I had an experience like this when I went to buy my new WEGA. The freaking TV is like almost 100 pounds and I waited 20 minutes just to be told (rudely) to go to the front, get a cart and do it myself. I sent an email to their customer care complaining and all I got was a form letter basically saying "Yeah, sorry we suck. We'll work on that."

Seriously thinking twice before going back there for big purchases after this.

When i was there they didnt track the # of DVD's because cd's and DVD's aren't items that you make lot of money on....they kept track of how many video game accessories and CD/DVD storage cases you sold.

Now you would think "Hey, you can track this by seeing how many of those items were scanned at a register"

WRONG!

We had a set "quota" of how much of that junk we were supposed to sell per hour and *WE* had to write down, on a piece of paper we carried around, how much the item was we "sold" to people. If we saw someone walking around with some storage or whatever that we didn't "sell" them we were to guess how much the item was and write it down.

I don't know if they still do this...but before i quit they were doing this and always asking me how much of that shit i sold. Hopefully they learned to track that stuff via registers.

[QUOTE=Mopower]Why the hell did you even give them the receipt? You should have said you got it as a gift and didn't have the receipt. Then they would have exchanged it no problems. Instead you try to pass off an item that is 4 months old and get angry when they won't exchange it? You're a genius.[/QUOTE

I accidentally found a second copy of a CD I purchased (with shrink wrap and BB sticker on it) and said it was a gift (I couldn't find the receipt). Their Customer Service person said I had to have a receipt even to get credit and they asked me to go to the person who gave me the "gift" and have them give me their receipt.

I have learned that with BB, it doesn't matter how many purchases you make with them, they prefer not to make exceptions--although they do it all the time at their own discretion.

So what does that say about their return or exchange policy? :confused:

Just wait untill after Christmas. Take it back then.

By your calculations, the Best Buy manager not only should have exchanged the DVD, but he should've thrown in a free Plasma TV and would've still come out ahead.

If that's the true cost, then no matter how crazy the request (and reading some of the Best Buy Sucks stories, people have some crazy requests from time to time), the store would be stupid not to go for it. I may try for the Plasma next time I get a bum DVD. (And if I don't get it, I'm boycotting).

The problem with this, though, is that to be a good customer, you have to know the people who work there. You can actually accomplish this without being a good customer and could be a very good customer and never have the store employees know you by name.

I mean, I very likely contributed more to Best Buy's profits when I bought two televisions and two VCRs one day than a person who buys a DVD a week at the store. But that person is more likely to have the employees remember him, since he's there 52 times a year, even though he's not as good a customer as I was despite my single trip to the store.

I don't deny that employees knowing the customer often helps in such situations, but having the employees know you doesn't necessarily make you a better customer than someone else (or even makes you a good customer at all).

This, to me, shows again why giving "good customers" better service is a very difficult prospect since it's really impossible to tell who the good customers are. And using something obvious (like the guy who buys 52 loss-leaders a year and nothing else getting better service because the staff recognizes him) has the potential to alienate some of the better customers.

Of course, like you've said, if you just give everybody a higher level of customer-oriented service, you don't have to make the distinction.

[QUOTE=dvdirv]Yeah...and it states that you need the recipt not only on the ACTUAL recipt, but there is usually a HUGE billboard behind them which states a recipt is required. You think you are special why?

I don't think I'm "special." I just believe that most other vendors use a common sense approach to making exchanges in spite of their formal policies. After all, they want to keep their customers happy.

If you think BB is correct in adhering strictly to their return policies, why is it that after Christmas, they are more than willing to make exchanges that do not strictly adhere to their own policy?

It does adhere to their policy because the policy is to treat returns differently after Christmas. Those returns are not a manager making a decision to break policy like the manager was being asked to do in the original post.

Special policys are set after Christmas. Not only does Best Buy do this, but Target, Wal-Mart, Circuit City etc.

