Dear Future Shop, We Are OVER!

Fail

The Rumors Are True: I’m Dumping Future Shop FOREVER!

It’s been 28 long days since I dropped my MacBook Pro off at Future Shop for a warranty repair. When I bought the computer 2 years ago I forked out aprox $400.00 extra for the extended warranty in hopes that I would be covered if there were any issues.

JANUARY 21st: I dropped off my computer for what seemed to be a power issue. I was told it would be 1 week – 10 days for the repair. I was also told that Apple sometimes has to wipe the drive clean to repair computers and I should pay $80.00 for back up. I said, “Wipe the drive for a hardware issue?” The Future Shop service associate said, “It could happen.” (95% of my drive is backed up at home. I was not able to backup the most recent data, as my computer wouldn’t power up.) I agreed to pay the ADDITIONAL $80.00 for backup.
The service guy said my computer would be backed up THAT DAY and sent out THAT DAY as “UPS has not picked up yet.”

JANUARY 28th: I was in the area of the Yonge/Dundas store 1 week after drop off, and decided to pop in for an update. The service associate (same guy as the first time) entered my TAG# into the system and told me that my computer was “Still out at Apple Repair.” I asked if the work was in process and if there was an estimated time for return. The Sales Associate said “Hard to say.” For some reason, he didn’t seem to be telling the truth, something about his demeanor changing when he looked at the screen. So I confirmed, “But my computer has been backed up and sent out to Apple?” He looked me in the eyes and said, “Yes.”

All this is fine. It had only been a week. It was a bummer that I was heading to P.E.I. without a computer, but such is life. Future Shop’s warranty states that they have up to 60 days to repair or replace a unit. I agreed to that when I bought it. Hoping that 60 days OR 28 days would be worst-case scenario. Lets jump ahead to where things get dicey and, quite frankly, UNACCEPTABLE!

FEBRUARY 6th: 17 days AFTER I dropped off my computer. I received a phone call from the tech department at Future Shop’s Yonge/Dundas store. I thought it was to inform me that my computer was ready for pickup. NOPE! The technician (different guy) was calling to tell me he was BACKING UP my computer and I had, “TOO MUCH data on my computer! 125GB of data is A HUGE amount of data- OH BOY!” I was told, “We don’t have that much space on our server for backup!” He went on to say that I would have to provide a backup drive, “which Future Shop has a wide variety of on the sales floor.” I said, “so you are JUST backing up my computer now? 17 days after I dropped it off? And you are calling from the Yonge/Dundas location?” He confirmed ALL of these things and repeated that he could not possibly back up that HUGE amount of data on the Future Shop server. He asked how I wanted to proceed, as NO WORK would continue on my machine until I approved the purchase of an external drive or dropped one off. He knew I was in PEI, as I had told him that, so how could I drop off a drive? I was bullied into agreeing to buy an external drive, OR work would NOT continue on my WARRANTY unit. By this point my FULL EXTENDED warranty was costing me in excess of an additional $200.00 and the machine had NOT been looked at in 17 days.

Needless to say: I contacted Future Shop via their website, immediately. I heard back in a very apologetic e-mail on Feb 6th:

Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 13:12:59 -0500
From: websupportcan@futureshop.com
To: pdetlor………
CC:
Subject: Re: Email from Future Shop

Dear Pamela,

Thank you for notifying us of your concerns. Please be assured that we will make every effort to provide you with a satisfactory resolution. To help resolve this issue I invite you to forward the requested information below and we will file a store complaint on your behalf
To help us assist you, please respond back to us with the following information so that we are able to provide the store with complete details and your complete contact information:
Store location:
Date of Incident:
Who you spoke with at the store:
Your Full Name:
Your address:
Your phone number:
Thank you for your patience in this matter. If you should have anymore questions or comments please feel free to email us or call our customer service line at 1-800-663-2275. Thank you
Sincerely
Vanessa, 44606
Future Shop Canada

I provide all of the requested additional information, in writing, and also added:

Before closing I have a few things to add. I have over 20 years in sales experience, from retail floor to Inside Sales rep. I have NEVER lied to a client.

I also have an extensive background in computer hardware/software. I was in charge of a team testing hardware & software for the Y2K banking issues, with CIBC’s Electronic Banking division, for 2 years. IF FUTURE SHOP DOES NOT HAVE THE STORAGE CAPACITY FOR A MERE 125GB of DATA, You may as well close up shop.

