My recent experience with customer service of a big box store

Happened this past Sunday, maybe you'll get a laugh or two out of it.




You guys are not going to believe this, heck I can't even believe it happened, but it did.

My parents are looking for a flat screen TV so it "naturally" become my job to find one for them. Of course Futureshop/Bestbuy (same company under different skin to give illusion of choice) one of the bigger shops to buy it. People have always told me that they have horrible customer service, so I want to see if it's true before drop a couple of grand there.

This week's flier from another store Pharmaprix have Duracell Precharged AA 4 pack on sale for $7, so I took the flier and went to Futureshop for a price match. They have it for $25 (which is horribly overpriced).

Here are the exact words from their website regard price match, it will come into play later:

Here's how it works.
If you are purchasing today:
Present us with a copy of the competitor's current ad.
Our associates will verify that the item is in stock and available for
immediate sale and delivery at the advertised price.
We will beat the competitor's price by 10% of the difference.

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I went to the customer service desk with a pack of Duracell and the flier, and showed them to the customer service girl. She couldn't be sure so she called the manager.

The manager comes, and tried to weasel out of giving price match from the start. He tried to convince me that it's not the same product, which I told him yes it's the same thing, look at the brand and model, same exact words. Then he tried to say it's probably a special package and have a different UPC, and they would need to be the same UPC to be price matched, that I would need a receipt from Pharmaprix as proof. I then pointed to the store policy that I only need competitor's ad, which is right in front of him. He becomes condescending and said hey why don't you just go buy from them, instead of driving here and waste gas, are you just here for the 10%?

I said that's not the point, and asked him does he not follow or care about the company's official policy? He said no he doesn't, he would need the receipt. To which I asked what the point of price match if I had to buy from competitor first? At this point he's clearly agitated and said that's it, he will not continue the discussion anymore, and I should either bring the receipt or scoot. After some further argument, he compromised (or so it appeared, you'll see later) told the CS girl to call Pharmaprix and to see if they are the same thing. The CS girl went to call them, then come back telling me that Pharmaprix store manager told her that there is no such product in their store and anything that is $7 are not rechargeable, then went on to BS me on how Precharged doesn't mean rechargeable etc.

I told her look, the package you have right in front of you says Precharged on it, but she said she is not going to waste any more time here and I should leave. I asked which Pharmaprix did they call. They pointed me to one that's two minutes away. So I drove there, and walked out with the exact same pack under 5 minutes, and went back to Futureshop. So much for Pharmaprix doesn't even have that product like they told me.

I went back to the CS desk, showed them what I just bought, and asked for the manager, the same CS girl called the manager on phone with the new info. A few seconds later I saw that manager strolled across the store in opposite direction from CS, and never showed up again.

After some waiting I asked the CS girl, does the manager not want to show up anymore? She said no absolutely not, and called in another manager. When the second manager showed up I asked him so is this enough proof? He said yes, and I can get the price match now.

At this point I told them I'm here is not for the batteries, but to confirm if they do have horrible service like people say, and now I know. Then they tried to BS me more, oh it's not about customer service, we have to make sure, etc. etc. At this point I just turned around and walked away.

So if they are willing to flat out lying and insult me than to give price match on a pack of batteries, do I really want to know what they would do over a two grand TV?

I'm glad I won't find out.

The sheep look up...

.....FAIL.
wow, that's a horrible experience. thank you for the warning.

but, was this just that specific manager having a bad day/looking to **** someone off? who knows.

csshih said:

.....FAIL.
wow, that's a horrible experience. thank you for the warning.

but, was this just that specific manager having a bad day/looking to **** someone off? who knows.

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Doubt it, from what other people told me it's the behind the scene policy to not give price match anyway they can in order to increase profit margin.

I always have a good customer experience at Best Buy, which you say is the same company under a different name. It does help that I'm on a first-name basis with 3/4 of the people who work there.

That said, I've had the same thing happen to me at several major retailers. The worst is Wal-Mart. Many of their higher-priced items, like the computers and tv's are re-numbered at the factory so that the number does not match that of the identical product at their competitors. I had a Compaq that was sold at Wal-mart go through my workshop, and because of this number-swap, Compaq denied manufacturing it.

