Complaint Review: Best Buy

This happened to me also in Mississippi, I took Best Buy to court and won; I am driving a new Mustang thanks to the practices of this company. I am also a Disabled Vet who served in the Gulf war and Best Buy could not deal with all the Rx appointments. Long story short there are ways to win my brother. I am unsure what you have done so far but it is a win able but difficult battle.

Thank you for your service to our country,

Jocko

Hey Franco,

I Had the same exact issue happen to me..I had Dr's notes and releases One GM was very understanding and it worked out fine as I waited for surgery. Shortly before my They replaced the GM with another and that GM took me off the schedule becaue of my disability just prior to my back surgery. The same restrictions which had been agreed to and allowed all of a sudden were not acceptable.. I argued with them concerning it as I was trying to work a partial schedule as a full timer with LongTerm disability.. I understand the pain you were talking about!!! Long story short I got a lawyer and did what I had to. From that point on I was left alone to do my job as they were using every other reason in the world to fire me prior which I had very few write ups hence the reason I got the Lawyer as I was getting them or being taken off the schedule all together..It is not the first time this has happen in the Tampa Market..you have a fight to do something about it I would if I was you..So they cannot do it to others!!

As you said before, you were reporting it to the papers and all, I look forward to reading it. I do believe they did you wrong.

As everyone keeps saying "you cant do the job, get over it" obviously if he wasn't qualified for the job he wouldn't have been promoted several times! Did you miss that part? And did you also miss the part where they harassed him and flooded him with unreasonable write ups? It's just their way of getting him, I've seen it happen a hundred times. People get connections, and if someone who has a connection doesn't like you, then they make sure you have no chance.

I'm a past employee of a Best Buy in another state. Sometimes the management is not amazing. But that's going to happen pretty much everywhere you work.

The fact that you were let go is because you weren't there enough to be in the position you were in. A supervisor position is a lot of work, especially Wireless/DI/Mobile, at least it was in the store that I was in. (This was the department I primarily worked in before becoming a Sales Operator). People assume that the department can be handled by the techs in the install bay, and that 1 employee and a supervisor is enough for Wireless/DI. It's stressful. Its a lot of work. You're on your feet helping customers a good majority of the time. If you can't do that, maybe you shouldn't have accepted the promotion. Or after finding out that you weren't able to fulfill the duties, stepped back to just a tech position or somewhere else in the store that you knew you could handle.

The thing people tend to overlook is that they promoted you in the first place. They wouldn't have done that if they didn't feel you were a good employee. Why would a manager want to get rid of a good employee? They wouldn't unless there were extenuating circumstances. If you would have still been there every day, not having to leave, not having to take time off in excess, they likely wouldn't have said a word to you. That's why it seems more like they wanted to let you go because you couldn't perform the duties the job requires of you.

The other bad practices you listed, while I think they should definetly be reported and taken care of, don't have anything to do with your issue of being let go.

Nunya it doesn't matter that Franco is disabled or he served in the military, the point is that the hiring manager gave him a chance and evedently he was doing something RIGHT or he wouldn't have been PROMOTED, I think Franco should get a lawyer and SUE the s**t out of Best Buy, it's not fair when people attempt to the the right thing you have stupid a*s people holding you back or making it very hard for a person to do their job, I can say Nunya has to be a low-life person with no ambition who collects foodstamps and welfare because he/ she is too stupid to try and advance in life. I prey you do not have to deal with a disability, and are not discriminated against in some way or fashion but even if you are, you'r probably to d**n stupid to recognize it. It's just sad how people can treat other people so bad and think it's ok, GOD bless you Nunya, and Franco don't give up and thank you for serving your country because it is a choice few of us make, I truely thank you from the bottom of my heart......

I'm going to have to agree with the others here. You should not receive preferential treatment at a job because of your disability. If you are disabled, you need to find a job that you can do with the disability.

As for the preferential treatment of combat veterans in hiring, those laws apply to civil service and government jobs. A private employer cannot discriminate again you, but they don't have to give you preferential treatment.

