Whistleblower » Blog Archive » Best Buy fixed his television, but what happened to his check?

Best Buy fixed his television, but what happened to his check?

Posted on May 19th, 2008 – 12:17 PM
By James Shiffer

The picture on Vern Kohlhof’s Samsung projection television was getting darker, so he called Best Buy to come fix it. After the repairman’s visit to Kohlhof’s condo in Apple Valley on April 2, his TV has regained its bright glow. But Kohlhof, 78, has a dim view of everything that’s happened since.

Kohlhof handed the repairman a check for $332.75. The check was never cashed. Instead, Kohlhof was disturbed to receive a letter from Best Buy on April 11 confirming that he had authorized the withdrawal of $100 from his bank account. Kohlhof hadn’t given any such authorization, so he called his bank and voided the transaction.

His attempt to get the situation worked out by calling Best Buy ended in phone transfer purgatory. Then he contacted the office of Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson. Nicholas Karls in Swanson’s consumer services division wrote a letter April 23 to Best Buy, requesting that the company “investigate this matter and submit to this Office a written plan to address Mr. Kohlhof’s concerns within ten (10) days of the date of this correspondence.”

So far, so good. Then Kohlhof got a letter from Certegy Check Services asking him for a notarized affidavit from the bank. Certegy has the correct check number, Kohlhof told me, but said the check was for $100, not $332.75.

So far, Kohlhof hasn’t actually paid anything for his television repair. But he’s got no desire for credit repair. Though the attorney general’s 10-day deadline is past, he hadn’t heard anything as of Monday morning.

“What I’m concerned about is we have one heck of a good credit rating,” Kohlhof said. He’d hate to see the bungled handling of his check jeopardize that.

When I spoke to him last week, Robert Feivor, a Best Buy spokesman, hadn’t heard about the attorney general’s letter, which he said was unusual. Those typically get the attention of his department.

After he looked into the matter, Feivor said that the $100 represents the basic “trip fee” for a house call. Checks these days are often scanned and immediately returned to the payer, much like a debit card, so that’s probably why Certegy, the company Best Buy uses for check authorization, did the direct withdrawal.

So what happened to the rest of the money? Feivor didn’t know as of last week. It’s also not clear whether anyone from Best Buy ever responded to the attorney general’s letter.

“It’s just a misunderstanding with technology,” Feivor said. “We’ll get it cleared up.”

As of Monday, Kohlhof was still waiting.

UPDATE: The caper was solved Wednesday. Read more here.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 19th, 2008 at 12:17 pm and is filed under Complaint sagas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

44 Responses to “Best Buy fixed his television, but what happened to his check?”

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Scott Says:
May 19th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Good luck Mr. Kohlhof. Dealing with Best Buy is a nightmare. I got into truble 3 years ago and I decided not to enter Best Buy since then. They will say anything to sell you but they conveniently forget when you need them. That has been the company’s strategy. I do not know why people buy from Best Buy. They should change the name to Worst Buy. Go and buy your next TV from Sams Club.
Michael Tierney Says:
May 19th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Didn’t Mr. Kohlhof get a receipt from the repair person when he wrote out the check? Or doesn’t he have a copy of the work order that would show the total amount of the repairs -

Put a stop on the $332.75 check - pay Best Buy the $100 - get a receipt, turn on the TV and enjoy your life
Twocents Says:
May 19th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
This story only strengthens my stance against ever purchasing another item at Best Buy. Remember the woman who had a lap top repaired, yet never received her lap top back from Best Buy? It gave her the run around and did a lot of finger pointing.
It’s true that mistakes can happen at any company, but it’s the terrible response and unwillingness to admit wrongdoing that really make Best Buy seem more like Worst Buy in my opinion. That company will never get another penny of mine.
Wade Says:
May 19th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Why is this an “injustice” worthy of a whistleblower column? Kohlhof’s TV was fixed six weeks ago, and he hasn’t paid a dime for that repair yet. If he is so concerned about his credit rating, why doesn’t he just send Best Buy a new check and stop payment on the old one? I’m sure the company would be happy to assist in solving the problem, if Kohlhof would communicate with them, rather than going over their head to the AG’s office and mass media.
Anij Says:
May 19th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Worst Buy is right. I won’t buy anything from them. They gave me the run around on a camera for 2 months. Then tried to pawn a used camera off on me, as new.
I never buy anything from them. They are terrible.
James Shiffer Says:
May 19th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
He did contact the company - that didn’t solve the problem. As to why I decided to write something about this, I think it’s always instructive to see what happens - or doesn’t happen - when consumers complain about what they perceive as shabby treatment.
swschrad Says:
May 19th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
that’s how it works with those “electronic check transfer” things. most of them will have a name you never heard of against the check. I massively detest those.

I do appreciate when a processing company, in my view correctly, identifies the transfer out of your account to the business you dealt with. Cub and Rainbow, for instance, don’t seem to feel the need to hire Sneaky Pete’s Quickie Check Service to handle their transfers.
Wade Says:
May 19th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
“Phone transfer purgatory” makes it sound like Kohlhof merely called some general number and gave up after being put on hold for some time. I see no attempts at written communication, which is typically better from a documentation perspective in any event.

Moreover, your poorly-written question of, “So what happened to the rest of the money?” can be answered quite simply. It is still in Kohlhof’s checking account! I see no injustice where no wrongful transfer of funds has occurred. This is more a case of misfiled or misplaced “paper”, which is why physical checks are being phased out as a payment method for transactions.
Patrick Says:
May 19th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
It sounds as if the only thing that Best Buy did was under charge him for great service. The direct withdrawal is how checks are handled in any retail business now and unfortunately not everyone is going to be satisfied with the outcome if something breaks or goes bad, which is typically a problem with the manufacturer and not Best Buy. That is why there is a limit on warranties and things of that nature from Best Buy. Best Buy is a leader in consumer elctronics for a reason…
jmg Says:
May 19th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I am still waiting for a $200.00 rebate check from a computer package I purchased from Best Buy in 2001. Although the rebate was submitted correctly, somehow it was not processed. Always make copies of the paperwork transactions, no matter how inconvienent. Iinterestingly, Best Buy offered to issue me a $200.00 gift card. I pushed back and asked for a check. When I didn’t receive the promised return phone call, I called them back, and they had no record of my complaint. I didn’t shop there again for six years.