Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[erikny]

Like many others, I waited in long lines for the Black Friday Doorbuster sale to purchase a new laptop.

I finally was in the store with a "ticket" for the Toshiba 305D-8593 laptop bundle advertised for $479.96 in the flyers being handed out while I was in line.   The flyer guarantees that "at least 15" will be available in each store.

After receiving the ticket and waiting in line again for another 2 hours to get to a register, I finally purchased the laptop bundle and left to the next door McDonalds to get some breakfast.  I reviewed my receipt and realized that I had been charges $89 plus tax for the Geek Squad service.   Except for the Geek Squad Service, I was charged exactly the same price as quoted in the flyer:  $479.96.

Since I had not asked for this service, I returned to the store and asked to have the $89 removed.  I was told that they had sold their 15 laptop bundles for the $479.96 price and that I had received a different bundle that included the Geek Squad service, and that I could only return the service by returning the entire bundle. 

He claimed that this was spelled out in the "ticket" but neither he nor I can guarantee that my "ticket" was not one of the 15 because they did not allow me to keep the ticket and they did not ask my personal information to associate me with the "ticket".

This is not specified in the flyer nor is it specified on my receipt.

I am not a lawyer, but this seems to be a pretty clear case of deceptive advertising.  Is there a lawyer reading this who could provide feedback on whether or not there is merit in a deceptive advertising class action suit if this was a wide practice across Best Buy stores?

Whether or not this is actionable, clearly this is bad business.  I will be avoiding Best Buy for my future purchases.   With behavior like this, I expect them to go the way of their competitor CC.

I had to repost this because I'd orginally used the competitors name, and then when I corrected it the website treated the correction as "flooding".   Clearly they aren't open to hearing feedback--more reason for them to go the way of the dodo bird.

Message Edited by erikny on 11-28-2008 09:28 PM

[Whtever]

I had the same thing happen to me, but on one of their desktop computers. After standing in line for hours, both outside the store, and inside, once I finally got my hands on the desktop I was there for, I was told there would be an additional $60.00 added to the price of the Desktop if the Geek Squad "Optimization" was already done to it, or $90.00 if it had not yet been done. Yep, it cost more if the service had not yet been done to it, and why, because they were not going to sell them without the service, which is $90.00.

This did not sit well with me at all. No where in the ad could I find this "little" disclaimer. I spoke to a Store Manager, but he was only willing to deduct $20.00 from the price.

I didn't end up buying the computer. Good deal or not, I had no interest in paying for the Geek Squad service, and I was not about to be forced into it. It's the principal of the matter.

The Desktop I was there to get wasn't even a Doorbuster, it was just a Desktop on sale. It should have been sold at the advertised price, which was good for two days.

Honestly, I think this is a despicable thing for Best Buy to do.

[Lyndam321]

I was in Ann Arbor Michigan at 6:30 pm on Thanksgiving day waiting for the 379.00 computer.  There was no advertising that said that they were going to add the Geek Squad stuff to the computers. 

I was told by the person passing out vouchers at 3:30 am that the store had 22 of these computers and I was that number in line so I thought, cool I will get this laptop.  Then as they proceed through the line they said, well we took 11 of them and added the Geek Squad to them.  So that meant another 60 dollars.  I work very hard for my money and only had enough to pay for the laptop that didn't have the extras.  I didn't need them as I have the software at my house for I just bought a new desktop from Bestbuy. 

In this tough economic times its very interesting that people are out there at all shopping.  Let alone spending extras on stuff that not everyone needs.  I feel that Best Buy made a decision for me that was not warrented or requested. 

I think we might call the managers at Best Buy the next time I need to have a test or procedure done and get there consent.  Since they are making decisions that are not requested or warrented maybe they know what I need in terms of medical care.

I have been unable to sleep without waking up and being so pissed off at best buy that I felt the need to write.  I know that this probably will not be read by anyone in command but hopefully it will make me feel better. 

I think that people need to be weary of what bestbuy has control of and maybe think about going else where for their electronic needs.

[chihuahualuver]

Everyone with a complaint needs to contact their state Attorney General and  BBB and file a complaint. If they are flooded with these complaint they will investigate. It id the only way to get any justice.

[surgemyster]

I would appreciate a response from the moderators.

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Hey erikny,

While Best Buy® stores normally do offer a limited number of computers pre-setup with additional Geek Squad® services, customers should never feel obligated to purchase a pre-setup computer. Whenever one of our customers requests only the base computer itself our stores have an obligation to remove the additional installed software before offering it for purchase. I certainly do apologize though if you did not find this to be the case during your most recent visit.

I would like to take this opportunity to further assist you, so please keep an eye on your private messages (the letter icon at the top-right corner of the page) for further communication.

