"I ordered a scanner from BestBuy which ended up being out of stock, but that's not my primary beef. What does irk me to no end, and many companies do this, is they don't give you any clear way to close your account or delete your credit card number from your account when you don't have need of it anymore. Some of us don't like having our personal information or credit numbers floating around unnecessarily in virtual limbo. And all that junk about security and privacy they give you is just that; junk. I'm a technology professional and am well aware of the limitations of security measures- they are by no means as secure as they would like you to think.
Companies purposely make it hard for you to close your account or delete your credit card number as a means trying to entice you to keep shopping with them. They don't want to give you the choice. It even appears BestBuy does instant credit card number checks in case you try to change it to a bogus number for the purpose of protecting it from theft. This is totally unacceptable. Having to contact a company direct and deal with their retention department is a burden on the customer."

"Pre-ordered special edition of UT 2004. After the release date, I looked at the status on the Best Buy site and saw it "backordered". Concerned, I called customer support. They said it would ship out 2-3 days later. Well, 3 days later I find the order cancelled. What kind of customer service is that? They should have simply stopped taking pre-orders if there was no possible way for them to get filled. Big scam."

"I have ordered several items from bestbuy.com and I have so far been satisfied. However, I preordered a game, namely Unreal Tournament 2004 Special Edition, from their website only to have placed on backorder and soon after that it was canceled. This was especially disappointing because it was listed for a great price.($30)I noticed a lot of other people also had this product canceled on them. Yes, I had a bad experience this time but all of my previous bestbuy purchases (perhaps 3-4)worked out without any problems. Judge Objectively."

"I'm on the list of "preordered UT2k4 over a month before release, at the price of $50 ($20 more than their initial sale price), only to have it cancelled because of Best Buy's ineptitude." Now, the only places you can find them is from price gougers on ebay or amazon merchants. This is infuriating because of the fact that those who preordered would have been better off just waiting until release day, going early into a brick and mortar store, and have an extremely high chance at walking away with a copy (at $29.99, mind you). Instead, we waited for a preorder only to have it cancelled and totally miss out on a truly great software package. Thanks, Best Buy!"

"re: phone / in-store phone purchase

after being dissapointed by another reseller on my pre-order purcahse of the ut2004 special dvd edition, best buy helped me out.

the representative in the software department put 3 of the 4 he had left on hold for me till the end of the business day and i picked them up a few hours ago.

the representative was helpful over the phone and in person."

"Bestbuy.com website showed PS2 network adapter included coupon for free game inside.
Purchased adapter and SOCOM game.
Opened packages and found free game coupon not included.
Verified at local store that free game coupon not available.
Customer service will do nothing to honor coupon and will not refund $$ since video game was opened.
I will continue to call and e-mail them until I get my $20 worth of satisfaction.
Their customer dis-service is amazing. "

"Ok,I tryed to cancel my MVP 2004 for PS2 order due to fact that I pre-order it on the 02/17/2004 online. The local BB store has it in store. I spoked with a John and Keesha they refuse to cancel it due to the system. I should have receive this item before it was at our local BB!!!!!! I will never order anything again from BB.
The services very bad. Mr. Hodges

These are the email I have received today 03/16/2004.....

Item Information
March 16, 2004
Order Number: BBY01-26759003558

Dear Jeffrey:

The item listed below is not yet available to be shipped. We expect to ship it to you in the next 24 days.

If you wish to cancel this order or have questions, call us toll-free at 1-888-BEST BUY (1-***-***-****). For faster service, tell us the order number when you contact us.

Item details are listed below.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thank You.
Best Buy Customer Care









Order Date: 02/17/2004
Order Number: BBY01-26759003558



Qty
Product Description


1
MVP Baseball 2004-Playstation 2




Status: Backordered




Jeffrey,

Thank you for contacting Best Buy about your order #BBY01-26759003558. I'm Kayla with Customer Care.

We are sorry for the inconvenience of not being able to cancel your order, we understand how frustrating this must be.

When an order is placed, it goes through several stages before it ships. We verify credit, check inventory, pick the product, and pack it for shipment. Depending upon inventory availability of an item, the time it takes for an order to process varies. You will receive an e-mail notifying you when the order ships. Once the item ships, it will arrive within the timeframe established by the chosen shipping method.

A pre-ordered item is available to be shipped only after the release date.

Best Buy strives to make each experience you have with us to be as positive and as fun as possible, and we are disappointed if we don't live up to that expectation. We have forwarded your message to the appropriate personnel for our internal review.

Thank you for sharing your comments with Best Buy. Please do not hesitate to contact us with additional questions or concerns.

