Best Buy Online - nice job, guys (/sarcasm)

[Karthanon_MT]

Right.

I purchased 2 Altec VS3251 speaker sets from BB Online on the 25th - hey, for $30 apiece, you can't really go wrong. Besides, it's much better than my 4.1 setup from ages ago. I got a tracking # for Canada Post, all was good.

It shipped 12/26, and I received ONE box today. I opened it up, and found ONE Altec Lansing box.

I checked my packing slip - Total Quantity Shipped: 2 Total Cartons Shipped: 1

What the heck?

The box the speakers are in just barely fit in the cardboard box that BB put around it - there's no way that 2 of them would fit in there. I called BB customer support, and was told "Oops, here, we'll send you a form and you can send it back to us, and we'll try to set another set of speakers to you".

Um, try?

/fume

Right, just ranting. Anyone else had problems like this with BBOnline before where they 'forget' to ship stuff you've ordered?

[pegster]

I had a similar situation with Best Buy at their Ajax location. Not really their fault, but they could've handled it better.

I bought a refurb HP computer from them on boxing day, got home, opened it up, found out it was the wrong model, a model they sold during last year's boxing day sale (from what the people at the store told me). Of course I had to wait several days before I could bring it back since they don't do returns/exchanges during Dec. 26-27. When I went back to exchange it, obviously they were sold out of that model. The only offer I got was to either return the computer (which I lined up for several hours to get, some people here made say 'well you chose to line up for it', regardless, I made the effort to get this computer), or take a $50 discount. Who would take a $50 discount on a computer that is over a yr old, and only has half the features?? I just did a refund to get my money back. I was so tired of all the line ups, they had a long line up of other customers, I didn't want to make a scene and cause extra delays for other people.

I don't know if it was just the people at the store, or if it's Best Buy in general. The people there didn't seem to care about helping the customer. Overall I was highly disappointed at the way they handled the situation.

[danns]

heres my experience,
I bought a pair of speakers online and decided to cancel the order when I realized it could be picked up at a nearby store. I called customer support and the guy said that he cannot cancel the order and he assured me that the full price will be refunded including shipping. So I went ahead and bought the same speaker at the store thinking that the speaker being shipped to me will be fully refunded. I even asked him 3 times if shipping was fully refunded just in case something wasn't clear to which he assured me it was. When the speakers arrived a week later I returned it to the local BB but they didn't refund it. I called back customer support and they refused to give me a refund, even after I told them the last guy told me I could. LIARS LIARS LIARS. This was even for my dad who dosen't trust buying online and decided to give it one shot. Never again will he buy anything online now because of stupid BB.

BTW If you want something from BB to be refunded full price including shipping open the package and BREAK the product. According to their policy they fully refund damaged merchandise, but then again they lied to me before and they may screw around again.:mad:

[kareshi]

What's their reason for not refunding to you? I know they don't refund the shipping but they should refund u the price of speakers.


heres my experience,
I bought a pair of speakers online and decided to cancel the order when I realized it could be picked up at a nearby store. I called customer support and the guy said that he cannot cancel the order and he assured me that the full price will be refunded including shipping. So I went ahead and bought the same speaker at the store thinking that the speaker being shipped to me will be fully refunded. I even asked him 3 times if shipping was fully refunded just in case something wasn't clear to which he assured me it was. When the speakers arrived a week later I returned it to the local BB but they didn't refund it. I called back customer support and they refused to give me a refund, even after I told them the last guy told me I could. LIARS LIARS LIARS. This was even for my dad who dosen't trust buying online and decided to give it one shot. Never again will he buy anything online now because of stupid BB.

BTW If you want something from BB to be refunded full price including shipping open the package and BREAK the product. According to their policy they fully refund damaged merchandise, but then again they lied to me before and they may screw around again.:mad:

[Karthanon_MT]

Updating this - the person I spoke with from BB's Online customer service department wasn't all that impressive - "I'll send you a form immediately to fill out - send it back to us, and we'll ship out your other speakers right away" - Uh huh. I haven't received anything at all to the email address I used for my BB registration, which is the one they said they'd send it to.

Luckily I sent an email on Friday (1/4) as well outlining everything, including showing the picture of the box and speaker box (attached here) as well.

