Testimonial #33: Uh, yeah, we'll fix your laptop
May 22, 2003
Dear Sir or Madam:
I've been a long time Best Buy customer. Being from San Diego, I didn't know about Best Buy until I moved to Ventura, California, several years ago. Since discovering Best Buy, we have purchased all of our televisions, including a large screen television, our laptops, wide by side refrigerators, vcr's, dvd players, cd player, receivers, stereo systems, flush mounted and external speakers, blenders, mixers, many online purchases, and almost everything else that you sell. I enjoyed the fact that I could go into a Best Buy and not feel pressured to purchase items. It almost seemed like a motto, as associates would approach you and say, "I don't work on commission, so feel free to ask me questions."
Up till now I have really enjoyed the service that I received over the years. However, the consistently poor service that I received at your Thousand Oaks, California, store over the past months has made me reevaluate where I shop.
A couple of years ago I purchased a laptop from your Oxnard, California, store. The sales associate convinced me to purchase a performance plan. For the first two years I had no problems with my laptop. About 6 months ago my A: drive stopped functioning and the LCD display would pixilate and then go blank and I would have to restart my computer. In February I took it back to the Oxnard store. I explained to the technician the problems that I encountered. In addition, I provided him the error code that the computer kept displaying. Almost a month later I received a call that I could pick up my laptop, as it had been repaired. When I got to the store I asked the technician what the problem had been. He told me that it was my A: drive. I asked him about my LCD screen going blank, and he told me that it was due to a hardware issue, and that replacing the A: drive should solve the problem. The very next day the screen went blank again. Since I rely so heavily on my laptop, I decided that I would need to live with the problem. I work 5 days out of the week in my office, and then work Saturday and Sunday from home preparing training presentations on my laptop and accessing my company's shared drive.
The last week of April we decided to purchase a second laptop. The associate asked us if we wanted to purchase the performance plan, but we declined. The associate told us that we really should purchase the plan, as the battery alone would cost a couple hundred dollars to replace since it comes from Japan. We told him that we often travel to Japan so we could purchase one there. He continued to pressure us, telling us that we really should purchase the plan. Finally, I told him that we had purchased a plan before and we did not feel that it resolved the issue, so it was not worth it. The associate told us that he wanted to call his manager to talk to us about the service plan. We really didn't want to, but agreed so that we could just purchase the laptop and go.
After explaining to the manager, Genaero, what happened in Oxnard he told us that we should still buy the performance plan, as Best Buy stands by the plan. Furthermore, he told me to bring my laptop into the Thousand Oaks store and he would guarantee me that I would be satisfied, and that they would find the problem and not send me home with a defective laptop. I told him that they had my laptop for almost a month, and I could not be without it for that long. He then promised me that I would have it back, or a replacement one, in less than three weeks. Based on that, I agreed. We purchased the laptop, the performance plan, and the next day (April 28) I brought in my laptop.
The technician turned on my laptop, to see if she could see the problem. After a couple of minutes the screen went white. The technician told me that it was a hardware problem, and was probably my hard drive. She then gave me the phone number of the repair center in Chino, California, where it would be repaired. She told me to call them in a week and half.
A week and half later I called the service center on a Wednesday at 4pm. The lady who answered told me that no one had looked at it yet, to call back the next day. Thursday morning I called again, and the lady told me that my laptop had been repaired. I was surprised that it had been repaired so quickly so I asked her what they said the problem was. The lady checked the system and said that they found no problem with it. I explained to her the problem with the screen, and she said that I should talked with the technician who worked on it. The technician told me that he did not see any problems with it. I told him about the screen going white and freezing. He said that it also happened to him, when he was running his diagnostics. I asked him why he did not consider that to be a problem. He responded by saying that it was a software issue, not a hardware issue as the last two technicians who looked at it said. Then he said that they do not warranty software. He then said I would need to reinstall my software. I asked him if he was 100% sure it was my software and not the hardware. He said that he wasn't, but he found nothing wrong with the hardware, so it had to be the software. I asked him if he was 100% sure that the diagnostic on the hardware was correct, and said no it wasn't, but there was nothing that he could do for me.
After my conversation with the technician I went into the Thousand Oaks store to see Genaero. Unfortunately, he wasn't in. I asked the customer service associate to take a copy of my invoice and left a note for Genaero. I then asked when he would be in. The associate went and checked his schedule and said he would be in the next day. I came back the next day, but Genaero wasn't in. They had me speak to a different manager, Kristen. Kristen called the service center in Chino, and they asked me if I had my recovery disks. Since we moved 3 times since buying this laptop, I didn't have the disks. They told me that they would try to track down the disks and get back to me.
