Hello, My name is John, and I have been a long time Best Buy consumer. Over the past year I have invested $1964 into Best Buy. All of this money was earned by me, a 15yo student. I pride myself on my maturity and fiduciary responsibility. Up until now I have always been a big supporter of Best Buy; however I don't think I can say that anymore. Let me explain my situation.
Sometime over the summer I purchased a 32GB iPod Touch ($500 USD). To my dismay, after a few months the iPod refused to boot. After attempting to restore it for the 4th time I finally drove down to DE to the closest Best Buy store (I live in PA.) I dropped off my iPod at Geek Squad with no problems. They assured me that I would have it back in my hands, fixed, in 1 week from that day. They tell me that they will call me, and not to worry about it. So, the 1st week passes, then the second, and still no call. I finally call them after 2 weeks of not hearing anything. The representative tells me "O yeah, someone was supposed to call you last week; it's broke so we have to give you a new one. Come down tonight or tomorrow and we will give you a replacement." So I head over the Next day, this was a Sunday.
Before I left for the 20 minute drive down I made sure that they had the right item. When I called I was told that Apple had released the new iPod's when mine was out for repair, and that they no longer had the right model, but they did have the new 32GB one. So, I went down, and talked to a supervisor, who assured me that there were 3 somewhere in the store. When I went to the returns counter with him, and my receipt the rep told him that there were no more left. This is all fine, no big deal.
Seeing as the manager was a good person he wanted to see if there was anything that he could do to get me the product. He suggested that one of his reps call down to the next store (15 miles south) to see if there were any. I also called to confirm after I was told they had plenty. The person that I contacted assured me that there were plenty, and the manager told them to put one aside for me seeing as it was an inconvenience. The manager also suggested that I ensure that they didn't sell the iPod by placing an order for it via the phone. So, he gave me the credit for the iPod on a gift card and we called up, ordered the iPod and registered it for store pickup at the store that had confirmed that they had it. The customer service rep on the phone also called them to ensure that there were still iPods there seeing the ridiculous price of gas.
So my father and I drove down to south Wilmington DE. Upon arrival I walked into the store to pick up my item. I showed 2 forms of student ID (PA won't issue state ID until 16) a valid credit card in my name, and the gift card made in the purchase. However I was politely asked to leave the store because of my "lack of proper identification." When I asked to speak to the manager I was told to leave again and not return until a legal guardian over the age of 18 had arrived. So, I went to the car to get my father, who suffers from lung cancer, so he could walk into the store in the humidity. At this point I was quite upset, however I just wanted to get my iPod and get back to PA.
Once my father talked to the Manager and Asst. Manager they accepted my form of photo identification. When they sent someone to go finally get my item, the associate returned and said "there are none left." Now this was a problem. The 1st problem was that I had wasted this much time, energy and gas on this, and more importantly, that I was down $400, and still had no iPod.
I then called up customer support, and after explaining my issue I was given a $50 gift card for my troubles and canceled my other "in store pickup order" for a full refund. Then I was transferred to place a new order for shipping. The associate I dealt with was wonderful, truly made me come back to Best Buy for the time being. When I asked for the extended warranty I was told that I had to order that in store, and that I had 30 days to do this from the time it was delivered to go down to the store. The rep told me that the warranty was not refunded to me, but said to use my gift card to buy it. The other rep had said the same thing, and said that I would have it in the next week.
I received my iPod within a week and was quite happy. I had figured that the gift card had gotten caught up in the USPS. When I didn't receive the card after a few weeks I called customer support to make sure that I could still get the warranty on the unit with the card. So the rep re-issued the card to me and told me that it would arrive in plenty of time for me to get the warranty.
So, this was the story until today. After still not receiving the card, and seeing as it was past the 30 day period I once again called customer support. However I did not have the same experience as normal. I was told by the representative that "there is nothing we can do but re-issue the card, this was fine for me. The money was not an issue. However, when I asked the representative about the warranty for my product I was told "I am sorry but there is nothing I can do, ask apple if they can give you one." This really pissed me off, for lack of a better word. I had waited a month for a card that I was promised would be here, and what does Best Buy do? They tell me that it's my problem. Now I am reasonable, and I do understand that they contract out for their warranty service, but the fact is that this whole problem was caused by Best Buy, and that if anyone is responsible it is Best Buy for not sending the card. Now I am stuck with an iPod that probably will break sometime in the near future. (I'm a cadet Firefighter) I really want to know what is going to happen when/if this product breaks, because I am sure as hell not going to pay $400 for a new one that could have been covered. Also, I talked to a supervisor; she was about as helpful as a rock. During the 15 minute "conversation" every time she said something it was the same "I am sorry but there is nothing I can do." Now I can't use my iPod without wondering if I am going to break it and have to spot $400 for a new one. Thanks for reading, comments are appreciated.
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