Best Buy Imitates Customer, Refuses Sale Price

[Rob Williams]

From our front-page news:

Is it just me, or are the majority of customer service horror-stories tied to Best Buy? It's not much surprise to me, because I have enough experience with their Canadian-equivalent, Futureshop, and if anyone out there has ever gone to either and have nothing bad to say about the company, then you are either very lucky, or have the patience of zen master.

The latest story comes courtesy of the Consumerist, where one consumer decided to take advantage of a deal on the Best Buy website that offered 2GB PNY flash drives for $2.50. Despite the apparent pricing error, the customer received a confirmation in the e-mail that said he could go to the store to pick up the five that he ordered.

Well, this story really has to be read to be fully-appreciated, because the management at this particular Best Buy actually makes the management at all other Best Buy's look like saints. Imagine a manager who calls up customer service pretending to be you. Yeah, it was that bad. One more reason to resist all urges to ever look in the store again...

To top it all off, he then takes my printed receipts from my emails and calls 1-800-Best Buy from the store and tells the CRS that "I" wanted to cancel my order and that it shouldn't have been picked. After 30 minutes of arguing with this person, while he is on the phone I tell him that I wanted to talk to the CSR and he refused to let me speak.

Source: Consumerist
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[TheFocusElf]

Never had an issue with them but the again, I'm never really desperate enough to shop there. We just bought a flat panel LCD, but we bought it from an online vendor at a fantastic price. Of course, that night, I wanted HDMI cables for the PS3 and the Digital cable box which you better believe we immediately swapped out for the HD Digital cable.

Walked into a store to buy said 6ft. HDMI cables, and sobered up. $70 for one!? Come on Canada!

Bought 2 off NewEgg for 20$ total and they work perfect.

I've heard horror stories of people who buy laptops WITH the stupid BB warranty. And when a legitimate problem occurs, BB tells them to gtfo or something equally uncanny.

On the same token, I thought certain mechanisms were put in place to protect the MERCHANT. I remember when priceline, travelocity, etc first started, there were a number of times where you could buy roundtrip transcontinental flights for under $100. Obviously an error either by the programmer or the company itself. Sometimes these were honored but eventually they were not.

I have seen in disclaimers wording to the effect that :

We reserve the right to cancel or reject this order if we determine it has been an error...

Something like that.

 

[slugbug]

Now I remember why I hate Future Shop. Best Buy owns them

 

[TheFocusElf]

BB owns Future Shop? I did not know that... I bought my PS3 from Future Shop... ** Runs off to take a shower **

-Scott

 

[Rob Williams]

Best Buy bought Futureshop in 2000 I believe... although I have no idea how the company was before then because we didn't get a Futureshop around here until after that I believe.

 

[Kougar]

Yeah, this is exactly why I avoid Best Buy. Stories like this are as common as grass, and BB always tries to appease with small gift cards to make people that fight it out go away instead of continue to deal with the hassle.

Although usually with laptops they tend to claim it's "in transit" or some such and leave the customer hanging for a few extra weeks while it is sitting somewhere from what I heard. Or they misplace it outright, some of the employees themselves have the most interesting stories on this...

I'd have taken those people to court, impersonating the customer should actually break a few extra laws, not to mention is plain wrong in the extreme. Just think, those 2GB drives are only worth $7.50 on Newegg... BB would have probably lost only a few dollars honoring this guy's order.

 

[Rob Williams]

I'd have taken those people to court, impersonating the customer should actually break a few extra laws, not to mention is plain wrong in the extreme. Just think, those 2GB drives are only worth $7.50 on Newegg... BB would have probably lost only a few dollars honoring this guy's order.

That's what blows me away... they go through such hassle just to rip the customer off a few bucks. I'll never understand the mentality of that company, and it's bound to bite them in the ass eventually.

 

[Kougar]

It no longer astonishes me... this has been Best Buy's modus operandi for many years.

Only difference is this time one of the managers simply decided to get creative about how he went about cheating out customers to protect that bottom line to either save his neck, make himself look good, or save those little bonuses they get for meeting certain budget criteria.

 

[On_Wisconsin]

OT...dad wants a new HDTV for the (stupid) DTV 2009 thingy...would we rather go to BB or order one online (and if not Newegg, where?). Our only tech place that doesn't require going down a half hour to milwaukee is our local BB...

 

[Rob Williams]

You can buy one from Best Buy - the key is to learn how to not cry when it breaks and you realize they'll do little to help you. I'd personally order one online, but I'd be sure to read lots of reviews from reputable sites before you commit to one.

 

[On_Wisconsin]

That's funny...first thing the old man mentioned to me when I first brought up the (radical) concept of (heaven forbid) ordering something online was "who are you going to take it to when it breaks down."

 

[TheFocusElf]

That's funny...first thing the old man mentioned to me when I first brought up the (radical) concept of (heaven forbid) ordering something online was "who are you going to take it to when it breaks down."

Hey I grew up in Oconomowoc... what about Crazy TV Lenny? He still in business? He was so crazy!

But seriously, for a bargain on a GREAT HD set, check out this site.

 

[Rob Williams]

That's funny...first thing the old man mentioned to me when I first brought up the (radical) concept of (heaven forbid) ordering something online was "who are you going to take it to when it breaks down."

Just call them up and negotiate something. I'm in Canada, and even Gateway was willing to send me a replacement XHD3000 before I had to send them back the one I had. Ordering things online is easier in all regards... even if you bought from a store like Sears, you are still going to have to wait for it to get to them, and then you need to go pick it up. Online, they usually ship right to your house, so it's no problem.

Experiences will of course differ from company to company though.