Another week went by, and I received no call. Last Saturday (May 20) I called to find out about my laptop. I tried to call several times, but no one answered. When someone would answer they would hang up on me or leave me on hold until I had to hang up and call back. Finally, I got through to another manager, Lloyd. After explaining the story to Lloyd, he told me that Best Buy doesn't warranty software. I told them that I understood that, but my issue was that I was told it would be repaired. I was also told by two other technicians that it was the hardware, and another told me it was the software. He then told me that we would look into and get back to me. An hour later I got a call from the Thousand Oaks technician who told me that they had discovered the problem after a fourth technician had looked at it. The problem was hardware, it was my LCD and that they were going to replace it and that my laptop would be ready in June. I told the technician that it was promised in less than three weeks. She said that there was nothing she could do. She said that I could come in and buy an opened box laptop and then return it once my laptop came in. However, I can't do that, as the work that I do requires software installed by our technical department so that I can access the shared drive. They won't put it on a temporary computer that someone else is gong to buy when I am done.
Feeling that I was not getting anywhere I called the General Manager of the Oxnard store to see how I contact someone higher. I then told the General Manager what had happened; he then said he would contact the General Manager of the Thousand Oaks store. No one called me back.
On Sunday, I contacted Genaero and reminded him that he said it would be less than three weeks, and now they were telling me June. He then told me that it had not been three weeks yet, and that I would get my laptop back. He said again that I promised you three weeks, and you will get it before then. After hanging up I realized that it had been three weeks. So I called him back and told him. I could tell that we very frustrated with me. I reminded him that this was not my idea. I just wanted to buy the second laptop and be on my way. He was the person who told me to bring in my laptop.
On Monday I did not get a call. I left a message for Genaero, but it was not returned. I called him again on Tuesday, and he said that he did not call me back because he did not have an update. Then on Wednesday I received a call from the technician that my computer was ready for me to pick up. I picked it up that day, almost a month from the time I dropped it off, and obviously beyond the time it was promised. I never received an apology, or any explanation why four technicians looked at my computer, over the course of 2 months in which I had to go into my office since I was without a laptop, and they could not determine the real problem. In addition, I never received a call from any manager with an explanation or an update.
I decided that I would just pick up my laptop and not go back to Best Buy. However, one of my coworkers convinced me to call the corporate headquarters. I did that the same day. After explaining what happened to the customer service associate on the phone, he told me that he would like to apologize for the manager. Then he proceeded to tell me that Best Buy does not make promises to customers or guarantees of time frames. That even though the manager made this promise, Best Buy does not. Then he said, is there anything else he could do for me. I went on to explain that it was a great inconvenience going into my office, and I did not think the treatment I received was fair, as I didn't even want to bring my computer in, but was convinced to do so. Again, the customer service associate said that he would like to apologize for the manager, and that Best Buy does not make promises. Next time I have an issue I should call this number as they have more clout. I realized quickly that I still was not getting anywhere. This associate was just doing his job and reciting from a script. No sincerity, no understanding of the real issue. Finally, he completed the conversation with, "I hope that we can continue to count on your business."
I feel that no one truly understands, or even cares how inconvenient this was for me. I did not ask for this, but was coerced into this. Obviously this was quite upsetting to me, or I would not have spent time to write such a long letter. The only silver lining for me is that a great deal of my job is developing leaders and providing corporate and customer service training. I now have an excellent example of consistently poor customer service.
Based on the poor service that I have received over the month, I am sure that no one will even respond to this letter. And, if you do, it will probably be the same canned response that I got when I called your corporate headquarters. I am really disappointed with this situation. I really had enjoyed shopping in Best Buy. You have a great selection and reasonable prices. However, I think that I gave your company plenty of opportunities to rectify this situation and nothing was done. No one ever said to me, at any time, "I'm sorry." The closest I heard was a very robotic "I apologize". There were many promises made, none were kept. There was a complete lack of customer focus at every level, and I was the one who suffered as a result.
My hope is that you will understand that I am not mad at any one person, but I am disappointed with this situation. I feel that this did not need to occur, but since it did, there should have been steps taken to fix the problem. As I stated before, based on the service I have received so far, I am sure that I will never receive a response to this letter. However, it would be a nice surprise to actually hear back from someone at Best Buy who actually cares about their customers.
I did receive a written response to this letter. The letter consisted of two paragraphs. The first stating that this is not how Best Buy operates, and the second stating that they hope I continue to shop at their stores. They have never accepted accountability or even said the words, "we are sorry" - I guess that's because they're not.
Best Buy
Consumer Relations
PO Box 9312
Minneapolis, MN 55440
Close