Points, Policies & Certificates

[phloog]

Jeff....it appears increasingly evident that NO ONE is really running the show.  The consumer assistance folks here and on the phone have no information, but are expected to keep a smile in their voice and help, but they can't help because they don't have the information.

You write, call, post here, exchange emails and PMs, and it accomplishes nothing...

I am forced to conclude that - at THIS point in time at least - Best Buy is so supremely disorganized and broken with respect to Reward Zone and its various offshoots that they cannot possibly serve the customer properly.  In addition, I would suggest (though I'm not normally the sort to condone/encourage this kind of thing), that if this is as horrible and widespreads as I think it might be, they are opening themselves up to some form of action.  I wouldn't be shocked at all if some enterprising (or slimy) lawyer is lurking on these forums and sees the opportunity for some kind of class action thing.

As an example, the BBY employee on here (Sarah, I believe), is still within her 'week or so' timeframe she gave me...but the problem is before that I was dealing with another person who told me 7-10 days, and back in September I was told 'several weeks'.

All it would do to make me happy and show that they actually do know what's going on is for them to replace the bonus points that Best Buy Employee Isaehy told me were correct, proper, and duly earned.  But they can't even figure out if they want to do that, and probably would have no idea HOW.

I don't support litigating every little thing, but I think that at a certain point you have to take it to the next level...if I were you, I'd be contacting the Attorney General for my state.  This should always be a last resort, but it sure seems like you're there - they're in clear violation of the terms under which you in good faith bought the product.  I'm close myself.

[JeffnAtlanta]

I was just told by someone at Best Buy corporate that I don't have the tv and that I returned it.  That is why I don't have my points.

Genius!!!!  Why would I make monthly payments on a tv that I don't have??  It is sitting right in my great room!!!! 

Sarah, it has now been 7 business days (as you requested to wait), and no change in my points status. 

Please God!!!!!!

[phloog]

Wow...this is a new low, even for Best Buy.  In other news - - just spent about what you spent, Jeff, on a new TV of my own...and I don't think you'll be surprised to learn I didn't buy it at Best Buy...so they're out about four grand in sales because they not only can't get their system to work right, but because three separate BBY employees have told me they're "working on it", and nothing happens.

It may not be the case, but it sure SEEMS to me like this is a deal where Best Buy is deciding to help their quarterly/annual financial numbers by refusing to honor their end of the deal, or by conveniently not being able to resolve any issues of missing points until after the end of the year...well, if that's true it's a dumb move, because they've lost THOUSANDS this week by refusing to restore the $140 or so in rewards certificate points they deleted.

I think the company is moving away from Customer Service to cut costs as well.

[JeffnAtlanta]

I am thinking about heading back to the store today and speaking to the moron that supposedly says I returned the tv.  The number one most given answer on this site is "wait".  I am tired of waiting.  I am looking at about $110.00 in certificates that I probably will never see.  I wonder if the store will be gracious enough to give me in-store credit because they have made this experience a living heck. 

Not only have I had to deal with the month of talking to people on the phone or by email, this is the other problems I encountered throughout this purchase.

1. After I purchased, found out the charged me for "free delivery".  Finally got the credit, but they screwed me over with the points.

2. After the purchase, I had an appointment day for delivery.  I called the morning of delivery and they told me the order was deleted. 

3.I had to basically get my own tv delivered to my home.  They were not interested with keeping their promise. 

4. The management staff had to be "prodded" to get anything done.....in other words, live up to their promise and do their job.

It has been an experience to say the least.

[phloog]

..and if they're still going to be this openly horrific to you, try this:  DEMAND that they do one of the following:

1) Admit that you didn't return the TV and give you your points that INSTANT, or

2) They must tell you ON TAPE (audio or video) that they are certain you returned the TV...have them give you the date and time.

...and when they do the second option, go get your Visa statement, and if it has not been credited for the TV they insist you've returned, point out that they've failed to give you your money back for the TV they are 100% certain you returned, and demand the full amount be credited back to your card.

They can't have it both ways, despite their new and rather unethical 'make them wait and suffer approach'...either they owe you the points, or they owe you credit back to your card for the return, right?

[JeffnAtlanta]

Yeah, that would be nice.  I would probably still get a bill later saying that I never paid for anything and then hit me with the interest. 

I just don't understand why it is so hard to understand all of this.  It is like pulling teeth.  If they all understand what has happened,  why is nothing being done?  I simply believe that the person pushing the button just refuses to do what is right.  I was wanting to buy some Christmas presents with these certificates along with my own money, but I just have this feeling that come close to Christmas, this problem will still be unsolved and I will go elsewhere to do any shopping. 

I know if I showed this kind of service to my customers where I work, I would be fired.  Then again, I don't work for a big corporation.    

