Best Buy? Never again will I be a customer. Nor will I recommend your products/services. Nor will I ever spend another dime at your store again.
Now, as you may know me, I usually blog about new codes I've found. New products I've learned about or anything technology related. I've never been one to sit down and complain nor praise a company or their products. Sure, I've shared the negative or positive experience with a friend, family or simply kept it to myself. But I believe this honestly deserves it's own post and share to the public.
It's quite a long story and I'm hoping you'll bear along with me, but heck, I'm sure you've read my Playstation 4 Post :).
Anyways. As many of you know the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 recently came out and being the techie guy I am, I had to get my hands on it! After lots of thought I decided to find the best option and go through with the purchase.
I was beyond excited.
Then I stumbled upon Best Buy. Now, don't get me wrong. I've always loved Best Buy. Bought few things from them. Even used to have their credit card. I researched a bit and found that the best option would be to go ahead and buy it unlocked though I would have to pay the full price. Now, I decided it would be best to put some on a credit card and the rest pay through another form of payment. After some research, I was offered in store the Best Buy credit card. Later that night, I went ahead and applied for it. I was finally approved for some with a bit of an interest rate, and an annual fee. After about an hour of being on the phone with BestBuy CitiBank (whom owns the credit card) I asked if I could go ahead and make a purchase though I did not physically have the credit card yet. They told me I could since the purchase would be through Best Buy all I needed to give them some personal information. I asked the CitiBank Best Buy representative to transfer me back to Best Buy to go ahead and make the purchase.
Little did I know this would begin the long chain of stories and lies I would be hearing from their representatives.
Nevertheless, I got connected and I asked the first representative to transfer me to Mobile Services to purchase the phone. I once again asked if I could make the purchase though I had just got approved and since I was only approved for a certain amount if I could split amount between two forms of payment. She said, "sure! of course you can". I was happy, and was transferred to Mobile Services. Meanwhile, I was reading on their site (Best Buy) they could price match. I found several sites that had lower prices such as Amazon. I asked the representative if we could do so. She said yes, and asked for the site for verification purposes. She then told me she was unable to price match from Amazon as Amazon is just a site where third party vendors advertised their products you can read here. That was fine, I found another site; Newegg that had the phone available for $689.00. She approved it seeming a bit annoyed. Then I told her that I wanted to put a certain amount on the credit card, and the rest on another form of payment . She said that wasn't possible and that her system wouldn't be able to do that.
That became disappointment #1. So I asked what other option I had. She said to go onto their website and buy an e-gift card and use it. I asked if something went wrong with the phone if I could possibly have the money back, she said no. It would stay as credit. That became disappointment #2. Then I asked her if I could have overnight shipping or store pick up. She said there was no overnight shipping, and that I would have to wait 7-10 business days if the warehouse had it and that no Best Buy store carried unlocked versions of the phone. Note this was disappointment #3. I asked to speak to her manager she said, "I'm sorry, he just walked out the door". Now, I became furious. She then said, "I'm actually the only one here, you were the last callers, so I picked up, seemed like everything was going well so I waved my manager off". I was appalled. Best Buy has 24.7 Customer Service. Now she is telling me her manager just went home? Now, I understand these people have lives! We all do! But she wasn't willing to do a thing to help out the situation. I thanked her and hung up.
Next day, I went into a Best Buy store. I went to the Best Buy in Boston, and never will again. Despite the horrible customer service, rude sales representatives and simply put horrible store! I asked a representative to help me out anyways. Figured to give it a shot. She went ahead, looked up the phone etc. After about 3 hours of her messing up the order, not being able to find my credit card number and re-doing the order I got fed up. I walked out and vowed not to make the purchase.
After some thought I went into the same store again and trying one more time. Because that one is closest to home, I thought maybe their was someone nice and responsible enough to help me out.
The representative notified me she couldn't price match. I told her she could and after a discussion with her manager we figured she could. We went ahead and placed the order. Now, we arrived to the issue of splitting the payment. She suggested putting the rest on a gift card. Though I was hesitant, I went ahead and did it. Now, because the price match hadn't gone exactly as planned the first time, we needed to buy a gift card for 230.37. The associate did it, and I walked out of the store with a placed order, even though I knew I had to wait 7-10 business days.
