Best Buy is a “valued business partner” of Verizon. That’s why they handed over their customer list to Best Buy so Big Blue could call up Verizon customers eligible for new phones and encourage them to upgrade. At Best Buy, naturally. This happened to Mary, and she wonders whether anyone out there might have assumed that they had to upgrade at Best Buy.

On Tuesday, I was in a training class at work and was unable to check or answer my phone during the day. After work, I checked my voice mail and was rather surprised to hear a message from none other than big box annoyance Best Buy (I can’t stand entering their stores because of the noise and music). A Best Buy robo-call wanted to let me know that I was now eligible for an upgrade on my Verizon Wireless cell phone and encouraged me to come into my nearest store where their “knowledgeable” staff could assist me.

Two things bother me about this:
(1) I have never in my life bought a cell phone from Best Buy. So why did they call me?
(2) I had to use my wireless minutes to listen to the voice mail, or would have used them if I had answered the phone originally, for a phone call I didn’t want or ask for.

A call to Best Buy’s customer service has assured me that my cell phone number has been added to their “Do Not Call” list. A further call to Verizon’s customer service told me that since Best Buy is a valued business partner, Verizon shares some account information including upgrade dates with Best Buy. And if you wanted to opt out of the “benefits” of these deals, you have to know exactly who to call and what exactly to ask for at Verizon.

I cannot for the life of me see what Verizon gets out of this deal. Obviously, Best Buy benefits because it brings consumers and wallets in the door. But since I have always purchased my phones and upgrades from Verizon Wireless directly, why would they want to send me and my money to Best Buy instead? And how many of these robo-calls will go to consumers that are not as savvy and assume that they can ONLY go to Best Buy for their upgrades?

As for me, if Verizon is trying to get my upgrade money more quickly by sending me to Best Buy, my aversion to the “Blue Menace” will just make me wait longer. Can we say backfire?

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