Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Still no Narnia

If you don't feel like reading the whole post....
Here are the highlights:
After much trouble, we got batteries for our watches...for free.
Best Buy has a doofus for a manager, and spending over an hour in the store which should have been only a few minutes caused us to miss the movie ~ The Chronicles of Narnia.
We ended up at the bar in a popular Mexican restaurant. Had many margaritas :)
Some stranger guy thought he might be on a crowded dance floor rubbing up all on my backside while I was sitting at the bar.
Ended up having loads of fun, but never did see the movie :(


It started off just like a normal Saturday night. Boyfriend and I decided to go to the movies to watch The Chronicles of Narnia. We figured since we were going to be in this certain area of the city, we would first stop at a particular jewelry store beforehand. We both needed a battery for our watch.

If you only knew the trouble I have had trying to get a new battery for my watch. I first went to a mall close to my house in hopes I could just run over there and have a new battery within a matter of minutes. I went to all 3 jewelry stores in this mall. It turns out that my watch needs a press to put the back on, as it is water resistant. The last jewelry store recommended me taking it to another jewelry store (where they send their repairs) at the other mall (near the movie theatre). The jewelry store that was recommended was actually where the watch was bought and also has a jeweler on site. Ok, well, so much for saving a few minutes.

The next day, I went to the recommended jewelry store where the watch was bought. The employee said, “Oh I am sorry, but the press broke today, so we will not be able to do it.” I figured there had to be at least one other jewelry store in this mall that had a press and could do it for me.
WRONG!
I went to all of the other jewelry stores in the mall, each one sending me to the next. I had no idea that it would be so hard to get a battery for a watch. I only had one option left, since I did not want to leave it at one of the stores. I would have to keep checking back for when the store’s press was fixed.

So back to Saturday night…

We entered the jewelry store, the employee asked if they could help. I took off my watch and asked if they could put in a new battery, as the watch was purchased at this store. She inspected it, and did not seem too sure of herself. She went to another gentleman in the store, and he said sure, this can be done.
Then boyfriend presented his watch and said he needed the same thing. She immediately spoke up and said it couldn’t be done because the watch was not purchased there, and they did not want to be liable if it broke.
WHAT?
Boyfriend said, “I know it wasn’t purchased here, but I bought the battery and the lifetime warranty package from here.”
Then the man spoke up and said he could do it. He took the two watches in the back then a few minutes later came out and handed them back to us. The man acted as though he was going to do us a favor and only charge for one battery – boyfriend’s.
The man whispers, “I am only charging you for one battery”. (He wasn’t going to charge for mine since the watch was purchased there).
Boyfriend said, “Oh, ok thank you, I had the warranty for a lifetime battery anyway”, thinking the guy was charging for mine.
The man got a surprised look and said, “Oh, never mind then, here is your card, have a nice night.”
That was cool, they replaced both watch batteries for free.

We went on to Best Buy with a little over an hour to spare before the movie started. Boyfriend had ordered an item online for pick up in the store. He had received confirmation that it was ready for pick up. This should be a quick trip in and out, then off to the movies.
WRONG!
It was the most unorganized mess I have ever seen. No one knew what was going on. Finally after waiting for 30 minutes, the manager was called to the customer service counter.
What a doofus!
He came up, asked the rep what the situation was, she told him.
He never once looked at us, or even acknowledged that we were there. He went into the back. The next thing ~ I saw was him putting little brackets on the front wall, without any word to us. Ok, this ticked me off.

You know how much I dislike confrontation….I made a b-line straight to this guy.

I asked him if he was the manager and he said yes. I proceeded to tell him how unprofessional and rude he was and that he didn’t even look at us, talk to us, or anything. Then on top of that he abandoned us.
He then said “Well, I have someone looking into it”.
I continued telling him that as the manager, he should have informed us and not gone off to do a tiddly winks job as we had been there for more than 45 minutes without any satisfaction.
That finally spurred him on to go look further.
Well, we never did get the item.
The manager going to the shelf where the item was supposed to be for the third time, never made it appear.
He would not even substitute the same brand in different increments (totaling the same amount) because they were not exactly the same.

We finally told him just give us a raincheck for the item at that price.
We then got the name of his supervisor.

To make a long story shorter, we were in the store over an hour and missed the movie.

We ended up going to a popular Mexican restaurant and settled in at the bar.
It was Saturday night and very crowded.
Even though the guy right behind me must have thought he was on a crowded dance floor and backed it up against me, we had some fabulous margaritas, and the night ended much better than it started.

30 comments:

Neo said...

Lee Ann -Gotta love that good old (lack of) customer service, eh?

Seems nobody wants to do their job anymore. I mean if you hate what you do that bad, just quit!

Sorry you missed your movie.

Hotboy said...

I don't own a watch! That's another hassle I don't have. Don't have a motor either. People have them to stop them doing anything. They spend all day in Edinburgh trying to park them!! Hotboy

Ticharu said...

AUGH, too long, sensory overload... I stopped by last night though and got a kick out the wacky turn yer blog took over the weekend.

WDKY said...

Wow - what a saga. Although in a way, you're lucky... my watch is gone for a week when it needs a battery, as it can only be done with a full service and then a water/pressure test. It's a good movie, by the way, and worth making another effort to see.

PS I always thought that the US really understood the meaning of customer service - you want to see what goes on over here. Or doesn't.

Alecia said...

Awesome job on handling the manager. That's one of my biggest pet peeves, when you go into a place and the people work there act as if they are doing you a favor. Umm, no. You're doing your JOB. You get paid to help me, and answer my questions. It's all part of it. And it's especially bad when a manager is rude like that, because then who do you complain to? Duh.

