Other Customer Service Support

[katievic]

Has anyone else had to return 6 computers in 6 months? Finally went back to Best Buy to replace the evil Dell in December 2021.  had to return two Lenovo's due to fingerprint reader issues and a Surface Studio because of screen distortions and the replacement Surface I got yesterday is acting temperamental (screen that goes distorted for a few seconds then back to normal, an issue with the microphone that sorted itself out on reboot). I'm going to take it in but has anyone else had to replace a computer in the last year or so? Is it me? Is it Best Buy? If I return 10 computers to them, do I get the 11th free? I'm not sure if a Mac would solve this problem as when I went to pick up one of the computers from repair, I saw many Macs on their shelves for repair...  Any insights on this would be helpful.

[Kayla-BBY Social Media Specialist]

Hello, katievic,

Thanks for sharing your experience with us here on the Best Buy forum. I totally hear that returning or exchanging that number of computers in such a short time period would lead to frustration. I imagine I would be quite perturbed (to say the very least), if that happened to me. Personally, I have not noticed an excessive failure rate of tech items I’ve been purchasing the last few years. With that said, I haven’t had to purchase a laptop for a while. I can say that if your computers are used very heavily or outside the recommended guidelines from the manufacturers, that could impact their lifespan. However, as it sounds like you’re simply buying these products for personal use and not for commercial use, it seems unlikely that regular use could be triggering pre-mature breaking or issues.

For now, if you’re looking for some peace of mind for after your next purchase, I would recommend investment in Geek Squad Protection (GSP). GSP runs concurrent with a product’s manufacturer warranty, but it can cover some important repairs that a manufacturer warranty may not. Learn more about GSP on our website here. Otherwise, if you do decide that a Mac would work better for your needs, you could also invest in AppleCare+ which extends service coverage and support for Apple products. Learn more about AppleCare+ here.

I hope this helps! If there is anything specific that I can assist with from here going forward, please do let me know.

Thanks,

[katievic]

Hi Kayla,

Thank you so much for your reply.  The issues that I have had with the last four computers at least have been right out of the box so I doubt the issues are related to how I am using the computers.  For example, the fingerprint reader on the two Lenovos was not working when I set them up... i.e. they had been out of the box a total of about an hour.  For the Surface laptops, the first one I got worked wonderfully for about 5 or 6 days, then the screen distortion issue showed up.  I took it in and replaced it and the second Surface that I'm working on now starting having issues the day after I took it out of the box to set it up.

After buying a Dell laptop from Best Buy that was a little glitchy from the beginning and then ended up with a non-functioning microphone 2 or 3 months after purchase (just enough time that I couldn't take it in to Best Buy for replacement).  As I chose not to purchase additional coverage for this computer, I had to deal with Dell customer service hell for about five months so I decided to just give up and get a different laptop.  Based on that experience, I purchased the Geek Squad membership as well as a 1 year damages coverage.  What I would like, is to have a computer that does not start having issues within hours of taking it out of the box.  Is this possible?

[Kayla-BBY Social Media Specialist]

Hi, katievic,

I do know that it's very possible to purchase laptops without issues right out of the box or within a short time period. It's my understanding that expectation is met for the majority of purchases. I totally understand how that would seem impossible due to your recent string of purchases, though. 

I can't predict the future, so I don't know if your next purchase will have problems. However, if that were to happen, I would encourage you to continue working with your local store as soon as you identify an issue. Beyond that, if you'd like, I can record feedback about the individual purchases here at the corporate level. To ensure I have all the right information for that feedback, I'll need you to send a private message with your full name, phone number, and email address. If you have the order numbers (if purchased online) or customer service PINs (if purchased in store) available from the purchases that would also be appreciated. 

Thanks,

[katievic]

Hello again,

I am happy to provide you with the customer service PINs.  What I was hoping for as well was perhaps responses from other Best Buy customers to see if they are having similar issues.  Is this not the forum for that?

[nckhammond]

The fingerprint readers are generally now tied to the tpm chip that windows 11 requires. Generally resetting this chip from the bios solves the finger print issues , also often makes you reset your pin number

Microphone issues are part of the webcam on laptops, usually ether a driver or bad cable(it runs thru the hinge on laptops, open and closing often damages cables)

Surfaces are expensive disposable garbage... Even under warranty they tend to be replaced rather then repaired

[Kayla-BBY Social Media Specialist]

Hi, katievic,

Other forum users (like @nckhammond) can certainly add insights regarding products or recommendations. I only ask for your purchase information if you're wanting the feedback to be recorded here at corporate. If you're not comfortable with that, it's totally okay. Besides forum user conversation contributions, another way to gain insight into other purchaser's experiences is through Best Buy Reviews. You can read other user's reviews of specific products and contribute your own insights on our main website. Learn more about Best Buy Reviews on our website here. 

Best,

[katievic]

Hi again,

Tried sending a private message but was unable to because I got a message that I had exceeded the number of private messages that I could send despite having sent none.

[Kayla-BBY Social Media Specialist]

Hi, katievic,

Thanks for letting me know the error message you were seeing when trying to send a private message. What you describe sounds like a known issue that you can learn more about resolving here. With that said, I am glad to report that I’m already seeing a private message from you, so it sounds like you had this figured out on your own already. I’ll respond to your private message shortly.

Thanks,