Here is where you made your mistake:
If you were hurt so bad you couldn't work, you needed to go see a doctor on those days you were in pain. If you had paperwork from a doctor to turn in with your absences you could claim FMLA and be protected. Since you didn't do that, its just an absence to the employer.

I'm going to have to agree with the others here. You should not receive preferential treatment at a job because of your disability. If you are disabled, you need to find a job that you can do with the disability.

As for the preferential treatment of combat veterans in hiring, those laws apply to civil service and government jobs. A private employer cannot discriminate again you, but they don't have to give you preferential treatment.

Here is where you made your mistake:
If you were hurt so bad you couldn't work, you needed to go see a doctor on those days you were in pain. If you had paperwork from a doctor to turn in with your absences you could claim FMLA and be protected. Since you didn't do that, its just an absence to the employer.

I'm going to have to agree with the others here. You should not receive preferential treatment at a job because of your disability. If you are disabled, you need to find a job that you can do with the disability.

As for the preferential treatment of combat veterans in hiring, those laws apply to civil service and government jobs. A private employer cannot discriminate again you, but they don't have to give you preferential treatment.

Here is where you made your mistake:
If you were hurt so bad you couldn't work, you needed to go see a doctor on those days you were in pain. If you had paperwork from a doctor to turn in with your absences you could claim FMLA and be protected. Since you didn't do that, its just an absence to the employer.

I'm going to have to agree with the others here. You should not receive preferential treatment at a job because of your disability. If you are disabled, you need to find a job that you can do with the disability.

As for the preferential treatment of combat veterans in hiring, those laws apply to civil service and government jobs. A private employer cannot discriminate again you, but they don't have to give you preferential treatment.

Here is where you made your mistake:
If you were hurt so bad you couldn't work, you needed to go see a doctor on those days you were in pain. If you had paperwork from a doctor to turn in with your absences you could claim FMLA and be protected. Since you didn't do that, its just an absence to the employer.

Being a veteran plus $2.00 will buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Being disabled means that you should not be discriminated against & anyone disabled that CAN do the job SATISFACTORILY can not be discriminated against. You agreed to take on the responsibilities to do the job as completely in spite of your infirmities & the company agreed to give you a shot at it in spite of your infirmities. You could not keep up with the physical demands of the job. That you are disabled & that you tried your best doesn't change the fact that your best wasn't good enough to get the job done that you were hired to do. If you hadn't have been disabled, you would have most likely been fired a lot sooner if you couldn't measure up, but you were given preferential treatment because of your infirmity.
Florida is a state where either employee, or employer can terminate the employment agreement at will, without notice, & without reason at any time. They drag it out with people like yourself because your infirmities create a legal situation where they need to give you special kid glove (wipe your butt) treatment.
So you are a combat veteran? Is that a pass to whatever you want from now on in life? You still have to cut the mustard, you still have to make the grade, you still have to do the job to keep the job.

I just have a lot of general comments to the people posting back to Franco's report. I'm just a consumer reading this, keep in mind.

I want to start with Mr. Joshua Clark. Your store supported you when you served in the Marines, that is great not many places do. But again that was YOUR STORE, not Franco's store. Two completely different management staffs, in two different areas! Take this into consideration, please. This man is trying to let people know about the bad business practices about this PARTICULAR STORE, not the entire corporation. Also Mr. Clark you very much contradicted yourself, about being an auto tech also, and having a bad back. You blatantly admitted that you have a bad back, and find it very difficult moving around. Also take into consideration PAIN TOLERANCE, I don't know if you heard about that before Mr. Clark, but various people have various levels. Questioning another Marine's disability is very shameful, you are supposed to be this man's brother, supporting him through anything, you are Marines for life. So you sir are a disgrace, as an AVID supporter of the military, as well as I have many family members who have served this country, I do find you sir disgraceful for not standing up for your fellow Marine. He is not attacking your store, he is letting people know about HIS STORE, I honestly cannot emphasize that part enough. And actually Mr. Clark, I do believe that every Veteran deserves things handed to them. You guys did a huge favor to myself, my family, and this country - a company treating this man like this is disgraceful, especially when he was hired with a known back disability, and was aware as a back problem it could get worse. Does no one read this entire post? Also Mr. Clark did you not read when he had mentioned he, his friend were asked personal sexual questions about a relationship, one was in front of other employees in the warehouse, and that isn't personal information being thrown out there in front of others. Mr. Clark by your lack of common sense in your post you are making you and your Best Buy look bad by not supporting a fellow brother.


