Best Buy — Local services in Lake Ridge

On 5/10/2020 at approximately 12:00pm, I visited the Potomac Mills location in attempt to return a MacBook Air I purchased on April 26th. The associate who greeted me at my car was kind and courteous, and asked the reason for my return. I informed her that the Air did not have the processing power I needed. She offered an exchange, which i declined, and she took the product to begin processing the return.

After a few moments, a tall red headed associate wearing an American flag face covering approached my vehicle and said “you’re going to need to park.” I asked if there was an issue, and he said yes he’d be over to explain.

When he approached my vehicle he immediately accused me of damaging the product. He said “it’s clear that you’ve damaged the disk or deleted the system files, and wecan’t return the product” in an extremely condescending tone. I explained to him that i used the MacOS Disk Utility to erase the hard disk and return the laptop to factory settings, and that the OS simply needed reinstalled through the recovery tool upon start up. He said “we don’t do that. It’s not how the product was presented to you. It’s like you buying a speaker, removing it from the case and trying to return it as separate parts”.

I remained calm, asked for the laptop back and connected it to my phone hotspot to reinitialize the software; unfortunately, the MacBook has to be connected to a power supply to install the OS. I left my vehicle and approached the front of the store where I asked another associate if he would mind plugging it into an outlet so that the OS could install and I could complete my return and go enjoy Mother’s Day with my family. He was very kind and said it was no problem, but that he’d have to take it into the store. I offered to allow him to take my phone with him, but before he could do so, another gentleman (who identified himself as a manager) bluntly said “we’re not doing that”. I asked him what he meant, and he said that he was not going to plug it up, I could make an appointment for tomorrow and complete the process. I asked him very kindly to not make the return process anymore difficult than it has already been, and explained to him how the taller associate had spoken to me and blamed me as if there was a problem with the device. He said “I don’t care, we’re not doing that today. You can either leave on your own, or I can call Prince William County (police) and they can remove you from the property”. He was threatening, completely irrational, and yelled at me. The associate in the American flag face covering laughed, and continued to chatter about the return as i attempted to get the customer service i was due.

I have NEVER experienced such a level of poor customer service and disrespect as I did during this encounter. I came when I did because it’s when my schedule permitted. The return instructions for the device did not articulate that the OS had to be reinstalled, and moreover, to immediately accuse me of something (falsely) was the complete opposite of the empathy and helpfulness the associate should have shown.

The return policy dictated that I could return the $1000 Mac before May 31, regardless of the reason for the return. It is in perfect condition, no activation locks or personal information remains on it, and all accessories were included in the original box with ZERO damage.

Needless to say, I will never be returning to the Potomac Mills store, and I hope that you take a serious course of action to improve the conduct of your leadership as a representation of Best Buy. The “manager” (a short, stocky built red headed gentleman) refused to give me his name when I asked, as I have all intention of escalating this complaint through your...

