Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Dear neoprimal,

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.

[neoprimal]

Thanks.

HP also contacted me about the matter and are investigating as well.

[Aaron-GS Community Connector]

Hey neoprimal,

I can certainly imagine why you would be concerned, but please understand that Best Buy® does acknowledge that errors may occasionally exist on our website and that we reserve the right to correct them. This warning - along with other important information regarding the site – is mentioned in BestBuy.com’s Terms & Conditions of Use FAQ. Product specifications as listed on our website are posted exactly as they are provided to us from the individual manufacturer.

Please also keep in mind that this particular Compaq laptop would only have been offered with a 32-bit version of Windows Vista. A 64-bit version of Windows Vista is required to fully support 4GB of RAM and over (in addition to 64-bit compatible hardware), so the upgrade you were seeking to perform may not have been possible. Microsoft even points out in this article that while you may attempt to use 4GB of RAM with a 32-bit operating system, the maximum amount that is actually supported will depend entirely upon the computer’s hardware configuration.

It’s unfortunate if this system does not meet your expectations, but remember that Best Buy® is only able to accept returns and exchanges of laptop computers within 14 days of purchase. As this computer was purchased in February of 2008, our options are regretfully limited.

As an alternative, you may wish to consider taking advantage of the “ReadyBoost” feature within Windows Vista. ReadyBoost allows users to use solid state media (USB flash drives and secure digital cards) as an additional memory cache, often significantly improving system performance. For more information on ReadyBoost, please refer to the following website:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/readyboost.aspx

Please keep an eye on your private messages (the letter icon at the top right of the page), as I would like to provide you a resolution to this issue.

Agent Aaron
Geek Squad® Community Connector
Go Ahead. Use Us.

[neoprimal]

Hello Aaron,

Thanks for the response first of all.

I'm not entirely sure you read my post....but I'll summarize for you.

I purchased the laptop with upgrading it in mind. Generally when the in-store and website tells you certain specs, that is what the specs are (GENERALLY). I didn't expect this to be a different case, so I expected the laptop to be upgradeable.

I'd never intended to keep the laptop running long term on 2GB of memory. My intention when I purchased and WHY I purchased it, was to eventually upgrade. And that's where this ugly mess stems from. Considering the fact that I had choices at the time, I picked the laptop because it was presented as expandable. Had this not been the case, I would have chosen one of several other laptops available to me at the time. So for instance, if it had said in the information, Supported memory maximum is 2GB - I would not have purchased the laptop by any means. I'd have gotten something else.

I know Best Buy policies inside and out. But I feel that this is in huge part, a big, big mistake made on Best Buys behalf. Mistakes are mistakes, but it's unethical to sell a product and lie about it's specifications. A mistake is selling a black laptop as a red one. Or selling a digital frame with a virus on it. Or selling a computer with a missing part.

But this is presenting information online and in-store that is false. I can understand in-store only, or online only - but in BOTH places. And I don't know if it was on purpose to sell them fast or really an accident or mistake. But I don't feel that it is my reckoning as a customer who paid in full for the product, to suffer because of it. It's just not right.

And in response to readyboost. Thanks for the information, but I do know about readyboost. And it's simply no substitute for RAM. Ready boost is just that, a boost...it's simply an extention to SuperFetch which is a part of Vistas attempt to get programs going faster. It doesn't even perform like RAM. It's simply taking the pressure off of virtual memory stored in a paging file on the hard drive.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/30878/137/1/2/

Thanks again.

The only resolution I seek, is switching this laptop to something that allows me to use 4GB of RAM. Some kind of in-store exchange or credit would be great. I don't care if the laptop is a store display model or refurbished/recertified as long as it works and has similar specs to the A916NR (that is, 17inch screen, DVD burner, webcam, T2330 or very close, X3100 Intel graphics or very close and 160gb Hard Drive) and the ability to run on 4GB of RAM, I'll be happy.

Sincerely,

Neoprimal.

[HauntedWebby]

A few clicks in googles and this pops up ....

Product Name A916NR

Product Number KC371UA#ABA

Microprocessor 1.60 GHz Pentium Dual-Core Mobile Processor T2330

Microprocessor Cache 1 MB L2 Cache

Memory 2048 MB (2 x 1024 MB)

Memory Max Up to 2GB DDR2

Video Graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100

Video Memory Up to 358 MB

Hard Drive 160 GB (5400 rpm)

Multimedia Drive Super Multi 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support

Display 17.0" WXGA+ High-Definition BrightView Widescreen Display (1440 x 900)

Fax/Modem High speed 56K modem

Network Card Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN

Wireless Connectivity 802.11 b/g WLAN

Sound Altec Lansing speakers

Keyboard Full size keyboard with integrated numeric keypad

Pointing Device Touch Pad with dedicated vertical and horizontal Scroll Up/Down pad

External Ports

• 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards
• 3 Universal Serial Bus USB 2.0
• 1 VGA (15-pin)
• 1 RJ-11 (modem)
• 1 TV-Out (S-video)
• 1 RJ -45 (LAN)
• 1 headphone-out
• 1 microphone-in

Dimensions 15.6"(L) x 12.22" (W) 1.31"(min) /1.76"(max) (H)

Weight 6.8lbs

Security

• Kensington MicroSaver lock slot
• Power-on password
• Accepts 3rd party security lock devices

Power

• 65 W AC Adapter
• 6-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion)

What's In The Box Webcam with Integrated Microphone

I research my purchases. Sometimes tags and people get mixed up. I've seen them access google at best buy as if they will look specs up for you.

[neoprimal]

That's exactly what I should have done, I totally admit that. I even mentioned it before. And now that's exactly what I do. There's an even easier way, believe it or not. If I had just loaded the hp system information utility and checked - i'd have seen this information there. It was at my fingertips.

In fact, I just recently purchased a laptop for my wife and that's exactly what I did. After she decided on what she wanted, I looked it up on the product website and after I bought it at the store I even checked everything out and made sure that the specs were right, including the insides and what upgrades could be done. Once bitten, twice shy.

But since I was excited about MY purchase at the time, I did everything BUT check for that - because you don't really think firsthand that the information on the web AND in the store are false. Esepcially a detail like that. I mean, seeing the information below - how the heck did BB get that wrong as a business/seller? And so, that doesn't prevent the fact that it happened.

I could easily see it happening for the in-store ticket or the website individually - but both? That's a bit much. Had there been any noticeable difference between the specs presented on the BB website and what was in the BB store I'd have definitely verified the specification elsewhere.