Best Buy had better give me my 6800GT. >:(

[Ichinisan]

As it stands, there is still no BFG GeForce 6800 GT OC coming my way, despite my best efforts.

I wrote:
On Saturday, 10/30/04, I used the Best Buy web site to locate item 6684652, an expensive computer video card.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...84652&type=product

The web site reported that it was available for home-delivery. I was in a hurry to obtain this particular item, so decided to drive out to a store to pick it up. The "check for store availability" option reported that the two closest stores, Fayetteville and Douglasville, both had the item in stock, while the other local stores were all out-of-stock. I called both stores to verify availability before driving out (both stores are a significant distance to drive), and they both said that their reported stock could not be located!

I called the toll-free number and spoke with a sales representative, who said that I could go ahead and order from the web site with the in-store pick-up option. He said that a store employee would go to set the item aside, realize that it could not be located, and email me to tell me that it would be shipped free-of-charge.

Instead, I got an email from the store notifying me that the item was available for immediate pick-up, and that it had been set aside for me (which was not the case).

On Sunday, I planned to drive out to pick it up; but called the store first to be sure that one had been set aside for me. They reported that the two cards in their system were both still unaccounted for, and that I should *not* drive out there because they did not have it.

I called the toll-free number again and the Best Buy representative (Michelle) said that she notified a special response team who would call or email within 4 hours with a resolution. I never received a response.

On Monday, I called the toll-free number again and explained the situation. Once again, a response team was notified but never responded. I called the store again to see if the missing stock had turned up, and an employee searched "everywhere" for it, including the back of the store. He called me back and explained the situation. Another employee (a supervisor?) explained that it had been a counting error when they received their previous shipment. He explained that my credit card would not be charged until I came to pick up the item. He said that I could wait for the pick-up period to expire, but I should cancel the order "just in case" to make sure that my card is not charged in the future. However, when I got home and checked my bank's online statement, it showed that my card had already been charged.

Today, I checked my email and found a message from Monday. It was a reminder that my product is still waiting to be picked up! It has now been 3 days since I placed my order (this is the fourth). On the day that I ordered, I had many options. Now I have none. The web site is out-of-stock. I called the toll-free number again and spoke with a representative who could not work out any kind of solution, even though there are several other stores in Georgia which have the item (all are too far away to drive). She cancelled the order, which is disappointing because it may delay any resolution that you present because my card will have to be charged again.

Resolve this situation and send me the item from one of these other stores. I have been waiting entirely too long.

Turner Hill GA 2940 Turner Hill Road, Lithonia, GA 30038

Stone Mountain GA 1450 East Park Place, Stone Mountain, GA 30087

Gwinnett GA 1875 Pleasant Hill Road, Duluth, GA 30096-4651

Columbus GA 2925 Manchester Expressway, Columbus, GA 31909-5367

Mall Of Georgia GA 3205 Woodward Crossing Blvd., Buford, GA 30519

An ignorant ass wrote:
James,
Thank you for contacting Best Buy about your order BBY__-___________. I'm Grant with Customer Care.

We appreciate your concern about modifying your order.

Your order has reached a point in the processing stage where it is beyond modification. We are unable to complete this request because your order has been cancelled. If you require further assistance please contact us at 1-888-Bestbuy/1-888-8289.

If returning to the store is not an option for you, just follow the instructions on the back of the packing slip. Once it's returned, we'll credit you for the full amount of the product. Shipping charges, however, will still apply.

Thank you for sharing your comments with Best Buy. Please do not hesitate to contact us with additional questions or concerns.

Best wishes from Best Buy,
Grant and the Customer Care Team

I wrote:
Please escalate this to someone who can create a new order and *get my product to me*.

"sorry...your order is beyond the point of modification"

If you had read the message, you would see that I did not want to cancel my order for this very reason! Your representative told me that I did not have a choice and cancelled the order despite the fact that several other stores in the state had the item in-stock.

Please make this right and expedite shipping on my item. It has been 4 days now since I first placed my order, and I should have been able to pick it up that very day (in-store pick-up option was used).

Another ignorant ass with no customer service skills wrote:
James,

Thank you for contacting Best Buy about your order number BBY__-___________. I'm
Mark with Customer Care.

We'd be happy to investigate this matter for you.