[phloog]

Well, I just got a call from BBY, and someone CLAIMS to have gone through all my records and verified that 'oh, yes...the numbers are perfect now...those tons of points we deleted were the error'....so basically they were completely wrong, gave me completely wrong information and verification over the phone, but NOW they're absolutely sure that they're right.  In appreciation of the hours I spent on the phone with them, writing emails, acting on their incorrect information, I will be given some token amount of RZ certificates...likely in the neighborhood of $20...so as a ballpark guess, I'm being paid about $3/hour to put up with their insanity.

You know what?  Maybe the points ARE right now...I'll never know.  But since I can't trust their math anymore, the RZ/GClub no longer have ANY impact on my purchase decisions...what impact should a program have that gives you a 2% rebate for any dollars you spend when they get around to actually crediting you for them...and IF they do it right...OH, and by the way they will occasionally take a couple of months off from crediting you at all.

The token gift will get me back in the door, but since they've decided not to restore the wiped out points, they're now going to have to compete with every other retailer - brick and mortar or online....on base price.

[JeffnAtlanta]

Well I did go back to the store today.  I got there about 6:30.  (Since it was Sunday, they close at 7:00.  There was no one working customer service.  I stood there a few minutes, then walked to the Magnolia center where I purchased the tv.  There was no one there either.  I went back to the customer service area and there was a girl working.  I walked up and she asked if she could help me.  I showed her my receipts.  One is for the purchase of the tv and the other was for the credit of the "free" shipping.  I explained what happened and told her that someone that works there has put me through much grief with these reward points.  She tried to run the transaction through to see if it would tell her anything else.   She basically told me that I returned the tv and purchased it again.  I told her that was a lie.  I have never returned the tv.  It has been in my great room since the day they delivered it and put it there.  I told her to look at the transaction number on my receipt and also look at the transaction receipt that she printed out.  Her copy showed a different account number. Bascially what happened was the person at the store credited the whole transaction for the shipping and the tv.  They then added the tv back using some type of card that read as an in-store credit.  That is where the trouble started.  They should have never taken it  upon their own to "act" as if I had taken any merchandise back.  They could actually look over store tape to see if I was there when this actually happened and find I was no where near their store.  I am now wondering if my points were stolen by this employee.  It sounds like the perfect inside job to rack up on points for themselves.

Anyway, the girl got on the phone and called someone at corporate.  It is strange that someone is working on a Sunday after hours.  She talked to this person and they went over my information.  She stayed on the phone the whole time trying to figure something out.  The store closes and we are both still standing there with her on the phone.  Finally, the lady on the phone tells her to have me open up a new account and they will "merge" the two together.  I am somewhat skeptical and tell her that sounds like a totally bad idea.  I can see this becoming a bigger issue and still having this problem two months from now.  She assures me it will work.  I then tell her that I was promised extra bonus points from one of the people (on this site) for this nightmare experience.  How will that ever work now?  I also told her I was at Silver status.  She said that would be taken care of too.  I still told her that I didn't  believe this would solve anything.  I asked her how long would this take.  Will I have to wait another 30-40 days?  She didn't know about that, but told me I probably would have to "wait" again.  Why are we having to wait this long?  Isn't their an override button that could fix this?  I am not asking for anything but what is owed to me based on their agreement.  I told her I would believe it when I have these certificates in hand.  I have her name and the name of another employee that verifed all of this.  I was also given a case number. 

I finally walked out of the store about 7:30 well after closing time.  I still do not totally believe that this will work.   

[JeffnAtlanta]

I forgot to mention something.  They wanted me to open another account because they claim that my original account was never activated, yet I got into it almost everyday and saw my tv purchase in the pending status for nearly 30 days.  I opened the other account.  Well, now I no longer have Silver status.  This indeed appears to have been a bad idea. 

Buckle up for another bumpy ride.  I am still wondering if this is a case of inside employee fraud where they stole my transaction to take my points. 

[phloog]

They have the worst processes in the world, and it seems they've built systems that don't support the business they want to run.  I have a similar example that shows how broken they are (if people still don't believe us).  I bought 2 video games online with a Buy Two, get one free offer, so I got a third game for free.  I used a $10 RZ certificate.  I then realized that one of the games was for the wrong system.  You would THINK I could just change it....nope....to shorten the story a BUNCH, they ended up sending one video game to a store FIFTY miles from me instead of the one down the road I ASKED them to send to...I went down to get it, and to process just switching it to the other version (PS3 not 360), they had to process a return, cancel and then reissue the RZ certificate, fully credit me back for the 360 games, put in a special price adjustment on the PS3 version to match the online price, then issue a free gift card that they issued, scratched off, then used....the possibility that they will have correct data after this is slim.