As listeners of the podcast already know, I’ve got problems with the Best Buy located most conveniently to where I live. They often won’t have games on release day (even those that say “AVAILABLE TUESDAY” in their weekly ad, I’ll have to track down an employee to get them to get me a game from the back, they had a busted up Beatles Rock Band demo setup, they only had 2 accessories for the PSP Go on launch day, they didn’t have Rhythm Heaven on the DSi launch day. I mean, there’s been quite a lot of disappointment with this Best Buy. So much that I’ve started just ordering games that have Release Day delivery on Amazon instead.

Yesterday I thought what the hell, I’ll give them a shot for Lips Number One Hits and Borderlands. They had a deal running in their Sunday ad where Lips comes with a code for a free Colbie Caillat song pack. My fiancee likes Colbie Caillat, I’m a sucker for saccharine pop songs, so I’ll get it at Best Buy, get the song pack there instead of ordering on Amazon (who had it cheaper than BB, but still).

I took no chances by ordering online for in-store pickup. And of course when I went to the typically crappy Best Buy that has left me disappointed so many times before, they had the game but…couldn’t find the song pack. So I wrote them a letter. And here it is, after the jump.

I’ve been a loyal Best Buy customer for many years and have bought many thousands of dollars in merchandise at your stores. I’ve been a member of the Reward Zone program since it began (and Premier Silver currently). I’m a gadget geek and buy a lot of consumer electronics. I have moved across the country several times and the first thing I do in my new location is check where the nearest Best Buy is. It is not uncommon for me to stop into the closest store more than once a week to browse. But I wanted to voice my displeasure and concern at the experience I’ve had at one particular Best Buy location over the past 18 months, punctuated by a situation yesterday which marks the end of my patronizing your stores.

I purchased a copy of Lips Number One Hits for the Xbox 360 yesterday for in-store pickup at store #890 (Buckhead, Atlanta, GA, order # [edited]). In your weekly ad this week the game was advertised as coming with a free Colbie Caillat song pack (SKU 9562957). My fiancee is a fan of Colbie Caillat’s music and this bonus is part of the reason I decided to purchase the game at Best Buy instead of elsewhere. When I went to the customer service desk to pick up the order, they had no knowledge of this extra or a clue as to where they might find it. When I showed them the weekly ad, the woman at the desk made a half-hearted attempt to look and see if the card was available at the register, then came back and suggested I go back to the video game department and look or ask back there, and if they had the card she could ring it up for me.

That was the start of the problem. I know from at least a dozen previous experiences at this location that getting assistance in the video game department is all too often a futile effort, especially on weekdays. I walked to the back corner of the store where the department is located and walked around for 10 minutes hoping to flag someone – anyone – down that could help me find this. There were no store employees anywhere near Video Games. There were no copies of Lips Number One Hits or the exclusive gift card on the shelf in the department. I eventually had to walk over to the camera area where I got associate [edited] to help me.

Unfortunately, despite his best efforts he was unable to find anyone that knew about this extra or find any of the cards that the in-store inventory system said the location had in stock (indicated they had 4). He did offer to find another store that may have the cards but there’s the other problem – another store means running all over Atlanta to find what by your ad and your inventory system should’ve been in the store already. He suggested coming back later in the week and talking to [edited] (I’m assuming the store manager) and they would help me but this being just the latest disappointment with this location I don’t know that I’m interested in returning at all.

The experience with the Lips Number One Hits bonus underlines the other problem I have had with this location’s video game department for the past 18 months. The situation that’s happened nearly a dozen times will be that a game’s advertised in the weekly ad as “AVAILABLE TUESDAY.” I’ll show up Tuesday evening after work (after 6 pm) and the game is nowhere to be found. It’s not on the shelf in the video game department, it’s not in the front of the store where new release games are sometimes found, and then I have to go searching for an associate to help me get it out of the back or tell me (as has happened on numerous occasions) that they were unable to find the game I was looking for even when a check on bestbuy.com indicates that the game is available at that location.

So since that had been my experience enough times I started ordering games via bestbuy.com for in-store pickup instead. Sure enough they always have my game waiting for me at customer service, though when I look around the store it hasn’t been put on the shelves. I looked just now on bestbuy.com and Lips Number One Hits is listed as In Stock at the Buckhead location, but it wasn’t on the shelf anywhere in-store yesterday when I went to pick up my online-ordered copy!

It is with great disappointment that this may be the end of my customer relationship with Best Buy altogether. When I can get lower prices, free release-day shipping from Amazon.com and always get the bonus content promised to me there is NO reason for me to go to your store where the service is unhelpful, the staff slow to unpack/stock the week’s new video game releases, and clueless to the whereabouts of the free bonus that was supposed to come with the game. I spent 45 minutes in the store last night for what should’ve taken less than 5. And I walked out of there wishing I’d just ordered it from Amazon instead of bothering with Best Buy. I’m one of the few consumers that still enjoys going into a store to buy. But you have made it unbearably frustrating to continue doing so with you.

It is a shame that you may be losing a loyal customer and thousands of dollars of business a year over what equates to a $5 song pack whose intention was no doubt to get me into the store and buy from you. But it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back in this case as my frustration with this location has built over the last 18 months of shopping experiences.

Thank you,

Chris Johnston

Will I get a reply from them? Who knows. But, like I say in the letter…I think this abusive relationship may finally be over.