Best Buy El Camino Real

Racist or incompetent? I’ve been coming to this Best Buy for a couple of years and have been usually satisfied with the service. However, today was different. I went in to get a podcast mic so I got a Rode mic with a USB-C input. I wanted to know if it can connect directly to my MacBook Pro or if I needed to buy a connector. A few feet away from where the mic was kept, there was an information center/help desk. You know, the place where an employee… helps. That was the assumption I had when I approached the lady there who had her Best Buy uniform on looking at some pieces of paper. I tried to greet her with a “Hello” but she barely looked up and said she was busy. Now, I’m no looker. I am a 33 year old Indian man with a pot belly. I’m no where near good looking or intimidating. I wore a golf tee and grey pants and was holding an item costing $140 before tax. So asking a question about the product shouldn’t be out of line. Perhaps I was a shabbily dressed Indian man who didn’t qualify for her support on my question which I couldn’t even ask. We spent a good 30 seconds where she pointed me to another information center further away from the cashier in the section boldly labelled Microsoft. I don’t know the logic behind this. My assumption is if someone is in the information center section, their job is to help. The only way they can truly be busy is if they are engaged with a customer. This was not the case here. I’m really hoping that my color of skin and appearance didn’t play a role in me being denied service. If the staff at Best Buy has a prejudice, it will be a bigger problem to handle so I’m hoping this particular employee just had a poor understanding of what her roles and responsibilities were. While paying for my purchase, I asked to speak with a manager and the lady at the counter went across and brought her colleague who immediately admitted he wasn’t a manager but would listen to me. I explained my situation and he promptly offered that sometimes it is possible for someone to redirect you to another section. I agreed with him but asked if the employee had to atleast listen to the question I had before being redirected. He agreed that is the protocol. He apologized for his colleague as what any good team member would do hoping for this to go away. But I don’t understand how I can be denied basic service. While the color of my skin can vary from others, the dollars I spend is the same green regardless. What on earth do I need to do to avail the service the business is supposed to guarantee?? I don’t accept someone brushing me off saying they are busy at their job is fair and I feel highly unwelcome in Best Buy. It felt like I was being done favor to be allowed to shop here and overall a very demoralising experience.

Staff is super quick and efficient. All friendly and greet you and say bye at the door!

I was very pleased at how easy it was to get what I knew I wanted and I knew this BestBuy had it because I first searched online. William and Trini were very friendly and helpful with the process of ordering and purchasing the iPhone, which I received in the mail very quickly. They also promised they would assist with the set up and transfer of data from my Android phone to this new iPhone. We'll do this tomorrow...I am hopeful all will go well!

Ordered online, easy, and came next day. Way better than Amzn. Best buy online, great service.