On my lunch break yesterday I bought a game for the 360. When I got back to work I noticed that the game had been on sale and they charged me full price, so I decided to pop back in today and have them credit me the amount that should have been deducted.
While standing in line I witnessed something that really made me scratch my head.
There was a guy that was returning a piece of equipment. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but it was something that required a USB cord to do some kind of function. The machine doesn't come with a USB cord, you need to buy it seperately. But it should have a cord to plug it in and power it up. The power cord was missing. There was also a software CD that was supposed to be included, that was missing as well.
I could hear the guy's reason for returning it loud and clear: The cord to plug the machine in was missing, as was the software CD needed to use the equipment. "How do I get electricity to the machine?" He kept asking.
The guy couldn't have been more clear. At one point Best Buy had four people surrounding him trying to tell him "this doesn't come with cords, you can't return it for that reason." I don't know how many times he said "I know it doesn't come with a USB cord. I need a power cord." Finally, obviously very frustrated, he pulled the unit out of the box along with some paper work and basically screamed "someone plug this thing in!" So they went to plug it in. No cord.
I shit you not, one of the employees looks at the guy and says "where is the power cord?"
By now there were maybe five of us waiting in line and we're all kind of looking at our feet, trying to act like we weren't listening - it was very awkward. All the sudden from behind me I hear a little lady who must have been 60 pipe out "what FUCKING CORD do you think he's been trying to point out to you assholes? Give him his money back so we can all get on with our lives!"
Yeah. I don't know if the $6.10 I saved on the overcharged game was worth all that!
But the point remains - this poor guy had to fight tooth and nail to return something and his reason for returning it was very valid. You don't buy a TV or a DVD player without it coming complete with a cord to plug it in to the wall! This thing, whatever it was, doesn't run on little mice running on wheels stored inside it!
What happened to the art of listening to your customer? I don't buy a lot of things from Best Buy, games mostly, but that interaction certainly will make me second guess spending on a "big ticket" item.
That was painful!
Maine edit to make post more clear.
Author