(Best Buy Tenleytown-DC General Manager Robert Delissio's 10/19/07 email responses are posted below.)
Given that Best Buy General Manager Mr. Delissio has never once contacted me to seek resolution of the situation, I find his response both disingenuous and insulting to me and my friends and family who wrote to him with knowledge of the background.
- Mr. Delissio's statement that he "can not [sic] discuss the situation with OTHER customers" implies that he has he has attempted to discuss the situation with me. This is most certainly NOT the case.
- Mr. Delissio's assertion that "any customer that has had an unsatisfactory experience in my store [sic] I have done what I could within reason to rectify" belies the fact that he has never once made any effort to communicate with me about this situation, provided any compensation, or confirmed that any investigation has been conducted into the theft of the computer. As a reminder, it is a situation that resulted from Mr. Delissio's failure to implement adequate measures to prevent the theft of my computer from his store, failure to disclose the fact that his store had lost the computer in a timely manner (and thus further exposing me to identity theft and other potential problems), and failure to offer fair compensation after learning of the situation. Apparently a phone call to me or any response to the letters I sent and visits that I made to his store to resolve the situation is not "within reason?"
- He notes, "Some customers I have found can not [sic] be satisfied." I take this to mean that he sees me as an unrealistic and unsatisfiable customer. Apparently, disappointment that I did not receive a response to inquiries about the theft of my computer at his store makes me a raging lunatic. I am incredulous that he would infer as much to MY FRIENDS.
- Mr. Delissio's insults do not stop there. His allegation that "Customers have, on occasion [sic] demanded unrealistic compensation." is no doubt true, but it implies that he considers my request for compensation within that category. For the record, my first "unrealistic" request (via 8/25/07 letter to his store) was for confirmation that an investigation into the theft had been conducted and compensation for the original purchase price of the computer package ($1110.35), plus $1000 to help offset the cost of music, pictures, software, and other contents lost when the computer was stolen from his store. On my October 7 visit to the store, my "unrealistic" response to Assistant Manager Delunte Lewis' question about "desired compensation" was that I would settle for a $2500, if I received a check (not gift card) that week, because I needed a replacement laptop ASAP. I did not specify a compensation amount in my October 10 email to Mr. Delissio, but outlined for him the scope of the losses I was faced with. When asked by the DC Attorney General's Office, I said that I would settle for $5000, which was the minimum amount I felt confident I could receive if I opted for quick resolution through small claims court. These figures fall thousands of dollars short of the actual value of damages for expenses and time that I have incurred or will have to incur to resolve this issue. However, even these amounts, in the mind of Mr. Delissio, were "unrealistic", despite the fact that I was faced with these losses as a direct result of his store's negligence. I find his refusal to provide compensation at these modest levels particularly disturbing, given that I suspect his store probably has an insurance policy that would have covered the value of property stolen from his store.
- Mr. Delissio claims, "I understand the importance of customer service and have brought that point of view to the store." Apparently, he has forgotten the golden rule of customer service: The customer is always right. I would think this would particularly be true in the case of a customer who became a victim of theft at his store and was put at risk of identity theft because of that store's negligence and failure to disclose the theft to them in a timely manner. No?
- Most disturbing and insulting, however, are Mr. Delissio's statements that, "I will address each situation and give it the attention it requires" and "we strive to deliver the experience that every customer deserves to receive." Apparently, Mr. Delissio feels that I got the attention required and experience that I deserved?!? Moreover, a criminal act against one of his customers merits no attention in Mr. Delissio's experienced opinion, if my experience is any indication.
- Mr. Delissio closes with, "I do hope that you will allow the Tenley Town store the opportunity to continue to provide you with the service you should expect from any retailer. If by chance you come to the store and do not receive this service I would hope you would seek me out and bring that to my attention." I would like to think that the average consumer would expect a much higher level of service from "any retailer", including Best Buy Tenleytown DC. He asks my friends to bring substandard service to his attention. I have to question the purpose of such: so he can ignore and insult them, as he has me?
