I got this story off one of the survey sites that I'm a member of, this was the winner for worst customer service. Thought it was kind of funny and kind of sad and somewhat indicative of the service that we all get from time to time, but I'm glad that it didn't happen to me:
The Ultimate Customer Dis-Service
Today my brother and I drove my mom up to Best Buy so she could get a new phone. She's legally blind and we're both in college, so it was one of the few chances we had to help her get a phone she could easily use. We selected a nice Panasonic with an additional handset, $250 worth of phone equipment, and headed to the register. The woman at the register of course offered us a warranty on the phones, which my mom declined. Not able to drop the subject, a nearby employee commented that my mom really should get the warranty, but she told him no as well.
The guy wouldn't stop. He mentioned again that the warranty was a good thing and should be added to this purchase. My brother told the guy to leave my mom alone because she had already said no to two people now. The guy couldn't let it drop and said, "I'm just doing my job." I told him that's fine, but we had said no and his job was done now. The guy got mad and said he was just doing what he's supposed to do. I told him the cashier already did what was supposed to be done by initially offering us the warranty, and that we had turned her down and then turned him down multiple times, and we would like to be left alone about it now.
The guy became angrier and kept on defending the warranty, so I asked him where the GM was. He said, "the GM's not here today" so I asked where his manager was. As it turns out some guy right behind him was the acting manager, so I asked him to come over. The manager walked the five feet over to the register and I said, "This guy won't leave us alone even though we already told him we don't want the warranty." The manager didn't care and simply said, "you were raising your voice and swearing at him, get out of my store." This was not the first response I expected the manager to give to a complaining customer. For some reason the manager found it necessary to lie, because I certainly was not swearing and if my voice was raised I had good reason for it to be, and I wasn’t outright yelling. I asked the manager what words I had used that might constitute swearing. He couldn't tell me and just said, "You were swearing and raising your voice, get out of my store."
My mom and my brother, among the many other customers around, had heard the entire argument and knew perfectly well that no swearing was taking place, so I'm not sure where the manager got this idea. I told him I hadn't done anything wrong that should have me thrown out of the store and that we simply wanted to buy the phones and not be hassled about warranties. He again said, "Get out of my store, this is private property." I told him again that all I wanted was to buy some phones and not be hassled. Raising his own voice so that the entire front end could hear (all customers and cashiers alike), the manager then called to the loss prevention guy and said "Throw this man out of my store!" The loss prevention guy walked over and asked me, my brother, and my mom to walk outside with him, but I pulled out my cell phone, dialed 911, and told him that if they really wanted to throw us out I'd call the police and let them decide if I was being disruptive. The loss prevention guy said, "You're really going to call the police?" and sort of stepped back.
My brother finally told my mom to have the cashier cancel the entire transaction and give her credit card back. Even after all this my mom would probably have still made the purchase, but there’s no way a store treating us in this manner was going to get her money. My mom then told the manager that today was her only chance to get a ride to the store and have some help picking out some new phones, and explained to him that she can't even see well enough to drive and that the harassment was ruining this opportunity.
The manager acted as if he couldn't have cared less and simply kept saying, "get out of my store." I asked him if he had any idea what a customer was worth to the store over the course of even ten years. He didn't respond and just walked away. The original guy that wouldn't shut up about the warranty said "we aren't even on commission, so I don't make anything off the warranty." I told him that whether he was on commission or not, we said no several times and wanted to be left alone, and that there was a list hanging somewhere in the back rooms with names and sales numbers of every employee selling warranties, so it must make some difference who sells them. He walked away with no response to that comment.
The loss prevention guy then said, "Well you aren't going to get anywhere arguing so you might as well leave." By this point other customers were watching my family get harassed and I wanted an apology. We weren't budging, so the manager came back and said we were causing a scene. My brother told him we were simply trying to spend $250 in his store and instead got harassed to the point of deciding not to make our purchase. The manager didn't care at all and seemed intent only on throwing us out of the store, even though our only request was that we be allowed to make a purchase without declining a warranty over and over and over. The manager walked away again and then came back. I asked him to look at me and quit leaving every 5 seconds, but he just said "no you're just sitting there swearing at me and raising your voice." I pointed out that I wasn't sitting anywhere, I was standing at the register at which I'd tried to make a $250 purchase, and that I didn't expect treatment like this and would like an apology. The manager simply walked away to the safety of the interiors of the customer service counters.
