So, this is not a post about Ainsley. This is a post of me venting my extreme anger so that I don't rip my hair out or burn down a building. Clif actually suggested that I type this up on my blog so that he doesn't have to listen to me tell this story anymore. I would guess that any of you that I speak to on a regular basis already know the story. But there have been new developments...so if you're interested in why I HATE Best Buy with a deep nagging passion from the bottom of my soul...please read on... If you don't care, you can move on now. Oh and Clif wants me to say that my rage has nothing to do with the fact that he now works for Circuit City.
So, almost 3 years ago, Clif and I move into our house in Richmond...we have to buy a refrigerator. So we go to Best Buy, the store that we always go to for everything. We have spent THOUSANDS of dollars at this store and we love it. We frequent the store. We go there on weekends because we love it so much. Anyway, we pick a Samsung refrigerator (I hate Samsung now too by the way). We buy the extended warranty that is supposed to cover us for three years. The extended warranty is $150 on top of the $1000 or so we spent on the fridge.
Fast forward to March of 2007 (that's right, last March, for those of you keeping score at this point the refrigerator is less than 2 years old). The refrigerator/freezer begins making a chirping/squealing sound. We call Best Buy and put our warranty to good use. Best Buy sends a repairman out...and I'm a little fuzzy on all the details here, because Clif was working from home so he was handling all the details. Basically the repairman came out 2-3 times and finally called us and said, they no longer make the motor that we need to fix the fridge so we get a brand new fridge. Yippee right?! Wrong.
We go to Best Buy the following weekend...mind you that I am about 5 1/2 months pregnant at this time. We are told (and we can read in our warranty packet) that we can pick any fridge of equal value. Equal value...that can mean two different things. Equal cost or equal specs. I figured it meant both. I figured wrong. Come to find out that there are zero refrigerators that cost exactly the same and that have the exact same specs. So we ask to speak to a manager. Instead of politely telling us that no we could not have the refrigerator that cost $200 more just because it is the same size or just sucking it up because we are good customers, this man basically tells us how stupid we are. I am not exaggerating. More than once he said "Come on man (lady), it's common sense, you can't expect to get the same thing you got a year and a half ago." Another direct quote "Nope, you either spend $200 or take a smaller fridge. I'm not taking money out of my pocket." This became a very heated argument where I literally had to hold on to the counter top as not to punch this guy in the face. It ended with his office door being slammed in our face. Did I mention that this guy is the General Manager of the Short Pump Best Buy? Oh yeah!
Finally, we get a fridge. We get the fridge that is a bit smaller because I have declared that Best Buy will never receive one more penny from me. So I will not pay extra money for a fridge that I already have. And I will not buy a warranty that I've decided is bogus.
Fast forward once more to April 2008. The new Samsung fridge we have is just over a year old (12 months and a week to be exact) so our manufacturer's warranty has run out. The freezer fan starts making a terrible noise. Loud, clicking...not quite squealing like before...but very loud and very annoying. We call a friend of a friend who works on appliances. No go, he doesn't work on Samsungs, you can't get parts for it. I'm really glad someone told me that a year after I bought the fridge. But he offers this advice "If the freezer's still freezing and the refrigerator's still cooling maybe the fan is just hitting something or there is ice built up on it" or something like that.
Clif did something to the freezer, I think pulled out some built up ice...not absolutely sure, things are very busy in my house. Anyway, noise stopped, we were like "Awesome!" That was about 2 weeks ago.
Today, Clif calls me...no wait...Yesterday I go do major grocery shopping. Between Costco and Kroger I spend close to $200. Now, Clif calls me today. He went home for lunch and he's pretty sure that the refrigerator is broken. The mayo, cokes and lunch meat are all cool, but not cold. The meat I put in the freezer yesterday is not frozen yet. WONDERFUL!!!!
So Clif spends the next 45 minutes calling repair men. One works on Samsungs, he maybe can make it over by 7 or 8 tonight. If not tomorrow. We should probably put dry ice in the fridge and freezer. So I, run around looking for dry ice (thank you Kroger, you are not on my bad list :)
So, all contents of our freezer are now packed in a cooler below dry ice. There is another block of dry ice in the crisper of our refrigerator. Hopefully the repairman will come tonight and fix our problem and not charge us too much money. If not, looks like we are buying another new fridge. That would be the 3rd in 3 years. Funny, aren't appliances supposed to have a longer shelf life than a year?
Well, here's what I do know...I will never buy anything Samsung again...not even a cell phone. They will be getting a phone call from me when all this is worked out. Also, my hatred and loathing for evil Best Buy (which actually was dwindling...Clif doesn't think so...but really it was) is now renewed and strengthened. Everyone I meet will know this story...I will tell it over and over again until Best Buy crumbles in a sobbing heap. Ok, I know I probably don't have that much power...but I do have a very big mouth and I do hold a grudge. So my children, my grandchildren, my great grandchildren will hear this story so much that they will roll their eyes and say "Here she goes again" under their breaths. Clif, I'm sorry that you have decided to spend the rest of your life with me and therefor have become doomed to listen to my crusade for all of eternity.
Ok, that's my story. I feel a little better having spewed it all out. Moral of the story is...don't shop at Best Buy. They suck and they don't know a lick about customer service. And they apparently sell bad products. Just my opinion.
