Best Buy - Panasonic portable DVD player

Best Buy - Panasonic portable DVD player

March 2, 2006

Best Buy has this system where you can go to their website (bestbuy.com) and order items for pick up in a local store. That way, you don't waste your time by going to the store to find out they are out of stock. Frankly, they are frequently out of stock on sale and big-ticket items, which is another reason I have given up shopping there. A clerk at the store told me that they don't carry brand name products because they are pushing the sale of their own brand, Insignia, where they get higher profit margins. The Insignia products aren't great quality in my opinion, but I digress. I found out that my local store in Pleasant Hill, CA didn't have the portable DVD player I wanted. I tried their Emeryville, CA store, which is very convenient to my office. They had it so I placed the order. A few hours later I received an email that the Emeryville store was out of stock, too. The email said to call an 800 number to see how else to secure the product. I called the number and was told that the product was in stock in Pinole, CA. I could go there to pick it up or they could ship it to me within the week. As the Pinole store is in a rough neighborhood, and completely out of my way, I asked them to ship it to me. I asked for confirmation as to when the unit would be shipped because I needed it no later than 2/17/06. They said that the unit would be shipped by 2/13 via UPS so I would definitely have it in time. On 2/11/06 I received another email from Best Buy explaining that the product was out of stock and couldn't be shipped but I could cancel the order and pick it up in Pinole. I called the 800 number again and spoke to a man named James. He cancelled my order. I then called the Pinole store. They said that they did not have the unit in stock. Then they put me on hold for over five minutes. They came back and explained that they had eight units in stock. I asked them to reconfirm because I didn't want to drive 20 miles out of my way for nothing. They confirmed. I asked them to hold a unit for me and I would be there later that day. They said they were not allowed to hold units. I broke down and went to Pinole. Luckily they had the unit and I bought it. So far so good. Here is the big BUT! On 2/27/06 I got an email from Best Buy that they had shipped me (and charged my credit card) for the unit I cancelled on 2/11!!!! Again I called Best Buy. They told me that they could see that James cancelled a portion of my order, but not the DVD player. They said that when I received it, I should return it to my local store. They told me not to refuse the order because it could take them as long as 21 days to credit me, meaning I would be liable for payments and interest charges during that time. They also refused to credit me shipping. When I insisted that I be credited shipping as this was a Best Buy error, they agreed to have my account reviewed by a manager. They would not let me speak to a manager. They would not tell me the managers name but said he/she would email me within a few days. Guess what? Five days later and no email. Big surprise. The shipping was only $6 and I'm sick to death of talking to Best Buy at this point so I'm not going to fight it anymore. However, Best Buy should know that they've lost a customer who literally gave them thousands of dollars in business every year. I had been a loyal Best Buy customer for over a decade. Bad customer service kills good relationships altogether too often.

Kendall

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