corp for delivery that the store refused to honor.

arminius

But why. This will not put 1 cent in their pockets, it will not benefit BB in any way and they now have a product that they wanted to sell at that price just sitting on a shelf. What possible reason could there be for acting like this except for just being a dick?