First off I would like to state that I am a Elite PLus Member at best buy and have been for several years now. This time around I am REALLY disappointed on how Best Buy handled this situation. This is in regards to receiving a dented refrigerator.
Although the people who delivered the product were fine, there are several things that can be done to not only improve the delivery experience, but to also improve the quality of Best Buy's customer service, especially when dealing with damaged products. We were given the wrong information throughout our whole delivery experience, making our experience with Best Buy a very very very TERRIBLE one. The employees at Best Buy need to be better trained about how and what to inform their customers on the CORRECT protocol when a damaged product is delivered to customers' homes, especially the manager at PacificSales/Best Buy located on Los Feliz. When we received our damaged product (the refrigerator had a big dent in the front AND a dent in the back by the vent), we were told by the delivery men that we have to negotiate on what to do with the store directly. We then called Best Buy on Los Feliz (because this was where we made the purchase), while the delivery men were still at our home, and we were told by a salesman we can refuse the product or call 1-888-BESTBUY to find out how much discount we can receive. When we called the number, we were offered a discount (not store credit), but she said we would have to redeem the refund at the store (20% off the original product pricing which is $600). So with that information, we called the manager at the Los Feliz Best Buy, who simply told us that we followed the wrong protocol. The manager was very rude, was argumentative, had no courtesy whatsoever, and was unwilling to listen and understand what happened when our product was delivered. Rather than making the effort to listen to our complaints and understand from a consumer's point of view, she kept cutting us off when we were speaking and claimed that we were not explaining our situation clearly. When we asked her questions, she never provided us with clear answers or explanations, making her very incompetent at doing her job. As a manager, one would think she would at least have some decent knowledge on customer service, but she seemed to have none whatsoever. What is upsetting is that we followed the directions that were given to us, without knowing that they were the wrong directions, only to be given this kind of response from the manager. If we knew in the first place that we would be only getting store credit rather than a refund (and at a lower value than previously offered), we never would have accepted the product from the start and could have avoided this messy situation. The manager didn't even have the decency to apologize for the situation we were in and for the wrong protocol that we were provided with by their employees. This whole process took place over four days; over those four days, we have spoken to six different people, and spoke on the phone for over four hours. In addition to the experience of having to deal with multiple people from Best Buy with inconsistent information, it is upsetting that Best Buy can't honor the initial compensation that was offered to us. Because of this, we will now have to deal with the inconvenience of missing half a day of work to unpack the refrigerator once again because we have chosen to exchange the damaged product with a new one (since we are dissatisfied with the compensation offered) and to wait for the delivery of the product - all of which could have been avoided if we received the correct information from the beginning.
Over the course of four days, we have spoken to six different representatives from Best Buy/Geek Squad because we received a damaged product. Of those people, Eryn was the most pleasant. Having said that, we have had the worst experience with Best Buy because we were constantly fed the wrong information. Eryn was the first representative we spoke to upon receiving the damaged product, and offered us a compensation that we were satisfied with (20% discount - not store credit - valued at $600). So we initially decided to keep the damaged product. However, over the course of the next three days, Best Buy has claimed that we did not follow the right procedure and has refused to honor the initial compensation offered to us. Instead, they offered us $300 in store credit. Because of this extremely unpleasant experience, we have now chosen to exchange the product, further inconveniencing us as we have to not only unpack the damaged refrigerator but to also wait for the delivery of an undamaged one. This has left us feeling like we are being punished for following directions because those directions we have received from Best Buy employees were incorrect and inconsistent. We are extremely unsatisfied and will no longer be a loyal Best Buy customer.
The bottom line is that Best Buy/Geek Squad needs to provide correct and consistent information to their customers so that they don't have to experience the hassle and stress that we have had to deal with. Best Buy should also consider honoring initial offers their representatives make to their customers - our experience has us questioning their reliability and trustworthiness.