Crazy Good, Bad Customer Service

I was in Best Buy recently and had a technical question. The receiver I’d bought back in August was acting strangely, so I walked over to the Home Theater department and explained the situation. The blue-shirted lackey had no idea what I was, like, um, like, talking about, so he referred me to “that guy over there” and walked away. “That guy” turned out to be on the store’s Geek Squad. OK, I thought, now we’re getting somewhere.

As I explained the problem again, he listened carefully and waited patiently for me to finish before explaining that the receiver was acting that way (it was defaulting to ‘Mute’ every time I hit the volume button) as a failsafe to protect my speakers. Some sensor told the receiver not to allow additional volume because it believed the speakers would blow.

Makes sense. So, what’s the fix? His reply: “You’ll have to get into the system and shut off the calibration regulator.”

Huh?

My receiver’s remote control has 946 buttons and while I am tech-savvy, I sensed that I’d be back the next day asking the same question. Looking over at the bank of televisions, I asked if he could walk me over and show me while I was there. His reply, word for word:

“I can’t. If I do, I might lose my job.”

At this point, I did my best Scooby imitation. You know the one when he cocks his head to the side and makes that noise? Returning to reality, I asked for clarification. He continued...

“We sell that solution as a part of a $149 service where a technician comes to your house and sets up the receiver. If I tell you how to do it instead of selling you the service and my manager finds out, I will get fired.”