Best Buy — Local services in Crystal Lake

Save yourself the time and stress. I have never had this many issues with a retailer.

July 25 I went into the store and purchased brand new LG washer dryer and stacking kit. Scheduled delivery and install for that upcoming Tuesday. When making the sale I was told 3 times the steam kit would be included in the order. Reviewing the receipt he did not include the steam kit which is used for the dryer. Also, not letting me know, they scheduled the stacking kit to be picked up Wednesday. Obviously that makes no sense when I need the kit to install the unit Tuesday. Realized when I got the email.

This is the second time I went back to the store … told them about the scheduling issue and missing item. The customer service was nice enough. They told me unfortunately I would have to reschedule to Friday but they could include the missing kit and waive the fee for me. He just needed manager approval. Manager Tim walks over. Takes a listen to what’s going on and says “well you don’t need the steam kit. It comes with a Y connector. Just use that.” He then called colleague David to confirm that I don’t need it. (The guy who sold it in the first place.) He told me they would install it with what I already have and the Y connector.

This wasn’t about me needing the kit.. it’s about being told something was included in the price and them not including it. This kit includes a stainless steel upgrade vs the basic rubber line. I didn’t want to argue so I said thanks and left. Thanks for nothing really. So now my order is delayed.

Delivery day rolls around… the techs come. I had my baby in my arms and was peeking into the laundry room here and there. I advised them it would be a smart idea to take the door off that leads to the laundry. We had previous units the same size taken in/out and the door was taken down because the handle got in the way. They said no need. I also mentioned the steam feature and what the manager said about the connector. While they were working I asked if they mind reversing the dryer door for me. They said “ they usually charge $40 for this but if you can throw us something.” Okay, no problem.

My baby got fussy so I went to put her down. They call me over say they have checked everything and they’re done. I peek over .. at quick glance seems ok . I sign . They left.

I go take a look. Well….. dryer has been left with a big dent on the side. I turn it on and it’s making this incredibly loud thudding sound from the dent hitting the drum. I run it for 10 minutes and the side is so hot I can barely touch it from the drum rubbing against the metal. Unusable. The $40 they took.. for what?? If everything was fine, sure. But reversing the door on a damaged dryer? Whether it was by them or the store- they left knowing it was damaged. I heard them turning it on to check it. There was a Y connector on my counter, so not sure if that was an extra or not. Can’t check the feature since dryer is damaged.

I grab my baby and go to the store. Mind you this is within 15 minutes of delivery.

Third time at the store. They sent over geek squad manager Elijah (believe that was his name). He apologized and said they would pick up the items and I would be offered a return. He took down my info and said he would call me within an hour. Call never came .

The next day, fourth time at the store. Manager Dylan came over. He was nice and scheduled the pick up on the spot and set up the return. Next available pick up was 5 days out. At this point I just want this out of my house and want my money back. He assured me I would get a full refund. At the time of purchase I was given a $150 promotional giftcard. I gave this back in order to process the return.

Today is Wednesday. They came picked it up . Floor drenched in water from the water line. Ok great. Just excited to be done with this. I get a receipt for the return. It’s $150 short because the gift card wasn’t marked returned. This will be the FIFTH time going back for the endless issues. Back to square one. Just a huge inconvenience. Get...

I have never had such a negative experience with a business. First, our fridge broke Monday. We ordered a new one that day, and we were told it would arrive Thursday. When the men arrived to install our new refrigerator, I was treated very poorly from the first sentence. I answered the door, and the man said “where is the new one going?”. When I showed him where the new fridge would be going, he asked me if we had “measured the area since the new one was so big”. I told him yes we did, and explained that there are multiple different entrances that he could bring the fridge though. He then went to pull out the old fridge, and asked me “what was wrong with this one?” I told him it was broken and that it was already unplugged. When he looked behind the old fridge, he then said “I know you don’t know anything about plumbing, but there is a kink in the water line”. I then asked him if I could contact the home owner, considering they were not able to be home, and I needed them to have the information on what was going on. He then told me that he “would not be explaining this to someone more than once, or going back and forth, back and forth.” He then went on to explain that if he “disconnected the old fridge, the water would spray everywhere.” Therefore he would not be able to disconnect the old one and put the new one in. Now, when we bought the new fridge, we were told that there was a (if I recall correctly) $30.00 charge for new hardware for the water line. We were also told that if the installers didn’t use the new hardware, we would be able to return all of it. This was very confusing to me, considering when the installers were here, I was told we needed to get a new water line, then they could return to install the new refrigerator. All of this being told to me as he had a new water line in his hand and he was showing me what I needed to go buy. The water line in his hand being the one we purchased. I then asked them to “please leave the new refrigerator here considering it was already here and in the truck.” The man told me he would “only hook it up in the garage, so then we would have a refrigerator to use.” I do appreciate the thought in that, but I then asked him to “please just bring it inside and leave it in the kitchen and we would figure out what to do with it from there,” and then man just kept asking me “why I would want them to do that”. Eventually, he said he would bring the new one inside. A few moments after getting the new fridge off the truck, the man came back inside and said “the new fridge is damaged and that there is a dent in one of the drawers”. I told him we would not be taking that one, and he could take that back with him. He told me he would be “contacting customer service so that we could figure out getting a new one” and we never heard from anyone. I did call customer service to explain my negative experience, and was hung up on 3 times. Overall, this was an absolutely TERRIBLE experience. We did cancel our order, and will be going through a different service to get a refrigerator, and for any home improvement...

Big ups to Jerry the store manager for allowing their to be a good culture in his building, as demonstrated mostly by Linda and Brian (I hoped I spelled his name correctly) in the sales/consulting team for Home Theatre.

Linda provided me a house call for a consult because I had some questions about home theatre setups… regarding spacial audio, atmos, dtsx, dolby vision, etc etc. She basically stopped me from pursuing a road of "diminishing return" a.k.a. spending too much money on a receiver that would not have achieved me the goals I was hoping to achieve with audio and video because I was obsessing too much on trying to get "all" the different licenses and formats for audio and video on the market. This was all the byproduct of doing my own research, and basically following the lead of audio and video enthusiasts online without getting practical input from someone who deals in volume and has a lot of experiential knowledge about home set ups. Her recomendation actually better fit my budget and increased my audio video options! And still got me the best in spacial audio and video! Plus, she recommended what would have been my second choice anyway!

Linda never tried to upsell me and was fast with the estimate/assessment workup following the house call. The process was rewarding enough that it inspired me to explore other options… namely ones that would last me the better part of a decade, and long-story-short, I ended up doubling my budget and pulling the trigger on a 77" LG G3 (never owned OLED let alone anything above a 55") with a Sonos Setup including Arc Soundbar, Era 300s, and the sub... as well as a lot of other bells and whistles... including the red carpet set up with over 5 different services for installation - mounting, hiding wires, rear speaker installation & wall mounting, calibration, hue sync box setup, etc. I was surprised to learn that with all the installation services, they only made up only around 10% of the sale, which is REALLY good if you ask me... especially when spending close to five figures. I think I paid about $600 for a full-service setup? I never had to carry a thing out of the store except the promo gift card I received for making the purchase. :-)

Brian was very helpful and patient as well. Again... no upsell. Very informative. No pressure. Was able to answer all my questions. Very affirming. Wish more floor people had a task management minded approach like him and Linda.

IMO 9/10 people will get their full audio/video needs met by the team at this store. And they price match. I would reccomend them to a family member or friend for sure! I got lucky. Good help was not only close, but it was easy to find.

Will post pics of the setup at a later date, and let you know about the service for...