Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[Bagman]

I would file a complaint with the Attorney General, and turn over the other persons Data ONLY TO ATTORNEY GENERAL NOT TO BEST BUY!

[LiquidTension87]

I don't blame you for feeling like to you do. This is not just a normal customer service issue. They should be able to tell if your back up was accessed and downloaded to another computer. Hopefully this is NOT the case, or hopefully the other computer has not been picked up yet. I would like to point out tho, that (unless you have documents containing your bank account info, passwords, and other personal data clearly labeled- which would next to the dumbest thing possible without being password protected) someone that uses geek squad for software and hardware support may not be experienced enough to access the parts on your computer that DOES have that data. None-the-less, mistakes happen...eventhough this is a BIG one. I guarantee you someone will get fired over this.

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert]

Just because someone else's data was accidentally transferred to your computer does not mean that your data was transferred to someone else. It's not a zero sum game. The data backup machine does not transfer the data then delete it. It transfers a copy over and keeps a copy on file for 30 days before it is automatically deleted. This allows them to make you another copy if the data didn't transfer correctly. So even though they mixed up the Service Orders when transferring the data to your computer, the other person would still be able to get their data.

I would go back to Best Buy to get a copy of your data whenever you can, just make sure it's before a month so your data isn't deleted automatically before you get it.

A Community Connector will be on and they will make sure the proper personnel are notified. Best Buy takes matters like this very seriously.

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Hi Uecandy,

Thanks for bring this to our attention!  We take privacy matters seriously, so it’s concerning to read of situations where customers may have received someone else’s data.  Rest assured that I will pass this information along to the appropriate business teams for review.

I’ve had the chance to look into this situation and it’s my understanding that Scott, the Geek Squad supervisor at your local store, has personally offered to help you find a resolution.  When I spoke with him earlier today, Scott mentioned that he’s currently attempting to locate your computer’s old hard drive.  He also said that the data backup fee you paid was refunded yesterday afternoon, as well as the cost of an external hard drive.  Given these details, I’d encourage you to follow up with him if you haven’t already done so – I have full confidence that he will be able to help you out.

Let me know if you have any questions in the meantime.  You can send me a private message by signing into the forum and then clicking on either my signature below or the letter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

[jnachtig]

Wow, that is not good news.   If they have to locate the old hard drive that implies they did not back it up. 

But bonus, you get a new external hard drive to either back up the data that is not yours or back up nothing.

There is nothing good that is going to come from this problem

let us know how it all resolves Uecandy and good luck to you.

[Uecandy]

To Aaron & whom it may concern:

Thank you for replying back to me. I am happy that you guys are taking this matter very seriously. It was yesterday (Wednesday 2/8 around noon) when I was able to finally go in to Best Buy. I did indeed talk with Scott, the geek Squad manager. I told him what happened and he took my external hard-drive to get it checked up. The final verdict was that they had given me another customer's data-backup and have not been able to locate mine. Scott told me that he would call around and try to find out where my data or hard drive was. At that moment, I told him that I wanted a refund for the bad backup job that I was given. I also told him that since they will be holding on to the external hard drive containing the other customer's info, there was no point in me having purchased this product so I wanted a refund. I left the store empty-handed and no I do not have the external hard drive anymore.

I was worried about getting the run-about but Scott did call me later that evening like he promised. The good news is that they haven't given MY PERSONAL data-backup to anyone else. However, they will have have to track down the customer whose data backup was given to me and tell them about what happend to their information....(good luck handling this Best Buy). The BAD NEWS is that they were finally able to find a note attached to my service order that said that they weren't able to do my data back up due to problems with my hard drive. But they are going to send my hard drive out to try to have it backed up again. I just got a call today (Thursday 2/9) from Scott that they will be sending my hard drive out to try to get it backed up. He will be faxing in to them my original signature consent given to Best Buy to have my data Backed up. Now I just have to wait to hear back from them about whether or not they were able to successfully back up my hard drive.

I pray that I get my data successfully backed up! I have sooo much PRICELESS memories stored on there. I also want to be clear that personal information that may contain my social security information or credit card/bank accounts MAY have been stored on my note book NOT because I labeled them but because I may have documents; some of which contain saved applications for various sites i.e. apt rental, financial aid application, misc subscriptions, etc. You'd be surprised at what is saved onto your harddrive! I just want to say that despite the very serious mistake that occurred, I am very happy with the way that Best Buy is handling this situation. Scott has been very prompt in getting back to me and keeping me informed about the whole situation. I don't wish for any employees to be fired for this mistake but I do hope that you guys will be able to compensate your customers (myself and the other customer) for all the trouble, time, money, and frustration this situation has costed us.

**** With that said, can you blame me if I REMAIN VERY SKEPTICAL about this whole situation??? What if Best Buy is just trying to cover themselves up from looking bad and are actually lying to me about not having given my data to someone else. Honestly, my notebook was working just fine until there was a blue screen and I wasn't able to start my laptop anymore. How DAMAGED AND CURRUPTED can my other hard drive be that they weren't able to retrieve ANY DATA at all??! And the most fishy part was that when I initially went in to get my laptop back, the geek squad member who helped me didn't even SEE A NOTE FOR A BACKUP SERVICE! They had not even done my back up service until I addressed them about it. THEN, they weren't even able to find my hard drive and went searching in the back for a long time. I was beginning to worry that they wouldn't be able to find my old hard drive when the guy came back and said they found it and would back it up for me; It'd be a couple of hours so I'd have to go home and come back---With that said...I SERIOUSLY DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TRIPS I HAVE HAD TO MAKE TO BEST BUY DURING THIS WHOLE PROCESS...!---When I finally came back to pick up my databackup, I took it home happily forgiving all the trouble I had to go through. I trusted Best Buy to have done a good job only to check out my external hard drive a few weeks later to discover THIS! Seriously?? If I get a call later from Scott or any other representative telling me that my data wasn't able to be backed up...I WILL BE VERY UPSET! If they would have done it the first time correctly I would PROBABLY have my data backup. And what kind of 'NOTE' was that about my hard drive giving them troubles with a data backup service?? --- BEST BUY, YOU HAVE A GEEK SQUAD WHO ARE EXPERTS WITH TECHNOLOGY (We should think..) AND YET YOU HAVE THE MOST OUTDATED AND UNRELIABLE COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY/PROGRAM....You can't even make out a note (mind that a VERY IMPORTANT) note about a customer's data backup??!!!! I also updated my personal information the first time I came in to Best Buy with my troubled laptop and on Wednesday when I went in to see Scott, he gave me a sheet of paper with the same outdated information I had corrected earlier. He said something about their program doing that all the time......WELL GEEK SQUAD, FIX IT! If you can't even fix your own problems, how are we customers supposed to trust you with our's?? These are serious suggestions for you to improve your service from a valued customer.

I have trusted your expertise and service up till now. At the moment, I am very dissapointed by this whole situation but without a FINAL VERDICT as to whether I will get my data backed up, this is all I have to say for now. I look forward to staying in touch and hearing from you.



Sincerely,

uecandy