John ordered a washer and a dryer from Best Buy. First, he says Best Buy showed up early for the delivery, so naturally, John wasn’t home. Then they assembled the pedestals for the washer and dryer on some gravel in front of his house, damaging them. After that, they left the appliances with his neighbor.

John writes:

On 1/2 Best Buy delivered a washer, drier along with 2 matching pedestals. Since the delivery persons came unexpectedly earlier than their delivery window, I was not home at the time of delivery, so a neighbor took it. Upon returning home, I noticed that one of the pedestals has a chip out of the front of it which goes all the way to the metal. My neighbor told me that the delivery persons assembled the washer and drier in front of my home in the gravel by the road. Obviously this carelessness is how the pedestal was damaged.

Since my basement tends to be damp, I’m concerned that this chip will begin to rust the pedestal and eventually the underbelly of the washer that sits on it. I immediately (on 1/2) called Best Buy Customer Service and reported the problem. Apparently since the delivery team’s paperwork was not yet received, they said I would be called back. I waited days and heard nothing. I submitted a request for assistance online 3 times before I received a reply on (1/6) – three days later. In that reply, from “Ann”, she indicated that this would be dealt with by the “Delivery Department” and they would be in contact with me. I received no reply until today (1/19), when I received an email indicating that the pedestal would be returned on 1/21. Hours later I was called by a Best Buy Customer Service person who said that they would be coming to my home to remove the old pedestal, but would NOT be replacing it, I would have to place ANOTHER ORDER. He said that if I placed another order on bestbuy.com, the delivery charge would automatically be waived. So after we hung up, I tried to do just that, only to find that I was being charged a $70 delivery fee. So YET AGAIN I called Best Buy Customer Support with my case number and waited on the line for a FULL HOUR while the representative fumbled around, complaining about the Best Buy website, his browser, “too many screens”, how “busy it’s been around here” and mumbled incoherently before FINALLY he was able to place another order for me.

So now, I’ve wasted HOURS of my time to remedy this situation, have to pay out of pocket TWICE for a pedestal while I wait for a refund for the first one, AND have to be home from work TWO MORE TIMES for the removal of the pedestal (on 1/21) and the delivery of the replacement (on 1/26).

As an owner of a small business, I make purchases totaling in the tens of thousands of dollars each year – nearly all online. Most of my purchases are made from Amazon.com, but I thought I would give Best Buy a try this time around. I have to tell you that this has been a customer service nightmare. Never have I been given this type of run-around by an online retailer – especially one with such a large corporate backing as Best Buy.

Yuck. We suggest that you launch an EECB (executive email carpet bomb) on Best Buy. Ask for some compensation for your trouble, and for a speedy refund.

Perhaps if you can reach intelligent life at Best Buy, you could also convince them to pick up the damaged item and bring you another one — on the same day. Just a thought.

UPDATE: This story has a happy ending. John contacted Best Buy and they’re making everything right. That was quick!

John says:

Thank you for featuring this story. With your advice I contacted the executives at Best Buy who, within 24 hours responded by both phone and email. The are providing the following as compensation for my trouble:

A refund of the purchase price of the pedestal
A refund of the delivery charge of my original order
A replacement pedestal at no cost and with no delivery charge
A $25 gift card

The representative that I spoke with, John Morrison, was very courteous and sympathetic to my problem. In the end, they did make a good effort to right their wrong, so I wanted to be sure they were given credit for that on your website.

Thanks again for featuring my story and for all of your hard work on behalf of the consumer!

Hooray!

(Photo:penner42)

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