Earbud Escapade: The Best Buy Story

This is a continuation from the Earbud Escapade Blog I posted 2 days ago.

Best Buy Update: Best Buy was a pain in the ass, here is the story:

I walk in, go straight to the returns counter, see a guy in a white button down shirt and think "he must be a manager!" There is a girl about my age to his left so I am praying to the heavens (this is one of the few cases where I turn religious) that I get the manager. Sure enough he finishes with his customer first and I step up to greet him. I tell him, "This is my second time exchanging these, I want to exchange them for a different brand that I am guaranteed works."

"No Problem!" He exclaims, "Just go browse around and bring me the pair you choose!"

"What a pleasant dude!" I think to myself. "Wonderful!" I say to this beautiful redheaded man.

I got the green pair, but the orange is sexy too!

I wander over to the headphones section, look at the multiple pairs of Bose buds that I have been researching. Then I see a pair of Bluetooth workout buds (Brand Name: JayBirds) and start looking on Amazon. The reviews seem pretty solid, but I just don't know how much I trust Bluetooth sound quality wise and connection wis as well. I Decide to go with the Bose SIE2i's even though I have an Android phone, I figure the mic will still work.

I take them up to customer service, and sure enough right when I get to the front of the line the manager leaves and I am stuck to deal with a guy my age, Bryan his name-tag reads, who is clearly not a manager. I explain the situation carefully and tell him the manager said it was all right. Bryan proceeds to inspect the receipt, then the headphones, and comes to the conclusion that the receipt is for the S4A's and the box I brought in is for the S4's.

I say "Oh I must have grabbed the wrong pair when I returned the A's, you know they all look the same."

Bryan then starts looking on the computer. I wait for about 2 minutes while he looks on his computer. "What are you looking for?" I demand.

"I am just looking to see if there was another transaction where you purchased these headphones."

"As I said, I grabbed the wrong pair so there will not be a transaction. Let me speak to a manager." I said trying to keep my cool.

Bryan then asks the girl next to him (also no older than me) which managers are working today, and if she could contact one of them. Bryan then takes my box and my receipt without saying a word to me. I start getting a little panicky, because for all I know he could just rip up my receipt and say I never purchased those headphones. He comes back about 3 minutes later to tell me the manager authorized the exchange and then rambled with a bunch of technical store mumbo jumbo. "Fine." I say obviously annoyed.

The final price comes up on the screen and I notice it seems to be $10 off. "What are the charges?" I ask.

"Oh, my manager told me to give you the money back for the boxed item." He says coyly. (He was expecting that I wasn't going to catch it.)

"What does that receipt say?" I say to him.

"You don't have the item that this receipt is for."

"As I have said to you for the 3rd time now, I grabbed the wrong item by mistake. So I ask you again, what does that receipt say."

"69.99." Bryan reads to me.

"Meaning I paid 69.99 so give me the money I paid, get me your manager."

"He's busy attending to a problem over there," pointing to the registers. "I'll go talk to him again."

He leaves. At this point the pretty girl who was next to him asks me what the problem is seeming like she wasn't a fan of my man Bryan. I explain to her the situation and she says "Oh." Maybe she was trying to calm me down, or just curious. She's pretty so whatever she could have any motive in the book.

Now Bryan returns telling me I will finally get what I want. "I can either close out this transaction and start from scratch or it would be easier for me and quicker if we continue and I refund you the $10."

"I want you to close out." I say, not trying to be a dick I just want 1 receipt not 3.

As he starts scanning and typing I tell him, "I know you are just doing your job and I respect that, I just don't like being interrogated and scrutinized for my purchases."

"Oh I wasn't interrogating you blah blah blah...."

Dude I apologized to you in the best way I could just say thanks and continue.

I will end with a question "what ever happened to the customer is always right?"

ARK

The Bose ended up not working, so I figured it is a problem with my phone. I will have to post a Sprint Update now with my happenings in the Sprint Store.

PS I would love to hear your customer service nightmares!