Never again from Best Buy...

[iFrankie]

@frjonah

You did the right thing. You stood your ground and got the results that you should have received.

I have to agree with you 100% that customer service has really suffered in the last few years. I think part of this is because big businesses are no longer committed to their employees anymore. Unfortunately, this causes employees to only put in half the effort because they feel any extra effort is not worth it.

This puts the burden on consumers to stand up for themselves. It's made worse when even a manager that is there to set an example to other employees acts inappropriately.

Kudos to you for standing your ground. You did the right thing. Shame on Best Buy and the manager.

 

[samiwas]

In most businesses theft/fraud are budgeted in as the "cost of doing business" so that the majority of honest customers can maintain a positive relationship with the store.

I guess this is true, too. My wife got so fed up with the policies at Old Navy years ago, that she stopped working there (amongst other reasons). Their policies pretty much promoted shoplifting. She could literally watch someone pick an item up off a sales display, bring it to the counter (obviously with no receipt since they had just picked it up off the shelf), and get a "refund". This was a required practice. She saw so much shoplifting and money scamming, she just couldn't take it anymore. I guess shoplifters are potential customers, too, in their minds.

I have to agree with you 100% that customer service has really suffered in the last few years. I think part of this is because big businesses are no longer committed to their employees anymore. Unfortunately, this causes employees to only put in half the effort because they feel any extra effort is not worth it.

Good point. I think this has a lot to do with it. Most people don't stay at jobs more than a few months or a couple of years at most because few ever feel to be a part of something any more. Nowadays for the most part, you're just an employee, working for the man every night and day.

 

[frjonah]

The other side is that people can be exceedingly patronizing towards others (usually customers wanting to get their own way in a retail situation) without necessarily raising their voice.
...
All it shows to your son is that being an ass might get you what you want but it doesn't always give you respect.

All I can say to this is: wow! You have totally reached a conclusion that I acted like a jerk to the manager without having any evidence to support it. Over and over again, I have said here in this forum (admittedly unprovable) that I did not become angry, I was not passively aggressive, I was not aggressively aggressive... I don't know what to say or do to convince you except to say one last time... I didn't pitch a fit. I wasn't rude. I didn't insult the manager. I simply asked to speak to the regional manager and the conversation changed.

My personal feeling is that the guy knew the regional manager would replace it, or that he would at least get into trouble if it escalated to the next level. From my point-of-view, I just could not really afford to lose $2200 because of something that I believe was not my fault... I wanted to exhaust every avenue before I gave up. I am sure I inconvenienced this manager, asking him to take time out of his busy schedule to deal with the likes of me, but to me, $2200 is a lot of money.

I see you're from New York... well, all of this went down in the shadow of "The City", on the Jersey Shore. I have lived here for about a year and half and can't wait to leave. I came from the South where there is a least more of a tendency for people to take time to acknowledge that you exist... Here, it's 1000 miles per minute and if you slow someone down, prepare for conflict. I'm just not an aggressive person, which admittedly puts me at a disadvantage in such situations since I live in an area where people are generally much more aggressive than what I'm accustomed to.

I really don't know anything about you, sir, which prevents me from drawing any conclusions about how you may or may not behave in certain situations. How about affording me the same benefit of the doubt?

 

[mscriv]

I really don't know anything about you, sir, which prevents me from drawing any conclusions about how you may or may not behave in certain situations. How about affording me the same benefit of the doubt?

frjonah, don't take offense at steviem, he can't help it as he's not just a New Yorker, but a Brit from across the pond who now lives in NY. Not to mention he's still sore about losing out in a fantasy football league he played in with me this past season. I don't think he was actully talking about your situation in specific, but just pointing out that often, in retail, customers can be patronizing and feel entitled.

Love ya steviem, better luck next year.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

All I can say to this is: wow! You have totally reached a conclusion that I acted like a jerk to the manager without having any evidence to support it. Over and over again, I have said here in this forum (admittedly unprovable) that I did not become angry, I was not passively aggressive, I was not aggressively aggressive... I don't know what to say or do to convince you except to say one last time... I didn't pitch a fit. I wasn't rude. I didn't insult the manager. I simply asked to speak to the regional manager and the conversation changed.

My personal feeling is that the guy knew the regional manager would replace it, or that he would at least get into trouble if it escalated to the next level. From my point-of-view, I just could not really afford to lose $2200 because of something that I believe was not my fault... I wanted to exhaust every avenue before I gave up. I am sure I inconvenienced this manager, asking him to take time out of his busy schedule to deal with the likes of me, but to me, $2200 is a lot of money.

I see you're from New York... well, all of this went down in the shadow of "The City", on the Jersey Shore. I have lived here for about a year and half and can't wait to leave. I came from the South where there is a least more of a tendency for people to take time to acknowledge that you exist... Here, it's 1000 miles per minute and if you slow someone down, prepare for conflict. I'm just not an aggressive person, which admittedly puts me at a disadvantage in such situations since I live in an area where people are generally much more aggressive than what I'm accustomed to.

I really don't know anything about you, sir, which prevents me from drawing any conclusions about how you may or may not behave in certain situations. How about affording me the same benefit of the doubt?

....and you've had to stand you'e ground here.

 

[kazmac]

no more Beast Buy for me

While the BB sales clerk on the floor was amazing during the iPad 2 ticket distribution, my cashier got unbelievably nasty when I politely refused their extended warranty after she said it was cheaper than Apple's $79.99 (it wasn't = $250!). I mentioned it's not cheaper than Apple's extended warranty and I decline. She got pretty hostile considering.

I decided once was enough for me and Be(a)st Buy. They are not competitively priced, do not know their way around Apple product and can be extremely rude to customers.

99.9% of the time I am polite and even joke when I return something (a tactic that worked almost all the time at the Apple 5th Avenue store) but when a manager or clerk pushes me when I return an item or show them proof of a price, I will stand my ground.

I'm glad the OP eventually got his replacement machine but jumping through hoops is not something you should have to do. I would recommend writing that letter, and yes, this is coming from another New Yorker. Quickly, I once had really bad service at a NYC post office (who told me I had the nerve to bring 40 packages to his window around Christmas time), I got the clerks name and # and wrote a letter to the Postmaster General who answered very quickly and took that clerk off Window duty. If the service person is in the wrong their superiors need to know.

Conflict is something I try to avoid, but when you're paying for something that expensive and you want to exchange, BB were in the wrong for their attitude.

 

[InsanelyApple]

^^^ Quite the negative view of life their my friend.

Are you saying stores should not return/exchange merchandise that was damaged upon opening at no fault of the customer? If you open your new product and it's damaged or broken that's just bad luck and you shouldn't expect replacement. Well, routine business practices and the legal system disagree with you.

As far as seeing it from the stores point of view. I have now doubt that upper management or the CEO of the company would be disturbed by the behavior of any employee that chooses to be verbally aggressive with a customer. Have you ever seen the TV show Undercover Boss, the whole point is to discover the employee's that embody the goals and customer service attitude of the company while also retraining those who don't.

I thought would agree with Best Buy considering you're the villain.

 

[frjonah]

Be(a)st Buy

LOVE IT!

Thanks for your comment! To be fair, I have met a lot of wonderful people here as well, both in and around the city... That said, I do prefer things a bit more quiet and peaceful than what seems to be the norm around these here parts

frjonah

 

[mscriv]

I thought would agree with Best Buy considering you're the villain.

I may not be a villain in real life, but I play one on MR.