I'm ticked - another Sunday ruined by Best Buy delivery screw-up

[Faygo Kid]

Here I sit for the second consecutive Sunday waiting for a dishwasher to be delivered by Best Buy. They were supposed to deliver it last Sunday. They didn't. Then the installers showed up yesterday expecting it to be here, and it wasn't. They weren't informed that it hadn't been delivered (no internal communication). So, we arrange for delivery today, and they were supposed to call us back last night with a time for delivery. They didn't. So we have been on the phone multiple times today trying to get an idea of when or if they are coming. No answer at delivery. Finally get transferred to somebody at store who said he would get back to me. He hasn't, and it's been an hour.

So, another Sunday with plans shelved, and we are nowhere near having the dishwasher WE HAVE ALREADY PAID IN FULL FOR either delivered or installed (which will be a separate appointment).

DO NOT purchase items to be delivered from Best Buy. Incompetent hacks.

[LeftyMom]

1. That sucks.

I finally got my couch at 7:45 last night. They didn't even uncrate it or put it in the right spot. Maybe it's a problem with delivery people generally?

[Faygo Kid]

3. Glad to hear you got your couch. My fourth call today ended in failure.

I'm going to raise three kinds of hell with Best Buy about this. No one will call me back. Promised that I would get a manager on this last call, and got another sales associate instead.

Who put me on hold for 10 minutes. I gave up.

The last sales associate promised to call me right back - 90 minutes ago.

I don't know what to do. Second consecutive Sunday wrecked, no resolution, no delivery, and God help us trying to get the thing installed if and when it is ever delivered.

Best Buy is under the delusion that we have made a gift to them of $500.

Better Business Bureau and Consumer Reports will be hearing from me.

[LeftyMom]

4. Go over their heads to the corporate office.

Also, find out when the store manager will be in and see if you can go talk to him/her in person.

[Faygo Kid]

8. I intend to let the corporate office know about this. And the store manager.

No excuse for treating customers this way.

[ThomCat]

2. That is really horrible.

I hope you're getting the delivery free after all of that. :(

[begin_within]

5. You should send the whole story, in full detail, to their corporate headquarters

A written letter to the highest-level executive you can manage to get to. They might do something really nice for you to make up for it. And it might instigate some changes with their delivery policies. The higher up you go in the company, the more power the person has and the more interested they will be in your experience. A printed letter with your handwritten signature will very likely end up on their desk and will have more impact than just e-mail or a phone call.

[datasuspect]

6. plus find out who the high level exec's secretary is

they often possess the keys to many kingdoms.

[begin_within]

7. Here are some addresses,

but no names unfortunately. If you can do research and find out who the corporate VPs are, particularly one for Customer Service, that would help too.

Customer Service Inquiries
Best Buy
Corporate Customer Care
P.O. Box 949
Minneapolis, MN 55440

General/Corporate Inquiries
For general comments and questions about Best Buy Co., Inc., contact:

Best Buy Co., Inc.
Corporate Headquarters
P.O. Box 9312
Minneapolis, MN 55440-9312
612-291-1000

[Faygo Kid]

9. Thank you! Revenge is a dish best served cold.

What I am going to do on various consumer evaluation sites will not make them happy, but will hopefully keep someone else from experiencing this kind of contempt from Best Buy.

[begin_within]

12. Just be completely factual, tell it like it happened - 1. 2. 3. and so on.

If you try to make them look bad or write it in such a way that it makes you look like a "difficult customer" it might not be nearly as effective. I would avoid any angry or nasty tone at all. Make yourself look good. You can state that you are unhappy with the service you got, but I wouldn't include any personal attacks on anyone you dealt with. You want to make it clear that the chain of events failed to meet your expectations of what their service should be. I would keep the tone of it at a polite and professional level - I think they will take it more seriously.

[Faygo Kid]

13. You are right, but it's a struggle. Looks likely now that I will go for a refund.

And take my business elsewhere. I have now called six times, and can't get anybody to give me a simple answer: Will the dishwasher be delivered today, and about what time?

I have already cancelled my Sunday plans, but this is the last Sunday I intend to do so. They have until 5. Then I want my money back.

[begin_within]

15. Good for you, stand your ground.

As far as writing letters and posting messages, I know it's hard to contain your anger but I think if you just let the facts speak for themselves, that's enough to get the point across. I think the high-level executives should know about this, and if I think you write to them, the facts of what happened will be compelling all by themselves, and you don't have to embellish it with any angry statements or comments. I think the higher-ups should know about it, and the store managers and supervisors are not about to tell anyone higher up about it. It's up to you to tell the guys at the top about it. VP or Director of Marketing, VP or Director of Customer Service, if you can find out who that is.