Best wishes from Best Buy,
Kayla and the Customer Care Team

TRACKING NUMBER: A00002759826-00010175997
"

"STAY AWAY FROM BEST BUY. STAY AWAY FROM THEIR EXTENDED SERVICE WARRANTIES.
Purchased a VPRMatrix from Best Buy with a 3 year in-home warranty.(Best Buy owns VPRMatrix and discontined production in Sept. 2003).
Owned computer 4 months and then had 4 failures: video card, power source, motherboard, 2 hard drives, then DVD and CD-Rom.
Went through 3 in-home service calls and a personal take-in to the store (can't get the original power source, and they will leave you hanging on this one with no idea of when the part is available) to have repairs made with different power source.
Warranty states 3 repairs and then computer is replaced with one of comparable performance/value.
Last tech person stated he could not think of anything else to do to get this running properly, so it would be sent to Customer Service for replacement.
Now even more fun. Was told 24-48 hours to receive call-no call. Called Customer Service and they could not find record. Now told 3-5 business days-no call.
Called again-told can't find, then after persistence they found it in que for the "No Lemon Dept". Now told 5-7 business days.
Asked how to expodite this and was told there is no way to directly contact this Dept..
You own a computer for 4 months with an extended service warranty. The company Best Buy contracts with is BancTec. If you expect a call from them-forget it. You will have to research and find a telephone number and call them for the appointment.

Best Buy thought they could get into the manufacturing business-VPR Matrix. It was a complete failure. They replace parts that are not up to factory specs.

The Extended Service Warranty is a joke. They make no attempt to get things going for you the buyer.

GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. STAY AWAY FROM VPR MATRIX. STAY AWAY FROM BEST BUY.

FOLLOW-UP:
After 6 weeks I got a replacement computer, BUT watch out for the following practices:
(1) Read your warranty carefully and understand it. You will go through a number of people for the "No Lemon" Policy exchange, and they will try to misrepresent the terms of the Contract numerous times, i.e. the extended warranty stays in effect for the remaining time if the computer is exchanged while the computer is under manufacturer's (usually 1 year) warranty
(2) The "will provide a replacement with same features" will be handled by a store. Make sure you have your original receipt. If you purchased additional RAM or anything else, this spec must be met.
(3) The Warranty states "4th repair". This is not true. It is the 4th "C" number they give you for parts replacement. They will try to lump multiple repairs under one "C" number so you cannot claim a 4th repair.
(4) Found the power supply they said was on back order. I could have gotten it delivered to my home in 2 days. I have never received a call from Best Buy for replacing it. They could have left me hanging forever!

Interestingly enough when I finally went to the store for the replacement, a tech said "this is the 6th one of these we have gotten back in the last week". VPR (Best Buy) put out a bad computer that fell apart for numerous customers. Instead of acknowledging this, they put you through a nightmare.
Called this states Attorney General Consumer Affairs Dept.. The individual there said Best Buy has a LARGE number of complaints, and only about 50% get any satisfaction. She stated many people give up.
Is there honor among thieves?
Best Buy tries every trick in the book!
Be persistant. File a complaint with your Better Busines Bureau and State Attorney General. Keep the heat on them!"

"I received an email message saying that my product has been shipped. I will see what happens. Wish I read these ratings first. AMAZING!! Doesn't Best Buy read these to see what their customers think? During this time when goodwill is most important, you would think that a company would do almost anything to preserve it.


UPDATE:
Product received ahead of schedule. Well packed with all documentation. Will I shop online with them again? Not sure, but I will go to store."

"Bunch of jerks, poor / pathetic customer service will never shop there again."

"Knowing that there are a million Best Buy stores around my area I felt confident in purchasing from their online store. I thought that if there were any problems I could go to the actual store and work it out, even after reading some reviews on here.

Boy was I wrong!!

The reason I ordered from their online store was because they had the lowest price on a set of Sony speakers SA-VE445H. They had them listed at $199.99 but only available though their online store. That was fine with me especially since they were offering free shipping.

Found out the reason why it's free is because your order never ships.

I've ordered about two DVDs from them in the past and had no problems so I thought this would be the same... ONLY ORDER WHAT IS AVAILABLE IN THE STORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The next day the product showed up as backordered in my order status so I called them up and the guy said "no problem, it's just been flying off the shelves so fast that we're having trouble keeping them in. you should receive it by next week." That relieved me a little but how could he say next week if it showed up backordered?? The next day the product was removed from the site with no traces to it, not even the search function. I decided to wait another day and guess what - they canceled my order! Without even sending me an email. Received the email two days after already knowing that.

These reviews are true about orders getting cancelled. It seems to be a normal thing for Best Buy. I learned the hard way by risking it and trying to trust them... but I just ended up being another person who got their order cancelled.

LOOK at how many people are dissatisfied!! Numbers speak for themselves.. DO NOT BUY FROM BEST BUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And also don't buy their protection plans in their stores... it's just another waste of money."

