Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[billywsr]

I went to all the trouble of registering for this site just so i could warn you. Be very careful. If you order a refrigerator for future delivery from Best Buy, you may never see it. It si now almost a week past my delivery date and not only can they not tell me when it will be delivered, they don't even know here it is. They just told me that it would take 3 to 5 business days to research it and find out where it is. I'm sorry, but the largest electronics retailer in the world, with thousands of computers at their disposal, can't find one refrigerator. That is sad.

You will never see this because I am sure it will be edited out, but I sure feel better getting it off my chest.

Be very careful.

And to the best buy person who will delete this, rest assured I will do my best to get this message out to everyone I know.. So go ahead and delete it. Tell Mitch and Paul in the customer no service department, Thanks for nothing..

[billywsr]

An update for everyone. After 3 weeks and countless promises from everyone including Michael Bredemier - The executive resolution specialist, who apparently intercepts emails to the CEO and board members of Best Buy, i decided to call it a day and end any possibility of being lied to further.

I Got My Money Back and Moved On!!

Good luck to any of you who are bold enough to give them a try.

[TheJawa]

In response, delivery issues can and do happen to most every retailer.  Unfortunately, it seems the above poster is one of those issues.  There are a few things that can cause an issue like that to happen, such as the model being unavailable from the vendor or the vendor discontinuing the model after the purchase has been made.  I've had the unfortunate incident to have a manufacture discontinue a special order fridge 2 weeks after the purchase was made, and in that case, it is the manufacture letting not only the customer, but Best Buy down at the same time. 

You do run the risk, when postponing a delivery, of causing these types of issues.  In most cases, the product gets tagged within a day of the order being placed, leaving the product unavailable for future purchase.  As you can imagine, however, if a product is going to be held for an extended period of time, the product may not be tagged immediately, as it would then just become unavailable for any immediate needs on that product.  For most products, thats not an issue, because the manufactures can and will replenish stock before the delivery, but if the manufacture's discontinue the product and no longer produce it, then your issue can escalate rapidly.

The best practice for future deliveries is exactly what the second poster stated; set the delivery date 1-2 weeks out to insure your product is tagged, then call the store to push the date out.  As there are no penalties in moving a date around and it being a quick and easy process, helping the store keep track of your order and keeping them up-to-date with a delivery time frame keeps everything working as smoothly as possible.

[lola1626]

Right now I am LIVID!!!!!!! We purchased a 30 inch stove from the Downers Grove store on 10-30-09 but we'd have to wait 3 weeks because it wasn't in stock. I was so happy because they gave us an option to pay it off in 18 months, which is great in these struggling times. I received a call today and was told that delivery was set up for Saturday, November 21st., which was fine. However, the lady told me that there were some safety brackets that had to be mounted to the floor to prevent the stove from tipping over. I asked her to explain and she said that when the stove was delivered, the guys would have to drill holes in the floor in order to mount the brackets. I asked her why we weren't given this information at the time of purchase. She asked what kind of floor we had and I told her it was laminate on top of ceramic on top of concrete.....she asked if I was serious about the concrete and I told her all the condos here had concrete sub floors. She said that it could be a problem because she didn't know if the guys could drill through concrete and if they couldn't, they would just leave the stove and we'd have to get someone else to hook it up. It's bad enough that we have to find someone to disconnect the old stove; now we're being told that if they can't mount these brackets, too bad so sad and it's our problem to get the stove connected. I told her I was going to let her explain this to my husband. He told her that we just had new floors put in and there was no way he was going to allow anyone to attempt to drill holes. He also wanted to know why we weren't told this when we purchased the stove. She asked......'so do you want delivery Saturday or do you want to reschedule'. He said he's canceling the order and he's going to the store Saturday to get a refund. The lady didn't seem to be too concerned that we were very upset. I called Consumer Affairs and explained what happened and was told that we wouldn't be hit with a restocking fee. I've heard that Best Buy does this and it's not fair that we'd have to pay this in view of these circumstances. We've had issues with Best Buy in the past with a computer but since we've been customers for so long and for the most part, we're happy with them, this may be the straw that breaks the camels back. Now we have to travel to Downers Grove to get a refund, plus now we have to shop for a new stove. How can someone tell you that they're just going to leave a stove unconnected a few days before Thanksgiving? Who do you call to safely connect the stove? It's not something my husband would do for fear of not doing it correctly. I hope I can calm down enough so I won't go off on some innocent person at the store. Anyone else have this happen?

[joydee123]

Ditto on everything you said and then some. We found a store with better service and customer service. They stick to what they say and service is way better............