After a few days, I logged on to track the order. Now, this purchase had occurred on November 21, or 22nd. It had been a few days.
I logged into the site and saw in bold, "ORDER CANCELLED". I was furious! I didn't cancel the order! My credit card had been charged already, what the hell was going on!
I called Best Buy. But, this isn't like calling the company and waiting a few minutes and then talking to a representative. I called, and the first representative hung up after telling him the situation. I dialed again, and after about 10-15 retries I was FINALLY connected. She asked to directly speak to a manager. The manager stated that Best Buy had tried charging the Credit Card 3 times, and after three times, the system automatically cancels the order. We called CitiBank Best Buy while on the phone with a Best Buy Representative. On their end (CitiBank) the purchase had gone through. But on Best Buy's end it failed. I was confused. The representative than informed me that because the order was cancelled he would be "more than happy to place the order using a different form of payment because as customers we had to wait 4-5 business days for the Credit Card money to go back to Citi Bank". Then I would have to wait another 7-10 business days to actually receive the phone. I was so frustrated. So mad. It was ridiculous! No one notified me of the cancellation. No one notified me about anything! On top of it, I would have to wait longer!!!!
He then offered a complimentary Best Buy Gift Card on behalf of their mistake. I didn't want it. He then stated he would re-issue the original gift card with the money I had used. But because the representative had never given me a gift card, did it all on her own and gave me no physical proof, I had to wait for Best Buy to check the case then re-issue us a new gift card. He told me the gift card would arrive in about 5-7 business days. I was still mad, but I brushed it off. After a few days, I called to check the status. Talked to another manager after a long wait on the customer service line, then again offered a complementary Gift Card on behalf of their delay. Come Monday December 1, I received the two complimentary gift cards. But where was my money, the original amount I purchased? The one they made me purchase to buy the phone. The one where I had to use in store and can't get back. After several hours of trying to call Customer Service, speaking to representatives was given 2 different stories.
1. The money was issued back on the ORIGINAL GIFT CARD (Which I never got and don't have)
2. The case has YET to be reviewed, and it will take 10-14 business days to be mailed out.
So which one was it Best Buy?
Now that was the LAST straw!!! It has been two weeks, and since then I still have yet to receive the card.
Now, a few hours ago I called again. Was on the phone for more than an hour. The representative was unable to understand what I was telling her. I had to wait for the Manager for a long time. The manager then went ahead and said that the Money was back on the original gift card, but literally five minutes before the girl had said that the case has yet to be reviewed! WHAT?!!! This was annoying! Now all is understood. I wasn't the only customer. I'm sure I wasn't the only ones that had issues. But this was insane!
After an hour they disconnected me. The manager called back. (This has NEVER happened) by the way. He gave me his name, number etc and told me he would try his best. Now, knowing Best Buy I'm not counting on that word and but simply am going to wait.
I don't know if I'm more annoyed with the trouble they caused. Or the horrible customer service, rude representatives or ridiculous ordering methods.
Mind you, I called Best Buy Credit Cards and they noted to ship the cards but still haven't.
Now, what kind of a company is this?
Now I will fight till the end to receive the original amount back. Regardless of the complimentary gift cards they offer, I will never want to deal with horrible, and ridiculous customer service again. I hope this prompts you to check whether or not one would want to go through it.
The long cycle of phone calls and rude service.
After some research I found I'm not the only un-happy customer service nor will I be the last.
Best Buy; I suggest you review your ways of practice or we won't be the only un-happy customers.
Now, Holiday season, everything is back-ordered etc. But that's no excuse for anything I have had to go through.
Regardless. I hope people learn from my mistake.
Best Buy, thank you for my wasted time. Next time I'll go elsewhere for my technology based purchase needs.
Now, as you may know me, I usually blog about new codes I've found. New products I've learned about or anything technology related. I've never been one to sit down and complain nor praise a company or their products. Sure, I've shared the negative or positive experience with a friend, family or simply kept it to myself. But I believe this honestly deserves it's own post and share to the public.
