| Best Buy OK sometimes, but beware .com
- Click HERE for Original Thread
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| DaleB |
Just got done making out my post-dated tax payments (to be mailed later) and I celebrate by spending even more money on myself. I am helping the economy both ways, right?
So I got myself the AT&T 5870 full-bore 5.8 Ghz phone system. I love it! But the transaction was less than satisfactory. I ordered it online at BestBuy but made the fatal mistake of checking "Store Pick-Up"
This is the 2nd time I made this mistake, I thought the 1st time was a fluke.
To make a long story short, I never got an email from my local BB that they had this phone in stock. I was supposed to get an email within 2 hrs of a working day, so I waited 4. Nothing. So I take the order confirmation from BB.com and go there. It's takes them 10 minutes to find it in stock. And then they see they never got the order from BB.com. So they ask me if I would mind just cancelling the order online when I get home because it will take them at least another 10 min. to do it. (Yes, this is the SHORT version of the story).
I asked for the manager, and told him this was unacceptable. They had already processed the sale, and gave me the $50 rebate form, as they would do with a walk-in customer!
I said, what if I don't get online and cancel it? Oh, nothing. In 8 days it just goes away. :rolleyes:
I said, no, you cancel it. When I go online tomorrow it will gone, right? "Yes sir! It will be!" (and it is...)
Well, let me say, I was happy enough about the phone that I ordered an extension from Amazon for 5 bucks less including tax, and free shipping.
I have done store-pickup orders with both officemax and compusa and NEVER had a problem. They had the merchandise waiting for me behind the counter when I walked in.
The irony is that I could have walked in off the street and not had to wait 10 additional minutes, or just order it from buy.com (shipping was free) and got the same deal.
Just a warning. I learned my lesson the hard way.
Kind of a long post. This phone has great audio, for a phone. But if the truth be known, technically voice is transmitted from the base station to the handset at 5.8 Ghz, but handset to base at 2.4 Ghz. It seems to be totally interference free. so far.
I knew this was the case reading some reviews, but most everyone seemed very happy with reception and sound quality.
I would need another 2 posts to cover all the features... |
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| kflint |
Sorry about the hassle. :(
I bought the same phone walk-in at my local Best Buy. It is an awesome phone system. We have five extensions spread throughout the house. |
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| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by kflint
Sorry about the hassle. :(
I bought the same phone walk-in at my local Best Buy. It is an awesome phone system. We have five extensions spread throughout the house.
It is real cool. It was too hard to pass up esp. with the rebates.
Well, I knew from this forum and other folks, that service can be uneven at BB. But they do have some good deals time to time. I sent a complaint letter to BB online too. Whenever I complain, I don't rant and rave. I make it very clear what the problem is...sort of like.."here's what happened....now you know what to fix." |
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| imraw |
| I purchase nothing from Best Buy. They discriminate against the military and citizens from Puerto Rico. I had an incident in November 99 with a Best Buy in the MSP area with my friend who happens to be from Puerto Rico as well as being an officer in the U.S. Army. We went to return some audio cables the sales person sold to her that were wrong. Now, we are talking $7 cables here. We were going to exchange them for $5 cables. She did not have the receipt. Simple enough, they just need a drivers license. The problem begins: she hands him a DL from Puerto Rico and the employee says it is not a valid DL because it has to be a US drivers license. Hmmmmmm, first I heard that PR was not part of the US. OK, I can get over that, so she hands him her US Army active duty military ID card. Bear in mind, she is a commissioned officer in the Army with the commissioning coming from the President of the US. The employee informs her this is not a valid form of ID. Well, let me tell you, dookey hit the fan with me. You see, I am also a commissioned officer with over 20 years in the Army. Needless to say, i called the manager to the front lickety split, and he too contended that the PR Drivers lic and the US Army Active Duty ID card were not valid forms of ID for Best Buy. Well, you can figure out the rest of the story. I have not been back into BB since then and encourage everyone else to avoid it as well. |
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| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by imraw
I purchase nothing from Best Buy. They discriminate against the military and citizens from Puerto Rico. I had an incident in November 99 with a Best Buy in the MSP area with my friend who happens to be from Puerto Rico as well as being an officer in the U.S. Army. We went to return some audio cables the sales person sold to her that were wrong. Now, we are talking $7 cables here. We were going to exchange them for $5 cables. She did not have the receipt. Simple enough, they just need a drivers license. The problem begins: she hands him a DL from Puerto Rico and the employee says it is not a valid DL because it has to be a US drivers license. Hmmmmmm, first I heard that PR was not part of the US. OK, I can get over that, so she hands him her US Army active duty military ID card. Bear in mind, she is a commissioned officer in the Army with the commissioning coming from the President of the US. The employee informs her this is not a valid form of ID. Well, let me tell you, dookey hit the fan with me. You see, I am also a commissioned officer with over 20 years in the Army. Needless to say, i called the manager to the front lickety split, and he too contended that the PR Drivers lic and the US Army Active Duty ID card were not valid forms of ID for Best Buy. Well, you can figure out the rest of the story. I have not been back into BB since then and encourage everyone else to avoid it as well.
