Best Buy — Local services in Solomons

While I feel Best Buy's overall customer experience is impersonal and poor, I must give a particular Store Manager the highest of compliments as he went well out of his way to resolve a critical technical challenge of mine. I have tried to get this information to Best Buy leadership directly, with absolutely no response (sad).

I have been a My Best Buy Total™ member since 2018, purchasing items and using Geek Squad services just a few times over those nearly 7 years. A few weeks ago, my desktop computer started crashing, but I was not confident of the cause. Unfortunately, I was in the middle of setting up my retirement financials and switching medical coverage as well as planning a major household move -- all of which required me to use my computer daily.

After a frustrating and lengthy online tech session with no results, I was pleased to be able to set up a Geek Squad appointment at my local Best Buy store (Lexington Park, MD) the same day to diagnose my issue. However, when I arrived at the store, I was told by the Geek Squad representative that a mistake had been made, that they would be unable to look at a computer for days, and that they could not even service my type of computer. This was deeply frustrating given that I had been paying for computer support for years and had barely used it, and moreso since I needed to get my computer fixed ASAP to deal with pressing issues.

I do this rarely, but I asked to speak to the manager given the urgency of my issue. Within minutes, Mr. FERNANDO HERNANDEZ presented himself. After discussing my issue, Mr. Hernandez personally looked at my computer and screen shots of my failure mode, consulted with another store employee and suggested the likely cause (faulty memory) and remedy (new memory). I agreed to purchase new memory, and he personally located a direct replacement in stock. I gladly purchased the memory as well as some printer cartridges -- which again he personally pulled off the shelves and rang up for me. Once home, I easily installed the new boards within minutes, and my computer was as good as new.

I want to recognize and thank Mr. Hernandez for his personal concern and extraordinary efforts to resolve my issue. He went above and beyond what I would have expected, and as a result he saved my day -- no...he saved my week. I want to thank Best Buy for whatever recruiting, training and/or retention policies and practices resulted in being represented by such a fine young man. As a recently retired executive with a major defense contractor, I know full well the challenges that come with selecting and supporting quality team leaders and customer service personnel. It is often challenging to delight a frustrated customer, but this store manager did it. Best Buy should be proud of Mr. Hernandez, as he represents what we all hope to find and foster...

I wandered into BestBuy today to purchase a sound bar that was on sale. I couldn't manage to get the purchase to go through online, so I made a trip to the store. After speaking with a young man and a woman at the "customer service" desk, they inform me that they cannot transfer nor order the item for me that is not carried at the California, MD store. The woman even asked for her managers assistance and I was told verbatim "there's nothing we can do". So, I make my way to the sound bar section to find an alternative. As I'm listening to the different speakers, a gentleman named Miguel V. asked if he could be of assistance. I proceeded to show him the item I wanted online and explained what was said to me at the customer service desk. He then asked me to accompany him to the kiosk near the audio section. He placed my order effortlessly. One exemplary employee turned a potential bad experience and yelp review into 5 stars. So, whomever the manager is that can't seem to make their way out of the back office behind customer service, thanks for nothing. Miguel, you are an outstanding employee and I hope BestBuy corporate reads this and gives you the manager position! Seems like the manager could use some training on the retail point of sale machines in your store.

UPDATE - Karla (hope I spelled that right) in customer service is just fantastic to work with. She is very knowledgeable and...

Chantel from geek squad was terrible customer service. They didnt do anything they said they would, her staff that I LEFT THE PHONE WITH literally apologized and told me they were going to refund me since my phone was in the exact condition and the tech made a mistake and she came out and insisted no refund. She did not give me a receipt for the iPhone I bought or the reset service I had done (I had to call customer service to get my receipt emailed) I asked to have my number taken for GM but she refused. I asked who else I can talk to and she said she's the manager and their is nobody else above her. She was very rude and its Beyond me how she is manager. I literally came bc I was locked out of a phone and she wouldn't refund me when I came back and the phone was still locked out bc she said she "told me it would still be locked out". She definitely did not say that and my friend didn't hear that either, she wasn't even there when we dropped it off nor when we paid. Only thing she said to us is "if you know the password you can reset yourself but if you have trouble you can come back js bc we charge $40 and you can do it yourself for free". She said nothing about what they were or weren't able to do but she repeatedly gaslit me saying she said a bunch of stuff that was never said. Literally disgusted by Chantels "professionalism". Poor excuse...