Testimonial #30: "Yes, we have that." Get there. "Oh, no, we don't have that."

Someone mentioned your site on www.bestbuysux.org, where I'm the administrator of the message forum. Here's a copy of a letter I sent to Best Buy's corporate office after an unpleasant experience in one of their Jacksonville, FL locations. I enjoyed your site and hope this will help. Please leave off my last name - thanks:

To: Best Buy
Consumer Relations
PO Box 9312
Minneapolis, MN 55440

Cc: General Manager
Best Buy
9355 Atlantic Blvd.
Jacksonville, FL 32225

Re: Poor Customer Service at Store #429

I am writing to inform you about the poor customer service I received at store #429 in Jacksonville, FL, on 9/28/01, in particular from Merchandise Manager.

I had called in advance to confirm the availability of the ATI Wonder VE card advertised on pg. 27 of the sales circular dated 9/23/01. The sales rep, whose name I did not get because I didn't anticipate I'd have to provide it later, stated that one of the items was still in stock and that he'd set it aside for me. I arrived approximately an hour later, sometime between 12:00 and 1:00 PM and went to the computer department. I waited for at least 15 minutes before I was finally able to ask a sales rep to check and see if the item I'd requested was sitting behind the counter. She informed me that such items were "in the back" and that she'd be able to help after finishing with her current customer. I might add that even though there were several reps in the area, not even one acknowledged me until I finally made the effort to speak to one.

I waited at least another 20 minutes before she returned. As I gave her my name, another sales rep, who'd been ringing up an order at the cash register, reached down and produced a box with my name on it. The item was in fact not "in the back" at all and could have been found in less than a minute. As if that weren't enough, it turned out that whomever I'd spoken with on the phone had not listened to me carefully and had grabbed the wrong item. Further, there were in fact none of the items I wanted in stock at all.

At this point I asked to speak with a manager to see if the situation could be resolved. Soon Merchandise Manager arrived. I explained the situation, and he apologized for the inconvenience. I then pointed out that there were some rebates on the item and I was concerned that they'd expire before any more arrived. He confirmed that the rebates did indeed expire on 9/30, but did not offer any sort of resolution. I stated that the only reason I came to this store, which I should stress was somewhat out of my way, was because I wanted that item with the rebates. The other item I had intended to purchase could easily have been purchased at a store much more conveniently located. He again said he was sorry, but did not offer to issue a rain check, to check if it were available in any other locations, and in general made it pretty clear that his only interest was to extricate himself from the situation as quickly as possible. To put it a bit more bluntly, he simply wanted to blow me off.

I became very frustrated at his obvious lack of desire to be of any more than cursory assistance and asked to speak to the store manager. I also reminded him that I have made MANY purchases at his store, and that I did not feel I was being treated in a way that showed any appreciation at all for my loyal patronage over the years. He alleged that the store manager would not be able to help. At this point I set the other item I had intended to purchase down with some force, but certainly nothing anywhere nearly sufficient to cause any damage to it or anything else.

Using this as a pretext to end the discussion, he turned his back on me and walked away without saying another word. I followed him, again reminding him of how much money I'd spent at his store, but he only accused me of trying to damage merchandise and that I had developed an "attitude". Of course, I'd done nothing to even remotely approach causing any damage to anything, which is supported by the fact the he did not ask me to pay for it. This only makes it clearer that he intended to blow me off after the failure his totally insufficient gestures to appease me.

I used to work in retail myself, and was amazed at the lack of concern he showed for the inconvenience I'd suffered. I can give numerous examples of good customer service I've experienced at other stores in the area. For example, a very similar situation occurred at the Circuit City down the road on Atlantic, Blvd. When the VCR I'd wanted to purchase turned out not to be in stock, and the only other one with the features I wanted was $100 more, the manager actually took $50 off the price of the more expensive unit. Mr. Merchandise Manager could learn a few things from this manager. Any manager I'd worked for would have offered to issue the rebate on the spot if no other way to receive it were possible. The small loss to the store would be more than sufficiently justified by the positive word of mouth advertising such a goodwill gesture would have generated. (I should add that I recently wanted to purchase a hard drive from Office Max. They were out of stock but put me on their list to be contacted when more arrive. He also said he'd deduct the price of the rebates on the spot if it arrives after they've expired!)

I work as a consultant in the computer field. I purchase on a regular basis lots of computer related merchandise, including both hardware and software, for my clients and myself. Furthermore, I am frequently asked to give buying advice to my clients, members of my family and many of their friends. In fact, an employee of the client I went to after visiting Best Buy told me that her mother wanted to purchase an entire computer system this weekend. I told her about the experience I'd just had at Best Buy, and she stated she'd certainly advise her mother to look elsewhere. It is well known in sales that people are far more likely to remember a negative experience than a positive one. Already this situation had resulted in a loss of a sale of at least several hundred dollars (I advised her to check CompUSA and CostCo).

Overall, Mr. Merchandise Manager exuded an attitude of arrogance, as if he felt that the loss of a regular customer was totally inconsequential. I've encountered this before, the feeling that "we don't have to treat people well because where else can they go," or "we already have so many customers that it's no big deal to lose one." It should go without saying that this attitude is grossly shortsighted and tends to snowball. If a manager is so easily unwilling to show anything more than superficial interest in resolving a customer's complaint, it's only a matter of time before this becomes the rule instead of the exception and replaces sound customer service practices. And it betrays a lack of appreciation of the value of word of mouth advertising.

I'm not sure if anything can entice me to return to Best Buy, or at a bare minimum store #429. Some of my associates questioned whether it would do any good to write at all, as they were of the opinion that no one at Best Buy would really care. I would like to think this is not the case, but that remains to be seen.

Sincerely,

XXXXX

PS: I did finally get a give certificate for $20. After I used it up I never again returned to Best Buy....

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