Derek2k

If you guys have been following my Sony KF50 saga well this will top all the other treads.

I tried to return my defective Unit yesterday. I called all around Mi. and found that one store in Novi had just received a shipment of 2 units. I talked to some Jerk there who told me they had 2 and would reserve one for me. He even insured me that they had no problem taking my open box TV back even though it was bought at a different store. Well I live 25 miles from the Novi store and 15 miles from the Westland store where I purchased the open box. I drove all the way to the Novi store just to find out the two TV's they had " could not be sold". I was pissed. I spoke with the manager who act as if he understood my anger and agreed to exchange my unit for another set of my choosing. Well I really liked the Panasonic PT-50LC13 and would be willing to do an exchange if he would honor the agreement I had with the Westland store of doing and even exchange (the Sony cost less because it was open box). When he found out it was open box he all of a sudden was out of the Pannies. I looked him in the eye and told him he was a lying sack of human waste. He then said well because it is a open box and the Westland store said they would take care of you why don't you just go over there ( keep in mind this is about 20 miles from Novi). So I said well I no longer want to buy a TV from BB I would like to return it. They refused to let me return it at that location. After getting no where with him and calling corporate customer service and getting no where with them I proceed to Westland.

I get to Westland and they are very apologetic, however they are also out of the Pannie. They make me sweet deal on Sammie 5o" DLP. I prefer the LCD's and the Sammie again was an open box. So at my request they do a store search for the Pannie. Guess what the Novi store had 3. The guy helping me was as upset as I was. He called the Novi store to make sure the computer was correct and they sure had some new ones in stock. Talk about getting lied to. You would have thought I wanted something for free. At that point I told them they did not derserve my business and they should be asshamed at how this whole thing went down. I returned everything I bought.

I proceeded to Circuit City told them the story they said they felt my pain and wanted me as there customer. They agreed to sell me the Pannie for the price I paid for the open box Sony. They even cut me a deal on the matching stand because I had to pay more for their warranty.

I will never make a big purchase from Best Buy again.

Lowpro

I worked for BB for 11 months in video and still to this day I have no confidence in their Performance Service Plan. Going with CC is not a bad move even if you had to pay more for the service plan. CC has the best service product out there in my opinion. I've lost count of the number of service plans I've gotten from CC over the years. I've put nearly everyone of them to good use. So far I've cashed in on their no-lemon policy 9 times, all of which were not even due to the product having serious problems that could not be fixed.

In fact, the 9th time was just last week. I was dropping off a Sony MP3 car stereo deck to have the alignment checked and the person helping me insisted on checking the service history on the unit. He ended up lemoning out the deck. I then proceeded to walk to the back of the store and pick out a new stereo with free installation on CC's dime. Now that's customer service!

One of the best things about CC's service as compared to BB's service is that at CC they give you a full store credit for the original purchase amount. At BB you don't get to spend your money all over again. That can often times work against you by limiting your choices with regards to a replacement item. As far a comparing dollar to dollar, some of BB's service plans may be half what they are for the same item at CC, namely big screen tv's, but if you can't count on them protecting your investment you really are not saving anything.

__________________
LP's Home Theatre Gear:
InFocus SP4805 | Onkyo TX-SR800 | Zektor HDS4 (x2) | Sony DVP-CX985V (x5) | Microsoft XBOX 360 | Motorola DCT6412 | Samsung SIR-TS160 | Polk XRt12 | IR543 | USB-UIRT | Philips RFX9400 Extender | Monster PowerCenter HTS2500 (x2) | Philips Pronto Professional TSU9600

My DVD Collection

Ratman

I concur with lowpro...
I've have a CC warranty on the HDTV and used it twice for service.
The CSR's that take the problem call and schedule your service are courteous. They make every attempt to schedule a tech for 'your' convenience.

The same tech came to my home both times and was prompt, informative, and technically competent.

Maybe I'm just lucky, but IMO, I'd strongly consider using CC's warranty/service in the future.

mikehbkwm

man they did treat you bad whoa thats pretty harsh... me personally i wouldnt buy HT stuff from BB the only thing i really buy is DVD's, games etc.........

__________________
"I'd pay REAL money if he'd shut up"

Lowpro

Various thoughts incoming in no particular order ...