"Here's what happened:

On Friday, 12/19 I called 888-BESTBUY and spoke with someone who told me his name was Robert. He assured me I could order a notebook and pay for 2nd day shipping and it would arrive on Tuesday, 12/23. This was very important to me, since I was leaving on a long trip on 12/24. He told me I could call back later that evening to place the order.

When I did call back, no one had ever heard of someone named Robert. Annoyed by that, I decided to simply place the order on bestbuy.com and request 2nd day shipping.

For the next four days I monitored the website for status and called *many* times, every time being assured that the order was on its way. It wasn't.

When I checked the website on 12/26, I saw that it had actually, finally, shipped! It was then I realized one of two things had happened: 1) Nobody I talked to ever received the minimal amount of training necessary to know that unless ups.com shows an ARRIVAL SCAN, it has not yet shipped, or 2) Everyone I talked told me lies to get me off the phone.

Yesterday, when I returned from my trip, I called to complain about my experience, and the woman I spoke with offered to transfer me to a supervisor. Whoever the supervisor was (he said his name quickly, but it sounded like "Tal"), he took a rude and inappropriate attitude with me immediately. I was so upset and surprised by this that I asked to speak with *his* supervisor, at which point he hung up on me.

At the end of my rope, I called back, and spoke with DJ. DJ told me I could not speak with a supervisor, despite the fact that I had just been transferred to one minutes ago, and said that no one would call me back. In fact, the only way I might speak with one was by calling back in an hour. He did not explain why or how this was the case, and I had prior engagements an hour later. DJ also told me "I'll personally deliver this case to my manager" and took my email and phone number, and I've not received a call or email.

On 12/31/03 I got the topper for the whole ordeal: A supervisor, I believe her name is Marilyn, called today and told me in a flat and emotionless voice that my notebook wouldn't be delivered until January 2nd (a full two weeks after my order) and that BestBuy would *not* be crediting my shipping charges. I was completely floored. I had been told back on 12/26 that shipping charges *would* be credited!! I expected an apology from Marilyn for this experience, I received salt in the wounds. When I expressed how upset I was, she hung up on me! (By the way, Marilyn is as clueless as she is rude - a simple click on UPS.com shows that the notebook left on a delivery truck today).

Get this: I call back 5 minutes later, and Vhong tells me he'd be happy to credit my shipping charges! I am amazed at how this continues to play out, and am now fairly certain I will return the $1,450 notebook - not because I don't want it, but out of dissappointment verging on disgust.

My overall impression to date is that the average rep I've talked to has been very courteous, has meant well, and has had horrible (if any) training. The supervisors have been uniformly rude, unhelpful, and have hung up on me. It seems to me that people make up "policies" as they go, and about the only thing they do consistently is verify my email address. In the period of one call I had four different people verify my email address. It simply doesn't change that often.

This entire experience has left me completely angry and upset. It's not about the shipping charges (which I'm told have already been refunded) - it's about so much of my time spent talking with untrained or lying representatives, topped off by two of the rudest supervisors I've ever encountered.

I even tried writing ****@**** and the last message I got from them was on 12/31 in which Mike wrote "Jake, Thank you for your patience in this matter that ways very heavy on your mind. I would like to take this time to sincerely apologize for the kind of service you have received. This is definitely not Best Buy's normal type of service. I have escalated your case to our Credit Department so we can credit your order." But I never asked to return my order! I wrote back explaining that and I've never heard anything else from them.
"

"Do not shop with this retailer online. They don't advertise that it takes an additional 2 days for processing before orders are shipped and that it could take up to 21 days after the orders is processed and shipped for you to receive your stuff. Also, the USPS tracking interface is very antiquated compared to FedEX and UPS and not reliable with the information provided so tracking is not useful."

"Placed an order that Best Buy unilaterally cancelled when the item went out of stock. They fed me a line about being unable to verify certain information, although they refused to provide specifics. Their only proposed solution was for me to replace the order at a much higher price when the item comes back in stock. Completely useless customer service."

"On Jan 5, I placed an order for some video games priced at $5 each. I subsequently received email confirmation my order showing the purchase price of $5. The following day I received notice that 4 of the games were ready for in store pickup. When I went to the store, I presented my credit card completed my purchase, and received a receipt for the 4 games at $5.25 each (including tax). Today, after reviewing my online credit card transaction record, I found that I have a charge for $83.96. On calling their Customer Service Department earlier today, I was informed that Best Buy reserves the right to (essentially) retroactively and unilaterally change the amount that they charge their customers, if they decide it was a mistake. Man! And I thought that the Cable companies were arrogant! I purchased these items for the stated price, that price was confirmed, and a receipt was provided to me at their store again confirming that price. Now, I'm not worried about losing my money. I've already disputed the charge with my credit card company. But, be advised when dealing with this company-This is an excerpt from their Terms of Use statement from thier website: "Best Buy reserves the right to revoke any stated offer and to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions, including after an order has been submitted, whether or not the order has been confirmed and your credit card charged".
"