Best Buy — Local services in Tysons

Best Buy has become extremely incompetent, poorly trained, and time-wasting these days.

We purchased an $800 electronic tablet for my young son less than 10 months ago at Best Buy. Normally, I would buy cases and screen protectors on Amazon—much cheaper and with a bigger selection. But the salesperson insisted that if we (there were three of us present at the time) bought the $50+ Zagg screen protector at Best Buy, it came with a lifetime warranty, and anytime I needed a replacement, I just needed to bring the device to Best Buy and it would be replaced for free.

Sounds like a great deal, right? Except it was a lie to get me to buy their overpriced screen protector—something I would only find out about 10 months later.

The screen protector quickly wore out and looked horrible after about 5 months, but I didn’t get around to taking it in to Best Buy for a replacement (widower, work full-time, take care of young son) until about 10 months out. It wasn’t a priority, since the salesman had said it was free lifetime replacement.

So I finally found time to go. At customer service, a young guy took my phone number but had a very hard time finding my purchase in the system. He kept questioning me if I had actually bought it at Best Buy, and when. That was the first red flag about Best Buy’s competence. He finally found it, claiming that Best Buy has multiple systems he had to check. He then printed out the receipt and told me to go find the screen protector by locating a floor person to help.

I did that. The floor salesperson scanned the barcode on the receipt, grabbed a Zagg screen protector for my tablet, and I took it back to customer service—only to wait in line yet again.

At the counter, the guy now questioned whether it was the correct screen protector, saying the receipt didn’t show a Zagg but something else. A young girl next to him came over and confirmed I supposedly had the wrong brand. I explained that the salesperson on the floor had scanned the code they gave me and pulled it off the shelf for me. They still didn’t believe me. They told me Zagg gives lifetime warranties but the “other brand” on my receipt does not—so I couldn’t get a replacement.

I asked for a manager. While waiting (a long while), I found the floor salesperson again and asked him to come over—he said he would, but of course he never did.

Back at the counter, customer service kept insisting it was the wrong product. Finally, someone decided to compare the numbers on the receipt with the product. Surprise! It was the right product—it was a Zagg screen protector after all.

But now came a new problem. The girl said Best Buy doesn’t do free replacements of those anymore. The guy whispered to her, “Did Best Buy change their policy recently?”—but I couldn’t hear her answer. Then the manager arrived and said, no, Best Buy doesn’t replace screen protectors, only devices themselves.

The fact that customer service had originally told me to get the replacement, and even said “we only do Zagg exchanges,” shows that Best Buy employees are poorly trained and wasting customers’ time. Clearly the original salesperson lied when he told me replacements were free for life at Best Buy. And clearly, customer service didn’t know what was going on either.

Finally, the manager told me to contact Zagg directly, and they would send a free replacement. Another lie. It isn’t free—they charge $10+ shipping (more if you want it faster).

In short:

Best Buy salespeople misled me to make a sale.

Customer service wasted huge amounts of time and didn’t know their own policies.

“Lifetime replacement” is misleading: you pay shipping every time, and you can’t get it at Best Buy despite what they say at the register.

Best Buy is not the same store it used to be 10 years ago. They give wrong information, contradict each other, and there’s nothing you can do when it comes time to claim a warranty. Better to buy accessories like cases and screen protectors on Amazon—cheaper, faster, and no time wasted on...

