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1.6 398 Reviews

Geek Squad Complaints Summary

61 Resolved
334 Unresolved
Our verdict: With Geek Squad's very poor resolution rate, careful consideration is needed. Research their service comprehensively, and read up on how they handle customer disputes. If you face issues, be prepared for potential challenges in obtaining resolutions and explore other service providers as backups.
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Geek Squad reviews & complaints 398

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ComplaintsBoard
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11:10 am EDT
Resolved
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Geek Squad recklessly incorrect diagnosis

On July 2, 2017 I went to Best Buy in Mission Valley in San Diego, CA. I approached the Geek Squad counter with my desktop computer in arm. I needed service on it because the machine didn't send a signal to the display. The computer worked, and I could hear the fan run when I turned it on, but the monitor for some reason didn't display anything.

When I got to the counter, a "technician" (if you can call him that) plugged a keyboard, mouse and monitor to my computer to diagnose it. He acknowledged that the computer did turn on but that the monitor wasn't receiving a signal. He turned the computer off and said "you have a bad motherboard, " to which I responded, "What can be done?" He replied, "Nothing, you have to buy a new computer." I asked him how he could tell, and he said he just knew it was a bad motherboard and that there was nothing that could be done. I argued that he didn't even go in to see if there were loose connectors or transistors, and he said that it was likely a bad transistor and said they couldn't fix it.

I was in shock! I wondered how in the world you could make a diagnosis like that without even taking the cover off. Needless to say, I took my machine and left. Instead, I drove straight to Notebooks Plus, which is a little mom-and-pop store within 5 miles. I left my computer there, where the REAL technicians diagnosed it and told me that the problem was excess dirt inside. They cleaned the machine and now it works fine! Thank goodness for REAL computer technicians!

Moral of the story: Now that Geek Squad resides in a retail store, understand that they are no longer their to repair electronics, rather to get you to buy!

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wtf
Indianapolis, US
Feb 05, 2009 11:13 pm EST

I brought my Acer notebook computer to the Geek Squad at the Best Buy where I bought it, at U.S. 421 N. in Carmel, Indiana (West Carmel Marketplace). Whenever I went online and tried to load a page, any page, all I got was the hourglass and the page never loaded. I took it to the Geek Squad in the store and had to wait an hour there while they ran their free diagnostic. It was closing time when it finished, and they said it showed there was spyware on it. In a rush to get home and make dinner, I said they could keep it and fix it. No word, no word, and a week later I finally called. Guess what? It was "done" the next day. I paid the $125 or so and took it home. Guess what? No difference; I still couldn't load a page!

My son suggested it might be the wireless modem that was off, since the computers connected to the ethernet cable were OK. I called the cable provider, who came out and found that the wireless network name and password needed to be reset (long story why, don't ask) and fixed the problem. Anyway, I went back to the Geeks and asked for my money back since they failed to diagnose the problem correctly and fix it. The Geek refused and started arguing that they did perform a service (removing the "spyware" which I actually doubt was even on there; the one they were talking about, I had identified months ago and removed all associated files and it had caused me no problems since). Then he tried to say I should have called and given them a chance to fix the problem once I discovered they hadn't the first time around. I pointed out that I figured it out on my own and I was here now giving them the chance to make it right by refunding my money. He still refused. So much for customer service.

I will NEVER go back there for software issues (unfortunately I have a 3-year service plan for hardware issues so I have to use them for that if I need to). I would never advise anyone to use them for any reason after all the horror stories I have heard here and read in the news, like the way they rigged their instore website to list higher prices than their online website for the same items...until they were found out and outed in the press so they had to stop. Can you say "un-eth-i-cal?"

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Chris Owens
Indianapolis, US
Oct 24, 2009 7:19 pm EDT

Sounds like if i had to guess you are a older guy who does not know how to manage his technology? maybe... it also could of been a ID10T ERROR look that up...

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lolumad
West LaLa, US
Apr 02, 2009 2:36 pm EDT

lol um well just because you think you remove (or even successfully do) doesn't mean it won't come back. Chances are on a Windows machine there definitely was spyware on it and Geek Squad's diagnostic tool correctly reported that there was spyware so they removed it. Which is what you payed for.

Just buy a Mac and never have problems again.

ComplaintsBoard
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8:12 pm EDT
Resolved
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Geek Squad geek squad needs help — badly!

Best Buy offers to "optimize" laptops/netbooks to make them run faster. Supposedly the optimization takes 30 minues. I bought a netbook a couple of weeks ago at Best Buy and have tried twice to get the optimization. I still don't have an optimized computer.

The first time I went in for optimizaton, I was told my battery didn't have enough power and they couldn't do the optimization since they didn't have a power cord. Okay... So why doesn't a computer repair service have the power cords for at least the computers their own store sells? Since nobody told me to bring my own power cord for the optimization, I didn't bother to take it with me. After all, one of the main reasons you get a netbook is its lightness compared to a laptop. Why would you want to weigh yourself down with accessories you're not likely to need for the task at hand?

The second time I tried to get the netbook optimized, I was told to leave it for an hour after paying the $40 fee. While I was gone, I got a call on my cell phone from the geek squad saying they needed another hour because their one external drive was being used by another technician. And, of course, the person I talked to before this last unsuccessful attempt to get the optimization didn't tell me I needed to bring my own external drive for the optimization. Okay... So, why doesn't a computer repair store have more than one external DVD/CD-ROM drive anyway?

Unwilling to hang around for another hour because I had an appointment on the other side of town and didn't want to drive home, back to the store, and then back home later, I retrieved my computer and got a refund for the optimization that never occurred. Before leaving, I complained to the geek squad supervisor. He told me they used to have more than one external drive but that the other one "had gone out." Okay... So what kind of computer repair store depends on a single one of the most common pieces of equipment in modern computing? And what kind of computer repair store can't repair or replace its own equipment?

Hey, Best Buy, take a page out of the Apple Store play book. They know how to run an efficient onsite repair service, which is something you seem to need a whole lot of help doing. Be assured that I'll never waste my time trying to get service from your geek squad again.

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HOPE101
Canal Winchester, US
Apr 02, 2009 1:51 pm EDT

Right now there is a huge issue in the Geek Squad. I was actually warned to stay away from Best Buy because of their lack of concern in doing the job right. I should have listened.
What happened to me personally is beyond anything I could have believed unless I went through it. Here it is, ...
I took my computer to best buy to get a wireless pic lan card installed. The geek squad guy said it would be 50.00 and then when I got there he said it was $80.00. So when I told him the difference he changed the price to $50.00. The next day I picked up the computer and the wireless card did not work nor did the router they told me to purchase, $39.00. I then tried everything to get this to work and nothing. So I had to call best buy and they refused to tell me anything and told me that the reason it would not function is because the wireless pic lan card had to be configured to operate correctly they told me that this was only possible if they came out and charged me an in home service fee.
I was angry about this because it was never mentioned to me that this was a requirement of having a pic wireless lan card installed. So I ended up having to bring my computer back into the best buy geek squad which was not a good thing but I did not know what else to do. So I had talked to the manager of the Geek squad and he said to bring it in to test it. I was told it would take about an hour. The manager told me he would place the info in my file and other techs world see it and know what to do.
So I drop off my computer and 3 days later no one has called me back.
I contact the Geek squad and asked them why no one has called me and they told be they were running a diagnostic, which shows nothing in error that they did, of course. So I told them what the manager said to me and none of that info was in the notes of my file and the manager had went on vacation a day after he told me to bring in my computer.
So now I am so upset I take my computer home and call the company that made the pic wireless lan card to ask them what to do. One of their tech support walks me through the process of testing their card and it is found that the drivers were not installed with the pic wireless lan card. It was not recieving a signal because the Geek squad put the hardware in and nothing else. The computer did not recognise the added hardware. I contact the corporate portion of the Geek squad which had "agents" speak to me about this issue. All they did was work to cover themselves while leaving me looking like the one who was at fault. I was on the phone with best buy and the Geek squad for several days, ... more than 4 hours total.
The Store Best Buy and their Geek Squad are only looking to cover their people in wrong doing at the full cost of the customer. I actually had to take the computer to another best buy in order to get information that proved that the first Geek squad was in error. They told me that there was no way that the Geek squad in the other location did the right thing and in saying that I thought I could trust them.
I left my computer there and then when I picked cit up they said that there was a hard drive problem and that was why their pic wireless lan card did not work. So I contacted the corporate office again (4th time) and they refused to give me a refund for the lan card or the router because it was a problem with my computer, not their service or their agents. I forgot to mention that when I talked to their Geek squad agent in their corporate office they spoke extra loud and tried to drown out my statements when they did not agree with what I said about something being very wrong in their Geek squad. Every word out of the mouth of this agent was in a means to say that I as a customer was wrong and their Geek squad was right. I believe the reason they did this was to make sure in the midst of failing companies they would cover their company at the expense of the customer, and to cover their jobs.
I have since cancelled my credit card and account with Best Buy. I will never purchase from this company again because they were willing to steal from me to cover themselves while knowing that their employees are doing wrong.

