San Diego

Best Buy Dishwasher Mix-Up for San Diego Landlord

Jerry Applegate thought a simple mistake would be fixed quickly but the problem stretched out for more than six months.

Jerry Applegate said he was returning from his vacation to Mexico when he got a call from a Best Buy installer, telling him Best Buy was standing outside his San Jose condo with his new dishwasher.

The problem: Jerry had purchased the dishwasher for his rental unit in San Diego’s Gaslamp District, more than 450 miles away.

What began as a simple mistake turned into a six-month-long ordeal for Jerry.

Jerry said it started in May 2017 when he logged on to Best Buy’s website to find a new dishwasher for his tenant’s apartment.

“What they had apparently done is got my billing address confused with the installation address,” Jerry told NBC 7 Responds.

Jerry said Best Buy told him it would take seven-to-ten weeks to correct the problem and deliver the dishwasher to its intended location in San Diego.

“So I said, 'You know what, nevermind,” Jerry said, “Let's just cancel this whole thing out, I'll make some other arrangements.”

Jerry said he went back online and ordered a new dishwasher from another retailer, assuming Best Buy would refund him his money and the mix-up would be over.

Weeks turned into months and Jerry said he still had not received his refund. He said he called, emailed, and even mailed a handwritten letter to Best Buy but he received no response.

“It wasn't so much about the money, although it was several hundred bucks,” Jerry said, “And it became less and less about money as time went on. I didn't want to make a career out of it but it was going to be a part-time job."

In November of last year, Jerry said he had enough and searched online for a consumer advocacy group to help him out. That’s when he found and later contacted, NBC 7 Responds.

NBC 7 Responds contacted Best Buy and explained Jerry’s situation. Within a few days, the company called Jerry to apologize and issued him a refund check for the dishwasher as well as the installation he had paid for.

“What happened to Mr. Applegate is unacceptable,” Boua Xiong, a spokesperson for Best Buy, wrote in an email to NBC 7 Responds. “There was a lack of communication on our part, which caused delays. We appreciate Mr. Applegate’s patience as we worked to resolve the issue.”

As for Jerry’s takeaway from the six-month delay, he says he’s going to be extra cautious how he makes future purchases. 

“Go in the store. Don't do it online,” Jerry said, “Go in the store, make sure you can review all of the paperwork involved and follow it real carefully.”

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