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A letter to Best Buy

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My only rant about BB is that when I went there to use a $50 GC that my sister gave me for my b-day, they said the card has never been activated. The manager was nice enough to take my word and my sisters word (I called her so they could try looking up the purchase of the GC) and he gave me McDonalds coupons for the purchase amount. Other than that, I have had ok experiences with BB. I just dont expect super customer service nor do I go for their rebates. I just dont trust them in that regard.
 
Originally posted by: XZeroII
I would have called their corporate offices after the first hassel. There is no reason why you should have to do all that. After calling their corporate offices and reaming their hole out a bit, I would go to the store and DEMAND to see the most senior person at the store. I would explain that you were tricked into buying this (LOUD) and you are not getting your rebates. Explain how dissatisfied you are and that you want the rebate NOW (upfront) or you want them to take the modem back and refund all internet fees that you've paid so far. If they refuse, threaten a lawsuit. If they still refuse, walk out and never return except to drive customers away. Make sure you do all of this in an area where lots of customers will see. After your encounter at the store, if you are still dissatisfied, make another call to the corporate offices and explain EVERTHING that happened. Include the gas and time you've wasted driving to and from their store. I can't imagine you not getting something out of all of this if you go this route. They are treating you like crap, and you shouldn't have to take it. Let them know that.


Dude, i have been there and done that when i tried to get my digital camera repaired under warranty. They made the claim that a itty bitty tiny ass scratch was "IMPACT DAMAGE" and refused to fix it. that was 3 years ago and i have not stepped foot in a best buy since.

CC and CompUSA are better stores and from what i have seen have better prices. and have never ever had a hastle with either one.
 
I worked at best buy a few summers ago, for 31 days. keep in mind you have to work there for 30 days before you get your discount. so on my 31st day, i purchased about $1800 worth of stuff, saving $1300 total, and quit after I walked out the door. Screw best buy, I hated em so I screwed em over. Working there is no better than shopping there. they treat you like sh!t there and dont care about anything except selling the service plan. I got written up because a customer I didn't even SEE in the store said I did not offer her the service plan. BS.

I don't shop there hardly at all either, but I went there recently because I needed some dvdr's. I usually order em offline, but that takes a week to get here, and I needed them asap. So I went to best buy to get the Fuji Film DVDR's that were 50 for $50. I get there and see em, but I don't see a speed on em. I ask the guy working there "are these 4x?" and he's like "yes, they are ... those there (pointing elsewhere) are the 2x ones." So I looked at the ones he claimed were '2x' and they didnt have a speed on em either, but the package was a little different. so hesitantly i purchased the supposedly 4x ones. When I get home, what do you know ... they burn at 2x. I was so pissed off, but didnt want to return em because I needed some dvdr's badly. I HHAATTEE that place!
 
i only get dvd's from best buy. ill also jump in for the occasional cd-r deal or something, but thats about it. ill pass on any major purchases there.
 
Originally posted by: Nitemare
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Actually, the warranties are a great deal if you know how to use them.

Not if they come from someone who will deny valid ones.

Then you don't know how to use it. I've never been denied when trying to use my warranty and this is at three different stores. I don't technically abuse the warranty either. If I'm sold something and told 'ANYTHING THAT GOES WRONG IS COVERED' then by God if I feel like my TV doesn't seem as vibrant after 3 years then I'm going to call for some in-home repair work.
 
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Originally posted by: Nitemare
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Actually, the warranties are a great deal if you know how to use them.

Not if they come from someone who will deny valid ones.

Then you don't know how to use it. I've never been denied when trying to use my warranty and this is at three different stores. I don't technically abuse the warranty either. If I'm sold something and told 'ANYTHING THAT GOES WRONG IS COVERED' then by God if I feel like my TV doesn't seem as vibrant after 3 years then I'm going to call for some in-home repair work.

Did you get that in writing? That scuff on the corner looks like you dropped it...sorry rejected.
 
Originally posted by: Nitemare
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Originally posted by: Nitemare
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Actually, the warranties are a great deal if you know how to use them.

Not if they come from someone who will deny valid ones.

