After thousands and thousands, I have spent my last dollar at Best Buy (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

This was exactly my experience. I ended up in a rather heated argument with "Skippy the manager", but he wouldn't budge and was rather rude.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

I think many of you don't understand that companies have POLICIES! I think most of you just don't, or don't want to understand them. WHY many of the managers seem to walk away from you people is that they have told you they can't do anything more for you, because it's company policy, and because they are doing their job! Take it out on the company, and not the managers or associates! And yelling and screaming doesn't get you anywhere.

Andy

 

[Jerome Grate]

Well Vince, welcome to the wonderful world of the dead customer service. For the past few months my wife and myself has been experiencing a torent of bad customer service. Starting from a swing set we purchased, from my local McDonald refusing service to us because we changed our Order of from Chicken Selects to Nuggets, to one Walmart store not matching another Walmart's sale price on the Star Wars DVD. This action no longer surprise me and unfortunately these stores will survive because of the large volume of purchases made and even if you write and contact them by phone they still don't give you the consumer satisfaction we deserve as consumers.

However I don't let it discourage me, I would write to their corporate office and explain to them what occured and it sad that you spent 30,000 dollars in that store and how it's a shame that two incompetent individuals has ruin your faith in customer service and the corporate office should at least make the effort to restore your trust at least with Best Buy.

 

[GlennH]

B.S.

Managers have the leeway to use common sense and make reasonable decisions to satisfy customers. The "company policy" line is a copout. And if a corporate environment is so stifling as to not allow that then that is a corporation that deserves to go under.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Exactly. "Company policy" is an excuse for a drone who is unable to think for himself. There is no reason to piss off a customer for life over $5.

I find myself shopping almost exclusively online these days, as I'm tired of dealing with poor customer service and out of stock items at retailers.

 

[StephenL]

I rarely buy DVDs at Best Buy anymore because too many new release titles are out of stock. On one occasion I asked for a rain check, but they wouldn't give me one because they couldn't find the SKU number. I was told they would honor the price anyway, but when I returned the next week the girl told me she was sure the title was in stock last week. I had to grovel with the manager to get the advertised price. Funny how there are plenty of those DVDs the following week when the price goes up.

 

[StephenP]

I dont understand the fellow who doesnt want to show his ID with the credit card. I'm very happy to show my ID when rarely asked, these policies are there to help prevent credit card fraud, and I appreciate the store not being lazy about enforcement.

 

[Scotty_McW]

I find it amazing that whenever someone has lousy customer service, the first thing alot of people do is "go balistic" to get their way. I'll admit that there have been times when I have had questionable service, wheter at Target, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble...it doesn't matter what kind of store it is, customer service can just plain suck. The main responses of customers is to throw a fit or write letters in to management.

But what do you do when you receive excellent service? Most customers do nothing, and that's ok. But after years of working in retail and other forms of customer service, there is nothing quite like the feeling of having a customer write in and praise you for a job well done. Ironically, I did that at a Best Buy where I used to live. Did I expect a response or a $5 gift card? No. I did it because the salesman was great to work with, very courteous, and I felt it was the right thing to do.

I encourage all of you that the next time you receive excellent service, or even above average service, maybe send a letter to the manager or simply tell the manager how good of a job their employee did. You might not get anything out of it other than the satisfaction of complimenting someone on a job well done, but don't you like it when someone compliments you?

End rant mode....now.

 

[Malcolm R]

I don't think they do (see above).

 

[Patrick Sun]

You could have gotten $8 in trade-in credit at Blockbuster with that fullscreen abomination.

 

[TonyTone]

ChrisM--maybe it's different in Utah (the poster who mentioned about declining to show his ID has his creds showing as being from UT)...but in any case, I'm grateful that cashiers do take the extra step in verifying ID when it comes to credit card purchases. As much money as the CC companies pull in, I'm sure they wouldn't be too thrilled about eating the losses from credit card theft and misuse if they didn't care who was actually using them (the cards)...

In any case, I think some of you guys might be a bit too harsh in your criticism towards Vince; sure, he could have made certain of his purchase but heck, he mentioned that he was being a bit hasty and as such, probably forgot to check--haven't any of you unintentionally overlooked some minor detail due to being hasty or preoccupied with something else? Also, how would you feel and/or react if someone insinuated that you were returning something under false pretenses? If that clerk had been any more direct, she could have easily been accused of slander, especially since she was saying that while there were most likely other people (customers and employees) within earshot...

But yeah, you gotta wonder about the logic/reasoning of some folks like the person(s) at the BB Vince mentioned. If Vince (and I'm not saying or implying that he would even consider doing this) had completely opened (i.e., remove all of the labels) that FS copy, put a scratch on the disc, then return to BB and ask to exchange it for a new one because his copy was "defective"--he would have been permitted to do so, no questions asked...and even if he were to be asked about why he was exchanging his defective FS copy for a WS, he could just say that he hadn't realized until after the purchase that he had mistakenly picked up the wrong version and that even then, it shouldn't matter because the disc was defective to begin with.

OTOH--for his honesty, Vince was insulted and given the cold shoulder; WTH is wrong with this world when one can use dishonesty to cover up--if not correct--one's own mistake, yet not be given a break even when being up front and honest?