On Thursday December 9th, I went in to the Tysons Corner(VA) Best Buy with an appointment to have my HP 2-in-1 laptop which I purchased from this very store about 14 months ago and have it diagnosed by the Geek Squad department for physical damage that was most likely due to faulty parts. This laptop has only been lightly used and almost never leaves my home. I first walked up to the counter and stood waiting for a good 5-7 minutes before I was acknowledged by staff which was not a big deal to me but still notable because there was an associate on the other side of the counter that could have noticed me sooner. I was finally acknowledged at which we confirmed my appointment. Not starting off on the best foot. At this time, a Mr. Siu Tchang who was a “Geek Squad Repair Specialist” came out and greeted me. I explained that I purchased my laptop from this store about 14 months earlier and that the laptop right hand side hinge looked to have failed causing the monitor to detach on that side. Almost immediately, when it was clear that it was physical damage and not a programming issue Mr. Tchang explained that my only option would be to box it up and ship it to a Geek Squad repair facility in Kentucky. Mr. Tchang did not bother to look closely or touch my laptop during our meeting and really just lost all interest in my computer because it was past warranty and not a programming issue. Mr. Tchang explained that they only do programming repairs on site and not physical repairs. I asked Mr. Tchang, what could be the potential damages or pricing for the repair, he just blankly looked at me and explained that they do not do physical repairs on site and that they would need to ship my laptop to the repair facility. I asked if he could contact this facility to ask about my laptop and price the potential parts for this laptop that Best Buy sold me. His response was, “I have the phone number but when you call the repair facility, no one ever picks up”. So basically, he wants to send my laptop to a facility hundreds of miles away with no way of contacting them for information. Who would want to go along with this and blindly send their computer equipment and hope it gets repaired and returned??? Also, it is not good customer service to say, “sure we can call but no one will pick up and help us”. At this point, I became concerned with Mr. Tchang’s customer service experience and his options to assist me were minimal and not helpful. I decided shipping my $850.00 laptop to a location in the middle of nowhere and have no way to contact them was a bad idea. I than asked Mr. Tchang if he knew of any computer tech repair locations in the area of Tysons Corner that could help give me a 2nd opinion on my laptop or even potentially repair it. Mr. Tchang responded by saying, “I have no idea of any other tech locations in the area that could help me”. My thought process was how is this possible when we live in massive computer technology area in Northern Virginia and there are no other stores that could help me. He basically lied to my face when he could have just at the very least tell me that he was not allowed to recommend competing stores due to his employment with Best Buy. At this point, I thanked Mr. Tchang and asked for his managers business card at which Mr. Tchang unprofessionally pointed to his managers business card and then rudely suggested I take his business card. I than collected my...

BUYER BEWARE. We purchased a router here at this location. The box was shrink-wrapped, and when we opened it, the router was missing because someone had stolen it and replaced it with squirrel food and a Shop Rite grocery circular from December, outlining Hanukkah and Christmas grocery specials. We returned to the store immediately, and the employee who rang us up earlier called the manager over. At least the employee who rang us up was there to vouch that it was unopened when we bought it. Josh, the manager, stated that it was not an open item, so it came from the manufacturer that way, he could not accept a return, and we had to call Corporate, but did not give a number, and did not offer an exchange or any resolution. A 30-second Google search shows that Shop Rite is an east coast grocery chain, which means the manufacturer did not do this, and someone local stole the router. Do not shop here if you want to actually receive the item you purchased. BestBuy has stolen our money and this location refuses to resolve the situation. I am fairly certain that criminals are able to purchase shrink-wrap machines, and either the customers or the employees are stealing. It is disturbing that this location is not concerned about theft and I find it odd that they did not report it to the police right then and there, or even mention the issue needed to be reported. We are now working with Corporate BestBuy, and waiting for resolution. I should have read the Yelp reviews before stepping foot into this store; it would have saved me several hundred dollars and several hours of my time. Then, we went on Reddit to discover this happened at other BestBuy stores in other states, and at other localities, security alerts have been issued. Same problem, the router was missing and squirrel food was there instead. We contacted the authorities, and waiting for BestBuy Corporate to give a status update. We are now past 24 hours, the charge was posted on our account, and they are nowhere close to resolving it. Stay away from this store if you want actually want to receive the product you paid for - this store and manager clearly just want your money and not deliver. UPDATE: After using Twitter and conversing with @BestBuySupport, the Corporate social media team was able to get in touch with the General Manager for resolution. The GM admitted that this should have never happened, that their phone tree doesn't work, and that is why we couldn't get calls through. We were given a refund after two days of battles and numerous hours wasted being put on hold by the call center, online chatbot, the store phone tree that is broken, and going back and forth on Twitter. Overall, don't shop here, and if you have an issue, go to social media. Also major props to NetGear Corporate who reached out to help even though it wasn't...