AndyW said...

Note to self.
Don't order from Best Buy via the internet and hope to pick up the item at the store in a timely manner.

Lee Ann said...

Jef ~ Oh, I look forward to seeing it. Hopefully this weekend.

Neo ~ I know, it was pretty sad.

Hotboy ~ There is something to say about not having a watch or a motor. Keep it simple.

Tich ~ I know, it is a bit long. I am going to put a highlights at the top, but can't post it until I get home.

wdky ~ That is why I didn't want to leave it at the jewelry store. They would send it off and no telling how long before I would see it again.
As far as the customer service....I think you can always find that "bad apple"!

Alecia ~ Why thank you! Sometimes, I just have to go for it. If a situation starts getting out of hand, I just cannot hold back.

Lee Ann said...

Andy ~ Well, not every Best Buy is that way. We ended up going to the Best Buy close to my house and it is just far superior in the way it looks and the way it is run. Most likely you won't run into that problem unless you order from the store with the Doofus manager. ;)

Ellen said...

Gotta love that customer "dis"service! We have the same problem here at our Best Buy in the Northpoint area. Your guy and ours must have trained at the same stores before going out in the world.

Good for you for saying something.
I'm like you, I have patience, but over 30 minutes is a little too long to wait for someone to wait on you.

I had the same problem in a restaurant once (can you believe it?). When no one stopped by our table after 20 minutes of waiting, we just got up and left. Funny thing is, they weren't busy, and I could see the servers standing in back yapping and smoking... and they did see us.
I've never been back since.

Lee Ann said...

Ellen ~ I had that same experience at a restaurant too. It was the exact circumstances. They weren't busy, I could see the waitress dancing around in the back. We finally got up and left too, thus never going back. Funny thing, that restaurant is closed now!

Calzone said...

your boyfriend sounds like he sucks...call me baby

Lee Ann said...

Baby, after that night....he thought for sure everyone had lost their minds.
....you call me baby!

Oh, want to go swimming in the moat later?

Kay Ray said...

OMGAH!! What a mess.. i'm telling you .. this full moon during Friday 13th time frame was killer!!! I have made the decision not to order anything else online.. I NEVER GET THE RIGHT THING OR NOTHING AT ALL!! BOYCOTT!!

Hope your week turns out better!!

JM said...

What happened to customer service?

Lee Ann said...

Kay Ray ~ I know, and it really wasn't that difficult of a transaction.

Angel ~ EXACTLY!

Tumbleweed said...

Geez-ass that must have been frustrating. I am not patient enough to wait on shit like that. They get 10 minutes tops with me and then I am following the Manager around like a lost puppy. I become one of those "please help her so she will go away" people. I am glad the night turned out pretty good! The movie is cute, so make sure to go see it!
BTW, Dragon is such a tease!

Gyrobo said...

I know exactly how you feel. I tried to upgrade the RAM in my computer. I wouldn't work, and no one I got on the customer help line knew how to fix it.

The problem is that they hire nice people who don't know what they're doing. They need to start hiring angry geniuses. Because, as a genius, I can tell you that I'm full of rage. And range.

blank profile said...

HOOOOO! I like, totally heard my name over here!

Fred said...

We'll wait for the DVD then watch it a few hundred times.

It's weird, but I don't wear a watch. I use my cell phone when away from school. At school, I had a bell ringing every 50 minutes to remind me of the time.

Bathroom Hippo said...




Henry, that you?




Lee Ann said...

Tumble ~ I know, it was frustrating. I guess I was going to try your tactic if he had not of listened.

gyro ~ I know you must suffer in silence!

JC ~ Oh, always a pleasure to have you in my home.

Fred ~ I guess with a bell ringing every 50 minutes, you wouldn't need a watch! :)

Lee Ann said...

Hippo ~ Are you lost sweetie?

blank profile said...

Hey baby, I was going to go swimming but then I realized that I'm wearing white. Is it cool if I just get nekkid?

onan the bavarian said...

What a nightmare! But good that you followed through with that manager. Maybe he'll treat the next customer better (unlikely).

Customer service here on the UnHeard Of Islands is like that almost all the time.

Hotboy's right on the money about cars, they eat money and time. It's okay morally to have no car so long as you still take responsibility for your own transport, whether by walking or using buses. What you can't do is start to take other drivers for granted if they offer you lifts.

But no watch? How does he get to work on time? I'll send him a link to this, see if he can explain.

Lee Ann said...

JC ~ Of course you can swim nekkid. I want you to feel comfortable here at the Castle. When you are finished, you can come inside and warm yourself by the Grand fireplace. Then I will help you robe yourself ;)

Rob ~ It is odd to me that so many people in Customer Service are so bad at it.
I feel naked without my watch.

blank profile said...

Hi baby, the apostles have totally trashed the crib, again. Is it alright if I crash with you tonight?

jiggs said...

It's cute that you and your boyfriend both had watches that died at the same time.

Had it been me, I probably would have taken a crap in the front of the best buy. Either that or I would have tried to say something clever like "well you can kiss our business best bye!" and then called the manager a douche.

Lee Ann said...

JC ~ Yes, of course. There is always room here at the Castle for you. Are you cold? Need a shower? Are you hungry? Need anything? ;)

Jiggs ~ I love that you always see things in a different light.
You are the best :)

Gyrobo said...

My watch has worked fine since I got it years and years ago.

The secret is getting them cheap, but not two cheap.

flatlander said...

I got my current watch from a box of cereal. But not cheap, no-frills kind of cereal. That stuff was high-end!

*beep*