Jason rescues Best Buy by making good with 2 plush penguins

The corporate folks over at Best Buy owe a big thank you to Jason, one of their Community Connectors. And I’ll be standing in line right behind them with my thank you.

Jason single-handedly resolved my issue regarding my Madagascar 2 DVD and plush penguin purchase. And he did so in exactly eight days.

What’s even more important to note is that I did absolutely nothing to remedy the situation myself except to write about the saga on my blog. Jason found me. Not the other way around. In fact, here’s the exact comment Jason left on my blog post:

Dear Patric,

I’m Jason, Community Connector for Best Buyr. We frequently review our customers’ blog and forum posts to gain insight into their experiences to identify areas of improvement.

Valentine’s Day is a special occasion for many individuals and I am sorry to hear you were unable to get your son a plush penguin. I realize it can be frustrating when you do not receive the service you expect and I am disappointed we did not meet your expectations. I would like to invite you to discuss this issue with us further by emailing me at [email protected]. Please reference issue number 57801142 and we will do our best to assist you.

Sincerely,
Agent Jason
Community Connector

Here’s what happened next

Let me give you a quick overview of what transpired after Jason left the above comment. First, I emailed Jason as he instructed so that he would have my email address available for easier communication. Jason immediately responded and let me know that there was a chance he could get the plush penguin to me from the Best Buy warehouse. All he asked was that I give him my Best Buy account user name so he could place the order on my behalf.

Jason stated that if he could find the penguin, he would immediately order 2 of them. Little did Jason know that I have two sons and this would ultimately be a blessing for me (ever try to give just one of your children a bonus gift?) Jason went on to mention that if all else failed he would issue a $25.00 Best Buy gift certificate to me as a gesture to how sorry he was for not getting the penguin in the first place.

Again, I am including one the paragraphs, verbatim, from Jason’s email so you can see how empathetic he was to my situation:

Please respond to let me know how I should proceed with this for you. I cannot guarantee the item will be available, but I will do my best. If in the end it turns out I cannot get the item to you, I will gladly send you a $25 Best Buy Gift Card so that you and your son can pick out another item. I know with kids things do not always mean as much if they have to pick something besides their first instinct, but hopefully if this turns out to be the case you can find something to make him happy.

My next communication with Jason was him telling me that he thought he found 2 plush penguins at the Greenwood store (my hometown) and that he immediately placed an order for them. Soon after, I received an order confirmation email proving that Jason was doing what he promised. Unfortunately a day later I received another email indicating the items were out of stock and unavailable.

I didn’t have to lift a finger

Before I even had a chance to respond, Jason told me he noticed the items were no longer available at the Greenwood store but that he thought he found some in the Best Buy warehouse. Again, he placed an order on my behalf and once again, I received an email order confirmation. But this time, the order confirmation was followed up by a ship notification email letting me know the plush penguins were on their way via UPS!

Oh, and did I mention that Jason credited my account for the original purchase that I made that started this whole mess?

Holding my breath

At this point, I was still holding my breath wondering what would show up on my doorstep. I was working when I heard the UPS truck pull up in front of the house. I quickly ran to the door and tore open the package. There they were in all their glory… two plush penguins!

What shocked me even more was that each penguin was packaged with a special holiday edition Madagascar DVD. This clearly proved to me that Jason was willing to do whatever it took to make me happy.

Everything done right

In summary, here is how Jason rescued Best Buy and turned me back into a believing customer:

• He found me on the Internet and made first contact (how’s that for the power of blogging?)
• He apologized, was empathetic and promised to make things right.
• He did all of the work and followed-up through each step of the process.
• He refunded the full purchase price of my original order.
• He delivered on his promise to make things right, despite having to ship me 2 boxed DVD and penguin sets, worth about $20 each.
• He went above and beyond by ordering 2 penguins when I originally only ordered 1.

Well done, Jason. You have my sincerest thanks. Now I wish everyone could have seen the looks on BOTH of my sons’ faces when they found the plush penguin I placed on the pillow on each of their beds.

My older son asked me, “Dad, how did you do it?” I looked at him and replied, “I didn’t. Jason did it all for me.”

P.S. Congratulations, you made it through the entire story. To reward you and because I already have the original Madagascar movie on DVD, I’d like to make you this offer. If you would like a chance to win one of the Madagascar DVDs (I’m giving away one here and raffling the other off at my sons’ school), leave a comment on this blog post and let me know why you think you should win the Madagascar DVD. I’ll choose the best comment (based solely on my discretion) on Friday, March 6, 2009 and that lucky person will receive the Madagascar DVD for free. Be sure to enter your email address (in the email field which is not publicly displayed) when leaving a comment so I know how to contact you. Good luck!