Testimonial #73: "We sold you last years subwoofer - you're screwed."

Hey,

Just wanted to write about my recent joys with Best Buy. I am currently stationed in the small town of Rapid City, and was mistakenly under the impression that we were blessed to be getting a big electronics store like Best Buy. Boy was I mistaken!

I recently returned from 3 months overseas, flying over Afghanistan, and was eager and drooling to spend my hard earned money on new home theater electronics for my home. I purchased a new receiver, new surround speakers and a 150 watt powered subwoofer from JBL. I also mistakenly (after reading your testimonials) purchased an extended warranty plan on the receiver. I went home and opened the boxes and put everything together. Having never owned a subwoofer, I was looking forward to the new dimension it would bring to my home theater experience. I connected everything properly and found that the subwoofer would not power up. I checked all connections, and plugged the subwoofer into 5 different outlets to ensure that it was indeed the components problem and not my power sources.

After this, I promptly brought the subwoofer back to Best Buy the day after my purchase to return the obviously faulty component. The service technicians plugged it in and determined that the subwoofer was indeed not getting any power at all. They agreed to take the subwoofer back, and I went to get a new subwoofer for exchange. I then made my only mistake of this fiasco. I actually had them plug in the new subwoofer to ensure that I wasn't getting another piece of crap from their store. During this process, they noticed that the subwoofer that I had purchased the day before and brought back had more connections in the back. After 15 minutes, and no less thean 5 technicians looking at the subwoofer, they realized that the subwoofer I brought back (that I had purchased the day before) was an old model. I was promptly informed that they would not take this product back, because it was not what they had sold me the day previous!

Now before we get too much deeper, let me assure you that I have never owned a subwoofer before. Secondly, this Best Buy opened while I was overseas fighting the war on terror, so there is no way I could have pulled a switcheroo. Furthermore, if I did have last years model that no longer worked, it would still be under warranty, and I sure as hell wouldn't have had them plug the replacement into the wall and thus risk capture for my diabolical behavior.

So, continuing, the returns manager told me that there was no way they could have screwed up, that the problem must be on JBL's side. He told me they would not take the subwoofer back, and I would have to contact JBL directly for this problem. And, to top things off, he didn't even offer the number for JBL, I had to ask for the information. Well, I called JBL and informed them of my issue, and they told me they would look into it. After a week of research they determined that there is no way in hell a model from last year would end up in this years box since the production line closes for months between model years. When you put that together with the dust that was on the knobs and connections on the back of the subwoofer, it points to a Best Buy employee trying to trade their broken subwoofer in for a new model.

After my final conversation with JBL, I returned to the Best Buy where I had purchased the product, and explained the situation to the sales manager and the general manager of the store. I have an eyewitness who hung out at my place all the time who knows I had never had a subwoofer and was there when I pulled the suspect subwoofer from the box. Plus I have three eyewitnesses who were with me overseas and were there when I attempted to return the subwoofer the first time. Both the sales manager and the general manager told me that there was nothing they could do, only the corporate office could authorize my return. I even tried to convince them to fix the old subwoofer that they sold me. I said all I want is a subwoofer that works, I don't care which years model it is. They told me that since I didn't buy last years model on my receipt, the warranty wouldn't cover the repair.

So, that left my only non-legal means of satisfaction to be the Best Buy corporate office. I had filed a formal complaint the day I had originally been denied the return, and now looked to pursue it further. I explained to the representative my situation, what Best Buy had told me, what had happened, and what JBL told me. I explained to them that all I wanted was a subwoofer that worked vs. the $350 paperweight their company had sold me. He "talked" to his bosses and explained to me that the best they could do was offer me a coupon for 50% of my original purchase cost. He told me that there was no way they could confirm what happened to the subwoofer after leaving the store and that was the best they would offer. In other words, I was a lying bastard, and they would pay me off 50% to shut me up. Now I don't know about you, but losing $175 vs $350 for there screwup doesn't exactly cool my temper much.

So, Best Buy has left me no other option then to vent my anger through the legal system and all other outlets available to the consumer. This is the first stage in my venting, tomorrow I will be going to my base legal office to begin the process of suing Best Buy in small claims. In addition I will be filing a complaint with the better business bureau and writing a letter to the editor of my local paper. If anyone out there can think of more I can do to help my case against the biggest evil to come into my life in years, please email me at 1swisman@excite.com. Thank you for your attention, and I definitely hate Best Buy.


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