Best Buy can't find its own ass to help a customer with both hands and a Best Buy branded GPS.
So here is my issue. A few months back
this happened. Spent several months dealing with it, even bumped into an older guy that overheard me talking about my issue in a local electronics shop who claimed he was a BB exec and was appalled by my story. He asked for my contact info and swore that he would personally see to my being helped, then he asked my ethnicity after seeing my very long name, and conjectured that I must be a terrorist then when finding out where I'm from (you have no idea how it feels to my people to be called that, but I kept my composure and gritted plastic smile). I never heard back from him btw.
Flash forward a few months, I'm still a bit burnt on Best Buy, but It's December and I have a bunch of birthday and early Christmas gift cards for BB so I decide to make a purchase. I bought a 3D PC montor, mainly because it was on sale and I had a fist full of gift cards. The first one comes and has dead pixels on it. I call up BB and they send out a replacement. I take back the first one only to find out that the replacement also has dead pixels. I call them up and they send out a second replacement. The third monitor arrives and before I can take back the second one I hook up the third one and it too is defective. I call up BB and they say they are sending out a 4th one. I try to take back the second one, but since I called up about the third one before taking back the second one apparently their system won't let me take back one at a time, I have to return all the monitors in their system slated to be returned. That doesn't work for me because the way I had things set up was that I would basically use the defective but still working monitor until the next one arrived and then take back the defective one and swap them out, that way I wouldn't be left without a monitor. The people in the store just told me to hold onto the second and third one till the 4th came and then bring them back together. Ok then, so I start playing the waiting game. After a couple weeks the 4th had not come yet, which is weird because the couple arrived within a couple days of being sent out. I call up BB and they say that the monitor was sent out and I should have received it by then, they start and investigation with BB as well as UPS. Flash forward a few more weeks and a few more calls, I come to find out that BB just simply had its head up its ass and accidentally thought that the third monitor was the 4th and that they had never sent out a 4th monitor.
This is where things get interesting, it has been nearly 4 months now since this whole thing began and now we have figured out that BB never sent out that 4th monitor and I still don't have a non defective monitor. So I'm talking to a BB CSR and she tells me they can't send out another monitor. I ask why pray tell, and she explains that they can't just keep sending me monitors and monitors until I finally get one that isn't defective, cause they will lose money that way. Weird concept though, that a customer would want something to work completely as advertised and not be damaged in anyway before they pay for it. I ask what we could possibly do at this point, and this is when BB did the best thing I have ever heard them do for a customer that had been burned so hard. She said, "Listen we can't just keep sending you monitors until you get a working one, that is costing us too much. If you just drop this nearly 4 month issue and let us close out the case once in for all, we'll refund your money and let you keep the 2 defective but working monitors you have now." I was a bit shocked to hear it, so I spent the next few minutes making absolutely certain that what I heard was true and she verified several times that yes it was. I said absolutely, I can live with a few dead pixels and 4 months of hell if you let me keep the monitors. She told me that my money would be refunded and that my cards were being reissued and I could expect to get them in 1-2 weeks.
Just over 2 weeks later I call up BB and ask them about the status of the gift cards since I have not gotten them yet, and that is when a bombshell dropped. I explained the whole story to them and they began to explain to me that no the last CSR couldn't have possibly said what she did, there is no way they will allow that, they want their damn monitors back, and I won't be seeing a dime of my money back until I do. My heart sank, but I'm not one to give up easily. I spoke with the manager who basically said the same thing, but I told him to pull the call records if he had to and listen to them so he could hear his own service people tell me what they did. He said he would send it up the ladder and it will take them about a week or two to pull that information, which frankly I said was a drop in the bucket compared to the past 4 months.
Now I don't exactly have high hopes from what I'm going to hear back from them, but I'm going to fight for what's right and fair. If they get back to me and tell me to pound sand with zero compensation for the crap that I've been putting up with, is there anything I can legally do? I'm going to send my story to the Consumerist, and try an EECB if things go badly, but I'm wondering if there are any other steps I should look into. This is pretty much a last straw for me and about to kill any drive I could ever have to ever shop at BB again.
