Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[nomoreBB]

I purchased a Sony laptop last spring @ BB.  I understand that laptops don't last forever, but I do expect that when I am paying someone else for a repair diagnosis, THEY will be competent.

I took my laptop in to repair the CPU fan.  The fan was not working - no noise, laptop was getting too hot.  I didn't want to run it to the point of seriously overheating to avoid damage to the rest of the machine.  Took it into BB.  Geek Squad rep said - we can either send to Sony or to our service center.  We most likely don't have the part in the service center.  This was the first mistake - I thought they'd be sending to Sony.

Fast forward 2 weeks.  Get a voice mail from a Geek Squad service center.  We have your laptop.  The fan works, but your optic drive doesn't and is making a funny noise.  WTH?  I had just USED the drive to back up files before taking it to BB.  Called the guy - yeah he says, fans fine, optic drive is toast and btw, it will be $650+ to replace it.  I told him no thanks on the optic drive, and that I was pretty sure on the fan, and oh - what the heck happened w/the optic - it worked when I took it in!!  They didn't know, said they'd be sending it back to the store for me to pick up.

The next day - got another phone call from the service center - uh yeah, your fan's not working, I just left the laptop on until it got really hot then burned out and turned off. WHAT?!?! Who knows what that did to the computer.  And yeah, the optic drive isn't working either.  I asked to speak to a supervisor, as everything I read on the internet says DON'T let that happen!  Supervisor gave me a # (wrong #!) to the customer service center.  After finding the right # I

spoke to a very nice person at their customer service center.  She could not believe what I told her.  She said they would fix the fan - and the optic drive, at no charge.

Fast forward another 2 weeks.  Get a call from my local BB.  Laptop is back.  Girl leaves a second message saying that I don't have to pay for repairs, but she doesn't understand why (clueless, read the file!!).  Go to pick it up.  Power it up to check before leaving. Umm - comes up with a message that it can't find the operating system!!!   The lovely service center managed to wipe my hard drive, ?!? and neither they or the store checked my computer to verify that it was working before calling me.  So - they then had to order a restore disc and re-image everything.  Another week.  I asked if they could find out why the hard drive was wiped, they said they would find out.

I pick it up again.  Turn it on - and get another Windows error message.  BC it hadn't been shut down properly.  So I had to restart 2x in the store.  Lovely. No idea why the hard drive was wiped. (I suspect they had to replace it bc they fried it). 

So - moral to my story.  I will never ever use Geek Squad again.  The customer service experience left much to be desired.  While I appreciate them fixing everything, how it was done and handled was poor.  I have purchased at least 3 computers, kitchen appliances, digital cameras etc etc from BB. I will not buy anything from Best Buy again.  They've lost my trust.  And I will be looking for a new laptop - elsewhere.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hello there -

Justin, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you to discuss your recent experience and concerns.  I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience.

[Justin-BBY Community Connector]

Hi nomoreBB-

I understand how frustrating it must be to take your computer for repair, only to have so many things delay your repair time.  I was also disheartened when I read the Geek Squad® agent told you “we most likely do not have the part in the service center”.  Only the technicians at the service center would know that information.  I am truly sorry for your experience. 

In regards to the repair process, computers undergo extensive testing when received at our service centers.   I know you stated that you took the computer in to Geek Squad® for CPU fan repair, only to learn a couple weeks later, the service center diagnosed optical drive was the problem source and would cost $650+ to replace.  Then, you received another call the next day, informing you that the fan was the issue after the computer was left on for a long period of time.  Although I am not a service technician, they may have done additional testing to discover the CPU fan was the source. 

Rest assured, I am documenting your experience so it can be formally addressed within Best Buy.  I would also like to speak to you further regarding this situation.  I will start our conversation by sending you a private message.  You can check your private messages by first ensuring you are logged into the forums, then clicking on the envelope in the upper right hand corner. 

Thank you for sharing your experience with us on the forum and I look forward to hearing from you! 

Sincerely, 

[drunken_monkey]

the "no operating system" message may have been a result of geeksquad changing the bios boot order or bootable devices option.  I work full time in I.T. for internal support at a business, i also run a side computer business.  I get my share of disgruntled geek squad customers that have been overcharged, suffered delayed repairs/ botched repairs.   Only a B.R. optical drive is worth a premium like $650.00