Best Buy — Attraction in Rockford Township

I used to like Best Buy in the 90s, now they’re complete garbage. More specifically, their Geek Squad.

I took my ASUS ROG Zephyrus laptop in to the Geek Squad for a BIOS issue where I accidentally wiped the SSD drive by changing the boot path using Command Prompt. Yeah dumb move, but the Geek Squad assured me it was an easy fix. They attempted to retrieve my data and could not so I told them to make it so it boots Windows again. After picking up my laptop I get home just to find out that the screws are half way in, one is missing, and there’s an obvious crack in the corner of the back panel. I take it back and tell them this is unacceptable, I want my laptop in new condition like it was when I brought it in to them. They send it out to their warehouse to get it fixed. I was just let go from my job and I needed something to look for work and file unemployment, remember this was supposed to be a quick fix! They said I could pay for a laptop as a loaner since they don’t offer loaners in times when they damage your property and then refund my money when my laptop comes back in. I go to pick up my laptop just to find out they didn’t fix the crack in the back panel at all, but instead fixed the LCD screen because it had a crack?! And said the crack in the back panel was cosmetic and would not be fixed!!! Are you kidding me, it was the whole reason it was sent in to begin with and what’s with the cracked LCD screen?!? How did that happen?! Very upset, I demanded they do something I need my laptop for work as well since I do do web/software developing, I also play games on it. They offer to give me a new laptop comparable to what I had, I asked before I left, “Does it have the same specs?” They responded, “Yes.”. And I trusted them once again. I get home to find out it does not have the same specs. Three main selling points that were missing in the new laptop that made me purchase my original laptop from them to begin with were: 4k IPS screen, Adobe color palette, pantone colors; 1TB SSD, and the processor was 1/10 faster than the new one. Everything else was fine and they sold the new one to me like I was getting an upgrade since it had all new hardware and a better graphic card. YAY! Best Buy went above and beyond, but they lied about the specs I cared most about otherwise I would have never made my purchase to begin with. So I go back and tell them the specs don’t match up and I’m pissed that it wasn’t mentioned before I left with the new laptop. They give me two options take a $1,000 in-store credit or take the one they gave me. With the in-store credit to get the specs I had, I would have to spend $600 more out of pocket for something that was their fault! Originally, I did forget that I purchased my laptop from them, it was discounted at $1300 from retail $1600. It seems after that information came to light they were less likely to work with me. Overall, this wasn’t my fault, your dishonest, integrity lacking Geek Squad broke my laptop, I shouldn’t have to pay anything to get back what I had! If that means the store takes a hit because of it then so be it, don’t make me pay to make it right! I’ve been back and forth with corporate and a supervisor, still waiting a week and half later to see IF they make it right or not. At this point I have given up and don’t have any confidence or trust in them do anything right. In hindsight, I wonder if they sold me a refurb which is why it was discounted which could possibly explain the cracked LCD I didn’t know about, but it wasn’t noticeable. So I think the Geek Squad not only cracked the back panel, but also somehow cracked the LCD screen. Worst experience in my life with a retail company.

Forgot to mention, I was told by corporate that they were fixing my original laptop after I had complained about the new they gave me. Turns out my old laptop was picked up by someone and they didn’t know who?!?! Are you kidding me!!! This is what the supervisor at corporate told me,...

Be careful when shopping here as an existing Best Buy credit card holder.

The last payment my wife made on her account was back in October (4 months ago at the time of writing this). When we were trying to purchase an appliance, we were gravitated towards their financing options. When it came to the register, the rep explained that her card could be inactive. This didn't make sense. She's had this account for the past 11 years and never ran into this problem. The rep not only made her apply for another account because she moved to a different billing address, but also their system couldn't identify her card as active (later we learned this was an excuse merely to cover up their mistake). Once the transaction was done the store met their quota of another credit app and it was totally out of their hands, and we had to deal with either their customer service or Citi bank if we had any problems.

