Thats the only way i can describe feeling after leaving one of my local best buys following a disc fusion surgery that has made regular trips to my favorite best buy store much more cumbersome and infrequent than before my surgery, when i was i was shopping there exclusively preparing my smart home automation and entertainment i was seeking post surgery to make my life as comfortable as possible.
It started on September 28th in the La Jolla CA best buy, upon trying to return a IBUYPOWER computer that was delivered broken and stuck in a bios update cycle. I arrived at the best buy (not my immediate local one but one that i visited frequently because of its proximity to my girlfriends house down in San Diego. One of the employees suggested building my own PC because prebuilt are usually built with shortcuts taken, something i had witnessed twice already with IBP computers. After doing some research i decided that i did want to do that, so when i entered the building i told the woman that i wanted to return and exchange my computer (it was well within my 45 days as a best buy elite member) and that i wanted to purchase and order the parts that i could and then get the rest of return as store credit because i had just gone through a situation where a undelivered package from best buy took 40 days to refund and was planning on spending it all on parts from best buy anyway. I figured it was better for both parties seeing as i don’t have to worry about a delay in getting my money and best buy get tostados guarantee that they are not losing a customer or an order to any outside business. However i was treated like a criminal upon my request, with the woman scoffing at me that Best Buy does not operate that way and insinuating i was trying to run some scam based on my request for store credit for the few parts that were unavailable for purchase at the time the new GPUS from NVIDIA which best buy has exclusivity on but are not available to pre order or reserve. She immediately called someone on her phone and walked into the back employee area while all the other team members avoided eye contact with me and a few other customers left the store. She was on the phone for probably about 25 minutes before she came back out and said that the computer is not letting her return the item and that i was flagged for to many returns. While i admit that i have had more than usual returns during covid is was strictly because of the situation and not being able to sit and talk with magnolia or best buy specialists to make sure that my purchases were exactly what i needed for my upcoming situation. They had the exact same model that was trying to return in that store an IBUYPOWER BB993 so i asked to just exchange my broken item for that item and she once again left to the back area while side eyeballing me saying that she was trying her best to help me. She came back and said all she could do was exchange my computer and that she was doing me a big favor because my account was flagged. It should be noted that I was also looking to pick up a new LG CX tv during that same visit but no store employee wanted to help me, luckily the customer service at the Mission Valley Best Buy is top notch and Matthew from the Magnolia team stayed past closing to help me get my perfect tv that very same night, even though i swore off all best buys upon leaving the la jolla location based on how awful i felt.
Fast forward to last week, i have had my surgery and decided to go in to my local best buy (Oceanside, CA) to exchange that computer for a even more expensive pre built that had a 3080 in stock which are impossible to come by, so got my neck brace tightened and had my mother take me there only for the store manager (who is always friendly with me) to inform me that they couldn’t exchange it because it came up flagged. He assured me that i should totally be able to return the item, citing that it said that i have until November 26th to return the item, and that although i did have more than usual returns, considering covid, my unique situation with my surgery, and the fact i always made sure to buy GSP and exchange insurance. He informed that these flags are normal automated process that happen and i should call the 800 number because they would just want to make sure that all the purchases were not fraudulent and explain to them what was going on so i could get the flag cleared and exchange my computer.
So i call the 800 number only for them to tell me that there is not flag on my account on their end, and that the flag would have had to been initiated at the store level, by the manager herself. I went back to my local best buy where the initial computer was purchased, and the manager regretfully told me that since i had exchanged the computer (and bought the GSP again) at the La Jolla store, that he could not remove the flag even though he believes that i am well within my rights to exchange my computer. So here i am confused, embarrassed, and in physical pain, afraid to go back to the jolla store out of fear of being shamed. I don’t understand how they could treat someone who has spent so much money and been such a loyal customer like a felon. Needless to say the prebuilt i wanted to exchange is sold out, however, i would like to do my original idea, of building my own computer however now an all AMD build with the new Ryzen processors and new AMD graphics card releasing later this month. I can buy or order most of what i need from best buy right now, however i need to wait for the new CPUS and GPUS to come back in stock, which is where i would prefer store credit again, even though i could just take the money and buy a prebuilt OEM that has all the components i need already for cheaper than the computer i have from best buy. If i could get any help or guidance i would very much appreciate it. Im sorry for the long rant i just have been holding this in since it happened and am hurt by the actions of a store that i have been so loyal too.
Sorry if that was hard to understand it is difficult for me to type and could be explained much easier over the phone.
