Best Buy Geek Squad Consumer Reviews - Page 3

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND -- I have searched the internet and found many stories of Best Buy customer abuse. Here is ours. Please excuse any typos. Before the start of law school I purchased a Gateway laptop at a Best Buy on the advice of a salesperson there. Last November the laptop had so many problems that I had to replace it. I visited the same store and the salesperson told me that Gateways were poor computers. This annoyed me but I purchased a fairly expensive Sony Vaio because of the company's reputation. At the end of December I noticed that it had a cracked screen. So my fiancé took it into another location of Best Buy to have it repaired on December 30th.

He had a few runarounds with them. The facts of which I am not certain. Then I received a call from Best Buy (it was an automated message) that my laptop was ready to be picked up. We drove to the store and the laptop was unrepaired. It took them forever to find the laptop and then they told us that we had refused the estimate. This is completely untrue and in fact we had never received a phone call from them at all until the one notifying us to pick the laptop up. My fiancé was very frustrated because, in part, of his recent issues with the company relating to this repair. So he asked to see a store manager.

He had dealt with the repairs division manager before and that was not helpful to him at all. A manager came over and he was very rude. The staff rolled their eyes at me when I was signing the new repair order because I actually read what it said. Then when they printed out a contract to give us it was pretty much blank because the printer was out of ink. When we complained and asked for a readable copy we were made to feel like we were being ridiculous and were told that they could not print us a clear copy because they had no ink!

A few weeks later I received an automated message from Best Buy that said that the laptop would be shipped back via UPS within 5 business days. I assumed that this meant shipped back to Best Buy since that was the agreement and at no point was shipping to my house ever discussed. On Monday my fiancé called Best Buy and again they could not find the laptop. Getting fed up with Best Buy he called the corporate customer care line and spoke to a representative.

She was helpful to a point and filed an official complaint against the store itself (or so she said) but then she started trying to tell my fiancé since they shipped it to Sony we had to take it up with Sony as they were liable. He asked for a supervisor and put me on the phone. The supervisor again tried to tell me that Sony was liable. But then I explained that I did not think so. We had left the laptop in their care. I have no agreement with Sony. Then she said something like, “of course”, which makes me wonder if she was deliberately trying to trick me.

She asked what I wanted and I told her that I wanted my repaired computer as soon as possible and if they could not do that I wanted another of the same make, year and model. She said the latter was out of the question and went to see where the computer actually was. When she came back on the line she said that according to the tracking number she had, Sony had shipped it via Federal Express and it was delivered on the 8th.

I told her that was unacceptable. Shipping to my home made no sense as the repair bill was over $600 (she agreed that made no sense). That shipping to my house was never discussed and never even mentioned and it goes against their regular business practice. That I never had anything shipped here because I live in a city row home and that no package was received. She said she would try to find a solution for me and get back to me in 24 hours. I never received a phone call from her. So 48 hours later I phoned the corporate customer service number.

I spoke at first to a new service representative and she could not find ANY record of any of my dealings with them on this mater no matter how she searched. The supervisor was not available as she was “helping another customer”. I was transferred into her voicemail and left her a lengthy message. Now it is February 22 and I have not yet received a return phone call. I am trying to let as many people as I can know about this. There are so many problems with the company's story. I received the phone call about delivery after the 8th and from the company, even though the company made it sound as if Sony unilaterally decided to mail the laptop to me.

She had a tracking number all along and still behaved as though she didn't know what was going on or where my laptop is and I was on the phone with her for almost an hour. She seems to have known that I shouldn't have to deal with Sony. She did not return my call. She was not available to talk and the records of all of this have “disappeared”. Don't shop at Best Buy!

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE -- Well, Monday morning my computer decided to lock up and once I got it to turn off it no longer would turn on. Purchased Best Buy extended warranty so off on my 30 mile trek to the Best buy. I had some other minor issues but wouldn't take the computer in for those as I know Best Buy Service is not known for its speediness and I need my computer. I had to purchase the backup data service for $99.00 and made them a list of all the items and files I needed to back up. (Surely they can read and all will be fine). The girl told me it should be done today or tomorrow at the latest so I make the 30 mile trek back home.

