Friday, December 08, 2006

BestBuy? Maybe not! Certegy? Should be certifiable!


BEST BUY SUCKS! (Actually I only put that there for google results.. read on for the full story.)

It's not often that I take a public forum standing on a company, but I'm going to put this one out there for you to consider.

Let me premise this by saying that I've shopped at Best Buy since the day the opened here, have their membership card, use their rewards program, etc, so I'm quite familiar with their practices.

Today, they completely surprised me by providing absolutely NO resolution to a customer service issue that was their problem.

As a computer service technician and consultant, I'm often asked to tell customers where to go to buy their machines. Usually, I refer them to Dell, or HP, directly but I personally bought a laptop from them back in February that was very affordable, and I've had nothing but pleasure from it.

Today, using that personal experience as an example, I referred a business customer to the local store for a laptop purchase. I had already visited the store, picked out the machine, and had it ready for them to pick up and purchase.

So, in our excitement we go to the checkout register and proceed to pay for this new computer. Well, things go along well at first. We scan the rewards card, scan the coupon, get the total, and write a check to cover the purchase.

Now, here's the part everyone dreads, where you get embarrassed and get told that your check was denied, you glance around in chagrin while holding up the line, then frantically call the bank to see what happened...

So, this client calls her secretaty, who calls the bank and then calls us back. Bank account is fine. I'm not going to say HOW much money was there because that's not relevant to the story, but lets suffice it to say she could have bought every laptop of that model they had and still have change left.

So, in a fit of utter lack of anything else to do, we run the check again, wait in line, go through the whole process. Same result. Check denied!

We call the bank manager, because it's a local bank that we both use so we know the number, who courteously pulls the account file and offers to speak to the clerk to confirm the money is there. The clerk, being completely out of her depth here, flees in terror to seek a manager to handle this ever-angering customer, who is now no longer embarrassed, but is instead boiling over into the beginnings of a good rage. Now you ALL know me.. I'm JUST the kind of guy you want to have standing at a register being jerked around by an eight-dollar an hour high school graduate who thinks they have a comprhension of the banking system. Needless to say, we got a manager fast.

Well, the manager tells us, "Sorry. We can't override that. It's an issue with Certegy, who is our check verification agency." "Ok" I said, "Get me the number for Certegy... no, I mean it.. get me the number... now."

So we got the number and called the agency, who I've never friggin heard of. Meanwhile, the manager is telling us that 70% of all retail agencies use Certegy for their card verification. (that's freakin amazing idiot boy. I've been setting up merchant accounts for retail vendors for ten years and I've never freakin' heard of 'em. So quit talking to me like I'm an idiot and find us someone who uses their head for more than something to put that gay blue shirt over...)

So, we finally get on the phone with Certegy. My poor client, a business owner and busy individual just like the whole rest of the world, has to go through this process of waiting for 20 minutes to get in touch with someone.

Now, here's where it gets good.
GUESS WHY BEST BUY DENIED HER CHECK?
OH.. REALLY.. IT'S GOOD... I PROMISE.
THEY DENIED HER CHECK BECASE SHE WROTE ANOTHER CHECK FOR $1,200.00 FIVE DAYS AGO...

Ok.. maybe you're brain is goin' Oh yeah.. I get it, but mine didn't, and neither did my client's. Basically, we told the company, yeah you s**t-for-brains, of course I wrote a $1200 check last week. I'm a business owner. I have to do that. It's what business owners do.. they collect check.. they write checks. What's the big deal?

Instead of offering to fix the problem, or authorize the check, Certegy tells us that if we would like (and I really friggin love this crap) we can apply today for a Certegy Gold Card and be able to (and I'm using their words exactly here) "write as many checks as we want to."

WOW.. that's completely friggin amazing. YOU can give ME a card that will allow ME to write MY OWN checks as often as I want? WOW. That's cosmically convenient. Why didn't I think of asking your permission before?

Guess what, Best Buy, not only was the the absolute most STUPID customer service I have ever seen in my life, but you completely don't have a friggin clue how to take care of a customer. Businesses need to write checks. You want them to buy from you. And the "we dont have authority to override that" BS line doesn't hold water. I know better because I work with payment verification gateways everyday.

Certegy: You Suck. And You Turn Away Business From Your Client Companies

Bestbuy: You Suck for using them and not trying to at least attempt to serve your customer when they have problems.

Now, if anyone representing either of these companies has anything to say in your miserable defense, I challenge you to click on the Comment button below and explain exactly WHY you ruined your relationship with a perfectly good customer due to your own stupidity, AND why the hell she, or I for that matter, should ever purchase from your company?

19 comments:

  1. A check is not a legal form of tender. They are not going to trade you a nice new computer for a small worthless piece of paper. If you want the computer, you have to pay for it. Use a credit card, debit card, or cash. If you have so much money in your account, use your ATM card. Oh wait, your bank limits the amount you can take out during a 24 hour period. Why is that? Why do they keep you from spending your own money?

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  2. WOW! What a dipshit! Did you actually just say that? "A check is not a legal form of tender".. wow.. I'm going to run over my head for a bit while I try to let that one sink in a little!

    A check is one of the oldest forms of "legal tender" you dumbass aside from coin, or cash, however you wish to put it. Its only predecessor in the financial markets is the "letter" of promise, but this isn't a history lesson and you're obviously not going to pay attention anyway if I told you. Well, just for the hell of it.. the check was the first form of paper currency adopted for transferring forms of money from one location to another, credited to the dutch in the 1500s, who by the way, also invented banking.

    Now, again I'm going to state the obvious. The federal government, state government, IRS, and every other agency recognize the check as a legal tender because that's how we business owners pay our bills! It's a paper-trail record used specifically for that purpose!