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Skolky
, US
Dec 01, 2011 11:54 am EST

on [protected] i went to best buy/ G SQUAD to service my computer because a virus erase all the data in my computer and within erase two book that took me a year to write the recommend me to do a data recovery level one with a cost of $249.99 at the store to recovery my documents but they did not have success and then they refer me to a third party i left my computer and they shipped to the third party they contact me by phone and offer me a data recovery level two they did a data recovery an sent me an email with the approximate cost of $499 to $658 + tax.

I accept but my expectancy fails and the recovery where a whole bunch of codes blank pages and many different formats that no one could ever see the data they sent the computer back to the third party to check the computer and the external hard drive but they came up with a level tree solution and $1000.00 down payment with it i accept because i really like to recovery my documents they did a data recovery level tree and sent my computer back but this time the computer did not work anymore the external hard driver never show up any recovery data until still not showing any and they had $1700.00 on their pocket i contact the local office of G Squad At Best Buy for resolution.

They contact the third party the third party send me and email apologizing for the job performance because they discovery that they make a mistake this is what they wrote on the email NOTE) We made a mistake with charging you for your recovery. Your recovery came back as a level 2 and not a level 3. This means we owe you a refund. You will be refunded the entire $350 remaining payment you made as well as $750 from the $1000 lab fee. In order to do this we simply have to have you confirm the refunds with our billing department.

They return my money back to my account at Chase but when i receive the external hard drive the problem continue no pages show up when we open the pages was in blank and the external hard drive show a lot of system files most of the files were corrupted or damages a BIG SCAM a return my hard drive to the store Best Buy 504 to get my complete refund but did not refund my money CONCLUSION i have been charge hundreds of dollars to get my data recovery, they trash my computer damaging the hard drive, nothing show up on my hard drive a this point after 5 month later and on top of it the have not return my money.

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oakcreek2001
, US
Jun 22, 2010 2:36 pm EDT

Took my laptop into Best Buys, Geek Squad facility to find out why I could not connect to the wireless internet at my home. They kept the laptop 2 days and told me it was fixed. I had prepaid 199.00 for their service. Internet connection worked IN THE STORE with Best Buys wireless. Got the laptop home and was unable to connect to the internet. Frustrated, I called to let them know that the laptop was not fixed. I spoke with Erin. She said bring it back. I went back to the store the next day, Erin would not talk to me she talked to the sales clerk only. The clerk gave me the "party line"...'it works in the store, so it is fixed'... I said I cannot work at Best Buy, I need to work at home. Long story short, I asked repeatedly for my money back or at least the $130.00 for the non-service, they refused. Michelle, another manager, finally came over and offered me a booster for the laptop. I took and left the store unhappy. I am totally dissatisfied with Geek Squad and will not use their service ever again. I am still unable to access the wireless internet inside my home.

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geekscam
New York, US
Dec 19, 2014 6:30 am EST

did you bring a computer to Best Buy (or its “Geek Squad”) to have the data on that computer transferred to another computer/drive, and ultimately were told that the old computer drive was corrupt (or some such), so that if you wanted the data transferred the old drive would have to be sent to another location for more in-depth/complex work and it would cost more than you were originally told.

If you would like to recover your losses please contact law firm at 800.511.7037 or email at contact@tripplevy.com

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Zamiel_C
Least Lansing, US
Jan 30, 2011 9:18 pm EST

Why would you want this scam service in the first place? Best Buy's "optimization" isn't worth it, and has been known to SCREW UP computers more than helping them. I just bought a netbook and because they didn't have any in stock that weren't already optimized, I was stuck taking an optimized netbook from them (although I didn't have to pay for the optimization, at least). When I got it home, I found that they had deleted the good Trend Micro Antivirus (the brand I've used for years, which comes with most ASUS computers) and instead had installed Webroot, which bogged down the Netbook. They had logged me in (thus robbing me of the "new computer first time" experience, where Windows welcomes you and asks you to log in) and they changed all sorts of basic settings that I tend to tweak myself (and they did it WRONG in half of those cases).

Worst of all, they deleted ESSENTIAL ASUS DRIVERS AND FILES. They removed the ASUS keyboard driver for some reason, thus causing all the system's special switches and keystrokes (Fn+F1, WiFi switch, etc.) to cease functioning. They deleted the ASUS power management "Super Hybrid Engine" which allows ASUS netbooks to dynamically control power settings so the battery lasts longer. They even disabled my ability to enter into ExpressGate, the ASUS fast-boot LINUX-based operating system that's built into all their systems. The did make sure to include their own Best Buy application, though, so I could use their portal to buy more Best Buy stuff! How nice of them, huh?

The end result was that the computer was slow, didn't have all the advertised ASUS functions, had malfunctioning switches and keys, wasn't properly personalized for MY needs, and had Best Buy bloatware/adware installed on it. WHAT A BARGAIN!

This is "optimization"? They screwed up my PC before I ever got my hands on it. I don't even know what might have been missing from the opened box!

As it stood, I had to spend three hours restoring the system to factory settings and loading Windows updates again just to get everything working the way it was supposed to. If it weren't for the Eee PC's restore partition, I'd have been stuck with a crippled, damaged PC, thanks to Best Buy's inept screwing around with it.

Geek Squad is the McDonald's of PC repair. Don't go to them if you have any sense.

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gnarkill5821
, US
Oct 05, 2009 6:26 am EDT

@Drahkar

It's always first come first serve.

If you were a "more important" customer who's actually dropping some real money for a service they would have no problems pushing your PC and equipment to the front of the queue or opening up new equipment on the floor to accomplish the task more quickly.

^That shouldn't happen. For an optimization on a netbook (USE A FLASH DRIVE)... we all know cd's/dvd's are a thing of the past. That just seems silly that an agent gave you an excuse about the 1 drive.

Every computer manufacturer does have different A/C adapters. And on top of that they all have a million different series' which all have a million models. Netbooks have a lower voltage A/C adaptor than most standard laptops. So precincts don't carry those adapters or universal adaptors for them.

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Drahkar
, US
Aug 13, 2009 3:47 am EDT

You are being given a best case scenario as far as time goes for an optimization. You have to understand that you aren't the only person being serviced and there is a limited amount of space for computers to be worked on. It's not uncommon for 50+ computers to need servicing at once even at the smaller locations. As far as power cords go - It's fairly common sense to bring your own, do you really think they'd just have 20 or more cords hanging around just so you can be lazy? You have a cord, bring it. It's *your* responsibility to bring all appropriate equipment for the servicing.

The external drive problem is kind of silly since they sell those in store, if they really need one they can just open one up, but also understand that you're only paying $40. If you were a "more important" customer who's actually dropping some real money for a service they would have no problems pushing your PC and equipment to the front of the queue or opening up new equipment on the floor to accomplish the task more quickly.

Also optimizations include windows updates which if you haven't been keeping up on can take an hour or more by themselves.

A little common sense and patience could have easily made your experience better. If you have an appointment somewhere else - leave the computer there and pick it up later. If you don't want to bring your power cord - make sure your battery is charged. If you wanted to make sure it gets done - bring *all* the equipment that may be needed. They'll send you back home with whatever they don't need, it's not that inconvenient, and could very well speed up the process.

Both sides are at fault here. They shouldn't give a time quote unless they can get it out in that amount of time and you should have been more prepared.

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daoshao
Brooklyn Park, US
Jul 06, 2009 2:59 pm EDT

-Try a different best buy store.

-Almost every laptop manufacturer has a different style power cord.

-Ask next time what you'll need to bring in with the laptop.

-Why didn't you just leave it overnight?

-Most geek squad places are overwhelmed with pc repairs. You just have to be patient.

ComplaintsBoard
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2:06 pm EDT
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Geek Squad laptop repair

Totally lacking in professionalism, coordination, customer service or business sense of any type. Simply high school drop outs in white shirts with a skinny black tie. No training. No ability. A waste of time and money to even enter their store.