Then you don't know how to use it. I've never been denied when trying to use my warranty and this is at three different stores. I don't technically abuse the warranty either. If I'm sold something and told 'ANYTHING THAT GOES WRONG IS COVERED' then by God if I feel like my TV doesn't seem as vibrant after 3 years then I'm going to call for some in-home repair work.

Did you get that in writing? That scuff on the corner looks like you dropped it...sorry rejected.

Never had that problem. Look, I'm not writing out things that I would do if given the chance. I'm writing things that I HAVE done. But, having worked there while in college helped me understand the warranties a lot better than the average customer since I basically saw all of the things that would and would not be covered, what items are sent in for repair and what items are replaced on the spot, etc.
 
I dunno....when I have had a problem my BB works with me to straighten it out. Haven't had a problem returning things, have done it many times. Rebates are sort of a hassle but I have got great deals using them sometimes if you know your prices. I think out of the hundred or so rebates I have sent in I only missed out on 2 of them due to BS errors or whatever. So overall I am still way ahead.

As far as the associates, yes, many of them haven't got a clue. You just have to educate yourself about what your looking for and don't listen to the help there.

I'll still shop there as long as they have good deals.....
 
I've experienced very few problems with Best Buy, but I see how I could. I won't really take any chances with them anymore, but so far I've had luck. I see it vastly depends on the store however.
 
Originally posted by: 911paramedic
"I can assure you that your experience is not at all typical..."

I need to sue them for a replacement keyboard, because I just sprayed Pepsi out my nose all over this one. :laugh:

Just sent him an email with a link to Bestbuy's score on resellerratings.com and contrasted it with Newegg's.
 
I spent 1200.00 bucks there last fall, for a laptop and a wireless router. I took advantage of the interest free financing they were offering.

I drove 100 miles to the BB that had the laptop I wanted in stock.

The pimple faced kid that sold it to me really gave me a hard time when I told him I didn't want the extended warranty.

He came really close to the point of saying I was an Idiot for not buying it. But he didn't quite cross that line.

I nearly walked out, but I needed the laptop, and the price was right.

I haven't spent any money there since though. It wasn't a pleasant experience.
 
Just remember this when dealing with BBY employees... They are there making about $7-8 (the actual sales people) and are pressured big time by the sales managers/department supervisors to sell accessories (cables/surge/etc.) and service plans.

I seriously got bitched at once because I ALLOWED two cheap computers to be sold to these two guys who were SERVICE TECHNICIANS out of their homes without selling them a service plan.

Gee boss I guess I should have called you and watched you work the magic! So, I made sure to call him over every single time I couldn't convince a customer to buy the service plan from then on out. It was great because it allowed them to become pissed at him and not at me and it allowed me to make his day suck more.
 
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Actually, the warranties are a great deal if you know how to use them.
No, they're not. They are rip-offs. I explain why in easy to understand financial terms. All electronic items rapidly depreciate. If you pay (purely for example) $500 for a new TV at BB plus $100 for the extended warranty (we'll even ignore the free manufacturers warranty), and the TV breaks a little over a year later, you will walk in BB's door to claim your warranty only to find the exact same TV on clearance for $99.95. Except that you've already given BB your money a year ago and will be at their mercy. And then what if that TV never breaks down?

And Nitemare, BB was never a good store, you'd just never been victimized by them before.
 
Originally posted by: NightCrawler
I only buy crap at best buy if it is a super deal that I really want.

you're not going to buy anything then. i haven't seen a deal at bestbuy for a loooong time, much less a *super* deal.
 
Originally posted by: saxguy
Originally posted by: NightCrawler
I only buy crap at best buy if it is a super deal that I really want.

you're not going to buy anything then. i haven't seen a deal at bestbuy for a loooong time, much less a *super* deal.

The last super deal was a free router. It was $60 with a $30 rebate in the ad but some glitch on there side printed out two $30 rebates. I sent them both in and recieved both back.

That is a super deal !
 
BestBuy, FutureShop, etc are fine if you don't ever plan on needing something else from them after the sale.

Chances are you will never get a return, rebate or exchange without a hassle.
 
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