There is some use crying over spilt ice cream, though Best Buy won’t shed too many tears over it. That’s just as well. The resulting mix would leave a bad taste in your mouth, just like their customer service, as Nikki found when trying to get her refrigerator repaired.

For some strange reason, the customer service people couldn’t get it in their hand to make sure to tell the techs that Nikki could not be reached at home, only on her cell. Not only that, she was hung up on repeatedly mid-call and thinks even one supervisor was pretending to not be able to hear her. All this to get a repairman out for a simple fridge fix.

Although I am a Rewards Card member, a Best Buy Credit Card holder, and last year, I purchased an entire house full of appliances from your store, after the bad service I received in the past three days, I will now make my purchases at Circuit City.

Read the rest of the tragic tale, after the jump…

To Whom It May Concern:

On Monday, June 12, 2006, I came home to find my entire freezer defrosted. All of my ice cream was completely melted and my meat products were on their way to being totally defrosted. That evening, I called the electric company and my electrician. The electric company informed me there were no power outages in my area on that day, and my electrician told me to flick the breakers in my basement. I told him that the light in the refrigerator was operating, however, neither the fan nor the refrigerator itself was not operating. He concluded that there was no wiring problem.

I called Best Buy that same evening. The lady I spoke to told me she would put me on emergency status and that a technician would call me within four business hours to schedule an appointment to check out my refrigerator. I asked her to make a note in my file to have the technician call me on my cell phone as I work all day and would not be at home to answer the call. She told me that she made the notation.

On Tuesday, June 13, 2006 when I had not heard from a Best Buy representative, I called Best Buy again. I informed the customer service agent of my problem and she informed me that she would put my account on emergency status so that a technician could come to my home that afternoon. I again asked her to have someone call me on my cell phone as I would not be at home to answer my phone.

Later on that same afternoon, I called Best Buy again where I spoke to yet another representative. I let him know that I still had not heard from a technician and I wanted to know what the problem was. This representative changed my cell phone number to my primary phone number so that everyone would know to call me on my cell phone and not my home phone. When I returned home from work, there was a message on my home answering machine from a technician trying to schedule a time for him to come out and look at my refrigerator.

On Wednesday, June 14, 2006 I called Best Buy again at 8:30 a.m. I informed the representative that I had not received a phone call to schedule service of my refrigerator and my food was continuing to defrost. This representative hung up on me.

I called back again when I arrived at work. I spoke to yet another representative. After being on the phone with her for twenty minutes, I was transferred to her supervisor. Apparently the supervisor was unable to hear me on my cell phone (even though I had not changed locations and was talking to a representative with no problems before I was transferred to him) and after several minutes, he informed me that he could not hear me and he was hanging up the phone.

I then called Best Buy back on my work phone. I spoke to supervisor Chad (156225) and he told me that he would see if could get a technician out to my house this afternoon. If the technician was booked, he GUARANTEED that a technician would see my refrigerator tomorrow. I asked Chad which phone number he gave the technician to call me. Chad indicated that he gave the technician my home phone number even though I expressly asked him to only use my cell phone number.

Having little faith in Chad’s guarantee (and with my food getting more and more thawed) I called Best Buy again at noon. Christie (156141) was the most helpful person I spoke to. She let me know that the Best Buy technician would not be able to come to my house until Monday, but since my refrigerator was still under manufacturer warranty, she provided me with the phone numbers of three certified repair companies in my area. I let her know that I had previously been hung up on and that Best Buy had constantly used a number I asked them not to use, and she was very sympathetic and helpful to the situation.

This afternoon, I placed a call to G&W Repair in my town. The repair technician came to my house and diagnosed and fixed the problem in less than one hour.

At 5:00 p.m. representative Haven (156046) called me on my cell phone to tell me that there was no Best Buy technician that could come to my house and she needed to make an appointment for me through an independent contractor. I informed her that I had my refrigerator fixed about three hours before she called.

I am writing this letter to inform you of the hassle I have had to endure to ensure my food does not spoil. I am disappointed that it has taken three days for a technician to come to my house for a problem that is very critical. And, it is not a Best Buy technician who is now working on my problem. Instead, it is a Frigidaire technician. I have told co-workers about my plight and I am also forwarding a copy of this letter to www.consumerist.com by email. Although I am a Rewards Card member, a Best Buy Credit Card holder, and last year, I purchased an entire house full of appliances from your store, after the bad service I received in the past three days, I will now make my purchases at Circuit City.

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