Best Buy — Local services in Fresno

This happened about a month ago and am only reporting it now because I tried to go through the company and it's been ignored. This is a review mostly for Geek Squad (as most people don't check Geek Squad reviews separately) as well as partially for Best Buy in general.

I'm old school, lower-tier IT, not up to date with current Operating Systems, however I know the general processes one goes though. But, not being up to date, when my NEW FROM BEST BUY laptop kept saying the only game installed on my computer wasn't installed (only use it for the game, Internet, and my writing on Google Docs), and the computer manufacture, game publisher, and Steam all wanted to point fingers at each other; I decided it would be best to take it in, STILL UNDER WARRANTY, to have Geek Squad take a quick look at what can be done.

After having to explain the situation three times to the employee, he took it into the back, and without enough time to do any sort of basic scan (the equivalent of a chkdsk/scndsk), he brings it back and just keeps telling me that I have to BUY MORE HARDWARE to fix the issue. Mind you, I know this is not the case as while this laptop is not at the top of the recommended for the game it was above the minimum and hadn't been used for anything which would even eat up the memory. I pointed out, again, that it is not a hardware issue but a software or programming issue. I described many circumstances in which could have created it, but again, I'm older low-tier IT, so I'm just not adept at these Operating Systems to check for those issues. He refused to budge. Basically agreeing that I'd have to do a factory reset on the system.

I spoke with a manager of Best Buy as I "wasn't allowed" to speak to a manager at "Geek Squad". We go through the whole deal, and to his credit he seemed more knowledgeable than the GS staff member I'd just dealt with. After all sorts of stuff, he said they could diagnose it but charging me over $150 just for a checking of the system.

I left. I had already been kicking myself for not having created a restore point before downloading the game. I was looking into doing a total system restore when I noticed, to my joyful surprise that when I first started kicking myself about not having created a restore point before downloading the game, that I had in fact created one then... Four days before the issue. Used it, and low and behold, without any hardware modifications it works perfectly after the restore.

So, these "experts" didn't even have the "expertise" to ask, "So, when did you last create a restore point?" Let alone to check it when they took it into the back for 3 minutes, but they sure had the time to pull the specs up on my computer. They tried to cost me lots of money for absolutely no reason. While the store manager says they don't make commission, it sure does look good on your report when you're up for evaluation if you've upsold folks. But to try to take advantage? To suggest it won't work without it? It's not like he said, "This or this could be the problem, but even after we fix it, if able, this might still happen again without these upgrades," (still a lie as it was in fact a software issue some file(s) moved because of a glitch of some sort, never figured out), but blamed everything on "obsolete" (yet still somehow selling for $1,700 alone) graphics card, etc.

These aren't experts in anything other than trying to scam you. Take your money, and your computers, elsewhere. This is also going to be saved on a review for Best Buy as not everyone checks Geek...

We have bought things through best buy for years. Never again! My wife purchased a curb side pickup on line. Me and her went to the Fresno California store to pick it up. We waited inside because it was after curbside hours. The store clerk had us waiting for a while. He comes back and says its been picked up. Me and my wife are shocked. We ask how. Your ID is supposed to be needed at pick up. They tell us that someone used a pick up code that can only be found in the app or email. Regardless your id is needed with the code to pick up the order so how did they pick it up without an ID????? So the thing is for them to access the best buy account to get the code best buy had or has a data breach. Second issue is best buy allowed the items to be picked up without ID. 2 huge mess ups on best buy. We have been fighting them now for over 6 months to get the items or a refund. Corporate has said they will make it right with a refund but the store in Fresno has absolutely refused. This is the worst experience we have ever faced at any store location from anyplace. Normally you might have some fault and can accept the loss but this was absolutely not on us. We have looked on line and have found so many cases that are identical to ours. Yet best buy has the nerve to say that all of us that have been cheated are somehow at fault. This is the fastest way to go out of business. To be honest my family has spent over 20k with best buy. We bought everything for our kitchen from them and have been to so many black Fridays and release dates for games and so much more. Never again. Before you buy from best buy you should really think twice. Best buy is absolutely not you best choice or best buy at all. If it happens to you they will look at you like your a liar and treat you like a thief. My wife works for a UC of California and I work for a County district and we both Doordash to add to our income. We own our house completely and dont need to scam. Not best buy lost good customers and not best buy will be seeing more reviews like this. Speak out against not best buy! Update 9/16/2025. Best Buy Fresno CA still refuses to fix the mistake they have made. They have done the exact same thing to so many people. Whatever you do dont trust best buy with your information as they allow a constant breach of information and it allows thieves to gain access to your account and steal you hard earned money. Not so best buy will not follow the protocol and require ID on pickup and will blame you. Read the many, many, many reviews like mine and save yourself the problems. Shop...

I went to buy a prepaid phone at Best Buy, and a Verizon representative—wearing glasses and a black shirt, I believe his name was Mario or started with an “M”He was wearing no batch—approached me, seemingly intending to help. He spent about five minutes explaining some details, but when I asked about the return policy in case WhatsApp didn’t work on the phone, he confidently claimed that prepaid phones are absolutely non-returnable, even if you’re unable to download or activate an app like WhatsApp.

I mentioned the 14-day return policy and showed him a response from a Best Buy online chat referencing their official return policy. He dismissed it, saying, “You can believe a robot or me, someone who does returns regularly.”

I also told him I had already checked with corporate, and they confirmed that most prepaid phones can be returned if an app can’t be downloaded or activated. Still, he continued arguing, wasting more of my time. I eventually called corporate again during the interaction, and the representative on the phone confirmed that the information he was giving me was false.

When I pointed this out, he simply said, “Sorry, can’t help,” and told me to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor did acknowledge the return policy and claimed the employee may have “misunderstood it for a flagship model.” I clarified that this wasn’t a misunderstanding—the representative had been arguing with me about this for over 20 minutes.

While the supervisor was polite and eventually confirmed the correct policy, it still felt like he was partially covering for the employee. Honestly, this was extremely disappointing. I don’t understand why Best Buy continues to employ staff who not only provide false information but also speak dismissively to customers.

This entire experience wasted over 30 minutes of my time and completely ruined my evening. It left a very bad impression and made me question whether I want to shop at...