My mom recently purchased a Panasonic 58"" Plasma TV from Best Buy as a Christmas gift to my father. She was helped by a sweet girl, who appeared to be knowledgeable about the products. I was with her when she made the purchase. After making a decision on the television, she spent 2 hours standing at the check-out desk while this girl repeatedly called over her manager for assistance with the purchase and installation set-up. Turns out, the TV was not in stock in the warehouse so they sold her the floor model. Two other employees got involved in the process and pushed insurance for the television and sold her the most expensive HDMI cable they had in the store. After spending $2000, we left the store with the television scheduled for delivery and installation two weeks later. The following week, my mom received a phone call from Best Buy, informing her that the television would be delivered one weekend and a week after that, the installer would come. She asked if they could coordinate the delivery and installation as originally planned and here began the run-around about the purchase department, versus the contracted installer and there was virtually zero communication between the two. After several phone calls to the warehouse and the store, my mom discovered that the original order had been to the warehouse, which as I mentioned earlier, didn't have the TV. The TV was on the wall at Best Buy Mira Mesa, just two miles from my mother's home. Mike Pierce, a manager at Best Buy, ""took care of the situation,"" by delaying the delivery and install for an additional two weeks. I was now in Florida visiting other family so I called Mr. Pierce myself to find out what kind of compensation my mom would receive for her inconvenience and their ""screw up"". His condescending attitude was shocking. He told me she would receive ""free"" delivery. This was already included with the original purchase. When I told him I'd like to have the installation fee reduced, he told me it was already reduced by $200 and ""somebody"" has to pay for that. When I told him I was considering canceling the order, his savvy customer service response was, ""Go ahead."" I find it comical that in an age of technology where bad reviews harm businesses, a store would put a guy like that in a management position. I'm not saying I actually expected any compensation from the phone call. I just laugh at the idea that this ""manager"" doesn't realize that a little time spent on the phone, listening to a customer complain and then affirming the complaint and apologizing, is all the consumer really needs. I suggest Best Buy spend a little portion of their ridiculously massive proceeds toward training their managers on how to deal with customers and providing adequate service. Honesty it would've taken a little courtesy and patience on Mr. Pierce's part to move this conversation to a whole different endpoint. This conversation? Ended in a cancellation of the order and because this manager showed so little value for my mom and myself as customers, he didn't just lose this order, he lost every future order we would have submitted to this convenient location. Rumor has it Best Buy is getting a bad reputation these days for experiences just like I had and we all know where those businesses end up, don't we? Best Buy is not the only show in town and for an additional 10 minute drive, Fry's and Sears will be our choice from now on. Incidentally, I made a phone call (from Florida) to Sears in Carmel Mountain, purchased a nicer TV (same size) for the same price, set up the installation and my mom's new television was delivered and installed three days later with no problems!
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