Thanks,

Agent Aaron
Geek Squad® Community Connector
Go Ahead. Use Us.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hey Lyndam 321, 

I completely understand your statements about the value of your dollar.  I also work hard for my money and I would never want to have someone else make decisions about how I spend it! I was concerned when I read your recount of your recent experience purchasing your new laptop.  It is true that we normally have a small amount of our computers pre-set up for customers who do want these services, and want to save time; however, a customer should never feel obligated to purchase a service that they did not request.  Whenever a store is out of the base computers and only has the pre-set up ones available, we are obligated to sell the computer at the base price, however we do need the time to remove the software.  

I would like to take this opportunity to further assist you. Please keep an eye on your private messages of further communication.  You can check these by ensuring you are logged into the forum with both your username and password, and clicking the envelope icon in the upper right hand corner.  

Sincerely,

Dorothy

Community Connector

Best Buy® Corporate 

[John-BBY Community Connector]

Hello Whtever,

I’m very sorry to hear about your experience at the store when trying to purchase a new computer.  What should have been a fun and exciting shopping trip wasn’t, and I apologize for that.

The reason you ran into this situation at all is because Best Buy® tries to anticipate our customers’ buying interests in order to offer a better experience.  What that means is that the Geek Squad® performed a pre-setup procedure on a certain percentage of the computers to be sold as part of the Black Friday promotion, as well as other anticipated fast-moving computers.  Many of our customers want the optimization service and having the computer ready to go instead of waiting several hours or until the next day to pick up the computer is an extra convenience for them.

If your local store sells out of the computers without the pre-setup, they will then sell those computers to anyone who wants them.  Our BlueShirts are, however, supposed to offer an option to either purchase those services or to wait to have the work undone.  While it might be easier to just let the computer be sold as is with services at no charge, that option is not available as some of the pre-setup software is registered for auto-renewal by credit card at the time of purchase.  A customer not wanting the software, or to be billed in the future for subscriptions for it, would have to wait for the Geek Squad® services to be reversed.

We do our best to assure that our customers are inconvenienced as little as possible and do everything we can to provide our customers with a great experience in our stores.  Occasionally, in trying to gauge our customers’ needs, we don’t get it exactly right.  Even so, our customers should never be “required” to purchase products or services that they do not want.  I’m terribly sorry that your Black Friday experience was colored by that.

I would like to look into this a bit further though.  Please watch your inbox for a private message from me.  You may check your inbox by first logging into the forum with your username and password, then clicking on the envelope in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your experience. 

Sincerely,

Message Edited by John-BBY on 12-03-2008 02:23 PM

[surgemyster]

Like erikny and others, I also waited in line early Thrusday to purchase a new laptops.I had originally posted but was DELETED by a moderator for having pictures of reciept So i am reposting.

My Story is much like erikny's. Stood in line, got the "ticket" for the Toshiba 305D-8593 laptop bundle advertised for $479.96 and HP G50-104NR Laptop with Canon 3-in-1 Printer for $349.98

 

 Unlike Erikny, I noticed that i was being overcharged from what the advertised price was as shown from the website snapshop and the ad. I promptly asked the cashier why it was more than the advertised price. She said that my laptops came optimized already for my convience. I asked if there was anyway that i could opt out of this rediculious charge and she said no, now I purchased the laptops because I did not want to walk out of BB Empty handed after sitting in line after so many hours.

'

(I HAVE PICTURES FOR PROOF IS NECESSARY)

Now, I plan on going back to the store and complaining andwanting my money Back.

The cashier told me the same thing that was told to Erikny,"they had sold their 15 laptop bundles for the $479.96 price and that I had received a different bundle that included the Geek Squad service"

NOW IF THAT IS TRUE  Why do my laptops , and black friday tickets clearly say "Black   AD Friday Doorbuster"

Now i know they say the "optimized" up on top, but my point is that is not part of the deal advertised. It is stated anywhere on the website or flyer that this has to come with the laptop.

Granted,  At the bottom of the "tickets" there was a section for optional accessories. Optimization was one of them,  BUT thats exactly what it should of beenoptional  not FORCED.

One last note, I've done many hours of research on this subject. I have come upon many testemonies from consumers and ex-employees. They have stated that Coporate does not condon this type of activity as it is opening the customers product with out their consent and pre-loading it with software.

[Lyndam321]

I would like to thank everyone from Best Buy for resolving my issue.  The Ann Arbor, MI store was very kind and courteous to fix me up with a new laptop.  The regional manager was very nice too.  When you are ready to plan for next years please contact me I think customer input would be a great benefit for next years black friday.

Thanks