So far I've been on their customer service line for 40 minutes listening to their recorded apology (due to high holiday call volume/please wait for agent, etc) and being disconnected twice, requiring me to call back in - I don't know if I'll be shopping online from BB again.

http://members.shaw.ca/Karthanon.Dragonsbar/vs3251.jpg

Edit: Haha - an agent came on the phone just as I posted this, and was essentially unwilling to admit to a shipping mistake. Now I'm waiting for a supervisor. Joy.

Editx2: Another Haha - A manager/supervisor finally came on the phone, and I spoke with him for about five minutes. His name was Hassan (I asked for and received an identifying #, 20218) and he said they would do an investigation into it to see if I only received 1 and see if there were any more left (and that it would take 5 business days to complete). I'm not too hopeful The BB site shows 2 remaining in stock, and who knows how accurate that is. I spoke with another CSR after that and they verified that a request was sent out on the 4th about to a product specialist to secure one speaker set, but they have to wait until the end of today to get a response (24-48 hours).

Frustrating as heck, but I'll just have to wait.

[aimfox]

oh wow, the waiting and filling in the form were lame.... hopefully, i will not shop at best buy in the future

sounds like a worse experience

[Karthanon_MT]

More bleh from BB (1/7):

Please include the following line in all replies.
Tracking number: CT20080104_XXXXXXXXXX

Dear XXXXXXs:

Thank you for your email.

We have started a short shipment investigation for you.

Please allow 7-10 business days for completion at which point you will be updated with the results.

Please accept our apologies and we thank you for visiting bestbuy.ca!

Sincerely,

Karen
Customer Care
Best Buy Canada

---

So it goes from get information within 24-48 hrs (sent 1/4, lady on phone said by end of day or the next), to 5 business days, to 7-10 business days. Just waiting for another shipment, are we? How the heck is 7-10 business days short?

So, I should receive an answer at the earliest by the 16th, the latest (most likely) the 21st. And that's just an answer, that's not me having the item at all.

H'mm..do I get to ask for a replacement SKU of equal or greater value? The next 5.1 speaker set I see online is http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10051751&catid=20399.

(I know, good luck with that, right?)

[HowEver]

We have started a short shipment investigation for you.

.......

So it goes from get information within 24-48 hrs (sent 1/4, lady on phone said by end of day or the next), to 5 business days, to 7-10 business days. Just waiting for another shipment, are we? How the heck is 7-10 business days short?


You were short-shipped. That's like a bed being short-sheeted, or more appropriately, being short-changed in a deal. It doesn't refer to the duration of shipping.

[Karthanon_MT]

Thanks, HowEver.

Terminology > me!

I shall need to take out my frustrations on various enemies in Super Mario Galaxy now, and will crow my superiority over each one as they explode into Star Bits, "Take That, Best Buy Online!"

/sigh

[CSAgent]

Take it to the BBB... this is rediculous. What kind of slack jawed monkeys do they hire at BB?? I don't mean to be racist but why is it at BB Heartland and BB Oakville, 5 out of 8 employees are Indian? I thought they pride themselves as being efficient workers and this sort of stuff happens?

[HowEver]

Take it to the BBB... this is rediculous. What kind of slack jawed monkeys do they hire at BB?? I don't mean to be racist but why is it at BB Heartland and BB Oakville, 5 out of 8 employees are Indian? I thought they pride themselves as being efficient workers and this sort of stuff happens?

Suggesting that a billion people are all the same or ought to be falls in the racist category. So does the monkey reference. Aim higher.

[seiko000]

BB handled millions of transactions over the holidays and it is impossible to have no flawless transaction. They made a minor mistake, and they did try to fix it. Let's cut them some slack.

[trixR4kids]

BB handled millions of transactions over the holidays and it is impossible to have no flawless transaction. They made a minor mistake, and they did try to fix it. Let's cut them some slack.

op wonts to be one of those "flawless transaction" and not a "minor mistake", hence the thread :D

[dragan69]

Take it to the BBB... this is rediculous. What kind of slack jawed monkeys do they hire at BB?? I don't mean to be racist but why is it at BB Heartland and BB Oakville, 5 out of 8 employees are Indian? I thought they pride themselves as being efficient workers and this sort of stuff happens?



