Best Buy / vehicle stereo installation

Best Buy / vehicle stereo installation

This is the letter I sent to a local news station in San Diego that does trouble shooting for people that have been done wrong by companies, big and small. My boyfriend purchased a stereo, speakers and all necessary equipment for installation at Best Buy. This was a Christmas gift from him to me. I stopped by the El Cajon Best Buy on Monday January 3rd, 2005. They said they had too many vehicles to work on that day and they didn't take reservations, so I should try back the next day. As I was leaving the store I purchased 3 CDs, using a gift card my boyfriend gave me so I could have some new CDs for my new stereo. I tried back the next day, this time calling before I came in. They said they were busy, but they could squeeze me in and make me the last installation of the day. It was 4:30pm on Tuesday January 4, 2005. I told the employee on the phone that I would come straight from work to drop off my truck with the equipment. I didn't have time to stop home first to remove items from my vehicle. I had some Christmas presents I had been meaning to exchange and a bag full of my haircutting supplies (I cut hair on the side and had just done my Mother's hair the night before. Aside from the items I aforementioned, a sweatshirt, sunglasses, and all of my vehicle paperwork were also in my truck. Nothing was in plain view.

I showed up at Best Buy and pulled alongside the curb, outside the installation warehouse. I was parked where everyone else for installation was parked. I went in the back door, into the warehouse. I let them know I was there to drop off my truck. I had locked up my truck and when I spoke to an employee I asked it he wanted me to bring in my equipment, instead of leaving it in my truck. he said leave it there, we'll find it when we're ready. There were about two other employees present while this conversation took place. I said okay you can find the equipment behind the passenger side seat in my truck. I gave him the keys to my truck and he said I should not expect to hear from him too much before 9:00 pm, being I was going to be the last installation of the evening, and the store closes at 9:00pm. I left the store, walked over to Borders to read some books while I waited for my boyfriend to get off work and come pick me up to take me home. Once home we ate dinner and watched some TV, then I got a call at 7:30pm. I thought, wow that was fast. Before they could tell me to pick up my truck, I was so excited I said, "Hi, I'll be right there to pick up my truck. I can't wait to see my new stereo." That's when the employee on the phone said, "Actually, your stereo was never installed. Your truck has been broken into and it appears they took the stereo." My heart sunk into my stomach and I started choking up with tears. "What do you mean it was broken into? That was a Christmas present. Why weren't you watching my truck? I'll be there in a minute." My boyfriend was ready to go as soon as he saw me getting upset. As we drove down there (I live only a few miles away) I called the El Cajon Police Department. They let me know Best Buy had already called and the operator had already dispatched an officer to come when available. When my boyfriend and I arrived we had some time on our hands before the officer showed up. I spoke with the Manager of the store, who informed me the employee who was supposed to do the installation on my truck discovered the break in. Apparently there was one employee left for the evening (I had seen him earlier when I dropped off my truck), when he left to go on his lunch break he locked up the warehouse and all of its doors, and left my truck out on the curb where I had left it earlier. When he returned from lunch and went to pull my truck into the bay, he discovered it had been broken into. What I didn't understand and I kept asking them was, "If I was the last installation of the day, wouldn't there be room in the warehouse bay to pull in my truck before leaving for lunch? Locking up he knew no one would be supervising my vehicle. Obviously there was room in there upon his return. Wasn't there room before he left?" There was no response on their part. They told me they were not liable. How could they not be? My truck was in their possession under their supervision. If I had known my truck would be left unattended for any amount of time I would not have left it there. There were no surveillance cameras and no one supervising the area. My truck was just left out there to be preyed upon. Once we got there the manager took us around the location with a flashlight. It was raining outside and my window on my passenger side was smashed out. Not good conditions for an open truck. Upon inspection of the area we found some of my makeup they had thrown in a low nook of a tree on the other side of a chain link fence. The back of Best Buy has an alley that is parallel with Magnolia Ave. I told the Manager I had been given a jacket from the Gap from a friend. I needed to exchange it for a different size. We walked a little further and sure enough, there was a Gap gift box on the ground. I knew it was mine; there are no Gap stores at Parkway Plaza. The box still had the tissue paper in it, but of course no jacket. Whoever robbed me took everything, even my truck registration and all of my vehicle receipts, from oil changes to parts and service. Gone. My CD collection, gone. The CDs I bought the day before, gone. I hadn't even had a chance to listen to them. A while later Officer Ken Davenport of the El Cajon Police Department showed up. He helped me look in my vehicle and spoke to the Manager a little. Officer Davenport was a little surprised too when he found out Best Buy wasn't accepting any responsibility. He told me and my boyfriend to follow him to the station across the street. From there we itemized everything and filed a Police Report. C/R #05-000225. I had to drive home without a window. I first went to a friend's house to attach a plastic bag with tape as a makeshift window. Next day I got the ball rolling. My insurance company wouldn't cover my window; my deductible was too high so I had to pay for the window out of pocket. Then I had to go to the DMV to replace my registration. I called Best Buy's customer care on Wednesday morning January 5, 2005. I told them what happened and they said they were surprised the manager told me they would do nothing. They said he should have filed a claim. Now a week later I have been pushed aside, told I would be called later, told I would get a claim number and nothing has happened. I call every day, sometime five times or more and I am told someone will call me back, or the claim has been filed, come to find out it hadn't. Everyone is gone when they tall me to call at a specific time. Every now and then I am given a false sense of hope. I told them if I did not get a claim number soon I would take them to small claims, now I can't wait any longer. School will be starting at the end of this month. I work 40 hours a week and go to school at night. Not only do I not have time to deal with this absolute disregard for customer care, but I don't have the money to lose. If I take off from work, I lose money and I don't know how long this is going to take. I am sick of being on the back burner. You would think such a large company would be concerned with looking bad to the public. If that is what it takes then that's how it should be. No one deserves to be treated like this and I want future customers to know what could happen to them, if they leave their vehicle in this irresponsible company's possession. Please respond, I need your help. Sincerely, Laura B Click this link to e-mail the above consumer: Email User Consumer