Edit: Forgot to add one important detail. Not only did they not refund my money when they said they were, but they ended up over charging me like 50 bucks for the monitor.
Playstation/Origin/GoG: Span_Wolf
Xbox/uPlay/Bnet: SpanWolf
Nintendo: Span_Wolf SW-7097-4917-9392
Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/Span_Wolf/
Posts
Did you send (return) those monitors back yet? And why weren't you just using your old monitor instead of sitting on one monitor until the other arrived from the very beginning? It seems that probably aggravated the problem in their system and you could've expedited things by a huge margin had you sent (returned) things back as soon as you discovered the dead pixels.
No I'm holding onto them until things are settled. I actually ordered the first monitor and traded in my current monitor with BB trade in program (not their trade back program, that thing is criminally bad) and got 80 bucks for a really old 22" monitor. Not a bad deal really. I sent them back as quickly as I could do a swap. I called up about a defective monitor, the next one came within 2 days, and then I'd take back the one it replaced. Really not all that more complicated, it was their end that fucked it up.
How was I being goosey? And yeah I know it's my word against theirs, that's why I told them to pull the tapes, which I'm sure something will happen to if they see I'm right.
Oh shit I forgot to add some details to the OP, editing now.
Because it's very easy for them to go 'Oops, looks like we don't have a tape of that call!' You ALWAYS get this kind of thing in writing so that you have written proof of the agreement. Especially for an unusual agreement with a big company. Instead, you're relying on them to find your evidence. That's why most consumer advocates recommend doing this kind of thing via email because then you have a paper trail. Instead, you have nothing unless BB helps you out.
Electronic composer for hire.
That is as useless as peering into a toilet and talking to a turd face to face. I tried it with the ipod issue and got nowhere fast and a half.
You could've watched them give you your refund on the spot instead of take their word for it, at least. I doubt you're going to get any extra compensation out of this, Bestbuy didn't make the monitors defective like they did your ipods.
did you at least get the names of the Best Buy CSRs with whom you spoke over the phone?
this is an issue you can go to your state's attorney general or to the BBB with. if those don't work, you CAN try small claims court on your own without a lawyer.
thing is, you're gonna have to have pretty decently documented evidence...what exactly do you have proving this all went down?
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
I'm wondering why he kept getting the same model of monitor.
On a side note: Can you not get a replacement for a defective product in store? I think for future instances with any physical electronics store I would take the defective product back to the brick and mortar store you bought it from and get a replacement from their inventory on the spot and for something like dead pixels, have them open the item up and try it out before you leave with it again.
Check your state laws before doing this. In a lot of states you can't record the call without the other party's knowledge and they have the right to refuse to talk to you on a recorded line.
Are you sure its not just that one person in the conversation has to give permission (as in you can give the permission if you're in the conversation)? Otherwise, wouldn't any such evidence ever be void?
Yeah the only proof I have about the resolution is the tape, which BB has, but it's not hard to prove the rest, and that this issue has been going on for 4 months. I just need to show invoices and credit card statements.
Yes, that's exactly why I always call. Calling will get you talking to somebody RIGHT NOW, as opposed to waiting a week or two for a copy paste reply that had nothing to do with your issue, if any reply at all, followed by another week or two wait while you tell them they didn't even read your email.
Several reasons. I would have gotten damn gift cards back for more than half the price of the order, so now I would have had to figure out what else I might have wanted from Best Buy. I really wanted that monitor, and it wasn't available in the physical store, as long as they kept giving me replacements till I got the right one I could live with it. I was kinda stuck because of the whole gift card thing. The reason I didn't get another model was because it was pretty much the only 3D monitor available at BB and it is well reviewed.
I'm in California, very phone call recording unfriendly state. Though now I wonder, since they were recording me, is California a state that I could record back without telling them?
I couldn't ask for a store replacement because SoCal does not sell them in BB stores, only online.
I think you misunderstood me. Any time you call a major company here they say, "Your call might/will be recorded for bla bla bla purposes, this is to ensure better customer service." So my question was here in CA if they say that then do I get to record too?
