Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert]

Back your data up on an external hard drive and restore your computer to factory settings.  This will ensure that any software issue that may be on the comptuer is taken care of.  If the comptuer continues to do the exact same thing after the restore, bring the comptuer to Geek Squad and ask them to send the comptuer to the service center.  

Explain what happened to the Geek Squad Agent and explain that you did a full restore to make sure it wasn't software related.  Make sure the computer is doing the same thing it is doing for you when you bring it in and show them to let them see it so they can Verify what it is doing.  At this point, if the Agent doesn't think it needs to be sent off even after it's been fully restored and doing the same thing, ask to speak with the supervisor of Geek Squad or a store manager.  Have them document exactly what it was doing that they could see, and what steps you have done (Full Restore to factory settings with restore discs) and make sure that it is on the Service Order tag so the Technicians at Service know what was done previously.

At this point, you should know for sure that there is a hardware problem vs. software problems which aren't covered by Factory Warranty or Black Tie, and they should send it to Service.  The Service Center has better diagnostic tools at their disposal than what the stores have.  There just isn't enough room at the stores for all of the diagnostic tools that the Service Centers have.

[wk]

I do have my information backed up on an external hard drive. I'm sorry I misspoke before. The 2nd or 3rd time I brought it in they asked for my recovery disks, which I gave them up to Geek Squad to restore. The 4th I brought it in I did call over a manager/Geek Squad Supervisor and he did speak to me about the issues but he did nothing to try to correct them. He asked me if I wanted to buy a service that would "seek and destroy the problem"..For an extra $250. I understand that the Black Tie warranty does not cover software. All I want is for Best Buy to A) back the products that they sell and B) provide the customer with some sort of relief for the faulty product that the customer buys. It offends me that they continue to try to sell me plans and services to fix the issue that were avoidable in the beginning if handled correctly. Most of the Geek Squad technicians that I talked to told me exactly what I already knew and the information that I told the before I brought in the laptop. It was like an echo. 

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert]

What I would suggest now is that you hang tight for a few days and a Community Connector should be on to look further into this for you.  Their typical response time is 3-5 business days and they work at the Corporate office so they can see what is going on.  I do not know what this $250 service is that the Supervisor is speaking of, but the Community Connector can get to the bottom of it.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Good afternoon wk -

Sarah, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern.  Thank you!

[Sarah-BBY Retired: Community Connector]

Hi wk,

Thank you for sharing this with us and I am very sorry for any disappointment over your laptop’s performance and previous repairs.  Unfortunately, I was unable to look into your repair paperwork before responding, but if your computer is running slow or sluggishly and our Geek Squad® agents have given you a repair quote (even though you have one of our GSBTPs on the unit) it would be my assumption that the unit needs virus removal type services which is not covered under your GSBTP plan per terms and conditions (http://bbyurl.us/GSBTP). 

However, if you believe the issues with your unit are not virus/software related and due to hardware failure from manufacturer defects and normal wear and tear, please send me a private message with your name, phone number and your GSBTP number and I would be happy to look into the matter further to see how I can try to help.

Thanks again and have a great weekend,

[wk]

I had problems with my Dell laptop since I bought the product in late January of this year from BB. I was getting colorful pixels on my screen when I brought it out of sleep or hibernation. I brought in the model 4 times only for them to say nothing was wrong with it each and every time. I even showed them the problem after they "fixed" it and they said there was nothing wrong with it, they said it was software and my warranty wasn't covered for software. After spending countless hours going into BB and talking to them about it and going nowhere with it, I decided to call Dell customer service and they sent out a technician to fix the problem no questions asked. If you have a problem with your laptop you are better off going through the computer's manufacturer than through BB. I posted in a different thread about it and someone from the BB Community said she would be contacting me shortly, more idle promises..And that was last week Friday. Great customer service BB yea right.... I would recommend not going through BB with any of your concerns, unless you want the run-around. They are always eager to sell products, but not willing to back the products that they sell. The Dell technician said it was an easy fix with a hardware issue. 

Wk