Best Buy Reward Zone Offers No Reward - Don't Buy the Rip Off Sugarland Texas
In May of this year we relocated to the Houston area. After the close of our new house we needed to buy two refrigerators. After shopping around it seemed that Best Buy had the ones we wanted in stock and with the promis of their Reward Zone rewards, they would have the best price. We purchased the appliances two months ago and still no rewards.
We've tried calling their 1-800-EAT-CRAP number just to get the run around. We tried going to the store, but they told us they have no control over the Reward Zone promotions. Since they do not want to honor their own promotion, I am going to try to return the units. It is disappointing that a company like this would use such deceptive and fraudulant business practices. I will not spend another dime at Best Buy. I would ask those that consider shopping there to think twice about it. If the price is good WITHOUT the Non-Reward Zone promise, then buy it at there.
Reginald
Missouri City, Texas
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Patrick
Gilbert,Arizona,
U.S.A.
No problems with RZ.
#4Consumer Comment
Wed, July 20, 2005
Last April I went to Best Buy to purchase some major ticket items. New PC, washer/dryer, cordless phone, digital camera, etc. In all I spent about $3,000. RZ was a fairly new program at that time. I signed up, seeing as I was spending so much money.
In about a month, I received all of my reward certificates, about $125 worth (not to mention all the rebates from the PC and washer/dryer). I also did the things like signing up my email address, and took advantage of double points sales and so forth. Over the first year I received about $200 total in certificates, and believe me, I used every one of them.
When my renewal notice came this year, I did not rejoin. I don't spend that much at Best Buy on a regular basis. About a month after, I got the notice that my membership was renewed free for another year. That was nice of them. I just might make some more purchases at Best Buy this year.
In closing, let me say I am not employed by Best Buy or RewardZone, and I am not a company shill (any regular reader of RipOff Report will know that). I just wanted to share my positive experience with RZ.
Miss
Olympia,Washington,
U.S.A.
Due to the fact that you are outside of the return policy it is unlikely that they will return the product simply because of the issues with RZ.
#4UPDATE Employee
Wed, July 20, 2005
If the RZ program was just an added bonus for purchasing the products then maybe a better thing to do would be to call customer care and just ask for a refund of the 9.99 member fee. The 800 # can be a real pain to call (trust me, I work at Best Buy and have had to call it multiply times. I admit, it sucks trying to get a hold of real person but it is possible.) but believe it or not results do come out calling it. Because Best Buy offers so many different things it is impossible for the employees in the store to have access to everything to take care of issues, which is why they referred you to the 800 number. It is not that the store does not want to honor the promotion but since the in-store emplyees don't have access to your RZ account information (how many points you have earned, when certificates are issued, etc) there was not much they could do in store.
RZ certificates take 6-8 weeks to be processed and sent out. If you have not received them unfortunatly the only thing you can do is log on the RZ website or call the 800 number. Either way will allow you to check on the status of the certifcates. You can also verify if they have the correct snail mail or email address. Also, RZ certificates come in a long, slighty over-sized purple envelope which some customers have mistaken for junk mail and just thrown away. Be on the lookout for that as well. Sorry you had all this trouble. Hopefully everything gets taken care of!
John
Marina Del Rey,California,
U.S.A.
I had the same problems with Reward Zone
#4Consumer Suggestion
Sun, July 17, 2005
I had been a loyal customer of Best Buy, purchasing many large items over the years. I used their Reward Zone program just about from its inception, and found it to be a complete rip-off. Items not credited to my account; slow reporting; slow issuance of certificates; rude "Customer Service"; quick expiration of certificates, etc.
I used some certificates towards purchase of an item, and ended up returning the item. The store would/could not credit me back the certificates I used, and "Customer Service" told me I would have to wait 30 days for them to be credited back to my account.
After 30 days of patiently waiting, I still had not received the credits back in my account. I called REPEATEDLY to "Customer Service" and they rudely told me first that I would "just have to wait." Then, they finally admitted that there was an error, but now I would have to wait an ADDITIONAL 30 days for them to complete their investigation into what went wrong with my credit. I asked them to credit my points, and do their investigation into their own faulty procedures on their own time. The "supervisor," Sarah, not only told me, "NO!" but that if I continued to call, they would cancel my membership, and cancel all of my pending points.
I contacted the CA State Attorney General Office, the MN State Attorney General, and the CA and MN Better Business Bureaus. Then, and only then, after filing several complaints (on-line) did I get a response from Best Buy. They refunded my points...but, obviously, only after I got the authorities involved.
I received several mailings telling me that my membership was up for renewal at $9.95, and I emailed them back that I would have to have my head examined to pay them any more money to participate in their scam. NO RESPONSE to any of my 3 emails to them. They ignore any and all complaints, obviously.
Then, I get a mailer saying that they have extended my membership free, since I am such a "valued customer." This mailer was completely unrelated to my email complaints, as it appeared to be a general mailer sent out to anybody who has not foolishly paid the $9.95.
I would not set foot in a Best Buy store again. If you are having problems with this program, take my advice, and involved the state attorney general in your state, the state attorney general in Minnesota (where Best Buy is located), and the Better Business Bureau in your state and in Minnesota.
Good luck with these crooks.