I think I know who the only slack jawed monkey around here is.

[Karthanon_MT]

op wonts to be one of those "flawless transaction" and not a "minor mistake", hence the thread :D

Hardly. I understand that they processed a lot of transactions over the holidays (whoops, both BB and FS Online crashed under the load). That's the nature of Christmas and post-Christmas Boxing Day shopping weirdness.

I don't believe that it's too much to ask that if I had ordered two items that I would get both and not receive a packing slip that said I received both in a carton that was too small for both of them to be physically packaged in it. What about some QA? Heck, even a straight up admission that they made a shipping mistake would have been acceptable.

Sure, the price was only $30. But it's MY $30, thank you very much.

[urban1]

The mistake happened probably due to carelessness combined with how busy the warehouse or packing facility was over the holidays. It shouldnt have happened but it did.

The bigger problem is that the person at the call centre has a script to follow and then a flow-chart or pre-set process when resolving or determining your problem.

As simple as it is to see and understand what happened if you look at the big picture, when the employee is following the rules they have been told to follow, they cant arrive at an understanding of what happened or a simple way to resolve it.

I run into this many times when dealing with an employee at a call centre. Whether its trying to resolve a problem with a transaction or something with tech support. The employee wont sit and listen to the problem and think about it... they just want to ask the questions that theyre told too. I guess thats their job so they have to do it... but it does get frustrating when you know something can be solved quickly but theres a long long process to go thru.

Hardly. I understand that they processed a lot of transactions over the holidays (whoops, both BB and FS Online crashed under the load). That's the nature of Christmas and post-Christmas Boxing Day shopping weirdness.

I don't believe that it's too much to ask that if I had ordered two items that I would get both and not receive a packing slip that said I received both in a carton that was too small for both of them to be physically packaged in it. What about some QA? Heck, even a straight up admission that they made a shipping mistake would have been acceptable.

Sure, the price was only $30. But it's MY $30, thank you very much.

[Karthanon_MT]

The mistake happened probably due to carelessness combined with how busy the warehouse or packing facility was over the holidays. It shouldnt have happened but it did.

The bigger problem is that the person at the call centre has a script to follow and then a flow-chart or pre-set process when resolving or determining your problem.


I concede the point - it still is frustrating to wait to Jan. 4th for delivery to find out the 2nd wasn't received, and then wait for a much longer period to see if I'll even get the item, considering they're now out of stock.

[Karthanon_MT]

Now just to resurrect this post from the ashes..whoa...

I called Best Buy Tuesday, Jan. 15th to find out if the investigation was completed, and was told to call back Friday as that would be when it was done. Fine, no worries. Hung up and called back today.

I explained again what had happened to the CSR and asked about the investigation and if it was completed, and was told, "Oh, it looks like we recieved the form back saying it wasn't done correctly, so we'll need to send it again.".

I let the CSR know of what I thought of that option (not too impressed!) considering when I called Tuesday the gentleman who I spoke to on the telephone didn't mention anything about it, and promptly asked to speak to a Supervisor.

I ended up speaking with Chad (#21094) who let me know that since there was a change in BB policy on how they handled short investigations due to abuse by fraud (and he said immediately he wasn't suggesting that that's what was happening here), they'll still need to send out the form to a product specialist to see what else they could offer me since the item is now completely out of stock (the VS3251 wasn't even showing up on the BB website, last time I checked).

I let Chad know that I was more than a little annoyed and frustrated, to which he replied that they would try to have an answer for me by Tuesday. He did mention that they only other thing they could do was try to find something similar in a 5.1 computer speaker configuration, but the next thing they even have in their inventory thats similar is a Logitech Z-5300E (http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10051751&catid=20399) , but he said the product specialist is the one who has the authority to make that decision.

So - now waiting until Tuesday. Becoming less inclined to use BBO again, unless they really turn this around; I think I've been reasonable with my expectations for this, but somehow I just keep getting the screws. >:(

[GBA]

hope you get an upgrade on your altecs. that's not much hope, but still, hope for the best.

[Karthanon_MT]

Called BBO this morning.

CSR: "Oh, we received a note back that the investigation is still ongoing, you'll have to wait until it's completed."

Me: "What, wait another 14 days? May I speak with a supervisor, please? Perhaps with the one I spoke with last time?"

