Just want to note that the lying extends well beyond the associates to the managers and everyone else at Best Buy. You might like to believe that this is a case of a few bad apples spoiling the reputation of an otherwise honest and above board company, but I most certainly heartily disagree.
I purchased a laptop in 5/1/2010 because my husband got a Fulbright to teach in Japan for a year. I followed the associates' advice on everything: I purchased the $750 ASUS laptop rather than the $500 Gateway I was prepared to purchase. I opted for Kaspersky over the free Webroot virus protection. I paid extra for the 2 year Black Tie Protection (assured that even in Japan I would be able to have the computer repaired in the unlikely event it needed it).
Before the end of May the computer had issues. It was so slow using a Wi-Fi internet connection that the Kaspersky updates could not load. Best Buy told me that I had a poor connection and that once I had a stronger Wi-Fi signal everything would be okay. So, I did not use the computer at all from the end of May until mid-July when we hit the road for Japan. Unfortunately, the computer still would not work with Wi-Fi even using hotel connections. I called the Geek Squad which now had a new explanation. Something was wrong with the clock and time zone and that was preventing the Wi-Fi from functioning properly. The agent remotely accessed my computer and fooled around for about 3 hours while I sat in a hotel room and my husband and kids slept. She impressed upon me that every time I changed time zones I needed to update the clock and enter a new Kaspersky key. The first time I followed her instructions the entire computer shut down and when it came back up, I could not even receive Wi-Fi signals with the computer much less connect to the internet that way.
So, two days into our trip to Japan we took the $750 almost new computer to the Best Buy in Conway, Arkansas. With our lizard and my two sons out in the car the Geek Squad there worked over the computer for nearly two hours, concluding that the problem was a defective Wi-Fi card and that the computer would have to be shipped off for repair under the warranty. A month later I went to pick up the "repaired" computer at Best Buy in Honolulu, Hawaii. The almost new computer looked as it it had been through a war zone. The stabilizers on the bottom (the little rubber things that keep the computer from wobbling as you type) were missing, there were Best Buy stickers all over the top cover of the laptop, and the laptop cover was scratched in several places. And, more importantly, the computer still would not connect to the internet. In the month Best Buy had the computer they did nothing to repair it!
The Honolulu store manager refused to replace the computer despite the damage it had sustained because--"It wasn't in my store's possession; you'll have to take that up with Best Buy corporate." He also would not guarantee that the computer could be repaired before we left Honolulu for Japan. And, he said he could not ship the laptop to Japan. Great service, huh? In the end, the Honolulu store erased every bit of software off the computer and reloaded only part of it ( I had unfortunately been unable to do a back up as I was focusing on the numerous other issues the computer had) and then I could connect to the internet. The manager further promised to ship replacement stabilizers to Japan. It's been two months; I'm still waiting.
So, we got to Japan and discovered that while I could now connect to the internet via Wi-Fi, the computer was unusable. Somewhere in all the banging around the computer sustatined while in Best Buy's possession the fan on the computer quit working. So, if on for more than a little while the computer heats up dangerously. I called Best Buy which advised me that since I foolishly left the country BTP is no good. I can ship the computer to a relative in the states who can take it to their Best Buy, I can pay to have the computer repaired here and hope to be reimbursed by Best Buy (but the receipt needs to be in English and dollars and I have to mail it to a relative in the US to submit to Best Buy--ever try to get a receipt in English and dollars in a country where Japanese is the language and yen is the currency?), or I can try to work things out with ASUS since the computer is still under the manufacturer warranty.
Let me say, as a college instructor teaching onlines for this year, this has proved more than just inconvenient. Had my 13 year old's Gateway not been here, I would have lost my job because I would not have been able to access the internet or do any work at all.
But, the experience has been instructive. Everyone at Best Buy--sales clerks, Geek Squad employees, and managers lie. The corporation is too big to care at all how many customers are dissatisfied and thus provide no meaningful customer service. Despite having bought numerous things at Best Buy through the years, I will never purchase another product from Best Buy again. And, I will tell everyone I meet about my experience with Best Buy.
Want to know more about how awful Best Buy is? I am so disgusted with them that I am happy to put my name on this--Melinda P{removed per forum guidelines}
Dorothy-BBY
Private Message