Beware of:
General Manager, Edwin Smith.
His name is given out by underlings often, because he simply doesn't return calls, so it doesn't matter.

Beware of:
Operations Manager, Todd Harmon
He was trained by Edwin at how to blame other departments.

Beware of:
Night manager, Zach Ferrell
He was trained by Edwin at customer avoidance skills.

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SD annoyed
, US
Feb 09, 2010 4:42 pm EST

I brought my laptap in for repair because it wouldn't connect with the WiFi network at work. I described the problem in detail. At their suggestion, I authorized a software scan, for which they charged me $70, to check for viruses. On their service order they wrote: "Client opted for DIAG to find the cause of the problem client is aware of $130 for repair if software related." After the scan, they said they found one virus, so I authorized the $130 to fix the problem, for a total of $200 paid. But when I brought the computer back to work, it STILL didn't work. Not one thing had changed. So I asked for a return of my $130. They refused and told me to call "corporate" Best Buy. I did, which took forever (three different agents, after long waits for each). Got cut off and had to start all over again. Finally got through and got the runaround. I told them I shouldn't have to pay the $130 because they didn't fix my computer. I could have bought a functioning used laptap for the $200 I paid to them for absolutely nothing! I said I was happy to eat the original $70, but thought paying another $130 for work which did NOT fix the problem was unfair. We got cut off, so I called yet again. This time I was told that only the store manager could authorize a refund. Yet the Geek Squad guy in the store had told me I had to call corporate! What a runaround! Total incompetence and fraud.

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yippe
Hancock, US
Jun 29, 2009 7:55 pm EDT

hi,

suggestion -copy/paste yr comment on this site as well -
www.telloscar.com

see other best but/geek squad complaints there

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9:59 pm EDT
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Geek Squad outrageous estimate for a repair job

We took our 9-month old HP laptop into the Geek Squad because the screen was 'leaking'... causing the picture to have black lines in it that slowly 'grew' over the screen. Since we had purchased an extended warranty, we expected that the bulk of the expense would be covered.
We were wrong. We were told that the screen was not covered because it 'looked like' someone had put pressure on it. (!?) They 'guessed' that it would cost about $350. to replace it and said that it wouldn't cost anything to send it away to their repair center for an estimate.
About a week later we got an email saying the estimate was done. When I called I was told that it would cost $850.00 to repair the screen (on a laptop that didn't cost that much!). We said no thanks.
We went online, purchased a new screen (for under $$120... including shipping) and installed it (using instructions we found online) in less than an hour! And we're not technical professionals!

Geek Squad is a rip off... and so are Best Buy extended warranties.

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Drahkar
, US
Aug 13, 2009 4:12 am EDT

You did indeed void the warranty on your machine by installing the screen yourself. Other than that though, it's generally fairly easy to tell if something happened due to misuse or it actually died of natural causes. A screen that has been manually smashed looks a lot different than a screen that died naturally or cracked due to a fall or other such accident. As an example - I saw a computer that had been "dropped off a balcony" which was "about 6 feet high"...The computer was in about a hundred different pieces, it had obviously suffered quite a bit more trauma than a 6 foot drop could have inflicted.

The prices can indeed be high for repairs, but you have to understand, if you had taken that same computer anywhere else it would have cost you about the same amount or maybe even more since your warranty would have covered the diagnostic at Best Buy at least.

Also if your computer was only 9 months old you still had the factory warranty on it. Which means you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble and just sent it to HP yourself and possibly (Assuming of course that your problem was in fact legit) a lot of money. Why didn't you take that rout?

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daoshao
Brooklyn Park, US
Jul 09, 2009 11:28 am EDT

Great for you. But you also have to remember that you probably voided your warranty by working on your laptop.

Lieing about the damage and then expecting your warranty to cover also a big oops on your end.

Somehow i doubt the a screen cost 120 bucks. Most new LCD screens cost over 200 bucks before shipping charges.

Its not a ripoff. Its a business. Your paying them to do the work. If you work on it yourself..then you save the money. Thats how everything works from cars repairs, electronic repairs, plumbing repairs, etc.

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5:02 pm EDT
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Geek Squad laptop unrepaired and agent threatening

In March of this year I took my HP laptop to Best Buy because I could not get on the internet. All other systems on the system were working fine.

The next day I got an email saying the hard drive was bad so I went back to the store. The young guy at the desk told me if I would bring them my receipt of purchase from Staples they could replace the hard drive under the manufacture’s warranty. I promptly took the receipt to the store.

The next day I got an email telling me the computer was repaired and ready for pick up. I drove the 25 miles to the store only to be told that the email was in error and the computer was not ready. I was upset and told the “agent” as much and he was extremely rude and arrogant. He told me that I had not brought a receipt in and it was my fault. By this time I was getting a little upset and asked to speak to the manager. She determined that I had in fact brought the receipt in but they had not entered it into their system. She apologized and told me that she would make it right with a gift certificate or something (which they did not honor).

The following day I went back to pick the computer up (5 trips, now) only to discover a large scratch across the cover. The same “agent” that was ugly to me before apologized and told me he’d like to give me a gift certificate for the damage. I refused, initially, but felt like $25.00 was a small fee for the damage so I accepted.

Now, thirty-one (31) days later my laptop began “blue screening” so I took it back to Geek Squad since they had done the work. They looked it up and told me it was one (1) day past their warranty but if it was the hard drive again they would replace it at no charge. The “agent” even called the manager over and he said the same thing to my granddaughter and me.

The next day I get a call saying the hard drive is bad and they will replace it but I need to bring in all discs that came with the computer. No disks come with this particular computer and they should have known how to restore it as it is customary with this particular model. I took the paper work I have back out to them and he again told me and my granddaughter they would replace the defective hard drive at no charge.

The next day I get a call from the “agent” (“Hello, this is agent?”) and he informs me that I am several days out of their 30 day warranty and it will be $100.00 for them to replace the hard drive or I can order it directly from the manufacturer. I told him that he and his supervisor had told me twice previously that the hard drive would be replaced at no charge. He was rude and abrupt and told me he was trying to help me in a very condescending tone. I told him the manager said he’d honor the warranty since it was just one day over the 30 days but he told me he could not do that. I told him to leave it as is and I’d come to pick it up.

If all this was not bad enough, I went just now to pick up my laptop and was told I needed to sign a piece of paper. When I read the paper it stated that I had been informed that my “work” was out of their warranty and the hard drive was not under warranty. I refused to sign the form and told them I would not sign anything stating that the hard drive was not under warranty when it was only 31 days old and had a one year warranty. The “agent” became angry and told me I could not take my laptop unless I signed the paper. I already had it in my hands so I proceeded out the door. He yelled at the security guy to stop me. I stopped once outside and explained the situation to the security guy. The angry “agent” came out the door and told me he would not allow me to take my computer unless I signed the form. I finally told him it was my computer, I did not owe them anything and I was leaving. He yelled at the security guy and told him never to let me back in the store.

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daoshao
Brooklyn Park, US
Jul 09, 2009 11:20 am EDT

Technically, 31 days...you are out of the warranty. Electronic products...eh, anything can happen.

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porcelainwhite
, US
Jul 05, 2009 8:26 am EDT

what a bunch of ###

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3:17 pm EDT
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Geek Squad phone insurance

Recently bought a new Nokia N96 from the Carphone Warehouse, who offered me Geek Squad phone insurance free for the 1st month, and then at only £10 every month after that.

I thought this was pretty good, since it covered loss and theft etc, so I went for it.

I recently went to a music festival, with my newly aquired phone, and during the first day of music, put the phone in a side pocket of my bag, which I left in the tent.

I returned in the evening to find the tent ram-sacked, with the phone gone.

So, when I returned from the festival 3 days later, I phoned up the network provider, got them to cancel the sim card etc. and that was fine. I then phoned up GEEK SQUAD to claim on the theft insurance.

I told them that I had been at the festival, without a back-up phone, and once discovered the phone missing, told the security personnel.

Geek Squad got back to me a day later to deny my claim because, and I quote "[I] did not inform [the network provider] or the police within 24 hours of finding the phone stolen".

BECAUSE I WAS AT A FESTIVAL! ARGH! I told them on the phone, when I made my claim, that there WERE NO POLICE at the festival, only security personnel, and neither was there a pay phone with which I could phone the network provider's customer care (if I could have got their number, which would have been hard too). Still they refused to cough up!