The loss prevention guy gave me the number to the store and the extension of the GM. He said that the GM was on vacation right now but that we could call her at a later date. A second loss prevention guy told my mom that they should have left us alone after we turned down the warranty once, and definitely after we actually asked to be left alone about it.
I find it hard to believe that the only manager present in the store on a busy Saturday was what looked to be a high school drop out, but if that's whom Best Buy wants to leave in charge then I guess this is the sort of thing that is bound to happen.
Overall the ordeal was an unnecessary experience that both upset and embarrassed everyone. I only hope that this was one idiot on a power trip because his GM was out of town, but given the track record of Best Buy I doubt it. I don't think I am ever going into another Best Buy again ever.
Response from Best Buy
I was very concerned when reading of the difficulties that Mr. Sidhu described relating to his mother's, brother's and his experience at our store while attempting to purchase a new phone. We certainly do not want our customers to feel that we have let them down when visiting one of our store locations.
I can assure Mr. Sidhu that we expect all of our employees to act in a professional, businesslike manner. We do not condone actions by our employees that are anything less than professional or that may be interpreted as such. Additionally, Best Buy sales representatives are trained to present the Product Replacement Plan (PRP) as a benefit to our customers in the event that their product should require repair. It is never our intention for customers to feel they were pressured into purchasing something they did not want to buy. I apologize to Mr. Sidhu, his mother and his brother for the inconvenience and for the level of customer service (or lack thereof) that Mr. Sidhu has described.
I would certainly like to investigate this matter internally to verify this information and to take appropriate action with the store employees regarding this matter. To do so, I respectfully request that Mr. Sidhu please provide me with the store location where this incident occurred and the date of that incident.
The Ultimate Customer Dis-Service
Today my brother and I drove my mom up to Best Buy so she could get a new phone. She's legally blind and we're both in college, so it was one of the few chances we had to help her get a phone she could easily use. We selected a nice Panasonic with an additional handset, $250 worth of phone equipment, and headed to the register. The woman at the register of course offered us a warranty on the phones, which my mom declined. Not able to drop the subject, a nearby employee commented that my mom really should get the warranty, but she told him no as well.
The guy wouldn't stop. He mentioned again that the warranty was a good thing and should be added to this purchase. My brother told the guy to leave my mom alone because she had already said no to two people now. The guy couldn't let it drop and said, "I'm just doing my job." I told him that's fine, but we had said no and his job was done now. The guy got mad and said he was just doing what he's supposed to do. I told him the cashier already did what was supposed to be done by initially offering us the warranty, and that we had turned her down and then turned him down multiple times, and we would like to be left alone about it now.
The guy became angrier and kept on defending the warranty, so I asked him where the GM was. He said, "the GM's not here today" so I asked where his manager was. As it turns out some guy right behind him was the acting manager, so I asked him to come over. The manager walked the five feet over to the register and I said, "This guy won't leave us alone even though we already told him we don't want the warranty." The manager didn't care and simply said, "you were raising your voice and swearing at him, get out of my store." This was not the first response I expected the manager to give to a complaining customer. For some reason the manager found it necessary to lie, because I certainly was not swearing and if my voice was raised I had good reason for it to be, and I wasn’t outright yelling. I asked the manager what words I had used that might constitute swearing. He couldn't tell me and just said, "You were swearing and raising your voice, get out of my store."
