I finally asked the question to Best Buy about their in store pick-up policy.

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, May 7 2002 08:10 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: CC Website Questions/Comments

When I place an order on the Best Buy website, frequently I cannot select in store delivery for my local Best Buy store for the product I wish to purchase. However, I can choose to have it delivered to a store within an hours driving distance.

What criteria is used to determine where instore pick ups can be delivered to? Please do not waste a response on this e-mail unless you can provide an answer to my question.

-----REPLY-----
Thank you for contacting Best Buy about in store pick-up. I'm Erin with Customer Care.

We appreciate your interest in how it is determined what store you can pick your product up in and we'd be happy to answer your question. BestBuy.com does not ship to stores, we take from their available stock. So, when your placing an order for in store pick-up you will only be able to pick up your selected items at a store that has them in-stock. We apologize for any confusion this has may have caused you.

We look forward to your next visit to one of our stores or to
www.BestBuy.com. Please do not hesitate to contact us with additional
questions or concerns.

Best wishes from Best Buy,
Erin and the Customer Care Team

Very interesting reply. When I purchased a DVD for store pickup, and went to pick it up.. they had a hard time finding it. I told the sales girl that I would be happy to walk back to the DVD location and get it, as I just saw they had four copies... her reply was "we can't do that... that is in-stock and this was purchased online for pickup". Well, they finally found it, but that was the something that just rubbed me a little the wrong way.... I paid for it, you have it in your store...and I couldn't get "that" one.

Very interesting, but I know the store manager and never mentioned it to him, but may have to after thinking about it. Maybe she just was "trained" in Customer Satisfaction.

I had never assumed that they ship it to an existing store nearby. If that was the case, they'd be charging you shipping & handling. The In-Store pickup is to get items that are in stock at a local store, whether on display or stocked somewhere out of customer sight.

My guess is that the in-store pick-up items are taken out of the store inventory and reserved. So both you item and the store's copy of your online receipt are put somewhere on hold until you get them. That would explain why you can't grab a copy off the shelf.

What if the DVD they have reserved for your in-store pickup is damaged (eg., crushed custom case or boxset)? Aren't you allowed to grab a good one from the shelf?

When a online purchase is done and you choose in-store pickup. The stores that are determined to be to do store pickup is determined if they have them in stock or not. They use there update info in the morning about how many they have in the morning before the store opens. Then the person in the back gets form with items that have been ordered online. Then he goes around the store and finds each product and sets them in the back, usually in a "e-commerce/ in-store pick up" cabinet unless its too big.

I dunno why that person said that they couldn't just grab the copy they had in hand, shes an idoit. It wouldn't matter cuz all she would have to do is tell the guy in the back that the "instore pickup" has been done so he would put back the dvd when he finds it.

BTW I work part time at BB

That seems odd to me as I asked one of the BB employees about why they never have the first dvd of a collection in, the store having the second/third/so-on in stock, the employee said "You can purchase it online and pick it up in-store." I have not yet tried this, because I usually find it cheaper online, another store, etc. After hearing this I don't know if i want to try.