I think it's criminal how they can do this - if I was camping out in the wilderness (I know - there isn't much in England...) and lost my phone, how would I contact the network provider, or the police!?!? IT'S THE SAME AT A FESTIVAL.

So, to conclude, don't go with the Geek Squad if you want your contract to be fair, and their claims advisers to be reasonable, since they seem to be a bunch of tight minded ****s who don't care about anyone's happiness, other than their own.

(I have decided, once I have persued this with their customer services etc. that, if they still refuse, to go to the Office of Fair Trading and sue the pants off the Geek Squad, so I can chore me an even better phone :D )

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slippz
, US
Sep 17, 2010 8:31 am EDT
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IF 24 hours was the written company policy regarding theft for your cellphone insurance, then the issue of negligence fall on you... Keep in mind: the company itself did not lose your cellphone, nor did they take it! It is not THEIR fault that any of those situations occurred... You may want to read the fine print before purchasing any future protection plans

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wits-end
London, GB
Apr 12, 2010 6:18 am EDT
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Geek squad make victims of crime feel like criminals, I was pick pocketed on the bus and because I have had 5 claims in 10 years they wanted to interview me – this would have been fine but then it took 16 days from the report to the day they granted my insurance. During this time I had no access to any of my blackberry services and I had only owned the phone for one month, I have claimed back my access line rental on the basis of not being given a replacement phone asap and I have to wait for a min of 4 weeks for a result. I had to call geek squad to follow up on numerous occasions and it was only after a week they told me I could even have a temp phone. However, when I saw the phone it could only make calls and send texts. Car Phone warehouse has lost it’s lustre and geek squad should be closed, Life line was excellent, you delt with reps in store and they actually gave you advice. NEVER USE THEM THEY ARE OVER PRICED AND HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING FOR WHAT THE VICTIM IS/HAS GONE THROUGH! USE THEM AT YOUR PERIL.

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Geek Squad mislead

My friend's computer crashed while I was running the Defrag so I called the Geek Squad number to see if they could help me get Windows running. The woman on the phone told me that, "It seemed more like a virus than harddrive issues" and that I should bring it into the store. Once I got to the store, I explained to the counter Geek that the phone Geek thought that the problem was a virus. He looked at the computer and said that, "The computer was too old to guarantee that they could fix it and it would cost around 300.00". I asked him how much it would cost to just copy the information from the hard drive. He said that it would be 99.00 for that service. I objected to the price and was told that it was a very labor intensive task where the tech had to open the hard drive and manually remove the data, the service wasn't gauranteed, but worked quite well and...had to be paid for in advance. Well, long story short...that is not what happened. When I returned to the store to retrive the copied data, I was told by a different Geek that the data could not be retrieved and that the hard drive was bad. I asked, why couldn't you retrieve the data if you opened the hard drive? She said, "No, we don't do that here. That has to be done at Geek central in a special white room with special clothing on, and it costs around 300.00." I asked to speak to the Geek manager, who told me that the first counter Geek could have never told me anthing that was untrue because he had been there for 5 years. I next asked to speak with the store manager. Well, the Geek manager went to get the store manager and the two of them talked it out before the store manager ever spoke to me. My answer from him was, "You signed the agreement for work to be done, and someone did some work, so sorry if you thought you were getting something else, our tech has to get paid". I asked for the customer service number and by the time I spoke withe someone there, I got, " The store already called us and we are sticking by what the store said." This has been one of the worse customer service experiences of my life. I will NEVER give them anymore of my money. I hope they spend the 99.00 well.

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Best Buy Mays Landing
Mays Landing, US
Mar 21, 2010 6:06 pm EDT

A day after being told by a Geek Squad representative that my data could be saved I received a call to pick up my computer. In the small box they laid on the counter I expected to find my info backed up on DVDs. To my surprise it was my old hard drive! I was never called, as promised, and told the results of the diagnostic test before the switch was made. They said mine was damaged so they replaced it, and the data "could" be saved if I was wiliing to send it out, wait 4-6 weeks, and pay $250.00-$1, 800.00! After arguing the sales rep told me because they couldn't save the data in store he would refund half of my money. I told him I deserved a full refund and demanded to see the manager. Thinking he was ringing up a full refund I was again swerved by Best Buy and only received $75.00. He told me he was refunding half my money, and that we would "split" the rest. I'll NEVER do business with Best Buy ever again, and will tell everyone I know about the bad experience I had there.

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gnarkill5821
, US
Sep 29, 2009 5:24 pm EDT

@ kleubner86

There wouldn't be a sku for $64. The $64 is the amount owed back to this customer ($99.99 - $34.95= $65.04 [So it should actually be $65 my mistake]). This post definitely shows a problem! Different stores have different interpretations of how services should be performed and charged for. SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) says that for any data backup procedure that cannot be performed in store $34.95 is kept for the store's compensation (for the attempt of the procedure) and the rest is returned to the customer. In this case the store is correct, the store needs to be compensated for the employee's work, but is wrong on the dollar amount. I refer to my previous post in what this customer should do to have this financial error corrected by Best Buy.

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kleubner86
, US
Sep 29, 2009 12:12 pm EDT

I work for Geek Squad and in my store, if we are unable to retrieve data, then we refund ALL of your money, no questions asked. It doesn't make sense to pay for a service that can't be performed. The Best Buy you went to was COMPLETELY incorrect for not refunding your money. As far as refunding $64 and us keeping $35, that's not correct either. We don't have a $64 labor sku AT ALL, so I don't know where he is getting this from. The only time we refund part of a service is if they paid a deposit to sent something off the service ($84.94), then they decline the estimate for repair, they get $50 of it back ($34.95 covers shipping and diagnoses, the $50 would have gone towards the cost of repair). We would also do a partial refund say if they purchased a $299 advanced diagnostic and repair with backup and the backup couldn't be performed, we return the entire ADRB and then ring out a $199 ADR. It's terrible that you had such a terrible experience with Geek Squad because believe it or not there are Geek Squad stores with Agents that know what they're doing and treat customers fairly.

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gnarkill5821
, US
Jun 10, 2009 4:50 pm EDT

@mooresvillenc

Here's what happened and what you should do:
Defrag is an intense application on your harddrive so if your computer crashed running it, I can bet that the problem is with your harddrive. It sounds like the woman on the phone is wrong. It is harder to diagnose an issue over the phone, so her recommendation on bringing the computer into the local store was correct. I would agree with everything that the agent said about not spending 300 + to fix it and everything and I think you chose the right service which was the computer backup in store for $99.

***Here's how that backup process works***

An agent takes the harddrive out of the computer and plugs it into an external harddrive adapter on a special computer that BB corporate gave them for housing information. IF that computer recognizes the harddrive then awesome, they copy what data you wanted copied and burn it to discs and everything is said and done. IF NOT then what SHOULD happen according to Best Buy SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) is you should be refunded $64 dollars and they keep $35. Different local stores have different interpretations of that rule but, it should be set in stone across all stores.

****Bottom Line**** ---> Take this understanding of BB SOP to the local store and ask for your money back. Make them print you up the clause that says they keep all the money for a backup that cannot be performed (which they can't because there isn't one). If that does not work get your Service order number and call up best buy corporate and they should return the proper amount back to you. 1-888-BESTBUY. Good Luck

