Best Buy — Local services in Encinitas

Sure, there's a big blue sign that has the store name, but I have to pretend that Best Buy Encinitas does not exist.

As an IT consultant, this Best Buy should be a solid, local resource. Instead it has consistently been a cost center of wasted time and frustration.

I've had problems before, but today was enough for me to say to myself: Best Buy Encinitas does not exist. It just isn't there. Go to Costco or Staples or a 7-11.

Here's the timeline:

Friday, a client told me at 4PM that he needed a new computer Monday. I worked there until 8PM and was fully booked with family Saturday. My only time to pick up a PC was Sunday afternoon before the Superbowl.

Sunday, I placed an order at 12:32 for a PC and screen. The checkout said it will be ready for pickup in an hour.

At 1:36, I left the house to get the order

At 1:45, I got a call from Marco (sp?), saying there was a problem with the computer and they didn't have one for me. I asked him for options for other computers and he gave me none, just saying they could get one from another store and have it for me by Monday. I told him I was pulling in and asked him to get the store manager to help me figure something out. He said he was the store manager.

At 1:49, I pulled in. No Marco. Suspecting Marco was pulling the ol' "I'm the manager" trick, I asked the door greeter for the manager and said I'd be over at Online Order Pickup.

I waited in line at customer service until Jonathan helped me. His nametag said supervisor. He went back and tried to sort things out with Marco. While waiting, I picked out a similar unit, an all in one with similar specs and price.

Marco and Jonathan came up front and confirmed that the PC I originally ordered was not in inventory.

Ringing up the all-in-one, it was over $200 more than the price tag of the display unit it was under. Turns out it was under a display that was out of stock. The unit I grabbed was similar, with no display.

I settled on a Dell that was the same basic specs as the HP I started with, but $150 more.

I checked out and got out of there as fast as I could to get home to prepare my appetizer for the super bowl party I was going to.

Here's the rub: at no point did Marco or Jonathan apologize for the inconvenience, much less offer a discount on the unit I found. Marco misrepresented his authority as store manager and did not take responsibility as warehouse manager for the out of stock item or the time it took him to call me and tell me they didn't have it.

And, if you think this review is long, I timed it (because I'm waiting for my appetizer to cook). It took me less time to type this than I spent in Best Buy, trying to pick up a computer that I had already paid for.

Time is money, I will save both in the future by pretending Best Buy Encinitas went out...

Our visit to this store was to get an iPhone 13 Pro MAX protective case.

The phone cases are near the store entrance. Unfortunately, while viewing the hanging boxes on the many hooks, we found the price and description for many of the boxes didn't match.

We asked for help from the few staff people in the store, but that didn't work out. We picked the Otter Box Defender Pro XT case and headed to the register. The scanned price at the register was higher than the hook price. Upon mentioning the difference, the store clerk accompanied us to the phone case area. We showed him the hook and discovered the defender hook was for the smaller iPhones 12 and 13.

This store's phone case area is not well managed. Many of the boxes don't match, and many hooks don't have anything on them. When we were looking, we tried to match each box's name to the hook description. It was close to being correct, but the description showed the phrase "Otter Box Defender" and a price of 10$ less. We accepted the higher price and asked why there were not many people available to help us avoid making the wrong assumptions.

The person at the register sounded like a seasoned Best Buy member. I asked him why there were only a few people available in the store? He reported we are trying to get more staff but have found it hard to get enough people in this pandemic.

We asked that same person about the quality of our selection. He reported, "the Otter Box Defender Pro XT is a rugged case that provides the best protection we have for cell phones." But, he continued, "if I had your phone, I would have picked the same box to protect it."

This added comfort to our selection, and a week and a half later, it appears to give the phone a solid grip when I grab it. In addition, the case is stiff enough to hold onto, and I think it will survive a drop on the floor.

The Otter Box Defender Pro XT fits both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 Pro MAX devices. It also supports magnetic charging. Charging with and without the case seems to take about the same amount of time. The box reports that a "5-X Military Standard Test will keep the...

My item that I am talking about will be a Samsung gear fit2 watch.

The poor rating is not in reference to the store but to the Geek Squad Guess service/repairs warranty desk. I came in wanting to exchange my item that I purchased a year ago but I bought a 2 year warranty on. They looked up my account to verify I had the warranty. they said I did then asked me to go and get the item from the store and to bring it back. When I came back there were now 2 technicians helping me they seem to have issues processing the warranty receipt. They informed me that the saw that I had purchased the warranty they were just not sure how to redeem it.

After this point it was about 45 minutes and a 3rd technician I believe their supervisor came over to assist. The 3rd and final gentleman was able to figure it out in about 5 minutes and so the process continued.

Let me add that the item I bought was refurbished. And they no longer sold it in store or online. When they informed me of that I was very upset because they would only sell me a new watch at a discounted price of what I paid.

So after a hour in the store I walked away with nothing and with my watch still being broken and a Warranty that does me no good because bestbuy does not carry it anymore. Which they do just not refurbished only new. And I do not want to pay for a new watch I already have and have warranty on. The watch led heart sensor no longer lights up and the watch strap broke off. And they only sell straps for the s3. They said I would need to go through Samsung or Amazon to find a new band for my watch.

This had been the worse experience at a bestbuy I have ever had. Makes me reconsider ever getting warranty on items from here or even...