Geek Squad — Local services in Bloomington

I’m not one to leave poor reviews, but feel my experience with Geek Squad at this location should be known. My husband and I purchased a new Apple laptop at Best Buy. Immediately we started receiving numerous emails for a couple weeks from Best Buy regarding something called Trend Microantivirus Software and how we needed to download it ASAP to protect the computer from malware.

Of course, it scared us both into thinking we needed to do this in order to protect our brand new computer and since it was a trial subscription we didn’t see the harm. Well it wreaked havoc on the new computer. There were pop-ups everywhere and I had trouble loading any and all websites. It was so intrusive and frustrating it felt like I had just willingly downloaded malware.

I went to the Apple Genius Bar and they told me it was extremely unnecessary to download this software that was most likely causing more harm than good (Another reason I truly regret not buying the laptop straight from Apple. They would never tell you to purchase something that would harm your product). As a result, I had the software removed.

Well even though the software had been uninstalled and deleted from every corner of my computer I am still receiving trend micro antivirus pop ups. I can’t get rid of it. It’s embedded in my computer. My trial subscription says I have free Geek Squad support until the Antivirus subscription ends which is on the 20th, but for some reason Geek Squad on 3rd St in Bloomington said I would still have to pay $150-200 to have it removed completely. We are also Best Buy Elite Plus members which didn’t help one bit either.

They said this is because we “chose” to download the software. While I understand it was our choice to download the software, we did so under the recommendation of Best Buy and Geek Squad being that we are the clients and they the “experts” and professionals in the field of electronics. It is ethically wrong to recommend a product or software just to make a buck, knowing that it isn’t the right product for that person’s product and then to charge that person money to have it removed when they wouldn’t have downloaded it had you not recommended it over and over in the first place.

A doctor would never say, “Sorry you let us amputate your leg even though there wasn’t an infection after all. It was your choice to believe us when we said you needed the amputation. Now if you want a prosthetic leg, that’ll be $5000.” ...an extreme analogy, but true and relevant...

Recently had an issue with my graphics card driver causing my PC to crash; started happening shortly after the last Windows 10 update.

Went to Geek Squad and:

Signed up for Total Tech Support and cleaning on my desktop computer and to get the issue resolved.

Picked it up 4 days later. Was given a checklist saying they resolved my issue with my graphics card driver causing Windows 10 to crash, ran their diagnostic and reset the OS (as I requested), and that they physically cleaned it inside and out.

Booted up my PC; a couple hours later, it crashes again when it detects my graphics hardware (which came with the original PC, I might add). Opened up the PC during troubleshooting and discovered that it was in fact NOT cleaned on the inside, which made me wonder what else they didn't do on their checklist.

Called Geek Squad central and had them schedule me to drop it off again and have it sent to their dedicated service center.

Went back to this location the next day to drop off the PC and double check the issue was still there. Was told by one of their squad members that they couldn't service my PC because I had bought it through Dell (this would have been useful information to acquire DURING the scheduling process, not 5 days after). They gave me contact info for the manufacturer.

Called Geek Squad central again to cancel my Total Tech Support service, and they told me that #5 was not true, and that they could have serviced the PC regardless of where I bought it.

So there are some serious miscommunication issues at this facility and some of their squad members seem to either cut corners or completely forget what they're doing on their service orders. I didn't like having my time and money wasted, so I cancelled my service. Eventually...

I called Best Buy to ask if they could install a remote start kit which I did not purchase at Best Buy. They said yes. For this, they quoted an install price of $40-60, which was far less than I expected, so I made an appointment. When I took the kit in with my car for the install, the installer started running numbers. The install would actually cost $189 for the labor and an additional $125 for parts- even though the kit was labelled to include everything needed. When I asked why it would cost so much, I was told that they charge that much when the kit is not purchased through them. I understand that, but should have been told that when I made the appointment; I was very clear that I had not purchased the kit there. I am extremely disappointed with how this was handled, and because the $315 total was drastically different than the $40-60 I planned on, I obviously did not get my remote start installed today. I would never expect this...