Best Buy Canadian Headquarters
8800 Glenlyon Parkway
Burnady, BC
V5J 5K3

This is my opinion about Future Shop.

Here is what happened…

I walked into the store to buy a laptop.

Not only did the laptop have problems (that’s another story), I am now finding out that Future Shop’s NEW 3 month payment plan rips people off.

I have purchased from Future Shop in the past using their yearly payment plan & NEVER have I ever been ripped off like this. That’s when they were with Wells Fargo.

I expect a high interest, but this isn’t high interest, this is highway robbery!

Here’s what they do. If you don’t pay the full amount off at the end of the 3 months, they don’t charge you interest on the remaining outstanding balance, they charge you interest on the FULL amount you paid for the product.

THAT to me is a COMPLETE RIP OFF.

It gets better.

When I tried to call to complain, I had nothing but problems.

1. First Future Shop’s customer service number 1-800-663-2275 voice mail system is terrible. None of the options would allow me to speak to a live person, so I had to start pressing whatever was there to get a live person. When I tried to get them to get me to someone to help me, I was told they couldn’t.And by the way, their site sucks. I’ve tried to get around Future Shop’s site before & it was a nightmare in my opinion.
2. I called the Future Shop store in Windsor, Ontario & asked for the head office number. They said they didn’t have it & gave me the customer service number. I told them how pissed off I was & how that number is terrible & not easy to use. The floor manager who was at least nice & competent, took my info, called, found out the extensions I needed to press, called me back & gave them to me. He also gave me the e-mail address service@futureshop.com. He said I could complain there so I e-mailed them asking for their head office number.
3. They responded to my e-mail & gave me run around telling me to call the customer service number. The guy Luke told me what to press, but of course gave me the wrong extensions. It’s NOT 1, 5, it’s what the floor manager at the store level gave me, 1, 1, 5.
4. I call the customer service line again thinking this time someone is actually going to help me. I spoke to someone named Robert. He wanted to transfer me over to HSBC, & I told him NO, I am NOT going to let Future Shop pass the buck.HSBC is the financial institution that is ripping the customers of Future Shop off, BUT Future Shop is the one who chose HSBC. If Future Shop wants me to speak to their bank, that’s only to pass the buck so THEY don’t have to take responsibility for their decision to go with HSBS who offers this terrible 3 month payment program. I didn’t purchase from HSBC, I purchased from FUTURE SHOP!

   Of course we know what HSBC will say, they will say that’s the payment plan I chose & there’s nothing they can do about it.

   This is exactly what Robert said to me on the phone, that this is what the contract stated & I should have read it before I signed it.

   No one takes the time to read long legal contracts when they are about to purchase something from Future Shop, they rely upon the staff to give them the correct information. I also relied upon my previous buying experience with Future Shop, & my common sense about how every other financial institution charges you when you get a loan from them.

   I was NEVER EVER told that if I didn’t pay off the full amount, I would be charged interest on the FULL amount of the purchase even if there was only $1 left owing. I was just told if I didn’t pay it off at the end of 3 months, there would be high interest. Of course it’s assumed that’s ONLY on the balance owing!

   I’m not about to pay $25 interest on an outstanding balance of $80 or $40. That is a ROYAL RIP OFF & they know it.

   Robert puts me on hold, goes to speak to his manager & guess what. The manager refuses to talk to me. Robert says the manager(s) are too busy with other customers to deal with me.

   Can you believe that?

   I’ve given Future Shop my devoted business for years now & this is how they treat me???

   Robert also said he had no information about their head office.

   You know what kind of companies refuse to give you the number to their head office? The kind that RIPS CUSTOMERS OFF.

   If they weren’t conducting unethical business, they would have no problem at all giving out that number to customers. They wouldn’t be hiding.

5. So my next step was to call Best Buy since we all know they purchased Future Shop several years ago.There I got much better service (typical). The voice prompts were easy to follow, & I got a customer service rep almost immediately.

   Unfortunately he too told me they aren’t given any head office information, he only has an address.

   Even though this was at last more than I got from Future Shop, anyone who knows anything about how businesses run, know that when they make you snail mail a letter to them, they are doing this in hopes you will just go away. If they actually cared, they would at the very least provide you with an e-mail address.

   So I’m going to write to Best Buy Headquarters & complain, but I can tell you right now that I’m NEVER going to purchase from Future Shop or Best Buy again. They just lost my business for as long as I buy products, & I hope to god I get my laptop fixed, because now it’s completely dead & I only purchased it back in August of 2009, so it’s only 3 months old.

Michelle