Worst Buy

My boyfriend and I have an agreement:
If we need to go to Best Buy, I am to be dropped off at the Barnes and Noble in the strip mall and wait.

Why?

I've been known for my wrath, but usually it's short lived and I do my best to make amends.
Not so with Worst Buy. This, my friends, is a grudge I intend to keep.

A couple of Christmases ago, I saw an ad in the Sunday paper for a 'buy an XM, get a free Elton John DVD' promotion. The guy I was dating was planning to get his parents an XM anyway and I was hard-pressed to find a gift for my mom that year...since she's a huge fan of Elton John and refuses to believe he's gay, I thought 'perfect: good gift and hello? It's free. Merry Christmas to me.'

Off we go. We b-line to the XM area where the promotion poster is up: Buy XM, get bitchy pianist. Great. We talk to the dude manning the area, get the right XM for the ex's parents and grab the DVD.

Get to the line. OF COURSE, they charge me full price. Backstory: I used to work at the now defunct Bradlees (think Target meets Annie Says meets suburbia meets gold plated cleopatra pendant). I know a little about retail and puff up every time there is a retail injustice.

Hence this blog.

Back to the register. I say "Ok, there's a sign in the that says we get this free with any XM device."

She: ::siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhhhhh:: Hol' on.

(dials intercom thingy)

(we wait)

(ameobas evolve)

Guy (not our dude from XM dept) shows up: What's up?

She: They want this for free.

Me: Well, there's a promotion...

She: Here (shoves DVD at Guy). Go see.

Me: I'm going with.

So I escort guy to the XM area, meet up with Dude and show them both the promotion. I even point out that our device has the same SKU (ooh, technical) as the promotion, so there shouldn't be any problem. Right? Right.

They agree and we three stroll up to the register to explain.

Manager's called.

Manager's called Dick.

Dick: Yeah, that promotion's for this week, but it doesn't start until Tuesday. That promotion shouldn't be up there.

Me: Understood. But you guys made the mistake, right? So, we should get the DVD.

Dick: It doesn't work that way.

Me: Why not? We specifically came here because of your promotion in the flier. We even checked if there were any dates on the in-store set up. It doesn't say "starting Tuesday, so just look at it now and make plans to buy it in two days."

Dick: Well, I can't give it to you.

Me: Well WHY NOT? You're the manager, right? You're in charge, right? It was YOUR MISTAKE, right? Don't you care about customer service? Don't you care whether you've lost a customer over this?

Dick: No.

Me, looking to crowd for support and not finding any: fine.

So, Ex and I left in a major huff. NOT buying the XM, nor the warbling beaded handbag box set.

What did we do?

We went to Circuit City, bought the XM there, then proceeded to buy a $1,600 flat screen Sony TV. Turned around and drove back to Best Buy, called on Dick, and presented him with the receipt.