Best Buy’s "Available for Pickup in 1 Hour" Promise is a Lie
Facing serious competition from Amazon, Best Buy is repositioning itself as the retailer where you can order online and get something today. This is a great move considering that Amazon is no longer promising same day delivery for Prime members (at least not for me).
Or at least this would be a great move for Best Buy if they would keep their promises. I just ordered some Lightning cables under the premise that I would be able to pick them up, but it turns out that Best Buy won’t have them until Monday.
I have a commitment to provide a charging station at a conference tomorrow, but while I was packing up I discovered that I had everything except spare lightning cables. My lightning cable is awfully ratty (it was made by Apple), so I can’t bring it either, but this is not a problem. It was only ten in the morning, and thus I had plenty of time to buy replacements.
I first checked Amazon; the earliest they could deliver was tomorrow. Okay, fine, I’ll check Best Buy.
They did have cheap cables, and they even promised I could pick them up in an hour. I needed to run other errands, so this was great timing, and I immediately placed an order.
Then I got the confirmation email, the one where I was told that I couldn’t pick up the cables until next Wednesday. Talk about a bait and switch:
The really frustrating part, folks, is that I didn’t check the email until after I got home. I had assumed that BB would process the order and have it ready by the time I got there, so I ran my errands and then stopped by the store.
Nope; in fact, the cable wasn’t even in stock.
I ended up finding cheap cables at Walmart, so it wasn’t a complete catastrophe, but I am disappointed by Best Buy’s bait and switch. They failed to follow through on their promise of immediacy, and that was their one chance to earn my trust and get me to turn to them before Amazon.
I won’t be shopping there again if I can avoid it.
Comments
Ed Bear August 2, 2019 um 5:41 pm
"Best Buy" two lies in two words
Chuck Dee August 2, 2019 um 11:02 pm
I’ve done it before, and it has worked out ok. I guess because your item was out of stock- but when it checked stock at the other store at checkout, it should have picked this up.
Syn August 4, 2019 um 12:07 am
Last Christmas I was impress with Best Buy. They had fast free shipping and I could see they were aggressively trying to compete with Amazon. They ended up getting a lot of my business, not all, but more than normal for me. I got Elite plus status for the first in many years.
Fast forward a couple months. I ordered a small 22″ tv for my treadmill desk. Then a 24″ with Roku built I went on sale same price. Took tv back I had for a day and this is were Best Buy is slowly creeping back into their old ways. They have returned to slapping on a return to stock fee. I got hit with two, I bought an open box white iPad mini and next day they had an open box model in black. I really wanted black and took it back and they hit me with a 35 dollar return to stock fee on something that was already opened when I bought it. Years ago they did away with return to stock fees because people would just buy on Amazon. Your elite status doesn’t get you out of the fee so I will be buying my electronics at Amazon again.
Chuck Dee August 4, 2019 um 12:28 am
My big break with Best Buy was when I was buying a new watch. I wanted a Fenix 3HR, but the sales guy said that they didn’t have it. So I was looking at the VivoActive 3 and asked to take a look at it and see how it worked and fit, and he said that they didn’t do that. Then I looked further in the case, and saw that they had a Fenix HR, and asked to take a look, and he said that he couldn’t take it out of the case.
I saw no reason to buy local when it gives you nothing different in the experience.
Syn August 4, 2019 um 10:57 am
Right! Great sales last year but it was their return to stock fee that made me stop buying from them years ago. People say buy local but when they pull stuff like this I feel they don’t appreciate my business so why give it to them? At least Amazon usually goes out of their way to fix your problem. They may not care either but they sure make you feel like they do.
Mosby August 4, 2019 um 2:47 pm
I don’t think one experience constitutes a lie as in your case. I have purchased many items online over the years from Best Buy and never experienced that. You can say that you were disappointed but I would not call it a straight out lie.
As far as everyone else’s issues, I agree. Best Buy customer service leaves a lot to be desired. I have never had to pay a return to stock fee but I know it exists.
Chuck Dee August 4, 2019 um 3:14 pm
I had a problem recently with Amazon where I bought some dog food, but a couple of the containers were ripped as if someone had taken a packing knife across the top but wasn’t cognizant of how deeply they were cutting. I need to the food as I’d waited until the last minute to purchase, but my wife told me to contact them and not just take the loss. They said to keep it, and they’d send another to replace it. I just hoped that they’d send me two more and then scrap the rest of the box. That was above and beyond to me.
Syn August 4, 2019 um 3:53 pm
This happened with me a few times, I bought a warehouse deal tablet but it was missing the charger. I called Amazon, they didn’t have the charger but they told me to look up one on their site, add it to my cart and they would issue a credit to cover it. Can we say wow! I was not expecting that.
Couple months ago ordered 2 cases (4 packs, 24 cans per case) of soda. Each case came with 1 or two bust cans. For a loss of about 10 cans out of all 48. Amazon said sorry about that, keep them, we’ll send you two more cases.
Many years ago I bought an open box 500 dollar camera from Best Buy and they charged a 15% restocking fee so I stopped buying higher end electronic from them but seems a fee is back. 500 on returned iPad I mention was 35 dollars after owning it one day and it was open box to boot. I guess it’s either a flat fee or they are charging 7%. And there customer service is next to worthless.
James December 8, 2019 um 8:55 pm
I agree with the title of this article. I too bought an s 10 plus with one hour store pickup and 30 minute activation onsite by appointment. I paid up front for the phone online as it allowed it and scheduled my appointment for 1.5 hours from that time. I had to activated with verizon to get a $400 discount and had to get a credit check for monthly service. I have banging credit but I sat in the store for over an hour before they told me they could not activate my phone because Verizon had not responded to their sale submission. They told me until they respond the order is just pending holding a $675 charge pending on my credit card. 30 minutes is 6 hrs and counting now with the sale showing under my account orders as in process.
Bait and Switch