Best Buy in Bolingbrook, IL

Question

I decided to post here instead of writing a review on Google, as I know how detrimental those can be to an individual store, but they really deserved it. Maybe someone can make it right, or at least straighten out the issues with this store.
In April of last year I came into a large chunk of change, shortly after being robbed, and of course I decided to spend a bunch on gaming. What better way to get over that kind of stress? I very rarely shopped here, primarily for business when I did. So I came to this Best Buy (why not?), bought a 55" TV and roughly a dozen PS3 games. The very first thing that went wrong was the God of War debacle (Sony's debacle, that is). There was a collection out at the time that, unbeknownst to me, did not come with all of the games that said "includes" in big bold letters on the front. You had to download a couple of these games, and I remember calculating that would be 17 GB, bandwidth I did not have. But that didn't even matter, because the voucher was expired. This store was still selling these. So I came back to return mine. I showed the item to the guy at the door as I walked in. He nodded. I went to the customer service desk and explained the situation and the guy behind the desk gave me possibly the most condescending look I've ever been given. He raised one side of his upper lip and one of his eyebrows at me, and explained they would not accept it, and I had to contact Sony. This was a small item of a huge purchase, so it definitely would have been in his best interest to accept it, but even if he didn't, that look he gave me began to stew, and has been stewing ever since. It should also be noted that even after bringing it to their attention, these were still on the shelves the next several times I went into the store.
I was at the store for a while after this, picking out more games, and I believe this was when I was buying the TV (possible the events are out of order). Anyways, I'm paying for something, and the girl tells me, "Next time you come in here, you need to ask the guy at the door for a sticker, because it looks like you stole that." She was referring to the open God of War case. The guy at the door should have stickered the item when I walked in and showed him, if that were the case. One should not have to inform a store of their own policies. Up until this point I had no unpleasant experiences with anyone in a blue shirt, just the white shirt guy, but she might as well have said, "you look like a thief."
So far, majorly condescended unto twice, and denied what I feel was a perfectly reasonable return. I was already beginning to lean away from coming back here at this point. Then, a week later or so, I started hooking up my retro systems from my old TV to the new one, as those are mainly what I play. I realize, the upscaler in this TV has HUGE lag, and after much googling I realize this problem has been ongoing with this and similar models for a while and will not be resolved. The lag made everything that used composite signal unplayable, as everything you did happened over a second late. I already know that this Best Buy is not going to accept the return, but I decided to look at online reviews of this store, just for kicks. "Maybe my experience was a fluke," I thought. Nope, many other people have the same sentiments I have about this store - people swarm around you trying to sell you stuff, and if anything ever goes wrong you're out of luck. So instead of wasting my time, I just sold the TV, informing the new owner of its downfall. This was the third burn from this store - still selling a known defective model.
What I have not mentioned yet is that I used to buy things here for business until this stuff happened. After this, I decided not to utilize Best Buy in my work's entire computer network upgrade (that is, all computers and all network equipment), so (mainly) the smug white shirt lost them a ton of money.
A few months passed, and I had a few tech emergencies, most went okay. One day though, not that long ago, I was buying a network switch, once again in an emergency. Keep in mind, I am in ways both blue collar and white collar. I am the entire "IT department" and I run our maintenance department. I fix everything that goes wrong, computer or otherwise, so I am often wearing stained clothes. Because of this, I had to come to Best Buy wearing dirty clothes. I passed a blue shirt, and out of the corner of my eye I saw her head whip around, and when I look back she's looking at me like I was scum. The look she gave me can only be compared to Bernie Mac's bit about the little girl and the cookies. She noticed that I had noticed her, and she turned back. Normally I could disregard something like this but not after the aggravation caused on the other visits.
There are many good employees at this store, but overall the attitude is very bad, and I've lost money and time. These are not the only incidents I've had, just the ones that stuck out the most. I'm a very patient guy and, to date, this is the first time I've complained to a business, ever. Many times I've gone in this store, someone was arguing with customer service. It's just so unpleasant. I no longer go to this store, virtually ever. I just go to the TigerDirect in Naperville (which is unfortunate because I dislike that store anyways). Surely I am not the only person who commands so much money that they have shunned away. No one extremely major event happened here, but I was chipped away with many small ones, basically.
Anyways, we are currently doing renovations now including tech upgrades, and I felt someone should know why they are not getting my money (and many other people's).
Thank you for reading, and if someone decides to try to do something about it, best of luck to you. I feel better now having finally decided to speak up.
-- J. {removed per forum guidelines}

Answer 1

Hello rside,
After reading through your post, it seems that your latest experiences have one thing in common and that is poor customer service.  We can have the best selection of products at the lowest of prices, but that doesn’t mean anything if we aren’t treating our customers with a kind, professional experience.  I’m sure this was far from what you were expecting from us, and I’m truly sorry for the disappointment this surely created.
Our stores should not only be friendly and informative, but our associates should courteous with our customers when they are requesting assistance. It sounds like something missed the mark though if you felt insulted after having tried to return your God of War game. Although we weren’t able to help with your game’s expired voucher, this doesn’t excuse the condescending nature you describe from our customer service agent. Even more troubling to me is the reported implied accusation of our cashier, and I’m sorry for any aggravation this caused.
No matter what a customer is looking to purchase, they should feel confident knowing they are buying something that fits their needs and wants for it. This is because our associates should be asking clarifying questions to narrow down what the purchase would be used for specifically so that they may provide you with your best available options. I’m sorry to hear that something was clearly missed though if an associate didn’t realize you needed a television that would be compatible with your retro gaming systems. We certainly can’t afford for experiences like yours to be repeated considering the many competitive choices customers have today, and I appreciate you taking the time to tell us about it.
Please know that as a company, we realize we do have room for improvement, and we are actively working to change this. It’s clear to me that we may not have ironed out all of the kinks yet, and I’m very sorry it has been at your expense.  I am forwarding your post to our team leadership including our general manager, Jonathan, as direct customer feedback is the best way to highlight which areas need the most focus.
Once again, I appreciate that you took the time to share your experiences in the level of detail you did. If it were me, I’m sure these would be stories that would be told time and time again whenever friends and family discussed poor service. It is my hope, however, that we have proven to you that we care and are committed to do better. I know you didn’t write with the intention of receiving any grand gesture in return, but I do hope you will let me know if there’s anything more we can do to show our appreciation and invite you back.
Respectfully,
Alex|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
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