No, because as I said you giving them permission to record your call is not the same thing as them giving you permission to record them. They have to know that you are recording the call and give permission. When the CSR gets on tell them you are recording the call and if they don't object you're fine.
Oh and IANAL, I just like covering my own ass so I don't try to argue on technicalities if I can do something and be firmly in the right.
The only thing you can do here is to keep playing their game, keep insisting that you should be entitled to a refund or a satisfactory product, and be sure to continue proclaiming that you are dissatisfied with their service.
You'd be stealing, how well do you think that would work? If you keep both monitors they would have ever right to charge you for two monitors. The simple thing to do would be to send them both back and get your money refunded and be done with it.
I recently had an issue with a real estate transaction (not major but would equate to a few thousand dollars on a house purchase so worth pursuing). My lawyer basically just wrote 2 or 3 letters back and forth to the other guy's lawyer, no court, arbitration, anything, and the other party settled for what we asked for. Simple, right? That was 500 dollars.
If the value of your dispute isn't at least $1000, you have pretty much nothing at all to gain from legal action unless there's enough of a problem that you can get other people in on a class action.
Each one had a small number of dead pixels, when I called up about it BB didn't ask details, the fact that there were dead pixels was enough for them. Even if it wasn't, I could still return the monitor anyway and get my money back within the 30 days. Frankly I'm not going to spend over 450 dollars on a monitor and have dead pixels on it.
This is a manufacturer's defect you probably would have gotten a better result after the first return with the maker.
Also: the guy you were talking to in the other electronics store was probably not a real bb exec and I would not even think about that guy any more.
Sucks that he gave you the business about being a terrorist tho (I assume you're Catalan? You should have told him since he was white he must be a serial killer. . . )
as for what's right and fair ... dude, you're not entitled to something just because some tired and/or dumb headset biscuit in a call center offers it too you. It sucks, but that's definitely not any kind of agreement or contract. woulda been sweet, though.
I host a podcast about movies.
Anyway I had a few friends over last night and dubious legal advice was given by them. They all seem to be in agreement that, they sent me the product and charged me for it. Now I can legally keep it even if they undercharged me, and they have no grounds to demand the product back. If they send me to collections I can contest with my credit card and sue them. Doesn't sound right to me, but they all said the same thing. Mind you they said it would be a huge pain in the ass, but legally I'm in the clear to keep them.
Are they lawyers? No? Then don't listen to them.
Don't be a silly goose, return them and use the credit for something else
Dubious: du·bi·ous/ˈd(y)o͞obēəs/Adjective
1. Hesitating or doubting.
2. Not to be relied upon; suspect
Why would you ever want to act upon legal advice that is dubious?
Legal stuff will just complicate things even more and end up costing you more to 'fix' the issue than to try and level with BB and find some sort of solution.
First off, why this particular monitor? And did you try any methods to try and fix the dead pixels? I know I had a few stuck and unresponsive pixels when I first got my monitor. I called up HP and they told me that the actual liquid crystal compound can take time to actually settle. They said to warm up the monitor and give it something to display for a bit. If it still was stuck, give them a ring back.
I just put on Gone in 60 Seconds and by the end of the movie, most of the pixels were fine. A few more essentially fixed themselves after more run time.
You really need to work this out with Best Buy. Keeping the monitors will just result in a heap of trouble for you or a ruined credit rating (or both, if you lose the lawsuit).
I tried all the fixes. The rub method, the website with the seizure causing test pattern, extended use, etc. This particular monitor because it was the only 3D bundle that BB offered.
I guess the question now is what is your goal? It seems its out of reach to get a working monitor at the advertised price, so why not try and tug the string at the seams and undo everything back to square one, as it were?
I am necroing this thread to let you guys know, that after 7 months I considered this a bitter dead issue. They never got back to me like they said they would and I had just given up. But then recently The Consumerist put up some contact info for Best Buy's executive customer service. So as a final what the hell attempt I sent them an email. The very next day I got a phone call with no arguing no drawn out conversation just a simple, "You'll be getting a full refund in the next couple of days." They are even refunding me cash for all the giftcards I used. So yay, issue resolved, I won, it's all over, I get my money back and the monitors.