Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[dtackett]

BB and GS,

I just called my local BB, talked to a GS rep.  My Palm Pre has been in for service since 8/8.  The estimated Completion Date was 9/7.   I called to see if anything had happened, nothing so far.  It sounds as if BB GS has no clue what the status of my phone is.  (the online status has been the same since 8/12)

I was told that TouchStone doesnt start the 30 day counter till they receive it, not when I turn it over to BB GS.  And thus BB wont "escalate" for another 5 days (since TouchStone get the phone on the 12th).  Though I had talked with someone a week ago at BB who said he was "escalating" it since it was close to the estimated completion date.  So I think the "escalation" policy is generally up to who you talk with on any given day.  Not that the last "escalation" had any effect.

I have purchased and am still paying for the Black Tie Service program which I thought replaced the phone if damaged (when I purchased the phone in July 2009).   Turns out the phone has to be serviced 4 times (meaning 4 months or more w/o my phone) before a replacement can be considered.  When I heard this, I figured at least the issue is only my Palm Pre's power button (had stopped working).  So it should be easy to fix, I will get the phone back quick.  I do love that phone.

But my hopes have been dashed by lack of status update and now confirmed lack of speed to repair.

I dont think Black Tie is the correct term for the program.  Nothing about this service program is black tie.  No status, no speed, no service ownership (TouchStone is being blamed)  This is a BB and GS issue. This is a managment issue.  This is a customer service issue, and from what I can tell -- the issue is much bigger than one guy's poor service experience.

Its my understanding that Sprint has a repair facility near where I live (I didn know at the time, not that would it would have mattered -- I thought I had a replacement warrenty).  I will be purchasing my warrenty through sprint the next time, if I could cancel and switch to sprint's warrenty - I would.  But it looks like I am stuck...

I have sent an email to BB GS vis their context us page, no response.

If someone from BB GS reads this, please feel free to set me stright, I would like to understand.  No excuseses:  whats the real status of my phone? When can I really expect it back from service?  What is your plan to fix the service status update problem?  (dont say -- "its better that the repair folks dont update the status -- much faster for them to just fix phones...." ------    FedEx, UPS, Us Mail, etc, etc -- have great tracking/status systems -- and no impact to the speed of the service....  Its a technology problem and creativity problem, not a repair persons problem.. Ultimately - its a BB and GS problem).

[dtackett]

As of 9/8/2010 --  31 Days...   No email, no BB or GS response. 

This is the status as of this morning:

08/12/10 1:38pm Received Product has been received at the repair location and is being assigned to a Geek Squad Agent or a certified technician for repair
08/08/10 3:04pm Checked In Product has been checked in and is awaiting shipment

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Good afternoon dtackett -

Aaron, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern.  Thank you for your patience. 

[dtackett]

OK, Thx..

I had checked and posted in this thread the status as of this morning (around 9am EST), the status hadnt changed..  Now I see a status update (which is good), but it has yesterdays date on it (odd, why is this dated 9/7 now, when the status update happened today?). 

Whoever (Aaron ??)  @ BB GS must have waved a magic wand, looks like my phone is repaired and about to be sent back to my local BB for pickup....

Thank you.  (now if you could fix the service status problem -- where status of the device shows daily and/or weekly activity, that will make service appear more responsive and give your customer a level of comfort that their device/phone didnt drop into a black hole). 

--

Status as of 1:41PM EST

09/07/10 10:37am Final Inspection, Awaiting Shipment Product is ready for final inspection and shipment
08/12/10 1:38pm Received Product has been received at the repair location and is being assigned to a Geek Squad Agent or a certified technician for repair
08/08/10 3:04pm Checked In Product has been checked in and is awaiting shipment

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Greetings dtackett,

From my experience, our website will generally update every few business days even if the service center is waiting for parts to arrive.  I apologize though if this did not happen with your Palm Pre – rest assured that I’d be glad to pass this information along to our website support team.

Now, I’ve had the chance to look into this situation and it’s my understanding that you were able to pick up your phone since your last post.  If this is not the case or if you’re still in need of assistance, however, please do not hesitate to let me know.  You can send me a private message by signing into the forums and then clicking on either my signature below or the letter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

[dtackett · Accepted solution]

Hi Aaron-GS,

Yes I Picked the phone Yesterday 9/9.    I dont know if you did anything to not, but the phone was sent back to my local BB GS location quickly.

I was also very supprised when I picked up my phone.  turns out, the phone needed to be replaced, I guess it wasnt just a power button that was broken, but the phone was dead...    So BB/GS replaced the phone (or maybe touchstone replaced it --  looks like touchstone sent the replacement back), its a nice, clean, scratchless refurb (maybe new - I cant tell)..  In any case, it has less ware than the one I sent to you to be repaired, and so I was supprised.

I am very happy that that I have a Palm Pre back, I love that phone.

Reguarding the Status Update issue:  I can assure the status entries I posted are the only ones made.  So you can definlately see no status updates were made after sending the phone, until the phone as sent back.   I have also read many other posts stating the same thing.    I talked with the GS folks locally, and they are not all that happy with the problem either (makes for unhappy customers, thus they catch it).

I know this issue is not in your power to fix.  I think this lack of status updates from the phone repair center is being caused by  a lack of applied technology (hands off status tracking technology), and lack of push back to adopt it.   So yes, please send up to your mgrs that this issue needs attention.  It will definatly make for happer customers.

Thank you for your reply!!!

dtackett