BOYCOTTING BEST BUY

DO YOU SHOP AT BEST BUY??? READ BELOW TO SEE WHY I AM BOYCOTTING THEIR STORE. THIS IS THE LETTER I SENT TO THEIR CORPORATE OFFICE.

Attn: Customer Service

Best Buy Corporate Customer Care
P.O. Box 9312
Minneapolis, MN 55440
1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289)
Friday, March 11, 2011
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Mindie Gilliland and I have been purchasing my electronics from Best Buy for as long as I can remember. Through the years we have purchased several computers, DVD’s, CD’s, and an entire home theatre system. We purchased a Sony Computer in April of 2009. We also purchased the warranty for this computer to cover all repairs. Since our purchase we have taken advantage of the warranty and saved over $700 in repairs. We are very thankful for the warranty.
Recently we had to have the hard drive and optical lense replaced because it fell off our kitchen table. We brought it to our local best buy, which is in Murrieta. We live on the northern side of Lake Elsinore so it takes about 30 minutes to get there. I am pleased with the repair; however the amount of time it took to repair the computer, the poor customer service and communication has made me decide to no longer purchase any items from Best Buy ever again. Let me explain why:

• February 14th 2011, my husband and I dropped off the computer for repair at the Murrieta Best Buy with the Geek Squad. We explained the issues, the man (Harvey) that we spoke with assured us it should be a quick fix and we would get the computer back quickly.

• February 16th 2011, I received a phone call to notify me that the computer needed replacement parts that they did not have and they needed to ship the computer “out” for the repairs. They needed my approval in order to do this. (oddly, they never needed my approval to ship the computer for the other 2 repairs that we have had in the past) Regardless, they needed me to call them back to tell them to ship it out. I called back that afternoon, and the phone rang for about 3 minutes and then an operator lady asked for my name and number and told me the Geek Squad would return my call shortly. I told her if she could just let them know that it was fine to ship out the computer for repairs that that was all they needed to know. The conversation ended with her telling me they would call back.

• February 21st 2011- A WEEK LATER I still did not receive a call back from the Geek Squad so I called again to see if they had received my message and sent out my computer. I got the same operator and she asked for the same thing, my name and number and they would call me back. I explained to her that we already did that once almost a week ago and she put me on hold. A minute later I was speaking to another male Geek Squad clerk and explained the phone call I received on the 16th and the message I left and the fact that no one returned my call and he pulled up my information. He told me that they had not sent out my computer because they did not have my permission, (which meant that my computer had sat there for almost a week and nobody even thought to try calling me again to get it taken care of) The man on the phone didn’t even apologize for the delay. He said it would be shipped out to for repairs the next day.

• February 28th 2011, I received a phone call from a woman at the Chino repair shop where my computer was shipped. She asked me if I could explain what was wrong with my computer because NO PAPERWORK WAS SENT WITH IT FROM THE MURRIETA STORE!!!!!! Not only did it take a WEEK to go less than 50 miles, she had NO COMMUNICATION with the Murrieta store to take care of my computer. I explained to her that the hard drive needed to be repaired and the optical lense for the DVD drive wasn’t working. She assured me that they would be taken care of and that I would receive a phone call when it was shipped back to the store.

• March 7th 2011, I received a phone call from Harvey that my computer had been fixed and that it was at the Murrieta store and that they needed my recovery discs to complete the repair. He assured me it would only take a few hours after I dropped off the discs. My son was napping when he called, and we were unable to get to the store that day. We headed to the store the next morning.

• March 8th 2011, I waited in line for 25 minutes behind only 2 customers. There was only one service clerk working. One of the customers was having similar issues with customer service that I was having (her issue took a month and they gave her back her item broken and missing parts) finally another man came out to help. He was shorter, with dark hair and a mustache. I do not recall his name. The other employee was a tall Caucasian man with no facial hair. I gave the shorter man my paperwork, and he looked at the computer for a few minutes, and then I began to explain the entire situation to him because he seemed to not know what I needed. After explaining the whole thing, he asked me if I had my power cord for my computer. Nobody told me to bring any cords with me when they called me so I did not have it. He then told me that the computer would probably not be ready until tomorrow because he would need to find a power source and he couldn’t guarantee it would be ready that day.

• March 10th 2011, I happened to be in Murrieta and thought I would check on the status of the computer. I had not received a phone call yet, but was hoping this whole thing would be done so I could have a computer again. A woman was working the Geek Squad area that day. A very friendly, medium length hair, middle aged woman helped me. When she looked up my information on the computer, no one had updated the computer and it had no notification that my computer had even arrived back from Chino! She had another young woman help her insert the information into the computer (because they cannot release the computer until the information is correct), and then I finally got my computer back. I apologize that I do not recall any of the other Geek Squad member’s names. Only one person actually told me their name.
Each time we have had to take our computer to the Geek Squad it has taken several weeks to complete the repair. This time, was that last. You have lost me as a customer. And unless you teach your Geek Squad helpers how to answer their phones, communicate with one another, care about customer needs in a timely manner, and smile, you are going to lose a lot of business.
A friend of mine just purchased her Apple computer from the Apple Store in Victoria Gardens instead of going to Best Buy because of my suggestion; which lost your company at least $500.00 in business. I have several other friends that have also decided to purchase their electronics elsewhere because of similar issues. I am posting my complaint on my face book, my blog and emailing it to all of my friends and family and urging them to save themselves the head ache and NOT to shop at your stores. If you wish to contact me with any questions please do not hesitate. You’d be the first to call back.