Comments

1. “BB Employee: Ok, we are going to give you $31.99 in cash back.
   Me: Oh wait, I have a penny.
   BB Employee: Uh, for what?
   Me: So I can have $30 even instead of 99 cents.”

   uhmmm if you gave them a penny wouldn’t you get $32 back…. not 30?

   just wondering

   confused

   November 7, 2007 at 4:20 am

2. Thanks for the catch! It will be corrected.

   Ryan Gallagher

   November 7, 2007 at 9:36 am

3. I work at the customer service at Best Buy and I have no clue what that employee was talking about with the change thing. The card thing though is that when someone pays in debit it has to go back in cash. It is the way the system is designed to do it. There is no way to override it either. It is a completely automatic thing.

   Julie

   November 12, 2007 at 12:31 am

4. This happened at the 12 and Telegraph Best Buy store in Southfield Michigan.

   I bought a Wireless router and chose the “one minute” in store pick up option.

   I got to the store and there were two lines. One for customer service and one for in store pickup. I got in the latter.

   There must have been four people working that area or at least one working and three mulling around.

   I was told I needed to wait in the customer service line to pick up my item. I told them I was in the proper line labeled “in store pickup.” It was a huge sign just like the one for customer service. I put up a bit of a stink and those in the customer service line waiting agreed with me that I should not have to wait. I actually had a bit of a revolt going as my fellow “waiters” were upset with the speed of their service and I think they were looking for a reason to give a voice to their impatience.

   Anyway, I relented. I told them I would wait in the customer service line but I would be returning my product on the spot. I did ask them why only one person was working this area with so many waiting but that was a question that went unanswered.

   They called the manager over when it was my turn and he informed me that I must pick up my item and then if I wanted to I could return it. So I asked him… You want me to pick up my item, return to the line and wait once again to retun my item? He said that is store policy. I turned around and no one was behind me. I turned to him and gave him the most confused look I could muster but in the end I complied.

   By the time I picked up my item there was no one behind me waiting in customer service. I went back to the line literally “2 steps” and turned around. At this point I was fairly irritated that a paying customer could be treated like this but I just stood there and waited for him to call me back up there “2 steps.” He had some underling take care of me at that point. He was a real asshat.

   So they didn’t get my $139.00 and that store lost a customer for life. I suspect most in that line before me won’t be going back as well.

   Mike

   November 13, 2007 at 5:41 pm

5. I work at a Best Buy, have for 3 years. I see a lot of these posts about how much Best Buy sucks. I can agree with a few, but some people are just inconsiderate. Yes you are a customer… but stop referring to everything that happens to you at a Best Buy the companies problem and that it happens no matter what employee and what store it is.
   It is going to happen that you are going to run into an incompetent person NO MATTER WHERE you are shopping. She was probably too dumb to realize that getting a penny would make it an even dollar. Maybe she was new there and wasn’t sure if she could do it, so didn’t to save her own hide. And yes I know it’s weird but if you pay with DEBIT, you get cash back. If you use a debit card, but chose the CREDIT option, your refund will go back to the card.

   Shit happens, don’t blame the company for one person.

   Brett

   November 27, 2007 at 8:01 pm

6. Complaints about Best Buy are numerous and definitely outnumber those I’ve seen about Circuit City. In my estimation, blaming a company for their employees’ actions is a just means of evaluation. Best Buy is a retail chain and consumer service should be their highest priority. Now, I don’t mean consumer service in the sense of having employees mind their P’s and Q’s, but rather giving them adequate training to service their customers in the correct manner. The employee I mentioned above thought what she was saying was a “policy” when, according to comments on this post, it wasn’t. Who told them this?

   Additionally, not being able to receive a non-cash refund for items purchased with a debit card is extremely absurd. I have never experienced this in any other retail chain.

   In fact, while we are on the subject of Best Buy again, I’ll relate to you another interesting problem I had at a Best Buy just last night.

   My friend and I have been waiting to pick up a copy of Rock Band for quite some time. After calling around the Chicagoland area, we found a Best Buy that had a single copy in stock. Since we left for the store about 6 hours after our initial call, we made sure to call the same store again to make sure they still had it before we left. They did. Twenty minutes later, we arrived at Best Buy to pick up our copy. We headed straight to the video game section.

   Us: Hey, we heard you guys have a copy of Rock Band.
   BB Employee: Um, I don’t think so. We haven’t had one in a while.
   Us: Well, we just called and the person on the phone said you guys had one.
   BB Employee: I’ll check for you.
   [5 minutes later]
   BB Employee: No, we definitely don’t have it. The person you must have talked to must have been lying.

   Just for kicks, we check with TWO OTHER EMPLOYEES in the video game section. They both give us the same reply. Downtrodden, we decide to go look at HDTVs we can’t afford. But suddenly, we have a great idea. Let’s call the Best Buy we are currently standing in and see if they again tell us that they have Rock Band in stock.

   BB Employee 2: Thank you for calling Best Buy, home of the Geek Squad!
   Us: Yeah, do you still have that copy of Rock Band?
   BB Employee 2: We certainly do.
   Us: Actually, you don’t. We were just there.
   BB Employee 2: Actually, I’m in the back right now staring at it. I want to buy it, but as an employee I can’t.
   Us: Well, we’re in the store right now. Where are you?
   BB Employee 2: I’ll bring it to the front.

   What the hell? People in the video game section don’t even know what their inventory is? This is obviously a communication issue that could be resolved by, say, better employee policy and communication? Not to rant on your company, but it seems like every time I go in there it’s becoming a hassle.

   And hey, I don’t blame you. I’d work for Best Buy in a second. Who wouldn’t want to work there with the amazing discount you guys get (5% over cost after 90 days is it?).

   Ryan Gallagher

   November 27, 2007 at 9:48 pm

7. I love Circuit City.. but now CompUSA is TigerDirect.. and TigerDirect pwns all! Amazon prices at CompUSA/TigerDirect locations, who could ask for more?

   Andrew

   March 6, 2008 at 2:26 am

8. I abhor Best Buy. The prices they charge for most items are absurd. Case in point:

   A DVD set of an old TV show retails for $124.99.

   At Costco, the same set costs $64.99!

   When I complained, I was informed by a manager that I had to pay for the privilege to shop at Costco, while I can shop at Best Buy for free.

   Yes, I did point out to the lackey that my Costco memberships costs me $50, so I could’ve used the $60 in savings to not only purchase my membership but also an oil-barrel sized drum of ketchup as well.

   His response? “Well, that’s your choice.”

   Did I expect a better response? Nah!

   James B

   March 11, 2008 at 8:38 pm

9. Just learned of Best Buy return policy: Purchased a digital camera on 5/10/08 at about 6pm for my mother inlaw as a Mothers day gift which is today 5/11/08. Cut the yellow “15% restocking charge if seal is broken” seal at about 11:30 am 5/11 to set the camera up for her. Suprise! I find the screen broken and its not the model # that the box is for.
   I try to exchange at about 12pm 5/11/08 it but am told I have to deal with the manufacturer since I opened the box! Basically it’s not thier problem and they are calling me a thief! I left the camera there, returned 1/2 hr later and returned the memory card and got refunded for the 2 yr ext. warranty I don’t need for the camare I don’t have. I will not shop there anymore. If you do, open the box and check the operation of the product BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE STORE.

   Pat

   May 11, 2008 at 1:42 pm

10. Wow. Best Buy may possibly be the worst company ever. I live in Atlanta, GA, and the service here is just as bad.

    Case in point: Just yesterday I shopped around online for the lowest priced digital camera, and found that after shipping costs at other on line stores, I could pick one up at the local best buy for just a few bucks more, so I purchased online for in-store pickup.

    When I got the email that it was ready, I drove the few blocks to the store and saw that they had a guarantee of your product being in your hands one minute after you hand your ticket to the customer service rep or you get a $10 refund. 5 minutes for large items such as “Televisions, refrigerators, etc ”

    Well, it took about one minute for her to process the sale and find the product, and call over a manager, since it was locked in a cage. I asked for the refund at 70 seconds. Hey, if you got a big red button connected to a bigger blue and red countdown timer, I consider your guarantee to be serious.

    At that point, we had this exchange:
    Her: “Sir, that doesn’t apply to large items”
    Me: “It’s a camera. You consider that a “large” Item?”
    Her: “Well, it’s locked in the cage, and that makes it large”
    Me: “The cage makes it large? I can see that there’s a music CD in there. That make it large too?”
    Her: “Yes sir. If you like, you can discuss it with the manager.”

    By the time the manager waddled her obese frame from the snack area to unlock about 3 minutes had elapsed. Again, I told the rep while the manager opened the cage that the guarantee was broken and I wanted my refund of $10, and we had this exchange:

    Obese Manager: “What appears to be the problem?”
    Me: “It took longer than a minute to get my camera”
    Obese Manager: “That doesn’t apply to large items”
    Me: “The box is approximately one square foot.” As I held it up for her to see.
    Obese Manager: “It doesn’t apply”
    Me, yelling: “SHOW ME WHERE IT SAYS THAT HERE”
    Obese Manager: “Give him his money”

    And with that, the obese manager waddled back to wherever she came.

    In this economy, you’d think Best Buy would have offered me a foot rub or something. I’ll think long and hard before I spend my hard earned money there.

    Paul

    May 21, 2008 at 7:41 am

11. I work at Best Buy in Pennsylvania and I typically like to google phrases such as “Best Buy sucks” just to read peoples endeavors at their own select Best Buy stores. I must say after reading so many horror stories and strange events my mind is just blown. I dont know what Best Buy stores everyone is going to but just to use the stories on this forum as an example… our store would have definately taken the penny to give you even change, no problem and we would have DEFINATELY honored the dot com refund fee! The only thing that I would have to agree with on this forum is the restocking fee story. I’m not saying that you stole anything. But we as a company have to protect our assets and unfortunately there are MANY people out there that would break something and try to return it for a brand new one. Thats why there is a restocking fee. But in all, there ARE good Best Buy stores out there. Trust me! Just swing by central PA! :) I agree, the ones around you are horrible!

    Lee Phillips

    May 24, 2008 at 2:00 pm

12. Yeah, I’ve had quite the problems with Best Buy. I wrote about it at http://www.qxpi.com/bestbuy... you got lucky… BB tried screwing with my credit!

    Tim

    June 8, 2008 at 4:26 pm

13. Everyone that hates Best Buy, Circuit City or any other electronic store want to know the answer to your problems? It’s called Newegg.com

    willywonkaisrsh

    June 16, 2008 at 10:10 am

14. I work at Best Buy in Arizona and I know for a fact that we would have taken that penny. For those of you who hate best buy so much, just go and see if you can work for them. I’m a full time student with almost a full time job there and a lot gets thrown on the employees shoulders. Most BB stores have a pretty sophisticated system that allows us to get the most done. We managers on duty all day everyday, and always new employees on the floor… sometimes it’s hard to keep track of everything. I know you people say the company needs to train their employees better… but it just doesn’t work like that. Ever received a truck with 10,000 items on it… ever have to input that into the system to make sure the computer is right? People make mistakes. Most of the people that complain are egotistical jackasses that expect the most out of everyone @ BB and 100% accuracy all the time. When I first started working there I was scared to make the wrong move all the time, mainly because of people like you. Now it is clear that people such as yourselves are going to make mountains out of molehills and won’t cut an employee any slack if we mess up something at all.