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Geek Squad laptop repair

I purchased a laptop from Best Buy in Colorado Springs last year and also purchased the store's extended warranty. I was told by the sales guy that if the computer is brought in 4 times, I would get a brand new laptop. A few months later my computer started messing up. I took it to Geek Squad and 2 weeks later I got it back. When we checked it at the service desk, we discovered that it wasn't repaired SO they shipped it off again. They replaced the mother board and 1 week later I got it back. When I got it back I discovered that when you hit the numbers lock, numbers would appear when I typed "jklghf" instead of the actual letters. I didn't want to hand over my laptop again so I waited until something else went wrong so I could get it all taken care of at one time. I didn't have to wait long. It began to over heat within an hour after turning it on. The fan would eventually turn on then computer would shut down without notice. So without any further delays, I went back to Geek Squad and stood in line for 45 minutes. As usual they were rude and not very knowledgeable. They admitted that they had never seen a computer type numbers instead of letters when the numbers lock was on for keys "jklghf" so they sent it out on April 15th, 2009. On May 1st I called to find out if it was repaired and they said yes. I went to pick it up and discovered the computer had been back for 3 days and they hadn't bothered to called & inform me that it was back. I was upset but still happy to get it back. They had replaced the keyboard. I informed them that last time my computer had to be shipped off twice because they didn't fix it the first time. I made it clear to them that they had better fixed it because I would be upset if I discovered it was still messed up. They said to give them an hour & they would run a test on it to see if it was fixed. An hour later I came back & they said the computer had passed the test and all was fixed. I happily took it home and immediately discovered that they had NOT fixed it. The numbers lock was still causing problems. The very next day I took it back and spoke to the manager. I informed him that this was the 4th time I had brought it up & that I wanted a new computer as stated on the warranty. He told me that he wanted to reinstall the hard drive and that they had a right to try and fix it in the store. I was upset and told him that they have had it for 2 weeks and they had their chance to fix it. He said he understood my frustrations but to come back in 4 hours. 4 hours later I went back and found that reinstalling the hard drive it did not correct the problem. No surprise there. By then I was furious. I told them to replace the computer as promised in the warranty. The day manager had already left and I was faced with dealing with another manager. She said that they could not give me a new computer yet. She said that they would have to ship the computer off again to be diagnosed. She also said that once they decide that the computer cannot be fixed without further replacement parts then they would issue a store certificate for CURRENT VALUE of the laptop. I could then use the certificate to buy another laptop or a TV or whatever I wanted. Not once had that ever came up when I purchased the extended warranty. The salesman had told me that they would just give me another laptop if it was determined to be a lemon. He didn't say that although I paid 1, 000 for the laptop, the value amount of the computer at the time it was to be replaced is all that I will get. I was pissed. Beyond upset. I was absolutely without a doubt livid. Sensing my impending fit, the manager gave me her personal cell phone number and said to call in 3 days that she should know something by then. Well 3 days later I call Geek Squad for a progress report. The girl who answered was there the night I threw a fit and she remembered me. She rudely informed me that they had to consult the manufacturer (HP) to see if they have any laptops of comparable value. Another words, they want to replace my laptop with a refurbished one! She said that these things usually take a week and that I need to be patient. A week? The manager told me 3 days. And she never mentioned the HP would be consulted. All she said was that they would check to see if it could be fixed without replacing any other parts and if not then I would get a certificate. So they lied to me again! The next day I call the manager on her personal cell phone to see what was going on. The manager answers and is angry at me for calling her on her personal cell. Her exact words were "why would I give you my personal number?" She didn't even remember dealing with me 4 days earlier. She said that she has to deal with other people and that she shouldn't be expected to remember everyone. She looked up my file and the lady who I spoke to the day before was standing there. She informed the manager that she spoke to me the previous day which really upsets the manager. She tells me that they are waiting for a response from HP and that I need to stop calling them. HUH?! She then HANGS UP ON ME! It has been 12 days since she shipped it off the last time. 12 days ago they said I would know something in 3 days. 2 days ago I called for a progress report. Nothing. Nothing new to report. A lady told me she would call and get it rushed. She said she would call me right back. She never did. I have been without my laptop for a month now (it has been a month since they initially shipped it off for the numbers lock & over heating issue). I don't know what else to do. They are extremely rude when I call or show up. They don't know any details nor are they willing to call and get it figured out. I am simply left to wait it out. I will NEVER buy anything from them again. I don't care how big or little it is, they will not get another dime from me again. EVER...

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gnarkill5821
, US
Sep 02, 2010 10:22 pm EDT

@Jhae3650

Sounds like when you brought the computer in the first time it wouldn't POST. POST stands for Power On Self Test which tests individual pieces of hardware prior to attempting to boot your computer up. (When you see the computer MFG logo on your screen after turning it on, that is the POST.) Since you said it's a laptop it's likely an issue with your motherboard. It can also be a problem your LCD inverter. They probably misdiagnosed a motherboard issue (thinking it was the LCD inverter). I've seen missing screws / bad workmanship too many times when a computer comes back from the service center that this case isn't remotely surprising. The technician probably cut the wireless antennae with a wrong size screw and didn't connect the keyboard cable all the way. (All of which I've seen before). So they sent it back out only to disassemble the chassis again and probably forgot to connect the speaker cables or, again, cut them with the wrong size screw.

Everything of course is speculation based on the symptoms you have provided online. But replacing the motherboard of a laptop isn't an easy task. There are many screws, (50+ usually), and they are all sorts of sizes (meaning they have to be put back in the precise location they were taken from). This sounds like it shouldn't be a problem but there are usually 4 different layers of screws and the holes aren't normally marked (making it a bit more difficult).

Anyways call their consumer relations department 1800BestBuy. If you tell any personnel in store or on the phone that you are threatening to sue, they are forced to hang up on you. So if it's an empty threat don't say it because it won't get you anywhere with them.

Cheers

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Jhae3650
Carson, US
Aug 19, 2010 1:43 pm EDT

Have the same problem with you guys. I brought my laptop to best buy Geek Squad last July 29, 2010.The problem of my laptop was I can't see the screen when I turn it on.So they said they will fix it.Geek Squad called me after a week and told me the estimate price of the laptop to be fix.On top of that I already paid them $84.95 for just doing diagnostics on my laptop.The customer service from Geek Squad were asking if we want to fix the laptop and if we agree to the price.Ofcourse I have some questions and my wife have some questions to ask.Then this person from Geek Squad rudely answered us "Do you want to fix it or not"?What a rude person.So I finally said yes go ahead and fix it.After another week this time name christine called from Geek squad and saying that it wasn't the screen that has the problem it was the mother board and it will cost me more money than the firs estimate.So to make my story short I told them to go ahead and just fix it.After another week they called me and told me that my laptop is fix and ready to be pick up.So when I pick up my lapotop when I got home and type jkl;''' etc..etc..the right side of my keyboard was not working and my wireless internet wasn't functioning right either.So I returned it to them so they can fix it again.The guy from geek squad said that the reason why my laptop is like that maybe because of the virus.That is bs.I haven't seen anything like it.I told him, I ask him to show me a proof that it was a virus that did that to my laptop and this is the next day after I picked up my laptop from them so he can never lie to me.Then I waited for another 2 weeks and they called me and said my laptop is ready to be pick up.Guess what everything looks fine until I tried to play the music there's no sound.I was really very upset..very upset...it's 8-19-10 now and I have to return it back to them today after work.It's a hussle going back and forth.Do best buy really have a legit computer technicians?or they are what they are called the GEEKS?
I hope somebody can help us with this mess, I hope there is a lawyer out there that will step up and put a stop on this best buy scam and speaking to everybody that posted their problems against best buy and the geeks...

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Subdolus
EC, US
Jun 10, 2009 6:19 pm EDT
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"The people at these stores know their fellow associates and what types of things they would and would not say to a customer."

This is not necessarily true; I can recount dozens of times when I overheard sales associates say, verbatim:

- "This service plan covers anything that might happen to your camera, even spills and drops." - prior to Best Buy offering ADP coverage on digital cameras.

- "If it has to be sent out four times, you get a replacement." - Untrue if you read the fine print in the brochure; another commenter here explained the "no lemon" policy more clearly.

- "Your PSP will cover OS reloads." - Only true if the OS reload is due to a piece of failed hardware, such as the HDD.

- "It covers anything that might go wrong with the computer." - Great, except the ADP service plan only covers HARDWARE, not viruses, backups, data loss due to hardware/software failure, OS corruption, or anything software related. This was before the "black tie" PSP was offered.

Just because policy and training says one thing doesn't mean that the staff always follow it.
Management tends not to care in many cases as long as a sale is made, as they know they can fall back to the written contract to say, in effect, "I'm sorry our employee didn't explain it clearly/that you misunderstood the employee."

As you said, however, written policy is what matters and it DOESN'T matter if the sales guy told you one thing, if that's not what's written, it's not covered.

I can recall being told by several managers to "sell like you're on commission, especially on site", but if confronted later, would deny having said it as it was against policy.

What management at many BBY stores says and what's actually enforced are two very different stories.
SOP is loosely, at best, enforced by corporate and even when it is, the worst that usually happens is the offending manager gets written up (i.e. slap on the wrist).

I'm still in awe that, in all her trips in, nobody explained to her how numlock on a laptop works.

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kevinj319
Fort Wayne, US
Jun 10, 2009 6:03 pm EDT

Take some personal responsibility.

The salesperson said this... the salesperson said that... blah blah. Do you have it in writing?

