Best Buy — Local services in Austin

The staff are great, as long as you're buying something.

They quoted me a price for a new phone and a plan, but when it came down to it, the monthly payment was going to be $35 more than what they quoted. I ended up canceling the phone the next day, and asked for the sales tax back that I was charged, but of course there's a $45 stocking fee, so I won't receive the entire sales tax back.

Also, after I had signed the paperwork and we were JUST starting to walk out, I looked back at the salesman and he was high-fiving and laughing with a co-worker as soon as we walked away, like they had made a great sale or had pulled the wool over our eyes, or something that made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

The phone came after I had called for a return label. There was no stopping the phone delivery because they ship it very quickly. Problem with the delivery is, you have to be there to sign for the item, I couldn't do anything.... Just had to be home... Also they said that UPS would try three delivery attempts, and if I wasn't at home they would leave a form for me to sign giving them permission to leave the phone outside of my door. Three delivery attempts? Why not just do that the first time???

I decided to get rid of my car almost a year ago and I don't drive, so I walk everywhere or I take the rail, Uber or Lyft. The UPS Store closest to me was way too far to walk to to print off the label. I had gone to Best Buy to see if they would print it off for me but they said they cannot print off any emails that are from an outside source. (They had to check with a manager about this). When I'd walked in the salesperson smiled very big and asked if he could help me. I totally got the feeling that when he found out I wasn't buying anything, "they" didn't want anything to do with me. I asked if they could print off this label that I received and they actually asked me, "is it for a return or a trade-in?" ... I asked, what's the difference? And then when I told them it was a return, that's when they said they can't print it off and suggested the AT&t store which was across MoPac and closed.

There is so much more about this whole exchange that was really crappy. I just don't have the energy to include all of it. I even Googled whether or not Best Buy workers get a commission for sales and Google said that they do not work on a commission basis, so I don't understand the unfriendliness when I'm not buying something, nor do I understand the high-fiving that made me feel like I was food for a predator. (Verizon store staff are extremely unfriendly as well when you are not buying anything, so this is nothing new to me and seems to be okay with the companies. It's okay with these companies that the staff treats people like crap if they're not buying anything. And it's okay what the people themselves. I just don't get this, robotic, inhuman, and frankly unprofessional mentality and behavior.)

I had sincerely said to that salesman, "you were practically laughing with smiles when I came in until you realized I wasn't buying anything." He said, "That's because I'm watching people so they don't walk out the door with stuff" -SO lame.

I won't ever be going back to Best Buy or using AT& T services or recommending either.

Another crappy thing about service providers and companies that sell phones is, when Best Buy first did the changeover from Verizon to AT&t for me, apparently Verizon "got wind" of it and sent me a text saying due to you being such a loyal customer we're offering $20 off per month on your bill. Hello? Why didn't they do that years ago???!!! Cell phones are just a big racket and a scam to me, but they are a necessity so they have us by the balls, don't they?

I did loosen their grip on my balls however, even though I don't have any, by returning that stupid, overpriced phone, ordering my replacement phone from Verizon for 99 bucks, and will take advantage of the cheaper bill from the company that never really appreciated me but only offered me $20 off to keep my business.

Did I say that Best Buy, Verizon, and...

