Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[Seamyst]

Its kind of a long drawn out story but I will do my best here.

3/18/09: Purchased a Gateway FX Laptop 7805u (was very exicted. I own the desktop version of this computer and have been wanting the laptop for over a year)

3/28/09: Noticed bad pixels right in the middle of the screen. Best Buy kind of made noises about there not technically being enough dead pixels for a return but still did an exchange for exact model. I get the new computer home and as soon as I open the laptop I notice that the manufacture did not tear off sticky screen protector all the way and part of it was still wedged under the display screen.

3/30/09 Took back replacement #2 (never even powered up the computer. Just didn't feel like dealing with them again right away) Had a tech look at it and he said he couldn't fix it without taking the display apart so they exchanged it for replacement #3 and against my better judgement I get talked into purchacing the Black Tie Protection Plan for $350.

I immediately notice a big differance between the replacement #3 and the original laptop. First one updated and set up within 15 minutes. This one took over an hour and the window froze and had to be restarted when trying to set up Norton. Overall felt very sluggish compared to the first one. I continue using it and have a multitude of problems. Had issues from all the online shows I would watch would lock up to Sleep Mode locking up and having to do a hard restart.

4/7/09 Took it in to get a refund. After having issues with 3 of this model I was ready to get a different brand. After spending over an hour going over the various issues they ask if I want an exchange or refund. I say refund and then I wait for 15 mins just to have them come back and say without a verifiable issue they can't refund without the 15% restocking fee. So I check it in for them to look it over for 2 days so they can justify issuing a refund. Okay..that sounds fair. I call them after 2 days to ask how its going (because obviously haven't heard anything yet) and the guy I talked to was kinda snotty. He says we have 5-7 days to look at it. I said no..I have in writing 2 days and he argues with me! lol Says he would check on it and get back to me. Another tech calls later that evening saying he couldn't find a verifiable problem and come pick up my unit. Excuse me? Did they not understand my issues?

4/10/09 Went in and talked with them for well over an hour...again and this is where it gets real interesting. Eventually ended up talking to the manager Carmen. She says take the computer home, use it for 7 days and if it still has issues I will let you exchange it for another computer. I asked her what might be a good replacement as we hadn't settled on a particular model yet and she went in the back to ask the Geek Squad. In the term of that conversation she said the Asus G50v came up. At this time I expressed concern that if I took the laptop home for a week it would be beyond the 14 day return/exchange policy. She assured me that she was extending it and at the top of my reciept wrote her name and the extended effective date at the top. She even looked to see what day of the week that was and made sure she was working that day.

4/17/09 Laptop was still having issues so I take it back in so they could honor thier promise. Wow..surprise surprise. Apparently we were lied to just to get us out the door with a defective product. No only did we just miss Carmen by 15 mins, but even with her name and promise they refused to honor it. Not only were we told that she couldn't even make those promises, eventually they called her on the phone and she had a different story. We could only chose the Asus or another of the same Gateway. Completely in contrast to what she has said before. We felt completely betrayed and lied to by everyone. Even while we stood there I got the laptop to freeze up on a video verifiying my concerns and apparently thats just a software issue and nothing they could do about. What?! Faulty software on a computer barely out of the box and used and I'm supposed to live with it? Uh Uh. Really nice sales guy Mike stepped in and wasn't able to do much better but I appreciated him at least trying. No one else wanted to do anything other than make me feel stupid and inadequate. End up going home with Replacement #4. *sigh*

Today 4/22/09 I am loving this new replacement. Its been running as great as my first one with no "software" issues. I do notice its getting hot and the fan isn't kicking on so I download a HWmonitor and temp on the GPU gets to 201 degrees and fan doesn't kick on. I close out the programs I was running and temp quickly drops. I call BB Geek Squad and expalin the situation and Cody says to bring it in. Here I am cringing. I know that they don't want to see me anymore than I want to be back with another problem. So I take it back in and the tech looks at it and says it definately has a problem. He dissapears in the back room for 15 mins and walks out into the showroom floor without a word. I'm getting worried at this point. lol He comes back with yet another Gateway FX! Really?