I don’t know if your tech assumed I would believe him because most people (women especially) don’t understand the inner workings of electronics? I have heard a lot of lies in my life – but that one takes the cake. ALSO, when the first employee took my machine and “recommended” I pay for backup, he had my computer in his hands; he was aware of the model and drive capacity – he DID NOT say we can’t back up a HUGE drive like this. He did not say that $80.00 only covered a certain amount of backup. He said it would be backed up and shipped to Apple repair that day, NO problem.

Here we are – I have no machine. No idea when it will come back. After spending aprox $400 on a full warranty I’m having to come up with $200+ MORE.

I’ve been lied to three times. Once when Employee said the computer was still out (it had never left!) Again when I confirmed: “But it has been backed up and sent out?” And he said “Yes” knowing FULL WELL, by the information on his computer screen, that neither had taken place yet. Then, I was lied to by the employee who was FINALLY getting around to backup, after my computer had been in your store for 17 days.

I don’t want these men fired. I think some retraining is in order were company policy and customer service are concerned. I also don’t think I should be expected to pay a cent after the treatment I’ve received. Last year alone, in addition to what I spent at your store, I have brought in friends who have spent more than $30,000.00 I currently have a friend in need of a new MacBook Pro, I was going to take him to you. Now I’m thinking maybe it’s time to give Best Buy or The Source a chance to get my business and that of friends/family.

Please let me know the status of my repair as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Pamela Detlor

I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM FUTURE SHOP SINCE!

SO I guess they have 32 more days to DICK me around before they have to do something. I am not a fan of boycotting things for stupid reasons, however – I AM BOYCOTTING Future Shop! WE HAVE NO FUTURE!

If your server is too small for the amount of data that could fit on less than two 84 gig, wee USB little jump drives, that fit in the palm of a CHILD’S HAND, then it’s time to take yourselves over to BEST BUY and get a bigger server.

OR EVEN BETTER:
easyHead on over to Staples and grab yourself an EASY BUTTON. At this point that is your only option to get out of this mess!

Note*
Generally I don’t ask that you pass on a BLOG post ~ But in this case, I urge you to share my misadventure with your friends if they are planning to buy anything at Future Shop.

Also: I still believe Apple/Mac is a quality company with superior products. The treatment I am receiving from Future Shop is NO reflection on Apple. At this point I don’t even know if they have received my unit and been given a chance to repair it. I have NEVER had a bad experience with Apple.

That’s My Rant!

Pam

Posted in Interviews/Articles/Reviews, Shopping on 02/18/2010 04:11 pm by Pamela Detlor

19 Comments

  1. i cant believe they took that long to even send the thing out! i really hope you get a reply email back from them so you can tell them again how badly their company is doing in customer service for you.

  2. That sucks. Futureshop has gone downhill ever since Bestbuy purchased it. I see they contacted you on Twitter but honestly, you should get your original laptop fixed for free then extra warranty for another year for free and about $500 in gift cards for your personal damage. Good luck.

  3. Consider it shared….
    Hope you get your baby, I mean your Mac back soon!

  4. Future shop is shitty. I bought my digital camera there and I also got warrenty. Lets just say the repair cost they wanted to charge costed more then the camera. It was cheaper to by a new one. I hope you are able to get your computer back soon.

  5. That’s really the pits Pam, I don’t know how you’d be able to be so calm, I’m sure you’re majorly pissed off, rightfully so!

    I’m not 100% that Best Buy is the better option either, I got an email awhile back, I wish I’d kept it, regarding their return policies & it seems that really, when reading the fine print, they’re no better than Future Shop…I guess the term “buyer beware” really is something we all need to keep in mind when dealing w/ buying electronics…

    I really hope you get some satisfaction from them Pam & that you’re not waiting too much longer

  6. I’ve had many problems buying electronics from big box stores. I now like to either deal with the manufacturer of the product directly (i.e. apple.com, sonystyle.ca, etc) or go to an independent store.

    Good luck with your MacBook and you’re right, 125 gigs is such a small amount of data. Ridiculous!!

  7. If I was you I would also email Apple to let them know about the crap service you are getting from this store.

    Hope you get it back soon :)

  8. Elaine fitzgeorge
    02/18/2010 at 6:31 pm

    Hi Pam, sadly being loyal to such a large franchise means Jack.

    I too have had my fair share of dreadful customer service unfortunately, which has lead me to doing all of my purchases at other various businesses.

