John thought he’d take Best Buy up on a 36-month, no interest plan when he bought some appliances, but says the online ordering system repeatedly bungled his order.

He writes:

Just thought I’d relay the stupidity that is Best Buy’s online ordering system.

Best Buy offered 36 months, no interest, on our purchase of a refrigerator, TV, and a speaker system. While I strongly dislike buying from Best Buy, since we just purchased a home, 36 months with no interest was perfect for us.

So, I placed the order, scheduled delivery, and set the speaker system up for pickup (it couldn’t be delivered with the TV/fridge). Two days before the ship date, I receive an email telling me that there’s a billing problem. To my neglect, I did not see the email until the following day, at which time I called the 800 number. Apparently when the pick up order was processed, it charged us for the entire order (speaker, TV, and fridge). Then, since we only to picked up one of the items, Best Buy issued a refund for the cost of the TV/fridge. Problem is, they immediately then tried to charge the TV/fridge again, and, because our credit line with Best Buy only covered the original purchase price, the charge was denied. So I said, if I just give you a new payment method, will that cure the issue so I can get the TV/fridge delivered (we really wanted to get a fridge–seeing as how that’s an often used appliance in a home)? BB said, probably, yes. They then told me to contact the store to ensure that they would deliver it. Okay, cool. Well, I then called the store, and they were very confused as to why the 800 # would say to talk to them about delivery–as they have no control over orders placed online. They contacted the warehouse, who told them the fridge/TV would not be delivered.

At this point, I’m a little annoyed. So I call the 800 # again to say, I want to just cancel the remaining order, so I could pick my delivery date at a later time. The original delivery date was the only convenient date for a few weeks–and I needed to coordinate when someone could be home for delivery. Well, they say, no, your order can’t be canceled at this point (of course). However, I was able to switch back to putting all the charges on the Best Buy card, and today I noticed that the refund has gone through. So I guess I can just reschedule delivery for another date, and at worst, we have to live without a fridge for a couple of weeks… but really?

How difficult is it to process an order? I don’t understand why a pick up order of one item required the charge of all 3? Anyway, Best Buy is clearly crazy.

How would you have handled Best Buy’s bungled order?

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