Does Best Buy Deliver? (Perhaps Not)…

I’ve been shopping at Best Buy for years, so the disappointing experience I’ve been having with an appliance purchase and delivery has caught me by surprise.

I noticed that the retailer’s Geek Squad has ended its reviews, and for good reason. They don’t want to hear from people like me who have been treated unprofessionally.

Here’s what happened.

I purchased a dryer at the Murfreesboro, Tennessee, store. As an add-on, I paid $200 for their Geek Squad, which included free delivery and set-up for the new dryer. The earliest appointment was about two weeks, a long time to wait. I’ve been hang-drying my clothes.

Preparing for the delivery involved moving a few pieces of furniture to clear an easy path to the utility room. I even removed pictures off the walls on the stairway. 

Then I waited… and waited… and waited. Nobody called. Nobody came. Around 7 p.m., I called Best Buy customer service. After a long wait, the representative told me the delivery had been canceled, but she didn’t know why. After another long wait, she connected me to the Geek Squad. The lady there told me they had to reschedule because my utility room is upstairs. 

The question I have is obvious: Why wasn’t this handled on the front end? And why wasn’t I notified? I waited all day.

The next possible delivery date for me is Dec. 3. That means I will have waited an additional two weeks to have my dryer delivered.

I’ve talked to friends who have had similar experiences. More and more retailers are doing things like this without apology. They expect customers to put up with this kind of unprofessional behavior. That isn’t necessarily true.

My thought is to return all of the items I purchased and stop doing business with Best Buy (and any other retailer that treats me this way). If everyone did this, they would have to listen. Proper planning and communication are key. Best Buy and the Geek Squad dropped the ball. 

Alabama State Port Authority Stifles Mobile, Alabama’s, Tourism Potential

  MOBILE, Ala. — The Alabama State Docks is on a mission: To stifle Mobile, Alabama’s, tourism potential. The Port Authority doesn’t want to admit that, but it’s true.

It’s always been this way. The ASD rules the roost. If you look at Mobile’s significant population loss, you can at least partially blame the Port Authority, the State of Alabama, and the railroads that partner with them. 

Don’t get me wrong. All Mobilians should be proud that the Port City is one of the top seaports in the nation. But facts are facts. When it comes to tourism, which has been a boon for similar cities like Savannah and Charleston, a great Southern city like Mobile can never really grow in the midst of the ASD’s strong-armed, self-centered control.

Longtime Mobilians might remember how, in the 1970s, a company proposed restoring old warehouses and building a hotel along the Mobile River. That’s exactly what Savannah has done. The Docks would hear nothing of it. They convinced the City Commission, including Lambert C. Mims, to hand over much of the city’s waterfront to the ASD for a container shipping terminal. Now that part of the waterfront and some of the city’s history is gone forever. 

When it comes to Amtrak, it doesn’t matter that a station operated in that exact downtown location (the foot of Government Street) for decades. The ASD never wanted it there. It was a nuisance. Tourism was not a priority. Nor was the passenger service people wanted and needed. 

Today, the circumstances are just as pressing. Mobile faces going forward or backward. Tourism has become key to the growth of many historic cities, and the Port City stands to gain so much if it is connected to more successful tourist towns such as Biloxi and New Orleans. Mobile’s museums and other tourist attractions need a boost from a lack of visitors. The Dauphin Street Entertainment District would grow and thrive, too.

Every successful city’s downtown includes a train station, main library, stadium, and boardwalk. Downtown Mobile has none, although it does have a waterfront park, convention center, and cruise terminal. 

For some reason, the ASD seems convinced that placing the train station at the future Mobile Downtown Airport would be sufficient. What a nice, picture-taking arrival destination for visitors coming from Biloxi and New Orleans. I guess they could catch an Uber to see the beauty and history of downtown. 

But, of course, we know the Port Authority’s true goal. To prevent anything good that might be a nuisance to them. A true, caring Mobile company or operation would do all it could to help the city. They would bend over backward. That’s because they love the city. Not the ASD though. High fives all around if you’re one of them.

The ASD’s trend of stifling the city’s tourism has always been, and it will continue (unless the mayor, council and concerned citizens come to their senses and wrest away its  unreasonable control).

Mobile deserves to finally become the city it’s always had the potential to be. 

(Chuck Whiting was a longtime Mobilian who attended local schools and began his career at The Mobile Press Register.)