I've seen some people get royally screwed with regards to the service product at BB, but at my particular store we did have one of the best track records in the company for customer service. The service coverage end is out of our hands at the store level for the most part. It really depends on the store as to how involved they are willing to be to fight for your cause. In there lies the real problem. You should not need a store location to fight for your cause. A given service center should do their job and take care of the customer and far too many times they just don't. The store level managers at my store were constantly putting pressure on the service center to do their job and get our customers taken care of. When we could not get results we pushed for approval to override service plans, so as to allow the customer to get out of said product. I was personally involved in several customer service issues during my time there and am happy to say I helped many customers get more than a fair shake in the end.

During my 11 months at BB our particular store never refused to take back open items purchased from another store. Not only that, but a full refund to the original method of payment was given. Keep in mind these were only returns within the 30 day return window. My store also accepted many returns where the return period had expired just past 30 days. In those instances a store credit was always given. It is really a shame that from store to store there does not seem to be consistency. If a store refuses to take back your open item purchased from another store and tells you to go back there they should be fired in my opinion and are definately in violation of company policy. See it's all about the numbers. Without good numbers certain BB employees jobs are on the line. It is sad some BB employees are willing to violate company policy and give customers the shaft in order to improve their numbers.

As for holding merchandise for customers to give them time to get to said store and snatch it up ... this is against BB company policy also. BB employee's should not agree to hold merchandise for anyone. If I walk into said store they can't refuse to sell me something they are holding for someone else, unless of course if is a special order, Internet purchase or a raincheck. It is first come first served in most every other case. I had an easy way of dealing with this while I was at BB. I would simply tell customers on the phone that the most I could do was not to steer customers over to said product they were interested in, so hopefully it was still there when they arrived. I also never told a customer we had something in stock unless I put my hands on it first. This prevented people from making a special trip to our store only to find that said product showing in the computer is not really in stock. Unfortunately there are a ton of lazy BB employees out there that just don't care and will assume if an item is showing up in the computer as in stock that it is. Some of us cared about the customers being given accurate information however.

Here is where CC has it seriously going on. Unlike BB, CC can sell you something in another stores inventory. BB can not. I have often been in a CC to pick something up and they don't have it in stock. The CC employee simply finds the same item at another store of my choosing and sells it to me. Then I can pick the product up from the other store at my convience. Why BB does not allow you to purchase items from another stores inventory is beyond me. It would eliminate, so many problems. This will never happen though because of how BB stocks all their products out on the floor within reach of customers. Not to mention the store to store competition concept and performance tracking BB loves so much.

Enough ranting for the holidays. It's time to spread good cheer. Sorry again Derek2k for your bad experience at big blue. I don't blame you for giving CC your business. It was a good move on many levels. Those BB stores out by you don't deserve your business.

__________________
LP's Home Theatre Gear:
InFocus SP4805 | Onkyo TX-SR800 | Zektor HDS4 (x2) | Sony DVP-CX985V (x5) | Microsoft XBOX 360 | Motorola DCT6412 | Samsung SIR-TS160 | Polk XRt12 | IR543 | USB-UIRT | Philips RFX9400 Extender | Monster PowerCenter HTS2500 (x2) | Philips Pronto Professional TSU9600

My DVD Collection

Derek2k

Thanks for your thoughts guys.

I am very happy with my CC experience. I have purchased things from BB and CC in the past, but from now on I will make an serious effort to give CC my money in the future...

Happy Holidays

scarfacerw03

I work @ BB for 2 yrs in the Ht department and i know exactly who and what you are talking about. And Yes we cant stand the NOvi store ....but to bash the company because of a stupid store manager there is not right to me. Also, if I was you i would have took the deal on the DLp for a couple of reasons....1. Blacks are more black then on the LCd. 2. what are you going to do when you have a problem with Grand Wega when Sony is have alot of problems with this tv since going to more of a major market of production.......And for CC and there term and conditions for there service plans to me is overpriced and even some @ BB are also but when you look @ the two BB=249 for 4yrs on all hdtv's, lcd, and Dlp.....compared to CC 499=5yrs.....

mikehbkwm

BB and CC both SUCK just kidding......

