Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[unsatisfied-one]

My child's less than 1 year old Toshiba laptop power adapter developed a worn spot that sparked. We took the power adapter to a Best Buy in Dublin, CA near where we were going to be shopping for the day. We had our receipt and 2 year extended warranty information. We were told they need the serial number of the computer. We need to bring the computer in. We went home and picked up the laptop. We went to another Best Buy in Union City, CA as this was closer to our home. We were told that the laptop didn't have the serial number on it and this was a typical problem for Toshiba systems and we would need to bring in the box. I asked to see the manager. A person named Jose came over and said there wasn't anything he could do and that even if we had the serial number, they would only issued a work order and send us home to call service for a replacement adapter. I asked why would you want us to make another trip if we were only going to be sent home to call? He said we ask customers not to bring in equipment and it's written on the warranty (it's not). I said that it was poor customer service to keep making customers coming back if they are only going to be sent away to call. I had an Apple power adapter go bad and brought it to the Apple store and they replace it immediately. He said "we're not the Apple store. I said you got that right". I continued to press him about why service would continued to bring a customer in only to be sent home to complete the service problem? He asked why I was being so rude? I said I'm not being rude, I asking a question that is not being answered. I asked to see the store manager, in which he replied he was in charge and if I needed to go higher I would have to call 1800BESTBUY.

When we got home we found the box, got the serial number, and called the Best Buy service line. A very polite person named Eric on the service line was able to find the information, and will be sending out a new adapter which is suppose to be to us in 5-8 working days.

Why is there so little information in your system when we had to give so much information when we purchased the laptop? Why is you staff telling people to bring in equipment only to have to drag it back home? Why aren't your repair policies/instructions communicated to the consumer with the extended warranty in a wriiten form? If it had been written I definitely would have read it, and not wasted time, gas, and patience. The only thing I found out is I don't think shopping at Best Buy is worth my time, whatever the price.

[RealGeorgeW Valued Expert]

From what I was taught, for the laptop PSP's you do not need the serial number when doing the PARTONLY service orders. I may be wrong though but that sucks that you had to go through that much hassle.

I agree it's bothersome to have to make a lot of trips just to make a phone call and have the problem solved.

 Normally all you would need to do is call the 888 number and they can do the part request right over the phone.

Were you going to the Geek Squad precint or was that from a sales person?

[unsatisfied-one]

We were at the repair desk at both stores. The people we spoke with were Geek squad personnel. The person that was sent over as the "manager" at the Union City, CA store wore a blue polo shirt (like every register person), and as soon as he was finished with us, returned to register one.

[NicolleHTPRO]

The managers at my store wear blue shirts all the time. And every once in a while you'll catch them at the register

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Dear unsatisfied-one, 

Thanks for posting your concern on our Best Buy® Forum.  Your issue has been assigned to one of our Community Connectors for further review and response, and you should be hearing something within the next few business days.  Thanks for your continued patience as we work to assist all of the customers who have reached out to us on this forum.

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Hey unsatisfied-one,

I’m disappointed to hear about your recent experience! I can certainly imagine how frustrated you must feel, especially if any miscommunication occurred resulting in multiple trips to your local store.

Best Buy® must verify a product’s serial number – in addition to verifying that parts are actually defective – before any kind of replacement parts can be ordered under service plan coverage. This means that customers must bring their carry-in products (computers, iPods, etc.) to their local store for diagnostics. Not only does this ensure that the proper parts are ordered, but that no hidden hardware failures exist as well.

Once diagnostics have been completed, one of two things may happen: the store may place an order for any necessary parts on your behalf, or you may be provided with a service order number so you can order them through Partsearch at your leisure. Either way, our stores are not always able to provide replacement parts on-site.

That being said, I’m pleased to hear that Eric was able to help you find a resolution to this issue. If you have any other questions or concerns, however, please do not hesitate to let me know.

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