I’m a proud and happy Best Buy customer, but unfortunately I belong to an ever shrinking community. I hope that, once the right people read this, they will be able to turn the trend around.
I like Best Buy. That’s where I’ve bought a few of my home appliances and all my electronics… but one.
Last month I had to interrupt my vacation in Brazil to spend a few days in New York. I was thinking of getting me a MacBook Air, so I took the chance and ordered one online. That particular model was not available for in store pick up, but the estimated delivery (Thursday) fit my needs.
Coming Monday, my order was still in progress, but there’s plenty of time.
Coming Tuesday, no changes. I called them, and they said it would arrive on time.
Coming Wednesday, they hadn’t yet shipped it. I called them, and they said I had nothing to worry about. I would still get my laptop on time.
Thursday was my last day in New York. I checked the order status and the package was already on its way. According to UPS, it had left Oklahoma City and was en route to… Dallas! There’s a long distance between Dallas and New York, so I called Best Buy once again. They confirmed the obvious (which I had already feared): there was no way I could get the laptop that day. Because it had already been shipped, they wouldn’t be able to cancel the order either. After multiple phone calls (and a lot of yelling) they finally canceled the order and requested UPS to ship it back. I could expect to see the credit on my statement within a few days.
In the evening I went to B&H Photo Video, bought my new MacBook Air, returned to the hotel, and started playing with it. There were no news about the other one. End of story.
Or so I thought. Last week I checked my credit card statement. Guess what I saw: a MacBook Air! Immediately I called Best Buy. According to them, my order was completed and the product had been delivered to the hotel (Friday, long after I had left), so the charge was legitimate. After a long conversation, in which I, once again, explained the whole situation, they credited back my account. They would also have UPS pick up the laptop and return it to the warehouse.
I have just checked my credit card statement, and the charge is gone. My problem is solved. I can go in peace, but not quite yet.
This is not a critique, but an observation. Now, how can Best Buy start to gain ground again?
There are two aspects to the solution. The first one is communication. I always say that communication is key, and this is no exception. Every time I called I had to repeat my problem. I don’t know if it was ever captured, but I’m sure it was never consulted upon. I’d rather have the service rep spend a few minutes reading my case to understand my problem than explain it again and again.
And by the way, didn’t they cancel my order? Then they should not have delivered the product after the cancellation.
The second aspect is logistics. The laptop spent weeks sitting in a hotel closet waiting to be picked up. They spent money shipping the laptop to the hotel, more money shipping it back to the warehouse, and even more for having a product not being sold for that long.
Best Buy is, in fact, losing ground to Amazon.com and most other online retailers. It didn’t have to be this way. I certainly hope they’ll start growing their business again. Maybe this post will help them figure out the way.