    Nick K.

    June 25, 2008 at 8:33 pm

15. Couple things for you. There is a policy that states that best buy employees can not make change. This is in place so that BB employees do not make mistakes in their counting that would result in registers being off and ultimately, that employee’s termination. Yes, i know that it is easy math, but people screw up sometimes. the 15% restocking fee that is in place on gps, laptops and cameras was originally put in place to keep people from “renting” those products for the weekend or for trips. you would be suprised how often that happens. It always boggles my mind how quickly people will come down on retail employees. It is a fairly low paying job with shitty hours that is commonly held by highschool and early college students. try putting yourself in the employee’s shoes next time you are in a situation like this. I have repeatedly taken care of customer issues like the ones you all are talking about, and nine times out of ten, the issue is not with the employee or with the policies, but that the consumer is refusing to listen or will only hear what they want to hear. employees in a retail situation often get blamed for the customers short commings, which isn’t fair and doesn’t really make the employees want to work any harder to service their customers. contrary to what has always been said, the customer is not always right. do retail employees a favor, when you have a good interaction with one of them, seek out their manager and tell them what a good job they are doing. getting just a little praise from a customer can go a long way…

    enrique

    June 26, 2008 at 12:17 am

16. I bought a $1600 Sony flat screen TV from them. Got it home and opened the box and it was broken. Best Buy refused to exchange it or give me my money back. They said call Sony. Sony said we don’t do anything about broken TV’s go to Best Buy. Finally after 2 days, someone at Best Buy corporate said they would exchange our TV and they said they’d give us 10% off for the trouble. What a relief….until they called back and said they could not exchange it as there was no proof that they did the damage.

    So now, I’m stuck with a $1600 broken TV? Finally, after 4 days and several managers later. We did speak with someone who said they could exchange it for us. I did finally get my tv exchanged, but never got this 10% off and had to pay $70 to have it delivered. They did nothing to make up for the 4 days of major hassle. During this entire time, I had to bring the TV to them twice, listen to them say that we broke the TV, and that they would not have possibly sold a broken TV.

    Do not buy anything from Best Buy, if you do, check the box before you walk out of the store.

    Todd

    June 27, 2008 at 2:15 pm

17. Just the other day i bought a dvd and when i got home i opened it and there was no dvd in the box. So i drove back and man was the manager a witch she was telling me i was stuck with a 15.00 dollar plastic dvd case but i told i wanted a new copy and she still gave me crap but in the end i got another and i am never going there again.

    Michael

    June 27, 2008 at 9:54 pm

18. Okay,

    I’m at work at Best Buy right now. True, our 15% redtocking fee is for the customers who rent out GPS, projectors, Cameras, etc… alot of the “complainers” complain about stuff that has nothing to do with what we’ve done. I work in a fairly “urban” area, and I hear all kind of bull excuses of how the GPS was broken when they took it out the box. but to their disbelieve I can usually find their lies. Like a customer who buys a GPS says “I never opened the box” but when I open the box and get the GPS for recent destinations it tells the truth. And I’m not saying that every custoemr is lying, but we gotta cover our assets and make sure that we’re following policy and we’re not being takein. I had acustomer buy a in dash TV screen and returned it 20 minutes later only to find that he already had one at home that was the exact same screen. turns out he got a CD stuck in it and broke the player trying to retrieve the CD. so he swapt out the broken Screen and got his money back. And we didn’t even sell him the first one. Customers like that is why your seeing such “terrible customer Service”. As for everyone who got someting that was damaged out of the box’ when you get the product and the box looks dinged up, as soon as you purchase it, open it in front of the guy standing at the door and I garuntee the store will take care of you!!!!!! Also don’t get mad at hime for wating to check your reciet on the way out. Thats his sole job up there. He checks big screen TVs and Computers. When TVs and things in boxes are shipped to us, their in boxes. We dont open them. we dont build them. We just know about the specs and sell them. we offer installation services not to rip you off but so when we deliever the product, our isntallers are the ones opening boxes, so if somethings wrong, you got someone from BBY right there that can vouch for you. From what I’ve seen going into other BBY stores, customer service is usually good. but if they need to do something to ensure their jobs, dont get mad. for ex. If a game was jsut released and they say they have more in the back, dont give them a hard time. allow them enough time to dig through 5000 boxes and totes to find one small game case and put it in a shrink wrap. Our customers are what we work for. we’re not being dicks on purpose. we just have so much to worry about everythime we clock in to serve you. theres not that many of us signed to a single department. like right now theres one guy working in videogames music and movies. 1 guy covering all three areas. give him a break. during the week if its not a new release day not to many people are scheduled storewide. if you really want to see change theres a survey that prints at the bottom of your receit that the coorporate offices look at to see what can be improved. FILL IT OUT!!! and stop with these BBY bashing chat sites. I know we tell you to fill them out as you leave our stores, but instead of doing that you get on these forums waste time and energy bashing what could’ve been changed by doing the survey. I love all you customers. I the most customer centric employee there is. I always take care of my customers. If there truely is a problem with a GPS or something with a restocking fee I generally waive it.

    All BBYs arent bad.

    STEVEN

    July 7, 2008 at 1:28 pm

19. BEST BUY does indeed suck! I will take the suggestion to shop at Circuit City from now on. J& R in NY (jr.com)has awesome customer service and they ship for free on a lot of things. I bought a Dell computer at Best Buy and was talked into signing up for a Best Buy credit card and paying that way for the computer. I mailed my payment on the 1st, it was due on the 14th. They charged me $29.11 for a late fee and when I disputed it they said they’d remove it. When the next bill came they only removed $14.50. When I called back they refused to credit the difference even though they already said they would. It still has not been resolved.

    Cathy

    July 10, 2008 at 11:34 am

20. Cathy,
    You are totally wrong to think that your situation is best buys fault. When you finance… do you really think that the company you buy your product from pays for your junk up front, or does the bank? You’re problem is the bank, not BB. Think before you post something like you just did and sound like a total moron.

    Nick K.

    July 14, 2008 at 4:01 am

21. Best Buy assured me that my computer would be fixed and returned to me by July 5th. It is now the 15th and still no computer, not to mention parts weren’t even ordered until the 8th, over 10 days after it was sent out. Not one apology from my local store or corporate when contacted.

    Abbey

    July 15, 2008 at 5:38 pm

22. Abbey… I work for the Geek Squad and have for many years. I have delt with many customers, good and bad alike. I would bet anything that the agent you delt with either said it would take an average of 2 to 3 weeks to send out and fix your computer or it looked like they could fix it in the store at first but had to end up sending it out to the service center, or they were new and didn’t have on a white shirt, but in any event if you were to look at your service order ticket on the right side about 1/4 of the way down the page you will see an estemated return date. Unless your computer started out as an in store repair it would be about 2 or 3 weeks later than the date you droped it off at the store. I know being without a computer is a pain, but understand that there is over 500 people working 24hrs a day fixing computers at our service center and there are over 900 stores sending computer there to be fixed.

    Jeff

    July 20, 2008 at 4:17 am

23. Six months ago, we purchased a 42 inch flat screen from best buy. Worked fine until they came to install it on the wall mount, and it shut off. No big deal, just a glitch, but the tv was done for (some problem with circuits in the tv.) I was cool with it, just wanted to exchange the tv. Best buy sent me to three different stores, all over 45 miles apart (I live in the middle of nowhere), but eventually I got to exchange the tv. Two weeks later, the installer came to put the tv on the wall mount again. Again the tv would not turn on. So we said, ok, we will just get another one (I stayed very calm, clearly not the installers fault or any of the kids we talked to at best buy, just a streak of bad luck). So we waited again, had to have this one inspected by best buy, who deamed it “officially broken” and exchanged it again, this time for a different brand. Installer comes out, but it takes three weeks this time, however it worked, so we were happy! Finally a tv on the wall, two and a half after we bought the first one! NOT SO FAST…this one shuts off and will not work about a week and a half later. So we call best buy and say, ok we would just like a refund now. Of course, we were past out thirty day refund limit so no dice. They tell us they can come fix it, but we will have to immediately replace the $160 service warranty we had already purchased, so we better just call Samsung. So we call samsung. This tv has been repaired SIX times, and no one will give us our money back. The tv itself was $1300, and we paid another $450 in service warranties so this would not happen. Not to mention the $400 it costs to install satellites in the middle of nowhere, and the $110 a month for tv service. It literally makes me sick to look at this thing on the wall, and I cannot get anyone to even replace the thing (its totally unfixable according to our Samsung people, but still neither samsung nor best buy will do anything for us.)

    LOOONNNGG story short, I don’t blame any employee working at best buy or samsung, everyone who we have talked to at best buy has been nice to us. I DO BLAME upper management and policy makers with Best Buy. I don’t raise my voice at anyone, I always say please and thank you and am polite because it can’t possibly be any person that I am talking to at best buy who has done this to us. The second that I get on the phone with the person who actually has the power to refund me and won’t, you better believe I will raise some hell. As it stands, we already have to call the BBB and the attourney general.

    mary lynn

    July 31, 2008 at 10:11 am

24. Jeff, I seriously wish that the geek squad never existed. Please tell me what the requirements are to get a job on the douche squad. I purchased the insanely priced $300+ protection plan, which didn’t protect me against a thing. I took my laptop back 6X, and it was NEVER fixed properly. I was told continuously that it was a software problem and it was MY problem. Finally the warranty ran out and I had to have it fixed by a local technician. Wow, to my surprise, it wasn’t a software problem as I had indicated, it was a problem with the hard drive, which by the way, was a common problem with the particular VAIO that I purchased. So I am out the $300+ on warranty and $150 for new hard drive which should have been covered.

    Ironically, the last time that I was in Worst Buy, I was standing next to a couple that had purchased a laptop that was defective. They had brought it back to the douche squad who shipped it off to some facility in the midwest. Well 4 weeks later, they still did not have it. The were pissed to say the least. When they asked to see a tracking number, the douche bag would not give them the number nor indicate where the computer was in transit.

    I’ll tell you this company is the WORST for customer service. Seriously, it sounds like the employees spend more time searching blogs trying to defend themselves against their customers than they do helping their customers. Here’s a note of advice to all of you Worst Buy employees, get a college education and get out of that store. Or you may spend the rest of your lives searching blogs to defend your pitiful excuse for an electronics store.

    Shop ANYWHERE besides Worst Buy.

    Matt

    August 2, 2008 at 10:27 am

25. @The initial post: As Julie said, the policy is that you can get only cash back for debit purchases, unless the amount is in excess of $250, then you would receive a check in the mail. The policy that your problem with change is false and she was more than likely just giving you a hard time, it happens when you hire people that can’t keep their mind on the job (go figure).