Thanks for the warning! Of course how could the average person possibly know that? And was it confined to one store, or the corporation?
I only say that because how individual stores are managed can make a big difference. Often the coporate offices need to know what is happening. But if it really is coming down from coporate, then that's even worse. And companies have ended up paying big bucks in law suits for that reason.
But voting with your dollars certainly is a start! |
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| nwaring |
Dale. We bought the AT@T 5.8 system (2 remotes) prior to going WIFI in the house. That's interesting about the remote transmitting back to the base at 2.4 because I went with the 5.8’s to not cause problems with the wireless. I haven't really noticed any problems but every now and then I do get a degraded connection back to the router. I'll have to watch and see if this happens when the phone is being used.
BTW...these phones are best we have ever owned but the answering machine is a little weak if the people leaving the message don't speak up.
Niles |
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| robrecht |
quote:
Originally posted by nwaring
BTW...these phones are best we have ever owned but the answering machine is a little weak if the people leaving the message don't speak up.
It's tough to find a top of the line phone in a brick 'n' mortar store without an answering machine, which I don't want because I prefer voicemail (can receive a message while on the phone). |
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| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by nwaring
That's interesting about the remote transmitting back to the base at 2.4 because I went with the 5.8’s to not cause problems with the wireless. .............
Check the specs out near the back of the manual. As I said, it does not seem to be a problem. |
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| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by robrecht
It's tough to find a top of the line phone in a brick 'n' mortar store without an answering machine, which I don't want because I prefer voicemail (can receive a message while on the phone).
The AT&T 5830 is the same phone system sans the answering machine. No matter where you buy it. :) |
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| Warzau |
| I personally hate BB for anything and everything, they have the worst or one of the worst return policy. Bug the crap out of you with their warranties, I swear I want to bop them one when they can't take no for a answer. Plus once they called me a liar, bastards. Wont go into to it, but granted I don't shop there, thank God there other store to pick from. |
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| DaleB |
I guess everybody has different experiences. I have no loyalty to a particular store. I probably frequent Sears as much as any ONE store, and have always liked the service. But it is too expensive/and or not convenient to buy just everything there.
So I shop for sales. I used to get a lot of stuff from Costco, and still do now and then. Always no hassle service, but it seems like their prices on some electronics (like the phones) are not competitive anymore. If it's ony a few bucks difference, I will always go where the service is better.
So when BB, CC, etc. has a good sale or rebate offer I go for it. I avoid the hype and extra warranties, etc. Actually, my online only transactions overall, have been better experiences than most stores I have visited.
For quality audio/video stuff it's either Magnolia's or an independent specialty store. Or 'onecall.com' and a couple of others. |
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| Warzau |
Ditto with Costco. I wonder what their price matching policy is?
But me there is no loyalty either with a particular store, more like a avoidance of some. |
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| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by Warzau
Ditto with Costco. I wonder what their price matching policy is?
That's a good question, even they have one. A lot of their pricing seems to have crept up on electronic items. Instead, they now have a greater quantity of less popular brands of TV's, etc. they sell real cheap.
But on phones for example, the prices are quite out of line with most discount stores it seems.
I bought a solar patio light set there. It seemed like a good deal, 8 lamps for $96. They turned out to be junk. Most the lamps would not hold a charge longer than a couple of hours. Brought them back.
I bought a set of 6 for the same price at Target that were still glowing at 4 am in the morning. |
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| Kevin Zwack |
| I have had so many bad experiences with Best Buy that I stopped shopping there and will never shop there again. Maybe someday when they piss enough people off it will impact their bottom line and they will take notice. |
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| imraw |
OK OK, if you want to continue to discuss the attributes of your phone after I presented you with the BB problem, that is your right and I will defend to the death your right to do that. If I did not feel stongly about it I would not have spent 21 years in the Army and still going. The fact that it did not get anyone fired up is disturbing, but that is ok.
