Best Buy IdeaX

[#1]

I've had two negative experieces with Best Buy stores here and I want to start off by mentioning I'm an Elite Plus member so I'm not somewhat that frequently returns things but I do, however, spend money at Best Buy. 

I think it would be in Best Buy's best interest to really get employees familiar with the returns policy and to avoid situations that pit customers against the company:

[for example] I purchased a MacBook Pro at the My Best Buy Shopping Event last night.  It was marked as "scratched" and "missing a power cable."  I figured for the price (35% off) this wouldn't be too bad as I have stuff to remove scratches and a power cable is around $50-80.  When I get it home and start cleaning it up, I come to find out it's actually not a scratch it's a crack in the glass.  Now the Best Buy employee told me to purchase the plan and worst case scenario I couldn't get the "scratch" out they would just replace it.  This was incorrect; the protection plan paperwork states that Best Buy, at their discretion, may decide that the cost to repair the item exceeds a reasonable expense and can decide to issue you a store credit for the amount instead.  In this case, I would be without a computer (because the store credit will be issued for the amount paid) AND out the $200 extra I paid on the service contract (because at this point, it has "done it's job" per say). 

So this morning I made an appointment at the Apple Store to take it in to see just how much it would cost to fix and they quoted $900 alone for the screen and they also informed me that the body on the computer is "warped" which is why when I have it on a flat surface it has a little bit of a rock to it.  Mind you, a customer service agent took this as a return AND the store misadvertised this as a scratch.  After hearing that, I knew if it went out to service through Geek Squad it would most likely end with them deciding not to repair it and instead replace it and that means I would be without a computer (this same model would be 35% more at that point) and out $200 for protection so I opted to return it.

I purchased this computer over by where I work (about 30 minutes from where I live) and I tried to take it to the store right down the street from my apartment and the store tells me that "we wouldn't sell something like this, with this kind of damage, so my manager is refusing to allow you to return it here." And I'm SHOCKED (to say the least).  Best Buy stores are NOT franchised - so the fact that they would pit a customer against the company (not to mention inconvenience me to drive out of my way 30 minutes to go return a defective item that they sold me - referencing once again that they are NOT franchised - is ridiculous).  If one of your stores sells someone a lemon like this, another store should take the return because at the end of the day it's all Best Buy. 

Similarly, I had an experience like this with an iPhone 5S.  I purchased an open box iPhone 5S 32GB in Space Gray on launch day, as that's the only phone they had for AT&T.  I took it home and I honestly just didn't like the color so I decided I would go get a 64GB in Silver (and mind you I purchased this outright).  So Best Buy took no loss (they would have to mark the open item down again, but it would most likely be at the same price as before) AND the made a huge revenue gain when I purchased the new phone outright.  I tried to return the Space Gray (mind you I had it for 3 days at this point) and the guy tells me they can't return it because it's "scuffed" - for the record, "scuffed" was pocket lint that got trapped between the case and the phone.  Ironically, took the phone 2 minutes down the street to the Best Buy mobile stoer and they took it without instance.

Please train your employees on proper return policies and etiquette;  Especially for Elite Plus members returns should be no hassle - but more importantly, if this had been a first shopping and returns experience with Best Buy it would probably be my last.  You're not just competing with online retailers on price anymore, they offer phenomenal service. Anytime I've returned something to Amazon it's been without fanfare, instance or followup and smooth as melted butter. At the end of the day it should be about making the customer happy and making sure they have a positive experience because this is what gets customers to spend more in-store.

[#2]

Thanks for your feedback. I can assure you our employees should already be familiar with our return or exchange policy, and should always be nothing but professional.

[#3]

Could should and would are non-definitives and the same reason why problems don't get fixed and instead, spread. Its also apparent employees are not familiar with the return policy as this computer is made up of a 1" solid block of aluminum and somehow whoever returned it was able to bend this to the point where the computer does not sit flat. According to your returns policy (not even taking into consideration the crack in the glass on the screen that was falsely advertised as a scratch) this is abuse and should not have been allowed to be returned in the first place. Now Best Buy is going to eat the cost on this computer because essentially the entire thing is going to need to be replaced. In terms of professionalism if your employees playing games with customers and having them drive around town when they could EASILY have processed the return at the store I was in - that will be my last purchase from Best Buy because I'm not okay with that level of service or professionalism and I'd hope you'd reach out to these stores, #152 and #1459 and reiterate the policies to management, as stated before there was a sup at #152 and a mgr at #1459 that both refused returns.

[#4]

@gadgeteer, IdeaX is a platform for general ideas to make our company as a whole better. This is why I responded with a general overreaching response. We of course fail from time to time, and when this is the case we should be addressing that singular failure. If you need your particular concern addressed you will need to post it to the appropriate customer service board.