"AVOID THEIR FREE SHIPPING!!!

I ordered Grand Theft Auto III from Bestbuy. They had free shipping on everything, but they charge you tax even though it doesn't get shipped from the state you are living in. I placed my order on the 23rd. I assumed it will get here within 7 days. (USPS Priority takse 2-3 days and First Class takes 3-5 days) I got an e-mail with a tracking number. I found out that GTA3 was shipped on the 26th from IL to WA. After one week, I tried to track it again, but it wasn't updated. On Marth 6th, I called Bestbuy to ask where my package was and the girl who answered the phone had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA!!! She said the game was shipped from a warehouse in WA instead of IL. So I asked her why it says the game was shipped from IL at USPS.com and why it's taking so long for a game to get here if it was shipped in WA. She told me not to use the tracking number because USPS is really bad at updating their tracking number. Basically, she was just BSing...

I like going to Bestbuy stores. Their stores are very nice. All the displayed products are nice not to mention very good prices. However, don't purchase anything from their website... High shipping cost and tax makes the total very expensive... If you go with free shipping... You're taking a big risk.
"

"Dear Sir or Madam:

On August 11, 2002 I purchased some items at Best Buy #116 in Canoga Park for a total of $108.71. The cashier asked me if I want MSN Dial Up service and I declined. I have DSL service for many years with DirecTV and subsequently with SBC Yahoo DSL… and my computers have no modem card with which to dial. I signed on a scanner pad for my purchase, never for MSN Dialup. I never chose a user name. I have no modem card in my computers. For some reason the clerk yet slipped me MSN Dialup anyway. I am sure Best Buy had an incentive program for its cashiers selling MSN. After a month I started getting billed by you. I have to point out that your billing entry on the AMEX bill has no phone number so I could not call you right back. At this point I contacted AMEX and deny the charges. I had to call them at least ten times to deal with this charges. It took about four months for AMEX to answer my inquiry, time in which I continued to get billed by you. Eventually I got your number 1 ***-***-**** and I started calling trying to get this resolved. You billed me 6 or 7 times at $21.95…

I had a very long, unpleasant and miserable experience in the considerable customer service effort I had to put in trying to get my money back from MSN. Over the past two months I have spoken first with Robert, he was nice, promised my money back… yet I got billed again that month. Then Paul, who was a super total jerk, told me “the charges STAND” and some other crap about how I was not quick enough to report this to MSN… Then Julia, his boss… She was apologetic yet told me that only AMEX can help me. She was either lying or she was incompetent, AMEX told me that they are only a billing agency. All charges older then 60 days I am responsible for or I get a refund from you. So I called MSN back and got Heidi on the line… She was nice, gave me a long reference number and this fax number and told me to write this letter and explain what happened and fax it to you… I guess it is my money and I have to fight for them back, if they fall in the hands of MSN. It took lots of phone calls, and talking and explaining, and asking for help… All for being defrauded by Best Buy and MSN… MSN customer service refused to disclose to me which merchant sold my info fraudulently. It took some work to put all this together… MSN customer service was no help. They were covering for Best Buy… MSN refused to give me my network statistics, for which MSN is stubbornly charging me.

Best Buy used a scanner pad to get my signature for their product and then pasted it on the contract that they sold to MSN. I never signed an MSN contract that I was aware of. I signed a Best Buy receipt as far as my knowledge went. The fact that my electronic pad signature was printed on the MSN contract was without my knowledge. I will continue to pursue this matter with all legal avenues available. I am energized by the effort I have to make in getting your corporate wrong fixed. I am curious to see how far will this issue go… How far will it go until those who abuse the consumer carelessly and have so little regard for legitimate complaints will have to answer? We will find out.

Gabriel Stamate
"

"Ordered a compactflash modem. Shipped quickly and got it quickly...and free shipping :) Like them!!"