Dale, to answer your question, I called BB corporate HQ and got some BS rhetoric. I asked to speak with someone higher than the phone clerk and got some jerk that in essence since it did not happen to me, why was I concerned about it. That pissed me off even more. Needless to say, the jerks at corporate were just as bad or worse than the store. The pathetic thing is BB is HQ out of the MSP area. They did not even ask which store it was. Once again, I do not go there, buy there, or support anything about them. I would just assume pay more money, or ask for the difference in price than go to BB. Total BS attitude toward the military and PR. What pissed me off the most is it was all over a $2 difference in the cables. I guess if my friend would have had a MN drivers license and no receipt she could have returned a deep-freeze for $500, but heaven forbid $2 worth of cables and no ID. |
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| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by imraw
OK OK, if you want to continue to discuss the attributes of your phone after I presented you with the BB problem, that is your right and I will defend to the death your right to do that. If I did not feel stongly about it I would not have spent 21 years in the Army and still going. The fact that it did not get anyone fired up is disturbing, but that is ok.
Dale, to answer your question, I called BB corporate HQ and got some BS rhetoric. I asked to speak with someone higher than the phone clerk and got some jerk that in essence since it did not happen to me, why was I concerned about it. That pissed me off even more. Needless to say, the jerks at corporate were just as bad or worse than the store. The pathetic thing is BB is HQ out of the MSP area. They did not even ask which store it was. Once again, I do not go there, buy there, or support anything about them. I would just assume pay more money, or ask for the difference in price than go to BB. Total BS attitude toward the military and PR. What pissed me off the most is it was all over a $2 difference in the cables. I guess if my friend would have had a MN drivers license and no receipt she could have returned a deep-freeze for $500, but heaven forbid $2 worth of cables and no ID.
Cool it.. I already had bought the phone. I was not about to walk in the store again to return it after reading your post. Who knows how long that would take?
I am just glad they didn't manufacture it! :)
The attributes of the phone have nothing to do with BB. As a veteran I am totally empathetic to the situation. If I had heard that story before, for sure I never would have dealt with them. |
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| MDteX |
quote:
Originally posted by imraw
I purchase nothing from Best Buy. They discriminate against the military and citizens from Puerto Rico. I had an incident in November 99 with a Best Buy in the MSP area with my friend who happens to be from Puerto Rico as well as being an officer in the U.S. Army. We went to return some audio cables the sales person sold to her that were wrong. Now, we are talking $7 cables here. We were going to exchange them for $5 cables. She did not have the receipt. Simple enough, they just need a drivers license. The problem begins: she hands him a DL from Puerto Rico and the employee says it is not a valid DL because it has to be a US drivers license. Hmmmmmm, first I heard that PR was not part of the US. OK, I can get over that, so she hands him her US Army active duty military ID card. Bear in mind, she is a commissioned officer in the Army with the commissioning coming from the President of the US. The employee informs her this is not a valid form of ID. Well, let me tell you, dookey hit the fan with me. You see, I am also a commissioned officer with over 20 years in the Army. Needless to say, i called the manager to the front lickety split, and he too contended that the PR Drivers lic and the US Army Active Duty ID card were not valid forms of ID for Best Buy. Well, you can figure out the rest of the story. I have not been back into BB since then and encourage everyone else to avoid it as well.
I can maybe see a young person at the register not knowing/understanding but a manager??? That is ridiculous. I can't believe he or the home office would not do something.
It may be true that their corporate policy is to use only the 5 states DLs for ID and not US territories. Still for the small dollar item an act of good will by the manager would go a long way. |
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| ghost |
quote:
Originally posted by imraw
I purchase nothing from Best Buy. They discriminate against the military and citizens from Puerto Rico. I had an incident in November 99 with a Best Buy in the MSP area with my friend who happens to be from Puerto Rico as well as being an officer in the U.S. Army. We went to return some audio cables the sales person sold to her that were wrong. Now, we are talking $7 cables here. We were going to exchange them for $5 cables. She did not have the receipt. Simple enough, they just need a drivers license. The problem begins: she hands him a DL from Puerto Rico and the employee says it is not a valid DL because it has to be a US drivers license. Hmmmmmm, first I heard that PR was not part of the US. OK, I can get over that, so she hands him her US Army active duty military ID card. Bear in mind, she is a commissioned officer in the Army with the commissioning coming from the President of the US. The employee informs her this is not a valid form of ID. Well, let me tell you, dookey hit the fan with me. You see, I am also a commissioned officer with over 20 years in the Army. Needless to say, i called the manager to the front lickety split, and he too contended that the PR Drivers lic and the US Army Active Duty ID card were not valid forms of ID for Best Buy. Well, you can figure out the rest of the story. I have not been back into BB since then and encourage everyone else to avoid it as well.
