BestBuy.Com

[mimp15]

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to express my extreme displeasure at your company's lack of customer service and inability to keep delivery dates.

I recognize that it is the holiday season and that I ordered an in-demand item (46" LED TV), but despite assurances on your website that delivery was guaranteed within a window before Xmas (which I was well within), your company failed to provide the item I delivered as promised, and when I attempted to discover why I did not receive the TV, I experienced an abysmal level of customer service apathy.

I ordered the TV online and opted to have it delivered. I selected to have it delivered on the 4th; a week after I ordered it online (and 3 days after the day the sales rep at the local store said they could get a shipment of more). The confirmation email I received. said that I would get a call with a 2-hour delivery window the day before.

I never received this call, but assumed that the delivery would still occur since I had not gotten an update to the contrary. After waiting at home for several hours, I called the BB customer service number, where I was on hold for over an hour before I gave up on trying to get through to a representative. I then called the local store (about 2 blocks away), where I was in touch with a sales rep who told me "aiight" every 10 seconds and "hang wit me a sec, I'ma check in [another part of the store], aight?". He put me on hold 3 times as he apparently moved through departments of the store checking on the order. After 20 minutes, he gave me the number of the warehouse. I called the warehouse, where an employee said that the TV was "held in reserve" and would not be delivered as promised, and that the only thing I could do would be to call BB online customer service (again) and speak directly to a manager. I was never notified that my TV would be in this status, and wouldn't be delivered, and wonder what would have happened if I had not called around after it.

I then called BB customer service, where, after being routed through several menus and operators, was put on hold for over an hour and a half. The representative I spoke to was polite, which I appreciated, but it took her entirely too long to sort out what had happened and she did not understand what needed to be done to rectify the situation.

She said that the TV had been "reserved for [me]". OK, that's not helpful. Is it going to be delivered eventually? Was there an error and they thought I was going to pick it up? She didn't know why it was put in that status. She said that it showed an available date of today, and that there was even an appointment date of today (the first I heard that anyone at BB expected to deliver it today).

She did a search and found 3 TVs in the local area, but was unable to modify my order to change it to store pickup because the TV was in reserve status. She said that the next available day to deliver was the 15th. When I asked why something that was available today now wouldn't be available until the 15th, she said that it meant BB "didn't have the resources to get it" from wherever it is, to a place I can pick it up. I don't understand the logic of this--if it was available and had a delivery appointment of today, shouldn't I be able to drive to the warehouse it was supposed to be delivered from and pick it up? If BB doesn't have a truck, I'll come pick up their slack.

So the only option was to change the delivery date to the next day I would be available to sign for the TV, the 18th. I have to wait another week for the TV, and I don't understand why.

I realize that this is a busy season and that I am just one person. However, I am completely puzzled and disappointed at BB's inability to keep their promised delivery dates despite what they're advertising, their lack of communication with a customer when something is delayed/'in reserve', and why something that shows as available and deliverable is stuck in a warehouse.

I would cancel this order if I could, but BB won't let me. After this experience, I think I will take my big-ticket electronic shopping to a more reliable and trustworthy business.

Sincerely,

S

[Ryan-BBY Senior Social Media Specialist]

Hello mimp15-

Allan, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern.  Thank you for your patience until he is able to connect with you.

[gurlstop06]

I ordered a 42 in. tv and I placed my order on th 25th and scheduled the delivery for the 5th(i couldve chosen an earlier date)........reading your message I am worried that I wont get mine anytime soon......

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi mimp15,

I can assure you that getting your TV delivered should not be this difficult, and I apologize for having to invest so much of your time to get the TV you ordered delivered on a day that works with your schedule. I can also understand why it wouldn’t make any sense to you that you can’t just pick up the TV yourself from the warehouse that is delivering the TV.

In order for you to be able to pick up the TV from this warehouse (or your local store) you would have to cancel your order, and then re-purchase the TV choosing how you would like to receive the TV (in store pickup, pick up at warehouse, or delivery). Being that I show this TV is in very limited supply I would not advise you to cancel this order at this time if you still want to receive this TV.

I did confirm that you are now scheduled to have the TV delivered on 12/18/2010, and I would like to see if we can possible get you a sooner date to have this delivered (that works with your schedule of course). I am sending you a private message to discuss this; to check your messages you should log into the forum, and then click on the letter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Thanks for posting,

[mimp15]

I was out of town on business so I missed these posts, but I got even more bad news today, in the form of an email that delivery, which had been scheduled for tomorrow, is now pushed back until 1/03/11. That means it will have taken over a month for this TV to get to me (assume that this time, after a second reschedule, it gets to me). I've been really patient and understanding, but I think this is really unacceptable. If I had known that BB wouldn't be able to move a TV from a warehouse to where I live (or the store literally 1/4 a mile away), I would have opted for in-store pickup or warehouse pickup.

I do appreciate the explanation for what it would entail for me to be able to pick up at the warehouse, but I don't understand it. I have been repeatedly told by several BB customer service reps that the TV is at the warehouse, and has been since before December 4th. Can't someone call the manager and say, rather than putting this on a truck in 3 weeks, the customer will come and pick it up? My local BB says that they get inventory deliveries every week; it can't be routed to a store? I am willing to work with BB on this, and Allen, you have been very helpful. But this is turning into a huge odyssey and I'm really running out of patience.

[mimp15]

Final update to this thread for the community.

Getting this TV was a long saga and entirely too difficult. The TV was an extremely high-demand item due to the Black Friday deal, and it turns out that the warehouse was sold out. I worked with Allan, BB's rep who posted above, to fix the situation; if I hadn't found this message board and if he hadn't been working my case, I don't know where I would be with this.

After two delivery date cancellations and reschedules by Best Buy, I finally received the TV on JAN 8th (I had ordered it on NOV 28th), after they had one from a store in the area shuttled to the warehouse. I am happy to have the TV, but can't say I'm entirely happy with how much work it took to get it. Kudos goes to Allan: it wasn't his fault that it took so long to get the TV to me, and he managed to fix the situation. He's been the only positive thing about this experience.