BestBuy.com is run by idiots
02-17-04, 02:14 PM
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BestBuy.com is run by idiots
Last month (within 30 days from today) I bought two pairs of speakers from BB.com for $199/pr with free shipping. Well they are now available at BB.com for $149/pr with free shipping. BB policy is that you can return speakers within 30 days for a refund.
Ok, so I call BB.com and ask for a price adjustment. They won't do it! They told me to order the speakers again at $149/pr and return the ones I bought to my local store for a refund. This means that since shipping is/was free on both orders they are now paying to ship four speakers to me twice for free (they are quite heavy too). They also have to spend time to process my return and they have to sell my speakers at a discount as open box items. How stupid is this??
I asked the BB CSR if anyone like a supervisor could override this policy since in this was obviously going to cost BB quite a bit of money and time. She put me on hold and came back and said no, there's nothing they can do to adjust the price to avoid my return and re-purchase at the lower price. With policies like this I'm suprised BB are not bankrupt. I wonder what their stockholders think of this policy.
Ok, so I call BB.com and ask for a price adjustment. They won't do it! They told me to order the speakers again at $149/pr and return the ones I bought to my local store for a refund. This means that since shipping is/was free on both orders they are now paying to ship four speakers to me twice for free (they are quite heavy too). They also have to spend time to process my return and they have to sell my speakers at a discount as open box items. How stupid is this??
I asked the BB CSR if anyone like a supervisor could override this policy since in this was obviously going to cost BB quite a bit of money and time. She put me on hold and came back and said no, there's nothing they can do to adjust the price to avoid my return and re-purchase at the lower price. With policies like this I'm suprised BB are not bankrupt. I wonder what their stockholders think of this policy.
Last edited by namlook; 02-17-04 at 02:20 PM.
02-17-04, 04:28 PM
#2
It probably helps them have a better paper trail. Perhaps it's easier for them to explain to auditors why they had to ship out a second set of speakers to you at a reduced price rather than just issuing you a credit. This is probably due to employee abuse in the past of credits to "customers" (ie friends and family), and because a few have abused the system and done wrong with it, everybody has to suffer the inconveinence when they require a better paper trail to show what they are doing. It's just basic corporate thinking for you, not really all that surprising.
02-17-04, 09:06 PM
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If Best Buy gets the product back (via your return) and you buy a new pair through their website, they are not out much. Besides, they are banking on the fact that if you are in the store you might buy something else.
02-18-04, 01:31 AM
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This doesn't surprise me. I haven't had many problems with Best Buy B&Ms, but Bestbuy.com has the most illogical, inefficient, frustrating customer service that I've ever experienced.
02-19-04, 07:44 AM
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heh, about a year ago I bought a $600 speaker system. About 2 weeks later they dropped the price $100, so I stopped by and requested a price adjustment as according to their store policy. The manager that was running the desk at the time said that she did not want to do the price match, basically the difference was too much or something? I laughed and told her that I would be back in a few minutes because I was going to go home and throw the speakers back in the box and return them with my receipt and then buy new ones at the reduced price. She gave me a scathing look as she all but snatched the receipt from my hand and gave me the reduction.
Then just last week I tried to return an unopened software game with a receipt dated 34 days ago. The manager said there was nothing he could do since the computer does not allow them to return things after the 30 day deadline, that he had no way of circumventing the computer. I said I would be more than happy with a store credit with all the money I spend there anyway, but he did not even consider it. This was for MS's Rise of Nations, a game new enough that it is still priced at $39.99 and it was in a perfect condition box. It would not have been a loss for them in any way if they had, and instead it will be a loss in future sales. I did not throw a tantrum or anything, the worst I did was when he said was there anything else he could do for me and I answered that apparently he could not and walked out. This was as the guy at the next CSR register was yelling because he was trying to return a remote control 31 days old, 1 day after the 30 day deadline.
Moral to the story is that they enforce policy when it is in their favor and are apparently under the assumption that they have plenty of customers so they do not need to try to keep them happy. I am just about done with Bestbuy anyway, as prices suck more and more and service is almost non-existent. I mean what the heck do they even need managers for if the computers are running their policy now?
Then just last week I tried to return an unopened software game with a receipt dated 34 days ago. The manager said there was nothing he could do since the computer does not allow them to return things after the 30 day deadline, that he had no way of circumventing the computer. I said I would be more than happy with a store credit with all the money I spend there anyway, but he did not even consider it. This was for MS's Rise of Nations, a game new enough that it is still priced at $39.99 and it was in a perfect condition box. It would not have been a loss for them in any way if they had, and instead it will be a loss in future sales. I did not throw a tantrum or anything, the worst I did was when he said was there anything else he could do for me and I answered that apparently he could not and walked out. This was as the guy at the next CSR register was yelling because he was trying to return a remote control 31 days old, 1 day after the 30 day deadline.
Moral to the story is that they enforce policy when it is in their favor and are apparently under the assumption that they have plenty of customers so they do not need to try to keep them happy. I am just about done with Bestbuy anyway, as prices suck more and more and service is almost non-existent. I mean what the heck do they even need managers for if the computers are running their policy now?
