Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[tmhnashville]

They hide behind "The Release" that you sign when you drop your computer off!!!

I took my laptop to the Geek Squad on Charlotte Rd. in Nashville, TN because it was freezing up. While signing the paperwork, a few items on "The Release" were explained to be especially #10 that they are not responsible for any lost data or media, The Geek behind the counter told me that I might lose my pictures, music and videos but the system will be restored to exactly what it was like when I purchased it... no problem. When I picked up my lap top (2 days later than they told me it would be ready) it was completely stripped of all programs, sound plug-ins and video plug-ins. I explained to them that I wasn't informed that the complete system would be stripped and all I was told was "Sorry, you signed the release."

I complained to Customer Service and was told the same thing about "The Release" but was offered a $50 gift card
to help repurchase some of the programs that were stripped away (about 10% of what I'm going to have to pay). I
complained to the BBB and got the same response of signing the release. NO RESULTS. NO REFUND.

I don't know if I can blame this on employees negligence for not giving me all of the information or just shady Geek Squad practices, I will be spending hundreds of dollars just to get my system back to the way it was originally. Basically, when you sign the release you are agreeing that they are not responsible for anything that happens to your items, they can take your things in the back and blow them up & guess what... You signed "The release" and it gave them permission to do so.

I am going out of my way to tell every person that I know not to shop at Best Buy and NEVER use Geek Squad, including writing a article in my local newspaper, entertainment magazine & visiting as many online message boards as I can find. If they want to keep my little $140 then I am going to make sure that I get my money worth and deter as many customers from shopping there as I can.

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Dear tmhnashville, 

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 a maximum of 3-5 business days.  Please note that it may be sooner depending on the complexity of your issue and the current volume of posts.  Thanks for your continued patience as we work to assist all of the customers who have reached out to us on this forum.

[justathought]

tmh,

  Did they return the laptop to the state it was when you bought it or did they just format the hard drive and reinstall the OS, leaving off all the extra programs that are usually not worth the time of day? Are you running Vista or XP? Did you have an installation or recovery disk?

  I would suggest that when you get it back to where you want it again, burn any downloaded programs that you paid good money for to a disk or copy them to an external USB hard drive. Nobody  ever expects to lose their data, unfortunately... 

  Did the release say that they would restore the laptop to "new"? If it did, and they didn't, then you might have something. If you had to reinstall windows updates, music players, etc., then unfortunately, that's what happens when you do a restore.

  But, I wonder how long they did any actual troubleshooting before they wiped it. That should be a last resort, not the first.

[Matthew-GS Community Advocate]

Welcome, tmhnashville.

Recovering from a clean installation of your operating system would definitely be trying if you were missing some pre-installed programs on which you rely. I have some good news for you, but first let me assure you that we have every reason to give you full pre-disclosure regarding data loss during any repair.  The waiver is an opportunity for you and an Agent to discuss any concerns, especially data loss, before signing.  The Geek Squad® Agent who helped check in your computer claims he properly coached that “your system would be wiped clean.”  I am sorry if you interpreted this differently or assumed your programs would be intact.  Apparently no “Application and Drivers” disk was provided to them to complete installation and further assistance was declined. The good news is that we have a 30-day warranty on services and if you can provide that disk to your local Geek Squad® they will gladly install this manufacturer-included software as part of your OS repair service requested.  There would be additional software installation fees for any extra titles you installed after initial computer purchase.

Just a side note: some computer users find a clean system, without extra software from the manufacturer, to be a beneficial situation – claiming less is more.  This allows you to pick and choose which software you want to reinstall.  The “Apps & Drivers” disk came with your computer and can be obtained from the manufacturer if you have misplaced these important disks. 

While your situation was not ideal due to lack of recovery disks, I do hope we can help you get back to some normalcy on your computer.  Now is a great opportunity to start using an automated backup process such as an external hard drive or try the Geek Squad® Online Data Backup.  Ask your Geek Squad® Agent for details.  Please let me know, tmhnashville, if you need further assistance with obtaining recovery disks from the manufacturer or completion of services.  Just click on my name and under my profile page select “Send this user a message” from the right column.  Let me know how I can be helpful.

[tmhnashville]

Absolutely Untrue.

How does he remember the whole 4 minute conversation that we had over a month ago? He’s had to have talked to 100 or more customers since I’ve been there. The employee “agent” barely spoke and kept looking past me at the line that was forming behind me. I asked him very specifically, “will it be exactly like it was at purchase” and was told that I may lose some media files like music, videos and pictures but everything else will be exactly as it was. There was no misinterpretation, I was given the wrong information. My computer and programs are very important to me and if I was told that they would be “wiped clean” then I would not have leave my laptop. That phrase was never said. I think that Geek Squad stays in business by taking advantage of people who don’t know much about the interworking and repairs of computers.

After all of this headache and reading the horror stories of all of these other customers, do you really expect me to take my system back to Geek Squad? And spend MORE MONEY? That is unacceptable and never going to happen.

I at least expected this company to take an extra step to help an unsatisfied customer.

[Matthew-GS Community Advocate]

Hi tmhnashville,

I really do want to help you, but I need more specific guidance.  Maybe I am unclear as to which software titles you need help reinstalling?  Please reply with specific titles (here or in a private message). If these software titles, such as a possible codecs/player, were included on the "Applications & Drivers" disk provided with your laptop, then we agree there should be no charge to install those manufacturer-included software titles. Your local Geek Squad® Agents are well aware of the need to complete services and are poised and ready to help you once you provide them with the necessary disks.  If for some odd reason you experience conflict I will be happy to mediate.

As mentioned earlier, I will also take an extra step by guiding you in ordering a new set of recovery disks after notification you are unable to locate the originals.  However, ultimately, your software issue can only be resolve by returning to the store with your computer and all your recovery disks.  I do not want to leave you hanging - through partnership we can resolve this situation. 

The more information you can provide regarding missing software titles, the faster I can assist you with a resolution.  I look forward to your reply, tmhnashville!

[tmhnashville]

I appreciate you working to try to help me but if your only solution is for me to go back to Geek Squad for another repair, then I am going to have to decline your offer and just walk away a unsatisfied customer. I’d rather pay another company to fix/install what your company “wiped clean”. You are more than welcome to help contribute financially for those repairs, if not… Thanks, but No Thanks.