__________________
"I'd pay REAL money if he'd shut up"

Derek2k

Scareface,
I would agree with you but when I called corporate customer service they did nothing to make the situation better. I have been trying to reach the regional offices in Livonia but the phone is ALWAYS busy. What is up with that? Yes I did pay more for the service plan but I got a Brand new TV for the same price as the open box. Besides, sometimes it is better to pay more and retain your dignity.

leojmcca

I had a BB experience. I was planning on buying Sony TV. I applied for their credit card to get the 18 month free interest deal. I was denied and when I called from the store, it was because they input the wrong info. I then had to buy the TV at the BB kiosk to get the free shipping, CSR's wouldn't do it eventhough BB.com had free shipping. I had to wait a week for the delivery, only to discover that they had to cancel my order because the 1 TV they had left was sold before it was put aside for my online order. I also went to CC.

Fan01

I swore off of BB almost 10 years ago. I'd bought a computer from them, an IBM aptiva. I also purchased the 4 year extended BB warrenty. In the second year lightening struck the phone lines and fried the modem. The computer was fine except for this. I have some decent tech knowledge and any dummy could see the scorch marks on the modem. I called BB and they told me I'd have to bring in the entire computer. It was a pain but I did it anyway.

I showed them what the problem was and told them I just wanted a new 56K dial up modem. They told me they could not replace the item and would have to send the whole thing off and it would take over 2 weeks. I argued up and down how stupid this was and ended up telling them where they could stick it. I just spend my 30 bucks at another store and have never been in BB since.

UTrod03

ok...

i've worked for both. one of my roomates is currently a sales manager at a cc here in tx. bottom line is, neither of the two companies could really care less about you. the reasoning behind cc's better treatment of you lies in the fact that they have a lot less customer traffic to deal with. bb was designed as sort of an electronics wal-mart. it's a wharehouse store. in that sense, cc isn't that way. that, however, doesn't mean that they "care" about you. they don't anymore than best buy does. associates at both companies like undercutting their counterparts. i was on both sides, and both stores were within walking distance of eachother. when i worked at bb, we talked trash about cc because their guys were on commission. when i worked at cc, we talked trash about bb guys because, for the most part, they lacked the product knowledge cc guys had. they're both big, faceless, corporate giants. don't fool yourself. i've treated people very well while working at both, and i've treated people very badly while working at both. it depends on the individual salesperson handling the sale.

as for the service plans, generally, there really isn't much of a difference. belive me, i live with a cc sales manager, and i was a badass in sales myself. i know the ins and outs of these things. he'd be the first to admit they're very very similar. you're buying a more personalized experience when you go to cc. my choice in store usually boils down to product availablity and brand preference. the prices are the same, and if they're not, either one will be more than happy to match their competitor's price. a lot of your expierence with either one depends on where you live and who you happened to be paired with salesman wise. i live in a pretty nice part of austin, and the people here tend to be pretty polite and helpful...likely 'cause a lot of the people have a lot of money to burn. when i got my tv, they were trying to do everything they could to make my experience a good one. i had no problems. quit whining. read the fine print in the plan, and if need be, point it out to whomever you're dealing with.

by the way, why on earth did you want a panasonic tv? has sony made you mad too?

__________________
SONY KP-46WT510 l YAMAHA HTR-5760 770W 7.1 l JBL NORTHRIDGE TOWER E60'S(Front) l JBL NORTHRIDGE CENTER EC25 l Front 2-way SONY Presence speakers l Rear 2-way SONY L&R surround speakers l Rear 2-way SONY CENTER l MONSTER THX select & MONSTER Home AV cables l SONY 5-Disc Progressive Scan DVD player l SA8300HD STB l SONY RM-AV2500 Remote l & 50 Gallons of Krunk Juice

'hook 'em

tharinmfp

you guys know this was almost a year and a half ago.........right??????????

Ratman

And... has anything changed?

tharinmfp

actually, yes, a lot has.

ebubman

utrod03 put up a superior response. you can get excellent service @ either bb or cc or you can really get rotten service. typically, though not always in consumer transaction, you get what you give. if you come on like a jerk, the odds are increased that you'll get a less-than-professional response. connversely if you come on politely, hopefully you'll get good service. it is really incumbent upon the buyer to go in w/ eyes wide open unless, as they say, you have more dollars than cents. we have both cc & bb here in pa; i'm not sure why but my perception is that cc is less pressure & a nicer environment. both corporations exist to increase value for shareholders; both realize that customer satisfaction is part of the necessary road to that end. i'm soon to take the hdtv plunge; i'll shop both rigorously after doing my homework here & other sites. bub

bru87tr

I have never bought anything at bestbuy and never will as they play pricing games with customers. many occasions I have seen this.