At the present time we are out of stock online for the item BFG Technologies
GeForce 6800 GT OC 256MB GDDR3 AGP Graphics Card. The online and instore
inventories are separate. As such we cannot send you a video card from another
store. We apologize for any frustration this experience may have caused you.

As new inventory becomes available the website will be updated to reflect the
new status. We invite you to check back periodically for product availability.

Have you seen our latest Hot Deals? For everything from notebooks and desktops
to music and movies, find hot values on the products you need. New offers are
added constantly, so be sure to check and re-check our exciting Hot Deals.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...6190&type=category

We look forward to your next visit to one of our stores or to www.BestBuy.com.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with additional questions or concerns.

Best Wishes from Best Buy,
Mark and the Customer Care Team

I wrote:
You clearly do not understand. I have been wronged and Best Buy must actually work to correct this. If you do not have procedures for this, you must escalate the situation to someone who can. This is unacceptable. I ordered this product on Saturday. I wanted it on Saturday. I was told that I could pick it up on Saturday. Now it is Wednesday evening and I still do not have any way to obtain this card. My situation is time-sensitive. ESCALATE THIS MATTER. I will not wait for the site to re-stock.

When someone with authority receives this message, I suggest that you:

1. Call one of the Georgia stores that I listed (all of which had the item in-stock)

2. Bill my credit card again

3. Arrange an express shipment; either to my home or one of the two local stores (Fayette or Douglasville).

4. Notify me of your resolution. ______@hotmail.com, (111) 111-1111, (222) 222-2222, (333) 333-3333

Why don't they understand that someone will have to get off of his/her ass and actually work to resolve this one? My emails are probably being read somewhere in India.

@#$%@ out-sourcing!!

 

[BentValve]

Best Buy is a big corparate pile of mess, nothing gets done because nobody has any power...you simply just get shifted around until you get tired of fighting with them.


My Best Buy has several of these cards in stock..they are not that hard to come by.


Get one from somewhere else.

 

[Ichinisan]

I have no alternative in my area. Both of the Best Buy stores that I am willing to drive to are more than 1 hour away.

Also, I'm buying the factory-overclocked 6800 GT, which Circuit City does not carry in-store; and it's for the same price as a non-OC version from somewhere else.

Check it out: BB's price is less than it is currently listed for on Pricewatch, and that's saying a lot. I'm not looking for a compromise.

 

[Kishan]

heres what you need to do:

find the highest person on the chain and bitch, bitch, bitch

 

[Ichinisan]

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316
heres what you need to do:

find the highest person on the chain and bitch, bitch, bitch

That's exactly what I'm working on...but those bastards in India still don't know what to do with me.

(I'm still assuming that email support is outsourced because that's the only way to explain their inability to resolve the situation)

 

[sunase]

Let's see, you tried to weasel your way into free shipping and failed. Meanwhile it went OOS because people were buying it normally. So instead of learning from this experience you decide to go torture people who are just doing their job in attempt to get something else you're not entitled to.

You, sir, are the reason PM policies nowadays are getting too strict to be worth anything. Some people just want to abuse the system as much as possible. If this were an old fashioned Mom and Pop store they'd probably refuse to sell you anything in the future since you're just a trouble maker, not the sort of customer a store values. ;p

 

[JenniAMDCHP]

Best Buy is a ultra-greedy corp that cares about money beyond anything else, or so my experiences have taught me.

I bought a Vaio laptop from them in February of 2001. They started pitching the 'extended best buy warranty' to me, saying how Sony only covers this and that, how it doesn't cover the screen, so on and so forth. Okay, so I forked the extra few hundred bucks (I know it was around 300-500. They specifically said 'If anything happens to it and it's under our warranty, just bring it in and we'll fix it, no questions asked'

Well gee, how can you go wrong with a warranty like that? Obviously user-error is something that isn't covered, like taking a hammer to it or something - but still, this seemed like pretty good insurance.

Fast forward a couple of months - the laptop starts doing weird things. I'd leave it on overnight, and when I'd open the monitor to check things - the screen would be dark. Not off-dark ..but dark enough that I could see silhouettes of all the window/programs that I had left open before closing the laptop screen and going to bed. This kept on happening more often - and it almost always seemed to be something that happened after leaving it alone and on for a long time, untouched - ie overnight.

