Best Buy's online ordering WTF



  • So at 11:30 I placed an order online with BestBuy.com.  I used a gift card that I received for Christmas and took advantage of some online-only sale prices.  I picked the store close to me, confirmed that the items were in stock, and purchased them for in-store pickup.

    All was well so far.  I got an email confirming my order, telling me that another email should arrive in about 45 minutes letting me know that the order is ready to pick up.  "Great," I think, "I can go get lunch and then pick it up."  So I went out and got lunch, then headed over to Best Buy.  It had been 90 minutes since I placed my order online.  Surely it would be ready for pickup at 1:00?

    Wrong.

    Here's the WTF: the store has NO RECORD WHATSOEVER of my order!  I had foolishly assumed that the 45 minute figure that the first email gave me was how long it took them to process the request, grab the items from the warehouse/floor, and get them to the customer service desk.  Instead, it apparently takes more then 90 minutes for BestBuy.com let a real Best Buy store know about an online order for pickup.  What, do they have a cron job doing this?  I can only imagine the technical WTFs behind this system.

    I was told I could just grab the items from the floor, so I did.   The catch was that when I got back to the counter the guy told me the amount would have been deducted from the gift card.  That meant I would have to use my debit card, then cancel the online order, then come back and get a refund and use my gift card to re-buy the items.  Screw that.

    I was annoyed, but it was partially my fault for not waiting.  When I got home, I had received an email at 1:15 letting me know that my order was ready.



  • Thankfully mrpizzaman.com is a bit more efficient than that.



  • WTF?  Why would you order online and then go to the store to pick it up?  Why not just go to the store and buy the item?

    The real WTF - Buying anything from Best Buy 



  • @El_Heffe said:

    WTF?  Why would you order online and then go to the store to pick it up?  Why not just go to the store and buy the item?

    The real WTF - Buying anything from Best Buy 

    1) They have some online-only prices

    2) I thought it would be [i]easier[/i] than rummaging through the shelves myself



  • @El_Heffe said:

    WTF?  Why would you order online and then go to the store to pick it up?  Why not just go to the store and buy the item?

    The real WTF - Buying anything from Best Buy 

    I don't know why everybody always knocks Best Buy / Circuit City / CompUSA.  If Newegg doesn't have it or (more likely) you need it right now, those are all decent options.  Obviously you're going to get ripped off and they'll try to sell you some kind of extended warranty, but that's a small price to pay for instant gratification.  I've heard all the horror stories, but I've never had a single bad experience in any of those stores.  Of course I always know exactly what I'm looking for when I go and never ask the staff for anything, so maybe I haven't given them enough opportunity to offend me.



  • My last bad experience with BB was checking out.  I just wanted to get in an out.  Check out girl wasn't slow or anything but she thought I was an idiot for not taking the rewards card.  She kept pushing and pushing to the point I had to get the manager.



  • @luke727 said:

    If Newegg doesn't have it or (more likely) you need it right now, those are all decent options.

    If Newegg doesn't have it, CompUSA certainly won't.



  • @Carnildo said:

    @luke727 said:
    If Newegg doesn't have it or (more likely) you need it right now, those are all decent options.

    If Newegg doesn't have it, CompUSA certainly won't.


    Care to elaborate?



  • @Carnildo said:

    If Newegg doesn't have it, CompUSA certainly won't.

     

    I hate compusa. The one in san francisco is staffed by knowledgeless, unsmiling robots. Prices are often missing. Anything of value is behind glass or sold as empty boxes (e.g. MS-Office) then they have to fetch the actual media for you. Then to top it off after shelling out $100 you get frisked leaving the store. The last bit is the kicker. I avoid patronizing establishments that presume their customers are criminals until proven innocent. When I do shop there I refuse to submit to their exit search (they have no legal right to do so except to exercise a merchant right and if they're calling the cops they should be pretty sure their shoplifter really stole something, which I didn't).

    Even worse there were a few stores around that had people that were helpful and I would willingly pay a bit more but compussa drove them out of business. Thank God we still have Central Computer here. If I can't get it there I get it online. CompUSA doesn't even have new releases of games half the time until weeks after the release.
     


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @medialint said:

    Then to top it off after shelling out $100 you get frisked leaving the store. The last bit is the kicker. I avoid patronizing establishments that presume their customers are criminals until proven innocent. When I do shop there I refuse to submit to their exit search (they have no legal right to do so except to exercise a merchant right and if they're calling the cops they should be pretty sure their shoplifter really stole something, which I didn't).
    Careful out there... http://www.michaelrighi.com/2007/09/01/arrested-at-circuit-city/

     



  • @medialint said:

    (they have no legal right to do so except to exercise a merchant right and if they're calling the cops they should be pretty sure their shoplifter really stole something, which I didn't).

