Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

[KSUowls]

I have run into a bit of an issue with Best Buy involving a refund. I am considering sending a complaint to their corporate office, but I want to see if I'm alone on thinking my complaint is justified or not first.

Quick history of events:
October 2011 - I bought the Droid Bionic and monthly insurance from Best Buy.
August 2012 - Traded my Bionic into BB for credit towards the Galaxy 3 and purchased new insurance from them.
January 2013 - I finally realized that I was being double billed for insurance once for each device (guess I need to pay more attention to my cc statement each month, but I shop at BB all the time so it never really jumped out at me) so I contacted BB customer service and they said it was because I never called to cancel the initial phone insurance. I finally cancelled it at that point and put in a refund request for the 4 months I did not at any point have possession of the phone, covering September-December.

A few weeks later they gave me a refund "as a courtesy", but the refund only covered 2 of the 4 months. I sent a follow up request/complaint which I just found out has been denied.

Do you think I am or am not justified in feeling wronged in this situation? I understand that their policy states it is the customer's responsibility and they didn't 'have' to give me any refund. I also understand that I should have paid more attention to my cc statement. I can't help but look at it though from the perspective that there are still 2 months of charges for which I was not provided any product or service from Best Buy. Not only was the service not provided, but it was impossible for them to provide to me as they legally owned the device they were charging me for.

Additionally, are there any other routes I can take to resolve this favorably if you think I am justified?

Thanks in advance

[55]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

Additionally, are there any other routes I can take to resolve this favorably if you think I am justified?

Stop shopping at Best Buy and take your business elsewhere.

[AUChase]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

I hate to say it, but you'll have a hard time getting anywhere if their policy says it's the customer's responsibility to cancel the insurance.

How much was it, if you don't mind me asking ? If it wasn't much and it was me, I would just use it as a reminder and lesson to pay more attention to the charges on my credit card and move on.

[KSUowls]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

@55
Yeah I agree. I doubt they believed me, but I made it very clear to the customer service manager I spoke with who handled my second complain that I would not shop there again until it was resolved. So far I've delivered on that promise. Even though it's only been a few weeks, I used to go to Best Buy about once a week to check out their Blu-rays on sale and sometimes pick up a video game so going about 6 weeks without going in their store is a big statement from me.


@AUChase
It was $9.99 a month. So in all it's $20 which isn't a lot of money, but it kind of comes down to the principle of the matter to me. If they are unwilling to budge $20 for a service they never provided to me then I have to wonder what future events could take place. Especially considering the amount of money I tend to drop in their stores.
I'll definitely pay more attention to my cc statement each month. Part of the reason I didn't catch this one is because when I purchased the new insurance I bought 2 years all at once which saved me like 20% from the month to month, but I had to pay it all up front. So I didn't actually see two different $9.99 charges.

The good news in all of this is that I am not spending as much money over the last month and a half that this has been going on. Now all of my shopping is done via Amazon which I'm just less likely to buy from since I have to have a specific need to go looking on Amazon.

[p_rushing]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

2 months is all you will get from any company. It is your responsibility to check your bill and usually on the bill it will state how many days you have to dispute any charges.

Now based on how much money you spend, you could get it refunded if you get to the right people with power to do it. Also check and see if Best Buy is even handling it, most likely they aren't and another company actually handles the billing. Which is why they won't really care if you stop shopping there.

If you shop their a lot, I would think you are in the rewards club, if you are, then you might have better luck there. Try getting them to give you points or something else to offset the $$.

[KSUowls]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

Yeah I'm actually a silver member which means I spent way too much money there lol. In my initial dealings with their customer service I tried to drive home that point. They just kept repeating the policy back to me.

I'm not sure who does the insurance. I assume it is Best Buy because it is handled by their Geek Squad, and it has been handled differently than a previous instance of phone insurance I had. A few years ago I bought insurance through Verizon, but they used a 3rd party company to provide the coverage. So if whenever I needed to put in a claim or do anything with it I had to contact the insurance provider instead of Verizon. In this case it has been Best Buy that I have talked to exclusively.

