Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[bshelton78]

Recently my teenage daughter suffered an injury that has confined her to a wheel chair.  Until this I was completely unaware of what disabled people face on a daily basis.  Last night we went to our local Best Buy store.  They have many displays out, I assume due to Christmas shopping.  There were several large items in the middle of the aisles.  They also have rolling display shelves located directly in the middle of major pathways.  It was very difficult to maneuver the major aisles, and some were impossible.  Luckily, my daughter's injury isn't permanent so her wheel chair is relatively small.  If someone in a more substantial chair or an electric wheel chair wanted to shop or browse it would be near impossible.  When I brought this to the attention to a manager he said sorry, and offered to go get any item I may need.  Everyone likes to be independent, especially those who are involuntarily dependent on others.  People confined to wheel chairs want to browse all the aisles of all stores exactly the same as people who do not require assistance.  Best Buy left me with a very damaged view of their handicap policy. 

[SlimJim77]

Thanks for sharing this experience, bshelton.

All retailers are amassing inventory for the holidays. I don't think this would be a problem any other time of the year. You've come to the right place to make your concerns known.

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi bshelton78,

You are absolutely correct in expecting to be able to shop freely with or without a handicap, and our handicapped customer’s have every right to expect to be able to shop without needing assistance from others.

I feel a better response from this manager (no matter how well intended their response was) would have been to immediately clear the aisles that were restricted in their store. I do show that you called in to file a complaint with on in regards to this matter. I show the agent you spoke with contacted the store, and manager they spoke with told them they would immediately clear the blocked aisles.

Thanks for making us aware of this potential problem in one of our stores. If you need any personal assistance from me in this matter just send me a private message by clicking on the link in my signature.

Thanks for posting,

[Downriver65]

Perhaps someone should "reach out" to this store. I know I will certainly do what I can to make sure BB never creates the hazards they did today. I went into your Mechanicsburg, PA store (#1478)today 11/27/09 at 11:30 with the intention of buying 3 high end Laptops or all in one computers for Christmas presents. I also had some other items I was looking for. As I started down an aisle with Stereo receivers Notice the end of the aisle was blocked with a pile of product. I thought "probably just restocking because it's busy". I then noticed this scene over and over at various aisles throughout the store and really started getting irritated. Some had one end blocked with display racks, while others were blocked with product with just one end open. I went to the aisles where the laptops and computers were in so I could compare the specific items I was going to purchase and perhaps ask a few questions. As I started to turn down the aisle, I was greeted by not one but two Best Buy employee's who told me I was not allowed to go down the aisle for my safety. The aisles were completely empty (ZERO CUSTOMERS) yet I was not allowed access. I said "fine, I'll spend my money somewhere else" and left. Now as I'm leaving I ask for an explanation from two customer service people at the door and all they can say is "sorry, it was for your own safety". This is nearly noon and I've seen this store much busier on a Friday night so, whatever stunt they were pulling I wasn't buying. I also used my trusty camera phone and took many photos of the obstructed aisles since your management and employee's violated just about every local and state fire ordinance not to mention most of the ADA (that would be Americans with Disabilities Act for you rocket scientists at Best Buy). It is one thing to drive me out of the store, but to turn this unit into a safety nightmare and then tell us this stuff is for our safety is way more than I'm willing to put up with. Can you imagine what would happen if you had several people in wheelchairs in these aisles and something happened. Whomever decided this policy should be fired immediately. When you blatantly break the law, there is no excuse. I will personally never shop at Best Buy again. Either on line or in person. I'm already making sure the proper authorities see this lame attempt at whatever it was and I certainly hope for the worst. Wouldn't it have been a much brighter idea not to block ways of egress in case of an emergency and just limit the amount of people entering the store at one time? That I could live with! If you felt that 200 customers could safely be in the store, then let 200 in. As customers leave, let more in. I will get this to the media as everyone should know.