Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[jmvelasc]

I have an iPhone protection plan that allows me to send my iPhone in and get a refurbished iPhone if I have any problems with my iPhone.

On August 23rd, I sent my iPhone in to Best Buy to get a refurb iPhone because it had a crack and the volume up button didn't work.  They told it me it was rapid exchange and I would have my refurb iPhone by Thursday.  Great, I thought.

The refurbished iPhone came in 2 days later than expected.  This is the kicker.  When I would make a call with the iPhone they gave me, it didn't make sound out of the handset or the speaker.  Apple said it was a hardware issue and send it back to best buy.  They gave me a phone that wasn't even a phone.  Best Buy didn't even check to see if it could properly make a call before they sent it to me.  It couldn't even do its main function - make a phone call.

I sent the bad refurb back in on August 31st.  They said again, 2-3 days which would be Friday, September 3rd.  I have not received my SECOND refurb iPhone yet and it is September 13th.  If you are counting, that is 3 weeks since the start of this process.  7 times longer than  they claimed and there is still no end in sight.  I have been without my contacts, email, and to- do lists for almost a month.  This is unacceptable.

I would like to point out that the Geek Squad associates in the store have tried to be helpful.  But, this is a deeper issue into Best Buy.  When/if I do get a WORKING iPhone back, I will be demanding at the very least in-store credit.

-Jon

[jenscottwriter]

Join the club. I sent my iPhone 3GS in last week and was told it would be 3-4 business days to get it back. It's been a week and I still haven't received anything. I've been told everything from 7-14 more days to "later this week" to a full 30 days.

Black Tie Protection is a joke. If Best Buy can't tell their customers when they can expect to receive their phones, they need to start shipping out new iPhones in their place.

[cr_client]

4 business days, on a week with a holiday, *IS* a full calendar week.

Business days are Mon-Fri. They don't include weekends and federal holidays.

[jenscottwriter]

I'm well aware of what business days are. I turned my phone in on Tuesday, Sept. 7. The receipt I was given said I could expect to pick up my phone on Sept. 10. Now it's Sept. 13 and the phone has not even been shipped back to the store for pickup. No one can tell me when that will happen. The last answer I got was "It's backordered and we have no idea when you will get it." I'm not jumping the gun here; I'm simply going by the information that was given to me.

[jmvelasc]

Bump

[cr_client]

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jmvelasc wrote:

Bump

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[Mbrguy Emerging Expert]

Working in Geek Squad, I have noticed also that iPhones are taking a bit longer than usual.  From what I understand, at the moment there seems to be a small supply shortage of iPhone refurbs.  All I can say is that Geek Squad does know about this and is working at addressing the issue as quickly as possible.  

As to the refurb you obtained before that had problems when you got it, all I can say is that it happens.  Refurbished iPhones are just as capable as brand new iPhones, although sometimes there are defects or problems with them just as there are with new iPhones.  While Geek Squad's quality control is usually very high, there will be units that slip through the cracks.  The only thing to do when a refurbished unit is found to be defective is to immediately send it back RE for a different unit.  I know that this isn't what you want to hear, but with the thousands of Rapid Exchange iPhones that Geek Squad processes, there will be times when a unit is defective and isn't caught by Quality Control, and this is frustrating especially when you happen to be the person who receives one of these units.

But please be assured, that Geek Squad will do everything in it's power to get you another working unit to you as quickly as possible.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hello jmvelasc -

Aaron, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern.  I appreciate your patience until Aaron is able to touch base with you.

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Hey Jon (jmvelasc),

Like Mbrguy mentioned, our service center is currently encountering a slight delay in fulfilling iPhone rapid exchanges due to a shortage of refurbished models.  Rest assured though that we’re working on the issue and hope to have a resolution shortly.

I’d be glad to look into this situation on your behalf, so please make sure to check your private messages.  You can do so by signing into the forums and then clicking on the letter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

[User93680]

Very poor way to treat customers!  Best Buy doesn't seem to get the fundamental issue.  You don't make promises to customers in the interest of making a sale and then not deliver on your promises if product issues arise.  Same reason folks get mad at insurance companies - they're great at taking your money, but they all seem to struggle when it comes to paying out money.  Forget about "Black Tie Service" and all of the other service options and focus on the real issue.  When you buy a quality product from a company you have expectations that a quality company will have integrity and back that product up.  You shouldn't have to pay extra for that expectation to be met.  Now, paying extra and then still having them fail to meet your expectation is appalling.  These are reasonable expectations.  You buy a product and it fails in 4 months or so, the company needs to take action and apologize to the customer for the inconvenience.  When 3 days turns into 5 days and 5 days turns into 7 days and 7 days turns into 10 days and 10 days turns into "it's on back order and we have no idea when it will come in", then things are pretty bad and Best Buy should compensate in some fashion.  Of all the posts we see I have no doubt there are countless other posts we never get to see.  That is why I intend on escalating this issue and Best Buy will receive the same compassion from me that they have exhibited toward me - sound fair?!