How many of these do I have to go through? Its really not fair. At this point I'm really tired of being a push-over and just believing what I'm told but what can I do now? They are refusing a refund again since the original purchase date was back in March. They say my only options are to get yet another replacement or if I wanted the Asus they can do an "even exhange" Meaning that sure they would let me get it but it would be marked UP from $899 to the price of the Gateway $1149.99!! They must be out of thier minds to think thats a good deal to make me pay $250 extra for a lesser computer? I just don't understand. They will in no way refund my money even though I have returned all of the laptops within the 14 day policy. I'm being penalized because they have a batch of faulty laptops? Please let me know if anyone has any advise for my situation. I would greatly appreicate it.

Thanks!

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hi Seamyst,

I've asked Dorothy, one of our Community Connectors, to review and respond to your concerns.  You can expect to hear back within a few business days.

Thanks for posting!

[Seamyst]

Another thing I was thinking about as I lay sleepless last night was that had Carmen not made us take home the 3rd replacement laptop (and me believing her lies about an exchange) we would have been well within the 14 day return policy and they wouldn't have any grounds to not refund me for this 4th defective laptop. Her deception is what is caused all this hassle.

[Nokia]

Do keep in mind that your 14 day return/exchange policy is from the original date of purchase. It doesn't restart each time you make an exchange.

[Seamyst · Accepted solution]

Just as an update, yesterday I called ant talke to the Operations Manager about the issue and she has given me a full refund. So the situation has been resolved.

[lilfitz]

Hi Seamyst, I read your posts. I can't understand that, after 4 replacements and all the hastle and sweat and tears you must have been through, and costs associated with bringing the computer back each time, that you didn't go postal on them!

Lets look at this from Best Buy's point of view shall we? Here we have yet another customer coming to us asking for a refund and claiming he has computer problems. What will we do to improve our standing in the community and our good name and reputation as a business? hmmmm. lets make him really angry and have to resort to posting the problem on a forum and gain sympathy amongst consumers! That'll really improve business for Best Buy and create a feeling of fairness and loyalty! 

It really begs belief how they don't have the common sense and foresight to realise that it is far better to fork out a few dollars to keep the customer happy and generate so much business for a home grown American company in these recession times! So apart from having a very unhappy customer feeling let down... you also have a company losing its reputation. Makes absolutely no sense.

Anyway, just my five cents...... apologies if i've offended anyone. It just makes me so angry. Why can't we have a policy in Best Buy which promotes fairness... a no quibble policy which could do so much to restore Best Buy & Geek Squad's failing reputation? ... it's sad...

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Good afternoon Seamyst -

First and foremost, let me say that I am relieved to read that you were able to get a refund on your most recent unit.   While I cannot explain why the units were having such issues, it is good to see that in the end, the store management was able to handle it at store level. 

While it is correct that your initial start date for returns and exchanges begins with your first purchase, regardless of any refunds or exchanges, there are always situations where a manager might make an exception.  However, the good rule of thumb is to always presume that it is from original date of purchase. 

I have documented your concerns and experience Seamyst, and rest assured that I will be passing it along to the proper channels to ensure review. 

I do appreciate you sharing your experience with us.  We do appreciate any customer feedback, be it positive or negative, because it helps us to grow. 

If you need anything further from me, feel free to contact me either through a post, or through a private message.  You can send me a private message at any time by clicking on my name, then clicking "send user a private message" on the right hand side of the page.

Thank you!

Dorothy

Community Connector

Best Buy® Corporate 

[fatjackson]

hey seamyst man I know this is a old post. I dont know if you even have the laptop. I went thru the same problem with the same computer. Lucky for me they honored the return. But i had the same problem with the next one. I did some reasearch. Its not the exactly the computer its self. its a Driver issue for the video card due to the fact that it is a gateway computer. If you register your computer with gateway and get your backup disks then reformat the will have the correct gateway video driver. Worked great for me since then.Haha i bought mine before yours and registered mine they are gonna send me a free windows 7 64-bit . so good luck man.