It's quite a long story and I'm hoping you'll bear along with me, but heck, I'm sure you've read my Playstation 4 Post :).
Anyways. As many of you know the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 recently came out and being the techie guy I am, I had to get my hands on it! After lots of thought I decided to find the best option and go through with the purchase.
I was beyond excited.
Then I stumbled upon Best Buy. Now, don't get me wrong. I've always loved Best Buy. Bought few things from them. Even used to have their credit card. I researched a bit and found that the best option would be to go ahead and buy it unlocked though I would have to pay the full price. Now, I decided it would be best to put some on a credit card and the rest pay through another form of payment. After some research, I was offered in store the Best Buy credit card. Later that night, I went ahead and applied for it. I was finally approved for some with a bit of an interest rate, and an annual fee. After about an hour of being on the phone with BestBuy CitiBank (whom owns the credit card) I asked if I could go ahead and make a purchase though I did not physically have the credit card yet. They told me I could since the purchase would be through Best Buy all I needed to give them some personal information. I asked the CitiBank Best Buy representative to transfer me back to Best Buy to go ahead and make the purchase.
Little did I know this would begin the long chain of stories and lies I would be hearing from their representatives.
Nevertheless, I got connected and I asked the first representative to transfer me to Mobile Services to purchase the phone. I once again asked if I could make the purchase though I had just got approved and since I was only approved for a certain amount if I could split amount between two forms of payment. She said, "sure! of course you can". I was happy, and was transferred to Mobile Services. Meanwhile, I was reading on their site (Best Buy) they could price match. I found several sites that had lower prices such as Amazon. I asked the representative if we could do so. She said yes, and asked for the site for verification purposes. She then told me she was unable to price match from Amazon as Amazon is just a site where third party vendors advertised their products you can read here. That was fine, I found another site; Newegg that had the phone available for $689.00. She approved it seeming a bit annoyed. Then I told her that I wanted to put a certain amount on the credit card, and the rest on another form of payment . She said that wasn't possible and that her system wouldn't be able to do that.
That became disappointment #1. So I asked what other option I had. She said to go onto their website and buy an e-gift card and use it. I asked if something went wrong with the phone if I could possibly have the money back, she said no. It would stay as credit. That became disappointment #2. Then I asked her if I could have overnight shipping or store pick up. She said there was no overnight shipping, and that I would have to wait 7-10 business days if the warehouse had it and that no Best Buy store carried unlocked versions of the phone. Note this was disappointment #3. I asked to speak to her manager she said, "I'm sorry, he just walked out the door". Now, I became furious. She then said, "I'm actually the only one here, you were the last callers, so I picked up, seemed like everything was going well so I waved my manager off". I was appalled. Best Buy has 24.7 Customer Service. Now she is telling me her manager just went home? Now, I understand these people have lives! We all do! But she wasn't willing to do a thing to help out the situation. I thanked her and hung up.
Next day, I went into a Best Buy store. I went to the Best Buy in Boston, and never will again. Despite the horrible customer service, rude sales representatives and simply put horrible store! I asked a representative to help me out anyways. Figured to give it a shot. She went ahead, looked up the phone etc. After about 3 hours of her messing up the order, not being able to find my credit card number and re-doing the order I got fed up. I walked out and vowed not to make the purchase.
After some thought I went into the same store again and trying one more time. Because that one is closest to home, I thought maybe their was someone nice and responsible enough to help me out.
The representative notified me she couldn't price match. I told her she could and after a discussion with her manager we figured she could. We went ahead and placed the order. Now, we arrived to the issue of splitting the payment. She suggested putting the rest on a gift card. Though I was hesitant, I went ahead and did it. Now, because the price match hadn't gone exactly as planned the first time, we needed to buy a gift card for 230.37. The associate did it, and I walked out of the store with a placed order, even though I knew I had to wait 7-10 business days.
After a few days, I logged on to track the order. Now, this purchase had occurred on November 21, or 22nd. It had been a few days.
