Best Buy — Local services in Asheville

This review is long (and long overdue), but a necessary word of caution to other potential customers. My husband and I arrived in the US in October after essentially being stuck in Cambodia for the duration of the pandemic. The battery on his iPhone started dying in early 2022, but we decided to wait until we were in the US to get it fixed because Cambodian repair shops have a bad reputation for breaking phones and swapping out real iPhone parts for fakes. We took his phone to Best Buy in Arden shortly after we arrived in the US, where Jeff from the Geek Squad told him it was an easy, cheap replacement. Great...or so we thought. We handed the phone over and gave him permission to open it, as Best Buy is an authorized Apple Service Provider. Jeff was in the back for quite a long time, especially considering it was only an iPhone 7, and we just needed a simple battery replacement. This started to make me a bit nervous. He returned to tell us that there was moisture in the phone, which had never been opened or gotten wet. He kept pointing to what appeared to be a simple grease streak on the battery (perhaps from the factory?) and saying this was evidence of moisture. The moisture indicator was still white, and there were no beads of liquid, so I found this to be odd, especially since the “moisture” didn’t change when touched. He also did not use a stabilizer of any kind to keep the open phone from over-extending, a detail which becomes important later. He kept repeating this line, told us he could not proceed with the repair, then quietly recommended we take it to CPR, despite them not being an authorized service center. As he kept repeating the line about moisture to my husband, I called CPR and the tech told me to bring the phone over ASAP because it did not sound like a moisture problem at all. Jeff reassembled the phone, brought it out, and surprise, surprise, the screen and haptics were no longer responsive. The phone was working perfectly when we brought it in, minus needing a new battery. At this point, it was quite clear that something questionable had happened. He told us repeatedly that “the moisture shifted,” and, “These things happen.” Again, there was no evidence of moisture to begin with, so this sounded suspicious. We had no other option than to go to CPR, where the much more knowledgeable tech opened the phone carefully and WITH a stabilizer, and immediately found where Jeff had hyperextended the screen and broken one of the cables connecting the screen and haptics. They found no evidence of moisture. We allowed them to proceed with the repair, despite the fact that they did not have a retina screen available. In total, this repair was ultimately about $100 more than a simple battery replacement, and my husband lost his retina display, all because one of the Geek Squad broke the phone, then lied about it. We returned to Best Buy with the broken screen and spoke to Justin, the manager. Jeff saw us walk in and actually RAN and hid in the back, which tells me he knew what he had done. Justin disappeared into the back and returned to rudely tell us that there was no reason for Jeff to lie about breaking the screen and, “These things happen.” How did we walk into Best Buy with a working iPhone and walk out with a broken phone, then? And why was the tech at CPR able to fix it? This store is TERRIBLE and should not be an authorized Apple service center. Management is rude, and the Geek Squad members are incompetent cowards. If you need an Apple repair,...

Before I begin this negative review, let me say that overall, I have a high regard for Best Buy, Arden, as a business and for their employees. As upsetting as my most recent unfortunate experience has been, I believe that it is out of the ordinary. The lesson I learned and that I wish to pass on to others doing business with Best Buy, or any company for that matter, is to make sure to get something in writing stating exactly what will be provided and for how much.

My wife and I set out to upgrade our old Samsung phones (A20 and Note 10). We first stopped at Verizon and found out what they could do for us. It sounded good, but expensive. We moved on to Best Buy. After an extensive discussion with the sales representative, we believed that we would be purchasing two Samsung S24+ phones, on sale for $800 each, and as part of Verizon’s trade-in program would get $400 and $800 back over 36 months for our old phones. As part of this, we would need to upgrade our service from Verizon’s Small 2 GB plan ($40/mo./line) to one of their new plans. I chose the Unlimited Welcome plan ($55/mo./line).

It was late in the evening and I was presented with some forms to sign, which I did. When I got home, I realized that the phones we wound up purchasing were $1,000 each instead of $800. We returned to the store to complain and was told that the lower sale price was for unlocked phones, which were not part of the trade-in program. I was annoyed but still expected to get a good rebate on the phones we turned in.

That was the second shock. Verizon only granted 200 dollars trade-in value for each phone. I spoke with both Verizon and Best Buy, arguing that I had been sold the phones with the expectation that the $400 and $800 trade-in values would apply. Verizon pointed out that the higher trade-in values only applied if I upgraded my monthly plan to Unlimited Ultimate at $80 /mo./line instead of the Unlimited Basic plan ($55/mo./line) I had chosen. The trade-in value for the Unlimited Welcome was only $200 per phone. This had not been made clear during our purchase.

So, the unfortunate part of all this is that I had initially walked out of Best Buy thinking that I would be paying $400 for two phones ($800 each less $1,200 in trade-ins), plus a higher monthly charge for an upgrade in plans. Instead, I wound up paying $1,600 for the two phones with the higher monthly charge for the Unlimited Welcome plan over my existing plan. That was $1,200 more than I expected based on my discussions with the Best Buy representatives. Knowing all this, I would have done better buying the unlocked phones and keeping my old monthly plan. It would have been cheaper.

The purchase options were not clearly presented and we left Best Buy with expectations that were not realistic and not corrected by the sales team. For my part, I wish I had insisted on having everything in writing as to what I would be receiving, under what circumstances and at what cost. I hope this review will save others from being as unpleasantly surprised with the final outcome of their...

I recently purchased a wi-fi extender from Best Buy. It did not do what I needed, so I returned it yesterday. My daughter also had a laptop with a broken screen that was covered by the warranty that comes with a Best Buy "Total" membership. Brea did an excellent job handling the entire warranty process. It was amazingly easy and painless, which is the complete opposite experience that I had about a year ago at a different big box store. (That one took about 6 weeks and over 40 phone calls and emails to resolve.) That purchase was covered by a warranty that I purchased at the competitor. The only way I got that warranty covered was by eventually speaking with someone who supposedly worked "in the president's office" of that company. I will never buy anything at that competitor because of this terrible experience. In stark contrast, the warranty at Best Buy took less than 5 minutes to resolve. Once the computer was inspected and the warranty was confirmed, we had the go-ahead to pick out a brand new replacement computer. (Warranty claims are sometimes handled with refurbished products at some Best Buy competitors.) That's when Sam assisted my daughter with the decision about the best replacement computer for her needs at college. Since that particular computer was not currently in stock at our local Best Buy, it's going to be delivered to our home in 3 days at no charge. Sam also assisted us with several other questions. The entire process was handled by Brea and Sam with great expertise and professionalism. I suggest that you consider the "Total" and "Plus" programs at Best Buy. The benefits of both programs are amazing. If you purchase any electronic products (or anything else Best Buy sells), these programs would probably be an excellent...