The Best Buy Online Experience Is A Nice One With Great Customer Services
Written: Jun 05 '06
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Having seen all of the specials that Best Buy had going on with Comcast High-Speed Internet, I decided to take full advantage and with assistance went on to the Best Buy web-site. On there, I had the experience of dealing with the site itself, several products that Best Buy sells, and Comcast as a secondary company. Not only that, but I was able to deal with customer service representatives with both companies, but primarily went through Best Buy for my customer transactions. Best Buy was offering Comcast High-Speed Internet at a price of $19.99 for the first 6 months, and a $50.00 Best Buy Gift Card that I would receive once services had been turned on. One additional offer was that we could receive a Motorola Cable Modem at $40.00 off the purchase price, and we were able to choose from any of the available Motorola Modems. I went with the SB5120 which was selling for $69.99, and had it immediately discounted down to $29.99 on the invoice of purchases. Because I wanted to set up the house to be wireless, I added on a Belkin Wireless Router as well. Of course the final cost was going to be for self-installation of the internet, which cost $14.95 for the self-installation kit that they would send out. I was elated to find out that there was a rebate being offered for the full purchase price of the self-installation kit if services were purchase through Comcast. So, in the end, after taxes, I ended up paying about $108.00 for the kit, the modem, the Wireless Router and the taxes thrown on to the final purchase. I was also slatted to receive the $50.00 gift card, and a rebate for the original $14.95 kit, so in the end I was getting a pretty good deal for the money I was spending.
When I signed up on the Best Buy site, I was told that within 48 hours I would be contacted by a Comcast representative to work with me on setting up a specific time that they would come out to the house to set everything up. It seemed like the perfect deal, because it meant that I would not even have to talk with the Cable Company ahead of time, but rather that they would be contacting me. This was where the first problem came in to play as the 48 hours came and went pretty quickly. Since it was the beginning of the week when I did everything on the site, I didn’t think too much of the transaction as the week progressed to Friday night. Well it was about this time that I decided I had waited long enough for the phone call, because I now had everything in hand to set it up myself. The cable modem and the Belkin Wireless Router came in nice shrink wrapped boxes, and the self-installation kit additionally came in its own nice little box. I wanted to begin setting up everything, but if I didn’t have an active port then I wasn’t going to be able to connect to the internet no matter how well I set up the router in the house. Calling up Comcast I quickly learned that I had been misled on the site, and that nobody actually needed to come out and set me up. Instead I just needed to contact Comcast over the phone, and they would be able to activate the modem from the station where the customer service representative was working. This was contrary to the Best Buy representative that I had talked to about specifics and what I would need to get my home network up and running.
When I was talking to the Best Buy customer representative about the specific options on the site, I had been very pleased with their knowledge of setting up a personal network, and I had taken their advice on which cable modem as well as which wireless router to purchase through Best Buy. Each step along the way he had hooked me up with nice little discounts, and it almost came out with me having free merchandise once I send in all of my rebates. It was because of that I had trusted his information about Comcast calling me up, and that everything from the Best Buy site was going to send itself over to Comcast. It seemed almost too easy to me, and it turned up being that way, because my Comcast representative told me he had received no transaction notifications from Best Buy. With a week already evaporated, it didn’t look like Best Buy was every going to forward my information on to Comcast, and that frustrated me a little bit with the false information that I had been given. I cannot say for sure if this was a mistake by the corporation or by the site itself, but it was something that could be problematic for people looking for quick internet set-up without any hoops that must be jumped through. It also took away some of the points of the person that I had talked to, because it made it look like he had computer knowledge, but just wanted to move on to the next sale. It wasn’t the end of the world though, because since I had a confirmation receipt as well as all the information (including the modem ID and my personal address) I was able to fix everything else over the phone with Comcast.
I think that the Best Buy web-site is extremely easy to use, and being able to go to a specific site like this and have internet set up at my home soon after is a nice little caveat. Best Buy is always offering discounts and rebates that people can take advantage of, and they don’t just involve signing up for internet or cable. The Best Buy site also shows off all the electronics that they sell, the cell phones and plans that come with them, and many different types of digital cameras. Not only that, but they have many computers and their components that can all be ordered online. I used a MasterCard to make my purchases, and they also accept Visa, Discover, and American Express if you are looking to make a purchase. When you check out the shipping is automatically set to the cheapest method, which is normally ground, but for a few dollars more you can either choose to go with second day, or for even more money you can pay for next day delivery. So, if you really need to receive something from the site immediately, they do provide you with the opportunity to pay for it. Unfortunately I have yet to see a discounted shipping method with the Best Buy site with my experiences on the site, and I guess that should be expected from a store that normally does most of its business from the brick-and-mortar location. One thing you can do to avoid the shipping expenses is to order everything on the site, but then select that you want to pick it up instead of having it shipped out to you. This can really cut the amount of time it takes to find your products, and can actually present the option of picking up your items on the same day. I think that I can safely recommend the Best Buy web-site, and their customer service, because I have had an overall great experience going through them. With the exception of the contact between Best Buy and Comcast, I have had a perfect relationship with the Best Buy site. I saved money, I received great products, and overall I am very happy with my shopping experience. They have a very wide selection of products available, so if you are looking for a nice electronics or computer related tool, that Best Buy will probably have what you are looking for.
Best Buy Web-Site: www.bestbuy.com
Customer Service Phone Number: 1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289)
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? cable modem, installation kit, wireless router
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