Best Buy

I had the misfortune of taking my laptop to Best Buy's Geek Squad at Fairfax, VA on August 01, 2008, having earlier taken out an extended warranty on the equipment. Apparently, the battery wouldn't charge, not even after I bought a new one. I received Geek Squad's first response seven days later, informing me that the laptop was still sitting in the Best Buy store since they were having "delivery issues." Being that I was going on vacation, I refused to be angered by their apparent lackadaisical attitude, and relied on my wife's laptop during our trip. It wouldn't be until the 19th of August that I heard from Geek Squad again, informing me that my laptop had finally been fixed. Relieved, I went to the store the next day only to discover that Geek Squad had created a new problem as they had failed to properly re-attach the swivel that makes it possible for my screen to rotate. It was loose, possibly broken. In addition, the laptop came back without the AC adapter that I had dropped off along with the system. Subsequently, I had to send it back and sign a new repair order, which was on August 20. On the 27th I called to find out about the status of my laptop, only to be told that Geek Squad was again having "delivery issues."

Today is the 3rd of September and I am still without this laptop that I had initially submitted on August 01. To make things worse, it's practically easier for an elephant to pass through the eye of a needle than for anyone to have access to and hold informative conversation with a Geek Squad representative. And when I try to get information Online, I am merely told that my laptop has been received, nothing else.

My experience with Geek Squad has been frustrating, infuriating, and outright disappointing. I rely on my laptop for a tremendous amount of personal and official work, including Online college teaching. Sure, I can occasionally borrow my wife's laptop, but there are limits to which I can use it, especially since she has her own work to do.

In all, I find Geek Squad to be little more than a bunch of overrated, disorganized quacks whose knowledge of computers hardly surpasses what is common knowledge, and in some instances is even less than common. Their activities border on fraudulence since their management setup is thoroughly deficient, their customer relations are horrendous, and their prices are unjustifiably exorbitant. Please avoid Geek Squad if you can. I certainly will!

I ordered a digital camera from BestBuy.com for around $240. After 1 week, I checked UPS tracking system and UPS said it was delivered, and it wasn't. Someone was home all day that day. I called UPS twice and they said they could not do anything because they were only liable to Best Buy, so I had to talk to Best Buy to get my money back, and then Best Buy would get their money back from UPS. I called the Best Buy customer service line at 888-BEST-BUY. I waited for 30 minutes and no one answered the phone. UPS called and no one answered. I emailed them through the Contact Us link, and no one emailed me back. So, with no other choice, I went to a Best Buy store in Fairfax County, VA. A "Customer Experience Manager" (cute title, as if they really care) called the number and finally got through to someone. They "logged" the issue, gave me a case #, and said they would call me back in 2 days. I said that all I wanted was a refund on my card. They refused and insisted someone had to call me back in 2 days, because that was their "process" and they could not bend the rules. The manager at the store said that if they don't call me back, come back in and he would take care of it. Of course, no one called me back, so in 4 days I went back to the store. They called and had me wait on the phone for over 30 minutes. They said they couldn't do anything, and now I had to wait another 5 - 10 days. So the people at the store and the people on the phone refused to do anything to help me. I managed retail businesses for 12 years and I tried to explained to the managers that all of this was going to cost more than $240 when it was over because I am going to tell everyone I knew. They should have just refunded my money. I was there 2 hours, and meanwhile, they were giving refunds to everyone that said anything like, "I just don't like this ...". And here I am totally ripped off, and they refused to help me. Finally, after 2 hours, they went and got the head manager of the store, and he said he would not do anything, and he made me leave the store. I will never buy anything from Best Buy ever again. This was the second time I lost money with them. They rip people off and get away with it either intentionally, or they are just incredibly incompetent when it comes to customer service. No one at the store or on the phone was empowered to just fix the problem.