So I finally take it into Best Buy and say hey look, something's wrong with this (very expensive) piece of equipment. You know what they did? 'Ok, it's going to cost you 60$ an hour for our technicians to look into it and see what's wrong'

Me: Uh, no..you see, I purchased your 'Best Buy extended warranty'

Them: Oh that's fine..if something is wrong with it, we'll fix it for free..but it's still going to cost you 60$ an hour for our technicians to troubleshoot it. It could be a virus or a program that's creating problems.

Ok, I think I know computers enough to know how to check for virii and application conflictions - and that sh..er..stuff that they pulled right there had me severly peeved off, for lack of better words. They wanted to still charge me 60$ an hour after I was conned into buying their extended warranty, nevermind the fact that it already had a manufacturer warranty on it!

After much heckling and hassle - talking to the manager, etc - they finally agreed to look at it free of charge (It's kind of hard to argue with 'Well I was told that if I bought this extended warranty and something happens, that I could bring it in and have it looked at/repaired free of charge.)

Some days later - they stated that they could find nothing wrong with it. Okay - so I get in touch with Sony - who offers to send me a box with postage paid to have it sent to their nearest office that handles stuff like this. I decided to drive down instead rather then trust a laptop to the mail, though it was a bit of a drive - about three hours worth or so, each way.

When I received my laptop back from Sony - they had found a number of things wrong with the laptop, including but not limited to (if I can recall correctly) - something with the power wiring, the screen wiring/power - something along the lines of the way the wires travelled to the LCD. I think the power adapter was funked up too. They fixed all of this - free of charge, no questions asked.

The next day? I went to Best Buy and asked for my money back on my extended 'Best Buy' warranty. Granted I didn't get it all back, since some months had passed - but I was given a good amount back since the warranty was only a few months old.

I have not purchased anything from Best Buy after that as far as advanced electronics go. A music cd or something that I *must* have that no other place has, I'll get from them once in a blue moon - but I purposely go *out* of my way to shop elsewhere. I will shop at Fry's despite it being farther from my house then Best Buy. I've never had any issues or problems with Fry's, who - for me - seems to at least do the best they can to treat their customers with a bit of dignity.

Sorry to hear about your Best Buy troubles. I can't stand them. =(
-Jen

 

[Kishan]

OP call 1-888-BESTBUY and say you need to speak to a superviser. Don't be an asshole, but be very firm.

 

[erikistired]

instead of all this bitching you could have just driven out to another store and bought it. they don't have to send you anything. if you don't want to drive any farther that isn't their fault. and things happen, and sometimes things go out of stock. i was looking for a cd a few weeks ago, called media play and they said it was in stock. i drove over to get it (20 minutes or so) and they didn't actually have it in stock. did i piss and moan and demand them to send me one from some other store that day? no i just ordered it from amazon and went on my way.

what would be great is you whine so long that the price goes up, then you don't get one the same day or for the cheaper price. sweet!

 

[JenniAMDCHP]

It's called customer service, fisher. I don't think he's asking for too much for a little bit of customer service. Telling someone to stop whining, etc etc and to 'tough it out' and deal with it isn't very good business. Businesses without customers will quickly go out of business. I can totally relate to the run-around that this guy is getting, and can sympathize. I don't think he's asking for free hand-outs. Just a bit of respect as a customer. After all - he has a choice of places to go, and he's being nice enough to give his business to Best Buy. It's not asking for a lot to have a business work with you to try and accomodate some requests. It's good business practice, and a happy customer is a life-long/spendy customer.
-Jen

 

[Corporate Thug]

you guys are under the assumption that BB gives two $hits about customer service. they preach customer service when it comes to things like greeting the customer and answering the questions, but when it comes to something that is going to cost them, forget about it

however, i must disagree with JenniAMDCHP on one thing: BB is certainly not going out of business

 

[JenniAMDCHP]

Uhhh - and where in my entry did I say BB is going out of business? I dont think you really read what I was saying - or at least, you misunderstood what I was saying.

I said Businesses without customers will quickly go out of business. I never said Best Buy doesn't have customers. *IF* everybody that shopped at Best Buy suddenly stopped shopping there..they would have no revenue - and would go out of business. What I said was that *I* don't shop there anymore due to how they treated me.

I really have no idea where you see in my comment that I said Best Buy was going out of business.
-Jen

 

[Thermalrock]

jenni are you a cop?

 

[angelsfreak]

You should ask them to give you the phone number to their district manager. They will do ANYTHING to avoid customer complaints directly to their DM. That's the way it is at the store I work at. I don't work for BB but I'm pretty sure it's the same way there.