    @Mike: According to policy (sort of flimsy depending on the store and their market, but generally universal) you must wait for an email to be sent to you confirming the availability of the item, then you are supposed to call and verify that the product is being held at the Customer Service Desk. As of the date in your post we did not have a Sales Operator position in place, and you would probably not been able to get through, so in your case you are fine. As in most stores there are two lines, however it is usually necessary to only have one line, due to bad scheduling practices; so that’d explain the abnormal wait time.

    @Ryan’s Second comment: It isn’t surprising, it is very common for the sales floor to not have an accurate count of items on hand, since our inventory system will only update every ~1.5 hours (on a good day at least). Also you could factor in that some stores hold items for possible returns due to faulty parts, I know that my store does this as a precaution, if we need to sell the last one we will, but albeit reluctantly. And the discount is 5% above wholesale, no day limit either.

    @Andrew: Well CompUSA is losing business exponentially to Best Buy, despite the negative pitfalls that people keep touting here on the intarwebs. Also TigerDirect is by far a good alternative if you need what they sell, another solution and one I refer customer’s to all the time is NewEgg.com.

    @James B: The ONLY excuse I can give you is that we are a business and want to make money, there are plenty of people that would rather come into Best Buy and purchase the DVDs rather than shop at Costco; also here in Wichita, KS we have no CostCo, there’s Sam’s Club, but we don’t talk about them =P In most cases if you talk with management you can swing them to discount at the very least halfway to CostCo’s price, and if you are a Reward Zone customer they’ll usually bend over backwards to help you out.

    @Pat: Unfortunately for you the policy you wrote of is very incorrect and the store that told you this should be examined. The policy states that any open item, excluding movies, video games, cd’s or other copyrighted materials to include software, can be returned/exchanged so long as it is within the given period of time. For Digital Cameras that would be 14 days, it is true that there is a 15% restocking fee on the item if opened, however if the item is defective whether DOA or otherwise you are entitled to waive the fee so long as you exchange for something equal or lesser value (i.e. the same camera or one more expensive). The only time you should be referred to the manufacturer is if you are outside of the 14 days and/or did not purchase the Performance Service Plan (PSP). I apologize for your troubles!

    @Paul: I agree with you there, she has the authority to just give you the refund, however in truth the policy is that: The one minute starts after you have presented your photo ID, purchasing credit card and your confirmation e-mail or valid order number to us, and when Best Buy enters your order number into our computer system. Best Buy will track the time, which will end when you have the product in your possession. Wait time in line and the time to print your receipt not included. All credits will go back to the credit card or Gift Card used on the purchase. Orders less than $10 will be credited up to the amount of the purchase. Eligible only for customers who present their confirmation e-mail or a valid order number at the counter. Orders for which non-physical credit cards are used as payment (including, but not limited to, virtual or one-time-use credit cards) are excluded from the guarantee. *this is verbatim from the bestbuy.com website*

    I included the policy to clear up any other discrepensies, You were in the right and should have gotten the discount immediately.

    @enrique: The policy for making change is referring to the employee making change from their own pocket, not from the til and/or if the employee has only been on the job for less than 45 days, or is still a “white shirt” trainee. Everything else you say is correct, they shouldn’t step on our toes so much, but hey, our society is just a bunch of cheap people with opinions, so it’s only natural that it would happen.

    @Todd: I’ll refer you to what I wrote for Pat, the store should have taken the television back. I think that your opinion for others to not buy things from the store is harsh, I understand the predicament, however I stress that if you have a problem with a particular store or facility (such as corporate) then you refer to them, not the business in general.

    @Cathy: As Nick K. said it isn’t the business’s fault that you didn’t take advantage of the online payment option, also once you sign up into HSBC it’s their service not ours. Sorry for the inconvenience though.

    @Abbey: As Jeff said, it is an average assurance. In most cases it isn’t our, nor the service center’s fault for it taking longer than normal. If they must order parts, then it falls upon the company we order from, and in such case we are to notify you either by email or phone that it will take longer, however this update will only occur if it is pinged in the system as being past due.

    @Mary Lynn: Bless your heart for being so honest and forgiving! We need a few more customers like yourself. I would have to say that if what you are saying is true about the televisions and bad luck, it may very well be your home breaking the televisions, I know first hand having delivered and installed televisions into homes that there can sometimes be a few faulty wires or power surges (even with the protectors and expert installation) that totally decimate an entertainment system. It’s a long shot, but if you’ve had that much trouble I’d have an electrician come have a look at your home just in case you need to file suit with the company. Case in point we had a customer with just that issue, filed a suit for 45K against the company, lost because upon inspection their home, there were several malfunctioned circuit conduits and breakers, in essence a fire hazard and more.

    @Matt: Your use of the female cleaning solution is very strong in this case. In my own defense I love working for this company and will defend it to the best of my ability. Also so that you know I also serve in the United States Air Force and work part-time as a Store Operator at our local Best Buy store. I don’t have a remarkable life, but it certainly doesn’t deserve your pity. Forgive me being snide, but it only shows the merit of the person for being honest, I respect you for being thusly honest about how you feel. I’ll admit that many an employee see these blogs and will either defend their company or egg on the troubled customer to be more belligerent. Personally it’s my day off and I got bored and wanted to see if there were any new “Best Buy Sucks” topics, this one is older, but since I haven’t done this in a long while it is of no consequence.

    Now about Geek Squad, there are no technical requirements for getting a job on the Geek Squad, only that you have either some sales experience/customer service/ or even technical knowledge. Most of the guys on our own squad are technical geniuses, however; and here’s the kicker, even though they are so smart and great at fixing computers, they have to follow the guidelines set in place by corporate. Your local repair shop can usually do whatever it takes to fix the computer. All that our store can do is use strictly enforced software only, we run the tests and depending on the results we recommend the solution, if the tests were pointing to one thing but it was another, then that is just bad JUJU, however not their fault really. Strict guides and limited support is what we have to work with, you are more than welcome to not shop with us if you so choose. Also I agree, don’t shop at Worst Buy, shop at BEST BUY.

    Zakk

    August 4, 2008 at 12:59 am

26. Best Buy does SUCK!!!

    I have a HDTV under a service warranty and after 3 separate appointments where the service tech came to my home they haven’t been able to do a thing for me and WILL NOT replace the TV. Keep in mind that’s 3 separate days I’ve had to take off of work AND 2 times the tech showed up without ANY parts to actually do anything. He said the parts were loaded on the wrong truck the first time and the parts weren’t even ordered the second. Try figuring that bit out – how can a part be on the wrong truck when it wasn’t even ordered? Just more lies and delays.

    I called best buy to tell them about my issue again and when I told them I can’t take more days off work they said I wasn’t cooperating with them and that they would void the service contract if I didn’t want to accommodate them. I could only say WOW to that!!! She was even nice enough to read me the legal fine print that say’s they can schedule appointments and not keep them and that doesn’t even count toward a repair attempt. I was referring to the “lemon” part of the contract when I was talking to her… nice. So now I’m going to take a 4th day off of work and maybe on that 4th time the service guy will be able to actually do something to my TV… after 3 times to my home he hasn’t even touched it yet. Now is that funny or what : )

    I’m actually thinking about going to the Best Buy store and protesting with signs but in the end that just isn’t going to do anything really or option 2 of taking them to court. The people on the phone, though nice in an overly sugary way, just really don’t seem to even care.

    Oh and I asked for a phone number to contact someone / anyone at the corporate office and she said “No, I’m not going to give that to you”… thanks phone support manager #201-259 : )

    Adam

    August 9, 2008 at 6:48 pm

27. SHADY BUSINESS!!! who reads the fine print on the back of their receipt? i bought an amp for my wifes truck on the 4th of july; its now aug 15 and i decided on a different amp (one that best by doesnt carry) the amp i purchased is unopened and best buy says all they can do is give me store credit because it has been more than thirty days. i guess since they have my money in their acct, theyre not going to give it back!!! im in the process of getting the local news involved…at least others wont get screwed by best buy…

    mike hunt

    August 15, 2008 at 6:34 pm

28. how retarded. i work for best buy as a cashier, and can tell you that i have never been informed of any change policy like the one above, hahaha

    the “policy” was likely your dumbass cashier’s excuse for laziness and lack of common sense

    less-than-bright people work everywhere, guaranteed you’ll find em at circuit city too! let’s not blame an entire company for one individual :]

    teresa

    August 15, 2008 at 9:00 pm

29. oh, and about the amp story, dude its your own fault that you changed your mind after 30 days.. 30 days is lots of time to decide whether or not you want to keep something? i always thought so..
    i mean im not trying to say that return policies dont ever screw people over, because they sure do, but there obviously does have to be guidelines to follow..
    if the cutoff isnt 30 days, then what should it be? if it were 60, there would still be people who come in on the 61st day and go ape shit when they cant return their item, right? it gets to a point where products get discontinued or just arent stocked at the store anymore, etc, in which case i dont blame the store for not wanting to take it back

    teresa

    August 15, 2008 at 9:07 pm

30. I too was a BestBuy Fool, I have had a couple of sessions with their management Dept. It’s like dealing with a gang of teenager’s that don’t have a clue of what they are talking about..So they pass you on to their next person (A kid that Knows even less than the first)But can talk faster !

    The Managment or I should say Corp. Managment have Their Tactics in place, however.: I helped a friend out Recently (lived with us for a while, It just so happened that she worked for this company
    (Manager no doubt!)..And She didn’t have the first idea as to what a PC consisted of (Hdd,MB. or what GHZ even stood for!) Go Figure!

    She also told me that they get benefits and discounts and/or prizes for signing people up on things..Selling, They have managed to convince their own sales people that they Know more then the rest.

    Please Do Yourself a favor and Don’t Opt. for their credit Card…
    If You Owe a $30 bill, they will sneak in their $ 50
    Insurance liability ( covering themselves in case you can’t pay)
    So therFore you are to Pay your $30 Plus (Their) Liability
    Insurance (currently $ 50) You will end up paying $80 for a $30
    bill, and your %principle will never go down…My suggestion is to
    pay them off and to move on to a better Electronics Place

    RJ

    August 23, 2008 at 4:25 am

31. Mike Hunt, you’re an idiot. It’s on the back of the receipt so you don’t have to drive your POS truck back to BBY to read the return policy WHICH IS THE BIGGEST SIGN in the store. If that’s shady, then maybe you should harass Circuit City so none of us BBY employees can deal with you assholes…

    John Higinns

    August 23, 2008 at 11:07 pm

32. I work for another side of Best Buy and Geek Squad, one which most people dont see. I take the 1800GeekSquad Calls to set up Customers appointments for Geek Squad Services for Inhome Computer Repair, Covert Ops, or to set up Home Theater appointments, which is the majority of my calls.