The contracts for the service agreements are available in every store. If you had bothered to read the contract that you were entering into, you would not be surprised later by the terms.

Yes, it takes four repairs. Yes, you get current value, not original value. Yes, you may get a refurbished one. Your use of exclamation points seems to indicate that you are somehow surprised about these things, although they are clearly written in black and white in the contract.

Was the salesperson misleading? Maybe, but I doubt it. It's also possible that you don't have a perfect memory of what was said. You probably view the salespeople as jerks who will say anything to sell a contract. I can tell you, as someone who used to sell these contracts, there are very few of them who would purposely lie. Why? Because we know that 99% of people are like you and choose to remain ignorant about the terms of the contract and not read it. Because of this, you will inevitably get mad and blame the store out of ignorance and frankly, no one wants to be the one you scream at because you were "lied" to. As a result of this, we were always very careful what we said.

This is why you are treated badly by management... they know you are lying. Any customer who claims "your employee told me x, y, and z" gives themselves away as a liar right away. The people at these stores know their fellow associates and what types of things they would and would not say to a customer.

Either way, the *written* contract determines the terms. By demanding things that aren't in the contract, YOU are the one breaking the agreement, not the store. You are demanding from them things that they are not empowered or obligated to do, because your demands are outside of the contract.

Sorry to burst your bubble. It's probably best to read the contract.

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Allen Botha
, US
Jun 10, 2018 8:48 am EDT
Replying to comment of kevinj319

WOW - you sure do stick up for the store and staff - ever sat down and pondered it from the other sides perspective !

Most people buy an extended warranty in good faith - and most of us are not aware of the misleading jargon and terminology used in these contracts, never mind the multitude of interpretations that can be applied.

The law should be changed - if you buy a service / repair contact, it should be honored without any obfuscated clauses to let the insurance company off the hook. Al the purchaser wants is to have a reliable piece of equipment, and does not buy an extended warrant to be messed around.

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Subdolus
EC, US
Jun 10, 2009 5:30 pm EDT
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"Now when you brought it in for the number lock issue an agent should have known that it was currently functioning to its manufacturer's intentions and should have shown you how / why it does this and then sent you on your way a happy customer."

^ A thousand times this.
I worked as an in store and in home agent for Geek Squad from [protected], and I would have been mortified if one of the agents we had had not known something this basic.

For an end user, it's not something I'd expect them to know.
For a computer repair tech, it should be basic, common knowledge.

By the time I left the company, computer repair knowledge was not looked at as a primary factory in hiring new agents as far as management at my store was concerned: Sales experience/success was the main attribute, and the quality of GS as a whole has suffered because of that.

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gnarkill5821
, US
Jun 10, 2009 4:06 pm EDT

@kstewart79

Subdolus is correct. Laptops use different levels of "function keys" to essentially convert a 2 foot keyboard into 14 inches (that's why when you look at your keyboard in the 'jkl' area you will see a number pad, usually in a blue or any other off color and you will also see a key between the left control and alt buttons called "Fn" which means function).

To get the "extended warranty" issue straightened out. It isn't a warranty at all, it's a service contract with best buy geeksquad. So it is treated differently than a manufacturer's warranty. There are different types of this service contract that BB offers. (Since you bought it last year, that was before BB made all laptop Service plans ADH [Accidental Handling]). But we can assume you purchased the ADH plan, which is the most expensive and covers if you drop the laptop and so on and so forth. *Remember these service plans have to go through an insurance company for payment of repairs, so we are dealing with that type of lingo. Which brings me to my next point, the "NO LEMON" clause, which sounds like it was mixed up between either you or the salesman. The NO LEMON clause states that BB will replace your laptop if the unit has undergone four QUALIFIED repairs. So what constitutes a "qualified repair"? This is a gray area but a good rule of thumb is hardware replacement (excluding batteries). The store cannot process a no lemon exchange, the service center does.

With this basic knowledge of the service plan the store should have done what they did and ship out the laptop to have a service center team decide what hardware they need to replace / fix which they did.

Now when you brought it in for the number lock issue an agent should have known that it was currently functioning to its manufacturer's intentions and should have shown you how / why it does this and then sent you on your way a happy customer.

I can't speak for everything that happened after because the store was trying to handle it per your request without having to follow SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) and ship it back to the service center.

***Bottom Line*** --> A computer tech to your computer is like a mechanic to your car. Do your research, find someone you trust, and stick with that person. You will find out very easily that they know what they are doing if you ask questions and stay on top of your repair.

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Subdolus
EC, US
Jun 10, 2009 2:38 pm EDT
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"When I got it back I discovered that when you hit the numbers lock, numbers would appear when I typed "jklghf" instead of the actual letters."

You do realize that that's what's supposed to happen on a laptop keyboard when numlock is pressed, right?

I'm guessing not, since you go on and on about it being a "problem".

Most laptop keys don't have a number pad on the right side (though some 17" models do), and in order to give a 'number pad' of sorts, you'll notice that the keys that you're thinking are "malfunctioning" likely have numbers on them in a smaller font (the laptop I'm on shows them in blue squares).

Pressing numlock is SUPPOSED to make those keys type numbers.
It's quite sad that nobody at Geek Squad was able to tell you that, as it's pretty basic tech stuff.

While I don't disagree that you were treated very rudely by the store in question, the reason the numlock "problem" wasn't ever fixed is because it's NOT a problem, it's designed to have that behavior.

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Taken Advantage of Without Consent
, US
May 15, 2009 8:15 am EDT

I, too, bought the extended warranty. After my HP laptop was returned 3 times for motherboard issues - only once was I allowed to even touch the returned machine - Geek Squad reps couldn't get the machine to boot and sent it right back, I was told the Geek Squad was "branding" my motherboard so they could tell if it had been swapped out.

I do NOT like ANY insinuation that I am committing FRAUD. When I pointed it out to the service tech that his own department is the culprit who'd returned the machine, he showed me the logs where it said it wouldn't boot upon delivery. But I'm still insulted - you insinuated *I* was swapping out the board. Unacceptable, and no, I didn't get an apology, just the "here, it's in the records, see?"

I, too, was told I'd get a new laptop with the "lemon law" applied. Brought it back with an HP update turned the machine into a brick, and the Geek Squad techie plugged it in... and proceeded to tell me right there that it was a memory issue because "blue light didn't come on." OMG! The machine didn't even POST! I was desperately wanting to snatch up my machine and run for the hills.

That time, the machine stayed away for 3 weeks. I asked for a new computer per the lemon law. NOPE. I asked for store credit (I paid $2500 for the then-top-of-the-line laptop) and was denied.

I asked for a refund of difference between the service agreement I'd purchased and the basic, as it said CLEARLY in my agreement that if service kept my laptop for over 7 days, that was the process, and I was told it wasn't the service agreement I'd purchased. I HAD THE BLOOMING RECEIPT AND CONTRACT.

Lie, lie, lie... I am shocked Circuit City (who'd always was cheerful, even went not helpful) went belly up while these yellow bellies, er, thieves continue to suck the life from customers.

No more BB for me! Stay away from buying any service agreement or product that needs one from Best Buy.

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Geek Squad geek squad

This is a real doozy here! I took my computer to the Best Buy where I purchased it to have what I thought was a minor problem fixed, the same problem I had with it in 2007 that they "fixed". I wanted to get it fixed since my service contract that I had paid a small fortune for was due to expire the next day. I was told when I left it there it would be a three days before they could get with me to tell me what they found. Then they called me the next day. They informed me that they couldn't fix the problem withour removing 198 Trojan viruses on it, which would have cost me $129.99. I found this rather odd since I had just had my computer scanned and ridded of any viruses in the past month. Told them I would have to hold off since I didn't have the extra money at the present. Picked up my computer, and low and behold when I got home, they had left their diagnostic disc in my computer. Out of curiosity I ran it and low and behold again, it showed I had a total of 13 problems on my computer, and only 2 Trojan viruses! Talk about scammers! Not sure what to do about their attemped scam yet, but you can bet I will never take anything back to those idiots! Am going to report them though for sure!

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gnarkill5821
, US
Jun 11, 2009 11:08 am EDT

@Cathy

They are not scammers, it seems like the internet and conspiracy has gotten to you.

When they run a diagnostic they run a program that they refer to as FACE. What it does is run 10 different programs at once and posts an easy to read log screen of what it did. The 10 different programs consist of hardware tests and virus / spyware detection programs. The log screen on this program posts the number of traces total from all of the virus/spyware detection programs. So it seems that an agent told you that "he detected 198 trojans on your system" which is not "technically" correct verbage (he really meant that his scanning software detected 198 traces of infection on your machine).

