Geek Squad — Local services in Gainesville

Let me save you some time and frustration: avoid this Geek Squad location if you value your time, money, or your devices. My recent experience was nothing short of a disaster. From poor communication to what appears to be a botched repair that ruined my phone entirely.

To start, the staff here seem inexperienced and overwhelmed. While I’m sure not all employees are new, the ones I dealt with were clearly unprepared and confused. The overall atmosphere was unorganized, and the department was clearly overbooked. I had an appointment to get the back glass on my iPhone replaced. I showed up on time, only to be told to come back the next day. That’s a 40-minute drive each way, mind you. I returned the next day as instructed, only to be told again that no technicians were available and I’d have to return yet another day. So after three visits and multiple hours of my time wasted, I finally had my phone repaired. Then, over Labor Day weekend, just a couple days after the repair, I dropped my phone briefly in water. It was submerged for under two minutes. To my surprise, water leaked inside the camera module and under the back glass. The phone completely shut down and wouldn't power back on. Upon closer inspection, I could actually squeeze water out of the device. Adhesive was visibly oozing out of the corner of the back glass, a clear indicator of a poor or incomplete installation. When I brought it back to the store to have them correct the issue, they denied any responsibility. Despite clear signs of faulty installation, I was told that they would not replace or repair the device without additional payment. The manager, Megan, was particularly unhelpful and dismissive. While she didn’t use foul language, her tone and attitude essentially told me to “go deal with it yourself.” I contacted Apple directly, who informed me that if the issue stemmed from the repair, it would need to be addressed by the store that did the work. I went back once again, only to be met with more excuses and zero accountability. The staff tried to blame water exposure, despite iPhones being built with water resistance and quality tested before being sold. I’ve owned multiple iPhones and have never had water damage like this, and certainly not from such brief exposure. After having to argue and firmly stand my ground, I was finally escalated to the General Manager of Best Buy, Mike. Unlike the Geek Squad team, he was understanding, professional, and solution-oriented. He listened to the issue, acknowledged the concerns, and helped us reach a resolution that both sides could agree on. I sincerely appreciate his help; it’s the only reason this situation ended with any sort of satisfaction.

Bottom line: I will never trust this Geek Squad location again, especially not with anything covered under AppleCare or warranty repair. The service was unprofessional, the staff inexperienced, and the customer care nonexistent; until the GM got involved.

Ironically, the Best Buy store itself is the opposite. We’ve made several purchases here and always found the retail staff helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. Huge thanks again to the GM Mike, for salvaging what could have been a complete loss.

UPDATE: I’d also like to mention that today, 9/13/25 I went into Best Buy to pick up my phone. It has been well over a week, nearly two. I did not receive any calls that my phone had came in or was ready for pick up. I went in today, it has been there since the Fourth. It also took the guy like 20 minutes to find it. Awful location. So much time wasted. Unorganized and...

BEWARE of Geek Squad’s 3rd-Party Provider: US Appliance Repair

Be extremely cautious when dealing with Best Buy/Geek Squad’s third-party service provider, US Appliance Repair.

US Appliance Repair was assigned to perform a sealed system repair under our Geek Squad extended warranty for a Samsung smart fridge. However, the technician was clearly unqualified for the job. During the repair attempt, he ignited a piece of plastic on fire, creating a significant amount of soot that was sucked into our home’s HVAC system, resulting in thousands of dollars in remediation costs.

Our interior security cameras recorded the incident, which triggered multiple fire alarms due to the excessive amount of soot. Despite clear evidence of the damage, US Appliance Repair has refused to take responsibility, and Best Buy has done nothing to hold them accountable.

After over two months of back-and-forth, both US Appliance Repair and Best Buy’s third-party administrator continue to avoid taking responsibility for their negligence.

Additionally, the technician’s attempted repair of the filter dryer was completely incompetent. Instead of acknowledging his poor workmanship, he misdiagnosed the issue, telling us the compressor needed replacement. We later paid out of pocket for a certified sealed system repair company to correct the technician’s errors—they did the job properly, and the fridge has worked perfectly ever since. Had we relied on US Appliance Repair, they would have charged Samsung for an unnecessary compressor replacement instead of fixing the real problem.

The attached photos clearly show: • The technician’s botched soldering job on the filter dryer. • Fire scorch marks and melted plastic from the incident. • Soot covering the fridge, cabinets, and other areas of our home.

Upon further research, I found numerous negative reviews of US Appliance Repair, with their own employees in Florida writing fake positive reviews to improve their ratings. Their website lists service areas in Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida—if you are in these states and need an appliance repair under a Geek Squad extended warranty, BE VERY CAUTIOUS.

It’s unacceptable that Best Buy customers have no control over who services their appliances and even more disappointing that Best Buy, Geek Squad, and Samsung refuse to hold negligent third-party providers accountable for...

I purchased a Vizio TV from best buy and an extended warranty 3 years ago. Recently I lost the picture to the tv and called best buy. They confirmed that I purchased the extended warranty and advised to bring it in to the store. After carrying the unit in To best buy and over to the geek squad, they proceeded to hook Apple TV up and of course the picture came on. I was skeptical because of the clear issue I was having at home. I asked them if there was any type of diagnostics they could run on it and they said they don't do that, but they could send it off to the manufacturer but that could take a couple of weeks. I left the store feeling like it may or may not have a future issue and was certainly not a satisfied warranty purchaser . I was not trying to just get a new tv replacement. I was in the middle of a move and did not immidiatley hook up the tv when I returned home...after waiting a week to hook up at my new house, of course same issue, it did not work. I called geek squad and the rep totally contradicted what I was told in The store about how the tv would need to be sent back to manufacturer for testing. The rep said they just send a technician out to your house and they bring the parts needed. The technician seemed to know what part was needed and scheduled a week out to have the unit fixed. That week Geek Squad called me and said the part was delayed and we needed to schedule another week out. Today the rep showed up for the appointment came in with the part and that's not the part that's needed, they had to order another part and scheduled an appointment for another week out. So here I am, bought the extended warranty and we will be at a month by the next weekend and we'll hope that it's the right part and it will finally be fixed so I can use my TV again. Maybe this is the norm as this is the first warranty claim that I have ever called in on and I own three Vizio...