Best Buy Asheville South

Ok

Before I begin this negative review, let me say that overall, I have a high regard for Best Buy, Arden, as a business and for their employees. As upsetting as my most recent unfortunate experience has been, I believe that it is out of the ordinary. The lesson I learned and that I wish to pass on to others doing business with Best Buy, or any company for that matter, is to make sure to get something in writing stating exactly what will be provided and for how much. My wife and I set out to upgrade our old Samsung phones (A20 and Note 10). We first stopped at Verizon and found out what they could do for us. It sounded good, but expensive. We moved on to Best Buy. After an extensive discussion with the sales representative, we believed that we would be purchasing two Samsung S24+ phones, on sale for $800 each, and as part of Verizon’s trade-in program would get $400 and $800 back over 36 months for our old phones. As part of this, we would need to upgrade our service from Verizon’s Small 2 GB plan ($40/mo./line) to one of their new plans. I chose the Unlimited Welcome plan ($55/mo./line). It was late in the evening and I was presented with some forms to sign, which I did. When I got home, I realized that the phones we wound up purchasing were $1,000 each instead of $800. We returned to the store to complain and was told that the lower sale price was for unlocked phones, which were not part of the trade-in program. I was annoyed but still expected to get a good rebate on the phones we turned in. That was the second shock. Verizon only granted 200 dollars trade-in value for each phone. I spoke with both Verizon and Best Buy, arguing that I had been sold the phones with the expectation that the $400 and $800 trade-in values would apply. Verizon pointed out that the higher trade-in values only applied if I upgraded my monthly plan to Unlimited Ultimate at $80 /mo./line instead of the Unlimited Basic plan ($55/mo./line) I had chosen. The trade-in value for the Unlimited Welcome was only $200 per phone. This had not been made clear during our purchase. So, the unfortunate part of all this is that I had initially walked out of Best Buy thinking that I would be paying $400 for two phones ($800 each less $1,200 in trade-ins), plus a higher monthly charge for an upgrade in plans. Instead, I wound up paying $1,600 for the two phones with the higher monthly charge for the Unlimited Welcome plan over my existing plan. That was $1,200 more than I expected based on my discussions with the Best Buy representatives. Knowing all this, I would have done better buying the unlocked phones and keeping my old monthly plan. It would have been cheaper. The purchase options were not clearly presented and we left Best Buy with expectations that were not realistic and not corrected by the sales team. For my part, I wish I had insisted on having everything in writing as to what I would be receiving, under what circumstances and at what cost. I hope this review will save others from being as unpleasantly surprised with the final outcome of their purchase as we were.

Easy pick-up, associate was super helpful

I recently encountered an issue with an online order that was initially set for pickup but needed to be changed to shipping due to road paving. While I usually have positive experiences with Best Buy, my recent interaction with the location on McKenna Rd has been quite disappointing. I have struggled to reach them by phone, as calls go unanswered and messages are not returned, with their automated system indicating they are closed during regular hours. Additionally, the online chat option has proven ineffective. This level of service is concerning for a business, and the handling of my order has been unsatisfactory. Consequently, I am now seeking a refund and have lost interest in picking up the item. I would advise potential customers to reconsider purchasing from the Best Buy on McKenna Rd in Arden, NC.