Testimonial #66: "That doesn't mean anything, it's fine."

My recent trip to Best Buy was by all means my last one. I am a smart and up-to-date kind of customer about almost everything in the store. Home Theaters I admit to not being so intelligent about. Thus, customer service is what I need when it came to my recent Home Theater purchase. I will start off by saying I left the store after my purchase happier than pig in crap but after I arrived at home and set up my new theater I was less than happy. Allow me to retort.

I walk to the HT department to observe and examine the products. I was looking at a Panasonic but with some simple explanations the employee, correctly, pushed me to a Samsung system. He left to allow me some more time. Looking around at the boxes I noticed a box with a tag labeled "open item." The normal price of this system was $290 and this tag said $150. Obviously a red light goes off in my head so I make a decision to purchase this item after more examining of the system. He opens it and the unit has a couple dents in it. That is all, he assured me. I point to something written on the box and he says "oh, that doesn't matter." Well, it mattered and it mattered a lot.

So, I walk out saving more money than I could imagine. I go home and set this thing up. Also, the employee directed me a different wire that connects the speaker to the receiver... cost $30. I clear out my living room, set the receiver, and speakers all up and cut the wires. Connect the wire to all the speakers and than look at the receiver to connect the wires to it. No way these wires are going to fit into the receiver so I begin to examine the unit online to see about parts. (The open item did not come with a manual) I look at the connector parts online and see that a piece should be there. I look in the box, and nothing. The quote on the box says "Speaker Wires" and that is what I was told "meant nothing."

Next, I call Best Buy and tell them, the Audio department. They tell me they are familiar with the part and they have it. I drive back there, a 20 minute drive, and wait another 10 in the store. I finally get an employee and he looks and looks. Finally he looks at the back of the store model and says "we dont carry these parts." My follow up question to him, obviously, is "where can I find them?" It is now 30 minutes before closing and no other stores are open so I am furious because I can not use my system now. The answer about where to get them was Radio Shack. Well, I visit them the next day and they have no part either. So, to sum it up for now, I have no parts to connect the speakers to the receiver and nobody knows where I can buy them.

Best Buy says to bring it back and they will give me credit for the purchase. All I want is the parts I need. The price drop for the "open item" was because it was dented. It said this on the tag... the other quote was on the box that "meant nothing." Anyway, today I called Samsung and they said to take it back or wait a possible two weeks for the part. I opted for the two weeks and am now waiting. I plead ignorance to the product at hand... that is why I did not buy it online. I bought it in the store for a reason... Customer Service and Best Buy dropped the ball big time. So big that I am committed to never going there again. I stumbled upon this site and am simply doing my part to the future visitors of this site. Thank you for allowing me to vent.


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