I have NEVER had such a HORRIFIC experience as I did today at Best Buy. This is a long story but read on and you will be astonished.
I am a contractor, and on 06/06/08 I purchased a window unit A/C from the Best Buy in West Windsor, NJ. I installed the unit and it seemed to work fine. Within a day or two my customers left for vacation and upon their return weeks later, discovered that the A/C didn't work.
I removed the A/C, took it back to the store on 07/08/08, and they tested it (because I am a liar) and gave me an new identical unit. Again, I installed the A/C and it seemed to work fine. Once again, within a day or two my customers left for another vacation. When they returned, the new unit wasn't working.
I brought this second unit back on 08/12/08 and again, they tested it (because I am a chronic liar). The unit performed OK but still showed some signs of quirkiness. The manager offered to "do me a favor" (his words) and allow me to either get another unit (yeah right!) or give me store credit since I was past the 30 day exchange period.
The kicker here is that I was told the 30 day exchange period started from the day of the initial purchase! The other option offered me was to have the unit sent out for service. Great, my poor customers can continue to sleep in the living room because their third floor bedroom is too darn hot!
Under normal circumstances I would have had both units returned to the store within days but due to my customers' vacations, it was impossible to do this.
After the second unit failed, I had been instructed by my customers to get a new unit elsewhere. I told the manager this so his offer was simply unacceptable. Due to these unusual vacation circumstances, all I wanted was a credit to my MasterCard.
I was told by the manager, who could not have been older than 25, that a refund was out of the question. So I asked to please speak to his manager and he said HE was the manager—no way!
I then asked to whom else I could speak and he said to call 888-BESTBUY. I asked him to call and he handed me the phone! When I got a busy signal I hung up the phone and continued requesting to either speak to his superior or give me a refund. The manager continued his insistence that this was impossible. Finally he said, "This conversation is over, " and began to walk away. We continued to banter a little and then I simply left the store.
So I called 888-BESTBUY as instructed, spoke to a CSR who gave me the same scripted lines. I asked to speak to his manager. After too long of a wait, his manager got on the phone, gave me the same run-around, and when I asked to speak to someone higher up, she claimed there wasn't anybody else. I suppose she is the CEO! I continued to insist that she allow me to speak to someone over her and she HUNG UP ON ME!
I am appalled at the manner in which Best Buy treats its customers.in their employee's own words, Best Buy is doing customers a "favor." Are they favoring us by allowing us the privilege of shopping there? I was under the impression that retail operations exist to serve the customers! Additionally, it's not as if BB is the only electronics store around.
I do not think my request for a refund was unreasonable, and I understand the need for a return policy, but is there no room for an exception considering the circumstances? Oh, that's right, to BB I am a liar like many of you who read this might be if you attempt to return a defective item to BB.
As I explained to the BB manager, my customers have now spent far more money for my labor than the $270.00 for the A/C! If either unit had performed properly, I would have saved myself three trips to BB, two installations, the numerous trips to the third floor bedroom for installation and removal of the A/C and the incredibly disrespectful treatment by BB employees!
As I mentioned earlier, I am a remodeling contractor. My customers are mostly residents of an upper-class town and they spend thousands upon thousands of dollars for appliances when I do kitchen renovations. BB certainly will no longer get my recommendation, in fact, I will discourage anyone from patronizing BB.in addition to me, BB has also lost another customer in what I think may be the beginnings of a domino effect. Upon recounting my horrid BB experience to my customer, I heard the words, "I'll never shop there again either!"
Major BOOOS to BEST BUY!
P.S. After posting this complaint, a rebuttal was posted by a Best Buy employee who wrote (and this is a direct quote), "... FYI; we DO THINK every customer is lieing to us."
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