Giant store with lousy service - always has been, always will be
Written: May 22 '08 (Updated May 22 '08)

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Using Best Buy's Web site, I ordered a gift card to be sent to my niece. The site was easy enough to navigate, I found the gift card section quickly, and the ordering process was about average as far as speed and the number of forms I had to complete.
When the order shipped, they sent me an e-mail with a USPS tracking number that linked to the USPS Web site. A week later, the USPS Web site was still indicating that that tracking number was not on file. I became concerned that perhaps the item had not really been shipped, so I called Best Buy.
Get this - all gift cards are assigned the same tracking number, which isn't a USPS number at all! The telephone rep said that their computer system just assigns these bad numbers and there's nothing they can do about it. I myself am a computer programmer and I beg to differ. There is, indeed, something they can do about it - change the program to stop sending bad information to their customers.
For a store that specializes in modern technology, it is ridiculous that they claim to be helpless when it comes to fixing their system.
This is not my first bad experience with Best Buy. In fact, I have never had a good one when customer service was involved - the only good experiences have been when I bought something at the store, checked out, and left without talking to anyone.
The customer service problem hasn't been any better for me at their brick and mortar store. The last time I shopped there I purchased a laptop PC - I was in a hurry because my old one died, so I drove into town to get one the same day. I bought one from the store display, which meant that I had to leave it there to have the operating system reinstalled. I was told to come back in three hours. When I returned, they hadn't even touched it because the sales guy forgot to tell the Geek Squad (Best Buy's on-site tech support staff) to do the work. So it was another three hours of waiting, and let me tell you it was not convenient to hang around in town for that long.
My experience has been that customer service is poor throughout the company, both online and at the store. I don't plan on shopping there again.
For those of you unfamiliar with Best Buy, they sell consumer electronics, home-office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services through nearly 1,300 retail stores across the United States, throughout Canada and in China.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Gift Card
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About the Author
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