Another Best Buy Follow-Up

It's been forty-eight hours since my last post, and I finally received the response I was promised on Twitter! Yay! Here is the email I received as a follow-up to my tweets to Best Buy and my response:

Hello Olivia-

I absolutely apologize that we were not able to ship this order for you.  It would certainly be disappointing.

Our deliveries are based on the UPS delivery database, so wherever they can deliver, we can usually ship to within the United States.  Unfortunately, we were not able to verify that this was a deliverable address and so could not ship this order to you.  You can find more information on the Conditions of Use for BestBuy.com here.

If you have a better address that we could ship to, you could certainly try to re-order, otherwise, my other recommendation would be to purchase this item in your local Best Buy store, if available.

I am sorry for any disappointment that this may cause you.

Sincerely,

Bill

Social Connections and Innovation

Community Connector

Bill:

My aunt, with whom I live, runs a business from her home, shipping products nationwide. She ships with UPS and USPS every single business day, so I find it pretty difficult to accept this excuse. I also do not understand why I was not contacted about this before my order was cancelled, so that we could work together to find a solution. I live very near a Best Buy store - we could have simply arranged for store pickup instead, making things easier on everyone, I'm sure. My disappointment mostly stems from the company's failure to attempt to resolve the problem.

As for reordering, I was informed that to do so would be to re-purchase the product at the current price. I was told that matching the price I originally paid would be impossible, so I have taken my business elsewhere.

Thank you anyway for your time. Perhaps Best Buy will be able to better assist the next customer that encounters this problem.

Cheers,

Olivia Sunday 

I'm really not convinced that my address is impossible to ship to, considering the fact that my aunt ships stuff to and from our address every single day...

Best Buy's Customer Service Follow-up post

It has been over twenty-four hours since I contacted Best Buy about my cancelled order, plenty of time for them to have followed up with me and tried to make things right.

My letter to Lisa Smith was never replied to. I suppose this is understandable, considering she is an executive and quite busy. However, I see no reason for her to have passed it along to someone beneath her.

I remembered learning from a lecture about how Twitter and Facebook were such instrumental tools in the hands of consumers now, so I posted about the situation on both platforms. On Facebook I received a great response from my friends and several of them shared the link to my blog. Probably didn't actually do much, but @BestBuySupport replied to my tweet within minutes, saying, "We regret to hear of your experience. If you like, email twitter@bestbuy.com and we'll look into this for you." I forwarded the letter I wrote to Lisa Smith too the email address provided, and got this automatic response:

Your message has been received by Best Buy. A member of our team will do their best to assist you within to 1-2 business days. Thank you for your patience.

Regards,

ECC Social Connections & Innovation

Best Buy Corporate

Bull.

Anyway, I called my father to tell him about the whole shenanigan. I was about to just order directly from Apple, but he told me I should look at buying my computer from B&H Photo Video in New York. Their prices are pretty much the best you'll find anywhere (plus - free shipping and no sales tax!). After adding both a 13.3" MacBook Air 256GB and an AppleCare policy to my cart, I found the total price $115 less than buying everything directly from Apple Store for Education! (The difference would be $165 from the regular Apple Store.) I was absolutely thrilled and immediately placed my order. The checkout was smooth and hassle-free, and I got a shipping notice about twelve hours later. Best Buy didn't even try shipping my order for three business days.

Happy ending: B&H have been sending me updates on my order and have been stellar examples of after-sale service. I sang B&H's praises on Twitter and Facebook. I had some friends commit to abstain from giving Best Buy their business for the rest of their lives, and I gained a new favourite electronics dealer in B&H Photo Video. B&H Photo Video gained a new loyal customer. I'm expecting a shiny new MacBook on my doorstep by the end of the semester.

UPDATE: Henry Posner, the online reputation manager for B&H replied to my second tweet and thanked me for my order. See? This is how you follow up with customers. Observe.

Best Buy's Customer Service is a Joke

When attending a business school, one naturally expects to learn a few things about customer service. One of my teachers related to my class a tale involving the clothing retail giant Nordstrom's accepting the return and refunding the purchase of a used car tire. This and other such stories have given me a standard of customer service to hold my future business to, and my current dealings with existing businesses. I think you'll see why I was upset when the events described in the following letter transpired. I've thrown down my gauntlet....


Wednesday 04 December, 2013 17:47

To Lisa Smith, Vice President, Enterprise Customer Care at Best Buy:

This Black Friday, I purchased a MacBook Air on the BestBuy website at a $150 discount. I was sent a confirmation email that said my order had been processed and was ready to ship. So you'll understand why I was surprised and dismayed to find this in my inbox:

Hello Olivia,        

We're sorry, but the order listed below has been canceled because we are unable to ship to the address provided.        

Be assured that if you paid by credit card, it has not been charged, and any other method of payment has been credited. If you used a Gift Card for this order and no longer have it, please call the number below and we'll send you a replacement. Please note that this cancellation might affect your order's free shipping eligibility, bundle pricing, or gift-with-purchase eligibility.        

If you have any questions — or if you'd like to place this order again — please contact us at 1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289). If possible, please have your order number handy.        

Once again, we're sorry for this inconvenience. We hope to hear from you soon.                                              Sincerely,

Lisa Smith

Vice President

Best Buy Customer Care

My first reaction upon reading your reason for cancelling my order included wondering why I was not simply contacted to verify my address, give a different address if necessary, or just arrange for an in-store pickup. As requested in your last line, I called the Customer Care number listed in the email and spoke with an associate named Yolanda. She was as helpful as she could be, and was very patient with me. She confirmed the address I had given for shipping, and upon finding that it was indeed correct, informed me that there was no good reason why my order should have been cancelled. Why, then, was it? I asked to reorder my purchase and requested that the sale price I originally paid be honoured. She told me this wasn’t possible and apologised for the inconvenience. Additionally, Yolanda informed me that this exact same scenario had happened more than once this weekend!

This is a mockery of customer service. I, as well as customers facing similar predicaments, was promised a price and paid it, expecting the computer I ordered. I was not expecting this transaction to leave me empty-handed. Unless I am allowed to reorder the computer at the promised price, you can expect no further business from me or my friends and family.

Looking forward to your response,

Olivia Sunday 

....think they'll pick it up?