Me and my group of friends were going to Best Buy, one of my friends was going to grab an iPad while my sister and I were out getting the switch joy cons. The others were idling by since most of us just needed some quick things. We were hanging out for a bit since we were going home after checking out the products. On our way out, one of our friends that bought the iPad was told by a Police officer that is stationed at that time to return the headphone she was accused of stealing. At first, we were all a bit confused and though that he was joking. Our friend showed him what she had in the bag and the receipt. But then he asked us to return to the store. We were heading back in, I knew it might be serious when he took out his handcuffs. The officer was explaining the situation to us calmly. The situation was nerve wracking in general, so we were all tense. Our friend showed all the stuff in the best buy bag and the receipt to the woman in the purple haired that accused us. This was getting frustrating since another cop pulled up, and we had yet to see the footage that was claimed to show her stealing the headphones. The officer was asking for ID, but our friend didn't want to show it because she was innocent, and she was just being detained. There was the purple haired woman that accused us and said "maybe her friends passed it" Which was even more frustrating. So more and more people started coming to the computer trying to pull up the so-called footage of our friend stealing, it started with just the purple haired girl then another man that had short white hair shaped in a tiny Mohawk. Then another guy named Zayed came and even an employee who had helped my friend buy the tablet whose named Wahid started surrounding the computer scrambling to find the footage, and it became apparent to the officer that they didn’t have the footage and called him without reliable information. The officer saw this many people come over (which was 4), try to find the alleged footage. The officer seemed like he was getting upset too since he said "Do you guys have something or not because I'm detaining this young woman for no reason." Afterwords, they finally confirmed we didn't take anything. Even though we all showed, she didn't have anything. They accused us of stealing a small headphone, even though the camera footage shows us browsing at the bigger headphones. We requested a simple apology, but instead they gave us an excuse, saying that it was store policy. We had to fight for a pathetic excuse of an apology from Zayed and Wahid which did not seem sincere in the slightest. But not the girl with the purple hair that accused us and our friend in the first place. The officer was polite and gave us his badge number and phone number, along with the date and the time. Helping us. It wasn't the officer's fault he was doing his job and he didn't even get to see the footage, he was just doing what they radioed him for. But for the poor customer service and being accused of a big thing at Best Buy, which was scary and could have possibly endangered not only our friend but everyone in our group. I understand many thefts have happened there before, but after showing proof multiple times and having our friend emptying out the best buy bag she bought the iPad with was absolutely frustrating. If it was because of how we looked, we came from a water park, and we wore comfy clothes and didn't bring any bags. My friend returned the iPad and we left. After acquiring some of the employees names. Truthfully, this was a horrible experience. This could have been easily avoided, and it was just...

TLDR: Do not buy online and use this location as a pick up location.

I purchased a TV on bestbuy.com that was listed as "unboxed: excellent" condition at this location. As per the website, excellent condition items contain all original parts (except the owners manual or registration cards). I tried to call the store to get additional information on the item (such as whether or not it had packaging and what the dimensions of the box were), but when you call the stores number, you receive an automated message that informs you the location is not accepting calls, and offers to put you in a "general help" que. But whatever; the unboxed excellent category has traditionally been a way to find sweet deals in the past and the TV was $300 off, so I got a buddy to lend me a hand/his vehicle and we made the drive to the store (it was a large TV). When the associates came out to load the TV, not only did it have no packaging (not a deal breaker), it was missing the remote control and the stand (read: objectively not as advertised). The sales associate offered to give me half off on a remote, but the stand is something I would have to buy separately and used from a third party (because it is a proprietary part). So at this point, I have to spend more money than the original purchase in order to have a functioning TV, and Best Buy does not carry the stand I need, so there is no way I am taking the TV home and using it same-day as planned which is pretty disappointing. Then the sales representative asked if I would be interested in checking out any new TVs since they offer home delivery, but they did not have the TV I was trying to purchase new at the store, so this was also not a real option. The they offered to sell me another TV... I am an informed buyer; I understand the technology, know what features are important to me, and I had decided on this TV after doing a significant amount of market research. At this point, I was honestly a little insulted, but I asked if they could hold the TV for a few days so I could figure out options for the TV stand etc. This was not something that could be done easily or without the assistance of multiple associates at the store. At this point, between the hour drive to the store and the 30 minutes we waited for loading only to have a different product than what I ordered show up at my car, I decided BestBuy had wasted enough of my time and I eventually just asked for a refund, left the TV at the store and left (for another hour+ drive home).

I voiced my unhappiness with the difference from the products listed description online vice its actual condition pretty politely at the time, but the more I've thought about the transaction, the angrier I've become. I am pretty convinced the item is listed in the advertised (not actual) condition to get people to come into the store so they can try to use a loss-leading sales tactics to upsell you on a new TV -- that's definitely where our conversation ended up. I'm sure nothing will come of it, but I'll be reaching out to Best Buy and the BBB to report the issue. Not only will I never shop at this location again, I'm probably done with Best Buy as well; you're better of paying list price on Amazon and having it delivered; at least they won't try to up sell you and waste hours of your time. Also, be wary of "open box" deals...