Good-bye Best Buy

I had three negative experiences at Best Buy within a week. If you, like so many, have had an unpleasant experience dealing with a big box retailer, my story may sound familiar:

1. We bought a Sony 65" big screen TV and were told by the saleskid (they're mostly kids there), "I'll have someone help me bring it to you." Twenty minutes later my wife and I were still waiting. I walked back into the store and found another kid pulling a dolly. I asked him about our TV and he said, "So, that was you?" He explained that the saleskid asked for help moving a TV then took off before specifying which one. Once we told the kid which TV to get he apologized then went to get it immediately. At least the TV works OK.

2. A few days later we bought a new washing machine there - which my son and I went to pick up later. The girl at customer service said she'd have it brought out to us. Fifteen minutes passed... and no washing machine. I walked back into the store and asked the kid at the entry if he knew how long it was going to take. He told me they were, "coordinating getting it down because it's on the top."

After another 8-10 minutes I went back in and told the kid I was tired of waiting and we were leaving. He said, "He's the only one back there." I'm not exaggerating: there were just five or six customers in the entire store, including me, but at least 7 saleskids were wandering around; three or four of whom were standing in the middle of the store chatting with one another.

3. When we got back home I called the service desk to cancel the order. Yep, their phone system is a maze. It took a couple of minutes to get through to a human being. Then, before I'd finished giving the customer service girl my order information, she asked me to wait a second so she could look it up. After five minutes of dead air I hung up.

The problem at Best Buy is the same problem we see with many big box retailers: it's more than mere indifference, it's almost a kind of contempt corporate America has for their customers. And that attitude spills downhill. I've spent a lot of money at Best Buy over the years, I used to love them, but it's all over now.

Fitz