Now you took the liberty of running some of the software on the cd for whatever reason. I'm sure you maneuvered your way to the diagnostic section of the agent toolbox and ran a program called system analyzer. That program gives a nice customer facing snapshot of the operating system condition of the computer. It also displays virus/spyware information in a different way. Instead of totaling up the number of traces what it does is take the detected traces and compares them to its internal database of names for them and posts the number of known infection names.

If the above paragraph wasn't the case and you actually ran the same FACE program that the agents used here's another possibility.

The FACE program is very automated and can be configured to remove the infections that it detects as well. They could have forgotten to uncheck the checkbox that says "removal" and the program could have removed all 198 traces. The agent that called you could have seen that and tried to remedy the situation by getting your approval for O/S service ($129.99) so that they didn't perform free work. The program doesn't clean every trace every time so then when you ran that program it only had 2 traces of infection left.

****Bottom Line **** --> Both situations are very plausible and I'm pretty sure the first one actually happened because FACE is a bit harder to maneuver to and correctly run if you aren't very familiar with the MRI. They didn't do anything wrong except forget to take the MRI disc out of your computer.

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Geek Squad liars

The Best Buy Geek Squad in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio is THE WORST, EVER! I had a simple repair, or so I was told. Hundreds of dollars and lies later, all I had left was a crashed computer and no apologies. The store manager REFUSED to talk to me! It was Halloween, and he was too busy dressed in his costume and flaunting it around to his employees to address my concerns! I had made 6 trips back and fourth to the store with my computer. Each and every time the Geek Squad "Agent" spoke way over my head and was very condescending if I asked for a clearer explaination of what exactly was wrong with my computer; they also "lost" any notes that the previous agent had put in the file, consequently, no one had any idea what the previous agent had diagnosed as the problem. In a nutshell, they ruined my computer, treated me like total garbage, did nothing to remedy the problem, created more "problems" each time I brought my computer back because they made it worse, made me feel like a total ###, and as a result, I had to buy a new computer. I HATE THOSE MOTHER F***ERS!

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DANETTE MILLS
Madison, US
Jun 05, 2014 9:15 am EDT

GEEK SQUAD THEY SUCK, WHEN I PICKED-UP MY COMPUTER THE KNOBS WAS BROKEN WHERE YOU PUSH TO START THE COMPUTER, THEY WIPED OUT ALL OF MY FILES, HAVE TO RESTART MY COMPUTER SEVERAL TIMES BEFOR I CAN GET ANY I CONS. I WILLNEVER USE THEM AGAIN MY COMPUTER WAS WORST AFTER PICKING IT UP FROM THEM AND THEY CHARGED ME A LOT OF MONEY AND THE COMPUTER STILL WASN'T WORKING PROPERLY.

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Essex100
Essex, US
Jan 05, 2010 9:24 am EST

Over the last few years, my family has spent thousands of dollars buying products at Best Buy and usually buying the extra insurance. Something has certainly happened to cause their so call Geek Squad to lie to customers about repairing items. My wife uses a laptop in the living room, a Gateway and recently the hard drive failed which apparently is common with the 250 Gb SATA hard drives for laptops. We knew it was the hard rive since it would not Boot Up, showing just a few lines on info on the screen. It was returned to Best Buy since we had bought the $159 2 year extra coverage. In a few days, we received a phone call from them who told us the computer had "Liquid Damage" and it wasn't covered under our warranty but said they could fix it for $199. This shocked us since food or drink is never allowed in our living room. We complained to Best Buy but that doesn't do any good, so we declined the repair offer. When picking it up, we were shown several photos on the hard drve out of it's case. They then had the nerve to charge $34 just for looking at it. The computer was then looked at by a reliable technician who works at another large retail facility. He said it was not liquid damage but solder flux which is normal on many circuit boards, especially this Hitachi hard drive. We certainly learned a lesson dealing with Best Buy and never thought they would cheat people like this. We were told by many people that Best Buy hires young people just out of high school since the Government gives Best But a break on taxes who are not qualified to deal with the public. So----Goodbye Best Buy and hello E-Bay where we found a new replacement 250 Gb hard drive for $39 and the computer is same as new.

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Mardigen
Hudson, US
May 06, 2009 4:35 pm EDT

Yea, those guys are idiots. I know people that work at Certified Nerds in the valley, they charge less and actually know what they're doing.

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custormer1232
, US
Apr 03, 2009 7:44 pm EDT

Geek Squad,
the worst service, wasting our money don't buy three years warrenty

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Geek Squad tv repair

I purchased a tv and a 4 year extended warranty plan from Best Buy. In January '09 the bulb warning light came on indicating the bulb was about to go out. I called Best Buy to schedule an appointment. they sent out a Geek Squad tech. to my home a week later and he ordered the part and he said I would be called back with an appointment time. 2 weeks went by with no call. I called them to find out what the status of my replacement bulb was. They then told me the bulb was on backorder. I was told someone would call me back to sched. an appt. when it was in. I waited a week and no call. I then called again and they said the bulb was in and that they would call me back with an appt. Again no phone call. I called them the next day and was given the run around. finally after talking with a supervisor they scheduled an appointment for another 2 weeks. The tech. finally came out to my home to install the new bulb he then left. Immediately after the new bulb was installed there was an strange smell of burnt plastic. The picture was fading and the tv turned itself off. I immediately called the Geek Squad, I told them that my tv was working fine before he replaced the bulb. I was told the tech. could'nt get out to my home any sooner than the following week. I was upset because now I have a tv that does'nt work . I insisted that they squeeze me in sooner, I was told a supervisor would call me back and try to schedule me in sooner than next week. Nobody ever called. I called them back and had to settle for original appointment. When he came out he took just a quick look at the tv and ordered the replacement parts that were melted inside the tv. He never bothered to figure out why this had happend. He said he would have the parts shipped overnight and someone would call me to schedule an appt. to install the new parts. This appt. happened March 12th. I called the following Monday and was told the parts were in but I would have to wait another 2 weeks before they could send him out again. We were already a month and a half since original service call and 2 weeks with no tv. I asked to speak to a supervisor and she told me she could not schedule me in sooner but would have a supervisor from the scheduling dept. call me back the next day. Again, no call. I called them and asked to speak to another supervisor. He scheduled me in sooner for the repair. On March 18th the tech. came back to replace the melted parts and left. No sooner than he left the same problem occured. I immediately called Geek Squad and I asked for a supervisor because I was very upset the problem was still there and the tech never bothered to diagnose the cause of the problem. The supervisor said she would have someone else call me back and sched. me another appt. and again nobody called me back. I had to call them back and now the scheduled appointment is for April 7th! With NO gaurantee they will fix or even look into the cause of the problem. They only schedule appointments to come out and order new parts but will not pin point the problem. it seems like its just a big guessing game for them. meanwhile we have no tv. I called them numerous times because I can not wait any longer. They refuse to return my calls and they dont seem concerned at all. By April 7th, this will be five weeks with no tv and over 2 months since original service call. I WILL NEVER BUY FROM BEST BUY AGAIN! HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVCE. if you do buy from them dont pay for warranty.