    I take on average 80 calls a day. Around 20 of which are from Customers who were told they were scheduled on a certain day to get them out of the store and make a sale. Usually the Best Buy employee either didnt schedule them at all or they are set up for a date that isnt close to when they were told. Over and over again all day I have people insisting that they were scheduled for a day or two later and wondering why they never got the call they were promised. Normally its because they arent scheduled whatsoever or they are quite a ways out. Which isnt a big deal except a lot of the people say “oh, if Id known you couldnt come out until then I wouldnt have made the purchase.” So I ended up canceling about 1/3rd of these orders so they can get a refund.

    I always try to call the Store to varify there isnt some sort of mix up and that we cant accomidate the customer. And to me this is the real kicker, litterally 9 out of 10 Best Buys will not answer their phone even if I let it ring all the way until it doesnt ring any more which is around 6 mins, and I always try 3 times on the customers behalf. I know they are Busy in the stores but it rediculous to never be able to reach any one. There is the few rare store who do a very good job answering the phone. And those store make every ones day go a lot better and smoother, for us and for the Customer.

    After being in this business I will never buy from Best Buy or support Geek Squad services, for one we dont get any sort of discount which I feel is just screwing us over, two the service I see the salesmen give the Customers is outrageous I have to clean up after them, three Best Buy Managers favorite saying is call the 1800 #, well we are not the solve all, its just used as an easy out to get the Customer out of their hair and out of the store. Best Buy seems to promise the world until they have the customers money, then they are horrible about giving any service afterwards. Even with the calls we take we have old transfer lists, we hardly ever get them customer transferred to the correct department becuase even if the number on the old transfer list happens to be correct the phone system loves to send people to the wrong place. Its just really a dysfunctional place in store and in the call centers that takes the calls.

    Something that is interesting we are all made to answer by saying “thank you for calling Geek Squad this is Agent …..” Well I have no training in any thing I am no agent! We even wear the Geek Squad uniforms even though we are never seen by the public. If we are so important and need to wear this retarded uniform could we at least be privlaged enough to get a discount at Best Buy? I assure you with a killer discount is the only way Id purchase even a CD at the store.

    "Agent Owens"

    August 27, 2008 at 9:24 am

33. I couldnt agree more, my mother and I both work at a place similar to what you mentioned and its a real crap hole!

    Erica Ray

    August 27, 2008 at 10:53 am

34. Have had more than a few bad experiences with best buy.

    One major is when I purchased a laptop with the service plan. About a month later, I noticed a crackling sound on the speakers when playing DVDs. The sound was fine playing mp3, surfing the web, etc. Took it to the local BB and the clerk wrote down the problem before sending it to get fixed. more than a month later, i get a notice that it’s available for pick up. The guys tell me it’s fine now and we check it out. No more crackling sounds. They tell me they just reinstalled the factory settings (bye bye files) and that was the only problem. I notice a new keyboard and brought it to their attention. They basically ignored that comment and said I needed to pay $80 if I wanted my laptop back. I argue saying that the speakers are fixed and it should be covered. They disagree and said it was software related and is not covered. We talk to the clerk and the manager for about an hour and they weren’t giving in. My wife basically was shouting their warranty was a scam but they wouldn’t budge. I really needed my laptop for work and hesitantly paid the $80 to have it back. For that I could have done that installation myself.

    Other are just minor gripes, like seeing 5 customer reps behind the pick up counter and only one waiting on customers. the others are too busy talking about their exploits to even help especially when the line is 10+ people long (middle of the day non-weekend).

    RV Flores

    August 28, 2008 at 5:32 pm

35. I work for Geek Squad, sometimes I hate working there and sometimes I do like working there, RV Flores, while I didn’t work on your computer, be glad they gave you discount, typically its more $199.99 and if you guys are so hung up on computer repair then please go to school for it or even just google problems you have, I guarentee you’ll either learn something or just bring it to us to work on.

    Troy

    September 1, 2008 at 12:01 am

36. Seriously, there should be a consumer revolution to put Best Buy out of business. It would be for the good of all. I have had the un-priviledge of shopping at Best Buy in the West Coast, Mid-West and East-Coast and I can honestly say the story is the same wherever you go: Managers often contradict one another, even within each other’s ear shot. It is one of the most unprofessional stores in the world and the only reason it still exists is because drones keep shopping there… viva la revolutione!

    Randy

    September 4, 2008 at 9:24 pm

37. Hawthorne (CA) Store Disaster…

    I bought an Ipod with the 3 year PSP in 2006, what a big mistake!!! In July 2008, my Ipod wasn’t holding a full battery charge and needed a replacement. I took it in for service, was sent out for repairs, sent back in worse condition than before. The battery now would die out even quicker than before.

    Naturally, I went back to the store a week later, they offered me a refurbished replacement, I declined since my Ipod was in great condition (taken care of it like a baby). Geek Squad sent the Ipod out for repair, got the call for pickup. Went back to pick it up and this is what happened:

    Geek: “the problem could not be duplicated…ok? Also, I would be charged $34.99 since they could not find a problem.”

    Me: I asked him why would I be charged when: 1. I have a PSP plan for which I paid good money for and 2. Why were they charging me when no problems were found.

    Geek: Let me check. Came back, said the charge was for mailing.

    Me: I said $35 for mailing? Plus, if they have to mail it to their service center (which is 10 minutes away) instead of driving it over why are they charging me? Isn’t that the cost of doing business?

    Geek: Than it must be for labor.

    Me: I said why didn’t I get an estimate for the charge?

    Geek: its in the PSP contract.

    At this point, I read the contract, I said the contract also says that under California law, “an estimate is required before any work is done” he said but we didn’t do any work to it so we can’t give you an estimate….I said if you didn’t do any work, than what are you charging me for? He said for opening up the unit and looking at the battery. What would physically looking at a battery tell you? Don’t you just run a quick 5 minute diagnostic test on it or let it run and test the time until it drains? Idiots.

    I was told that if I didn’t pay the $34.99 than they would have to keep my Ipod. One of the other tech’s said he would run a test tonight and let me know if I should be charged tommorrow morning. I asked for a manager. A supervisor showed up, I asked for a printout of the charges…he gave me one that showed $34.99 for labor. I refused to pay, he refused to test my Ipod. I told him I would take the invoice and submit it to consumer affairs and better business bureau. He said I could not leave the store with the invoice because it constitutes a pickup. I said I’m takign this invoice to submit my claim while they test my Ipod overnight. I will return tommorrow with the invoice. He said my Ipod wouldn’t be there tommorrow unless I gave him the inovice I had in my hand. (What an idiot!!!). I will return tommorrow to find out what happens, but I refuse to pay the fine.

    Pissed Off

    September 7, 2008 at 12:26 am

38. Best Buy Employees = High School loosers. Pay attention next time, you’ll notice that all the loosers from high school work there. Also reminds me of the electronic store in the 40 year old virgin…ha!

    None of them know what they’re doing. If you ask 10 employees about the exact same product, you’ll get 10 different answers. Even worse, if you ask the managers, they even know less than the employees. WARNING: THEY WILL LIE AND TELL YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT TO HEAR TO SELL YOU A PSP (EXTENDED WARRANTY). DOUBLE CHECK WHAT THEY ARE SAYING BECAUSE THEY CLAIM CERTAIN THINGS ARE COVERED WHEN THEY ARE NOT. YOU GET SCREWED!!!! THEY GET A COMMISSION! THEN YOU CAN NEVER FIND THEM AGAIN.

    Hate Best Buy

    September 7, 2008 at 12:38 am

39. Best buy employees are all the high school loosers who barely graduated and couldn’t get a job anywhere else. If you ask 10 employees about a product, you’ll get 10 different answers. The managers know even less. What qualifies them to be a manager? They’re the only ones working there after a year.

    WARNING: DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT THE EMPLOYEES TELL YOU IS COVERED UNDER THE PSP EXTENDED WARRANTY. THEY LIE AND DO ANYTHING THEY CAN SO THAT YOU BUY THEIR WARRANTY AND THEY GET A COMMISSION…YOU GET SCREWED!! WHEN YOU TRY TO GET SOMETHING REPAIRED THEY’LL SAY IT’S NOT COVERED OR THEY’LL EVEN CHARGE YOU WITHOUT TELLING YOU.

    Best Buy Sucks

    September 7, 2008 at 1:06 am

40. Best Buy employees make commission? This is the first I’ve heard of that. I’m missing a ton of $$ then….

    I’ve worked in a few Best Buy locations and visited countless others. Sometimes, they really suck. The employees will be rude and the managers unhelpful. However, this can’t be a blanket statement for the entire company. I’ve seen a lot of great employees that are genuine and take great care of their customers. Realize that over 1/2 of Best Buy employees are in school and using the money they make to help pay for that expense.

    Every comment I’ve read on here I’ve seen firsthand, but you can’t make that out to be how every location or employee treats their customers. If you did, you can literally say that about EVERY business out there.

    Confused...

    September 10, 2008 at 6:41 am

41. Here is my Best Buy “horror story”. In August ‘o8, I purchased a Samsung 46″ LCD TV ($2600.00) They loaded it into my car and off we went. We got it home and set it up and I noticed there eas a HUGE dent in the frame and the screen looked cracked! Luckily, we still had the box and “stuffing” so the next day we took it back to the store to exchange it. Next day, we drug it into the store and went to the “customer service” counter. the young lady was polite but called someone from the TV department to come look at it becasue it was “damaged”- took 10 minutes…. Then she called for a manager to approve the exchange(?) even tho’ we only had it for a day! By this time, I was getting angry! I “vented” a little on the clerk and told the Manager that “He WOULD give me a new set or I would make a scene that would show other customers what Best Buy was all about!!” After much discussion, they gave us another one. We got home and set up the new one.. so far, so good..New one works great. A week later, my 16 year old daughter mentions that her boyfriend had said” I might have dropped your Dad’s TV when we were moving it”!!! I called him and asked him what he meant by “might have”.. He owned up to trying to move it by himself and dropped it on the corner of the box!! What do I do now!! I went to the store and found the Manager who helped me a week ago and explained what had happened and what did he say? ” Thank You for explaining what happened.” Would I mind talking to the young lady who initially tried to help me?(as she got the brunt of my anger)? I “manned up” and apologized to her and the Manager for my behavior and explained that although it was not Best Buy’s fault, I felt they should know what had transpired. You know what they did? They let me keep the new TV and said they would “eat” the damaged one BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO KEEP ME AS A CUSTOMER!! They had every right to ask me to bring back the new TV and take the one I had broken, but they didn’t- WHY?- because they knew I would tell 20-50 people about the way they do business… So, for everyone here who wants to “bitch” about a bad experience, remember there are probably 100 good ones for each of the bad and that’s why Best Buy is still in business!!

    Kraig/Seattle

    September 13, 2008 at 5:41 pm

42. As a former Best Buy employee who left on good terms, my advise for everyone here is to walk into a Best Buy with your guard up. BBY has a three-year plan to withstand the poor economy and it involves up-sales and accessory sales (technically also up-sales, if you ask me) as well as selling those wretched magazine subscriptions that are a pain in the ass to get out of. It also includes boosting the sales of their Service (PSP) and Replacement(PRP) plans- which most Consumer Reports will tell you NOT to buy.