 

[Trace Ahlers]

I agree, I've been in retail for nearly 30 years and I'm amazed at how unwilling customers are to stand up for themselves and demand good service.
They are almost afraid or apologetic. They are also amazed when I tell them that I can take care of any problem they have, "It's your money, you should get what you want."
It's our own fault as consumers that good service has dropped. We let them get away with it.
Trace

 

[GeoffBr]

This post struck a chord because the same exact thing happened to me last week -- for some reason, the manufacturer decided to print full/widescreen as inconspicuously as possible on the box, and since my local Best Buy didn't differentiate between them when stocking, it was only too easy to walk out with the wrong copy.

However, when I went to return it, I had absolutely no trouble exchanging it for the widescreen version. I think the problem here, as has been suggested, isn't related to Best Buy's policies as much as it is to the particular clerk in question.

 

[Craig S]

I have also successfully exchanged accidentally-purchased fullscreen DVDs for the widescreen versions at BB with no hassle whatsoever. Indeed, I read all these BB complaint threads and just shake my head - my local BB has, in general, always given me good service.

The problem here is, as Geoff said, the clerk & management in question. Vince, you wrote a good letter, but I think you made one mistake - you should have included the names of the staff who gave you such a hard time. I would have made a point of telling these people that you were going to specifically attribute the loss of your business to them.

As for BB's DVD prices - you can't make blanket statements that CC or Target always beat them. It's just not true. BB wins on some titles, Target on some, CC on some (although they don't count since they almost NEVER have their sales titles in stock), and the online retailers win some. Read "The Weekly Roundup" every week and you will see this.

As for those who suggested Costco/Fry's - please remember that there are many of us who do NOT have these stores readily available.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Likely true, or sold on ebay, or traded to a crackhead for a hamburger...

However at this point in my life, I don't really have the time or energy to chase the $8. Not only do I work 12 hr days, I work nights- meaning that whatever spare time I have-- always falls at time where most establishments aren't open...

To be honest, I barely had time to WATCH the movie in the first place (I bought the widescreen edition at Traget, and probably won't have time to watch it for another week or two)-- let alone take it back to the place from which I bought it. To drive around town chasing $8 out of the deal is so far outside my reality at this point, it's not even funny.

In fact, I probably wouldn't even bother typing a letter or talking about it on this thread, if my computer had the same business hours and locations as a retail store.

-V

 

[Bradley-E]

Next time look closer at the packaging. Most "A" titles are released in Both FF - WS formats.

 

[Jason Hughes]

I got screwed in the same manner with the horribly labeled (by Best Buy and Fox) Predator. They basically told me to go fuck myself. Oh well. It's a drink coaster now!

 

[Adam Tyner]

I went through a similar situation at Best Buy a couple years ago, Vince. I'd opened a DVD (shamefully, The Mummy Returns) and didn't realize it was the full-frame version until the "this film has been formatted..." message was splashed across my TV. I took the DVD back to teh store. I was expecting the fact that the DVD was opened to be a hassle, but oddly, it wasn't. There were two headaches: one, I didn't have a receipt. (Actually, I did have one, but describing how I microwaved it and rendered it completely unreadable is an embarrassing story I'd just as soon not get into.) Second, as was the case with your experience, the widescreen version wasn't considered a one-to-one exchange with the full-frame since it was technically a different title. The manager at my store was smarmy and condescending, accusing me of buying the DVD at another store and trying to pull one over on him. He eventually did let me exchange it for the widescreen one. There wasn't any negotiating or debating on my part, though -- I guess he just wanted to take out his frustrations on a customer, and since I stood there politely and took it as I explained that I wasn't trying to rip-off his store, he relented.

I go to Best Buy as a matter of convenience, but since this store is soon going to move out of a heavily-trafficked artery of my city and heading into a more suburban area, I don't really see myself bothering to make that extra trip frequently.

 

[DaveGTP]

I was surprised when I got awarded the Bronze (tied with another friend at the store) in our local newspaper, for "Best Grocery Cashier" (I worked at a Meijer store). Apparently I made some loyal customers. You know when to make an exception for someone and I always do my best to help people (unless they are gaming the system).


Of course, it didn't matter for anything later to the company. Very lame complaint about cash control - I had 2 infractions upon switching to new computer system - the fancy LCD system - and being poorly trained on it. Then I was perfect for 10 months before I was off again on my till like $20ish (that's out of several thousand a day) . I had to be perfect for a year to have it cleared from my record. They fired my ass instead of moving me to a dept with less cash.

Whoo hoo, so much for 3rd best grocery cashier in the city. Buh-bye.

That's alright. In the long run it worked out for me.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Gee, Vince. This thread topic is of considerable interest to me seeing as how we have numerous discussions just like it each week in Coupons and Bargains and the Weekly RoundUps. (In fact, I posted a link to this thread in this week's RoundUp.) However, as I was reading the thread, I was thinking exactly what greg_t wrote about the placement of the thread. I can understand as easily as the next guy about long work days and long commutes and bad retail experiences...but I don't see the need to come off like a jerk just because someone pointed out what, in fact, must not have been so obvious to you.

I even understand...as well as anyone ...that Best Buy policies and employees can drive people to desperate places, but isn't the HTF the place where we can lean on each other for support and to try and affect some change on the part of the DVD-buying-public?