BestBuy.Com

[giftless]

Best Buy completely ruined my Christmas surprise of a new plasma TV for my three boys.

I purchased online on Nov. 26 and ordered delivery for Dec. 24, just in time for a Christmas surprise (this was their one big present).  When I didn't get a call the day before to give me a delivery window as promised, I called and was rerouted to several different people in different departments, each of whom told me I needed to speak with someone else.

Finally got a number for a local store, called the warehouse, and they told me that it was out for delivery and would definitely be arriving on the 24th.  Twenty minutes later someone called back (the only call I received from Best Buy), saying that it was being delivered from another local store and I needed to call there.  When I called the second store, I spoke with Alston in the warehouse, who had my name on his list and told me that the TV was on the truck and would arrive between 2 and 4 pm that day--maybe even earlier, since the truck had left extra early.  I thought the problem was solved.

At 6 pm, when no one had shown up, I called back to the warehouse.  Of course the store was closed by then, and no one answered.  I went online, where my delivery date had been relisted for January 1--again, no email, no phone call.  And January 1???  Who schedules a delivery on a holiday???

At that point I called the 800-line and spoke with a very nice woman who told me that, indeed, my delivery had been rescheduled for January 1.  I asked her then what I was supposed to tell my boys in the morning when they hadn't received any presents.  She had no answer, and no explanation of why I had never been called.  

I cannot begin to express how angry I was at this point.  If I had known anything even a few hours earlier, I could have driven out myself to get another TV somewhere.  But since I was assured multiple times that the TV was on its way, I didn't do so.  My credit card was charged two weeks ago for the entire price of the TV, so now Best Buy has my money, my kids have no Christmas present, and any surprise was pretty much ruined.

We are supposed to be out of town on January 1, so even if they try to deliver it then I won't be here.  Am I too cynical in believing that they had someone come into the store and offer to buy their last TV of that model--so they sacrificed my Christmas for another sale?  And what the heck am I supposed to do now?  I don't trust anything anyone at Best Buy tells me.

Any suggestions?  The moderators all seem very polite and apologetic in these situations--but I could use more than an apology right about now.

[ABomb]

That is definitely a problem, and I know you said you want more than apologies, but I personally can't offer more than that. Now I do want to add that I thought I noticed the guarantee of if you purchased it and couldn't get it delivered by Christmas, then there would be some kind of a gift card issued for your troubles, I know that it doesn't bring back the surprise for Christmas, but nothing can, well unless I created a time machine, but unfortunately I'm no genius. So I would try calling 1-888-BESTBUY to ask about that policy.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hello giftless -

Allan, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding you concern.  I appreciate your patience until he is able to contact you.  Thank you!

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi giftless,

Christmas is a holiday that most people look forward to and enjoy, but this is especially true for children. I can imagine how upsetting is was to have to tell your boys that their Christmas present wasn’t there on Christmas day, and I truly do apologize for this experience!

I have confirmed that you are currently scheduled to have this TV delivered on 1/1/2009, and I certainly understand this date not being acceptable given the fact that you won’t be there to receive this delivery.

I would like to work with you to get you this TV in a reasonable amount of time, and of course on a day that would work for you. I am sending you a private message to start that conversation. 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,