Best Buy doesn’t mean BEST SERVICE
November 3, 2009
Tonight I was completely disgusted by the lack of customer service I received at Best Buy; specifically the Best Buy on Harbison Blvd, Columbia, SC Store #264. Normally I wouldn’t use my blog to discuss things like this but I am very angry about the lack of who the customer is at big box stores I have to put fingers to keys.
I returned an FM transmitter to Best Buy tonight and decided to look at car stereos. I was willing to spend about $250 on a new stereo and installation. No, not the top of the line but in this economy any spending is GOOD spending. When I walked in to the car audio section there was a young lady working. I thought she was helping customers at first but it ended up she was just yucking it up with two boys. I was looking through the different stereos and turned to look at her. She didn’t even ‘notice’ me. So I turned back and thought I will give her a few more seconds to notice me. Well, the conversation with the little boys who can barely shave became more in-depth. She was very interested in where they went to high school and what kind of cars they drove. I decided to turn myself in her direction. I was practically in her conversation circle. The boys finally became uncomfortable enough with me giving the teacher stare that they decided to go. Of course it took 5 MINUTES for them to go! The young lady then turned to me, smiled, and said, “How may I help you?” I looked at her and said, “um… there is nothing you can help me with now.” I walked myself straight to customer service.
At this point I can almost excise teenage customer service… (almost) but then when the manager came to me I explained to him what happened. He looked concerned and I told him the store lost a $250 sale tonight because of her lack of action. He told me thank you and he was going to take care of it right then. I thanked him and began to walk to the door and he began to walk towards car audio. But instead of leaving the store I decided to go in to the CD area just to see if he was actually going to say something to her. Guess what? When he thought I was leaving the store he did a b-line towards the front of the store! He never had any intention of talking to her.
This angered me and that is why I am hear writing. Both of their actions made it very clear to me that customer service means NOTHING at Best Buy. It also showed me that the customer is an inconvenience for their time at work. It doesn’t matter that I drop 12 miles to the suburbs (I live in the city) to their store and chose them over other electronics stores or even online shopping.
My experience at Best Buy tonight is just furthering my determination to help the local small business owner who cares who their customers are. Maybe I should thank Best Buy #264 for their actions tonight because now maybe I can help someone on Main St. stay open a little longer.Best Buy don’t expect my business anytime soon….
Entry Filed under: What do you think?. Tags: best buy, big box stores, customer service.
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1.
Heather | November 3rd, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Unfortunately this is typical of most places today. Customer service is a rare animal and those places that provide it will find me a loyal shopper. Best Buy is one of those places i do t linger – I go there, get what I need an get out. No dwaddling or browsing. Reason=that very same section you are writing about-the car sterio section. Everytime I go to BB there is some idiot who has to jack the base and volume up on one of those damn things. That stupid base pounds so bad it gives me a migraine. I’ve even gone over and turned it off while a salesman was demoing it and called him an idiot – handed him the the products I was carrying and told him his manager has him to thank for loosing a $500 sale today. And walked out.
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Pat | November 4th, 2009 at 7:38 am
I know exactly what you mean! If I ever plan on buying anything from Best Buy, I have usually gone online to find out more about a product or even gone to a higher priced store who gives better customer service to help me do my research. Many times I would rather pay a higher price just because I get better customer service. Like you, I try to help the smaller business owner because they do seem to take pride in giving good customer service. I think you should also send an email to their home office and add the link to this blog post. It may not change your situation but it may help others down the road.
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Frank | November 23rd, 2009 at 7:03 am
Sorry that you had a bad experience. I know this will not sound very supportive…. but here in Mexico, where we have access to nothing, I would gladly take an ignorant, non-helpful, poor-performance employee just to have access to the products at reasonable prices. I can easily discount poor service if I could only get my hands on on the goodies that are out there. Here, the sales people have zero product knowledge AND there are not products, hahaha. So actually, I envy your situation. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, I suppose. Hang in there and get your stereo!!!
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