"BestBuy.com deserves the rating they have. Let me say that Best Buy does have very good prices. Good enough to lure me into purchasing from their website. Additionally, the free shipping caught my eye as well. Having had good experiences with their stores near my home, I thought I would give ordering online a try. Like I always say you live and learn. I ordered two dvd's from bestbuy.com. Free shipping takes between 7-10 business days to reach you after they process the order. Fourteen business days later, still nothing. I notify BestBuy of this, and they tell me to wait another day. The next day arrives and still nothing. Bestbuy puts a trace on the package, and concluded it was lost. Things get lost sometimes in shipping...it happens. So next, I am instructed to fill out a form and fax it back to Bestbuy to receive a credit. The customer service rep tells me it will take anywhere between 2-3 weeks to apply the credit.....are you kidding me? It wasn't that I was returning something, the package was lost, and it was confirmed by the postal service. I call up customer service and they tell me they will credit the card. I asked if anyone received the fax, and their response is I'm sure someone did. I asked to fax another copy in and wanted a name of a person to fax it too. They couldn't even give me that. Well, after numerous calls, two faxes and a bottle of tylenol, the credit was finally recieved. This all took over a period of close to two months to resolve. Free shipping is offered for a reason. It's slow and unreliable. Customer Service was little to none. I still plan on purchasing from Best Buy, but DEFINITELY not online!!!!"

"Ordered a printer from their site...received confirmation email quickly, shipping was fast, everything went well."

"Here's the deal with Best Buy: don't talk to anyone under any circumstances. If you don't know what you want, you are in the wrong store.

I often find incredible deals at Best Buy (256MB DDR for $30 six months ago!) and it is easy to pick up components very quickly. The reps are morons making little money with no training.

DO NOT BUY A SERVICE PLAN! It is a scam. I have friends who have worked at Best Buy and similar stores. There is no reason to buy a service plan. The manufacturer's warrenty is usually good enough and faster anyway. And considering what Best Buy charges for their plans, it's insane. They push service plans very aggressively so if they open their mouths, immediately cut them off and say no. I've been offered service plans on $15 network cards. Umm...no. It was aggrevating trying to explain to them that no, I can install my own RAM, no, there is no chance in hell of you touching my computer.

Buying a computer from them is downright stupid. The models they sell are more or less crap. Save yourself the hassle and go to someplace more reputable. If you are new to computers, Dell isn't bad."

"At closing time, I was looking at computers. Salesperson said they could customize one for me.
Past closing by now. I tell the salesperson what I was interested in. Salesperson put info. in, tells me I can pay up front. Well past closing time now. I pay cash. Received lots of printouts, (receipts, rebates, warranty, etc). I go home and read the info. I see mistakes. Ex: items I asked for not there and a printer I didn't want on there. Next morning I get there at their opening time. Told me they couldn't do anything about it until I received the computer due to my home in 10 days. I paid for shipping also. Then since I paid cash I must wait 14 additional days for my money back. To me, this is not right. "

"I just laugh at all the reviews that list dissatisfaction with Best Buy, because honestly, they're just a clearing house of sorts. It's like buying from Wally world, I mean, what do you expect.

That, and a lot of these purchases are Hewlett freakin' Packard!!

I just picked up their Linksys wireless router, and it was fine. I decided i wanted the rebates and free shipping, so it was cool.

"

"I purchased a HP desktop from Best Buy the day after Thanksgiving 2002. It wouldn’t boot up. I took it back. They gave me a second one, it wouldn’t shut down. I took it back; they gave me a third one. This one rebooted all the time. I took it back. They had me rebuild the op system from the recovery disk and then put one program at a time on to isolate the problem. Nothing worked, they gave me a fourth one. After trying various updates like the last machine, the problem remained. I took it back; they gave me a 5th one. I took this one back 5 times and it did the same as the other 3, would reboot whenever it wanted to. I lost all kinds of data and couldn’t use the PC for work at home projects.

I rebuilt the XP platform, took all programs off of it, upgraded all drivers and MSN, bought a UPS and it still doesn’t work. I did all this myself even though I had the service contract. I also contacted MSN and HP. HP is trying to work with me. If this fails, I have to go to court.

Best Buy would only agree to take the unit in for service and wouldn’t give me my money back because I was 4 days past the return date. I had 13 trips to the store (260 miles) and haven’t been able to use the computer I purchased since the day after Thanksgiving. I called the corporate office and they said, well I guess were going to lose you as a customer. We aren’t taking the unit back.