My mom and my brother, among the many other customers around, had heard the entire argument and knew perfectly well that no swearing was taking place, so I'm not sure where the manager got this idea. I told him I hadn't done anything wrong that should have me thrown out of the store and that we simply wanted to buy the phones and not be hassled about warranties. He again said, "Get out of my store, this is private property." I told him again that all I wanted was to buy some phones and not be hassled. Raising his own voice so that the entire front end could hear (all customers and cashiers alike), the manager then called to the loss prevention guy and said "Throw this man out of my store!" The loss prevention guy walked over and asked me, my brother, and my mom to walk outside with him, but I pulled out my cell phone, dialed 911, and told him that if they really wanted to throw us out I'd call the police and let them decide if I was being disruptive. The loss prevention guy said, "You're really going to call the police?" and sort of stepped back.
My brother finally told my mom to have the cashier cancel the entire transaction and give her credit card back. Even after all this my mom would probably have still made the purchase, but there’s no way a store treating us in this manner was going to get her money. My mom then told the manager that today was her only chance to get a ride to the store and have some help picking out some new phones, and explained to him that she can't even see well enough to drive and that the harassment was ruining this opportunity.
The manager acted as if he couldn't have cared less and simply kept saying, "get out of my store." I asked him if he had any idea what a customer was worth to the store over the course of even ten years. He didn't respond and just walked away. The original guy that wouldn't shut up about the warranty said "we aren't even on commission, so I don't make anything off the warranty." I told him that whether he was on commission or not, we said no several times and wanted to be left alone, and that there was a list hanging somewhere in the back rooms with names and sales numbers of every employee selling warranties, so it must make some difference who sells them. He walked away with no response to that comment.
The loss prevention guy then said, "Well you aren't going to get anywhere arguing so you might as well leave." By this point other customers were watching my family get harassed and I wanted an apology. We weren't budging, so the manager came back and said we were causing a scene. My brother told him we were simply trying to spend $250 in his store and instead got harassed to the point of deciding not to make our purchase. The manager didn't care at all and seemed intent only on throwing us out of the store, even though our only request was that we be allowed to make a purchase without declining a warranty over and over and over. The manager walked away again and then came back. I asked him to look at me and quit leaving every 5 seconds, but he just said "no you're just sitting there swearing at me and raising your voice." I pointed out that I wasn't sitting anywhere, I was standing at the register at which I'd tried to make a $250 purchase, and that I didn't expect treatment like this and would like an apology. The manager simply walked away to the safety of the interiors of the customer service counters.
The loss prevention guy gave me the number to the store and the extension of the GM. He said that the GM was on vacation right now but that we could call her at a later date. A second loss prevention guy told my mom that they should have left us alone after we turned down the warranty once, and definitely after we actually asked to be left alone about it.
I find it hard to believe that the only manager present in the store on a busy Saturday was what looked to be a high school drop out, but if that's whom Best Buy wants to leave in charge then I guess this is the sort of thing that is bound to happen.
Overall the ordeal was an unnecessary experience that both upset and embarrassed everyone. I only hope that this was one idiot on a power trip because his GM was out of town, but given the track record of Best Buy I doubt it. I don't think I am ever going into another Best Buy again ever.
Response from Best Buy
I was very concerned when reading of the difficulties that Mr. Sidhu described relating to his mother's, brother's and his experience at our store while attempting to purchase a new phone. We certainly do not want our customers to feel that we have let them down when visiting one of our store locations.
I can assure Mr. Sidhu that we expect all of our employees to act in a professional, businesslike manner. We do not condone actions by our employees that are anything less than professional or that may be interpreted as such. Additionally, Best Buy sales representatives are trained to present the Product Replacement Plan (PRP) as a benefit to our customers in the event that their product should require repair. It is never our intention for customers to feel they were pressured into purchasing something they did not want to buy. I apologize to Mr. Sidhu, his mother and his brother for the inconvenience and for the level of customer service (or lack thereof) that Mr. Sidhu has described.
I would certainly like to investigate this matter internally to verify this information and to take appropriate action with the store employees regarding this matter. To do so, I respectfully request that Mr. Sidhu please provide me with the store location where this incident occurred and the date of that incident.
me over - Guess what??? I'm getting FREE STUFF.
. She/he has nothing else to add.