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 27th, 2009 at 18:01
call the best buy corporate! thats some bs. i have never heard of someone changing their statement saying only one per group, now thats funny! but just call the main office and complain. because best buy doesn’t want bad business in the paper do they?
June 27th, 2009 at 19:04
Wow they really did you wrong you should report this or even make it a case cause it’s not right that he kept changing his policy.
June 30th, 2009 at 19:25
I think the store management acted totally inappropriately..even if they said one per customer..they CAN NOT tell you one per group! I stood in line four hours the Sunday before Christmas in a frozen rain storm to get a wii from target. I took an elderly woman with me who had been in line with me at k-mart from 4am to 5:30 am when the manager came out and announced he only had 5!!! She asked if she could ride with me to target and of course I said yes! can you imagine then saying..”you know this woman…only one of you can buy a wii!” ridiculous. there were many family members in line..it was ONE PER PERSON…
I wouldn’t let them get away with this. so you can’t give people a ride to best buy? that’s stupid!
July 1st, 2009 at 02:16
Wow that was long………
Since you have said that no sign were posted stating that there was a limit to how many you buy then you were entitled to purchase as many as you want. My suggestions would be to contact the store manager as opposed to the floor manager they are more likely to accommodate you. You also need to send an email to there corporate offices and issue a complaint about the service that you received. While a store does have a right to refuse service to anyone, they are not however allowed to change store policy in the middle of a conversation. I had a similar experience in my wii purchase at Best buy but it was resolved by the store manager when the floor supervisor was unable to help me. If I was you I would fight it, and get your other five Wiis. If you make enough noise some is eventually going to listen. Good Luck!!!!!
July 1st, 2009 at 19:55
well i know why they say one per coustemer that way u cant buyit and resale it for a higher price (which is unfare sense ppl could jest buy it from bestbuy for a fair price) so that is to protected ppl from being over charged and all so that is fare and resible in this case it protectes the margority .
but sense your cusin was from a difrent house hold he should have been able to buy it and also the store maniger had no right to change his policey but if he wanted he could simply refuse to sell it (sense this is amirica he can do that) but u know it was wroung to refues to sell it to your cusoin that was ill proper (u must have pissed off the manger {some times they get mad realy easy}) so that was not right but thats what happens and theres not much u can do about it legaly (in court aand stuff like that ) but u can go to his boss or somthing like that and expline to him your store (remimber the mangers name ) and compline to them and he would have a mark aginst him if unfo ppl compline about him he will get fired (but that wont be soon unless hes be complined about before)
but thats about it
July 3rd, 2009 at 17:23
Retailers do not HAVE to sell you anything.
They can choose to ban you for no reason, or they can refuse to sell you any item they choose.
You are infact walking onto private property when you walk into a shop, but have a general invite to come in.
Grow up and go buy your computer somewhere else.
July 5th, 2009 at 22:12
he probably thought that you were going to scalp it on line and that folks who want one wouldn’t get it b/c you had bought them all. I know that you weren’t going to do that and had a legit reason to want 6.
Not sure about legal grounds to make him pay attention. He is the manager on duty and it is his perogative to distribute the wiis in accordance to the overall directive of his company. If they are saying, prevent people from buying and reselling these for profit and that is what he thought you were going to do, then probably even contacting the district manager wouldn’t help.
However, if he was abusive or disrespectful to you in communicating that policy he could be in a lot of trouble.
Also, have a friend of another ethnicity call up and see what they tell that friend the policy is. I only mention that b/c I think you said this is discriminatory (”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).”
If he discriminated against you on the basis of your race, ethnicity etc. then file a complaint with the EEOC. it might be a hassel and might take a bit of time on your part, but you could be a tremendous pain in this guys **** for several years.
If you need help negotiating the EEOC process contact me and I can get you started. You will not have to retain an attorney to get this guy in a lot of trouble.
So call the district office, try to resolve it with his superior, if that gets you nowhere. Threaten the EEOC bomb. If he balks email me.