Big F(U) for BestBuy and their ability to deliver appliances

So, to take a slight detour from my normal writings, I wanted to relate a story about BestBuy and another less than stellar experience I had with them. I don't simply want to shame BestBuy for the catastrophically bad job they did, but to highlight several lessons that can and should have been learned.

The story starts with an appliance delivery. BestBuy had a good deal on a washer and dryer set, so I bought them for Black Friday. As I'm sure many people did.

The problem comes right as they deliver the units. Or rather, when they should have delivered the units because they were a couple of hours late and didn't feel it necessary to inform anyone of that situation. How can you be so poor at time and task management when you only have the one job to do?

Next, we have two misguided fools who I shall call MF1 and MF2. They were given full instructions on where the old washer and dryer were, that they were taking those away for recycling and would be putting the new units in the same place. It was explained that the washer needed to be lifted up and out of the washer pan as it would need to be used again since BestBuy didn't sell those.

Since these two spend their day installing and removing appliances, this should be an easy undertaking, right?

Not so.

MF1 immediately drags the washer out of position. Notice he didn't employ the help of MF2, who was standing around, nor did he lift the washer. This resulted in the pan getting crushed and cracked to the point it can't be used. The drip pan needs to catch water and when you smash off the sides and put holes in it, that's no longer possible.

Mistakes get made all the time, and while this was completely avoidable, it's not the end of the world. But MF1 wasn't in the mood to try and fix the problem he just created, he was more interested in shifting blame. And he shifted blame like a pro.

It wasn't his fault the drip pan was there. It wasn't his fault the washer was still hooked up. It wasn't his fault he didn't have a replacement.

I don't believe the washer being hooked up had anything to do with him pulling the washer rather than lifting it. Additionally, he is the expert, shouldn't he have made sure it wasn't connected before taking action?

Despite MF1 throwing out blame, the fact remained the pan was broken and it would be idiotic to install a washing machine on the second floor without a drip pan. Since Lowe's is right down the road, why not just run down there and get one? Or to Home Depot which is a couple miles in the opposite direction?

MF1 saw no merit in this proposal and stated this job had already made him late and he had no time or authority to get a drip pan. I would need to take care of that and put it under the washer at a later time. He needed to hook up the washer and get on with his day.

Now, there is no point hooking up the washer when it needs to be unhooked in order to put a drip pan underneath it. MF1 replied that wasn't his problem, he didn't have the pan, wasn't in a position to buy one, and I could ask BestBuy for reimbursement.

That's not the way this works, Jackass.

MF1 was told that since he smashed the original drip pan, it was his responsibility to replace it before the washer was put in place. Either he needed to go and get one, call and have someone else bring it over, or this job was going no further.

He supposedly called his supervisor and returned with "there's nothing we can do."

Oh yes there is.

He was then told to take the appliances back, put them on the truck, put the original appliances back where the found them and cancel the entire order. Plus, I would be calling BestBuy to pay for the damages he caused.

"You don't want the appliances?" was his stunned reply.

"Oh no. I absolutely want the appliances. But they need to be installed correctly, which means a drip pan. So without one, they aren't getting installed. If they aren't getting installed today, cancel the order and I will get the appliances from someone else."

This led to MF1 to pull out the paperwork, incorrectly log what had taken place, that the appliances were being refused for an entirely different reason, basically that I had changed my mind, and that the order was to be cancelled.

I added several hand written changes, as well as a couple of vulgarities, and MF1 and 2 were tossed out of the house, taking the appliances with them and costing BestBuy well over $1500 in purchases, time and labor.

What can we learn from this situation?

First and foremost, failure IS an option and in this case, MF1 made the choice to fail. Instead of thinking twice and acting one, he acts like a buffoon and breaks one of the most important pieces to the operation.

Second, instead of owning up to the error, he throws blame around like it's candy. Everyone else caused him to make this mistake. It wasn't his fault, he's the victim.

Third, instead of fixing the problem, it becomes someone else's problem. He's too busy, too far behind schedule, and not in a position to fix what he has broken. He needs to finish what he's doing here and move on, even though he is doing the job incorrectly.

Finally, a small mistake can cost thousands of dollars. This small error resulted in the entire order being cancelled, and my less than complimentary phone call to BestBuy later that night to confirm it was indeed cancelled, refute the lies included in the explanation MF1 provided, and get a reimbursement for damaged goods.

When you start a call with, "I don't want to ruin your night, so please get your supervisor for me and tell them I'm going to start yelling," it takes on a certain tone.

To be blunt, none of this should have happened. Had MF1 thought about what he was doing and considered his actions, the pan never would have been broken, the appliances would have been installed and everyone would have been happy.

There were multiple points along the way where failure could have been avoided. Many red flags were thrown. But MF1 forged ahead, using the same methods of thinking and the same actions that caused the situation in the first place.

When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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