Where are our Ovens Best Buy?

Most bakeries have ovens. We ordered ours before we even closed on our new property. I tried to be proactive. I used to love Best Buy. Life in a pandemic is a little different than pre-pandemic, and our bakery is just one more nightmare story in a world of nightmare stories.

Where are our Ovens Best Buy?

I have always loved Best Buy. I always check them first when making a purchase. They have always been amazing. Things have changed.

As a home bakery, I made the decision to purchase double wall ovens for baking. We chose ones with even bake technology, to ensure we got the same bake every time. As I had said, I began shopping for the ovens before we closed on our property. We knew it would take time to get the title work done for closing but we were sure this was the property for us.

I of course went to Best Buy to check out their ovens. I was excited. As soon as the 4th of July sales got published, I started to scout out the prices. Best Buy, as usual, had great prices. They had the 30 inch double wall ovens with everything we needed (I did not need wifi for them, but it came with them anyway). My order was placed as soon as possible knowing appliances were taking a while.

Nothing in Life is Perfect

The first inkling things might not go well was when the delivery date I was promised on order got locked out for the first month. I couldn’t schedule anything at first. When I could finally book delivery, It was for Mid October. Perfect, the floor would be finished, the cabinets would be in, life felt like it was falling into place.

I got the call the day before delivery of our ovens to find out the manufacturer had not shipped them yet. Best Buy had none and delivery was delayed. Wanting to be proactive, I tried to see what could be done to change the situation. Apparently, the only way to change things, we would need to spend twice the amount I had paid for each oven to get one in quickly. If I wanted to pay $10,000 for ovens, I would get a professional one from WebstaurantStore.

I opted to wait another month for the ovens, because the quartz countertops would not be in on time either. Next date was 11/24 for oven delivery.

Come on Best Buy, Where are Our Ovens?

By November 24th, everything was in. The dishwasher that would not start was replaced (GE was Fabulous!) The countertops were in (and gorgeous! – Thank you Sully!) Our giant stainless steel work surfaces were in and we got them set up – they are huge!.

Would you be surprised to find out I got a call on 11/23 to tell me that there was no one in the area that could install our ovens and it would take a week or so to find someone. I called the first week of December, they were working on it, and was told to not worry. So when I called this week to find out where our ovens were, I was shocked to find out – they had given the ovens to other customers. We would get our ovens in March or May of 2022. WTF?

Time to Cut Bait

Home Depot is another favorite of mine. I adore that chain. Both our huge 28ft capacity Refrigerator and our wonderful low decibel dishwasher came from them. It seemed only right to hit them up for double ovens. They had two frigidaire double wall ovens with our sacred even bake technology that would be delivered by December 17th. I texted my business partner, who works tirelessly 7 days a week so we can grow this business. By the time we got to talk about all this, there were no longer two ovens locally for delivery.

Fear not. My partner and friend is a bulldog. She got up bright and early and went to home depot and within an hour she had secured two wall ovens. Oh My God! We got them for three hundred dollars less per oven than Best Buy offered. One was in their warehouse, while the other is somewhere (?) but it will be sent to our local Home Depot warehouse, They think it will be the end of December. If there are delays in shipping to NY, Mid January. They kind of guaranteed it. They know we are a local bakery and felt like a bakery needs ovens.

Is There a Point to All This?

So, the moral to the story? Never give up. We tried to be patient, we tried to be loyal, In the end, it was Best Buy’s business practices that did them in. They clearly don’t care about their customers. Loyalty is not their thing. The money we give to a corporation keeps their business practices in place and when their business practice is to screw people over, we have to question where our money goes to. We have a moral opportunity as consumers to give our money to the corporations who better society.

I cannot say I will never buy from Best Buy again, I love their computer accessories, But I will really consider whether I want them to ever receive a dime of my hard-earned money again.

FYI, we are taking small orders that can be completed in our single oven. Only a few a day, but we are trying to get somewhat open for business with the limitations we face.