Saturday, February 5, 2011

Bad Customer Service - Best Buy

I will never make a purchase from Best Buy again, either in the store or on the website.

I made this purchase with the expectation that I could walk in a pick it up, that it would be quicker than going to the store, getting the item off of the shelf and going through the checkout.

Boy was I wrong.

1. When I arrived at the store after 5 pm on the date of the order, over 30 minutes after getting the email that the item was ready to be picked up, and after waiting in line, the customer service associate was unable to locate the item. She looked on the computer and saw where “John” had picked the item, but she could not locate it. She made numerous phone calls and furtively looked around the area for the item.

2. 2. I could have gotten the item off of the shelf and went through the check out in the time I spent on Friday night trying to get the item. As I had to be somewhere, I opted to come back at a later time to get the item.

3. I returned to the store at 1:30 pm today. There was a huge line at the customer service counter. I waited for 30 minutes just to be helped. (This is ridiculous in and of itself, it sure did not feel like customer service.) Again, when I got to the counter, the poor representative was not able to find my item. She looked, she made phone calls, she finally just went back to the shelf and got one. You can imagine my feelings of frustration. I bought and paid for the item online to streamline my in store experience only to have a worse in store experience.

4. I then asked to speak to a manager, for two reasons. I wanted to let her know about my frustration, point out that the customer experience in the store was horrible, not just for myself, but for all of the other folks that were waiting in line, and to applaud the representative that had finally taken the initiative to get my product from the shelf. Jennifer was introduced as a CMO? and I began talking to her letting her know about how abysmal the service was. She simply looked at my very disinterested, and did not even take any notes, nor refer to any system. It was pretty clear that my concern was going to stop with her. When I mentioned this, her answer was that there was a place on my receipt to do something. I was flabbergasted, definitely NO customer service there.

As a business owner myself, and one that focuses on helping business grow, I realize how important the customer experience is. I can surely tell you that my customer experience at the store in Fayetteville has led me to the decision that I stated at the beginning of this email. I will not shop at Best Buy again. The purpose of this not is to let you know what is happening.