CSR: "What was his name?"

Me: "His name was Chad, and his ID# was 21094."

CSR: <silence for a minute> "He said he was a supervisor?"

Me: "Yes..."

CSR: Let me get a supervisor to contact you back within 30-45 minutes, what number can they call you at?"

/blinks

At least I can't fault the CSR's politeness. Now to see if BBO follows through.

[Karthanon_MT]

Nope, no callback. So I called back.

CSR: "All our systems are down now, if you can call back in about 30 minutes, please?"

Me: "May I please just speak with a supervisor?"

CSR: "They all seem to be in a meeting, please call back in 30 minutes. Thank you!"

<click>

Me: "WTF!?!"

[dhamilton]

Keep us updated :)

[blainehamilton]

You're getting the runaround. They won't admid to the shipping mistake and think you are trying to rip them off and actually got both sets.

Call them back, and tell them you are going to do a chargeback if they don't send the other set, a suitable replacement with wireless remote, or give you a refund for the missing set.

Make sure you ask for and talk to a supervisor, tell them you will hold for one.

Once you have him on the line, let him know the coversation is being recorded since you have received poor customer service in the past.

That will scare some action into them. I hope.

[ceraf]

i hope you get those logitech speakers, after all you've been through.

The altecs i bought are a little shabby on quality...had to use some contact cleaner on the speaker wires to get rid of all the distorted noise it was producing.

keep us posted!

[Karthanon_MT]

Called back, and spoke with a CSR (by the name of Samia).

The supervisor is still not there. Samia says that once she comes in and sees the note that was put on her desk (apparently from when I called in earlier) she will call Chad and ask him to contact me.

She also said that a credit request was made for my speakers; Which is interesting, as this is the first time I've heard of it. As I explained to Samia - "I don't want a credit, I'd like my speakers, please. You know, the ones you sold me on Dec. 25th?" .What's more interesting is that besides the credit request, the form is still outstanding (and I received a reference # for that) to get a replacement SKU. The problem there is is that it's another 7-10 businss days wait.

There's only so many times I can go over the same information with a CSR; Samia was adamant she could do nothing for me, that it's all up to a supervisor to call me back. I let her know that as she doesn't know when the supervisor is going to be back, nor if Chad will respond to the other supervisor's call, it's essentially a "get him off the phone so I don't have to deal with it". And yes - asking for escalation past the supervisor requires email which takes 3-4 days to get a response to.

I'm getting more frustrated, and yes, angry.

What part of "Oops, we screwed up twice (First the shipping error, second the form which was rejected after 10 days), perhaps we should do something quickly" don't they understand?

Thanks for letting me rant, though. I'm trying to be as polite as possible (I'm not the kind of person to start screaming into a phone at some poor call center CSR), but it starts to grate at me.

:)

[Karthanon_MT]

I called back and was finally able to get a supervisor on the phone. I spoke with Deanna (#10265) and explained everything (again). She also read the notes in relation to my order#, and said the following:

1. A credit was sent to me for 1 speaker set, however, it has not yet been processed (will take 5-7 business days). Not something I requested. I want my speakers, not a credit so they can try to get me to buy something more expensive!
2. A request was sent last Friday (Jan 18th) to see if they can find something else to offer me for the same price, this will apparently take 24-48 hours.
3. When I was told after 10 days that "the form was filled out incorrectly and they had to do it again" - this supervisor let me know that this was NOT the case, as they would get a response immediately if any sent form was incorrect.
So, essentially, I was lied to by MORE THAN ONE PERSON.
4. I will be called and emailed within 24/48 hours.

I'm going to forwarding all of this (and a link) hopefully farther up the email chain to hopefully get some quicker action.

We'll see.

[Karthanon_MT]

Called back again, and spoke with Deanna (the same person! It's amazstonishing!).

I let her know that I wasn't too happy with the fact that they credited me the speaker set - I wanted the speakers I ordered, not the credit. She said she understands, but she said that is Best Buy policy (it seems to me it's more of providing BBO an 'out' of having to go through their SKU matching).

2. They still haven't received a response from their warehouse/product specialist.

She said she is trying to find out if they can do anything more besides this, and she is going to call/email me later today with an update.

