Best Buy, we can no longer be friends.
How a $20 return has scared me away from the electronic’s behemoth
If I buy something at your store and need to return it, I do not feel that gives you the right to collect my personal information. Because you as a business insist that I do have to tell you my Name, Phone Number and Address as well as let you swipe my Drivers license I can no longer be your customer. Period.
This evening I was heading over to grab some sushi for dinner. Along the way I noticed that the radio options were pretty terrible and flipped on Pandora through my iPhone. The sound wasn’t great, but I figured I would be fine for the couple minutes it would take me to zip over to pick up dinner and get home. As I pulled off the highway I noticed that I was making great time and would be early to get our meals. I figured I would kill a couple minutes and duck into Best Buy and see what they had that might improve the listening quality. I have tried a number of the FM transmitters and so far, none have worked. I have also tried the tape deck adaptor that my wife used before I started driving our Camry and had given up, I assumed that maybe it was worn out, because when I listed to it, there seemed to be but a single channel… anyway. After looking around, I decided to try a brand new tape deck adaptor thing. I paid with my AMEX and headed back to the parking lot. The box was not the usual plastic that I always seem to find on electronics, rather it was a simply designed pop open case. A quick tug and I had it open and in the tape deck. I attached the iPhone and fired up Pandora and… it was rotten. I think that maybe this is as good as it can sound or Best Buy is selling worn out tape deck adaptor thing. Anyway, realizing that if I didn’t return this product right then, I would forget and eventually be stuck with it, I decided to take it back in right then. Thats about the point where things at Best Buy went from OK (I might recommend Best Buy to friends and family) to severely disturbing.
I walk back in, show the guy in the big yellow shirt that I am returning this item and get the little sticker, I walk over to the empty return line and meet the service representative. He ask was wrong with it, which is fair. I tell him it sounds awful, like, maybe its worn out. He nods a knowingly and then asks for my ID. Curious, the check out lady never asked, though I am pretty sure that they should have… but I am not fully thinking at that point and hand over my drivers license. Somewhere in the back of my head, there is a voice shouting WTF is this? I am about to ask and then I am asked my name (which is clearly on both my AMEX and Drivers License), my phone and address. The little voice in my head is now a all out roar. I ask why and I am told that Best Buy requires it to complete my return. That seems a stretch. But I do want my money back… so I ask what its for. Fraudulent returns. Umm, Ok. so we go through the little hellish game. The guy behind the counter seems to want to get this done as fast as possible and is clearly uncomfortable when I am asking what the company needs all this info for (Best Buy this should be a clue you are doing something wrong). I remark that this seems like an over reach and that I am really uncomfortable with the requirements. I pursue the conversation long enough to learn that if I did not have a government ID I would not be allowed to return things at Best Buy, even if I paid cash.
Wanting to get my dinner and get home I agree to the info on the screen and leave. On the ride home, I called the manager. While initially I would describe him as somewhere between smug and surely he eventually became more willing to talk about their policy and when I pointed out that it would stop me from shopping at Best Buy he apologized that I felt that way (odd he is sorry for how I feel) and directed me to Bust Buy Cares – which seems like some sort of survey.
This post is tagged: Best Buy, customer service, Privacy
Leave a Reply