I call late Monday afternoon to see if I can pick it up in the morning but it hasn't been started. I call Tuesday afternoon and it still has not been started. I call and ask for the manager Wed. and get the Geek Squad manager who says it will be ready today. It was, but I had an appointment that evening so I had to pick it up on Thursday. I trekked the 30 miles there and purchased an external drive to back up our other 4 computers so this does not happen again. Then 30 miles back home only to find out that my tax files and accounting files were not on the discs they gave me.

Calling Best Buy again, girl says she will look into it and call me back. An hour later I call the store back only to have all extensions say this number is not a working number. Bad move for Best Buy. I call Customer care and file a complaint. I call the Geek Squad and file a complaint and they manage to get the store manager to call me back. They look and the files were on my list but not transferred.

So now I have to make a decision, the computer has been shipped to the repair center so my options have the repair center send the computer back so they can copy the files or let it go through repair and hope they don't mess with the hard drive. Those files are a must so now I have to wait for the repair center to receive the computer so they can turn around and send it back to the store so they can fix their mistake and then resend it to the repair center.

Aggravated and with plenty of time on my hand I set out to find Best Buy corporate phone number. I find that and then I find the list of Officers. I place a call into the Executive Vice President of Retail Channel Management and leave a voice mail. Not satisfied with that I call the number for the President and CEO of Best Buy. I get his assistant and explain my ordeal to him who assures me he will send an email to the repair center and the store to expedite the shipping and handling of my computer. Will it happen? I'll update with Best Buy Hell week 2.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA -- I made a purchase over a year ago for a 19" monitor. I purchased the warranty because Best Buy boasts the best in warranty protection. Within two months my monitor quit working. I took it in to the Castleton store Geek Squad for repairs. They accepted the monitor and told me that someone would contact me shortly. That is when the nightmare began. After a month I did not hear back from Best Buy so I decided to call and check up on it. First of all, they said they could not find me in the system. (It was listed in their system improperly, which is only the start of the problems.)

When they finally did find it, they said that there was a problem with the account and that they would need to investigate it and call me back. Several days passed without a call so I called them back. Again they said they were still investigating it. All I could get out of the agent was that the monitor had been shipped to the manufacturer and was deemed unrepairable. When I asked what was going to be done, they said they needed to look into it further and would call me back. Again days past without a call so I called back yet again. At this time I was informed by the agent that according to their system I was issued a 22" widescreen monitor as an exchange.

I explained to the agent that no such exchange took place, but he said there was nothing he could do. After several phone conversations within store managers I was basically informed that nothing could be done for me at store level and that I would need to contact Best Buy customer care. After speaking with a customer care agent, I was told that with all the conflicting information on the account, he could see that there was definitely something not right with the account.

First of all, the exchange was for an upgraded 22" widescreen when I brought in a 19" regular screen. This meant that I would have been charged the difference in price for the upgrade, which means there should be a signature somewhere on file. Second, it showed the exchange took place on the same day that I brought the original in, yet the original was not deemed unrepairable until after it was sent to the manufacturer. He said he would look into this and get back with me. YET AGAIN I never received a call.

After several attempts with Best Buy customer care, and writing emails and letters to their corporate customer care departments, I gave up on Best Buy doing anything to resolve this issue. I wrote a complaint to the BBB, ConsumerAffairs.com and my State Attorney General's office. The State Attorney General's office deemed this a valid complaint and forwarded the concern on to Best Buy. After several weeks I finally got a gift card from Best Buy for the purchase price of the monitor/warranty. Of course they did not issue me the refund that I requested but sent a gift card forcing me to do business with them again.

When going to use my gift card, I decided to buy a new monitor to replace the one Best Buy had stolen. It was available online for $279 but I had an in-store coupon for 12% off. None of the stores in my city carry this monitor and when I called Best Buy to ask if the discount could be applied online since it was not available in-store, I ended up holding for 30 minutes just to find they would not honor it. Just another way Best Buy is ripping off customers. After I redeem this gift card to replace the monitor Best Buy stole from me, I will never do business with them again, and I advise you do the same.

