The wonderful fiasco that is Best Buy gift cards:

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:53 am

So I get a stack of Best Buy gift cards totalling about $200 for Christmas. I figure I'll just use them to snag a couple Sony PS3 network credit cards and head down to the local Best Buy. Little did I know it would turn into a total FUBAR SNAFU fiasco...

Step 1: I check the PS3 isle and none are to be found. I ask a clerk and am told they don't have any locally stocked other than the X-Box network credit cards. Grrreat... On a side note, the clerks were fucking morons. I also wanted to buy some CD jewel cases, and the computer sales clerk informs me they are up front at the registers. I get up there and none are to be found, so I ask the register clerk. She looks at me dumbfounded and I start to realize she has NEVER heard of a "CD Jewel case". I then have to use hand jestures to help describe these strange things she's never heard of, and finally I'm referred to another clerk who claims they don't sell them there. Double great!! So I've got 3 different responses from 3 different clerks as to whether or not they sell fricken CD cases! I shit you not.

Step 2: Getting back to the Sony cards, my only recorse now is to order the damn things online at BestBuy.com and have them shipped out. I order them up and proceed to the checkout cart. Upon entering my cards, I'm informed the security codes do not match. WTF?? So I try again, still don't match. I try a third time and the site promptly informs me my cards are now locked (because "obviously" I'm trying to commit a crime).

Step 3: I call the number on the back of the gift cards. It turns out to be an automated system for checking card balance. Might as well try the codes there and check the balances... Works perfectly fine on all 3 cards. Fifty bucks on this card, fifty bucks on that card, and so on.

Step 4: Well now I'm getting seriously pissed, so I look for a number to call where I can get a hold of a human. I find a number on the Best Buy web site and give it a try. I'm then rerouted several times and put on hold until I get some 20-something dumbass that shits an eggroll when I inform him my cards have been locked by their site even though the phone database verified them. He keeps repeating "Oh that's not good. That's not goooood..." like basically letting me know I've managed to fuck myself out of 200 bucks with nothing to show for it. He then for some strange reason starts trying to explain to me that I don't need any Sony network cards because the PS3 comes with a network card built in. Christ-God, this is par for the course with Best Buy clerks!! So as I'm trying to explain to this idiot I don't want a "Network Card" and actually I'm buying online credit cards for the "Sony Network", my phone's battery runs dead because of being on hold for so long on their shitty service line. Wonderful...

Step 5: I switch to a hard line and call again. This time I'm put on hold for like a decade. Just when I'm about to turn into a skeleton, FINALLY a service rep picks up the line. I explain to her all that happened with the cards, and she informs me they are already aware of the problem from thousands of people calling in and that their techs are frantically trying to fix the server. You've got to be kidding me! This whole time they could have simply blocked cards from being used on the web site until they fixed the problem. Instead, they let thousands of people's cards get locked because they want to try and fix the problem live? S-T-U-P-I-D!!! Needless to say, she also tells me they have no idea how long it will take to fix the server or unlock my 200 bucks in cards, so I'm left shit out of luck for the time being.

Bravo Best Buy! Bravo!!

ZH/Franky · Post by **ZH/Franky** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 3:01 am

You actually asked a store clerk to help you? That's pure madness right there my friend.

sweener2001 · Post by **sweener2001** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 3:06 am

my experiences with best buy and their clerks have been nothing like that.

i managed to buy a 25 pack of dvd+r dl blanks for 25 bucks because of what i'm positive was a store screw-up, and not an amazing sale.

and my sister's laptop broke, but the warranty allowed a free replacement with the nearest equivalent (hardware-wise) laptop in the store. she decided to trade up and pay the difference from the nearest equivalent to a better laptop. she did that, and came away with another free 3 year warranty and some cash unpaid because the lady at returns doesn't know math. the only douchey thing besides all the waiting was the clerk trying to say that the cheaper laptop was better than the more expensive one.

decent experiences, overall.

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 3:19 am

Actually this is somewhere around the 4th or 5th time I've had nothing but craptacular service from Best Buy and their aquired offspring known as geeksquad. The service personel for geeksquad are just as moronic as the clerks, only they are overshadowed by even more retarded management staff. I could go into a detailed story about the geeksquad fiascos I have dealt with, but that's another ten pages of text for that. Geeksquad should be called Fakesquad with how much they actually know about computer hardware.

I just don't understand how an electronics outlet manages to hire the least knowledgable people about their products & services.

ZH/Franky · Post by **ZH/Franky** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 4:05 am

I just don't understand how an electronics outlet manages to hire the least knowledgable people about their products & services.