Looks like you need to take a look at what Newegg has on sale this week...:naughty:

Tekno_Cowboy said:

I always have a good customer experience at Best Buy, which you say is the same company under a different name. It does help that I'm on a first-name basis with 3/4 of the people who work there.

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Futureshop was a chain in Canada, when BB wants to move in they didn't want to compete with FS, so they just bought it.

Funny thing is they still opened BB stores, the futureshop I went to has a best buy right next door.

I would seriously contact the corporate office in your instance and complain about the situation. If no response from them, your state's attorney general regarding consumer affairs should be sent a nice letter. 80% of the time they will follow-up on their own.

Not so much because the manager was a jerk or, but because we want to over-react, but this is an increasingly common trend with retail. I've dealt with it from electronic stores to getting my muffler fixed at Tuffy.

I actually have some sympathy for the store manager in this case because their job is to keep costs at a minimum. What happens though is the central office decides on a promotion and doesn't communicate it to the satellite stores. Or, the store owner / manager is increasingly getting screwed by corporate not refunding all the coupons they are sending in.

Know what? Not your problem - false advertising is false advertising and if the company in question were properly run they woulndn't be debating it. It's your obligation, IMHO, as a consumer to raise a little hell.

What Blasterman said.

Next time you run into this kind of problem tell them you are going to call corporate to complain and start dialing. If they don't sit up and take notice, then they are morons.

jzmtl said:

Futureshop was a chain in Canada, when BB wants to move in they didn't want to compete with FS, so they just bought it.

Funny thing is they still opened BB stores, the futureshop I went to has a best buy right next door.

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Lol!

This occurs with such frequency at other stores as well. While it's good to hold them, it soon becomes a waste of the consumers time. I visit a BB maybe 3-4 times a year. While mail order has a share of problems too, at least directly, I'm not having to deal with PITA people who's idea of service is saying, "I don't know."

Frustrating for sure.

carrot said:

What Blasterman said.

Next time you run into this kind of problem tell them you are going to call corporate to complain and start dialing. If they don't sit up and take notice, then they are morons.

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lol, they are. and no they wont do anything, as sad as it is , it is true
i've worked at large electronic chain store, you should see some customers complains, a guy bought a plasma tv, its owner manual, clearly states in big red letters, on first page, burn in damage is not covered by warranty, he comes 2 weeks later, with a windows task bar burned in, and demands replacement, causes a scene, had to be removed by cops, another lady brings vacuum cleaner yelling out of her lungs, it doesn't work, we plug it in, it works fine, but rug-floor selector is on rug, no wonder it doesn't clean the floor, at least that one admitted her fault ,apologized, and left happy, and numbers of ppl bringing air conditioners that fell out of the window.. pbly a dozen per season.

believe me out of 10 complaints, only 1 or 2 are valid, that rest are retarded, and stupid. corporate office , doesn't really get in to it, but god forbid you don't make a quote, and don't sell much, corporate will be calling you.

I had a problem at BB (won't get into the long details) and they actually recommended I call corporate. I called corporate and they didn't do diddly squat and referred me back to the store manager. End of story, it wasn't until I threatened to get the state Attorney's General office involved as well as the better business bureau did they relent and see me things my way. It left a very bitter pill to swallow and after that I would refer my electronics business to Circuit City (this was before they started to go downhill and would accept returns without a restocking fee) whenever I could but now basically what choice do I have for a BM store other then BB? Here in the US northeast, I gotta think the area is ripe for some electronics retail competition. I would love for Fry's to expand to the east coast.

Typical. Entertaining reading: http://www.jobvent.com/companyBrowse.php?CompanyID=799

csshih said:

.....FAIL.

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totally agree

customer service FAIL....



Crenshaw

You should have made sure to mention to the managers that this was a deliberate test prior to making a major purchase. Then maybe they'll start to get the idea that if you can't fulfill the small promises, the customer's not going to trust you with the large ones.

