Best Buy — Attraction in San Jose

I wish I could give "no stars." I will caveat that the sales person was trying their absolute best to help, without the support of good processes or management; so this poor review is mainly for Best Buy management team.

I spent 2 hours of my life trying to buy a phone with an activation deal. This means that the carrier (Google Fi in this instance) and Best Buy need to have their systems sync for the phone to be activated before ever opening the box, even before you get to the point of purchasing the phone.

My account got activated, but the Best Buy system glitched and couldn't get to the purchasing step. The next two hours were the Best Buy salesperson and Google Fi rep trying various troubleshooting steps to get the purchase to go through.

Management needs a contingency plan in place for when systems fail and glitch. It was basically a technicality that wouldn't let me purchase the phone at the right discount rate. The manager alleged there was no way for him or anyone else to ring me out for that price. They also did nothing from a Customer Service perspective to smooth over the interaction or show any empathy or sympathy - letting their salesperson have to awkwardly take the brunt of the poor situation. That is an astoundingly bad manager for someone in a Customer Support role. The box was in front of me, but I couldn't buy it unless I wanted to pay full price - even though I newly activated with Google Fi which was the conditions of the salesprice. I never go to physical stores anymore and buy on Amazon always - and this experience has solidified for me how useless in person shopping is. If I can physically see the phone, try to give you my money, and you won't take it; should've just gotten 2 day shipping.

At the end of the day, after wasting almost 2 hours of my life - I walked out without a phone. I'm a busy working mom; 2 hours of my life is could be playing with my son, finishing an assignment, cleaning, actually doing something restful for myself or calling a friend. I will never shop at Best Buy again. My friends and family will never shop at...

I passionately do not want to give anymore business to this Best Buy.

It's been 10 years since my last review for this place and it remains the same.

Store is nice, clean and items are overpriced. It's not a bad place if you just need something immediately.

"In-store pickup" section people really suck

I tried to use $900 worth of Best Buy gift cards today to buy a Macbook.

First, I was told my gift card is not activated. I checked the balance over my phone and it was valid and I showed the balance to the worker.

Second, I was told the gift cards just won't work I thought it was strange, so I grabbed a water bottle and headed over to the regular cash register to test the gift card. It worked with no problems so I went back to the in-store pickup people to ask for the Macbook so I can just have the cash register people ring me up. Started giving a talk on how a water bottle is not exactly the same as a laptop.

Third, I was told I can't apply the Best Buy gift cards on ANY Apple products.

For whatever reason they weren't going to accept the Best Buy gift cards so I just went home and made the order (screenshot attached)

The in-store pickup worker (short asian guy) was condescending and irritating. Just had a "here we go with another troubled customer" attitude. Talked way too much. Repeating the same statement over and over in a different way. I just wanted to figure out why they weren't accepting the gift cards and I felt like he was just trying to show off to his other co-worker how to handle difficult customers. I just wanted to buy the Macbook.

Once again, gift cards worked fine online. Just annoyed about how much time was wasted going into...

I tried to purchase a laptop from Emeryville BB. Website said they had one. However, the associates were not able to find it. So today before going to any store, I decided to call first to confirm they had stock. I was going to subtract one star for not being able to talk to the store directly. When you call, their phone customer service picks up. I explained to the first person I spoke with that I wanted to make sure the stores had one physically in stock before I purchased. I didn’t want to buy it online or over the phone, show up, and they can’t find the laptop - most stores were only showing one in stock. She was not understanding me and wanted me to place the order without confirming the laptop was actually there.

I hung up and called again. I spoke with another person and explained the same thing. She checked stock in several stores. Only the BB in Santana Row showed two in stock. I took the chance, thinking what are the odds that two $2k laptops would be missing.

Showed up and purchased an ASUS ROG Zephyrus 16” laptop, extended warranty, accessories, etc. About +/- $3k.

One star added back because of the nice lady I spoke with on the phone, and for the wonderful staff at BB Santana Row. I walked in, got my laptop, but wanted to shop around some more. They held my laptop and let me walk around to shop. I went to the computer area and didn’t wait one minute before an associate asked if I needed assistance. I explained my needs, he offered advice and suggestions, and answered my all my questions.

I am very happy with my purchase and overall experience - from the second phone call, to the staff at the store. Thank...