[NewWaveChick1981]

10. That stinks. Best Buy is bad about stuff like that. And so is Sears.

We bought a new dryer about a year and a half ago because our old one died. We waited for it for a week (had to hang-dry things that had to be washed) when the delivery was scheduled. We got a Maytag Dryer Center (the one with the air-dry cabinet on top), and I was so ready for it to be delivered. It was scheduled between noon and 2 PM on Halloween, but the delivery guys didn't get here until 6 PM. Trick-or-treaters were everywhere in our neighborhood, and the head delivery guy talked on his cell phone the whole time to his wife, who was bitching him out about not being home for trick-or-treating. It was obvious that they were in a hurry, and they just brought it in and set it down. They did NOT set it up they way they were supposed to and left us to figure it out. When we finished taking all the tape and styrofoam off, we noticed the doors to the top cabinet were very much out of alignment. When we tried the lower dryer tumbler, it screeched and made a horrible noise. My husband determined it had been dropped before it reached us, and those delivery idiots probably knew it was damaged and didn't want to deal with it. We immediately called Sears and told them the delivery story and the problem, and the customer service woman apologized profusely. There was only one more of the dryer centers in stock, and they wouldn't be able to bring it out until the following Tuesday. I told her that was not satisfactory since it was supposed to be there that day, and she refunded the delivery charge. We finally got an undamaged dryer that Tuesday after being without one for nearly two weeks. The delivery guy set it up and demonstrated it to us, and I asked him if that was what the other guys should have done. He said they are required to set it up correctly and demonstrate it so that there would be no problems after the customer had the appliance in place, and the other guy should have done that. I thanked him, and I did about ten loads of laundry that night. The dryer worked just fine from that point on.

Our neighbors have had terrible luck with both Best Buy delivery and Circuit City delivery. The appliance dealer we bought our stove, refrigerator, and washer from was wonderful---local people, knowledgeable, and top-notch. However, they went out of business before we needed the dryer. :cry: They were losing too much business to Best Buy, Circuit City, and other big-box stores, and they couldn't compete. :( We bought everything we could from them, and their prices were exactly the same as the other stores. Just goes to show you that the little guy will get stepped on every time. :(

[Faygo Kid]

11. It's the last time I purchase from Best Buy. You're right, the local guys are the way to go.

They are part of the neighborhood, and you don't have to deal with a hopeless bureaucracy that doesn't give a rat's ass about you once they have your money. Even if they cost another $50, they are well worth it. Two Sundays in a row ruined, and still more to come (no doubt) isn't worth saving a couple of bucks. Lesson learned.

[LibraLiz1973]

25. I feel for you. Let me share my Sears story

Which is STILL ONGOING.

On June 20th my 9 month old side by side Stainless Kenmore refrigerator CAUGHT ON FIRE. Got the fire put out with a fire extinguisher just in time for water to explode out of the unit ALL OVER MY BRAND NEW HARD WOOD FLOOR!! Oh joy!

On June 21 I made an appointment with Sears for the repairman to come out.
On June 22, the repair guy didn't show up as scheduled.
On June 23 I scheduled ANOTHER repair guy.
On June 27 (the earliest appointment I could get!!) the repair guy didn't show up
On July 2, the guy finally shows up. Rude as hell- you wouldn't believe it.
Looks at it and says it is the compressor.
He orders another one and says, it will be delivered to you by next Tuesday at the latest.
Call and schedule another appointment when it comes and I guess I'll have to come out again and deal with this.
So I wait... and wait... and wait. I call Sears, they say the compressor is coming.
On July 13 I come home from work to see a "Sorry We Missed You" sticker on my door.
It's from Sears and says "We tried to come fix your fridge, guess you weren't home".
So I get Sears on the phone again and say WTF??? I didn't have an appointment and the compressor isn't even here.
At which point the customer service person tells me "There is no compressor on order for you- the service tech
canceled that order JULY 3".
I flipped out. Got a manager on the phone who PROMISED me that someone would be out on
July 18th to fix it. July 18th came- my appointment was for between 8-12. At 1 the guy
calls and says, I'll be there between 2 and 5. I say, can you narrow that window down? And he says
"No lady, deal with it." I told him to forget coming out because I didn't want him in my house, and told him
I was calling Sears to complain. He laughs and goes "You aren't the first person to
complain and you won't be the last." And then he hung up on me.
So, I get Sears back on the phone. I'm furious at this point and I just want a new fridge.
My old fridge smells like death and no amount of bleach is taking care of it.
Manager says that a workman will have to certify that the fridge is un salvageable.
I say ok, send me a workmen. She says that none of this is their fault
SINCE I AM THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN CANCELING APPOINTMENTS!! I was like, um, no.... but nice try.
She got an earful from me. I'd never canceled an appointment AND I was able
to prove that I had taken 3 full days off of work for this crap.
At the end she promised someone would come to my house
and get this taken care of. So on Wednesday FINALLY a workman shows up.
He takes on look at it and says, this is un fixable.
He calls it in and I can hear him saying "No, it's nothing she did". "No, the house is super clean".
I wonder what that was all about?? ANYWAY
Then a Sears customer service person calls and says that within 24 hours I will hear from
a rep telling me when to expect my new fridge.
On Friday, a compressor finally showed up at my house. The repairman from Wednesday told me that might happen,
he said to just send it back.
Today is SUNDAY. It's been 4 days since I was told I'd have a new fridge within
72 hours.