    Every time you subscribe to a magazine, Best Buy makes ~$30.
    Every time you pay $8.99, $12.99, $29.99, etc. for a PSP or PRP, Best Buy gets extra cash from you for no exchange of product or service what-so-ever; and *should* you bring your product in over that time period that you’ve just purchased a plan for, you must first get the approval of a customer service representative- and your odds may vary with each individual representative.

    Capitalism is motivated by profit, not ensuring that every customer is happy. For every pissed off customer there are ten content ones that will go back to the store and give them more money. Unfortunately that’s just the way things are.

    The bottom line is that when you walk into a Best Buy you’re almost guaranteed to be working with one of the two following demographics; young, high school/college aged kids who are just working at the store short-term and don’t really care, or, managers who could have gone to college and become doctors or lawyers or scientists but are now serving life sentences at an electronics store. Some of them are delusional and power-tripping on the fact that they’re managers at said electronic store (because that’s almost as important as, say, running The Pentagon!) or, on the other hand, you have 40-Year-Old-Virgin-esque managers who are going crazy and ready to “Yah Mo” burn their store to the ground.

    Former BBY Employee

    September 13, 2008 at 11:18 pm

43. i have to give props to my local bby..i bought a camera from them as well as the 2 yr adh psp…i wasn’t sure how good of an idea it was at the time, but with accidental coverage, the customer assistant assured me that it was well worth it and i would be well covered by it. when i got home i googled the psp to see if it was worth it. of course i found horror stories and felt like i had been scammed. i planned on goin back on my next day off and return the psp (which i called to make sure i could do). two days before i was planning on heading to best buy for the return, i dropped the camera down my porch stairs and it cracked the screen and got a bit wet. so i dried it off (it wasnt sopping wet but a little wet) and took in to best buy a few days later, scared that i had payed the extra 40 bucks for nothing. walked in the door and asked the man at the door where to take it and was pointed to the geek squad. went to the counter and spoke with a geek, who looked at the camera and asked if i had purchased the psp. i gave him my reciept and to my surprise he said it was definetly covered no problem, but he still had to clear it with the manager(manager agreed). he grabbed a rep and told him to help me pick another one out, whether or not it was the same one didn’t matter, just that if it was more expensive i had to pay the difference (makes complete sense). they didnt have the same one in stock, but i found one that was 10 bucks more and i liked and they did an even swap. needless to say i bought the same plan on the new one.
    i feel sorry for all of you who dont have a good best buy around you!
    upstate ny ftw

    skittles

    September 15, 2008 at 4:57 pm

44. I work at Best Buy, and for good reason. I’ve never had a bad experience at the one I applied at. The store is a smaller store, friendly, quick, and the feedback is usually “I HAVEN’T BEEN IN A BEST BUY IN YEARS AND I’LL COME BACK FROM NOW ON!”. Yup. If you honestly think Circuit City is better, oh actually ‘The City’ where they harass the shit out of you then constantly badger you for their service plans (which are horrible, btw), and then pin on extra money for delivery since they don’t have the TV, go to Circuit City, be my guest.

    Best Buy is easily one of the best Electronics retailers; at least in Victory Lakes every TV is on the same channel, neatly and nicely arranged, clean, and updated with all the tags. So goes for the whole store. People are friendly and cheerful. And, yes, we WILL pester the hell out of you for a Reward Zone card because SIGN UP FOR ONE ITS FREE YOU GET MONEY BACK DUMBASSES!

    And plus, we easily have the BEST install team and service plan, the Black Tie. Easily we trump Circuit City, which is 2nd, then Fry’s, which is an absolute joke, along with Wal-Mart and Target. If your too macho to shop at a best buy, then please, WE DONT WANT YOUR MONEY.

    Thanks.

    Ryan

    September 18, 2008 at 4:22 pm

45. These stories are all bullshit anyway by ignorant customers who make our business the way it has to be (15% restocking fee, 30 day return policy, blah blah blah, checking your receipt)

    Ryan

    September 18, 2008 at 4:38 pm

46. Do what I did last year on vacation and get even, justice, your money back and a great sense of returning power to the customer. I ran into lots of Best Buy crap over a return that was indeed covered by policy, yet I could not obtain even with my roommate working behind the counter. So after consideration I went to four separate Best Buys out and away from my local area while on vacation. I purchased items I liked and always wrote a check and always for under $200. Then I called my bank and stopped payment on all four checks as they were defective – I claim defect if returns are denied for reasonable reasons and was simply waiting for BB jerks to take me to court so I could explain but it never happened and now won’t. This folks is not a returned check scenario…as in you can not legally be placed on a returned check list. One group tried and I told them I did not bounce a check but placed a stop payment and they removed me from their reporting and returned my check to Best Buy – I could sue the reporting check company and BB jerks as this is actually false credit reporting violating federal law but it would cost too much and who cares. My claim was faulty merchandise and now they have to pursue me in small claims court which is very expensive and it’s very unlikely the company would ever pursue it as they would spend more then they could recover. I also placed an electronic stop payment so an electronic payment could not run through my account – like a debit card transaction. It gets better…I live in another state then the bordering one where I made my purchases. I can’t be forced legally to return to that state for a civil hearing…laws don’t allow it for suck small amounts. The result is they have to sue me where I live which laws make difficult and it is also more expensive for the company. The only better way to do this to Best Buy would be to actually close the checking account after stopping payment on the checks, then there is no account to attempt to electronically access. So now we are even Best Buy. Thanks for the free digital camcorder, Blue-ray player and video games. I have now made a profit off of you and it’s been over a year so you can’t legally sue me anymore. Now that’s justice! Shove your returns where the sun won’t shine except at your life partner love in fest.

    ’s justice

    Todd

    September 23, 2008 at 9:13 am

47. Todd, your story is one of true genius! I’d like to know, however, the models of the Blu-ray player and digital camcorder you got, each for the less than $200 price you wrote the check for. Regardless, even if your story was legit, I wish I had a fraction of the free time you have to hatch and then deploy such an elaborate scheme of revenge against the “Evil Empire” of Best Buy. I’m sure you’ve also boasted of your triumph to your countless loser friends you play WOW with or whom you videotape either practicing wrestling moves or jumping of the roof of your mom’s house into the family pool with your fresh new camcorder! Bravo loser! Well done! I guess since you probably couldn’t score a decent job or a girlfriend, then you’ve got loads of time to dream up stuff like this!

    Brian

    September 26, 2008 at 10:56 pm

48. Best Buy sucks! They don’t even know who they send out their TV’s too. I have been waiting over 30 days for a TV to be fixed and it seems to have fallen into a black hole. This is the Best Buy in Fairless Hills PA. No one wants to help you, customer service sucks. I have sent a letter to corporate to see if I can get any satisfaction. I should have listened to my friends and went to Circuit City.

    Bernadette

    September 29, 2008 at 11:44 am

49. Bernadette, you may want to think again about Circuit City…their stock is down to .64 a share. If they’re still in business a year from now, it’ll be a miracle. In fairness though, did you buy your TV at Best Buy? If so, was the service there so terrible when you got it? If so, why did you go back? I know there are certain Best Buys in my area I won’t set foot in, and some that are great. Point is, don’t dump on the whole company because of a bad experience at one store.

    Brian

    October 2, 2008 at 11:59 pm

50. Best Buy is a corporate pain in the ass and Brian, you can try to defend them all you like, it won’t help! Their customer service standards are in the toilet, they could not care less about their customers, mostly because they think that losing one or two here and there does not matter, but it should matter. The #1 rule of customer service is NEVER to say “that is our policy”, but that is all you hear out of Best Buy employees. I bought a referigerator and a computer on the on line store, BOTH items are on back order, they don’t have either in stock, yet their on line calendar says 1-2 days. Then they call the day OF DELIVERY to say that it is going to be another 10-days before they can deliver. This, after they called to schedule the delivery – they didn’t know when they scheduled a delivery that they didn’t even have the item in stock? Best Buy SUCKS and no one will ever change my mind about them!

    Lynn

    October 8, 2008 at 1:22 pm

51. … http://www.cistam.com

    skittles

    October 10, 2008 at 2:33 am

52. Best Buy Warranty Sucks: Here’s my story…My daughter bought a Canon camera…new cost with warranty approx $320.00 dollars with a 2 year warranty. After a year and a half the camera stopped working..no problem I thought since we had a warranty. I took the camera to the Best Buy in Riverside, Calif. After waiting a few minutes a Geek Squad leader inspected the camera and said it would be shipped out to their repair center. Here is where the problem started…according to the repair center it would cost more to repair the camera then what it is work….so they decided to send it back without the repairs or without me getting a new camera. I’ve talked to the manager a few times without getting any satisfaction. I tried to expain to the manager that I paid for the warranty and expected to have it repaired or replaced…No deal from the manager…I’ve spend over $10,000 dollars the last few years at the Riverside Best Buy….I can guarantee that I will never spend another penny at Best Buy. I will update with more information once I take the Best Buy manager to small claims…..

    Dr Telco

    October 14, 2008 at 5:39 pm

53. So to all those who complain about geek squad service sucking and taking to long you are not alone. I own my own business and have computers in the offices and one of them was acting up so I had Geek Squad come out to look at the computer for me. It cost me $299 which was fine. They said this would cover a diagnostic and then repair the problem. It took them two weeks to come out and that was tolerable. So the Geek Squad guy comes out to my business sits down and looks at the computer. After an hour of him doing nothing and opening command prompts and typing in nonsense so he appeared to be doing something smart he says he can’t figure out what’s wrong. I was a little angry so I asked for my money back. He claimed that since he performed the diagnostic then the money wouldn’t be returned. I then explained how the associate at the store told me I could have paid $169 for the diagnostic alone or $299 for the whole thing. Since he didn’t fix anything then I should get $130 back. He told me that this wasn’t their policy and to call the 1-800 number with any issues. Needless to say I got the full $299 back after talking with them.

    Went to Circuit City and it was $100 dollars cheaper than Best Buy ($199) and they had a great policy where they would have a Firedog tech out within two days. I got it set up for next day service! And too all the Best Buy associates that are going to claim that it’s because Circuit City has no customers that’s not true because a couple also purchased in home before me as I waited I watched and they too got next day service. The firedog guy comes out EARLY (Whoa) and finds out it’s a hard drive issue. Swaps out the hard drive does a free install and formatting and I’m set.

    BTW Circuit City almost always has a cheaper price and much more knowledgeable associates. Yes both stores are pushy about the service plans but being a business owner c’mon now we’re all trying to make some money. So no I’m not blaming my experience on the company but I do blame the higher prices on it. CC has a much better return policy and they have waived restocking fees for me. Frys has much better computers than BBY and more selections. Although Circuit City’s stock is low retailers like them and BBY are not stock driven companies and yes I do know quite a bit about stocks owning many myself. So to the BBY associates who pride themselves on CC’s lower stocks do you pride yourself on their lower prices and the fact that their installers have to be MS certified whereas your Geek Squad has to be able to lie?! Didn’t think so. Once again the things I’ve listed are things BBY sucks at as a company. Not the associates but the company. Big deal you guys have IPhones and Macs. Your associates don’t know squat about them.

