The more I think about the lack of customer service at Best Buy dealing with the iTunes gift card, the more determined I am to be finished shopping at big-chain-don’t-give-a-crap type stores.
After sending the info through the form on Best Buy’s website where I sent them a link to my blog entry, I promptly received a response from a human, albeit a canned type response, simply saying they’re sorry I’ve had problems and they’re looking into it.
But, why do we shop at stores like Best Buy instead of our local corner store? Because Best Buy offers discounts and rebates and buy one get one half off and that kind of stuff. I’m truly not picking on Best Buy because I have a feeling so many of the conglomerates behave in this same manner.
We buy at a discount so we can buy more stuff we don’t need. Why can’t we just support the local shops who do offer customer service; who do care about getting our business?
Remember when I was looking for a freezer? I went to our local appliance store, Ring’s Appliance – a fairly small store, where a real human answers the phone when I call and they remember my name. Vince suggested I check prices at Best Buy before purchasing the freezer. Yes, Best Buy was about $50 cheaper but they also had a $30 or $50 delivery charge (I can’t remember what it was) which brought the price right up to what I was going to pay at Ring’s. Then when the freezer I ordered wasn’t in before my meat was ready, Ring’s sent me a brand spankin’ new chest freezer to use and when my own upright arrived, they delivered it and two muscular young men moved half a frozen cow from the chest freezer into my upright freezer. Would Best Buy have done that? It makes me laugh to even think of such!
When we first moved here, I assumed Wal-Mart’s groceries were way cheaper than Wood’s — our little local chain type grocery. When it got to the point where I almost had to take nausea meds just to be able to walk through the produce aisle at Wal-Mart, I switched to shopping at Wood’s and found that their prices are actually less than Wal-Mart on many items, the people there are so friendly (except that darned pharmacist!) and I actually enjoy going to that store.
Why is it that so many have written me saying customer in too many places is horrible? Why do we allow it? Do we not realize that we work hard for our money and if someone wants our business, we should be treated with respect?
We take it! We sit back and complain to each other but we keep shopping at those places. We keep giving them our money! If enough people say NO! I’m not taking it any longer!, then things may change. I don’t have the time or the desire or the know how or funds to start any kind of national customer service debate but I can change where I spend my own money.
There will still be items I have to buy at big-chain-don’t-give-a-crap type stores, but maybe with my new determination to avoid them at all costs, I’ll even save some money by not shopping at all! If I can’t buy it from a store who has a real human who answers their phone, maybe I’ll just do without!
