Best Buy — Local services in Richmond

My friends, who are an older Asian couple in their 80s, bought a Dyson V8 vacuum cleaner from this location 3 weeks ago. They only used the machine three times before it started loosing power and then finally stopped working. They asked me for my assistance and to take them back to the store to find out if they used the machine incorrectly. They thought Best Buy would be able to tell her what she was doing wrong or if there was something wrong with the unit. They did not bring the box with them - on the first trip.

At Best Buy we were helped by two staff members - I believe one of them may have been a Manager. We described the issue and the Manager's response was 1.) return it or 2.) replace with another unit. We asked about replacing with the same model, the manager's response was that they were out of stock in their store and online. I asked if we could pickup a replacement from another store, she replied with "they were all out" - note that she did not offer to call other stores to check. The Manager suggested that we buy another model which is $200 more , I asked how is the consumer being protected if they didn't want & couldn't afford to upgrade to a $200 more expensive machine? She said that was the best solution they could provide. At this point we decided to just return the unit. What we didn't know was Dyson's 2 year warranty. Where if there was any issue they would send it to a service center to be repaired and if not repairable it would be replaced. This information was never provided to us by Best Buy staff.

We went back to pickup the box. Got back to Best Buy for our second time. As they were inspecting the box for all the parts they noticed the attachments were missing - sadly the wife forgot to pack them. We told the agent that we would go back to pick up the missing attachments but would like to leave the box at the store. Before leaving store however, I asked the agent to give us a receipt or write on my original receipt noting that we had returned the machine but refund is not complete. The agent said it would be fine if we brought back before 6 P.M. My concern was that if we came back and the agent was not there then no one knew that we did return the main unit. I asked the agent what if she was stepped away & somebody had to help us? The agent's repsonse was they have security camera footage they could review - really? At this point the agent was already showing impatience with me. We came back with the attachments & luckily the same agent processed the refund.

My friends previously bought a Dyson fan in August from this store and wanted a digital receipt. They wanted a digital version in case of arranty. I passed the original paper receipt to the agent and asked if she could email a digital receipt version. What the agent did was to go to their scanner to scan the receipt & email that to me! If i had known that's what she would do, I would have scanned it myself without bothering her.

At this point she was showing her frustration & slammed the receipt back onto the counter. I told her that I was sorry have to had come back three times today, however, commented being a customer service Rep she should be more courteous. Her response was "YOU HAVE A NICE DAY" (in a very unpleasant tone & without looking at me). I was not going to leave without speaking with the Manager about this service . I got a hold of the Manager and described the attitude that I received from her staff. I also explained that we understood the agent was busy & it was not our choice to come back three times! It was no fun for us and we expected to be treated with respect. We never wanted to spend a nice Sunday afternoon going back three times & spending two hours at the store to return a vacuum. We may not be rich but we should be treated better than we were at this store.

In the end we bought another unit from Costco who are customer...

I think this latest retail experience drives home the following point: If brick and mortar retailers stop stepping up their customer experience... they will fail. Please allow me to explain using today's experience.

Our rice cooker at home is starting to lose it's non-stick coating. So my family tasked me with finding a new one. I ended up picking a Panasonic unit, as I trust the name brand, as well as liked the options that this particular model came with. Online reviews were mostly positive. So I checked out some retailers, and Best Buy showed that they had this particular model in stock in their Richmond store. I went in, saw it on display, and stood there waiting for someone for about 10 minutes. Most employees here have earpieces for communicating with other staff members. There was one staff member working with a family on their purchase of a new fridge. Not once did he acknowledge me, nor did he even radio anyone to come help. Being a patient man, I did stay waiting there. Eventually someone came up and asked if I needed help. I stated that I was interested in this particular rice cooker and told the gentleman that I was unable to find any of these. He offered to check the stores inventory. He grabbed his cell phone and slowly walked to the computer. On the way back to me, he got caught up with another customer asking a question. Instead of politely asking the customer to wait a moment, he answered the question, which was followed by another question... so on and so forth. Anyway, he eventually offered to help this customer after he was done with me. Turns out they show them in stock, so he offered to check the stockroom. After about 5 minutes, he came back and said he was unable to locate the 1 that they showed in stock. I decided then to leave, and have chosen one off of Amazon.ca.

I feel like that if brick and mortar operations expect to be able to succeed in this day and age, that they really need to step up their skills. This customer experience could have been made better if:

1. He offered to find me one at another store
2. Invited me to have purchased it online and have it shipped to my door
3. Discussed other similar models and how they might compare in their features
4. Provided more attentive care for his customer.

I work in customer service in the wholesale and retail automotive industry. I conduct myself in a "don't say no" way. Treating people like you value their business is what creates a return experience. I don't feel like my time or money spent there is of any value to this company... or at least to that particular employee.

Now I will say the following positives about this particular store: The fellow helping the family buying a fridge really knew his stuff. Listening in on their conversation really made me wish that he was helping me. This store is clean and not crowded like some have been in the past. There is an amazing selection of products, which I truly appreciate.

Sorry that you lost a sale over this... but until Best Buy can prove that they are improving the overall customer experience, I will continue to take my...

Recently in the beginning of this week (Monday evening) I saw online that Bestbuy had a promotional sale on a Seagate hard drive, and so I checked which stores had it available (to which it listed Richmonds location). The next day on Tuesday morning, I was at Lansdowne Richmond Bestbuy right at 10am, and as I was walking in, I was politely greeted by the person who was opening the gate (the entrance from inside the mall), and then a sales person in the back. I had made my way over to the Geek Squad area and had asked the gentleman in the back who was working if he could assist me in finding this product. He was very friendly and eager to help, and told me that the front desk would have this knowledge as their stock would be locked up in the front if there was any left.

So when I arrived at the front desk, I showed the guy who was behind the desk the screenshot I had of the item I was looking for and asked him if there was still any left. He then barely glanced at my phone as he told me they were all sold out. In response I said "are you sure because I checked online yesterday and it said this location still had it available." He asked to see the photo again and then told me he realized he put in the wrong Brand of harddrive and that he will check again. When he did, he said the sale had ended Monday night. I told him "no, the sale ends on Friday" and insisted for him to actually look at my screenshot as it stated that fact. And when he saw it he said "ok yeah it ends on Friday but we sold out".

Now, because he had overlooked my inquiry twice (not putting in the right brand, and saying the promo ended Monday when it ends Friday), I was a bit frustrated with his blunt dismissful answers, and unhelpful lack of offering solutions. The store had just opened so it wasn't at all busy.

So I promptly asked if he could help me look up to see which stores may carry the item and he told me Cambie. I asked if I would be able to place a hold on one so that I could pick it up, and then he said "Just go down there to pick it up now". I was flabbergasted by his callousness, and I told him that I didn't want to drive all the way down there just so they could tell me that they had sold out too. He then replied "How can they sell out?? They have 5. Who will buy all of that?" I looked at him perplexed because of what just transpired and how he didnt see the irony behind his comment. I said "Well you guys sold out even though online says you had it in stock." To which he just shrugged his shoulders.

I left feeling very frustrated at his terrible customer service, blatant comments, and unwillingness to offer solutions. I say this last part because when I went to another Bestbuy, the worker there suggested to me that they could place an online order for me to ship to the store or to my address. And now that I have done that, and am tracking my order, I could see that the item has been received and shipped through Richmond.

The people in the back were polite, but because of the front person's attitude, it completely overshadowed my...