Well, I went to Best Buys to buy a car stereo and four speakers for my 1990 volvo — as it was my christmas and birthday gift from my parents. The price for the stereo was $129.99 (on sale the day after Thanksgiving) and the speakers were around 100.00. While I was looking at the stereos and speakers, I repeated asked the salesperson how much would it be to install the whole system into my vehicle. It was not like I was having anything cut out of my car or replacing the backseat with one of those huge subwoofer units. The speakers were the same size (I thought) that the original speakers in the car were — and the stereo was the same size as the current one.
He pointed to a sign that said in BIG letters and Numbers: Installation for rear speakers $41.99 and front speakers $49.99. And I said, "Is that it?" He said, "Yes, there may be some additional charges but they're nominal at best."
And being that I was buying the stereo at their store, installation for any unit over 99.99 was free.
So I thought, "Ok, it will be about $125-150 for the installation.
Yesterday, I called the store to get my stereo unit and speakers installed. See you have to call them as its the yule time and they are so "swamped." So they say...
I spoke with the "Installation Messiah" and he claimed that the installation would be at LEAST $184.00. I bulked because that is only a few bucks shy of what I actually paid for the equipment. See, back in the day, when you bought car stereos and speakers from audio specialists, they INCLUDED the installation — but that's another story.
I called him on this and he said, "Well, you need a wiring harness." and I told him there was a wiring harness in the box with the stereo and he stated, "Oh no, every car has a different wiring harness — and so that one is "no good." So he wanted to charge me $18.99 for the wiring harness (which only costs $3.00 at a parts store.) Then he said, "Well, it's another 32.99 to wire the stereo to the pre-amp."
Upon talking to a real Stereo Specialist, I was told that the new radio/CD players today ARE the pre-amp as well. Hence, I would be paying 33.00 bucks for them to look at the stereo and think "What a dumb chick to pay this charge!"
I got pissed and said, "Look, it's not like I am installing one of those big systems from the show Pimp My Ride." This "pimp my ride" statement apparently offended Dave the Installation Guru and he got pissy with me by telling me that I had 30 days to return the merchandise.
So I called the manager - but got Nicole on the phone first. She was the one that told me that Dave the Guru was upset by the Pimp My Ride comment — and that yes, I had 30 days to return my stereo and speakers.
So I got Tom, the manager, on the phone. Yes, Tom is a great salesman. I can see how he got his job. Not only did he proceed to make some lame attempt to justify the installation RIP OFF, he also argued with me and told me how he was a stockholder in Best Buys Stock and that "Of course, I don't want to lose your business..." Did I tell you he was ARGUING WITH THIS CUSTOMER THE WHOLE TIME?
Well, the conversation ended by Tom hanging up but not before telling me, "Well, I have wasted enough time on you."
I called the 888 number for Best Buy to lodge a complaint against Tom, Nicole and Guru Dave for their behavior and total incompetence. The gentleman, Jack, was very nice and even stated that the installation fee I was quoted over the phone was ridiculously high and that Best Buy does not make it a custom to hang up on customers, etc.
He claimed this complaint will go to the "people in charge of these matters and the manager and his accomplices will be dealt with accordingly."
I went last night to a "Custom Shop" which does custom stereo and speaker installation. Not only did I get a better stereo system and speakers that actually FIT my car, but get this, the whole thing will cost less than Best Buy's Big Deal by $100.00. Yes, I kid you not. Now mind you, the Best Buy sales guy said to me: "We can beat a custom shop. You'll pay a lot, lot more if you go to a custom shop than you would here."
Moral of this story, if you want to really buy anything for your car whether it be stereo, speakers, GPS units, DVD players and monitors — DO NOT GO TO BEST BUY or CIRCUIT CITY for that matter. Both distribute flyers with great prices but they don't tell you about the Nickel and Dime game they play when you're sitting there with that stereo (et. Al) in the box and need it professionally installed.
As for customer service, I was told that if my receipt was over $250 that it would have to be sent to me in a refund check... To which I said, "I don't care if I have to walk into the store three times to return this stuff, you're going to give me back the cash I laid out for this!"
So there you have it. Best Buy is probably a best buy in some universe but certainly NOT this one. BUYER BEWARE!
Jackie
salisbury, Maryland
U.S.A.
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