LAST MINUTE CHANGES/PROMISES ON PRODUCT OFFERED BY SALES REP THAT I HAD PURCHASE 5 DAYS AGO. VIVINT SURVEILLANCE FOR HOME IS THE PRODUCT. CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS ARE RUDE AND ALSO BEST BUY MANAGER LANCE JUNIOR WORST RUDE RACIST MANAGER. SALES REP JAMIE DILLON DID NOT HONORED WHAT I WAS OFFERED AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE GIVING ME STUPID UNACCEPTABLE EXCUSES. Came to look at surveillance cameras for my home on 10/22/2017. As I was looking we decided to speak to a service representative Jamie Dillon of Bestbuy regarding some self installed survelliance cameras. He gave us the information and I said well those would be too expensive he (Jamie employee of Bestbuy) said Jose Let me show you this company that offers survallience Which he recommended the service By saying that VIVint surveillance company offers a self monitoring option for free no monthly payments (which Jamie has at his home so he highly recommended) or you can pay ViVint to get it monitor and of course I said I choose the one I will monitor my self. I did the purchase and the installation day was today October 26th at 8am to 9am. It was 10am and no one had showed up for the installation so I decided to call that ViVint that I was offered through Bestbuy. I called them and the first thing I was told was that the order installation was canceled, she put me on hold and say oh someone should be on the way around 10am the guy arrived at 10:30am or so and started the installation and I told the installer am happy I don’t have to pay for you guys to monitor this and am happy I can do it my own and through my cell he said oh no we don’t offered that... I was like that’s what I was told at Bestbuy. I contacted Jamie and he said Jose am sorry just got out of a meeting today October 26th and they have change that! I said what??? well I purchase this service before the changes and he said am sorry there is nothing we can do you will have to pay a monthly fee for it, I was like no you guys offered me something that you guys have to honered... you guys made those changes after I purchase the service for $1200.00.. I called Vivint where I was treated by a very rude person with poor customer service and they said that it was not their problem. I came to the bestbuy where I purchase this and asked to speak to a supervisor/manager which was Lance Junior who came out didn’t even said sorry or explain the situation had me standing by the entrance door and said I am aware of the situation there is nothing I can do You have to call ViVint and I said NO I purchase that here and he yelled SIR NO am not going to argue am done have a good day. Super unprofessional, doesn’t care for customers, Rude and racist. All the people that work there just laughed at me and of course all of them white. I did file a complaint and hopefully Bestbuy corporation can take care of an issue like this. Where they are trying to sell something that they don’t offer, change what they offer at a later day without notification and what was purchase before those changes and they don’t do what I was promise at the time...

Three weeks ago, I purchased two very expensive i-Phone 11 Pros from the North Austin Best Buy store. The salesman who sold us the phones was in a huge rush to finish the sale and move on, assuring us that everything was "in order." Since then, we've had nothing but nightmares with both phones. (The reception has been abysmal and the phones wouldn't couple with our home computers). When I went back to the store for help, the Best Buy "experts" told us that our issues were either with the new carrier (Verizon) or with our computers. I contacted Verizon tech support and was assured that my hardware was working correctly. Finally, after a COMPLETE lack of assistance or accountability from the "wireless experts" at Best Buy, I insisted on meeting with Kirk, the Assistant Manager. Within the first minute of conversation, Kirk had told me that I was "outside of the 14-day return period," that "either Verizon or my base computer is likely to blame," and that I should "go to Geek Squad for diagnostics." A few minutes later, the Geek Squad technician told me that there would be a $149 diagnostic fee. When I balked at the price, rather than offering to take even a cursory look look at my phone and computer (which I had IN-HAND) Kirk told me that I should go to the Apple Store because "Apple should be responsible for handling any issues with their own products." BUT, Best Buy sells Apple products at the EXACT same price as the Apple Store, so they should ABSOLUTELY offer comparable customer support. But, unlike the employees at the Apple Store, the employees at this store have NO interest in ensuring that their customers receive any follow-up support once an item has been sold. During the conversation, Kirk asserted that I was "the only one he's ever head of who's had this problem." The fact is, lots of customers are having difficulty linking their new i-Phone 11s to their primary computers. (There are numerous forums about this exact issue on Internet. I've since provided Kirk with links to some of these forums.) Clearly, Kirk and his staff are not up on "current affairs" with respect to the technology they sell In the end, I went to the Apple Store. The tech at the Apple Store fixed the issue in less than 2 minutes and was shocked that the staff at Best Buy hadn't known the solution. In any case, both my phone and computer were working perfectly, and if anyone at Best Buy had made a hands-on effort to help, they'd likely have been able to solve the problem. And, even if they hadn't known how to solve the problem, I'd at least have appreciated the effort. Here's a copy of the feedback I sent to Kirk "If you're going to sell Apple products at the EXACT same price as the Apple Store, both you and your sales personnel should have expertise in post-sales customer care and you should ensure that your sales personnel remain current on potential compatibility issues with the products you sell. Above all, after you make a sale, if the customer has issues, ask what you can do to help!" I'll certainly never go to this Best Buy...