ATHENS -- On July 20, 2007 I took my Toshiba Laptop to the Athens, Georgia Best Buy to have it repaired. On July 4, 2007 my AVG Free Anti-virus software informed me I had received a Trojan called "psyme" and the anti-virus could not defeat it. I had major surgery on 7/5/07 and was unable to take my computer anywhere until the 20th. The technician I spoke to on the 20th was professional and courteous and after I told him my problem and computer symptoms he suggested they could fix it for just $343.70.

He told my by using the freeware from the Internet to guard my computer I needed to remember "You get what you pay for" when it comes to quality software and he suggested I purchase Spyware and Anti-virus otherwise I could expect the problem to continue. I purchased the $343.70 package and left my computer with them. The following Saturday they called and told my computer was ready for pick up. I picked my computer up later that day.

On the same Saturday I picked up my computer the problem I had previously reported occurred again. I checked my Anti-virus for updates and ran the anti-virus. For the next 2 days the problem persisted. Remembering what the technician had said about getting what you pay for I returned my computer to Best Buy and again spoke with a technician. This technician again scanned my computer and stated there was no virus/Trojan on my computer and my problem was apparently a physical problem with my computer keyboard that they could not fix.

I told him I had described the same symptoms to the first technician and it would have been nice if he had told me the same thing that this technician was telling me. If the first technician had told me they could not fix the problem I would not have thrown away $300.00. The technician just looked at me and said he was sorry.
I believe I was misled as a customer and I definitely do not feel I received $300.00 worth of service.

The Anti-virus and Spyware installed cost $70.00 and I could have easily installed that myself. I have been a faithful and frequent customer of Best Buy but I now do not feel Best Buy has their customers interest at heart. If the first technician had told me what the second technician told me I would have spent the $300.00 and more on a new laptop. Now I am left with a laptop that does not work and I am out $300.00 that would have been better used to purchase a new computer.

I am very disappointed by this and will be very outspoken about the lack of quality service by the Geek Squad. The fact that I was told two different things after describing the same problem to your technicians also leads me to believe you are running a scam on the Best Buy customers. This is a $300.00 lesson I will not forget.

INDIANA -- I was worried after reading some things on the internet about bad experiences with Best Buy. After the Geek people left my house I couldn't have been happier with the results. I had thought when I purchased the extended coverage for the TV I bought that it was kind of steep but it was totally worth every penny and I would do it again. I recommend it totally.

MASSACHUSETTS -- Decided we no longer needed Geek Squad Service from Best Buy in our home and called to cancel. I called the phone number on the order invoice that was sent to me by email. I was transferred to 6 different departments before someone could help me with this simple request. Finally right? No!!! Her telephone connection was so poor I couldn't understand or hear her. Then the line went dead after 38 minutes of this nonsense. Customer satisfaction: ZERO.

SALEM, OREGON -- He answered all our questions, cleaned everything up, and was thorough.

HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA -- I took my Dell PC to the Geek Squad to have repaired. They made me sign a piece of paper and Then told me it had to be shipped to be repaired. Did not tell me the cost or that I was paying for shipping. It took 11 days before someone called me to tell me that they could not get parts to fix it. I asked them why do you sell Dell PCs, He could not answer. He told me that it would cost more to fix it than what I paid for it. I asked him how he knew what I paid for the PC. Again, he could not answer. I did not buy this Dell from them. Okay send it back...

It took only 2 days before they called me back to say I could pick it up where I had dropped it off. Why only 2 days to return. Was it ever shipped in the first place? So I went to pick it up. Took 20 minutes for them to bring it out. I asked to speak to a Manager and when he finally showed up; I asked him why they take Dell PCs to fix if they cannot get the parts. He stuttered and said they had no way knowing if it can be fixed or not. "Um excuse me but then why are you taking PCs to be fixed if you don't know that you can?". He stuttered again, said he did not know.

I asked why I had to pay shipping fees when I was not told that I had to pay for shipping? He stated I had signed the paper.. I asked him why I was not told before I signed and he said they were not required to tell me... I asked him why there was no proof of shipping on the paper and he said, "I had to look up the confir. number on the paper". I asked, "How did I know if that was MY PC being shipped" and again he had no answer.

