My son’s phone came with a $15 per month Best Buy Geek Squad protection plan when we bought it June 15th. This initial $15 was to cover his phone in case anything happened to it before he got his OtterBox case. He got his case the first week of July, but I forgot to call Best Buy to cancel the service. On July 15th we were charged $15 so I called and asked them to cancel the service, and refund my $15 because we would not be using the service for the coverage period of July 15th through August 14th. The Indian woman told me she would cancel it but they could not give me a refund.

I asked to speak to a supervisor. She told me that their supervisor was very busy and could not talk to me just then. I told her I would wait. I waited about fifteen minutes on hold, and then was transferred to a man who claimed to be a supervisor, but, for some strange reason, he could not hear me at all. He stated, “If you are still there, please call us back if you have any further concerns.” I was understandably upset, and I figured that they would just use the same tactics if I called back, so I didn’t call back. I figured that I would not get my $15 back no matter what I did.

Fast forward to today. August 15th. Guess what? I got charged $15 again. So I get to make another phone call to Mumbai (or wherever). I called and got “Randy” (why do I doubt that this is his real name?). Randy was semi-intelligible to my American ears. After giving him my information, and explaining my situation he stated, “I canceled it right now, but about the refund it’s possible you can get this refund. I’m going to send you an email and you could get your refund in 5-7 business days.” That isn’t exactly what he said, because I had to keep asking him to slow down, speak more clearly, and repeat different words. I was this close to asking to speak to someone else, but I finally understood what he was saying about the email, and decided that it wasn’t worth it. I verified with him that he did indeed permanently cancel the insurance effective today.

My question to you, the reader, is this: what do you think my confidence level is that I am going to get my refund of $15, and that I won’t be charged again on September 15th for the insurance? If you answered “pretty low” then you’re a winner!

I try my hardest not to be the “Ugly American” when talking with people from different cultures and languages, but I feel that I, as an American consumer, should not have to learn Hindi in order to cancel the $15 insurance on my son’s phone. I’m not in THEIR country, THEY are getting paid by an American business to help Americans with American problems. When people call customer service, they are already upset about something (otherwise they wouldn’t be calling). The best policy is to solve the problem as quickly as possible. Introducing a language barrier doesn’t seem to be good customer service. But that is the world in which we live.

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Update:  I never got an email, but I DID get my $15 back, quietly and without question.  Now all that remains is for me to see if I get charged next month. I have hope.