I should probably warn you that this is long. But there are lists! ... people like lists! ... right? D:?
I'm a student working with the only remaining dinosaur on Earth -- meaning the antiquated desktop sitting in the corner of my bedroom -- and am getting more than a little fed up with him, so I finally decided that I needed to get a decent laptop. After setting aside some money for a budget and doing some (surprisingly pretty time-consuming) research I decided on one, ordered it on their website and chose to pick it up in my local store to save the $20 on shipping. $20 is half a tank of gas, to me, so it’s definitely much more worth it to someone who makes barely above minimum wage to use that $20 on gas instead of shipping. Should have been a simple transaction, right?
Wrong.
It said it was available for pickup the 24th, but would be held until October 2nd. I figured I’d pick it up after class today, since I have the day off and it’s right down the street from campus. No big deal.
I got an e-mail Sunday night saying it was not available to be picked up, and I should call Customer Care. I found that odd, considering when I ordered the damn thing, it said it was available. But, fine. Okay. I called Customer Care. The guy I spoke to that night was great — and determined that the website was again displaying that it was in stock at the store in my city, so I should just call first thing in the morning and have them set one aside for me. I thanked him for his time, and did so yesterday morning.
That’s when the trouble started. So far in trying to get this nonsense sorted out I have been on the receiving end of some of the worst customer service I’ve ever had. In short summary:
- “No, we don’t have it. I don’t really know what to tell you except that if you want it that badly you can drive the hour or so to [city which is in fact more like two hours away] and pick it up there yourself.” Yeah, I’m gonna waste two hours of my life and a ton of gas for your error. Also, your tone really sucks, guy.
- “Why do you need this laptop? Can’t you just pick another?” I ordered it because it suits my needs and my price point, Mister Condescending Assbutt Who Probably Doesn’t Deserve His Job.
- “I guess I could call the other store and have them ship it to us for you if youreally need us to, but it’ll take about three weeks to get here.” From a store two hours away? You’ve got to be shitting me right now. Your tone still really sucks.
So I decided to just bite the bullet and have the damn thing shipped to my house. I don’t trust people in my neighborhood and am not home all that much during the day lately so I really didn’t want to do that, but whatever. I’d work it out. The customer service rep on the phone wasn’t as bad as the sales rep in the store, but she was a real gem, too:
- “It actually looks like the item you ordered isn’t even available to ship. It’s probably discontinued.” Then why in heaven’s name do you still tell me I have the option to ship it?
- “If you wanted to drive to the [two-hours-away-store] location it doesn’t seem that far.” I politely inform her that it is in fact about two hours from where I am, so that’s not very practical. “Oh … well, I can offer you a gift card — oh wait, I can’t, because you don’t actually have the item yet …” Do you even know what you’re doing? “I can’t refund you at all, because you don’t have it.” … the hell you say, madam.
- I say I would like to just cancel the order, then, because I don’t really have time to go through all of this and need to go to class. Her tone immediately goes sour and she tells me to “hold on.” I’m sure she thinks she muted her line, or put me on hold, but I clearly heard the words “bitch” and “difficult.” Now, I admit to being unhappy, but as someone who works in customer service, I make it a point not to be rude or uppity with customer service representatives. I’ll snark later, if you deserve it, but I’m not going to make your job more miserable than it is.
- “I guess you don’t have the time to talk to a sales representative about a different laptop?” No. I don’t. I have to go to class. I … sort of just said that to you. I tell her that no, I really unfortunately do not, and she abruptly ends our call with a very insincere “have a good day.”
This is sort of really ridiculous. Not only should I not have to jump backwards through hoops for one item (seriously, Best Buy, how hard is it to keep your shit straight?) which I have already been charged for, but there is absolutely no reason for someone to treat a customer like that.
I work in retail, too. I get sworn at by kids half my age (I'm not that old, either), yelled at, have cases thrown at me over the counter and told that I should “be at home where I belong.” I don’t cop an attitude with my customers. I smile, continue on with what I need to do to get them out of the store, make sure all their needs are met, go every mile I would go with every other customer, and bid them a good day on their way out. Because as someone in a customer service position, that’s my job. That is what is expected of me.
I’m calling the district and corporate offices tomorrow morning; maybe they'd like to know their employees don't really value good service.
And I’m never making another purchase through Best Buy again.