Best Buy is the worst store when it comes to using common sense to try and resolve a customers issues. If they want to burn their bridges when it comes to discarding customers let them. I still shop at Best Buy from time to time and I would suggest you still do as well, but like me limit your purchases to their products they sell from time to time as loss leaders. I would never spend any real money on a product that I may need some actual customer service on in the future. I would also not EVER buy any accessories there as that is one of the things they make their money on.

So, you don't want Best Buy to make any money, but will buy there items that are 'loss leaders'? You realize to offer items at such great discounts, they also need to make money on other things (like accessories). I would love for you to point me in the direction of a store that sells things for the price they buy them at, because last I checked, Circuit City, WalMart, Target all sell there accessories for roughly the same price.

You misunderstood my point. In my opinion Best Buy sucks, and I don't care if they go out of business, therefore rather than not shop there at all, I only go there to take advantage of their loss leaders and make it a point to not spend money on other items in their store, which defeats the purpose of their loss leaders and in my opinion hurts them more than not shopping there all together and at the very least allows me to always find the best deal when I am looking for a particular item. I advised the OP to not buy accessories because this is one of the areas that stores have the most mark up in, so rather than boycott, I advised buy loss leaders and do not buy things like accessories, or service contracts, etc.

I am going to assume your joking with your last post because common sense crushes that arguement. We have said before that a returned DVD costs the store nothing because it goes back to the manufacter. ($0 cost to the store to exchange a DVD, amount it cost to give you a plasma? be reasonable.) Do you really believe Best Buy can write off a plasma TV or get credit back from the vendor.

By exchanging the DVD it keeps the store from having to recruit new customers.(This is the cost expenditure discussed earlier.) Do you really believe Best Buy should give a plasma TV away? This cost would come directly out of the bottom line. This negates the original cost to recruit new customers we talked about earlier.

Wow. Best Buy, Circuit City, etc., are basically going against their policy after Xmas to appease the customers, and people are calling them to task over it. It really is an example of giving an inch, and the customer wanting to take a mile. Which, of course, is why they shouldn't break policy regularly, because then everyone feels "entitled" to it.

I'm 99.999% sure that BigDan was joking about the Plasma thing... geez.

His point was you said that it cost BB about 2685 per "good" customer. so even though the DVD example costs them nothing, if they gave away a plasma that costs less than 2685, they would still come out ahead.

Anyway, what you're suggesting is customer profiling to find out which customers are "good" and buying up stuff that makes Best Buy profits, as opposed to "bad" customers that either buy only loss leaders or don't buy much at all, and giving different level of service to different customers. Which is, of course, what Best Buy has admitted to trying to do with it's angels and devils list, which has angered most of the people on this board anyway.

I've been following this thread, as I always do with threads like it. I think stores need to be taken to task when they mess up. I also think the customer needs to be taken to task when they mess up as well.

Bad discs (or anyother product for that matter) aside, people need to take more responsibility as a consumer. There are tons of threads about the best price, but how many people actually do a lot of research on products like a/v equipment before they buy it? By the amount of people that complain about employees not knowing much or being unhelpful, I'm guessing not many.

IMHO, you shouldn't buy a piece of equipment until you've read as much as you can about it and have already compared it to competing items. That way, when you go into the store, all you have to do is grab a blue shirt, pull the finger out of his nose, and tell him to go get you the item. If there's something new in the store you hadn't seen or considered and want to know more about it, there are PC's all over the store where you can look up the product at the BB site and get a full range of specs and some reviews. That's usually enough to either make you disregard it, or decide you want to find out more, which of course would lead to more research on that product.

I love BB, CC, and just about any other large, discount electronics store. But then I can't remember the last time I ever had to return anything (let alone electronics) to a store. Again, because when I buy something I know what I'm buying and why, and knock on wood, I've been lucky enough so far that I haven't gotten a lemon.

And I highly suggest reading a store's return/refund policy before buying anything there. To me, it's kind of like a licensing agreement in that if I buy anything from that store, I'm agreeing to abide by their returns policy.

