I bought a display model, open-box FAIR condition Sony OLED TV from Westminster Mall, and the folks at Westminster Mall were 10/10 folks who were transparent about the state of the product, meticulously demonstrated the problems in front of me, and assured me that I can return it anytime if the OLED burn-in affected my use case experience. The product did not come with a remote control and a stand, just the screen, and it did not have its original box so they used a Samsung box but put their open box stickers on the box.
I had to return the product as I underestimated the burn-in damage, and Westminster Mall was an hour and 15 minute drive away. The closest Best Buy to me is this one at 17545 Gale Avenue, and as per my years of experience dealing with Best Buy buying thousand dollar laptops, I can return products to any store regardless where I bought them.
As I entered the store, the reception was fine, put a sticker on my return and directed me to customer service. Once there, there was only one girl on the computer who would look at me as I was standing there and she would say nothing. Not one reaction, just looking at me from time to time as she went about whatever she was doing. I usually do not care as I am not entitled to a "we'll be right with you" courtesy as I empathize with the service industry dealing with entitled customers all the time, so this is just nitpicking.
Now, big boss man arrives, tall man in a black shirt, cap, and glasses. Eyes me. I tell him I bought a TV from Westminster Mall and I wish to return it. Immediately, before I even handed the TV to the desk for his inspection, he already pre-dismissed me with a "We usually don't accept returns from other stores." I then explained to him the details of the product: display model Sony OLED TV, returning for burn-in, came only with the screen, no remote control, not stand. Guy would seriously look at me in the eye in that deadpan face, and said we'll look at it. He took the TV at the back, and after a while, he came back and said "We can't accept this return because the label did not say it was missing the remote control and stand. This is the fault of the Westminster store so you should return it there."
I'm like, okay, understandable. Except that's an hour and 15 minute drive. Maybe the Westminster folks are to blame, but from the way that store treated me with so much transparency, humanity, and empathy, I can't fault them but myself.
I decided that before I take that long drive to Westminster, I might as well check first with the West Covina mall Best Buy.
The way I was treated at West Covina mall, compared to this Gale Avenue Best Buy, I thought I was going to cry. They pampered me in there, the receptionist, a girl, literally carried the TV for me to customer service!!! Then big boss man came over to check on me, and he himself squatted down on the floor to inspect the TV with me, plugging it in, getting a universal remote control for me. He straight up understood that display models for TV usually don't come with the accessories and the original box. He asked for a second pair of eyes to inspect the burn-in, and we found that it wasn't a burn-in exactly, but a panel defect showing horizontal streaks of uneven color on a solid color background. But it doesn't end there. I was offered some really great deals with their open box OLED TVs as replacement!!! Big boss man escorted me to their inventory and had me take a look. The OLED TV I bought from Westminster was actually a super-rare open box discount and it is difficult to find a similarly unbelievable deal ($540 for a Sony Bravia OLED XR!!!).
So yeah, West Covina Mall Best Buy gave me such an unconditionally welcoming experience with extremely understanding and "will go above and beyond"-attitude-having staff, especially compared to this Gale Avenue store.
Can I fault Gale Avenue's staff for my experience? Not really. But compared to the way I was treated at West Covina Mall? West Covina Mall gets 10/5 stars from me. Normalizing this, my Gale Avenue Best Buy experience gets a 1/5.
I came in to 'price shop' upright freezers. (Our old freezer was more than 45 years old. So yes, it was time to replace it since it wasn't freezing hard anymore.) Anyway we told them we were just shopping. Just to see what's out there. We were expecting a "hard sales" speech. But NO pressure. NO buy it now. Went to check prices at Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart and Howards. Came back to buy the 17 cu.ft. freezer at Best Buy. Now, there's nothing wrong with these other stores. But the service and attitudes from Best Buy were the best we found that day.
