Good day.

I'm writing because I'm having a somewhat ridiculous experience with Best Buy lately.

On Sept 3, I purchased the last remaining Sharp Aquos 40" television in the local Vancouver (Mill Plain) store. It was the display model, and being the display model, I asked several questions like, "does it come with all the accessories like the stand, remote, manuals, etc.?" and "Is it covered under the manufacturer's warranty as new?" and so on. The sales representative I spoke to said yes to all of these questions, and the somewhat comical process of trying to get a TV off the wall began.

I waited, patiently and the wall mounts were removed, the stand was located, the manuals and so forth were bagged, and the remote was searched for in the Drawers of Remotes. And then the representative wandered off, presumably to yet another Drawer of Remotes, because she came back with a remote that had "Sharp" written on it. It too was placed in the bag, I was rung up and the television transported home.

The initial drama occured when I tried the remote, and it didn't work! I then thought, "Right. Batteries." And it didn't work. So, being a man, I then read the manual and noticed that the nice curvy remote I was holding was nothing like the angular remote depicted in the manual. I sighed, verified that it wasn't just a poor drawing, but I was missing lots of extra buttons and so forth.

Back to the store! In the 45 minutes or so that had passed, the representative I was dealing with had presumably left and someone else was on duty. He also searched both Drawers of Remotes, and tasked his slightly "Tweedle-Dum" counterpart with staying on hold with their parts department to get me a replacement remote, as the one that goes with the television, he said, couldn't be found. I eye-squinted, but waited. Some 20 minutes later, he said (and I agreed) that it was ridiculously long waiting, so he just took my info with a promise to call me as soon as he found something out.

This guy was fantastic. He called me that evening and told me that the parts dept. was closed, but they would call first thing Tuesday (Monday being Labor Day) and get the part for me. Again: Awesome.

I got a call today from the store and they told me that there was no way they could order that part for me. I eye-squinted again, but it didn't do much as it was over the phone. It was a mighty squint, though. The options I was presented with were:

Pay for a remote, my self, up front, and the store could process a credit against my TV purchase for that amount, or

• They could give me a universal remote in store that "will probably work fine".
• I didn't like those options, and thought, "I'll call Sharp and just cut out the middle man."

The jist of that conversation:

The part number for the remote is: RRMCGA840WJSA

• The price, with tax, is $31.38.
• So I called "Customer Relations". I think. I was transferred. The nice lady offered to have me buy the remote myself and mail me a gift card or a check. But only after I schlepped somewhere, with a reciept, and faxed proof to you that I ordered and paid for it.

What I want:

The remote for the fairly expensive television I have sitting in my room. Not a universal remote that "mostly" works.

What I don't want:

Up-front costs. This was your company's screw-up, not mine.

What would be nice:

The proper remote shipped to me. My mailing address is: [ me ]
[ my address ]
[ my phone number ]

Thanks.