    Shop Frys or Circuit City for better selection and more reasonable prices.

    Rob

    October 14, 2008 at 7:08 pm

54. BTW to those that complain about the PSP I rarely purchase them but I just bought the Samsung 7 Series and it was quite and investment so I got the Warranty from Circuit City where I bought it. I had a problem a few months later and Firedog came to my house, unmounted it, and there were no hidden charges. Got a replacement and was set.

    Rob

    October 14, 2008 at 7:10 pm

55. I’m a best buy employee and honestly i think that all of the customers who are complaining on here honestly need to relax.Go google circuit city bash sites and you’ll get the exact same complaints. people just need to get off their high horses and stop treating employees like there robots..there people to and honestly were treated like sh**. sure we make mistakes here and there, but honestly who doesnt. Best buy really is a good customer oriented store belive it or not, and for those who still hate them, o well.

    Sofia

    October 16, 2008 at 1:22 am

56. GEEK SQUAD IS A JOKE!

    haha…I’m going to say this really fast only because best buy doesn’t deserve anymore of my time that they have already waisted.

    they suck…i don’t care what store, where that store is, or who works at the store, geek squad is a complete JOKE to say the least.

    what qualifications do these people need to get a job as a “geek squad agent?” Probably just goofy glasses and a huge ego…

    here is the funny part…

    … I was at Best Buy yesterday talking to a “geek squad AGENT” trying to fix the internet connection on my laptop. My wireless connection was working fine, but my wired connection was not for some reason. anyway, i brought my laptop to this “agent” to see if he could figure out what was wrong with it and I told him what i thought was the problem. he RUDELY replies…”sir please, i’m a trained technician and i do this for a living, so please let me figure out the problem.”

    ok, whatever i said… but it gets better. After about 40 MINUTES of sitting there waiting for him to tell me the problem and hopefully a solution to fix it, he turns to me and says “excuse me, but there is nothing wrong with this computer” and i said “are you sure, because I tried it both at my college campus and at my house and my WIRED (***note i said WIRED) connection was not working. he goes “yeah i’m sure, I get paid to do this!”

    i said ok and brought it back home to see if it might have worked now that he looked at it.

    nothing happened….turns out this “professional geek squad agent” was testing my WIRELESS connection the whole time after i CLEARLY stated to him that my WIRED connection was the one that was not working.

    after about 40 additional minutes of hearing customer service saying that couldnt do anything about it, i hung up the phone and called a good friend of my family (who by the way lives in Washington and is JUNIOR in college)… my friend was able to talk me through certain settings and programs that eventually led to me fixing my problem in no more than FIVE minutes.

    something that took the “professional, I do this for a living, geek squad agent” almost 45 minutes just to tell me it was broken and there was nothing he could do, took my friend less than 5 minutes…(over the phone,remember) to simply walk me through about 3 steps to solve this problem completely.

    after i called my friend, my internet has worked fine ever since.

    i will NEVER again go to best buy…and i was spread the word. they need to get out of business and stop ripping people off!

    so sofia, stop treating your customers like “sh**” … and maybe we’ll return the favor.

    David

    October 17, 2008 at 11:38 pm

57. A few weeks ago I tried to get Best Buy to pricematch a TV that Fry’s had on sale. I showed the ad to a sales robot and he had to clear it with his manager. After about 20 minutes of waiting around, he came back and denied my pricematch because BBY wouldnt make a big enough profit. wtf is up with that?

    Tommy

    October 21, 2008 at 4:08 pm

58. ok i work for best buy in geek squad, being that i have been working on computers for the past 12 years so having previous know how i can say that most of the people they hire for this area are complete tards and they dont care if they can fix a computer or not.. its like were not even techs were customer service freakin clerks and being that before i worked at best buy i was a department manager for a big retail store i can say that right now best buy is one of the worst companys to work for. atleast the one in my town.. my store manager is a moran my service manager is a complete idiot and cant work a register. and overall the customer service in our store is terrible.. i’m actaully calling hr soon.. best buy is very unethical. and the integrity is low. and in no way do i see this company caring about there associates more than they care about themselves. cant have motivation in these cases.. i can go on and on but i’ve worked for great companys and this one is on the very bottom..

    chris

    October 28, 2008 at 4:29 pm

59. Alright, that’s pretty retarded, but what can you really expect? Best Buy Hires young high school students to do their bitch work…I know cause I was one of them (for three years!)…Nothing really matters to these employees except selling “service Plans” and trying to bang that chick that works up at register. They treat you like shit because they are being forced to sell, and they make NOTHING in return. I once told an angry customer, ” I don’t care if you leave here with a $10,000 TV or a $5 cd, I MAKE NO COMMISSION.”

    Pretty retarded suggestion to shop at Circuit City though. They are probably even worse than Best Buy, and they are going out of business HAHA. Shopping online beats anything.

    Joe From F'in Jersey

    November 14, 2008 at 11:32 pm

60. Following are my experiences at the Melville NY store, unbelievable, it’s a miracle this store is still in business. DON’T BUY ANYTHING AT BEST BUY!

    What happened to me inside the Melville NY store, was not a matter of misunderstanding the store policy. Frankly they could have charged me a 10% restocking fee, and I would have left satisfied. I have never been treated like I was treated at the Melville NY store by this young woman named Geriann, who I understand no longer works there. Simply because I stated to her “I will never buy anything at this store again”, she told me if I did not like it I could get the F*** out of HER STORE. Frankly I was shocked that she would dare speak to me like this and when I asked her what gave her the right to do this, she said that if customers say ONE BAD THING about her store she has the right to throw them out of the store. Then, she told me I HAD TO SPEAK to the stereo guy about my broken transmitter. I was so shocked by this that I did, and I was escorted to the area, escorted like I could not be trusted. Come to find out that the reason she did this was so she could get this guy to state that I had broken it myself, which I did not. The story that this woman Geriann concocted was amazing, I guess since she knew I was going to call Corporate Customer Service, she had to get a way to cover herself. Since that day, I have never bought anything at a best buy store. I would no longer feel compfortable shopping there. I shut down my credit card, and none of my friends have bought anything there either. From what I have seen on the internet, and from the amount of claims against Best Buy with the consumer protection agency and the better business bureau, I am not alone. Best buy reputation speaks for itself.

    Irene

    November 25, 2008 at 5:45 am

61. haha the only reason why there is more complaints about best buy than there is of circuit city its because no one goes to circuit city cuz they already suck as it is. if best buy is so bad then why is it not going out of business unlike circuit city haha im pretty shure all the people that have complaint have gone back to best buy

    jona

    December 18, 2008 at 9:10 pm

62. It is clear from this post, as well as other BB Sucks postings through the internet, and of course the fact that Best Buy is tinkering on the brink of bankruptcy, that there is a problem with this company.

    After a debacle about 3 years ago with a $50 Christmas gift card I ordered online for my nephew in early December, that did not arrive in Huntington Beach, CA, until January 3, with the excuse that “adverse weather” conditions prevented the promised arrival–I stopped making purchases at Best Buy. We have purchased every major appliance for a kitchen, a high end digital camera and accessories, multiple PCs, monitors, CDs, video programs, etc. during that time, so it was definitely Best Buy’s loss. I went out of my way to avoid the store (why do they always smell like locker rooms?).

    Last year, because their prices were very good, my husband and I capitulated and bought a plasma and an LCD TV there. Just like one of the posters above, the problems happened at installation. We paid for a very expensive package which was supposed to include “tuning” the units to the perfect color and HD resolution (?), as well as teaching us how to use the units, and packaging removal. It took forever to be able to schedule a time for installation, and we had to wait around for the guy for several hours, as he kept calling with a new time for arrival. The subcontracted installer literally spent less than 15 minutes to install both units and ran out of our house refusing to take the boxes and packaging as he was supposed to. In a nutshell, it took me a number of telephone calls, a report filed with the BBB, and a lot of raised blood pressure and aggravation to finally get another installer back. This one turned the units on, said the color looked fine (although NO color adjustments were made), took the boxes and left. For this we paid nearly $400. We ultimately had Comcast come out and fix the units to correct color and HD resolutions, because we were tired of fighting with Best Buy.

    Again disgruntled, I stopped purchasing from them … but when snow started falling here in mid-December, I wanted to minimize my driving for X-mas gifts, so I ordered a couple of CDs for my husband from BB online. They were guaranteed for delivery on 12/22-12/24. While there was some snow and even a bit of ice on the roads in Oregon, I made it to work in a Jetta without chains, and we saw the UPS truck every day, US mail delivered as normal. I phoned BB online on 12/24 and got a snotty rep who was rude, sarcastic, told me my shipment was delayed due to “adverse conditions” and said he did not know when the package would arrive. He told me no credit was due to me, and if I didn’t like it, I could return the items to the store when they arrived. Shortened version, I have called every day since Christmas, been made to wait on the telephone for at least 12 minutes each time, been transferred all over the place, been told the rep could not “hear me and was going to have to terminate the call” although she had answered several of my questions prior to this, and been told my order was marked as “complete” despite the fact it has never arrived. I’ve spent at least 90 minutes following up on this order, and I still don’t have my package. Finally today a rep told me that the order would reship. I said “NO, I just want my $$ back.”

    THEY REFUSED. The UPS tracking shows that the item has been in Portland, OR, 10 miles from my house, since 12/22. Yet they continue to mark the item “scanned for delivery,” at the beginning of the day and then “adverse conditions” at the end of the day.

    BB claims this is a UPS problem (two orders online, and two times a nightmare for small items to be shipped), and this may be true. But my point is, it’s THEIR CARRIER. They need to make it right, and the best way would be to return my $$. Why aren’t they putting pressure on UPS? Why haven’t they called to find out where my package is and ask why it hasn’t been delivered? Why do they keep promising me the item will be delivered and instead of following up on their snafu, making me go through the nightmare of continually calling their automated system and dealing with the rude staff?

    Here’s an aside for all folks above who complain about the complainers: I worked in retail for years, I understand what it’s like to deal with angry or even unreasonable customers. Guess what? That’s what you get for taking their money! They provide you with the job you have, if you’re in customer service, you’re probably going to deal with irrate customers. It’s downright silly to complain about people’s complaints–especially legitimate complaints that clearly show Best Buy’s error!

    Best Buy has had my money for two CDs since 12/18 snd I have nothing. This has happened to me three times with them in as many years–with various price investments. It is extremely arrogant (and foolish) to assert that people should fix their own computers, or go elsewhere because they PROBABLY WILL. That sort of outlook gets a business precisely where BB is today–suffering huge losses and a boatload of online complaints such as this!

    I will purchase any product that BB has ANYWHERE but BB, and I told the BB rep to check it out. They can track your purchases, trust me.
    So, in conclusion — BYE BYE Best Buy, I’ll spend my money for CDs, TVs, monitors, PCs, cameras, video games, appliances elsewhere!

