BEST BUY SUCKS! (Actually I only put that there for google results.. read on for the full story.)

 It's not often that I take a public forum standing on a company, but I'm going to put this one out there for you to consider.

Let me premise this by saying that I've shopped at Best Buy since the day the opened here, have their membership card, use their rewards program, etc, so I'm quite familiar with their practices.

Today, they completely surprised me by providing absolutely NO resolution to a customer service issue that was their problem.

As a computer service technician and consultant, I'm often asked to tell customers where to go to buy their machines. Usually, I refer them to Dell, or HP, directly but I personally bought a laptop from them back in February that was very affordable, and I've had nothing but pleasure from it.

Today, using that personal experience as an example, I referred a business customer to the local store for a laptop purchase. I had already visited the store, picked out the machine, and had it ready for them to pick up and purchase.

So, in our excitement we go to the checkout register and proceed to pay for this new computer. Well, things go along well at first. We scan the rewards card, scan the coupon, get the total, and write a check to cover the purchase.

Now, here's the part everyone dreads, where you get embarrassed and get told that your check was denied, you glance around in chagrin while holding up the line, then frantically call the bank to see what happened...

So, this client calls her secretaty, who calls the bank and then calls us back. Bank account is fine. I'm not going to say HOW much money was there because that's not relevant to the story, but lets suffice it to say she could have bought every laptop of that model they had and still have change left.

So, in a fit of utter lack of anything else to do, we run the check again, wait in line, go through the whole process. Same result. Check denied!

We call the bank manager, because it's a local bank that we both use so we know the number, who courteously pulls the account file and offers to speak to the clerk to confirm the money is there. The clerk, being completely out of her depth here, flees in terror to seek a manager to handle this ever-angering customer, who is now no longer embarrassed, but is instead boiling over into the beginnings of a good rage. Now you ALL know me.. I'm JUST the kind of guy you want to have standing at a register being jerked around by an eight-dollar an hour high school graduate who thinks they have a comprhension of the banking system. Needless to say, we got a manager fast.

Well, the manager tells us, "Sorry. We can't override that. It's an issue with Certegy, who is our check verification agency."  "Ok" I said, "Get me the number for Certegy... no, I mean it.. get me the number... now."

So we got the number and called the agency, who I've never friggin heard of. Meanwhile, the manager is telling us that 70% of all retail agencies use Certegy for their card verification. (that's freakin amazing idiot boy. I've been setting up merchant accounts for retail vendors for ten years and I've never freakin' heard of 'em. So quit talking to me like I'm an idiot and find us someone who uses their head for more than something to put that gay blue shirt over...)

So, we finally get on the phone with Certegy. My poor client, a business owner and busy individual just like the whole rest of the world, has to go through this process of waiting for 20 minutes to get in touch with someone.

Now, here's where it gets good.

GUESS WHY BEST BUY DENIED HER CHECK?

OH.. REALLY.. IT'S GOOD... I PROMISE.

THEY DENIED HER CHECK BECASE SHE WROTE ANOTHER CHECK FOR $1,200.00 FIVE DAYS AGO...

 Ok.. maybe you're brain is goin' Oh yeah.. I get it, but mine didn't, and neither did my client's.  Basically, we told the company, yeah you s**t-for-brains, of course I wrote a $1200 check last week. I'm a business owner. I have to do that. It's what business owners do.. they collect check.. they write checks. What's the big deal?

Instead of offering to fix the problem, or authorize the check, Certegy tells us that if we would like (and I really friggin love this crap) we can apply today for a Certegy Gold Card and be able to (and I'm using their words exactly here) "write as many checks as we want to."

WOW.. that's completely friggin amazing. YOU can give ME a card that will allow ME to write MY  OWN checks as often as I want? WOW. That's cosmically convenient. Why didn't I think of asking your permission before?

Guess what, Best Buy, not only was the the absolute most STUPID customer service I have ever seen in my life, but you completely don't have a friggin clue how to take care of a customer. Businesses need to write checks. You want them to buy from you. And the "we dont have authority to override that" BS line doesn't hold water. I know better because I work  with payment verification gateways everyday.

Certegy: You Suck.

Bestbuy: You Suck for using them.

Now, if anyone representing either of these companies has anything to say in your miserable defense, I challenge you to click on the Comment button below and explain exactly WHY you ruined your relationship with a perfectly good customer due to your own stupidity, AND why the hell she, or I for that matter, should ever purchase from your company?