I logged into the site and saw in bold, "ORDER CANCELLED". I was furious! I didn't cancel the order! My credit card had been charged already, what the hell was going on!
I called Best Buy. But, this isn't like calling the company and waiting a few minutes and then talking to a representative. I called, and the first representative hung up after telling him the situation. I dialed again, and after about 10-15 retries I was FINALLY connected. She asked to directly speak to a manager. The manager stated that Best Buy had tried charging the Credit Card 3 times, and after three times, the system automatically cancels the order. We called CitiBank Best Buy while on the phone with a Best Buy Representative. On their end (CitiBank) the purchase had gone through. But on Best Buy's end it failed. I was confused. The representative than informed me that because the order was cancelled he would be "more than happy to place the order using a different form of payment because as customers we had to wait 4-5 business days for the Credit Card money to go back to Citi Bank". Then I would have to wait another 7-10 business days to actually receive the phone. I was so frustrated. So mad. It was ridiculous! No one notified me of the cancellation. No one notified me about anything! On top of it, I would have to wait longer!!!!
He then offered a complimentary Best Buy Gift Card on behalf of their mistake. I didn't want it. He then stated he would re-issue the original gift card with the money I had used. But because the representative had never given me a gift card, did it all on her own and gave me no physical proof, I had to wait for Best Buy to check the case then re-issue us a new gift card. He told me the gift card would arrive in about 5-7 business days. I was still mad, but I brushed it off. After a few days, I called to check the status. Talked to another manager after a long wait on the customer service line, then again offered a complementary Gift Card on behalf of their delay. Come Monday December 1, I received the two complimentary gift cards. But where was my money, the original amount I purchased? The one they made me purchase to buy the phone. The one where I had to use in store and can't get back. After several hours of trying to call Customer Service, speaking to representatives was given 2 different stories.
1. The money was issued back on the ORIGINAL GIFT CARD (Which I never got and don't have)
2. The case has YET to be reviewed, and it will take 10-14 business days to be mailed out.
So which one was it Best Buy?
Now that was the LAST straw!!! It has been two weeks, and since then I still have yet to receive the card.
Now, a few hours ago I called again. Was on the phone for more than an hour. The representative was unable to understand what I was telling her. I had to wait for the Manager for a long time. The manager then went ahead and said that the Money was back on the original gift card, but literally five minutes before the girl had said that the case has yet to be reviewed! WHAT?!!! This was annoying! Now all is understood. I wasn't the only customer. I'm sure I wasn't the only ones that had issues. But this was insane!
After an hour they disconnected me. The manager called back. (This has NEVER happened) by the way. He gave me his name, number etc and told me he would try his best. Now, knowing Best Buy I'm not counting on that word and but simply am going to wait.
I don't know if I'm more annoyed with the trouble they caused. Or the horrible customer service, rude representatives or ridiculous ordering methods.
Mind you, I called Best Buy Credit Cards and they noted to ship the cards but still haven't.
Now, what kind of a company is this?
Now I will fight till the end to receive the original amount back. Regardless of the complimentary gift cards they offer, I will never want to deal with horrible, and ridiculous customer service again. I hope this prompts you to check whether or not one would want to go through it.
The long cycle of phone calls and rude service.
After some research I found I'm not the only un-happy customer service nor will I be the last.
Best Buy; I suggest you review your ways of practice or we won't be the only un-happy customers.
Now, Holiday season, everything is back-ordered etc. But that's no excuse for anything I have had to go through.
Regardless. I hope people learn from my mistake.
Best Buy, thank you for my wasted time. Next time I'll go elsewhere for my technology based purchase needs.
Hi. My name is Mike.I am really sorry to hear that. I was thinking to get a Samsung Note 3 from Best Buy until i saw your post. I totally gave up buyin it from there. Btw how do you like your new phone so far? its AT&T version right?
ReplyDeleteHi Mike. Yea unfortunately all real and sad. But guess what, i havent received my gift card yet. Ridiculous right? Its been a month and nothing yet. Best buy to me is WORST BUY lol.. Honestly phone is fantastic its more than a phone! its like my pc haha definitely go for it.
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