I have drafted a letter to send to their customer service department in MN. Hopefully it turns out in my favor, but at this point I'm not holding my breath. Worst case they deny me again and I continue to take my business elsewhere. I lose the convenience of shopping at the Best Buy near my house and near my work which is unfortunate, but it will encourage me to shop exclusively online which should save money.

[PhilliesFan13]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

I actually had pretty much the same thing happen to me this past November. I am also a Premier Silver member. I upgraded from an HTC to a Galaxy SII. I also had the insurance and they told me they would call and cancel the old one and set up the new one. 2 months later I was looking at my bank statement and saw 2 extra insurance charges on there. They never called and cancelled it. I went back to the mobile department at the store and they called for me. I actually got refunded for both months a few weeks later. I know you are being charged 2 more months than I was, but I still don't understand why they didn't refund you fully.

[jmik58]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

I used to work in the insurance industry but this is a little outside of the realm of what I dealt with. I would suggest calling the state insurance commissioner's office and see what their take is.

[shugknight]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

Stop shopping at Best Buy and take your business elsewhere.

Exactly what I was thinking. This place is the worst.

At my old office, my boss and I bought a mini fridge for our office. 4 hours later we go back to return it as it didn't work.

They wouldn't give us the full refund and wanted to charge us a stocking fee. WTF? My boss got so pissed, it was pretty hilarious to me.

Their service is the worst.

[AUChase]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

Exactly what I was thinking. This place is the worst.

At my old office, my boss and I bought a mini fridge for our office. 4 hours later we go back to return it as it didn't work.

They wouldn't give us the full refund and wanted to charge us a stocking fee. WTF? My boss got so pissed, it was pretty hilarious to me.

Their service is the worst.

That's crazy. I was a supervisor in retail for almost a year. We only charged a restocking fee on certain special order items that were sent back to the distribution centers.

If it's something sold in the store, a restocking fee is absurd.

[Redacted01]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

If it is your responsibility, it is your responsibility. It doesn't matter that you no longer had the phone. Doesn't mean whoever works in insurance is aware of that. Unless they specifically said (and almost need it in writing for waiting so long) that they would have it cancelled/transferred/whatever, you're out $20. The principle is that you should have paid attention or cancelled the insurance, not have them hand you money for your mistake.

[CMH]

I think getting two months is an accomplishment.

Sucks but at least they gave you half back.


Sent from my mobile device.

[shugknight]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

That's crazy. I was a supervisor in retail for almost a year. We only charged a restocking fee on certain special order items that were sent back to the distribution centers.

If it's something sold in the store, a restocking fee is absurd.

That's why I've boycotted Best Buy for the past 10 years.

And that's why my boss almost blew his lid fighting it.

And that's why I LMAO watching him.

[shugknight]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

To the OP..

I would try calling them again and see if another rep will give you a refund for the other 2 months.

Granted it should of been your responsibility for checking your CC statement, but it should have also been Best Buy's responsibility for canceling the insurance when you traded your old phone in. That's on them for not training their employees correctly. Unless the insurance is from a third party (which I'm not sure of) they should of been able to cancel it as soon as you traded your old phone for a new one.

If talking to another rep doesn't work, file a complaint to the BBB.

I hate these big corporations. They charge you these unknown fees that they expect you to see and complain about to get it rectified, but if you don't they keep billing you for these fee's. It's absurd.

[jmik58]

Re: Best Buy complaint - Input Appreciated

If it is your responsibility, it is your responsibility. It doesn't matter that you no longer had the phone. Doesn't mean whoever works in insurance is aware of that. Unless they specifically said (and almost need it in writing for waiting so long) that they would have it cancelled/transferred/whatever, you're out $20. The principle is that you should have paid attention or cancelled the insurance, not have them hand you money for your mistake.

Actually, in the insurance industry (if this situation is regulated like property/casualty, etc.) you can back date the time when a policy is terminated as long as you have proof.

For example, if you sell a car but don't tell your insurance agent and continue to pay premium for a month, you can take the bill of sale to the agency and get the policy retro-terminated to the date of sale and the premium can be refunded. I did this several times for people when I worked for an agency.

Considering that you have it on paper that you exchanged the phone, I would think that may suffice for proof. It's worth checking into.