Best Buy Geek Squad Soaks Your Computer, Blames You

Still think using Geek Squad to repair your computer isn't such a bad idea? That's what reader Nicole thought when she took her laptop in for a warranty covered repair. The laptop was sent off to a service center, "repaired", then sent back. She immediately noticed it had the same exact problem and sent it back 48 hours later.

[decapitator]

Sucks for her, its sometimes best to go to the store across the street to get your computer fix than these big corporations I guess.

[Tempist]

Not when you have a warranty with them. That's the point of a warranty, to ensure such mishaps are dealt with smoothly and swiftly.

Clearly the tech guys or the shippers were not taking the best precautions and in doing so have allowed damage to happen. That then moves from a warranty issue to an insurance issue on top of it.

[JsonHenry]

The Geek Squad told my father that the reason his hard-drive took a dive was because he was using an outdated OS (WinXP) and his graphic settings were too high for the SATA 3.0 HDD he had. So he sold him Vista Home Basic and a SATA 1.5 HDD...

Then I ridiculed my father for not calling me first (I did build his PC after all) and then called Best Buy and talked to the Manager who said that he agreed it was incompetent and misleading advice. Then said they are trained professionals (though NONE of them are even A+ certified) and to come in for a $25 gift certificate... I hung up on him and advised my father NEVER to buy anything from Best Buy again.

[Mikey_Gee]

That little chunk of advise is probably the best advice your dad will ever get in regards to BB.

BB and FS are lower on my list than Walmart .... kind of sad really.

[GCO Gamer]

that why people go and get macs.

[spandexxking]

then realise they suck then go back to windows! there you go fixed:P sorry its just i bought a mac, thought it was crap then got another pc. why do people say they are user friendly? i didnt have a clue wtf was going on!

[decapitator]

You thought it was crap? How ? What issues were you having with it ?

[BeaArthur]

spandexxking...I guess they are crap if you know absolutely nothing about computers. They are not as user friendly as a PC but they are much better and more importantly more durable.

[spandexxking]

i dunno really, things like finding programs or file types that work plus its things like the single click and just other ways macs work which i cant get to grips with.
btw bearthur dont say things like "I guess they are crap if you know absolutely nothing about computers" i would say i would know a bit more than your average user but still cant use a mac! so there goes your logic already!

[decapitator]

Well it is a new OS and if you are someone who have never used and OSX before, the learning curve is steep but once you go through the conversion process, you might never go back to PC.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

The crappy thing about Mac's are you have to pay to get an update for Mac OSX that you NEED to run some newer software. WTF!!!

Apple first rip you off on expensive hardware, then they rip you off again on software and the best thing about it. The consumer feels good about the whole ordeal! Go figure....

[Lionsguard]

I'm an 11 year PC user and just got a mac, sure it was a bit difficult at first because it's a new OS but it didnt take long to learn it. Setting it up was easier than any Windows OS since it pretty much did everything by itself including setting up the wireless without me ripping my hair out like on Windows. Searching for programs was a pain until I found out about the spotlight search which then makes it x1000 easier oh and the single click is actually great if you want to right click just put two fingers on the trackpad and click. I went back and used my friend's laptop after having my mac for awhile and it was just frustrating having to maneuver my finger to hit the left button.

[DJ]

If you're mad about paying a little more for a much better experience, go get an E-machine.

[trinisouljah]

You can right click on a mac just hold the control key and click

[Silellak]

Best Buy is just not winning any customer loyalty these days.

First the story about how they called the cops on a customer, now this.

My recent experience buying a TV at Circuit City, combined with looking for TV's at Best Buy and stories like this have, against all odds, made me a Circuit City fan. I never saw that coming.

Circuit City actually let me bring my 360 into the store and hook it up to the TV I was interested in. How awesome is that?

[The_Firestarter]

How kind of them! Really, that's cool how they let you hook up your 360 to test it out.

[mintaro]

dude that is sweet.

we dont have circuit city's up here, only the source =p

[machete squad steve]

Boycott Best Buy!
There is never a time when you should resort to buying anything from these donkeys. You can always find a better deal with better service, remember Best buy loves your money, but hates the meat sacs carrying it.

[gamesR4fun]

Fact is most pc guys can get away with murder tho cause common ppl are so incredibly stupid. Some peeps will pay them 300 bucks just to adjust their hd tv for 'optimal' output lol. Others pay hundreds for virus removal.Its not that they dont have google either its just that their too dumb to use it.

[Sarick]

There is a solution for the techical support woes. If you know someone like this tell them to ask their kids for help.

Youtube has an excellent video that shows this.

I've seen a cool site with some crazy $61+. Roflao

http://www.thecomcastguy.bl...

funny as heck.

[Jim Crowslaw]

being a former employee of BBY and now a current employee at Circuit City i must say, Best Buy'll prolly giv u betta customer service up until money is brought into the picture. While CC prices are generally betta. Also Circuit City product stock sucks as they neva have anything. My store didnt get DMC4 until March. March ppl, smh. At the end of the day it boils down to ur own prefernce

[LinuxGuru]

Geek Squad is nothing more than a bunch of dumb nerds in white dress shirts who think they know a thing or two about computers.

These dumbf*cks couldn't even agree on the maximum detectable RAM by Windows XP 32-bit when I quizzed them on it.

And THEN, they tried to argue with me and tell me that a certain video card was on display, when it was RIGHT BEHIND THEM ON THEIR COUNTER.

They're like..."no, sir, that video card is on display on the floor, one row behind you."

And I'm like, "No it's not."

And they're like, "Yes it is"

And I'm like, "No.......it ISN'T THERE. GIVE ME THAT ONE BEHIND YOU. You know....the one that should be on display."

Dumbshits.

[LinuxGuru]

And the next time I went in, there was a lady I had seen there before, getting her laptop "repaired" by the Geek Squad.

The Geek Squad employee exclaimed, to the returning lady, "It's STILL not working?!?!?!?", with an incredulous look of total befuddlement on his face all the while.

[Jim Crowslaw]

"....we dont all watch Fraiser u jerk." lol

[Tyrael]

775 for the repair? I'll buy a new computer thanks...

[Skerj]

God I guess people who can fix their own PCs and myself really are gifted. I usually end up fixing everyone's box I know for free except my friends who know how to do it themselves.

[ReBurn]

There's no way she could have spilled something on it in two days, is there?

I had a good experience with Geek Squad. My laptop was under warranty when the hdd started flaking out. It left with a 60gb drive and came back with a 120gb drive. My only complaint is that I didn't get the old drive back, but oh well.

[SEG]

Nicole, I had problems with Toshiba after buying a laptop from them and I complained to the better business bureau. About 2 days later they returned all of the money to me and were oh so nice. You might wanna try to do that. Go to www.bbbonline.org and file a complaint. It might get you your money back but if not at least you know you tried. I have also complained about other things at other stores and you would be surprised how nice the people are to you after the BBB speaks with them. good luck

[Rocko]

and they'll cut the sh*t real quick and sort it out. I threatened Comcast with a call to the BBB when they tried f**king me over.

[sleepbox]

People that work at Best Buy Geek Squad or pretty much most people in the IT industry lie and cheet to move their way into their jobs. Most programmers use sample code and tutorials.