Why People Don’t Renovate: Buying a Range at Best Buy and Lowes

It seemed straight-forward enough. Replace an old slide-in gas range with a new one.  Not so fast.

Of course, I began by researching which brand and model offered the best combination of reliability and performance (it’d be in a rental property so reliability is important).  I trundled over to the library to check out Consumer Reports.  From there, I visited various ratings sites to see what actual users had to say about each of my finalists … a Bosch and a Samsung.  Finally, I visited brick and mortar stores … literally all the way to Mesquite for one … to actually see and touch each.

Even with all the swirl about Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 candelabra function and washing machines with projectile lids, I selected Samsung. The whys were more about me.  The Bosch’s storage drawer had no handle and was annoying to open.  Also, the touchpad was completely vertical meaning all oven programming required bending over. The price differential was about $10 due to various sales, making cost not a deciding factor.

A few things to know.  The range was for Hawaii so my choices were quite limited on where to purchase.  Also, I had to order early to ensure it was either in stock (crap shoot) or if it would have to come over by boat.

In October, I visited the Lowes website and placed the order.  On the checkout/payment screen, I was enticed to save five percent by opening a Lowes card.  So I did.  Filling out all the necessary information and receiving my charge card number.  I returned to my shopping cart and entered the account number and was prompted to enter the security code on the back of the card.  What card?  I called Lowes credit services who could not help me.  They said I needed to wait 7-10 days to get the card in the mail.  So much for nabbing the sale and the additional five percent off.

WTF.

I immediately cancelled the card and dumped the order.  If they’re so stupid to have not worked out how to entice a credit card application while at the same time allowing the customer to place an immediate order with said card, F-them.

Enter Best Buy (a company I’ve long known by the moniker “Worst Buy,” but like I said, limited choices).  Appliances for the Hawaii store are listed as being handled by Pacific Sales.  I thought they were local, operating a store-within-store deal with Best Buy (wrong). As I said, the price was the same so I placed the order, no credit card enticement, I used my AMEX card.  And that’s where the fun begins …

After placing the order, I left the browser tab with the order number open while I worked elsewhere waiting to receive an email confirmation.  I received no confirmation and by the time I revisited the order confirmation tab, the screen “timed out” and left me with a blank page. No order number.

After a few days (and seeing the charge hit my AMEX card) I sent an email on November 1 to their customer service email [email protected] and received no reply.  I resent the email on November 11 and again received no reply.  At this point all I had confirming an order was my AMEX statement.  (I should also note that I also sent an email to the same email address on September 4 seeking answers to a product question and again received no reply … clearly customers are free to “ask” but there’s no guarantee of a “reply”)

I also now know that Pacific Sales provides no telephone number but lists an address in Minnesota, the home of Best Buy.  So much for the local business theory.

A few days later, once I arrived in Hawaii, I placed a call to Best Buy trying to get the order number so I could track my order.  It took me four calls to finally get the order number.

Now you may be thinking that perhaps the confirmation wound up in Spam … nope.  You may also be thinking that I typed in an incorrect email address (twice) on the order … nope, while I received no confirmation, I did almost immediately start receiving junk Best Buy emails.

So I finally checked the order and everything was on time for a November 22 installation. It bears noting that on that original order I ordered the range, installation kit, and the haul-away service for the old range.  I also put in the comments section, “My expectation is for delivery, installation, and haul away.”  I put this because while the website trumpets installation, the actual order didn’t list it as a separate item, just the installation kit and haul-away. I wanted to be sure we were all on the same page.

The delivery guys arrived on the 22^nd and before the range was off the truck, it became apparent they didn’t do installs nor had they read the note plainly visible on their order sheet where my expectations were visible. They only provided drop off and haul-away IF the old range had already been uninstalled. (Well, when you order an install, you figure they’ll also uninstall the old one, right?)

So I got on the phone with Best Buy who confirmed they don’t do installs regardless of the blaring message on their website (“Yeah, that’s confusing,” said one Best Buy representative).  They also clearly don’t read customer notes on their order form.  The local Best Buy’s attitude was that purchasing online was somehow not really buying from them, as though they were doing BestBuy.com a favor.  But she said, she’d call me back in 5-7 minutes with the name of someone who could help.

Meanwhile, I yanked out the old range, disconnected the gas and unplugged it so the delivery guys could haul it away.  After all, being on an island, haul away is really, really important.

Still waiting for the callback, I looked over the installation instructions and kit.  I quickly found out that Best Buy included the wrong kit. It was a 5/8” connector when I needed a 1/2″ connector.  Still waiting, I called around town to see if I could quickly get the right kit.  Bingo at Ferguson.  Still waiting for that callback, I borrowed a car and dashed out to pick up the right kit.  Forty dollars later, I had the kit and was heading home.  The phone rings.

Turns out in Best Buy world, 5-7 minutes really means nearly three hours.  Their solution?  They’d call some guy who could do the installation and he’d call me either later that day or in the “next couple of days.”

Remember, this is Thanksgiving week.  Thank god I was going out for Thanksgiving dinner!

But, armed with the correct installation kit, I installed the range this morning (Wednesday).  I mean, it’s not rocket science.  Connect the gas at the source and the back of the range while making sure there are no leaks … and plug it in.  Done.

I’m betting you’re reading this story before the installation guy even calls me back. (I call him “guy” because Best Buy didn’t tell me his name.)

And this is why more people don’t renovate.  The complete hassle of something as seemingly simple as replacing a range becomes a series of CFs that have to be managed and rode hard or you fall between the cracks.

And yes, Best Buy remains true to their “Worst Buy” nickname.

Remember:  High-rises, HOAs and renovation are my beat. But I also appreciate modern and historical architecture balanced against the YIMBY movement.  If you’re interested in hosting a Candysdirt.com Staff Meeting event, I’m your guy. In 2016, my writing was recognized with Bronze and Silver awards from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.  Have a story to tell or a marriage proposal to make?  Shoot me an email [email protected].