That said, I have loads of sympathy for anyone who ends up buying something broken or otherwise unusable. I had my fair share of that kind of thing years ago, which is why I research products and open up all of my DVDs now, even if it's something I'm not going to watch in the near future. I think that is the main reason I have so little problems now.

Pathetic? Did I say I want to hurt them in any way possible? I am exercising my right as a consumer to shop where and how I please. Am I doing or advocating anything illegal? Why should I show any loyalty or favoritism to Best Buy? Do they show the same to their customers? No they do not. It is all about the bottom line for them and so I follow their lead and do the same. If by doing so it puts Best Buy out of business and therefore the employees is that my fault or Best Buys fault for not having a business model that works? If the fact that they are a bunch of mindless dickheads who can’t see that sometimes common sense needs to be applied to a situation in order to satisfy a customer who wants nothing more than to be treated fairly, puts them out of business, too F’ing bad. I have worked in customer service for a number of companies including Best Buy and they were the worst when it came to respecting the customer. Why should I go in there and purchase all of my new appliances or other big ticket items, when I know from personal experience that if I have a problem in the future I can expect a hearty screw you buddy. Therefore, I stick to small purchases that are good deals and if they don’t like it they can ask me to not shop there anymore. You think I am pathetic? You are the pathetic one in my opinion. What shall we do, put Best Buy on some kind of government program for welfare to help them stay in business because darn it they just can’t seem to make any money. I doubt Best Buy needs your pity. I am sure that the small number of like minded people as myself are not putting too much of a dent in their profit margin.

Wow, still whining going on about not returning an item 5 months after buying it....wahhh! I wish they did get rid of the Christmas return period and make you keep all those crappy gifts your relatives gave you and now 'can't find the recipt' to.

:toast:

I wish your parents would have choosen not to have kids.

Why not go thread crap somewhere else? If you are more than happy to eat a shit sandwich when one is shoved in your face, that is your choice, just don't breathe in mine.

:nopics:

[QUOTE=jaelliot]Why should I show any loyalty or favoritism to Best Buy? Do they show the same to their customers? No they do not. It is all about the bottom line for them and so I follow their lead and do the same.


Thank you, jaelliot! Best Buy's worst problem is that they do not see the long range view of their business and their customer's loyalty to them. All they see is that a particular return/exchange violates their official policy and cannot do the return.

If they took a long view instead of the usual short term, they would see that in order to keep customers happy, they need to view a return on a case-by-case basis. Other retailers do this all the time!

I guess they just don't care about losing customers! :confused:

DONT EVER BUY DVDS AND NOT WATCH THEM BEFORE YOUR RETURN PERIOD IS UP. That goes double for FOX DVDs, they were late to the DVD game in the first place and have a known history on these multiple disc sets, like the Aliens box set. You know Best Buy are hard asses on returns, let alone 4 monthes later, it's what half the BEST BUY SUXS threads are about. If you want to roll the dice get DVDs from circuit city and pay the $2 insurance, then you have up to a year or so. Either way after the return period, is up you have to deal with the manufacturer, who probably is not on the warhunt against 'bad' customers like BB has PUBLICLY stated they are. It was obviously no idle threat

And the other half are about the extended service agreements.

Oh yeah. WalMart's return policy is easier to take advantage of than a nervous seventeen year-old at her Junior Prom.

Not that I've ever done either though. :O

I'll never understand why WalMart has such a system in place. They seemingly DO have rules, but I've never had anyone actually follow them when checking me out. Not that I mind though, it makes things easier when you lose a reciept or something.

I was with a Wal Mart assistant manager (a friend of mine) when a guy, who had returned 4 Gamecubes in 6 days was returning one once again. (without a receipt) The manager did not care, try to ask a question or anything. He said that with no emotion.

I had a good experience with BB. I bought all 9 seasons of friends back in March. Recently, Disc 3, Season 7 was skipping in all my players. I told the manager this, and at first he hesitated, but after a second, approved it. I guess 2 months is different than 4 months (and I had 36 DVDs to watch).