    Pamela

    December 27, 2008 at 4:59 pm

63. I purchased a laptop for my wife from them the day after Christmas. The geek in the laptop department told me Windows Vista would be very easy for her to use. She is a flight attendant and always gone. She called me the very first day of a trip she was on and couldn’t get the laptop to connect to the wireless internet at the hotel. I am her geek squad but have no idea about Windows Vista! We got so frustrated at each other over a laptop trying to get her online. I told her I would take care of it when she got home. I went out and bought her a different laptop with Windows XP Home Edition installed from Fry’s. I took the laptop back to Best Buy for a refund only to find out I was going to have to pay a 15% restocking fee on a $1200 laptop that we couldn’t get to hook up to the internet. The lady in the store said read the back of your receipt for the restocking fees. Like I told her, Best Buy should tell people this before they buy an item or place the restocking information on the item box to read before the purchase and not on a receipt that you only get after the purchase. The employees should explain this restocking info at checkout time before the actual purchase of the item and to read the back of the receipt for important information regarding any and all returns. Be honest, how many people read the back side of their store receipts? The employees in the store were not very helpful at all and had that I really don’t care I’m just here for the paycheck attitude!
    I’m from back in the TRS 80 days but they nicknamed Windows Vista correctly…TURD IN A BOX

    Mike S

    January 1, 2009 at 6:50 am

64. I went to Best Buy right after work, because I checked online at work and the site confirmed that I could go to the store and buy the device the device that I wanted. I got my wife from work & went to the store, but the associate was less than helpful, because the I went to the computer section & asked for the Magik Jack (Which has a USB connection), and the associate proceeded to escort my wife & I to the telephone section & state that it must be around in this section & left us over their. This is by the way after he checked the store computer & it showed that that there were 2 in stock. So, we went home bought it online, and set it up for in store pick-up. After getting all of the correct confirmations & notification that my in-store pick-up was ready my wife sent me down with her credit card, the receipt, her license, and I brought my license of course, but I was told they could not give me the device, because my wife had to be present. OK I was a little pissed, because this was trip number two for a $40 product, but I got over it went home & my wife went back down there. After she got to the Best Buy in Worcester, MA she was told that the item was not in the store. After in which being the 3rd time going to the location, my wife overheard the Supervisor tell the associate that she wanted a copy of my wife’s information. By the way the associate had my wife’s license which has her SSN # & her Credit/ Debit card, and besides that the screen had our address and other personal information. I was wondering if Best Buy remembers TJX & the Millions of dollars they had to put out for credit monitoring for their screw up. I will never buy anything from Best Buy ever again. And if anyone else has had a similar event like this feel free to email me & will use your circumstances as well as my own when I send in this incident to the newspapers, talk radio, blogs, Best Buy’s complaint line, and TV stations. I am serious this is a crime to put anyone’s personal financial information on paper, or digital copy for any reason unless your a legal representative of that establishment, and I willing to bet that the Supervisor was not a lawyer.

    Signed,

    Disgusted Consumer

    BestBuy Never Again

    January 2, 2009 at 7:59 pm

65. ok first of all i worked customer service at best buy for a year and that is not the policy, you can give back “change” or however you want to explain this incident. however you can not put the money back on the card. the system that best buy uses to ring out the customers (and return items), automatically decides what happens with the products the customer service employee has no say in it. Many times, a person will pay with a credit/debit card and it will make them give it back in cash, once again they have no say in how they give you the money back. Also, you customers who want to tell best buy employees and managers that you will never shop there again, do you honestly think that because of you, the store can not go on? 1) i heard that so many times when i worked at customer service, and 2 weeks later id see the customer back in the store 2) go ahead a go to circut city i hear they are doing fine financially right now (Sarcasm) Circuit city has been known to have the worst service of any retailer i dont know how many times ive had customers who tell me they do not want to go to circuit city. i actually had a guy come to best buy and he wanted to buy a product from us, we were out so i told him he could go to circuit city and buy it, he told me he’d rather wait than go down there and buy it. also the 15% restocking fee its been a policy since best buy came about, don’t by a computer and end up not liking it, im sure the laptop was not defective which was exactly why you were charged the 15% restocking fee if it was defective you would not have been charged. Also to: former best buy employee, the approval for a return on a psp is not given by the customer service person, it is given by best buy corporate, i worked up there for a year so dont argue with me. i never once called best buy corprate and had them tell me something could not be returned so you chances are actually very GOOD. i wish i could write back to all of you because you all are wrong on so many levels, you are all just pissy because you were in a bad mood the day you came in and wouldnt let the sales rep talk explain to you everything you need because you thought it was all a sales pitch. so go ahead and dont buy the extended warranty but a garauntee you you will be back in soon and you will be pissed and say that best buy never offered you the extended warranty, when indeed they did you just didn’t want to hear it because that meant you were spending extra money <—– i see this every day!!!!!

    Current Best Buy Employee

    January 3, 2009 at 6:46 pm

66. Best Buy please go out of business!!!

    Their customer service is the worst I have ever dealt with. They will lie to you and don’t even try to ask for a supervisor, they told me that they would call me back within 24 to 48 hours 2 weeks later no call.

    I got a gift card for Christmas and made the mistake of ordering an Ipod online. I got to the store and they said that they did not have the one I ordered in stock. They had another one in stock so I said I would purchase that one. The customer service(they don’t know what that means) person said that my gift card had been charged for the Ipod that they didn’t have and would not be credited for 24 hours. This customer service idiot said I could just pay for it and use my gift card later. I left the store pretty mad and started calling 1-800 best buy – don’t ever waste your time they are complete idiots. I went to a different store hoping a manager could straighten this out Best Buy has cornered the market on incompetent people. This manager couldn’t understand what the problem was.

    I never got an answer to the question why did they charge my gift card for something they did not have.

    I HATE BEST BUY!!!!!

    Gman

    January 9, 2009 at 6:49 pm

67. I used to buy in Best buy but right now I’m very disapointed.
    I bought a $600 dollars Sharp TV, and after a week the remote control broke, i call customer service and after holding on line for 30 minutes someone decide to pick up the phone, they told me I just need to bring the remote back with the receipt and they would give me a new one, today I went to Best Buy I wait for another 30 minutes to someone help me out, and then I explain the situation, the guy left for 20 minutes and when he come back he told me they have to order one and can take up to 10 busniess days…why they told me to go to the store and get one when they don’t even know if they can do that…that’s not my fault and they give false information to the customers, very deceptive and totally wast my time, I will return this Tv tomorrow and never shop again there. Circuit City rocks!!

    Pablo

    January 10, 2009 at 1:47 am

68. I, for one, am thankful for the Geek Squad. Almost 40% of my business consists of cleaning up the mess they leave behind.

    Alex

    January 13, 2009 at 2:39 pm

69. As to the comments regarding commission on sales for Best Buy employees, the commission is not in terms of a share of the profit on the merchandise they sell, but rather the lure of more hours or other preferential treatment. Even the cashiers are measured for how many extended warranties they sell in a given shift. Don’t sell enough and you will be spoken to. If things don’t change, hours are cut (in the case of part timers) or the employee can simply be terminated (it’s within the terms of employment that all employees sign when they take the job).

    The company isn’t stupid. They’ll try any and every way to shove the warranty down your throat because the profit margin is ridiculously high. You would be shocked at the percentage of Best Buy or Circuit City’s profits that come from these sales. And the tactics that sell these extended warranties range from using fear to instill compliance to outright deception.

    Jim Rover

    January 15, 2009 at 12:53 am

70. Jim,

    Isn’t it good business practice to give more hours to the better performers, and less to those that aren’t? Shouldn’t the best team be on the floor as a benefit to the store and the customer? As a BB employee, I can honestly say that our cashiers aren’t tracked on the number of “extended warranties” they sell, but through observations of their customer interactions, any employee will be “talked to” (coached) if they need “coaching” on something they may not be doing right. Isn’t that part of the job of store leadership, to train the team to better help the customer (and the store of course…it is a business, after all)?

    Brian

    January 15, 2009 at 10:51 am

71. Long and short – I was promised a replacement television by a customer support supervisior, and was called today by another supervisior saying that I will have to wait another two weeks (total of 7) for a replacement part instead of getting a replacement television.

    Let’s show Best Buy the power of one unsatisfied customer,
    Email the CEO at Brian.Dunn@bestbuy.com and ask him to replace the Larsen’s television.

    Gretchen

    January 22, 2009 at 8:19 pm

72. I got molested in a Best Buy bathroom. I hate that place!!

    Micheal

    January 22, 2009 at 11:21 pm

73. So much stupidity here. Have fun going to Circuit City…oh wait.

    -Service plans don’t have much profit in them–we split 60% of the TOTAL PRICE (it’s not pure-profit, despite what nanny-sites like the consumerist say) with AIG, the insurance company. They’re a service for the customer-they fix your shit when it’s broken, so you don’t bitch at us forty-five days in and your stuff is broken. Deal with it. We make more money on installation services anyway.

    As for the rest of you twats with your petty complaints, get the fuck over yourselves. You visited a retail store. Try to get better customer service at Wal*Mart..oh wait, you can’t.

    Blow me, I’m right–you’re wrong.

    The customer is seldom right.

    January 24, 2009 at 1:39 am

74. @ Gretchen:
    You won’t be getting one. Read your paperwork. Unless there’s no viable way to fix the thing.

    Oh yeah, for the people asking. Your TV is serviced by the districts nearest service center–with the Black Tie protection. The older service plan (PSP) is handled by whoever is certified to work on said TV. (Local repair shops, etc.) The former is much less time-consuming.

    The customer is seldom right.

    January 24, 2009 at 1:45 am

75. For you guys complaining about Best Buy let me ask one question. How is your multi-billion dollar electronic business running? That’s right it’s not and Best Buy is the biggest consumer electronic store out there. Some words of wisdom here for you, if you don’t spend a good amount of money on electronics they’re going to suck. There is no such thing as “good quality and cheap.” It simply does not exist, it’s like sticking two opposite fucking words and putting them together and it making sense. “I want a hot and cold coffee” Or “I want a good tasting and non-fat cheeseburger.”

    Look Best Buy sells the same brands as every other electronic store and if they break it’s not Best Buy’s fault! It’s the manufacture, why don’t you go on the phone and yell at the company that made the product and not the fucking store that sold you it! Best Buy is simply providing you an electronic device that is easily accessible at a store. They also provide employees there to help you find what you need and answer any relevent questions you might have.

    Best Buy is not a fucking service center, they don’t fix shit that isn’t a quick fix you couldn’t do yourself. That’s why they offer service plans that give you access to a reliable service center who promises if they can’t fix it, they’ll replace it.

    Simply remember this, everything dies and wears down, even you! So don’t expect your electronics to last a fucking lifetime, that’s stupid!

    If you live by this following quote when shopping for anything it will greatly help you out. “The Cheapest Things Cost You The Most.”

    dumb complaints!?

