Another Bestbuy Horror Story – With a Good Ending
I have read countless stories about Bestbuy pulling some shady tactics, but I have never really experienced it for myself. That is until now. A few months ago I purchased a Xbox360 Bundle, which included Need For Speed: Most Wanted. The bundle cost about $25 more than the regular Xbox360 system (premium). I also bought an extra controller and 2 more games. Because I spent over $600, they gave me $20 gift card (yea thanks a lot Bestbuy). I used that gift card immediately towards the purchase of one more game. Many of my friends have had problems with their Xbox360′s and therefore it made sense to me to buy a 2-year protection plan.
Everything was good for about 2 months until about 2 days ago. I take great care of my Xbox, including not keeping it on the carpet or putting anything on top of it. So I went to turn it on 2 days ago and as I was about to play Fight Night, the screen went black and froze. I restarted the Xbox and all I saw from then on was the blinking red lights of death. I am not sure exactly what happened but I knew the Xbox was done for. Thank God I got the protection plan right?? Well, no.
I packed up the Xbox and drove to Bestbuy. I got to customer service with my Xbox and receipt and the representative started to process my return. I was then blown away when he told me that I had to return the game that came with it as well. I asked: “does that mean I will be getting another bundle Xbox system?” for which he answered NO!!! If I wanted my broken Xbox exchanged I would have to give up one of my games! How ridiculous is that? This is not a game that they just gave me, I payed extra for it as part of the bundle. I argued for about a half hour until he finally agreed to give me a $20 gift card, for which I can use to purchase the game again for $50. So they stole my game and wanted me to pay more to get it back. WTF???
That’s not the end of the story unfortunately. I did not have the game with me so I drove all the way back to my house during rush hour in Los Angeles (which is hell), grabbed the game and drove all the way back. I stood in line again and was ready to have my game stolen so I can get a working Xbox360. As they start to process my order once more, the customer service rep tells me I have to return the gift card they gave me also!!! I said “you mean the gift card that was GIVEN to me for spending so much money??” As I said before I had already spent the gift card, so they were going to charge me another $20, which canceled out the $20 they gave me for the game they stole. I was furious at this point.
The story has a good ending though. After arguing for about another hour with them trying to explain how f*ing ridiculous this whole thing is, they finally agreed to give me $20 and not charge me for their “gift” card and gave me a new Xbox360 (still minus Need for Speed). As I was walking out I realized that I did not include the controller when I returned the Xbox, and they did not say anything. So basically I came up an extra controller. It felt good to stick it to them even though it was unintentional. Any other time I would have returned the extra controller, but FU BESTBUY!!! What are they thinking sometimes??
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I’ve read soooo many horror stories about best buy. I do my best to stay away from them now unless its a really good deal.
That sucks for you… the worst part is all that driving and wasted time!
it seems like there is a theme now-a-days with best buy.. i don’t know how they manage to stay in business.
yes i agree. i am sick of bestbuy. thanks for your comment.