    Something as simple as repairing my VCR under warranty years ago was far too difficult. Not only did it take 2 weeks over the time it was due back, an entirely different part (the play button) was removed ( behind the cover so it was hidden). Unfortunately I had used the remote, and until I misplaced it and tried to use the play button manually, I didn’t know it was missing. It was beyond the expirey date of the warranty. I use it for the kids now, and have to remind them to never lose the remote. Stupid ( for lack of a better word).

    I wish you luck on this lengthy venture and I hope this story has a happy ending for you.

  9. What you are doing right now is exactly what you should do!

    I cannot believe they lied to you to your face like that. :\

  10. I am like you. Customer service is everything.

  11. I feel for ya! A similar thing happened to me with Future Shop with a printer. My printer didn’t work, I sent it in on extended warranty, they sent it away to NFL when they said it would be looked at IN STORE, about 8 weeks later it came back to me and they told me all it needed was to be “cleaned”. It wasn’t fixed and they didn’t bat an eyelash!

    I never, ever buy an extended warranty on anything. Whenever a sales person asks me, I chuckle and say NO and they always look at me like I’m crazy…and I chuckle again ;-)

  12. Those extended warranties are BS from the beginning. Because you have one or two years manufacture warranty anyways. So if something breaks you can send it to them, which is exactly the thing that FS would do. Plus the prices for warranty are ridiculous, you can send your laptop after a year and add the $200 which you would have pay for the warranty and buy a brand new. Plus out of three times I brought products for repair, it got fixed once.

    Your case is even worse, I would try and reach someone higher up in customer service and ask them to explain in writting how come they don’t have 125gb to backup.

  13. Holy Crap Pam!!!!!

    I have learned over the years that Customer Service at most stores nowadays, sucks big time!!

    I had a similar experience from a store here in Hamilton, regarding a coffee carafe that I broke, and needed a replacement. Since I had never replaced one before, I wasn’t sure where to get a new one for my particular brand of coffee maker. I went to this store that can order specific items if need be. I placed the order, which cost me about $35, which I thought was a bit much for a carafe, but asked how long it would take to come in and was assured about 2 weeks!! Fast forward to 3 months later it still hadn’t come in!! I happened to go to Zellers one evening and passed by the coffee makers in the store, well low and behold!!! There was my carafe!!! I nearly “soiled” myself given the fact of the price, it was $10!!!

    Being frustrated with how long this transaction was taking, I decided then to purchase the “cheap” one and go to the “offending” store and cancel my order!! Well, you can’t do that once the “special order” has taken place!! I debated the issue for several minutes pointing out that it should never take 3 months to get a new carafe even from another country!! Which the replacement carafe apparently was coming from Mississauga!!!! As we were “chatting”, the fellow checked on the computer and said “hold on one minute”, he then left me and went to the back room and VOILA!!, the carafe just happened to be there!!!! I asked how long had it been there and he said it “just came in”!!! I found that a little suspect considering I had called the store a little earlier in the day and was told that they were expecting a shipment the following day, but wasn’t sure if my carafe would be in the pending shipment!!!

    Anyway, as I said, customer service REALLY SUCKS today. In years past, sales people would almost trip over themselves trying to help a customer or resolve an issue, now when you have a problem or even just ask a question, you get a response that rivals “watching paint dry”!!!

    I feel your frustration Pam, and hope that you get a resolution to this nightmare soon!!!!

  14. Can’t agree more. Future shop sucks huge in its warranty repair and/or refund. Furthermore, the management doesn’t care customer service at all. That’s why there is no response to your later complaint. Same experience here. Just a bunch of greedy chain stores that care nothing but getting $ out of your pocket.

  15. Its funny. I just had a similar incident in St. Catharines with my iMac. I took it in for a video problem that the-so called- tech guy determined was a hard ware issue and that my hard drive would not need to be erased. I got it back with a new hard drive and the same video issue. There was no mention in the service report on the video issue but they did check out the hard drive and determined that the computer was crashing and had a long list of problems. Although I authorized erasing of the hard disk, I was only to be done with my approval. So now I am waiting for the store to get my old hard drive back so I can retrieve my files.
    One note though. After speaking to the warranty people, they arranged for service on my video problem to be done elsewhere. Talking with the store managers and tech people was like talking with a cucumber.
    The only recourse I have if the store fails to produce my hard drive, is to talk to the general and area managers, I think I will be speaking to my lawyer first.

  16. this is a laugh for you from me :)

    For good, return good. For evil, return justice. :)

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