All Family at Best Buy

[Norton]

The boyfriend and I went to Best Buy this Saturday. He wanted to apply for a Reward Zone card. We went to the service counter and he started filling out the paperwork. As he wrote, a shifty, nervous-looking young guy in his late teens/early twenties kept pacing around by the returns counter. The guy would hurry off looking for an employee and hurry back to the counter.

I didn't really pay attention to the short conversations between him and various employees until I heard the guy say "Yeah, get a manager!". A minute goes by and a manager shows up behind the counter. The following is the conversation as best I can remember:

SG - Sucky Guy
M - Manager

M: I can't do it for you this time. You keep returning things with no receipt.
SG: Man, just look it up in the computer! The computer'll tell ya -
M: The computer will tell me that this is the 6th or 7th time you've tried to return something with no receipt. I'm not doing it for you anymore.
SG: *starts cursing in front of several customers* C'mon, man! Ask So-and-So! He'll tell you I bought this here!
M: No. I'm not arguing about this. You have 10 minutes to leave the store.
SG: I'm not leaving until I get my refund!
M: Fine then. (to employee) Call the cops.
SG: You can't call the cops on me 'cause I'm trying to get a refund! *curses some more, makes empty threats of violence and leaves*.

- Fast forward another 15 minutes or so. -

The BF and I are on the opposite side of the store looking at surround sound systems. We can't seem to find an employee to help us. As we begin to leave the section, we hear a commotion from the service desk area. We stopped to watch as Sucky Guy threw a tantrum. From what we could gather, he had come back with a receipt. A young girl in BB uniform stood by us watching as well.

I asked the girl if BB had security and she replied "Oh don't worry. We're all family here." Sure enough, as Sucky Guy cursed and raised his voice louder, more and more blue-shirted employees began to surround him - many of them large, intimidating-looking men. Finally, he must have been encircled by 20-30 BB employees. Realizing he was outnumbered, he cursed at and threatened them all physically as they herded him out the exit. A number of them tossed snarky comments at him as he went.

I love it! Not only did the manager show some backbone by standing up to the guy, but he had the physical support of almost the entire store when the situation looked threatening. T'was a sight to see.

[morgana]

Every now and then something happens to restore your faith in humanity.

Heartwarming!

[flybye023]

I'm still trying to figure out where the police were? Did they not get called after all?

[Trayol]

I'm wondering why your Best Buy had 20-30 workers.

[Norton]

I don't know what happened with the Police. I doubt they were really called. It was probably just a threat to get the guy out of the store.

As to why there were so many employees... well, it was a pretty busy day. Our Best Buy seems like they staff appropriately. Also, there were a bunch of guys not wearing the polo shirts, but rather blue dress shirts. I don't know what position that signifies, since the manager was wearing a polo shirt. I thought maybe they were store security, but I'm not sure.

[texasbelle5]

I hope that sucky cursing guy does not decide to come back with a gun and get even.

Hey it happens.

[HawaiianShirts]

As to why there were so many employees... well, it was a pretty busy day. Our Best Buy seems like they staff appropriately. Also, there were a bunch of guys not wearing the polo shirts, but rather blue dress shirts. I don't know what position that signifies, since the manager was wearing a polo shirt. I thought maybe they were store security, but I'm not sure.

Might have been a meeting day. I was at a Best Buy some time ago in the middle of the afternoon. Everything looked normal until I saw a flood of blue shirts suddenly appear from the side of the building. At the same moment, I heard an employee tell another employee something that had to do with a "supervisor meeting" and rush over to talk to someone in that flood. Maybe Norton happened to be there on one of those days.

And on the dress shirts, I usually see those on the associates in the appliances department. It threw me off at first when I wanted to ask someone about a mini-fridge.

That's an awesome story, though. "We're all family here." I want a job where I can say that about my co-workers too. The pizza place I worked for was like that, but I haven't felt that kind of camaraderie in the workplace since then except for this forum.

[rerant]

I wish people acted like that at my store.
The employees, not the customers.
Whenever customers get in our face other employees just stand idly by and watch. Granted I'm on cash and the majority of coworkers in my area are girls who are rather small in stature, but still, would it kill you to back me up here or at the very least call LP for me?

[RecoveringKinkoid]

That was one think about Kinko's...you take one of us on, you took us ALL on. We all definately had each other's backs in that place.

It was nice.

[Andara Bledin]

I'm wondering why your Best Buy had 20-30 workers.

Wait, if the place had 20-30 people in it, where were they when you needed assistance?

^-.-^

[FredKlein]

M: I can't do it for you this time. You keep returning things with no receipt. -
...
Fast forward another 15 minutes or so. -
...
From what we could gather, he had come back with a receipt.

Um, if he has his receipt, why didn't they just do the return?

[Broomjockey]

Um, if he has his receipt, why didn't they just do the return?

Lesse, wrong reciept, outside return period, item didn't meet standards for return, guy was being a colossal douche and didn't deserve it, probably a few other reasons possible I can't think of.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Um, if he has his receipt, why didn't they just do the return?

Even if he did come back with the correct receipt, which is hardly a given, he should have been kicked out of the store when he started cussing and threatening violence the first time and not allowed back in the second time.

[FredKlein]

Lesse, wrong reciept, outside return period, item didn't meet standards for return, guy was being a colossal douche and didn't deserve it, probably a few other reasons possible I can't think of.

I must have missed the part where it was the wrong receipt and outside the return period.

As for 'being a colossal douche' and not "deserving" the return, I didn't know "not being a douche" was part of the store's stated return policy.

[Broomjockey]

I must have missed the part where it was the wrong receipt and outside the return period.

As for 'being a colossal douche' and not "deserving" the return, I didn't know "not being a douche" was part of the store's stated return policy.

It doesn't say. However, those are *possible* reasons. As seen in numerous threads, managers will bend return policies for a number of reasons, but why should they go out of their way to help this guy? Especially as stated he has a history of abusing returns? *THAT* is were the "being a colossal douche" comes in, as that behaviour makes the manager say "sorry, you have too many returns, we can't help you." Hell, they can even just say "We already told you to get out of the building, you're tresspassing"

Seriously, why should they do anything to help this guy? Stores aren't obligated to take returns at all.