I found a good way to make my point with some pushy Circuit City salesmen. I was picking up an assortment of small but moderately pricey items and had them all in one of those small baskets. As I was browsing through the store to see if I could find anything else that I didn't know I needed, I kept getting interrupted by salespeople. I had just told the 5th or 6th one that I was trying to browse, please quit interrupting me. He couldn't have taken two steps away from me when another guy runs over and says "Can I help you?" I wanted to scream! Instead, I said "Sure, can you hold this?" as I handed him my basket full of items. I then proceeded to walk out the door. As I was driving off in my truck, I saw him come out the door looking for me. I drove past the store front on my way out and made sure he saw me wave as I passed.

blasterman said:

I would seriously contact the corporate office in your instance and complain about the situation........

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If the FutureShop corporate is the same as BestBuy corporate it probably won't help. I had a small dispute with BestBuy over a $9 charge on a $900 item. Not a big deal but it was the principle. The local store did nothing, sent a letter to corporate, nothing. I vowed never to buy from them again. So far, so good, but getting harder now that Circuit City has gone under. For the next year after corporate blew me off, I made copies of my receipts when I bought any electronics and such that I could have bought at BB. Then I mailed a second letter to corporate showing them how much business they had lost, along with a copy of my original $9 complaint letter and the copies of the receipts. And no, I didn't get a response to that letter either.

I had the same issue with a phone company that starts with an "A" and ends with an "L"...I told my wife, "Watch, with CS like this they won't last long"...And now they just recently got bought by another phone company...LMFAO!!! CS will make or break a store in the long run, once the "gitter" wares off.

http://despair.com/cudi.html Fitting. Another: http://despair.com/disservice.html And one more:http://despair.com/service.html

I recently had a horrible experience at BestBuy and I signed up on their forum to research a little. I was told at 2 different stores that I could buy a no hassle plan to insure my new cell phone. The salesman (and manager) of both locations stated clearly the phone was covered on damage and all I had to do was bring the damaged phone in and get a new one then and there.

This sounded fishy to me so I waited on a little time to read up on it. I was shocked to find something like 80 percent of the posts of their forum were complaints as to customer service, and the lies involved with their protection insurance plans. It seems as if the extra plan does not cover certain damage and is worded so that each store makes the decision as to replace. Not only that but it does not give you a new phone then and there as you have to wait for it to be sent away for evaluation.

It seemed as if none of the customers ever actually got a new phone and the few who did had to wait about 4 months for their evaluations to be finished....and on top of that it was a refurbished phone....total misleading sales tactics and with so many complaints there must be some truth to it.

It seems as if it is common practice to sale every customer the plan and in doing so the wording is simply a misleading lie. Each complaint sounded just like (word for word) what was told to me when I shopped there. I signed on and asked if this was a common practice as there seemed to be a pattern of complaints.

Best buy corporate told me that it was a case of employees not being trained properly. I asked why they were still employees and also pointed out that if the hundreds of different employees all worded their sales pitch the same then it must be more to it than simply being un-trained.

I offered a solution and advised it would be better to decrease future complaints if they would post a sign in each Dept. area clearly outlining the details of the plan. Make it clear what the insurance covers and have the customer read it before deciding on buying the extra insurance.
Long story short they told me they could not post any signs and could not control what individual employees said to customers.....and imagine this they banned me from the site.

Go to bestbuyforums and check out the protection plan and service area.....it is 90 percent complaints with everyone getting banned for complaining. Needless to say I did not buy my phone from them nor anything else.

carrot said:

What Blasterman said.

Next time you run into this kind of problem tell them you are going to call corporate to complain and start dialing. If they don't sit up and take notice, then they are morons.

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From what I hear the corporate office isn't any better.

Robocop said:

Go to bestbuyforums and check out the protection plan and service area.....it is 90 percent complaints with everyone getting banned for complaining. Needless to say I did not buy my phone from them nor anything else.

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Hehe, makes you wonder why do they still bother operate a forum like that.

blasterman said:

I would seriously contact the corporate office in your instance and complain about the situation. If no response from them, your state's attorney general regarding consumer affairs should be sent a nice letter. 80% of the time they will follow-up on their own.

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Not to discredit your good advice, blasterman, but things have changed . . . . I had a similar problem with Best Buy and I sent a message to their corporate HQ and they couldn't care less.

As for the state or feds caring, trust me, they don't. At least not until they get hundreds or thousands of the same complaint. You're pretty much on your own.

The most power you have is what you're doing right now. Telling as many people as possible and not shopping there. If you want to do more, there are forums where people report this sort of thing.