I was at Bestbuy earlier today as I frequent the store quite a bit. I noticed that they had Nintendo Wii’s in stock. Knowing how hard they are to find (I’ve tried for over a year now & am always told they’re soldout at stores - And I’m afraid to purchase a high priced item online especially at inflated prices), I went home, consulted the wife about getting the kids what they originally wanted (but was unable to get for the holidays), and called up some out of town family members that were in the same boat as me. After getting a total of six orders (3 for local and 3 for out of state) I called Bestbuy to ask if they were still in stock and if they had any limits per customer. They still had them in stock & said I could purchase what I needed.
Okay I go pickup my cousin & proceed to drive down to Bestbuy where there’s around 20 of these things up for grabs. Not being in a rush, I go see what games they have as well as looking for an additional controller.
13 hours ago
By the time we get back to the Wii’s (about 10 minutes later) there’s 5 left. I snatch’em up feeling bad about having missed the sixth. As I go to pay, the cashier tells me that I can only purchase ONE Wii. I explain to her that I called & was told otherwise (didn’t get the girl’s name, because I didn’t think I’d be lied to) & she said too bad, but only one per person. I ask to speak to the manager who proceeds to tell me the same thing. Alright, so I call my cousin over who was looking at an “open box” display & tell him that he has to personally pay for his, (I never mind paying for my relatives items, because I have a rewards card that gives me cash back & plus they always reimburse me for any purchases, so no worries there)and that everyone else is out of luck, because it’s “ONLYONE PER PERSON”. The night manager than comes over & “changes his policy” to “ONE PER HOUSEHOLD”.
13 hours ago
That’s fine I said, I just need one (which I purchased) & my cousin (who was about to purchase his and doesn’t live with me - we had id’s to prove it) just needs one. So he changes “his policy” again and says ” ONE PER GROUP”!?! I ask him how many more times is he going to change his policy? So let me get this straight, if four friends walk in to buy a Wii, & there’s 20 of them available, they’re out of luck & can only buy one??? I was in the store earlier with a co-worker, we could’ve easily purchased two then and return to purchase more. So this jerk proceeds to tell me that he wouldn’t have sold me any more if I had done that (yeah, like he would’ve remembered everyone who bought a Wii that day). He then tells me (in a loud, rude and condescending tone), “And if you don’t like it I won’t sell you yours”. I told him too late, because I already bought mine.
13 hours ago
End of story (finally right?) …..I could’ve saved myself gas & this trip if I had just bought this earlier when I was there, not wasted my time on the phone to my family who I now had to call back each one & apologize to for getting them excited & giving them false expectations. Having to deal with a real jerk which made me feel discriminated against (I bet other people who saw what happened were able to purchase one, go to their car and return for another, or just have someone else in their group purchase one & no one would be the wiser). And now Bestbuy/Nintendo lost the sale of 5 Wii’s (which I’m sure someone else would’ve purchased anyway), but most importantly, as far as “customer service” is concerned, they have now officially lost a customer for life (I shopped there ALOT). Their competitors will now have my & my company’s business.
Sorry this is so long, but people weren’t understanding the single question.
13 hours ago
PS. This item wasn’t listed in an ad (hence no limit notification) and there was no sign stating “limit” anywhere in the store, which is why I called the store before heading down there again. Thanks to all who asked & took the time to read this.
13 hours ago
Whew, okay as far as tickiting them out, they weren’t. It was another questioned I had asked before I took the trip back. I remembered reading a news article about a retail chain that promised Wii’s in January to people who got on a waiting list in December. Circuit city,walmart,target,gamestop,& another game store didn’t have them - so no I never mentioned such a thing, but for arguments sake, why would a store refuse the sale of even ONE item if they thought your intention was to resell it higher? Just like I **** scalpers at concerts, but I also understand they were willing to wait in line to get those tickets. Point is there’s a sale and whether I choose to keep it, sell it, give it away, or throw it away is perogotive which I earned by purchasing it. Are we going to stop selling certain records or books, because the seller thinks they MAY be burned in a protest? Last time I checked this was America and, well, I’m not even going there……thanks again to everyone for their int
June 25th, 2009 at 11:10
I think what they did to you was unfair and poor customer service- at least from your point of view- although there are two sides to every story.
If I were you I’d contact Best Buy Corporate and complain. I’ve had shitty customer service from there as well, and most of the people I know do too. Yelling at them and making a scene doesn’t do much, but telling on them to higher ups usually does make a difference. Good luck!
June 27th, 2009 at 18:09
we had the same problem so we just called are friends to wait in line and buy one and we got like 4 for our family and cousins
June 29th, 2009 at 20:09
Businesses generally can reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. But this is a rather peculiar case.
Frankly, BestBuy frequently does not offer the “best buy” so I’m not a big customer of theirs. I can only recommend that in the future, when you get a statement over the phone, get the person’s name. That way you can at least follow up and have them admonished for giving false information.
Always carry a small pad of paper and pen when going shopping, so during such confrontations, you can take it out and write down the persons name.
July 2nd, 2009 at 20:00
techinacally they can serve who they want how they want and unless you have sufficient evidence to prove otherwise you are on a looser However i trust you will not go to their store again
July 4th, 2009 at 05:52
If your cousin had quietly said, I’ll take these back to the display, see you later, and then quietly gotten back in line and bought just one Wii, he probably would have had no trouble buying it.
But no, you kept discussing your plan in front of the cashier and the manager. Yes, he should have had a sign up. If the price was really good, the store was hoping they would be loss leaders…get you into buy it and other things too.
I shop at many stores that have a 1-to-a-customer sign. All signs first appeared during a previous PR fiasco. On a case by case basis, I’ve bought multiples for relatives because the store owner knew me. Good customer, I never scalp.
July 5th, 2009 at 23:40
Legally if it’s NOT POSTED they cannot discrimate. HOwever you also can’t force the issue with a manager unless you call the cops and they KNOW it so they do. I would complain to the corpoate office and don’t forget BBB. I would report them to the Better Business Bureau website.
July 8th, 2009 at 08:25
I know two employees at best buy. Both said the store has had a policy of one wii per customer. Certainly you can understand why. However, I agree with you if it was not posted anywhere you should be able to buy a number of them that is the fault of the store. As far as the manager changing his story to one wii per household or one per group that is B.S. and he was just trying to **** you off. The manager could get in big trouble if the store manager finds out. In addition the best buy company was not allowed to have the wii’s sold to employees over the holiday, but I know one store that did a drawing and 10 people were picked to buy wii’s at regular price no employee discount. So big rule breaking there as well. Quite frankly I would say you don’t need to boycott best buy entirely but start taking your business to another store. Each individual store and department has to meet their sales goals. so if you like best buy just start going to another location.