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Thursday, July 10, 2014

When Policy Overrided Philosophy - a Case study



Some businesses follow very strict operating policies, while others follow philosophies. Which is better? To follow I'll show you a case study how one ruined a customers loyalty at Best Buy.


I needed to purchase a Surface Pro 3 and wasn't in the States to do so. But luckily a cousin was coming to visit a friend and said she could pick it up for me.

So I went online and rather effortlessly purchased the products at bestbuy.com, listed it as customer pick up, and paid for it.  I received an email showing the purchase order number, product descriptions. the location of pick up, and the estimated time of availability -- they stressed to wait for a followup email before coming to pick it up.

At the time of purchase there was an option Store Pickup, however, there was no warnings of the stringent rules that applied. But in the email notifying me that the order was ready, for the first time said:

To make sure everything gets to its rightful owner, we'll need to see:
1. Your state-issued photo ID
2. The credit card you used when you placed this order: Visa *************666
3. The order number listed below or a copy of this e-mail

*Important: For your protection, only the person named on the credit card used to make this order can pick it up.

What followed (detailed here) was so inconceivable to me in today's marketplace, that it baffles me, and cost Best Buy  a long-time, loyal customer. 

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