 

[Ichinisan]

Originally posted by: sunase
Let's see, you tried to weasel your way into free shipping and failed. Meanwhile it went OOS because people were buying it normally. So instead of learning from this experience you decide to go torture people who are just doing their job in attempt to get something else you're not entitled to.

You, sir, are the reason PM policies nowadays are getting too strict to be worth anything. Some people just want to abuse the system as much as possible. If this were an old fashioned Mom and Pop store they'd probably refuse to sell you anything in the future since you're just a trouble maker, not the sort of customer a store values. ;p

Bastard. I wanted to pick it up from a B&M store more than anything! I wanted it *NOW*. BEST BUY offered free shipping if the in-store pickup situation could not be resolved. I did not ask for it.

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316
OP call 1-888-BESTBUY and say you need to speak to a superviser. Don't be an asshole, but be very firm.

I've already done that many times. The last time I called, the lady cancelled my order and didn't work out a resolution! Now, that cancelled order was cited as the reason why a resolution could not be developed.

 

[Ichinisan]

Originally posted by: fisher
instead of all this bitching you could have just driven out to another store and bought it. they don't have to send you anything. if you don't want to drive any farther that isn't their fault. and things happen, and sometimes things go out of stock. i was looking for a cd a few weeks ago, called media play and they said it was in stock. i drove over to get it (20 minutes or so) and they didn't actually have it in stock. did i piss and moan and demand them to send me one from some other store that day? no i just ordered it from amazon and went on my way.

what would be great is you whine so long that the price goes up, then you don't get one the same day or for the cheaper price. sweet!

Wrong wrong wrong. It was promised to me. Both stores reported that it was in-stock. Both are more than 1-hour away, and these are the stores that I'm willing to drive to. All of the others in my state are a good 3+ hour drive (ONE direction). This has nothing to do with my willingness to drive, but BB's willingness to fix their mistake.

Originally posted by: angelsfreak
You should ask them to give you the phone number to their district manager. They will do ANYTHING to avoid customer complaints directly to their DM. That's the way it is at the store I work at. I don't work for BB but I'm pretty sure it's the same way there.

There is no DM in charge of the web site, email support, 1-888-BEST-BUY.

 

[Akira1224]

ok...I couldn't bring myself to read through the whole sob story...so let me just ask a question.

Have you paid yet? Do they have your money? If so then just contact your bank have them put in a claim then go order on-line. Zipzoomfly.com. 2nd day air free. I'm sorry if you can't wait 2 days... your obviously not getting anywhere now.

Now if you HAVE NOT paid them. same solution...let it go and order it on-line.

If it was me I would have cut my losses days ago. I love how people try and try and fight the system and the corporations. At the end of the day Best Buy, and all other companies, are in the market for one reason... to make money. They are NOT in business to serve the needs of mankind or cater to anyone. You are a dollar sign and unless you have given them said dollar signs let it go.

That's not an excuse for "crappy customer service" but again unless you have paid them there was no reason to get up in arms in the first place.

 

[Regs]

They made a bad inventory mistake. They can't give you something they don't have.

If they credit you your money back, I don't see the problem. I understand that your frustrated , but I wouldn't write anything about a "escalation" of a threatening nature to a customer service group. What are you going to do, sue for pain and suffering?

You make it sound like you are the only one that got screwed in these types of processes.

 

[imported_jediknight]

Originally posted by: Ichinisan

There is no DM in charge of the web site, email support, 1-888-BEST-BUY.

What about the DM in charge of the stores that had misrepresented stock? Explain the whole situation to him/her..

 

[Gothgar]

www.bestbuysux.org/

 

[erikistired]

Originally posted by: JenniAMDCHP
It's called customer service, fisher. I don't think he's asking for too much for a little bit of customer service. Telling someone to stop whining, etc etc and to 'tough it out' and deal with it isn't very good business. Businesses without customers will quickly go out of business. I can totally relate to the run-around that this guy is getting, and can sympathize. I don't think he's asking for free hand-outs. Just a bit of respect as a customer. After all - he has a choice of places to go, and he's being nice enough to give his business to Best Buy. It's not asking for a lot to have a business work with you to try and accomodate some requests. It's good business practice, and a happy customer is a life-long/spendy customer.
-Jen

customer service is fine, but he hasn't been "wronged". wronged would be getting a card that was smashed to pieces and denied a return, or being asked to leave because the manager didn't like your tshirt. being told "they don't have it in stock" and going anyway was his own fault.