This is THE LAST TIME I will EVER buy from Sears again. I am also reporting this incident to the
Better Business Bureau.

Sears has some of the worst customer service I've ever seen.

[NewWaveChick1981]

27. What a nightmare! You're damn right you're reporting them to the BBB!

:grr: What a terrible story. I'm so sorry you've been going through that. :hug: I'm never doing business again with Sears, so that might make you feel a little better. :)

[LibDemAlways]

28. Guess I'm lucky that the fridge I ordered from

Sears a year ago never showed up. I was told it would arrive within a week. When it didn't, I called back to find out what was going on and was told the item was on back order, but would be available in a "few days." A week later still no fridge and no call from Sears. I finally decided screw this, got my money back, and took my business elsewhere.

My husband bought a lawn mower from Sears just under two years ago and the thing crapped out recently. It was impossible to get connected to a human being when I called the store to find about getting it repaired. Husband finally went down there and was told to bring the mower to a repair center 45 minutes away and the repair would take "2 weeks minimum." Another "screw this" moment later husband brought the thing to a local independent lawnmower shop. Mower was back in working order 2 hours and $40.00 later.

I'll never set foot in Sears again.

On edit, I do hope you get the problem resolved without additional runaround. They've already put you through hell. It's amazing that they just don't care about keeping customers happy.

[LibDemAlways]

14. A decade ago I bought a stove from Best Buy. It was

the delivery from hell. I was told to expect delivery between 9 AM and noon. No one showed up. I called several times and was given a different excuse each time. Finally someone fessed up that the regular delivery guy had called in sick and they had to round up someone at the last minute who could deliver the stove but wouldn't be able to install it - as I had paid for. I told them this was unacceptable and I wanted the stove delivered and installed by someone competent to do the job. Finally at 10PM two guys showed up with the stove. They managed to get it in the house, and then informed me they had no idea how to install it. I called Best Buy back, but by then, of course, no one answered.

My husband ended up doing the installation himself. When I went back to the store to complain, they refused to even discuss it.

Best Buy simply doesn't give a shit.

Last week I bought a new washing machine from Lowe's. On-time delivery and no-nonsense professional installation. A pleasure to do business with.

[Faygo Kid]

16. DU ought to have a Consumer Advice group for posts like yours. Would have helped me.

I believe I will suggest it. I would love to turn to the reliable folks here for advice; would have kept me out of Best Buy. Thanks for the great post.

[LeftyMom]

17. I got a real good deal on my fridge at Lowes

I didn't have them deliver it because my current fridge was dead and I was able to borrow a friend's pickup and take it home myself, but they sold me a display Maytag side by side for $500, wrapped it up well so it wouldn't get scratched up on the way home, loaded it in the truck and were really fast about it, which was nice because I had food getting warm fast at home.

I'm still remodeling (two rooms left) and I use them a lot.

[Oeditpus Rex]

18. I don't even like driving past a Best Buy

because I have to take one hand off the wheel. Fuckbuckets screwed me on an extended computer warranty a couple years ago.

Google "Best Buy complaints." Apparently their customer service motto is "Fuck 'em. We got their money."

[Faygo Kid]

19. Bingo. I think it's time we let folks know it.

I am contacting the moderators right now about a "Consumer Advice" group so you and I and so many others can warn those contemplating the same mistake we made.

[flying rabbit]

20. I would totally be down for that.

[LibraLiz1973]

24. That is an AWESOME idea

n/t

[MsKandice01]

23. And I thought it was just Fry's that had that motto...

Good to know.

[Oeditpus Rex]

26. Nah, Fry's motto is

"It looks like Vegas inside, too — especially when you line up to throw away your money."

[seemunkee]

21. I had the complete opposite experience

They called to comfirm the day before and the delivery happened right on time. They were very careful in bringing the new stove in and taking the old one out.

Sorry your having such a bad time with it.

[Faygo Kid]

22. That's cool; we need all perspectives. Just posted for a new group on General Discussion.

Hope you will join it when it's up.