    The requirement for a shoplifting conviction is that they observe or record you (1) removing an item from the shelves, (2) concealing the item, and (3) attempting to leave the store with the item. If they do not observe or record all three things then you are legally just an idiot who forgot to pay, not a shoplifter. If they do not have these things and attempt to restrain you from leaving, that's classed as assault (although it may be tricky to get a judge to award more than a token minimum sentence, which is usually a small fine similar to a parking ticket).


    CompUSA doesn't even have new releases of games half the time until weeks after the release.

    Why would anybody buy something from a physical store when it is stocked in Amazon? They're just better.



  • Medialint will be pleased, no doubt, to know that CompUseless are going out of business.

    BTW, I would advise that you don't patronize their going-out-of-business-sale, either. 



  • @PJH said:

    Careful out there... http://www.michaelrighi.com/2007/09/01/arrested-at-circuit-city/

    That's an awesome article, and the rest of his "Legal" category posts are pretty good too.  Didn't bother reading through the posts, though.  I'm not sure I would have had the balls to do that. 



  • @belgariontheking said:

    That's an awesome article, and the rest of his "Legal" category posts are pretty good too.  Didn't bother reading through the posts, though.  I'm not sure I would have had the balls to do that. 

    Yeah once the real police showed up I would cooperate with them. That was pushing it a bit far. 



  • Other than cheap DVDs or a specific product that is marked down below the average, there aren't many good deals to be had at Worst Purchase.  I wouldn't even think about buying any major PC components from them.  Even if they carried any CPUs, RAM, Hard Drives, Optical Drives, power supplies or other major components, I'm sure their selection would be small, outdated and overpriced beyond belief.  Luckily, I have a decent number of specialty computer stores in my area, so if I'm in a bind and can't wait for newegg to ship my order, I have several options.  It'd be awful if Worst Purchase or Compuseless was my only option. 
     

    At least they are no longer forcing their cashiers to offer magazine subscriptions to unwilling customers.  I bet they're still pumping those extended warranties though.  One time, I bought a $20 PS2 controller and they tried to sell me a $5 protection plan for it.  I busted out laughing on that one.



  • @medialint said:

    @belgariontheking said:

    That's an awesome article, and the rest of his "Legal" category posts are pretty good too.  Didn't bother reading through the posts, though.  I'm not sure I would have had the balls to do that. 

    Yeah once the real police showed up I would cooperate with them. That was pushing it a bit far. 

    So if the real police decided to arrest you for Driving While Black, or just give you a beating for the hell of it, you would cooperate with them?

    That was a bad cop, and if he'd pursued a wrongful arrest suit, he'd have won a large cash award (which is precisely why the prosecutor wanted to make a deal).
     



  • @asuffield said:

    So if the real police decided to arrest you for Driving While Black, or just give you a beating for the hell of it, you would cooperate with them?

    That was a bad cop, and if he'd pursued a wrongful arrest suit, he'd have won a large cash award (which is precisely why the prosecutor wanted to make a deal).
     

     

    Except that this had nothing to do with the sensational "Driving while black" or a beating.  The guy was being a total jackass and he wasted the time of the police and everyone else involved (including his family).  This was his fault and IMO he should have been heavily fined.  If he doesn't like the store's policy, he shouldn't shop there - there are other avenues he could have taken instead of this blatant disregard for sensibility.



  • @Morbii said:

    The security guard and police were being total jackasses and wasted the time of the police and everyone else involved (including the poor guy's family). This was their fault and IMO they should have been heavily fined. If they doesn't like the 5th Amendment, they shouldn't live in the US - there are other avenues they could have taken instead of this blatant disregard for sensibility.

    Fixed that for you.



  • @Morbii said:

    Except that this had nothing to do with the sensational "Driving while black" or a beating.  The guy was being a total jackass and he wasted the time of the police and everyone else involved (including his family).  This was his fault and IMO he should have been heavily fined.  If he doesn't like the store's policy, he shouldn't shop there - there are other avenues he could have taken instead of this blatant disregard for sensibility.


    Hmm... that's neat: Sheep have learned to post on forums now.



  • @Morbii said:

    If he doesn't like the store's policy, he shouldn't shop there

    My policy on this post is that you have to pay £20 for reading it. If you don't like it, you shouldn't have read it. Pay up. 



  • @bighusker said:

    At least they are no longer forcing their cashiers to offer magazine subscriptions to unwilling customers.  I bet they're still pumping those extended warranties though.  One time, I bought a $20 PS2 controller and they tried to sell me a $5 protection plan for it.  I busted out laughing on that one.

    Call me what you will, but I've cashed in big on most of the extended warranties I've bought.  Samsung seems to make products that don't last through the extended warranty.  For $40, I replaced a $200 monitor twice.  Same for a pair of headphones from Radio Shack. 

    Most people would stop buying Samsung, but that's beside the point. 


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