Best Buy — Local services in Downers Grove

This is potentially the worst retail experience I've ever had. This happened 14 days ago and Im still thinking about it.

Context: I listen to ambience videos (think rain, bird song, etc type videos) and I wanted a soundbar to put on my bed to get the full binaural effects of my audio to help fully immerse me. I know it's unconventional, but it's something I'm passionate about.

On 5/3 in the afternoon my bf and I walked into this store to purchase a soundbar. At the soundbar section we are greeted with a condescending guy who asks what I'm looking for. I say I'm looking for a soundbar that can connect to my phone. He tells me the soundbars I'm looking at can't connect to phones and recommends I look at a speaker instead of a soundbar. I say I'm not interested in a speaker. I read the tag on the soundbar in front of me, and it says Bluetooth compatability to mobile devices. He again suggests a speaker, which I again decline, and he ends up looking up the information to find it is, in fact, compatible. The conversation felt judgemental and rude, and at this point I tell him I'll look myself and my boyfriend and I leave abruptly. Annoying, but not the biggest deal.

We spend the next 30 minutes testing all of the soundbars based on the type of audio im looking for. I end up settling on the Samsung B650, which sounded the best and was also in sale to be in my price range. I'm not letting the first guy ruin my excitement to buy this soundbar, so we find a completely different guy from another section of the store. THAT guy was very polite and awesome btw. He calls someone to bring the soundbar up to the checkout section of that area of the store since there were none out on the shelves.

We're waiting in line to check out, and a different guy, I believe the manager of that section, takes the speaker and literally pulls it aside as I'm trying to purchase it from another employee. I see the first guy in the back and I'm pretty sure they had talked first. He asks me why I chose that speaker. I say it sounded the best and it was in sale to be in my price range. He asks me what I plan to use it for, and at this point I'm incredibly frustrated and embarrassed with the entire experience and I'm stumbling over my words, probably not explaining things well. I tell him I plan to use it for ambience videos. He asks me what type of sound I'm looking for, like I hadn't just spent 30 minutes picking one out, and I tell him I want a binaural and immersive sound. He tells me he doesn't think this soundbar is for me, and he brings over another employee, and says in a mocking tone "Blakely here is looking for an immersive sound, show her (soundbars over in another area)."

Im UPSET and HUMILIATED... But I remain polite, and we follow the employee to the other soundbar. They sound HORRIBLE, are not at all what I'm looking for, AND they're hundreds more than the already 300$ speaker I had my card in hand READY TK BUY prior. I make up some bs excuse and leave QUICKLY without buying anything.

And guess what? I left. I drove 25 minutes out of my way to the Best Buy on the OTHER side of Downers Grove, and spend 300$ on the Samsung B650 at THAT store. 14 days later I have used my speaker 3-4 times a day and I LOVE it. It's EXACTLY what I wanted.

I really don't know what the problem was but that was completely ridiculously and HUMILIATING. Whether it's because they thought a girl can't possibly know what she wants! Or whether they're some kind of soundbar elitists that thing soundbars MUST be used for TVs or whatever the hell. Or whether they just hate their customers and can't just let them purchase the item they CLEARLY want to purchase.

If I could rate 0 stars I would. 5 stars to the OTHER best buy though.

Pictured is my soundbar I do not regret purchasing and I'm happy I bought from a...

I purchased a camera online for store pick up. After completing the order pick up I realized there was a better option and I wanted to upgrade and pay the difference. I was originally told the system had not refreshed so my order pickup wasn’t in the system. I waited over an hour and decided to come back another day to purchase the order .

To prevent losing out on a big sale, I was recommended by the manager on duty (Daniel) that they could process my exhange over the phone later that night and expedite shipping to my address. I was happy to hear they had a solution and accepted the alternative. I had added accessories to the order which I was promised would also be shipped.

Later in the evening, past store hours I received a call from the associate that helped me (he was great and very patient). I was asked for my PII (Social Security) over the phone to process the exhange using my Besrbuy credit card. Once the order was processed I was told only half my order was able to be shipped and I would have to come in store to pick up the accessories.

This was a huge red flag for me considering this part was left out until after I provided my information. I asked to speak to a manager and I was connected with “Jose”.

Jose could care less about my situation and was gaslighting me over the phone. He was unaware of the context and did not offer to help with the situation. He repeated what the sales employee told me and ultimately told me he could just cancel the order and continue closing his store. His attitude was extremely rude , and it was clear to me that this store does not care how much time, money and effort is spent to make a big purchase. I explained to Jose that I was told earlier in the store this order would have no issues shipping. Jose told me the only option I had was to come in store and pick up the remaining accessories. I live extremely far and this was the main reason we decided on expedited shipping.

Jose was overly emotional and decided to cancel my order without my consent. Not only did he allow my PII to be processed over the phone through a sales employee but he also decided to cancel without my given consent.

This is a huge breach of privacy. I should also mention there is a FedEx drop off box which is only 5 mins from this BestBuy location. There were many ways to diffuse the situation and Jose needs better training.

Not only did Jose take away a sales opportunity from an associate who worked with me the entire night but he also set an example how to treat customers poorly.

I will be cancelling my BestBuy card after having it for almost a decade. This might not mean much to Jose but your store has lost out on thousands of dollars of potential business in the future. My family and I were also planning on visiting the kitchen showroom ti purchase Viking, however we have changed our mind and will be giving our business to ABT.

Bestbuy, please handle this situation properly and train your employees. I am in example of many. There is a reason your NPS score is low and more people are opting out from purchasing from you guys. Treat your customers with mutual respect, and some dignity. I will never be shopping at any Besrbuy location again and will advise many others to...

Worst customer service I have experienced at a Best Buy.

I have been a Best Buy customer for about 20 years, since I was 16. Not once have the associates been off putting and careless in all those years. This time was different.

I came to this location to pick up an open box item that was supposedly in excellent condition. It was supposed to basically be new. It was not.

As I walked in I was greeted by two people and was asked several times if I needed anything. I enjoyed how the associates on the floor were all very friendly and approachable. I wish I could say the same for the cashiers and “customer service” workers. They were more concerned with talking to each other than helping me out.

As I went to pick up my item the girl had trouble finding it since the soundbar I purchased was in bubble wrap and not a box. I expected a box, but it was fine for the 60% discount I received for it being open box. I asked the girl if the remote was in the bubble wrap and she said “it might be in there I feel something.” I asked if I could check and she just gave me a blank stare.

She rung up the item in the system and set it aside. I waited for a couple of minutes and she told me I was all set. The soundbar was almost behind the counter and she didn’t have the courtesy to hand it to me. So I went around the line and almost behind the counter to grab my bubble wrapped soundbar. It was all taped up, but thankfully I was able to remove the tape and the residue easily.

Once I arrived to my house, I saw that the remote was missing. I called the store right away and they were supposedly too busy to answer. I ended up talking to a customer service rep. Instead of helping me or addressing my concern with my missing remote, she explained a ton of policies that had nothing to do with my issue. When she got off the script she finally told me that she would try to contact the store and they didn’t answer her either. Her solution was to have me drive the 50 miles to the location or call them back in two hours.

The sound bar was in great condition and it worked fine. My issue was with the lack of customer service and also incorrect item description. Had the description stated my soundbar would not have all accessories, I would have been fine even after the poor in store experience as I checked out. The website clearly states that open box items in excellent condition include all original items and packing OR a suitable replacement. They didn’t care to replace anything.

I will be keeping my item but will never come back to this...