I knew I was going to lose my $40.00 to these people for their incompetence, so in a last ditch effort I asked if they would waiver the shipping fees towards a new PC purchase from them. I flashed the hard earned cash I had on me to buy a new computer and he laughed at me. So all in all, my experience with the Geek Squad was horrible. I took my Dell PC to a local repairman and he fixed it within 3 days and it cost a $100.00 dollars. So why can he get parts but Best Buy cannot? BTW, I bought another PC for my son at HH Gregg the same day. Nice people!

BEAVERCREEK, OHIO -- September 2012 I purchased a "new" store model computer from Best Buy in Beavercreek. Downloaded files and did not use until January 2013 when old computer died. Three weeks later new computer not functioning. Geek Squad at Best Buy said hard drive failed and it would be sent to Louisville, Kentucky under factory warranty. Staff mentioned several times if I had purchased store warranty from Best Buy, there would have been more they could do.

Three weeks later after weekend trip, returned home to two messages on answering machine and later one actual phone call that my computer was ready for pick-up. At store staff said computer was not ready and seemed to not believe that I had received 3 calls. Four days later Best Buy called that computer was ready. When I got to store and tried to start up computer, it did not work. Staff said now keyboard not working and back to Louisville, Kentucky. Due to my part-time consulting job, I paid $100 for data to be saved before computer shipped off again.

I purchased second new computer from another store and asked Best Buy put on my data I had paid to be saved so I could work. I asked Best Buy to try to quickly put the data on my second new computer, but several trips to the store and days before files placed on computer.

After 9 days I called Best Buy to check progress on first computer's second trip to Louisville, Kentucky. I was told computer had just arrived in Louisville after 8 days. Since Louisville is 160 miles away from store, something delayed shipment? Three days later Best Buy called that computer was ready in the Beavercreek store. At the store I asked for Microsoft Office which I had purchased from Best Busy to be put on computer along with data I had paid them to save. Told it would be ready after 2 days.

When I arrived at store, it was not ready. Several days later back at store, it was still not ready and the person told me that it took a lot of time to put Microsoft Office on a computer (It took me less than 2 hours to download Microsoft Office on my second new computer). Finally on a third trip the computer was ready.

It was a disappointing experience, misinformation caused me to make a number of unnecessary trips to the store. I also learned to avoid purchasing "out of box computers" as it was apparent these must suffer a lot of abuse when they are on display.

RICHFIELD, MINNESOTA -- I purchased a computer for my son on April 23rd, 2011 at the Best Buy store in Alexandria, VA.

My son decided on the Toshiba laptop and the salesperson said that the only one they had was opened. He said that the reason it was opened was that the tech squad had done the PC setup on it so it would be ready to go for the customer right out of the box. The salesperson said that everything was in the box and charged me for the PC setup.

My son came back home to NJ for the summer on May 20th and he took the laptop to the Best Buy store in Cherry Hill on May 31st for repair. The computer was still under manufacturer's warranty but instead of telling my son that, they sent the computer to their Geek Squad repair center. My son contacted the store a few days later and they said that the hard drive had crashed and that they would need to send it out for repair. The hard drive crashed on on “brand new” computer in less than a month????

Anyway, the store sent the laptop out for repair. And when it came back to the store, the store called and said that we needed to bring in the restore disks for them to complete the repair. My son checked everything that came with the computer and the restore disks are not in there. I went to the Cherry Hill location 3 times to try to resolve this issue only to meet with frustration. On my second visit to the store, I encountered the “Customer Service Manager” (what a joke that was!!) who said that he “WAS TIRED OF HEARING ME DRONE ON”!

When he finally stopped talking over me and decided to look at the receipt, I was told that I paid for PC setup which included the making of the restore disks. The technician wrote down where to look for the CDs in the materials and asked me to have my son look again to see if he could find them. My son said there were no CDs in the box.

I went back to the store a 3rd time and explained that the disks are not there. The Geek Squad Manager said that they could not order the disks because if they ordered the disks for my son's computer, they would have to do it for all the customers.

Based on the fact that my son has not had full use of this laptop since it was purchased in April 2011, I paid for the PC setup and the laptop crashed within 30 days of purchase. I feel that Best Buy Corporation should honor its “commitment to CUSTOMER SERVICE” and pay the $28.99 to get the restore disks from Toshiba and complete the repair to my son's laptop! It is now July 7th, 2011 and my son still does not have his computer!!