    Just for the record, dipshit, a check serves as legal receipt of purchase for the IRS, even without the presence of a receipt, which is why businesses use them when they can, because the bank automatically files copies of them digitally and they are available to both parties if ever contested.

    You actually bothered to read the post, click on it to come here, read my entire post, and then you say something as asinine as "If you have so much money in your account, use your ATM card."

    I'm not even going to explain the financial drafting procedures that differ between a check and an ATM card, such as, oh hell nevermind. You're an idiot. NEXT person please!

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  3. Oh god, TJ, I love you. That rant was spectacular.

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  4. Hey KE... lol. thanks.. I'm serious though. Who begins an argumentative approach with that kind of statement? "Attention all businesses in the world.. your checks aren't legal tender.. use your ATM card.. cause I'm young and too stupid to have any other opinon on the matter." And then, I really wonder about the "Oh wait, your bank limits the amount you can take out..." comment. Was he trying to imply that everyone with a debit threshold on their ATM purchases must not have money or something?

    Another FYI: The reason you can only take out a certain amount in a day, is to prevent fraud having your card stolen and used rampantly, you dolt.

    Anyway, At this point, I've digressed off the point of the rant so much that it's not even relevant any more. I'd actually appreciate a resonse from anyone who's suffered similarly and would LOVE to know if anyone's been able to get Certegy in trouble with the banks. I

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  5. If it's a legal form of tender, why did Best Buy not accept it? Oh yeah, it's not. They don't have to accept your check. To them it's a worthless piece of paper.

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  6. The IRS accepts your check because you are giving them money and if the checks bounce, they know who you are and can come after you. Business don't have that advantage and therefore do not have to accept checks. Please think before you speak.

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  7. And yet again, the point of the conversation is diverted from the original point, which maybe I didn't make clear.

    BestBuy DOES accept checks, however they use a check verification system, utlizing an Artificial intelligence computer program (unlike some of the other companies) to quickly look at your recent check purchases. In the case of my customer, they denied her check because they saw she had written an 1200.00 check a few days before.. they don't "verify" the funds are available to you, they just determine if THEY want best buy to accept the risk of taking your check.

    The point of the matter is that they are arbitratily refusing checks from legitimate customers, some like myself, who have never written a bad check to anyone and have plenty of funds available to cover the purchase.

    Does this clarify the issue?

    For reference, try googling "Certegy problems" and you'll find hundreds (literally) of complaints about the same tactic.

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  8. Let me clarify it for you.

    No money = No computer.

    It can't be any simpler than that.

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  9. Just like your bank's ATM, if you write checks for too much money, they are not going to accept them because the potential for fraud is too great. They are only protecting you.

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  10. 98% of checks presented to Certegy are accepted. Only 2% are declined. Check fraud is reduced by 40%.

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  11. Whoever you are.... you TOTALLY missed the point behind the post. There was MORE than enough money in the account to cover that purchase as well as a few others.... Certegy decided, however, that that company had made enough large purchases for one day (whoever gave them the right to determine that one??), and decided that it wasn't worth the risk....

    Put some glasses on and re-read the WHOLE post... or better yet, find something else to fill your time. :)

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  12. I don't think you understand how this works. Certegy does not care how much money is in the account. They give the benefit of the doubt on that one every time.

    Certegy thinks the check is fraudulent. That's why it's being declined. The same way your ATM card sets a limit on how much can be taken out in a day, the same way a credit card sets a limit on how much you can spend before they will turn the card off, the same way Certegy sets a limit on how much money they will insure for a given person.

    Since Certegy pays the retailer for every bad check they guarantee, Certegy has every right to decide how much they are willing to insure. Just like the credit card companies determine what your spending limit is. It's the same thing.

    Do you understand now?

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  13. daisy,
    Your profile says you are in the banking industry. How can you not know checks are not guaranteed?

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  14. Hello,
    My Check was denied at Harrahs Casino in Maryland Heights Missouri.
    I was choked, beat, my head busted against the brick floor by a Maurice Benzie. I never touched, kick'd , swung at anyone, even while Maurice Benzie choked me to the point I could not breath.
    Harrahs Casino, St. Louis County Court,with choped up video could not show even one instance of me touching anyone.I was Assaulted and then two months later I was charged with Assault and Resisting Arrest. The St. Louis County Court Railroaded me thru and found me guilty, ...the only thing the LIARS could come up with was the one who Assaulted me said my Cap, grazzzzzed him.

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  15. Sorry,
    The company that denied my check was,,,,You guessed it CERTEGY.

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  16. Ah, yes, I AM in the banking industry, but only in the IT part of it, not in the actual money handling, check monitoring side. I do know, however, that in this case whatever or whomever at Certegy decided that this check was fradulent really didn't know what the heck they were doing, blame it on a bad day or whatever, this was a little over the top. Granted they must do something right for Best Buy to saddle themselves with them, but that doesn't mean that anyone with a pulse doesn't have the right to dislike it and voice it in any way they see fit. This is OUR personal space to do just THAT, and if someone wants to rip Google for something on here, I won't stop it! However, at least I'm woman enough to show face on here, and little of the same can be said for you.

    I never have a problem with someone playing Devil's Advocate, but geez man, get a life already!! There is a "Next Blog" button on the top.... move along please!!

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  17. Put some glasses on and re-read the WHOLE post....you TOTALLY missed the point behind the post.

    Checks usage is declining and they will be going away soon. Online bill pay is going up. IT skills will be in big demand. Learn about the industry and you'll position yourself for a brighter future.

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  18. I appreciate the input... but I'm doing pretty damn well for myself so far...

    I think this soap box has been over done... anyone notice the bubbles floating around?

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