We called their customer service the following hour to ask for a balance transfer to her existing account and to cancel the new account that was created by the store. We talked to several Best Buy "customer service" reps, and were transferred to different hierarchy's, a handful of times the calls were dropped, and after talking to them for over 3 hours we learned that their capacity was to only change the billing address, something the store can also do. The transferring and call drops are in place by design to hopefully discourage us from cancelling the new credit card. Both the store and their customer service center have explained that every time you move to a different address you have to apply for a new credit card. That's ridiculous.

Since Best Buy was incapable of simple requests, we called Citi bank to help resolve this issue. The first rep was able to understand our request and resolve the issue within 20 minutes. Wow, incredible performance from them. She even reversed the inquiry on my wife's credit, and asked us if there was anything else she could do?

After Citi was able to successfully close the account, the transaction was sort of in limbo and we needed to have that amount transferred to our existing account. We went back to Best Buy the next day to have that done, and they even had complications on transferring that. The girl tried tacking on 5 years of Geek Squad when initially we signed up for 3 years, trying to add more to our expense. Eventually, the store manager was able to step up and help resolve our issue finally and used the same excuse as the sales rep we originally purchased from - their system cannot recognize her card.

I ask the Best Buy store this: Why have this system in place if it doesn't work? She's had the account for 11 years. Maybe inquire training from Corporate on how to navigate through this challenge. Why wouldn't you simply pull up her account and see that the card is active in the first place? Why lie to our faces and blame it on the system instead of owning up to your mistakes? What's to be gained from this? The credit app was only to get cancelled anyway and to put us through your customer service hell, for what? Is this what we should expect of you in the future when making purchases $599 and up?

I expect an improvement of customer service from this company, and treating returning customers with respect, especially ones that already have an account with them. Not to mention, rarely any of your reps will come to ask if we need help with anything? I can understand if you're in the middle of something but for the ones roaming/standing around avoiding eye contact, the least you can do is spark conversation, saying hello doesn't hurt.

I have to add this note to prospecting customers: be wary of their sales tactics for the sake of meeting their monthly quotas. Do not fall prey to anything that doesn't suit to your...

This review is for Best Buy online, not this store specifically. I'm technologically competent and my friend asked for recommendations for what budget laptop to purchase. I found what I thought was a good item for a good price and recommended that item to her.

It turned out that she waited a few days to purchase the item from when I recommended it and in the meantime, Best Buy raised the price by $130 (from $269 to $399) and she didn't realize it upon ordering. I don't know about you, but that seems like an extremely excessive price increase and although it's definitely legal, a 48% price increase in a few days is definitely not customer-friendly and could be considered borderline unethical.

Best Buy also promised her that the item would be delivered today (when she knew she would be home). However, the item was delayed and she won't necessarily be home when the item eventually gets delivered. Best Buy also said that no signature was required upon delivery, which is questionable practice for a high-value electronic item in the modern world.

I contacted Best Buy's online chat service on behalf of my friend, and spent an entire hour on the chat, first requesting that they cancel the order. Even though Fedex does not have possession of the item yet, Best Buy said they can't cancel the order. Then I asked Best Buy to issue my friend a refund for the $130 extra cost, explaining the situation in its entirety. They were unable to help in that way either. I chatted with both a low-level support representative and a floor supervisor, and neither of them had the authority to even partially remedy the situation. I don't blame the chat representatives at all, and I let them know that I clearly understood it was not their fault. Because it isn't. They did their best. Best Buy's policies are just customer-unfriendly and nothing that a customer support person can do will fix that. I certainly appreciate that they tried!

So now, my friend will receive the item whenever it's delivered, will not open the box, and will bring it straight back to a Best Buy store to get a refund. The return policy is that only 15 days are allowed for a return. After such a bad experience with Best Buy, neither she nor I will purchase from them again and I will be actively discouraging others from purchasing from Best Buy, hence this review.

We fully recognize that many good people work at Best Buy, and no single person wronged us. So please do not take this review as being directed against any individual person, or even any group of people. Our frustration deals solely with Best Buy's institutionalized corporate greed and the fact that corporate policy has prohibited their good customer service people from being allowed to...