Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[wingless925]

I wouldn't take a computer to get repaired to the geek squad ever again.  I purchased my laptop about three years ago, and loved it.  I am a personal fan of Dell's about a year ago, I started having problems with the disc drive.  At first, it would not burn CD's and DVD's.  A few months ago, it stopped reading them as well.  When I finally started having problems booting the computer (I would turn it on, and other than lights coming on, nothing would happen.)  I finally took it in to get it looked at.  After charging an extravagant amount to just look at the computer (other stores will do this for free)  i received a call.  Much to my dismay, I was told that the hard drive was going bad, and I needed a new optical drive.  The price after labor would be over $300.  The Geek Squad member honestly told me it would be better if I just bought a new computer. 

Well,, my husband bought me another one.  I gave the one I had that needed repairs to my mother, who had a techie friend that said if she bought the parts, he would do the install for free, cutting that price way down.  Eventually the price became $0 when he discovered for my mother that it was my firewall conflicting with other programs I had running.  Once he removed the firewall, both the CD/DVD drive works, and it no longer has booting issues.  It runs the exact same as it did when I first bought the computer. 

 What I don't understand is why this Geek Squad, who are supposed to know what they are doing, couldn't tell that it was a simple program?  If there was nothing wrong with these two drives, why were they going to charge me $300 to fix them?  Lastly, why did I get charged for them diagnosing my computer, if they do not know what they are doing?  I could have done that myself.  I instead took it to supposed professionals - professional rip-off artists.  If a mechanic trumps up bogus problems with your car and then charges you to "fix" it, it is illegal.  Why does Geek Squad do it?

I will never shop at Best Buy again. And as soon as I found out what happened, I began telling people not to.  There are so many more trustworthy places.

[Markus]

Most likely they made a mistake. They probably didn't "rig" something to go wrong with the pc, they just mis-diagnosed the product.

And Geek squad agents do not make commission. There would be no reason for them to want you to purchase another pc.

But I do hope this all works out for you. Despite the complaints seen on this forum, most of the time Geek squad does the right and correct thing. The happy customers just don't post about it.

Cheers.

[Adamtech Emerging Expert]

Hi there! What firewall were you running? I am not aware of any firewall that will prevent the computer from posting. Posting is what occurs between power on and the operating system booting. Nor am I aware of why a firewall would cause your optical drive to slowly lose functions, first burning and then reading all together.

[wingless925]

I was using komodo for firewall, avast for virus protection and another adware program (the name escapes me at this time.).  Obviously I do not know alot about computers.  But if it wasn't working, and when the program was removed it does work... then something was wrong with the program, not the computer.

What bothers me most isn't that I was told to buy a new computer, I like my new computer, and now my mom is quite happy with my old one.. win- win there.  It is that it was completely misdiagnosed, that is a big mistake.  Your hard-drive needs to be replaced or you need to remove these programs.  I wasn't like I took it to my next door neighbor who told me something incorrect.  I paid alot for a misdiagnosis.  If my mother hadn't had the forsight to take it to someone else to fix it, rather than throwing it away...

[Markus]

Although it does seem like a big mistake, which it was, you have to understand it is VERY difficult to hit something spot on 100%.

I have never tried Komodo, so I have no idea to how that program works. It's difficult when 3rd party software could prevent hardware from working.

Hope everything is working out for you in that new Dell.

Cheers.

[Melissa-BBY Community Connector]

Hello wingless925,

Aaron, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding your service concerns. Your continued patience is appreciated until he is able to connect with you.

[Aaron-GS Community Connector]

Hey wingless925,

I’m not sure why there would have been any confusion regarding the work necessary to return your laptop to peak condition, but I can imagine how frustrated you must feel.  Repairs are rarely a welcome prospect, and receiving different estimates from several parties certainly doesn’t make the situation any easier.

I’d like to take this opportunity to gather some additional information, so please make sure to keep an eye on your private messages.  You can check your private messages by signing into the forum and then clicking on the letter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.