Jeez, you've been carrying this around for 5 years? I doubt that BB has a corporate policy of military bias - so you had a bad experience with some people who are stupid. If I boycotted every place where someone had committed an indiscretion, I wouldn't be able to shop anywhere.
(Disclaimer: I am a BB stockholder and shop there. They may be inept, but their prices are good, and I tend to know what I'm looking for)
If you want to boycott someone, boycott Walmart - their policies on foreign workers, unions, and wiping out family-run businesses has done far more damage to this country than some yokels who don't have a policy on what kind of ID card to accept.
PS Cool phone, Dale... |
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| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by ghost
Jeez, you've been carrying this around for 5 years? I doubt that BB has a corporate policy of military bias - so you had a bad experience with some people who are stupid. If I boycotted every place where someone had committed an indiscretion, I wouldn't be able to shop anywhere.
(Disclaimer: I am a BB stockholder and shop there. They may be inept, but their prices are good, and I tend to know what I'm looking for)
If you want to boycott someone, boycott Walmart - their policies on foreign workers, unions, and wiping out family-run businesses has done far more damage to this country than some yokels who don't have a policy on what kind of ID card to accept.
PS Cool phone, Dale...
Thanks, works great! I see your point with regards to almost ever big business it seems to be in some violation of rights, but imraw's statement goes beyond that. As a veteran, I can tell you it is not unusual members of the military to be treated like 2nd
class citizens. The thanks they get for the no thanks they get anyway. |
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| imraw |
Thanks Dale, and I appreciate the PM.
Ghost, I am not going to get into whether or not you are or are not a veteran, know a veteran, thought about going into the service, reaped the benefit of another veterans service, or just played with GI Joes growing up. I am stating one mans opinion of an event that happened to me personally, not through hearsay. I have not been "carrying it around" for five years. It is a fact and I do not shop there. Making a personal stand against a business was my choice and I was just sharing a story. I do not stand outside of their doors and preach that message, however, I will tell people if given the opportunity. IMHO, they have not made good on what was wrong either to me or my friend. Even if they did, I still have other places to purchase things that they may sell and at the same or better price. I did not realize that there was a statute of limitations on how long you boycott some place when they have a jacked up policy. Perhaps others boycott someplace until they have a super price on something then they look the other way while at the check out, then walk out of the store and start the boycott again. That is not me. Come to think of it, I was down in PR December of 99 and did not see any Best Buys down there. Hmmmmmmmm!!! At any rate, I do appreciate your opinion on the matter, even if it is different from mine and makes no sense. That is what makes this a great country: you can virtually say what ever you want to say at any time and you never really have to defend it with anything that makes sense. That is true freedom. I would think that as a stockholder, and hearing my story,you may want to look into what their policies might be regarding identification. I have come across many people and have told quite a few of them my story. May not be enough to hurt stock prices, but I do know some people will not purchase from BB anymore because of it, my parents (both veterans) and my brother (a Minneapolis native) are 3 that will not step in the store. Just something to think about. |
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| ghost |
quote:
Ghost, I am not going to get into whether or not you are or are not a veteran, know a veteran, thought about going into the service, reaped the benefit of another veterans service, or just played with GI Joes growing up. I am stating one mans opinion of an event that happened to me personally, not through hearsay. I have not been "carrying it around" for five years. It is a fact and I do not shop there. Making a personal stand against a business was my choice and I was just sharing a story. I do not stand outside of their doors and preach that message, however, I will tell people if given the opportunity.
Fine, but you made two posts, one in which you stated your opinion, and a second in which you were disturbed that there was not a groundswell of support against Best Buy. My point is that there are bigger issues to deal with, both for vets and other groups. We are free of tyranny, but, as you point out, we are not free of discrimination, and all the military action we can muster won’t cure that ill.
