Kate and her husband sacrificed some laptops at the Best Buy trade-in altar, hoping for a painless process that would quickly result in an easy-to-use gift card. They were disappointed on all fronts and denied at the cash register when they tried to use the card they received.

She writes:

First issue: The trade-in program is done through a third party. They give you an estimate before you even ship them your items, and then once they receive the items they adjust from there. When they shaved around 70 dollars off of their quote, they never once gave us an alternative. We could not say “no thanks, send us our computer back”. They had our equipment, and that was it. We found ourselves with no choice in the matter. Whatever, we thought, just give us our gift card so we can go buy some stuff.

Second issue: We get our gift card in the mail. It’s like Christmas at the [redcated] residence. We hop in the car and race to the store to buy goodies. Once there, we pick out three or four things and head for the check out. Hand the gift card to the cashier and guess what? the card is DECLINED. My husband keeps his cool and asks to speak to a manager or someone from customer service. They are on shift, but neither of the people he spoke with were familiar with the program and could only suggest he call the 1800 number on the back of the card. ???? seriously????

David calls the number. While we are still in the store. He wants an answer and he also wants to give any information he finds to the store manager so, if it happens again, they won’t look so stupid.

He speaks to someone on the other end. Before he can even finish the story, the guy cuts him off with a “the card was declined, wasn’t it?”.

David was told this was a known problem at Best Buy. Since the program is run through a third party, their computer systems can not “speak” to each other. Basically, the only way they can fix the problem is to wait for a customer to attempt to use the card. Once it is declined, they can go in and activate it for use, 24 HOURS LATER.

Third issue: This is where we have our biggest problem. For David and I, this is inconvenient, but manageable. Best Buy is just down the road. We will go back this weekend and buy what we want. But I can’t help but think this is false advertising on Best Buy’s part. The customers should know the problems with the program upfront. They are calling this the responsible and green solution to old electronics. And it would be. But imagine if David and I lived somewhere in the Midwest and had driven over 100 miles to the closest Best Buy only to be told to turn around and come back the next day. How is the gas wasted on these multiple excursions “green”?

Fourth issue: Store level management and employees have no idea what is going on. These people should be prepared with answers and solutions. Corporate is obviously dropping the ball here when it comes to communication with the store workers. Once David got off the phone, he went and informed the Store Manager of the issue and the resolution. These people need to know this stuff. David was polite about the situation, but not everyone would be.

Finally, when the gift card was sent, the letter attached had four sentences written in it. No where did it let us know that the card would not work. in fact, the last sentence simply states “You can use this gift card at any Best Buy store in the nationwide and online at http://www.bestbuy.com.

If you’ve used Best Buy’s trade-in program, what were your results?

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