Best Buy — Local services in Saugus

I would just like to share a recent experience that I had in the Saugus, Mass location, hoping that it does not happen to anyone else as it was extremely unprofessional. I had received a few small items as stocking stuffers for Christmas from my mother. The items my mother had purchased me, though thoughtful, were items that I probably was never going to use. I figured I would see if I could exchange these items for something I may actually use.

I will say, the items were unopened, not damaged at all, packaging perfect. I did however not have a receipt, but again, figured maybe there would be something the store would be able to do.

I will start off by saying, if the store could not do anything for me, that would have been absolutely fine by me. I understand there is a policy and protocol to follow, so if the answer was “there is nothing we can do,” I would of gladly accepted that answer, no questions asked. However, the way the situation was handled was so totally different than I ever anticipated the experience to go.

I walked into the location and spoke to the manager, AJ. I explained to AJ that I received these small items from my mother as a Christmas gift. She had lost the receipt, but I was wondering if I could exchange them for something more useful. Again, I would just to reiterate, if the answer was, “unfortunately, there is nothing we can do,” I would of absolutely accepted that answer and went about my day. However, AJ instructed me to go wait in the corner of the store by the front door and he would be back, “in two minutes to see what I can do.”

As instructed, I stood at the corner of the front of the store. Mind you, I had my two year old and one year old with me, standing by the front door that kept opening and shutting from customers coming and going, wile it was 10 degrees outside.

AJ had said, “give me two minutes.” However, two minutes turned into 20 minutes; still no sign of AJ. I walked to the security at the front and asked if it was possible to see where AJ was. The security guard paged AJ and reminded him we were still waiting at the front and its been 20 minutes. AJ said he would be right over in 5 minutes. Well, 5 minutes turned into now 35 minutes; still not AJ. The kind security guard paged AJ yet again, and informed him that he initially told us he would be over in “two minutes” and it had now been 40 minutes. AJ said he would be right over and was just “finishing up something.” 55 minutes later; AJ was still nowhere to be found. At this point, myself and my two toddlers had been standing in front of a door, continually opening in shutting, freezing from the 10 degrees outside for just about an hour. I thanked the security guard for paging AJ so many times but told him we were leaving as this was ridiculous.

I feel like the whole situation was handled so poorly and extremely unprofessional. If there was nothing AJ could do, as I stated, he should of just initially said, “I do apologize, but we cannot take the items back or give an exchange without the original receipt,” and I would have gladly accepted that answer. But that fact that he had myself and two toddlers stand by the front door, and said he would be back in “two minutes” and after 60 minutes, and being paged by security 3 times, and still never showed up, is extremely upsetting. I will say I personally will never go back into the location ever again, but I would like you to be aware that this is the service that is being delivered at this location. Hopefully, someone can reach out to AJ to let him know that this type of customer service is not, what Best Buys customer...

I’m only giving this review a two star because all the other Best Buy employees were so kind and helpful and if it wasn’t for them this would be a one star review. I had made an appointment with Apple to get my iPad repaired and they referred me to Best Buy in Saugus, I showed up to my appointment even 10 minutes earlier with my iPad fully prepared to get it repaired. When I arrived, I was greeted and told to go over to the geek squad area, where they make the repairs. I waited in line for a minute and this younger gentleman took me. I explained my situation to him and he told me that they didn’t have any iPad screens and that it might take 3 to 5 days for them to repair it, I was in no hurry to get it fixed so I was happy to go with that. During my interaction with that younger man he had mentioned me possibly being able to get a loaner device (which I had no interest in) when then a older white gentleman with glasses (later found out his name was Andrew) who works for the geek squad rudely interrupted him telling him and me that an iPad is not necessity and that they only offer loaner devices for phones and that he wanted to listen to what else the younger gentleman had to say to me. I understand that Andrew was trying to stop maybe some misinformation but the way in which he went about it with his attitude was very hostile. Then the younger gentleman was still trying to talk things through with me to find some alternative but once again, Andrew just had to keep jumping down his throat and I could tell he was becoming uncomfortable but didn’t say anything out of professionalism. At this point, I then tried speaking to Andrew myself and explaining that I had called Apple and they told me that Best Buy would be able to fix it to which he replied “How long were you in the phone? Because I know Apple was trying to get you off the phone by sending you here.” That comment had totally taken me back the younger gentleman then asked Andrew if this iPad would be able to be repaired and he replied “No” and that’s when I left. After I had left, I then called Best Buy to get his name to make a complaint because I’m not a very confrontational person, but the service that I was treated with was honestly below average and I even feel for the person who he was working with because he was creating a hostile work environment for...

Go to a different best buy for any purchases you need to make.

I purchased a Switch here during the time where they were available for the 2020 holidays. Two weeks after buying, we opened presents and find that the Switch charger was defective. There was nothing wrong with the unit other than the charger. Good news was the replacement charger is sold separately, so I figured even though the unit (Switch) was now sold out and couldn't be replaced, I could get a charger.

I spent 1.5 hours trying to reach this store by phone, on hold and called the customer service line to avoid face to face contact and figure out what I could do. Was told by Best Buy service reps to just come in. The store said by proxy they were too busy to take phone calls. First strike. I was able to reach other stores in about 30 minutes.

After coming in, the first person I spoke to understood my situation and said they needed to clear the charger with their manager. They came back 5 minutes later saying they could only replace the full unit. Except, they couldn't, because the Switch was out of stock. Second strike: it's not my problem that you can't keep it in stock. I was sold a defective unit, I only needed one piece of it to fix my problem.

I spoke with a manager and they insisted that I could only replace the entire unit, even though they had the part I need to replace, and they had sold me the defective piece. They told me to buy the new piece and work with the manufacturer. Third strike. If they knew the manufacturer would replace it, why not make the call themselves and give me the part in the meantime?

I realize this may come off as expecting too much and forcing folks to bend the rules, until I mention that I called ahead, went down the street to a different Best Buy, explained the situation, and walked out with a charger in 10 minutes. So much for corporate policy being the problem here.

Bottom line: they will screw you out of your money with defective hardware and refuse to replace it themselves. Do...