[lola1626]

We actually went to the store this morning and a manager was available. He did everything he could to get answers. He found out that yes indeed, it's a government requirement to install these brackets to secure the stove to prevent it from tipping. He was unaware of this until he went to his boss and found this out. He went into great detail as to the size of this bracket and he said that there's a good chance it could be mounted to the wall instead of the floor. He even told us that he'd come over and hook up the stove himself if we were determined to not have the bracket installed because he wanted us to be happy and not lose a customer. I told him that if we had known this up front, at least we would have been prepared. I also told him that I didn't appreciate the way this was presented to us by the person who called to set up the delivery. We agreed to proceed with the delivery and give them a chance to show us that installing this bracket isn't a big deal. We were told if there was a problem, we should call them immediately. We left the store feeling better than we did on Friday after we got the phone call. They do provide good customer service in the store, but whe you have to deal with making arrangements for service on the phone, it's not that pleasant of an experience. I will update this after they show up on Tuesday and let everyone know what happened. I really didn't want to go shopping for another stove and there's a good chance that we'd have to go through the same thing if we went somewhere else.

[joydee123]

Again, ditto on everything with us. We must be 'cloned'. We too, went to the store and were talked into keeping it. However, things did not go well, all due to the phone person at the warehouse!!! You and I are obviously dealing with a warehouse in Chicago!! I asked a delivery guy if the anti-tip bracket was a law, and his response was "No, it's Best Buys policy." Nobody knows what they're talking about! No one is on the same page about anything. We have moved on and purchased a stove at another Big BOX store. So far, they have kept all their promises. I got a phone call last night, as promised, for my time frame, and my new (and better) stove is coming today. This store only suggests about the anti-tip bracket, but if the customer doesn't want it, no big deal. It is not goverment required. I wish you good luck with your delivery and installation and I will keep you posted on mine..............

[lola1626]

What's really interesting is that my husband was talking to our neighbor who happens to be a property manager for a condo association.  She said that yes, this bracket thing is a government issue and is required by law.  I'd have to think that as a property manager she's up to date on this stuff.  We haven't checked out other places to ask questions but your reponse gives us a lot to think about.  It's going to be very interesting tp see what happens tomorrow, provided we get a call today confirming that they're going to come out and install the stove.  I've got a headache from this whole thing and I just hope everything will be OK and I'll have a new stove for Thanksgiving.  I just hope that we made the right decision to go ahead with this instead of cancelling the order.  I have talked to so many people that have nothing but negative feedback about Best Buy.  My husband has been a customer for years and with him, old habits die hard.  I think after this experience (and a couple of others), we're going to be very careful where we shop in the future.  I'm glad you're enjoying your stove.....hope that we'll get to do the same.  I'll let you know what happens.....keep your fingers crossed for a good outcome.

[joydee123]

After dealing with Best Buy, their lies, unkept promises, no call back, and overall terrible service, we got a refund and went to S to buy a new stove. I want to tell you that within 24 hours, we purchased the stove and had delivery confirmed for the next day. As promised the stove arrived within the sceduled time frame, was brought in, set up/installed, leveled and tested. They even gave me a 'crash course' on how to use it. It's so high tech that it looks like the controls in an airplane, so to speak. ALL this in LESS than 24 hours!!! My hubby and I are so impressed and pleased with the service and outstanding treatment we got, that I am ashamed that we ever went to Best Buy in the first place. I gave the convection oven a trial run last night with a pan of lasagna. It was outstanding. i got to test the warming drawer, timer, temp. setting and even had a boilover, so, I got to see how well stainless cleans up. I am one happy camper today and know my stove is here for Thanksgiving. BUYERS, beware of where you shop for your big ticket items. We are sooooooooooo done with Best Buy and their arrogant employees. BTW, we didn't have to have the anti-tip device and no one shoved it down our throats as did BB. I wasn't going to let any one drill thru my porcelin tile. Besides, they didn't even have a masonary drill bit!!!

[Falco]

As far as I can tell there is no law that states that one must have the anti-tip bracket installed.  However, it is a part of the manufactures recommended install and therefor anyone that does not install it can be held liable for anything that goes wrong with it.  Remember, The S ear S store did just settle a class action lawsuit because they did not install the bracket.  There are other class action suits against multipul other major appliance retailers because they are not installing them.  I personally would expect any company to force the item down my throat until I allowed them to do it or to singe a waiver of liability.  I don't see why people are getting so upset about a piece of metal that is designed for their safety.