On Sunday, I planned to drive out to pick it up; but called the store first to be sure that one had been set aside for me. They reported that the two cards in their system were both still unaccounted for, and that I should *not* drive out there because they did not have it.

he'd also been told by the 800 number that they didn't have it. if he went out anyway that's HIS PROBLEM. best buy is not entitled to spend money to express ship him a card from another store. to think that it is is completely retarded. how far would you get calling newegg and demanding overnight shipping because you can't find the item you want locally and you want it right now? or ANY company for that matter.

this is best buy. they have millions of customers. one person demanding something he's not entitled to is not going to run them out of business.

let's say he does get his way by whining and bitching, by the time he gets the card he could have ordered it from somewhere else and already had it.

 

[erikistired]

to me it simply sounds like you don't want to pay what everyone else is selling the card for, and you aren't willing to drive where it's in stock at, so you are acting like a 2 year old and hoping stomping your feet and throwing a fit will get you your way. my 2 year old does much the same thing, and it doesn't work for her either. from your own story you were told at least twice they were out of stock. if you decided to ignore that then it's your own fault, not best buys fault.

oh and by the way, if your situation is time sensitive then you would have found a place it was really in stock and paid whatever shipping charges were needed to get it to you. wanting something and being impatient is not time sensitive.

 

[Xatrix]

I think they mailed your card to me

Dear Matthew:

The items listed below have shipped on 11/01/2004. Your credit card has now been charged for the shipped items.

Get more information on this order by checking your order status.

You can also call us toll-free at 1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289) with any questions. For faster service, tell us the order number when you contact us.

Thank You.
Best Buy Customer Care

Order Date: 10/30/2004
Order Number: 0298734092374908127498213749082174981239847129384 <----

BFG Technologies-GeForce 6800 GT OC 256MB GDDR3 AGP Graphics Card-BFGR68256G

 

[brian_riendeau]

Ichinisan, the time has come to simply give up. You have been smacked down and told no by enough BB employees that you should have gotten the point by now.

Not to mention that you attitude in your emails is terrible, I presume you have a similar mentality with reps over the phone. How you treat people and your choice of words determine how much effort a rep puts into helping you. Just from reading your comments in this thread, I can see why no one wants to help you. Heck, even your thread title stinks of a pissy attitude...

"Best Buy had better give me my 6800GT"

Or else what? You going to thump your chest more and try telling everyone how they "wronged" you?

 

[JE78]

I thought my problem with BB was bad. Sorry to hear about yours. Here is what happend with mine.

I was in the market for a ATI 9800 Pro, I just had my birthday and my parents gave me a $100 gift card to BB. I was checking Newegg and then decided to check BB just for the heck of it. They had it for $200!!! So I checked the website for instore pick up. Put in my zip (the local BB is only 10 mins from me) IN STOCK! So i get in the car and drive to get it. Well of course I get there and its out of stock and this was on sunday. So I talk to the stoner idiot who was working the computer department and he said "we'll be getting another shipment in monday night and it will be on the floor tuesday morning." Ok great, I have a 10:20 class I can swing by on my way to class since it opens at 10am. 10:05am on tuesday i'm there and what do you know. "we didn't get any in last night" they tell me. So a little annoyed I ask,

Me: "well when will you get another shipment in and can you verify that the 9800 will be in it"

Stoner Idiot: "we won't be getting another shipment in until next monday night."

Now I have a gift card and for some stupid reason you can't use them online so I'm forced to use it at the store. So the guy says, "we can order you one from the store, have it shipped here and it will be here in a few days." Ok, so I order it from the store since the price was going to go up another $50 the following monday. So then thursday comes around and i'm at class on the BB site just, put in my zip just for the heck of it and what does it say....IN STOCK. So i call and see if any are in. "Yep, we got 5 of them in." Ok, i know they are stoner idiots but they can't even remember when they get shipments in?? So I ask to custmer service. I get them on the phone and see if I can pick one of them up instead of waiting for mine. "Nope, we can't do that" they tell me, so I told them maybe they should hire people that can give customers the correct information when its requested and hung up. Luckly my 9800 came in the next day so I didn't have to wait too much longer but its still annoying dealing with morons. Good luck!