Probably because the retards will accept less pay.

megamanzer0 · Post by **megamanzer0** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 5:29 am

sometimes they might just not want to deal with you. I've had that happen to me before. I asked a guy If he had any keyboards in stock then he walks away from the computer electronics aisle and tell me no. I just found someone else that was able to help me.

edit: I love runons

Joe Camacho · Post by **Joe Camacho** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 6:19 am

So wait, you locked all the cards? After figuring out something was wrong with them because you were typing them correctly? Instead searching for news on the net or calling best buy?

I understand one of the cards, but all?

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 6:35 am

I had entered the cards in a multi-entry box. The first couple times I figured I was typing in the wrong "security number" because the cards actually have 4 different serials on the back. After that, the cards were locked when I attempted to re-verify after calling the credit number for the balances. Keep in mind I had no warning the cards would be locked after the 3rd try. Its a nice surprise bonus they spring on you. The only reason I even suspected something was wrong with the site was when the codes worked over the phone. By then it was too late.

snkcube · Post by **snkcube** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 7:37 am

For all the years I shopped at Best Buy, I never really had any problems with them. Maybe the people, who work at the Best Buy I go to, aren't morons.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 7:59 am

Eh, that's phone service for you.. you get put on hold for decades, and then you get some incompetent ass on the other end. and with the economy the way it is, sometimes it feels like TWO decades could pass before you get said incompetent ass.

That being said, all my experiences with Best Buy and Geek Squad were awesome. Although I used GS to install a car radio..

sweener2001 · Post by **sweener2001** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:39 am

this is what geek squad does.

take your equipment.

call the company's tech support

maybe fix it

take five times longer than you to do the same.

at least when it comes to trying to fix anything.

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 11:20 am

To give you an idea of how rotten the Geek Squad is in my area:

A friend of mine had turned over to them a defective hard drive for possible recovery of the files on it. Some days go by and he doesn't hear back. Finally he goes in to see what's up and they hand him his HD, claiming its fixed. When he brought it over to my house to have me install it, I quickly noticed it was not even his hard drive! They had just picked one off the shelf at random and shoved it into his hands. He not being computer hardware savvy, dutifully acepted the hard drive without noticing the difference in the brand name.

They kept giving him the runaround after we complained, so finally I typed up a lawyer-style letter, detailing the utter lack of professionalism in handing the average customer a hard drive that wasn't even theirs to begin with. I noted how the person who really owned the hard drive they gave us could very well sue them for loss of property as could we. The manager read the letter after my friend handed it over to them, and he tried to play hard ball by claiming we'd have to take them to court if we felt that strongly about it. I let the manager know I was prepared to do exactly that, in addition to notifying their home office of the conduct going on at this location. Well this QUICKLY changed his tune and they confessed that they did lose the hard drive. They gave my friend a new hard drive that was worth three times as much, and that was satisfactory for a resolution. I did recommend they adopt a better catalogging system for customer property in the future.

That's just one of many altercations I've had with geek squad. I got so fed up that I no longer do any business with them. Thankfully there's a mom-&-pop hardware service shop in my area, and they have been excellent in all areas of customer service. The difference was night and day.

Post by **grinvader** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 6:22 pm

you know the saying

fool me once shame on you
fool me twice hurrdurrhurr

How about not doing anything with them, if you have such bad experiences already.
Ask your friends not to give you gift cards, too.

'Gift cards' is about the most stupid thing ever, as well. Better to give the cash directly, if you don't know what to offer, instead of forcing someone to use a specific thing (that may suck).

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 6:47 pm

grinvader wrote:Better to give the cash directly

Straight cash homie

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 6:51 pm

Deathlike2 wrote:
grinvader wrote:Better to give the cash directly

Straight cash homie

Giving those little Visa/MasterCard gift cards are fine too

at least those can be used anywhere that visa/MC are accepted

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 4:59 am

grinvader wrote:you know the saying

fool me once shame on you
fool me twice hurrdurrhurr

How about not doing anything with them, if you have such bad experiences already.
Ask your friends not to give you gift cards, too.

'Gift cards' is about the most stupid thing ever, as well. Better to give the cash directly, if you don't know what to offer, instead of forcing someone to use a specific thing (that may suck).

Yep, I've already decided not to do business with Best Buy again. The only reason I did this time is because I got the cards as presents, though I will make sure to hint to my relatives for my dislike of Best Buy. Actually my father got a present called "The Universal Gift Card". When he opened the box, it was cash.

That's the way to do it.

Anyway, Best Buy's web site finally got fixed and so I was able to quickly dump the card balances. Good riddance!