    January 31, 2009 at 2:58 am

76. I’ve spent about 10K of a non-profit’s money at Best Buy over the passed 2 years. Paid every time with a check, drawn on the same account, use the same ID and have never had a bounce with them or anyone. I’m a member of the rewards club, they send me accounts of how much I spend. They know who I and my company check are and what we’re about.

    Last week I presented a check, they tossed it back to me, after verfying it, and told me I/it was declined.

    From there, I’ve been informed that they had nothing they can tell me to cause me to be declined. I just didn’t fit a proper “pattern”, their term. They use a 3rd party to whom they turn over my personal information and who in turn tells them I’m not acceptable.

    The third party claims only that my transaction followed a suspicious pattern, my ID and company checking accounts were fine but the transaction didn’t fit the proper pattern so they declined my check.

    So, even though they have an extensive positive history with me and my company (an medium sized non-profit) I was profiled and my money is no longer welcome.

    I won’t bore you with the predictable customer service joke that has transpired since I tried to find out if I was even welcome in a Best Buy as according to their profile, I trigger a rejection response.

    I have time and work in media so this’ll be going on for a while. I’m not overly happy about being profiled by a business like this.

    asf

    ed bowie

    May 17, 2009 at 12:29 pm

77. Best Buy sucks as bad as Wal Mart.

    Fly

    June 26, 2009 at 12:22 pm

78. Well another trip to Best Buys. Left there feeling like a piece of grap!
    Why! I went to buy a camera and knew exactly the one I wanted before I got there! Well the first guy made wait so long for nothing! I went and got another guy to get the lock camera out. He wouldn’t let me see it and made me go stand in line and pay first. I just wanted to see what came with it! What a concept. They treated another fellow worst than me and all he did while in line was blasting Best Buys on how there crappy policy is. Bad thing about it he had bad breath. He wouldn’t shut up about Best Buy. Couldn’t blame him, all I thought about after I left about I wish Best Buy would take stinking crappy policy and show it up!
    Was headed out the door and some big goon looking but wipe made me use one of the other four doors. Another stupid idiot policy. If I were five years younger I would have shove those doors up is goon looking ass. If I had another 24 hour I tell you had I really feel about Best Buys. They suck really bad. I hope there on the way out.
    They think there all that but just a piece of running grap! That’s all!

    jake

    June 30, 2009 at 4:50 am

79. I won’t bore many here with the very poor customer service experience I received from the local Best Lie (Buy) store in South Salt Lake City, UT. Essentially, I was quoted and guaranteed an item at a specific price, when I arrived to purchase the item the CSR “Dan” and stores product supervisor/manager “Lane” would not provide the item at the price I was quoted by Dan. I spent over 45 minutes in the store waiting for a reasonable explanation as to why I was lied too. Now Best Lie is another B&M (brick and mortar) and .com store I will never shop again.

    Best Lie would be smart to provide customer service similar to retailers such as REI and Crutchfield, and other businesses which hire persons with honesty and integrity. I’ll be sure to share my negative experience with anyone looking to purchase items Best Lie or its competitors sell.

    As for the person who posted the comments here on 01/31/2009, yes, there is such a thing as “good quality and cheap.” I’ve shopped several other stores which provide quality products at fair or cheap prices.

    AB

    August 11, 2009 at 3:24 pm

80. I went to buy a LCD large screen TV at Best Buy and thought that it would be a simple task. After choosing the selected TV I never knew I had to go through a guantlet of other things that the TV may need. The sales staff stood me in front of two TVs and said pick which one had the best picture, and somehow I pick the wrong one. Anyhow they said my TV needed to be calibrated and I refused because The other TV picture looked great to me. After 15 minutes of trying to plead my case why I didnt want a calibration they brought me to another area, and I was asked if I wanted insurance. Since I was going to use my Platinum card it would’nt be necessary, than I had to go through another 15 minutes of why I needed their insurance. Than I was asked if I need a DMI cable and I said that Walmart has one much cheaper and I’ll get one there, but they argued with me for a while that theirs was better. Than they said I needed a power station in case of thunder a power outage and I said I really dont need one because I’ll take my chances. After a while the sales person finally brought the TV out of the warehouse and said.” Hey look I need to go to lunch, I’m going to give you someone else to take care of you. Out comes this poor black kid and The saleperson said, “here take care of him”. Well needless to say I just walked out of the store and didnt buy the TV.

    Randy

    August 13, 2009 at 3:49 pm

81. Best Buy should change their slogan to;
    It’s the least we can do because at Best Buy “We do the least we can do”
    I will NEVER shop there again. About three years ago I purchased a 32” flat screen t TV for a little over 1,000. I also purchased a FOUR year extended warranty. Three years later it stopped working correctly. Geek Squad showed up about a week after I called for service. I had to take a day off work to be there because a weekend appointment was a month away. He took one look at the problem and told me that it couldn’t be repaired because the part was not available. (Remember that point as it becomes important later) At that time he advised me that it would have to be replaced. Another week passed and I hadn’t been contacted like I was told I would be. So I started making phone calls. I guess this woke someone from their stupidity coma, because I then got a couple calls back. I was given a code number and was told that I could use it to get a replacement TV of “equal value”. This doesn’t sound too bad however, there are two catches here.
    1. Once I received this TV it would terminate the extended warranty I paid extra for. They use the word “Fulfilled”. I use the word “screwed” I don’t see why. I paid for four years. I would now only be getting three. Actually twenty five months to be fair. It’s not my fault the part isn’t available. When I questioned this I was told, “It’s all in the warranty brochure.”
    YEA asshole the warranty brochure you get AFTER you pay for it.
    Sorry but Four Years should be Four years.

    2. When I get to the store they show me the replacement. It’s a similar model selling for 379.99.
    Now maybe math is different at RIP Off best buy but my calculator says that 1000 is not the same as 379.00. When I questioned why, I was told that technology has changed in three years.
    What the hell does the level of technology have to do with customer service? I don’t want a
    new TV, I don’t need new technology …..All I want is the one I bought to work.
    Good thing this didn’t happen one year into the plan I would have lost three years.

    So here are the lessons I have learned:
    1. I will only shop at best buy if I absolutely need to.
    2. Extended warranties aren’t worth very much. So read them and ask questions before you buy one.
    3. Don’t expect ANYONE at RIP Off best buy to give a rats ass about customer service.

    PS To the overly defensive guy who posted
    “For you guys complaining about Best Buy let me ask one question. How is your multi-billion dollar electronic business running? That’s right it’s not and Best Buy is the biggest consumer electronic store out there.”
    What the hell does the size of RIP Off best buy and whether or not I have a store have to do with anything? Your attitude is EXACTLY the problem. Just because RIP Off best buy is huge DOES NOT mean that they have the right to take advantage of their customers. You are a FOOL does that mean I can take advantage of you?

    George Venturini

    August 14, 2009 at 4:54 pm

82. see heres the thing there are a TON of ignorant people out there employees and customers alike who complicate things and make the job difficult and the shopping experience a nightmare, but this does not alter the fact that BestBuy is one of the worst electronics retailers in the country or rather i should say in the world (i travel so i know),thier corporate atmosphere is the source of everyones misery and woes (employees of thier company and thier customers) i as a consumer make the choice of not shopping there
    similarly i do not shop at Circuit City, Gamestop, Wal-mart or any other corprotized electronics franchise
    do yourselves a favor all of you and shop on Amazon, Tiger-direct, or Newegg.com.

    Vincent

    August 15, 2009 at 12:03 pm

83. I have had issues with Best Buy myself the return policies are so bad on some items its like they know they are selling junk.

    Shawn

    September 19, 2009 at 6:25 pm

84. As a former Best Buy employee, I can tell you that ignorance is on both sides of the counter. I have seen countless customers and Best Buy employess completely clueless. On the Best Buy employee side you will have in any store, employees that are working maybe 8 hours a week minimum and are ill informed of policies and training that is available, these are typically your high school and college kids, working during the summer or the holiday hiring period which has just started. On the other hand the full time employees, some don’t care, you get what you get, quality people in any business are hard to find, there are a few of us that actually are given the training and offered positions due to the information and knowledge that we possess, the only problem with that is, it is seen as a detriment to the company, because if you are too good you are going to be paid more, like any employee, but the company does not want to do that. I had to fight tooth and nail to make over $22.00 an hour as a
    Geek Squad agent, when our department was netting over $8000 a month in revenue. So Best Buy decided to use remote services instead of actual techs and hire sales people rather than techs, which they could pay less.
    Employees at the stores where I worked were some of the most knowledeable people in their departments, however, there were some that didn’t want to improve, they were there for the money and the huge employee discount. So you have that attitude in almost every job.

    Customers can be easy and can be a pain in the ass, the reason I know this is because when I am a customer I am a pain in the ass. I research for weeks on product before I even buy it, when I go to Best Buy or a online retailer, I asks tough questions to the sales rep, even though I know the answers already, just to prove a point. Don’t sell me what I don’t need, which is one of Best Buy’s sticking point, always up-sell the customer. I never did that as a employee and don’t tolerate it as a customer. On the other hand, you have idiot customers that don’t know squat about technology, but want the employee to teach it to them. NOT going to happen at a store, where time is money. If you want the training on the product, pay for it, or research it, wasting my time asking questions about a product in the store that you want to connect to a item at home that we haven’t seen, NOT going to happen, use Geek Squad or try yourself, easy answer. Customer’s need to be informed before making any purchases at Best Buy or anywhere else, you don’t go buy a car without information about the car and the warranty it has, you should do the same thing when shopping Best Buy. Customers are not always right, but if you make them think they are, you can still turn a profit, that’s
    the American way, so get over yourselves.
    Oh, by the way, if you do shop at online retailers, such as Newegg, Tiger Direct, or any other electronics retailer, you still are probably buying Best Buy product. The reason behind this is, Best Buy purchased the second largest electronics manufacturer in China and is the only American electronics retailer with stores and manufacturing facilities in China. So go ahead and be angry, while Best Buy still profits.

    Greg

    October 7, 2009 at 11:48 am

85. I have to agree with everyone who says BestBuy is only after money, and not there for the best interest of the customer. I work at a store in upstate NY, and see time and time again sales practices put in place that mimic commission based tactics. Adding on their warranties, extra cables, install services that are all extremely overpriced, just to pad the business’ bottome line. But the people selling these are making $9, $10 an hour. We see none of the extra profit. The leadership is incompetant, and if you don’t sell any add-ons you get chastized, but if you do you get a high five. That’s it. A high freakin five. I’ve been in retail alot of years, and worked for most of the big names out there.. and honestly I have to say Best Buy is one of the WORST ran companies around. The onle reason they still exist is because they don’t pay their people anything, and don;t honor their warranties. Thus they only make money. Circuit went away because they actually paid their customers, and replaced people’s TVs. I won’t be here much longer, but I will abuse the hell out of my discount before I go. That’s the only good thing about working in this hole

    BestBuy Employee

    November 3, 2009 at 4:34 pm

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