"Best Buy," Worst Service!
Written: Nov 23 '01
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The Bottom Line
The online store is good for research and easy to use. It may even be a nice place to buy considering the treatment I received at the local store!
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I was recently in the market for a digital camera and went to BestBuy.com to do some research. I found the site to have lots of information and very easy to use. I think the prices were comparable to other stores, and I enjoyed using the side-by-side comparison feature. This allows the user to compare and 2 or more models of a product type in regards to many different features.
Unfortunately, when I went to the local Best Buy store, I experienced horrible service. The following contains excerpts from my letter of complaint. I think you will find it enlightening.
Dear Store Manager:
My wife and I are in the market for a digital camera and were intrigued by the recent offering of no interest financing that was offered by Best Buy. Following recommendations of Best Buy advertising, we did our research online at BestBuy.com and went to your store on November 23, 2001, knowing exactly which camera we wanted to purchase. The following will describe the unfortunate customer service we experienced during our visit.
I understand that we were shopping on the “busiest shopping day of the season,” but I was disgusted by our experience in your store.
We patiently waited in line at the digital camera counter along with many others who were out for the “biggest shopping day.” We were initially approached by Employee #1, who ignored us twice by helping other couples who arrived after us. Finally, Employee #2 helped us. Having done our research in advance we knew exactly what we wanted. We requested a Sony Cyber-shot 5.24 Megapixel digital camera, DSC-F707 (retail value $999.99). He located one and asked us if we would like to purchase extra memory or the service plan. We politely declined and asked about the 18 month interest free financing. He instructed us to proceed to the Financing Department to apply.
At the Finance Department, we were helped by Employee #3 who was polite, prompt, and appeared well educated about her job. She processed our application in a timely manner. Your store would benefit from more employees like her. We returned to the camera department to see Travis walking away with his coat on. This left Employee #4 and Employee #1 to wait on all the customers. After patiently waiting, we were again ignored for one or two other customers who arrived after we did. Eventually Employee #4 helped us.
She found the camera quickly and attempted to sell us extra memory, battery, carrying case, or the service plan. Again, since we had done our research in advance, we knew what we wanted and declined her offers. She persisted with the service plan multiple times stating, “If you are spending $1000 on the camera, $60 is not much more for the protection.” She asked at least three more times, trying different approaches. Each time we refused. Finally, a gentleman came over who appeared to be a manager, although he was not wearing a name tag. He asked if there was a problem and she stated that we did not want the service plan. He also tried to persuade us into purchasing the plan and when we refused, he ignored us. Employee #4 persisted with one final attempt asking, “Why would you not want to purchase the service plan?” At this point we were frustrated and asked to complete our transaction. She finally finished our sale.
As we walked through the mall, I thought over and over again about the treatment we received and came to the decision that your store did not deserve my business. I returned the camera and the charge was credited to our new Best Buy credit card. We were helped by Employee #5 in the return department who completed her job without harassing us.
The “about us” section of the BestBuy.com web site carries the following statement, “Best Buy brings customers...(a) no-pressure shopping environment...” I think you might agree our experience was very different. I would expect customers to not have to experience such pushy salespeople.
I am appalled that a store with a reputation like that of Best Buy would allow customers to be treated in such a horrid manner, obviously in opposition to the viewpoints expressed on the corporate web site. There are many places to purchase consumer electronics, both “brick and mortar” and online stores. In the future I will have to shop elsewhere.
I hope you and your employees will consider this when treating customers in the future, and will attempt to offer the intended “no-pressure shopping environment.” Apparently at Best Buy, the customer is never right.
Overall, I think the web site is useful, especially for doing research. It will help you find the nearest store to your home in addition to helping you compare products. I think the prices are average, in that I didn't find any great deals.
Considering the treatment I received, I'll shop online, or most likely at a different store next time!
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
scottcolson
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Scott Colson, MD
Location: OH to NV, to IA, finally in MN!
Reviews written: 106
Trusted by: 91 members
About Me:
Family Physician practicing in the Twin Cities, MN
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