Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[Mustang76]

As a Best Buy customer for many years now, I can honestly say that my experiences with Best Buy over the past month will seriously, if not completely, limit the amount of money I will spend there in the future.  My girlfriend purchased a Sony 7.2 Digital Camera with a service plan at Best Buy in 2005 (the service plan is still in effect).  Recently, she has been having trouble with it and brought it to the so-called "Geek Squad."  I have to say that in all my years, I have never dealt with a group of individuals that are so inept at their job. 

We brought the camera to get repaired at our local Best Buy and the invoice we were given said that the camera should be ready in about a month.  However, a member of the Geek Squad said that the camera might be done earlier.  We took it upon ourselves to call the store about a week or so before the date on the invoice.  What an adventure that turned out to be!  Not only could we not get in touch with the Geek Squad, but we couldn't even get the Best Buy store on the phone (yes, we checked and we had the correct number).

The following weekend, we decided to go to the store to check on the status. No dice, but we understood that it was still earlier than the date on the invoice.  Yet, we went back on that date and were told it is not ready yet.  Upon asking where it is, we were told it is in some service center in Texas.  We called up Best Buy and got a tracking number which said that the camera was actually in NJ.  Confusing, to say the least.  

Two more weeks went by after the supposed "completion date" and two more trips to Best Buy because we just could not get anyone on the phone.  Each time we were given a different story.  One rep said it will be in soon; another stated he will do something called an "escalation" on it.  We are not sure what that is but I'm guessing it's their way of saying "it's not here and we are not sure where it is."

After more repeated attempts at trying to get the "Geek Squad" on the phone after another week, we finally got through and were told, yet again, a different story.  Another attempt; another story a week later.  On one attempt to get through, I spent ONE HOUR just trying to get Best Buy to pick up the phone and another 20 minutes to get a Geek Squad rep on the phone just so he can tell me the camera is still not ready "but it should be soon."  

In total, it took over three weeks past the date on the invoice when the camera was supposed to be ready to finally get it back.  Our problem is not with the time that it took to get repaired but it is the lack of respect the Geek Squad has with their customers.  We are still not sure why we could not get a straight answer from anyone as to what the holdup with the camera was AND why does nobody in that store pickup the phone.  After spending some time online reading about customer complaints about the Geek Squad and Best Buy, I have to say that I know EXACTLY how other customers feels.  We will never again buy another major product from Best Buy for fear that we will have to deal with the Geek Squad again in the event of a repair. 

We have already called the Best Buy complaint department and highly doubt it did anything and are in the process of sending out a formal complaint to Corporate Headquarters as well.  It is very sad that places such as Circuit City and Comp USA are or have closed down and places such as Best Buy continue to flourish even with such shoddy customer relations.

Best Buy, with all the problems going on in the world, can you please make our lives somewhat easier and instruct your "Geek Squad" to treat people with some respect and not try to give us the runaround.  It is an insult to our intelligence. 

[MtnXfreeride]

not every camera comes back 3 weeks after its estimated return time.  The guy saying it went to texas was wrong.  The guy saying it was in NJ was right.  they do it through a third party vender "Percision Camera" which I have dealt with through my sony warranty not through geeksquad.  They did a great job, but it took longer for mine because of special ordering parts for my older camera.

I wouldnt be surprised if they didnt have the perfect contact with percision to get the exact details you were looking for. 

[Mustang76]

While I understand that these repairs may take more time than usual, my issue was that not one Geek Squad rep could give us an upfront answer as to where the camera was.  That was what made it so frustrating.  We understood that BB uses Precision Camera as a third party and it is basically out of there hands once the camera is shipped out, but I would think it's common sense to atleast have some communication between the Geek Squad to stay on top of these things.  We were incredibly patient with them and continued to get the runaround.  If one person says it's in Texas and another says its in NJ, then there is something seriously wrong here.

Thanks for the reply!

[Mustang76]

Figures...after two days of posting this and not one BB rep on here even offers an apology or shows any type of sympathy towards this case. 

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Thanks for your patience, Mustang76.  I have assigned your post to one of our Community Connectors, and you should see a more detailed response no later than Monday.  Please know that we are very thankful for you sharing your experience on this Forum, and we are making every effort to respond to and help resolve every customer service issue posted on these boards.  I'm sorry for the delay, but hope you will allow us the opportunity to make this right for you.

Thanks,

~Elizabeth

Community Supervisor

Best Buy® Corporate

[u_hsen]

patience is a virtue.

ok so like you said the geek squad rep said "MIGHT" be done earlier. not it "WILL" be done earlier.

every retail stores out there, every of their "geek squad" department (their technical support) all use a third party repaircenter. no one can absolutely sure where the device is at. until the device is back in the store. so you can't blame any one in best buy for that. simply. they take in your device, send it out for you, order the parts for you, etc etc etc. makes your life a lot easier so you won't have to call 1800 (manuafacture number), go through 10 different automated machines, and talk to some one that is reading off a script.

no one can give you an absolute time of when the device will be back in the store. that is out of geeksquad's reach. or even the manager's reach.

when they order the part, if the UPS or FEDEX guy decide to rest up for the night because he was too tired to drive. or decided to take a rest stop every 2 hour. that can cause the delay.

it's not "geek squad" that is disrespecting you. the person that you talk to probably just have an attitude problem that's all. if you don't like that, talk to the manager or a supervisor.

[Mustang76]

u_hsen,

Maybe you did not read my post but my problem was not with the amount of time it took to get the camera back, it was with the ineptness of the Geek Squad.  Not once did we get a straight answer from anyone and could not even get a rep on the phone.  I have plenty of patience (thank you) but when someone is getting the runaround for almost 7 weeks straight, anyone could lose their patience.  It seemed that I had more info on the camera's status then they did considering it was me that had to tell them where the camera is based on the tracking number of got from BB.  Even if we had to wait three months, I wouldn't care but the Geek Squad needs to be more on top of things to ensure that their customers are kept happy and not in the dark.

[Mustang76]

Thank you Elizabeth!

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hey Mustang76,

If my camera was out for service for as long as you said your girlfriends was, and no one could tell me what the status of the repair was I would be very frustrated myself. I honestly don’t know why you were given conflicting information in regards to the status of the camera repair, and I also don’t know why the store didn’t answer its phone in a timely manner. I can assure you that this is not the type of service that Best Buy® strives to provide its customers.

I think it is not unreasonable for you to expect us to do our best to meet any timeframe provided, and to be able to provide accurate repair status upon request. If there is something I can do to keep you as a customer of Best Buy® I would like the opportunity to try. I am sending you a private message so check your inbox.

Thanks for posting,
Allan
Community Connector
Best Buy® Corporate