Best Buy Repair Support

[bikeman868]

I purchased a laptop from Best Buy and paid an extra $200 for 3-years waranty.

One of the hinges between the screen and the keyboard popped open whilst the laptop was sitting on a desk. It is about 15 month old.

I took it to best buy and was told that in order to repair the hinge the OS would need to be factory reset, and this would wipe out all of the data and settings on the computer, but I could pay $100 to have the laptop backed up first, and all the data restored.

What this basically means, is that after purchasing a waranty, if anything goes wrong with your computer and you need to get it fixed, there is a $100 charge.

Personally I consider this to be a scam. I feel cheated because the $200 I paid was supposed to ensure that I would not incur any additional cost for the next 3 years, but in fact you have to pay $100 for each repair and this is not at all clear when the waranty is sold to you.

This laptop spent its life sitting on a desk. There was no accidental damage, the hinge came open because it wasn't made very well, and putting a few screws back should not require a reinstall of the OS, but I was told that they do that to make sure everything is working properly when the computer is returned to you.

I will never purchase anything from Best Buy again. The might have squeezed a couple of hundred extra bucks out of me on this deal, but they lost my business for the rest of my life. I work in IT and have purchased many electronic devices (and even my refrigerator) from Best Buy, but this is the first time I needed to make a warranty claim. I expect to buy many electronic devides in the future, but not from Best Buy.

[jdogg836]

The data backup you were offered is a software service, and is not covered under your Geek Squad Protection as that plan is hardware.

Data backups are not mandatory, you can waive the service of backing up if you want.  You can also perform your own data backup, at home, free of charge.  

[Allison-BBY Social Media Specialist]

Hi, bikeman868, and welcome to our online community!

Thank you for posting on our forum. It's always a great choice purchase extended warranty on a device as important as a laptop. I hate to hear about the additional charge you were presented when looking to have the hinge on this unit repaired, as I know that'd likely catch me by surprise too.

As jdogg836 offered great insight into this fee and what's included in a Geek Squad Protection plan, I'm happy to provide any additional support you may still need. Please feel free to send me a private message including your full name, email, and phone number to start. You can find the blue option to message me to the right of my name below.

All the best,

[bikeman868]

Whilst we are putting a couple of screws into the hinge on you laptop, we are going to wipe out all of the data to ensure that it is working properly afterwards, so you will lose everything on it unless you pay $100. Seriously!!

I understand why you feel that you have to defend your employer, but this is totally indefensible and possibly illegal.

[Ohoglund]

I hope they weren't insisting that you had to have a "reinstall" of the OS for repairing a hinge on a laptop.

That would be a total lie. The OS resides on a hard drive or SSD. It has nothing to do with the screen or a hinge.

It would be a scam to say it's a "must' in order to get the repair and I would escalate that. So Best Buy should have a talk with their repair/technicians and their wording. There is no "must" in this case at all.

If the whole laptop would get busted because of a botched attempt at repairing a hinge, the OS and the data still remains of said SSD or Mechanical HDD. It can be removed and restored from that. A whole new laptop should then be replaced.

[bikeman868]

It was a case of, we will factory reset the OS to ensure that the computer doesn't have any other problems when we return it to you, so unless you pay $100 you will lose all data and settings on the laptop.

Some people might fall for this, but I am a computer engineer with a degree in Electronics, so I know only too well that this is a scam.

Is threatening to wipe out all my data unless I pay $100 technically blackmail?

[nckhammond]

If they end up condemning the machine due to one of the following and giving you credit they will not send the laptop back.

1. Parts are nearly impossible to get due to covid

2. As a computer engineer you would realize that a hinge issue on a modern laptop isn't normally a couple screws and may require ether replacement of the case or screen assembly due to how the hinge mounts. If the repair exceeds a certain dollar amount or they can't get the parts they give you store credit and keep the broken laptop at Thier disgression.

In which case it's helpfull to have a backup if your data

[bobberuchi]

The simple answer would be to back up your documents and data to a jump drive.

I am not an employee of Best Buy. All opinions and comments are my own.

[bikeman868]

The part that I object to is that they wipe out the computer on every repair, even when it's completely unnecessary. I believe that they do this just so that they can charge customers $100 for each waranty repair.

Here are two alternatives that would be acceptable to me:

1. Try to repair the laptop, if it is unrepairable, or needs to be reinstalled to fix the issue, then ask me at that time if I want a backup of my data for $100.

2. If they intend to wipe every computer on every repair whether it needs it or not, then backing up the data is clearly part of the cost of the repair, and should be factored into the cost of the warranty.

[nckhammond]

It also depends if a computer is still under factory warranty. They then have to follow the factory rules or often send it straight to them. For example HP's factory warranty will return the item to you in factory condition. Meaning if you added somthing it would be removed, you won't get it back, and it would be factory reset.