6/4/09, approx 5:00 PM.
My 2 kids & I arrived at Best Buy on Princess Anne Rd in VA Beach, We went to the Mobile section & found no employees to help us. Another sections’ employee informed me that both Mobile employees had left, 1 for the day & the other for dinner. He said it would be 20 minutes before he returned. I decided to wait.
About 20 minutes later, a gentleman arrived.
He said flatly, “You need help?”
I said “Yes, I need to exchange my phone. I purchased the insurance plan you offer & I dropped my phone. See, it has a crack in the screen.”
“The phone doesn’t work?” He asked without looking at me or the phone.
“No, it works, but it has this big crack in the screen. Here’s the receipt where I purchased your replacement plan.” I said as I showed him my receipt & tried to show him my phone again.
“Well we don’t swap them out anymore. We have to send it off to be repaired.” No eye contact yet.
“That’s not how it was explained to me when I purchased the plan. I was told I could bring it in & get a new phone on the spot. Does that mean I have to be without a phone for 3 weeks or so?” I said.
“We didn’t used to have loaner phones so we would swap them out, now we have loaners so we don’t anymore. I can check to see if we have a loaner phone, but for ATT? I don’t know.” He made eye contact now but seemed extremely annoyed.
“OK, this is not what I bought. I was told when I bought the coverage plan that if anything went wrong, I could bring the phone in & it would be swapped out for a new one, & would NOT have to be sent off for repairs like ATT does. That’s why I bought your plan, & canceled my ATT insurance plan.”
At this point he turned & faced me & said aggressively, “Look! I just WORK HERE! I’m just doing what they TELL ME!” then he walked around me in a half circle slowly staring at me hard the whole time.
When he finally broke his hard stare, I said, in somewhat disbelief of what just happened, “& I’m just the CUSTOMER trying to get what I was promised.”
“We are on the SAME PAGE THEN!?” He said very stern & very intimidating. Then he walked away from the mobile area.
As he did, I said, “You have a really bad attitude.”
He raised his voice & pointed at me, “YOU have a BAD ATTITUDE!”
I took my phone, receipt, & 2 kids & went immediately to the Customer Service Desk.
At the Customer Care desk I immediately asked for a manger. I told the 2 women there, that the Mobile section employee was terribly rude & I wanted to see a manager NOW. A 3rd & 4th woman came up & watched & listened to me explain what just happened. Again I asked for a manager. No one spoke, moved, or called a manager.
At that point the Gentleman who had been so rude to me walked up & stood next to me. I said “I do not want to talk to you; I want to talk to a manager.”
His yelled “I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!!!”
I took my phone & my kids & backed away. I waited 5 minutes for a manger to arrive. None ever did. I went back up to the customer care counter where he was still talking.
I did not look at him but told the girl behind the counter I need a manager
At this point, the rude employee said “Look, ma’am, all I was saying is we can’t swap out your phone, we have to send it away.”
I said “It was not WHAT you said, but HOW you said it.”
He responded with a frown “Was I supposed to say it with a SMILE on my FACE?!”
I said “Yes.”
The girl behind the counter asked me if I would like to have HER send my phone off for repair.
I said “No” I took the receipt & phone from her & walked away.
As soon as I did, the rude employee yelled “PEACE!”
I went to the man at the podium & asked for the STORE manager. Finally, Teddy, the manager was called. After explaining everything to him, he apologized. He said many other customers had been told they would get a new phone too. But, only the Mobile manager could do this and he was out until tomorrow. He could NOT help me at all.
The next day, I call customer care at 888-237-8289 and they take all of my info, let me speak to a supervisor, and I am told to go back to the store and the manager that gave me the wrong info at the time of sale will swap out my phone.
I just called the store and talked to that Mobile Manager, he said that corporate does not care, the just want to get us off the phone. So they say anything to make us happy, and send us back to the store for them to deal with us. He also said there is NO WAY he is going to swap out my phone like he had always done int he past and had told me he would do. It was NEW policy that they send them off to be worked on. I can have a loaner phone for a deposit of $150!!!
He also told me that the rude employee is there and will be there if I come in. but I don't have to talk to him...
SO here I am, trying to get SOME KIND OF JUSTICE. I am lied to, yelled at, and left with a broken phone even though I paid for a service plan to REPLACE it!
I HAT E BEST BUY AND WILL SING MY STORY FROM THE ROOF TOPS!!!! THEY ARE EVIL!!!!!
SHAME ON YOU BEST BUY SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!