This site is supposed to tell about companies who are ripping people off, and having unfair business practices. Yet as soon as someone writes about a company, people find one thing to say, it discredits it, or that's not true; because that doesn't happen at their store, or they have never heard of that. Honestly, unless you were there, at his store, the managers, or people involved don't argue back, you just look idiotic. You don't know how bad this man's back had gotten, or what the conditions became. This man is just doing what the site is here for, talking about ONE STORES' BAD BUSINESS PRACTICES.


Avid Electronics Consumer
SUPPORTER OF OUR TROOPS!

So it is obvious from your post that you have a bad attitude about things. Maybe this is a reason why your storelet you go. I work for Best Buy and was also in the Marine Corps for 8 years. Best Buy was 10 percent behind me while I served in the Marines. While I was in Iraq Best Buy would sen my family gift cards to let them know that they were thinking about them while I was away. Best Buy is an outstanding company to work for.

As for you Mr. Disabled Vet. I don't think you have any right to complain. First off, I am an autotech senior first class certified installer also. If your back is as bad as you say it is then there is no way you could install. I also have a bad back and there are days that I can barely move around at all from bending over in a car working on alarms, or crouched over a dash hardwiring a radio in a car. My back isn't even as bad as you say yours is. So I really am wordering how disabled you are. Stop throwing it around like someone owes you something. They don't. We volunteered to serve our country. Nobody made us, so therefore nobody owes you. You are making the Marine Corps look bad by doing so.

As for Best Buy letting you go, good for them. Looks like they made the right choice. Especially how you just threw everyones personal information out in the open, but you felt you didn't really want to share yours. As for Best Buy firing you for being a disabled vet, unless they have come out and said, "hey we are firing you because you are disabled", they have not done anything wrong.

In the end it really comes down to 3 things, Get over it, Grow up, Move on!

Semper Fi,
Joshua Clark

It's truly a shame that a veteran like yourself sacrifices his health for our country. Ignore all the mean spirited comments towards you. What must be difficult is finding a job that fits your circumstances and limitations. That being said, Best Buy seems like it was a "poor fit" for your situation. Unfortunately, excessive abscenses are a valid reason to fire someone, even disabled veterans.

I should also mention that it was unnecessary to make personal attacks against your former managers and co-workers. You lost me there, because you were simply being vindictive and spiteful. The things you mentioned had no bearing on your job situation.

I understand your frustration, really I do. But you need to think to yourself if you were on the flipside of things. If you had an employee, would you allow them to take off more time than others and get away with it simply because they have a disability. I wouldnt. I am soft person, my son has disabilities, but the realization is, if you cant fully do what is expected of you, the job is not for you. You need to find one that can meet your expectations as well as there. I dont think accomodations need to be made for everyone. When I was pregnant, I still had to sit in a chair 8 hours a day and lift heavy things when needed because that is the job I had. Wasnt comfortable but I did it.

Just move on with life and stop dwelling over what you cant do and perfect what you can.

Take it to court. It amazes me how many people will plead their "open and shut" case against companies on this forum, yet if it really is that "open and shut" why are you not telling us about how well your case is going against them in court? All of what you have written will do nothing to help you other than getting it off your chest. Having others write sympathetic responses is going to help you how? Case dismissed. On a side note you described your extensive and rather painful sounding injuries in detail (I have suffered from sciatica for several years and it can be brutal) which makes me question how you could've been an installer. The pain of sciatica alone would prevent you from getting into the positions needed to complete an install. That part of your story alone discredited everything else for me. Sorry. Case dismissed again.

FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY...go kill myself?? thats brilliant, you must be a A+ upstanding citizen that probably supports Michael Vick in his pit bull fighting, you're a piece of work, you are equivalent to that of a traitor to the country, go hang YOURSELF with a constantine wire noose, but make sure there is a slipknot in it so when you fall at first, you snap your neck then you'll bleed out. And I love how the only thing you can say about the complaint is that "I said I was in the military like 50 times', maybe you're new to this country, if so, go study the law and constitutional laws, and you'll see that firing a DISABLED VETERAN is punishable by Federal Jurisdiction, if you even have a job, and if you work at the local 7-11 or mom and pops jack shack, its state law that they put up the Disabled Veterans Right to Work Act, where it states that military history/service will get first selection if they fit the applicable needs of the job/position they are looking for...so now, shut your mouth and play with your dolls.


Employee from BBY:

There have been 15-20 calls to corporate BBY, Lacey Smith's brother was brought in under the radar into the corporate HR division, so she has ties at every level of the corporate ladder. It seems to only be District 27 that has the issues, cause people that i've talked to from other Best Buy when I was going to the Tech Tours and other company public functions, no one had ever heard of such issues happening at their store, and they couldn't quite understand why our managers, store level to regional were such useless positions that were filled with useless people...

Obviously, you don't have any of these problems in your store or region. I started as an installer, and bumped to install sup 5 months later, then when a position came open in the store a year and change later, thats when I went for it. Because my back wasn't getting worked anymore except for standing there in an empty store 99.9% of the time. What CA's we had, they would shark computers and home theater and when you called for a code one on the walkies, they would all dime out or not answer at all, when approached face to face they pull the;"Oh, I don't know about that department."

So every avenue of approach has been taken thus far, its alright though...cause they'll get theirs, and I can't for it to happen to them individually.

Not too long ago, I was actually talking a buddy of mine that still in unfortunately stuck at Best Buy, and he informed me that the GM of the local Best Buy location in Port Richey, FL has a sibling (her brother) that is one of the head honchos' in the corporate HR division of Best Buy. So at any point and time when a HR complaint comes in to Corporate and/or HR and if he notices a post or complaint coming from his sisters stores or any of her friends that are managers at different Best Buy stores, the complaint mysteriously disappears and the complaint goes unnoticed. Ironically enough, that would put her ties at Corporate, Regional and District level, hence why nothing ever happens to her.

Another prime example of their upstanding company service and dedication to the 'happiness of the customer' , I know a family that purchased a TV from Best Buy just over a year ago I want to say. When the tv broke two days within the manufacturers warranty, Best Buy wouldn't do anything, and still to this day will not do anything about it, last time I checked they've spoken to 22 different memebers of Best Buy, some corporate, some store level.

The gem of this is that when they finally got through on the phone to the General Manager, Lacey Smith at #885, and then told her the situation, Lacey responded back with, "I don't have time to talk about this, goodbye."

My, my....such exceptional customer service skills that GM has?!?!

This list will continue to grow the more I find out about this company that is 'so dedicated to the community and its troops'.

I understand your frustrations. Just lets face it, you took on the responsibility of this role. If you are not there as often as you've stated- how are you running a business? No one is discriminating against a "dissability"... you just simply are not present enough to run a business as a digital tec supervisor! Its a tough role. And as the supervisor of those departments, you should know labor is small and because of that sometimes you are going to have to work both departments. Thats why we have the CA program. To support the labor we lost and cover those departments when needed.

If you call into any job, disabled or not- you will get fired eventually. Attendance is attendance. If you cant handle standing on your feet so much then you shouldnt have agreed to take the position. Its your fault you got into the predicament. As has far as the 100 other reasons you're giving- Its a job. Everyone has dirty laundry. Call HR- it might or might not make a difference but no matter where you go, crap like that happens.

First off, I think it's funny how you mention you were in the military like 50 times, like that will somehow make us feel sympathy for you. Bottom line is, you couldn't do your job. Quit whining you stupid cripple. GO kill yourself.