I've had my own share of problems with Best Buy. I now try to avoid them
completely unless there is such a great price on something that I can't help
but put my principles aside and take a chance.
Since I've never vented publicly about this, please allow me the following
digression:
It all started when I bought a demo MDXC7900 for $249 at an out-of-town Best
Buy while on a business trip. I did not have my car with me so I confirmed
that the free installation offer would be valid at the Best Buy nearest my
home. It was. Now I could have at the time very competently and
professionally installed this unit myself, but I thought "why do it myself
when I've already paid to have the 'certified experts' at Best Buy do it for
me?" Big mistake. First of all, their 'certified experts' are nothing but
flunkies with a uniform and a cheesy certificate. Second, they performed
the worst hack-job that I have ever seen. I mean we're talking duct tape,
black magic marker to hide exposed metal, etc. And if that weren't bad
enough, they HOOKED IT UP COMPLETELY WRONG!! Believe it or not, I knew the
minute I turned the unit on that something was wrong BECAUSE IT DIDN'T
PLAY!!! I must be a friggin' genius to discover that, huh? I could not
believe that they hadn't even turned the thing on to see if it worked before
moving on to the next victim. Of course, to make matters worse, my car
wasn't 'ready' until about five minutes before closing time, so I had no
choice but to make the hour drive back home only to return the next morning.
The next morning came and I was loaded for bear. I told them that I wanted
it hooked up right and the installation done cleanly and professionally,
just like they were supposedly taught in Best Buy school (what a joke!).
This time they told me that they had figured out that the unit was bad and
all I had to do was go upstairs to the store and exchange my 'bad' unit for
a good one. OK, fine. Even though this is the most ridiculous thing I've
heard (at this point anyway), I'm not going to say anything because I'm
about to get my demo unit swapped for a brand new one right out of the box.
45 minutes later, after being escorted like a criminal through the checkout
line, I was back down to the car install bay. The next 30 minutes were
spent watching the install monkeys repeatedly connecting and disconnecting
the new unit and getting the same results as with the supposed 'bad' one.
By now I'm having way too much fun watching to interrupt this amusing yet
pathetic display of incompetence. Finally, the head dolt determines that my
car needs a special harness which isn't part of the free installation deal.
I grudgingly agree to pay for that since if I were to do the job myself I
would have had to buy the adapter harness anyway. The doofuses finally get
the new harness in and everything working. The finish and trim is still a
total hack job, but I have decided that I'm outta there. Or so I thought...
Upon returning home, I realize that with all of the putting it in and taking
it out that these morons have done, they have badly scored the plastic trim
panel that covers that section of the dash. Really perturbed now, I yet
again drive to the store (third time for those of you counting) and demand
to be compensated. The store manager takes a look at the alleged damage and
after conversing with the Cretan who performed the 'service,' makes a snide
comment effectively saying that he can't understand why I'm upset: "After
all, your car isn't exactly a showpiece anyway and the part probably only
costs $5." The ape who did the damage is now stomping around the garage,
muttering and slamming tools around. True professionals.
I ended up filling out an insurance claim that day and was told by the above
store manager to find out what the cost of the replacement trim would be
because the Best Buy claims department would be calling to ask. Only half
believing him, I took my car to the dealership and got an estimate of
$114.28 for this little piece of black plastic trim. Exactly what I wanted
to hear. Would you like to make that $200 (please?). I waited patiently
for the claims department to call. For several months.
By now, I had bought a new car and moved the MDCX7900 to the new vehicle.
Needless to say, I did the work myself this time, resulting in a very clean
and sturdy installation that I am to this day 100% pleased with.
As the incident blurred in with other bad memories, I slowly lost interest
and had pretty much given up on hearing from the mystical Best Buy Claims
department. I had grown tired of searching their web site for customer
service numbers and calling the local store to complain to the manager I
dealt with. The one name that I had been given at corporate headquarters,
Scott, never answered the phone and probably thought I was some kind of
lunatic with all the messages I left on his voicemail. I decided that the
store manager must have promptly tossed my insurance claim into the circular
file. There wasn't much more I could do...
Then one day I came home to a message on my answering machine. "This is
John from Best Buy claims. Please call me regarding the damage to your
vehicle." Could it be??? Yes!! They were processing my claim and needed a
repair estimate. $114.28 plus one hour of labor. A few weeks later I had a
check for $140. Claim settled. Happy ending.
Happy ending for me, that is. For Best Buy it's not so happy. My entire
extended family has heard this story from me. My coworkers have heard this
story. You have heard this story. I know for a fact that this one
experience has cost them several thousand dollars in sales that would have
otherwise taken place. So what for an $8 billion dollar company, right?
In the process, I discovered that there is quite a large community of people
who have had Best Buy nightmares. There is a very extensive set of websites
devoted to asserting their opinion that 'Best Buy Sucks!' (just do a web
search on those three words). See http://www.bestbuy-s.com/ for a good one.
A more recent story is at http://members.home.net/mrdctaylor/bestbuy.htm.
Or http://www.bestbye.com/cgi-bin/server.pl?menu.html. Or
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Sands/4253/. For a real eye-opener, see
http://www.angelfire.com/il/AteMyBalls/bestbuy.html (warning - mature
content there). The list of sites goes on and on. There must be something
to this idea that Best Buy Sucks. I sure think so!
I also learned some things along the way: 1. Avoid Best Buy whenever
possible - they are evil; 2. Don't let someone you don't know do stuff to a
car you care about - even if it is 'free'; 3. Do it yourself if you want it
done right; 4. Don't be fooled by the cheesy credentials displayed by Best
Buy's 'experts'; 5. Be persistent and don't let them get away with anything;
6. The added hassle is not worth any savings in purchase price - not even
close.
Sorry for the ramblings. I feel much better!
Long live MD!
Paul
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