I have a Parrot Anafi extended drone that recently crashed. The drone was purchased from BestBuy last month. I initiated an accident investigation with Parrot, and they determined it was not pilot error, the drone was defective. They issued a formal letter with a case number stating that I should take the drone back to BestBuy for replacement or a refund. I took the drone to the Bestbuy in Rockford,IL and was told by the manager that “ the case number will not work. Bestbuy needs an “AR” number. The letter clearly stated that it was to be turned in to Bestbuy and it was the official documentation from the manufacturer. I than called Parrots offices, and they asked to speak with the Bestbuy store manager directly, and she responded “there is nothing they can tell me that will change anything” and refused to talk with them. Parrot told me they do not issue anything that is an AR number, they use case numbers. They asked me to have the manager send a email to Parrot stating they are refusing to honor the manufacturers warranty, but again, the manager refused to do that. I left the store and called the customer help line for BestBuy. The first representative told me BestBuy only is responsible for returned in the first 15 days, and I should have bought the extended warrant. He said to contact Parrot, it’s not Best Buy’s problem. Of course, I had just explained to him that I had a letter of authorization to replace the drone from the manufacturer thru Best Buy. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and after 45 minutes, I eventually got one. He said”I don’t blame you for being angry. The manager should have used common sense and not put you in the middle of an issue between Best Buy and Parrot”. He then confessed he could not do anything to help. It needed to be handled in the store by a manager. He suggested I go to a different Best Buy and try and “find someone who will do the right thing”. He also suggested I write a bad review on the Rockford Best Buy website, which I have done ( which never seemed to actually get published). I am not driving 50 miles in hopes I can get someone to fix this issue.
Amazon would not do this. It would be handled between Amazon and Parrot and not put the consumer in the middle. I would already have a replacement drone. Why would I ever return to Best Buy? When your policies are so ridged that a store manager can not do what makes sense, Best Buy’s future will not be assured. Best Buy made it very clear that customer satisfaction is not a core principal of their business. I will make sure I spread the word.
