Vexings and supposed hexes
I may be jumping to a somewhat unprecedented conclusion, but in general I think that most who know me well could attest to the fact that I normally don’t have a flair for the dramatic. However, there are those unusual days like this one that involve a hysterical crying fit in the middle of a large, crowded store. Yep, I think that definitely falls into the category of drama.
So here’s the full story. I HATE Best Buy. I brought my laptop in on Monday under the pretense that my hard drive had crashed. I paid all the diagnostic and service fees upfront under the absolute assurance from a very cordial “Geek Squad” employee that everything would definitely be remedied in three days or less. Four days later, nothing; nada, not a single word or call. I decided it was time to let go of this pesky passivism for a moment and inquire about the status myself. Another couple hundred dollars later spent on a new hard drive and installation fees (all by phone), I finally made it out to the actual store to pick up my computer, only to be met with much animosity from the department manager for not waiting for them to call first. Shelving my frustration from being yelled at aside, I became subsequently more dissatisfied when he tried to charge me the fee(s) again because they had lost the original receipt. Luckily I had my copies, so that problem was quickly remedied, though not without bitter snide remarks from Carl, the manager.
Even worse was what came next. When he finally dragged himself out of the back storeroom in order to retrieve my computer, what he brought out was definitely not mine. I rather definitively stated: “that’s not my computer”. He didn’t believe me at first, insisted that it was mine, and after another couple minutes of this continuing dialogue in this manner, I finally convinced him to go back and find my computer. Upon his return he informed me that they must have LOST my laptop. After my initial jaw drop and face aghast expression, I could only manage through brimming tears and hyperventilation to utter these words in astonishment: “you lost my seventeen-hundred dollar computer”??? Being that he manager was overwhelming blasé about the whole situation, I became much more agitated and fitful, causing a man in line behind me whom I had just had a conversation about aerospace engineering with, to step in and come to my defense chivalrously. An hour of discernment and further heated discussion later, we had still come to no viable conclusion other than, “they’d call me if it turned up”.
While I only have a pretty vague working knowledge of standard business practice and customer service, I do realize that this was just downright atrocious. This whole ordeal made for a pretty excruciatingly stressful morning, in addition to demoralizing embarrassment in thinking retroactively of my reaction. But moreover, because of this experience, I’m very much deterred from the idea of returning to a Best Buy store, ever. There’s no moral to this story, no rampage to initiate picketing or angry riots, just simply a recount of a rhetoric that I would not wish on anyone.
posted by Sheila @ 12/10/2004 02:57:00 PM
1 Comments:
sheila, thanks for your comment / condolences on my blog friday. it is much appreciated. i'm sorry to hear about the fiasco w/ your laptop, as well; hope everything turns out alright and it is returned to you in fine condition.
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