My email to customer support/higher up got swallowed without showing it was actually processed by BestBuy.ca; and to add insult to injury Bestbuy.ca was down when I went to look at my order (it's since been brought back online). Guess I'll have to resend it and just use my normal email client rather than use an email form.

[masterballer]

I would have done a charge back a long time ago...this is just ********, i wouldnt wait a MONTH for speakers and then get half my shipment :|

[Karthanon_MT]

It's currently 5:43PM MST, and no callback. I can't say I'm surprised.

I wonder when they close their call center?

[Karthanon_MT]

Well, almost an end to all of this:

I sent an email through the BBO customer service line, going over everything since the start and referencing this forum/post in a link. As a final entry in the email, I wrote this:

At this point, all I can do further is await a solution from your Customer Care department - but while I am doing that, I am also forwarding this email message to the "Troubleshooter" with Global Television here in Edmonton. Perhaps if they contact you you will be more forthright in explaining to them the delay in processing this issue.

I called back this morning - and they told me to order another set of the speakers which they would then credit me back immediately, as well as pay for shipping. I should receive them next week.

So: 1 set of speakers free. Boy, I hope they work, I'd hate to have to return them. /cringe

[Karthanon_MT]

Like the subject says...

I got an email from Best Buy this morning saying that they would be happy to give me free SHIPPING if I wanted to order the speakers again due to all the issues. Yup, you read that right, FREE $3.99 GROUND SHIPPING.

I called their Customer Care desk and spoke with a CSR.

1. The CSR I spoke with before responded that I was getting a free speaker set and free shipping; I asked him TWICE and he said it was the whole deal, not just shipping. He had more than enough opportunity to say it was just shipping, but didn't. That's why I ordered the dang thing again WITH THE CSR STILL ON THE PHONE.

2. The speakers went through at their new sale price of $49.99 + GST + Shipping. WHY THE HECK WOULD I ORDER THE SPEAKER SET FOR $20 MORE THAN ON DEC. 25TH, JUST TO GET $3.99 FREE SHIPPING? Are these people on crack?

3. Again, asked to speak to a supervisor. One was not available at the moment, but they would call me back immediately. That was early this morning (approx 9AM). It's now 12:17PM, and not a callback. Once again, I'm not surprised.

I have to admit that this is the worst example of customer service I've ever seen - have I honestly been unreasonable? Sure, I would have loved a SKU replacement of the higher end speakers, but I knew that wouldn't happen. :) If this was just a matter of "Hey, we're out of stock but we'll be happy to send you the 2nd set once they come in", I would have been fine. I mean, what, the "short investigation" is a delaying tactic until more stock comes in?

Yup, gonna go beat my head against a brick wall now. It'll probably be more enjoyable.

[peroxide8888]

Like the subject says...

I got an email from Best Buy this morning saying that they would be happy to give me free SHIPPING if I wanted to order the speakers again due to all the issues. Yup, you read that right, FREE $3.99 GROUND SHIPPING.

I called their Customer Care desk and spoke with a CSR.

1. The CSR I spoke with before responded that I was getting a free speaker set and free shipping; I asked him TWICE and he said it was the whole deal, not just shipping. He had more than enough opportunity to say it was just shipping, but didn't. That's why I ordered the dang thing again WITH THE CSR STILL ON THE PHONE.

2. The speakers went through at their new sale price of $49.99 + GST + Shipping. WHY THE HECK WOULD I ORDER THE SPEAKER SET FOR $20 MORE THAN ON DEC. 25TH, JUST TO GET $3.99 FREE SHIPPING? Are these people on crack?

3. Again, asked to speak to a supervisor. One was not available at the moment, but they would call me back immediately. That was early this morning (approx 9AM). It's now 12:17PM, and not a callback. Once again, I'm not surprised.

I have to admit that this is the worst example of customer service I've ever seen - have I honestly been unreasonable? Sure, I would have loved a SKU replacement of the higher end speakers, but I knew that wouldn't happen. :) If this was just a matter of "Hey, we're out of stock but we'll be happy to send you the 2nd set once they come in", I would have been fine. I mean, what, the "short investigation" is a delaying tactic until more stock comes in?

Yup, gonna go beat my head against a brick wall now. It'll probably be more enjoyable.It's chargeback time!