“I received a response back from them this morning and they are still working on the unit. A request was sent over to the technician assigned to your computer to expedite the repair. I will do my best to keep you updated. As for a contact at Geek Squad City, we unfortunately do not have one that we can give out to customers.”
- Most Recent E-mail Received From Best Buy “Consumer Relations”

I don’t really know what to say anymore. 

Best Buy is refusing to replace my computer saying that because they did not assign a new case number to each incident, it is still considered to be the FIRST repair attempt.  In fact, this is the FIFTH repair attempt.

They are refusing to honor their own extended warranty based on this technicality.  How convenient.

Thank goodness they have asked the “technician” assigned to my computer to expedite the repair! 

How ridiculous that they can claim to be all about the customer but then refuse to give any useful information or assistance.

I’m not the only one.  Check out this horrific ordeal….“Best Buy” vs. Consumer Protection Blog.

“We work for people, not for “things.” This approach delivers two big benefits: one, it’s more fun; and two, we believe it leads to GROWTH. Growth for our portfolio of brands, growth around the world, and growth that benefits our employees, our partners and our customers. (The people who ARE Best Buy.)”
- Best Buy’s Website

By now you know what I have to say about this…bullshit.

Ever worked in a customer service capacity anywhere?  I have.  Everywhere I have ever worked, we were always required to bend over backwards to break rules to make the customer happy, even when the customer was clearly wrong, trying to get something for nothing, or just plain crazy.  How does that never seem to apply anywhere when I am the customer?

I won’t bore you with all the gory details of the experience I had today in attempting to locate my computer and to get a status update.  I will, however, give you the highlights, which remind me of this scene from Seinfeld…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeHG-8rfqKM]

• My computer was NOT shipped to Kentucky on 12/28/08 as promised.  It was actually shipped on 01/02/2009!  That means my computer sat in the store for a week before even being picked up for delivery.

• No one is allowed to give out the super secret phone number to the service center in Kentucky.

• No one is allowed to give out the super secret phone number to the district manager serving the store I am dealing with.

• Despite the computer generated e-mail I received indicating that a customer service rep would respond to my e-mail within 3 business days, it actually took 4 business days.  Additionally, the response I did receive was not at all helpful to my situation and basically said, “too bad, so sad” and quoted policies that don’t apply.

• Attempting to get anywhere with Best Buy on the phone can take over an hour and result in nothing.

In a completely unrelated event, my sister called another big chain store for a different issue and was told to hold so that she could be transported to someone else.  And this wasn’t even an electronics store!  If they have the technology to transport customers via telephone, why can’t Best Buy find, fix or replace my computer??!!

Thanks for stopping by!

“We believe we can live our values, through our people and operations, anywhere we go on this planet.   And we believe in customer centricity – the idea is that a customer isn’t just looking for a product, but a solution or experience that improves her life. Customer centricity requires an ongoing relationship of trust between employee and the customer – it’s a large part of our profit and growth.”  – Best Buy’s Website

Guess what I say to that.  You got it!  Bullshit.

They shipped my computer to Kentucky via UPS 2-day air on 12/28/2008….allegedly.

I sent an e-mail to customer service 12/29/2008 complaining about the poor service.  Still no response. 

I sent a 2nd e-mail to customer service 1/2/2009 complaining about the poor service and the fact that I still had no response to my original e-mail.  Still no response.

I called the store 1/2/2009 and was told the service center in Kentucky hadn’t received it yet. 

I called corporate customer service 1/3/2009.  They supposedly tracked the UPS package and claim UPS still hasn’t delivered it.  They are still refusing to give me a new computer, saying their policy is that it has to be repaired 3 times before they will replace it.  I was told there is nothing they can do about any of this except submit a request that the service center look at my computer ASAP and she will call me sometime next week with an update.

So, basically, the entire first week was a complete waste of my time without a computer.  And furthermore, there is nothing that they can do about it (or care to do about it).  This computer is 2 months old AND we bought the extended warranty.

In case you didn’t read my previous post…I HATE BEST BUY!

Thanks for stopping by!