I was interested in a receiver there last weekend. open box. went back to check it out and the price had a new price tag in it stating $100 more than last weekend price. $550 now instead of the original $450 that was still to high for the unit.

so I talk to the manager, he says its a mistake and he has to correct it. ya right!

he refused to lower the price from $450 as it was outrageous for an open box. it was last years model which was replaced with an on shelf open box that was $100 less. lol

so anyway I went on to tell him I have never bought anything open box from best buy and now I realize why. I told him circuit city does not play price games and lowers open box to rock bottom price to get it out the door. this is straight from the manager at cc as I have goten such a few good deals I had to ask why so cheap... he said he does not like open box or demo items sitting on the shelf and puts lowest price to get them out. its true too. notice CC every week the stuff is gone. best buys stuff sits on the shelf for months before they lower to rock bottom price to get it out the door.

I wouldnt care so much that they do this but when they insult the public with a new model(replaced year before model, same unit) open box for $350 and selling the old one for $450 and it has no box, no manual and no remote and also has alot of nicks thats just insulting the customer. I figured it was a mistake and tried to talk to the manager but for some reason he says it wont go lower. ya right. am I dumb ? he also got embarrased and turned red. I dont understand the way BB does business.

I love CC as you can always find a deal there!

see the 2 items in my sig ? (Pioneer DV-563A SACD/DVD-A/DVD Player & the Onkyo TX-DS494 DD/DTS Receiver ) I got the Pioneer when it was still considered a new player. open box with everything in it and batteries still not opened and player like new= $70!!!!

the Onkyo TX-DS494 I have had for a while and still a great performer(but want a new receiver) this was just being replaced at the time by a newer model(not as good build) and I got this receiver with eveything like new for $150. this was after they wanted $200 and I asked them to go lower and I will take it. manager said $150 and it was mine. the CC over here is great and the manager knows how to get rid of the stuff thats open box or demo. I say those are good deals!

__________________
Infocus SP-4805 Projector - Compaq HTPC - Pioneer DV-563A SACD/DVD-A Player - LG LST-4200A HDTV Receiver/QAM Cable Tuner - Aura Pro Bass Shakers/150W Amp - Onkyo TX-SR602 Receiver - Paradigm Monitor 7 V.3 Main - Paradigm CC-370 V.3 Center - Sapphire SS Dipole - Wharfedale WH-2 Bipole Rear - SVS 25_31 PC+ 525W Sub
____________________________________
Sony Wega 36XBR800 HDTV - Panasonic CT-26WX15 HDTV - Sony DVP-NS975V SACD/1080i DVD Player - Motorola DCT6200

UTrod03

cc has always been that way in that sense. it comes from their background in commissioned sales. when i worked there, we'd lower prices on new stuff regularly, and they still do it. best buy's revenue is much more than cc's. why do you think cc is about to be bought out? why do you think cc left commissions? cc will move product any way it can. perception isn't always reality. like i said earlier, they're both in it to make money. best buy is simply a larger scale operation. there are quite a few employees of a best buy store. it's impossible to micro-manage in an environment like that too. there's more involved than "best buy sucks," and "circuit city is our friend."

__________________
SONY KP-46WT510 l YAMAHA HTR-5760 770W 7.1 l JBL NORTHRIDGE TOWER E60'S(Front) l JBL NORTHRIDGE CENTER EC25 l Front 2-way SONY Presence speakers l Rear 2-way SONY L&R surround speakers l Rear 2-way SONY CENTER l MONSTER THX select & MONSTER Home AV cables l SONY 5-Disc Progressive Scan DVD player l SA8300HD STB l SONY RM-AV2500 Remote l & 50 Gallons of Krunk Juice

'hook 'em

UTrod03

Like what?

__________________
SONY KP-46WT510 l YAMAHA HTR-5760 770W 7.1 l JBL NORTHRIDGE TOWER E60'S(Front) l JBL NORTHRIDGE CENTER EC25 l Front 2-way SONY Presence speakers l Rear 2-way SONY L&R surround speakers l Rear 2-way SONY CENTER l MONSTER THX select & MONSTER Home AV cables l SONY 5-Disc Progressive Scan DVD player l SA8300HD STB l SONY RM-AV2500 Remote l & 50 Gallons of Krunk Juice

'hook 'em