Veterans of Vietnam, the war of my time, have been horribly treated, in both physical health and mental health. As Iraq becomes an operation against guerilla forces, the young troops there will face similar post war trauma. When this is resolved, and the “Support the Troops” bumper stickers fade, will Americans vote with their tax dollars to restore their mental health? Given our past history, I’m not optimistic. The BB issue is a tempest in a teapot.
quote:
IMHO, they have not made good on what was wrong either to me or my friend. Even if they did, I still have other places to purchase things that they may sell and at the same or better price. I did not realize that there was a statute of limitations on how long you boycott some place when they have a jacked up policy. Perhaps others boycott someplace until they have a super price on something then they look the other way while at the check out, then walk out of the store and start the boycott again. That is not me.
I wouldn’t suggest that you don’t have strong convictions.
quote:
Come to think of it, I was down in PR December of 99 and did not see any Best Buys down there. Hmmmmmmmm!!! At any rate, I do appreciate your opinion on the matter, even if it is different from mine and makes no sense. That is what makes this a great country: you can virtually say what ever you want to say at any time and you never really have to defend it with anything that makes sense.
You’ve proven this point!
quote:
That is true freedom.
I would define true freedom a bit more broadly, such as having equal access to education, health care and economic opportunity. In this great country, some are a lot more 'free' than others.
quote:
I would think that as a stockholder, and hearing my story,you may want to look into what their policies might be regarding identification. I have come across many people and have told quite a few of them my story. May not be enough to hurt stock prices, but I do know some people will not purchase from BB anymore because of it, my parents (both veterans) and my brother (a Minneapolis native) are 3 that will not step in the store. Just something to think about.
Again, I’ve got my own windmills to tilt, why don’t you pick up an even lot (NYSE:BBY) and give yourself a more powerful voice? |
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| imraw |
WTH are you talking about? WTH would I purchase stock and support a company that I have no intentions of supporting or purchasing product from? OH, that is how some boycott in this country. Once again, look the other way so long as it makes you money and does not affect you personally. My suggestion of looking into their policies was to find out why they dont sell stock a little higher. If their policies suck, this could contribute.
I would not say disturbed. Funny that it is not an issue until it affects someone personally. If I did not know the person this event happened too, I would still avoid BB.
The comment on strong convictions makes no sense.
Under your thinking, a person should not go vote either because one person certainly can not make a difference. You make mention of Vietnam, not that you were involved in any way other than living through it. Pretty tough to talk about veterans issues when you are not one. If I have misread your thinking, then I appoligize. In other words, if you are a vet, Thank You for your service. If you are not a vet, then I will not even go there.
Have a great day. |
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| ghost |
quote:
Originally posted by imraw
WTH are you talking about? WTH would I purchase stock and support a company that I have no intentions of supporting or purchasing product from? OH, that is how some boycott in this country. Once again, look the other way so long as it makes you money and does not affect you personally. My suggestion of looking into their policies was to find out why they dont sell stock a little higher. If their policies suck, this could contribute.
Being a shareholder gives you the right to put a shareholder proposal before the board of directors at its annual meeting, and voted on by the entire body of shareholders. If it has merit, it will pass, and if not, at least you've gotten your issue out in front of a few hundred thousand people.
BTW, stock price is determined by buyers, not sellers.
quote:
Originally posted by imraw
... The fact that it did not get anyone fired up is disturbing, but that is ok.
quote:
Originally posted by imraw
I would not say disturbed. Funny that it is not an issue until it affects someone personally. If I did not know the person this event happened too, I would still avoid BB.
Your words, not mine. |
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| imraw |
Did not figure I would get a "yes" to the vet question. Thanks for your input Ghost but, you just dont get it so to discuss it further with you makes no sense. Not trying to be mean, just how I feel. Much like I could never discuss how devistating it is to have breast cancer to a survivor when I have not had it myself or discussing testicular cancer survivor issues with a female.
Thanks for the lessons in stock buying, however, buyers do not determine stock prices, buyers determine at what price they will buy it. Like my Harley stock, if I determined the buying price why would I have bought it at $42 and $48 a share when I could have just "determined" to buy it at $36?
I do appreciate you taking the time to openly discuss the issue in a public forum. Best of luck with your BB stock. It is apparently a company that you believe in. Perhaps, once again I will throw the offer out, you might want to look into their practice of discrimination. BB practices do not affect any of my investments, I have made sure of that. And, last I checked Harleys are not sold at BB, nor, does Harley care who purchases their products for use as they are global.
Have a great day!!! |
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