As I sit to write this, it still makes me angry the treatment I received at not one, but two Best Buy stores located in Louisville, Kentucky.
Here’s how it started….I was in the market for a new tv for the bedroom. I was tired of not being able to watch HD programs in there and had around $1,000 to spend on a new one. I researched for a few weeks and narrowed my selection down to 3 sets. Two were Sony, one was Samsung. After spending more than 2 hours in Best Buy, viewing the sets and asking periodical questions I finally decided on the Sony Bravia VE5, eco friendly model. The price tag – $999.00 with a free blu-ray player of my choice.
I called my husband to tell him which tv I liked best. At this time, we did a quick “price check” on the model and found that Sony.com was selling the exact same model with a free blu-ray for $869.00. Hmmm, $130 less to buy this online. I located the salesperson that was helping me, his name was Alex (the department manager) and asked if he could price match the Sony site so I could have the tv the same day. He said they could not. Now, keep in mind that had Circuit City still been around, they not only would price match any online price but also take 10% more off (I really miss Circuit City). I then asked Alex would the tv in question happen to be going on sale the next day (Sunday, Jan 24th, 2010) to which he replied no. I decided it was worth the $130 savings so I left the store and bought the tv online.
Now, here comes the good part. The Sunday paper comes out and I look at the Best Buy ad. Which tv do you think was on sale??? Of course, the VE5 was and it was only $849!!!!!! Now their ad did not state you still received a free blu-ray so I took a gamble and talked to the Shelbyville Road store in Louisville. I let a message for someone to call me back about that particular tv and blu-ray combo. Megan calls back. I asked her if the blu-ray combo (free) was still going on with that particular model tv. She told me no it was not. I said “are you sure?” and she said yes we don’t have any specials like that going on.
I decided to let it go and just leave my order placed with Sony and wait for it to be delivered. Then, it started to bug me. I was sure the free blu-ray was available on that model and two others until February 6th. So, I got in my car and drove to the Outer Loop location to check the “prom0”. Sure enough, not only was the tv discounted but it DID include the free blu-ray and I could have saved even more money and not have to wait for the tv.
I felt that Best Buy did not meet my needs. Any great department manager would know that if someone is going to go online and they have an opportunity for a sale, by just telling someone to wait ONE DAY they should do it.
I did not feel valued at Best Buy, therefore I will no longer shop there. Both locations DID NOT take care of the potential customer and therefore, have lost me for good.
Just my two cents, but if you’ve had a similar experience with a Best Buy store, please feel free to post it here.
Have a great day!
The Drakeblog 