The store manager insinuated that I am some kind of an idiot and am doing something to the PC that no other customer does. He was arrogant and didn’t want to deal with me.

I am a 50 year old professional and buy all sorts of electronics and I would never buy anything from them again. I have told my staff and friends that Best Buy will not give you customer service. I bought the service contract, and yet I did all the work myself! It was humiliating to think that since Thanksgiving, I can’t confidently use the new $1300.00 PC I bought without fear of losing my data.


"

"purchased laptop computer and a 3-yr maintenance contract. No problems with purchasing except that I was not happy with the wait to have the service and repair department review the computer for any problems. I had to wait over 45 minutes.

The real problems began with the maintenance contract. I've had to take the laptop back in 3 times for service. Each time the laptop was gone for over five to six weeks. They won't tell you this when you buy a maintenace contract, but they can keep your item for as long as they want...there's no minimum time it can be gone.

It's been in the shop now since the first of January. It was due back on the 1st of February, but I hadn't heard back from them...so I called the local store in Hurst, TX. I was transferred to the repair department and put on hold for over 15 mins. I hung up and called back and got customer service. That guy told me that the guy in the repair department was busy and I'd have to hold; he put me back on hold and I held another 15 to 20 minutes. Frustrated, I called back planning on asking to speak to a manager. I kept going to customer service, but I guess they have caller ID. They kept answering the phone and puttng me directly on hold without saying hello. This happened 3 times. In utter frustration, I called on my mobile thinking they wouldn't recognize my phone number. I received a woman in customer service and asked to speak to a manager. She asked what they problem was and I told her. She put me on hold. I waited about 10 minutes and then drove to the store (which was 20 minutes away). I was still on hold when I got to the store. I walked in and found a manager. He got the information for me (my laptop was still not in) and told me he'd deal with the employees actions. HOWEVER, he never apologized for me having to drive to the store just to find out whether my laptop was in or not.

I will NEVER purchase anything from Best Buy again. They have absolutely no respect for customers. It seems they just want your money for the maintenance contracts, but they treat you really, really bad after you buy it and need to use it."

"I had an unbelievably bad experience with bestbuy.com. I ordered 2 CDs on 1/6/03 - a few days later, one arrived but not the other. After waiting a few days for the other to follow, I called "Customer Care" (very funny name as it turned out) to find out what was going on. They told me they thought the 2 had been shipped together and they would have to open a "case" and would get back to me via email within 2-3 days. After 2-3 days with no news, I called again, to be told by someone else that it was actually 5-6 days. After 5-6 days and no news, I called again and was told they would have to open a case again! At this point, I was quite frustrated and insisted that they send me a replacement CD. I received what appeared to be an automated email from Best Buy Customer Care a few days later, giving me 10 days to mail or fax (long distance, of course) at my own expense back a form to them stating that I had not received the CD so that they could credit my card. This is 24 days after the order was placed. I called again today, to be told that they are not sending me a replacement CD as the third Customer Care representative promised, and that my only option was to fill out this form. I explained that this was unacceptable - they made a mistake and I, the customer, get to pay for it? I asked for her supervisor, and she said that the supervisors did not take customer calls. I asked whom else I could speak with, and she claimed that she was the "highest level". I asked for the phone number for the company to complain, and she claimed not to have it. After several phone calls, a lot of frustration, and Best Buy keeping my $20 for 3 weeks, I have nothing to show for it but a possible credit to my card at some future point. They'll probably try to screw me out of that too. "

"Pre-Ordered Lord of the Rings 4 DVD Set, special edition. I received a great price free shipping, continual updates until the item shipped. I buy a lot of DVD's from BestBuy.com and never been let down yet."

"best buy does not differentiate between in stock and backorder items. for two out of three items which i have ordered from them in the last month, two of them have been backordered. like clockwork, it takes them 5 days to acknowledge this and email me (irrespective to weekends, etc.).


anyway, as a college student, the free shipping (for all of 2003) and the rebates are key for me. unfortunately, the item is so backordered that the rebate postmark date is about to expire...


in summary, i think they can realy shape up their act."

"Seem slow to ship items. Had some damage due to poor packing."

"Free shipping may take a week or two but they do have good deals sometimes."