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Mimi Liu
gold, US
Nov 01, 2012 10:54 am EDT

TO ALL OF YOU TRYING TO BUY A TV OR OTHER ELECTRONICS, DON'T USE GEEK SQUAD SERVICER EXTENDED WARRANTY FROM BEST BUY. BASED ON MY OWN EXPERIENCE, I HAD VERY POOR EXPERIENCE WITH THEM. THEY DON'T DELIVER WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO DELIVER. I HOPE YOU ALL READ THIS BEFORE YOU ARE THINKING OF BUYING A PROTECTION PLAN. THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS POOR, THE ENTIRE SERVICE IS POOR. I WANT MY MONEY BACK FROM THE TV AND THE SERVICE THAT DOES NOT RESULT IN ANYTHING. UNHAPPY CUSTOMER

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Mimi Liu
gold, US
Nov 01, 2012 10:51 am EDT

Hi every one out there thinking of using the Best Buy Extended service for the TV that I purchased 3 years ago alone with an LED TV.
My TV broke and I call them, service tech come and told me to wait 2 weeks. Once month passed, I called tech number and they told me that they will give me some thing of equal value minus depreciation. Another week pass and no call from Best Buy, so I called them, I got Britney from Kentucky who hung up on me after she could not find the information. I called back wanting to talk to a manager and I got Britney again who was completely sarcastic telling that in order for me to speak to a manager I have to give her my name and all my information again twice. FOLKS DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID, I BOUGHT 4 IPADS, 6 COMPUTERS, 2 TV ALL WITH BEST BUY EXTENDED SERVICE AND THEIR SERVICE IS REALLY POOR. I ONLY GOT LIP SERVICE AND EVERY TIME I CALLED TOOK 2 HOURS OR MORE TO GET TO THE RIGHT DEPART. TODAY I TALKED TO SCOTT (PR MANAGER) WHO ALSO TOLD ME TO WAIT FOR THE CALL. IF THERE IS ELSE WHERE THAT YOU CAN PURCHASE FROM THE MANUFACTURE ITSELF . DO IT TO AVOID PAIN FROM BEST BUY GEEK SQUAD. THEY DON'T DO SQUAD FOR YOU WHEN YOU NEEDED. I HAD MUCH BETTER SERVICES THAN BEST BUY AND ANOTHER STORES THAT I PURCHASED FROM. IT HAS BEEN OVER 1 MONTH & I STILL DON'T HAVE A TV. SO BEFORE YOU PURCHASE ANYTHING THINK ABOUT IT.

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irritated2
Mission Viejo, US
Jun 20, 2009 12:00 am EDT

I'm haveing a similiar issue. May 29 I called because my LCD HD TV just stopped working. Since it was a Sony Bravia told them the number of red blinks so tey said they would order the parts and the tech would come out on June 9th to fix it. long time to wait for a $3000. TV only 17 months old to be fixed. The technician was great. The TV appeared fixed when he left. Two days later it stopped working again. Same problem. I call the Geek Squad again to find out the person I talked to originally neglectd to order the part mst likely needed to repair the TV and the parts replaced probably wern't needed. Now it's going to be another 2 weeks, till june2, before they can get the part and replace it. In not happy at this point but don't have a choice. On Tuesday June 16 I have a message on my phone to call and schedule an appt for the Geek SSquad to come out and fix the TV so I call back and a lady tells me the part is in and hey can come Friday the 19th, today, and fix it. I thought that as great but the machine called again yesterday and said I needed to make an apt. Strange so I called this morning and was told noone ever changed the appt and I'm scheduled for June 25 not june 19. Now I am really ticked because I am not imagining te call. I did indeed speak to a women at the Geek Squad and she said she was reschudeling the technichian to come out on June 19 betwen 12 and 4. I asked to speekk with a supervisor who insisted I did not have someone reschedule to june 19 and they have already had that day booked for more than a week so they couldn't have rescheduled me if they wanted too. Now I am really furious! So I hung up and called back and got another supervisor who promised t look into the situation and see if he could get someone here sooner. he said he would call back in a few hours. That was 11am this morning and it's now almost 9pm. I don't think he is calling back! We'll see what hapens when the techncian comes back...

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Geek Squad toshiba laptop

Bought a Toshiba in may 2008. In January 2009 it stopped working. Was sent out for "repair" Jan 15, 2009. Came back Jan. 30, 2009 unrepaired. Sat @ Lynnwood location and was sent out again Feb. 12, 2009. Was received back unrepaired Feb. 19, 2009. Was sent out again Feb. 23, 2009. Today is March 16, 2009. My laptop is still not repaired. Nobody @ Best Buy know anything about how to help you. Refuse to replace my laptop even though it is still under warranty. Geek Squad do not know what is wrong with it. Toshiba also refuses to replace it because they have not fixed the laptop themselves. Worst experience ever. I do not recommend Best Buy. Their customer service is horrible. Geek squad is over priced and do not have competent knowledge.

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Geek Squad laptop repair

I have had my laptop in and out of repair with Geek Squad since November 08. I have had it repaired a total of 4 times and each time it has broken again within 14 days. They have shown me no concern and I even had one Geek Squad employee tell me that I should be glad that all of this has happened within the 30 days of, date of last service otherwise I would be screwed! I have even gone as far as to file a complaint with corporate and all they did was send me a $75 gift card that I have to use at their stupid store! I am about to take it back again for the 5th time! They suck and dont care. DO NOT TAKE YOUR COMPUTER THERE!

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thewishinghour
Chicago, US
Jan 09, 2011 5:42 pm EST

thats [censor]... they run a diagnostic on computers... wich should be able to pinpoint any problems... i have my computer there now... not only are they taking 1 week to run a simple diagnostic... but i spoke to 3 guys who all told me different about it... they are [censor]in snakes... so what im trying to say is tht you dont have to tell them [censor] about ur computer... cause they run an exame on it... you can disagree all you want... but im getting [censor]ed over right now as we speak...

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silverfoxninja
San Antonio, US
Mar 12, 2009 7:57 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I am a computer systems analyst and I have to disagree with your assessment on the Geek Squad. However, I do see why you would be upset. Boycotting or telling others not to take their computer to a place that you had a bad experience from is expected when you had such a bad experience but I'm a bit concerned about the service that you have received. It seems that there may be a more underlying issue that they may not have been aware of when you brought the computer to them in the first place.

Did you give them all the information that they needed to diagnose the issue? Did you inform them of your activities with the computer? Did you get on a questionable website that may have affected your performance?

These questions may not have been asked by the Geek Squad, but sometimes, like with cars, if the person doing the service isn't aware of these issues, they will continue to happen without their knowledge. Surfing the internet alone, viruses, trojans and adware bombards the computer the moment you click on the browser to start it up. What you should also be aware that by legal standards, like mechanics, the Geek Squad is not authorized to fix any issues without the permission of the customer. With this said, if they found an issue, it should be documented. If there are none, there is nothing to worry about.

Exactly what was the issue to begin with and when did it start?

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Geek Squad geek squad destroyed my hard drive

In October 2008, I bought a new Mac Book Pro from Best Buy. Because of the environment that my computer would be exposed to, I bought an extended warranty which included accidental insurance. The contract stated that if my computer needed repair, I must return it to Best Buy (not Apple) so that it could be repaired by the Geek Squad. In December, my computer experienced its first accident which damaged the keyboard. Nothing was wrong with the hard drive and the computer was still functional although some of the keys were sticking. After continuing to use the computer for two months, I decided to take it in for repair. The Geek Squad decided that it couldn't be repaired and that it should be replaced with a new computer. THEY PURPOSELY DESTROYED THE WHOLE COMPUTER, HARD DRIVE AND ALL, since they were replacing it. They never contacted me first to see if I wanted to back up the hard drive. Since I thought the keyboard could be replaced, I didn't bother to back up the most recent data. When I complained, they told me that if I had read the small print, I would have understood that that was their policy (to destroy the hard drive). The day that I took the computer in for repair, there were over ten impatient customers standing in line and one technician. There wasn't time to stand there and read the full contract. With an issue as important as destroying the hard drive, I THINK THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE CLEAR TO ME, VERBALLY! I lost very important data which cannot be retrieved. I realize that I am equally responsible for loosing my data because of my stupidity for not backing it up. But I also think they should have taken the time to contact me first! Word of warning, either buy the extended APPLE warranty, or use a certified technician (other than Best Buy's Geek Squad)!

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anonymous12345678
Miami, US
Jan 06, 2010 12:04 pm EST

First, a hardware issue such as "sticking keyboard" is not an irreparable issue. Geek Squad technicians are actually not computer techs. They have a diagnostic program that they run on your computer and then if they can't figure out how to fix the problem, rather than figuring it out like any other comp tech would, they reformat because it takes less time. A sticky key is easily replaced, or cleaned.

Before learning all of this I was a Geek Squad client. After numerous $60 payments for them to run a program and them not fixing viral issues, reformating when it wasn't necessary, and not knowing simple computer things that even I knew, I found someone who was an actual computer tech and not just someone who knows how to reformat a computer.

DumpTheIdiots, I agree with compulsive back ups. I learned the hard way through Geek Squad. While I now backup on a regular basis, my computer tech has NEVER had to reformat my computer, even for some pretty nasty viruses. Yes, it may take a little longer than with Geek Squad, but I know that when I get my computer back, it is running like new with ALL of my information. Also, when he does have to reformat, he STILL backs up the information AND puts it back on the computer before returning it ALL included in the price.

Don't go to Geek Squad, ask your friends to refer you to a real computer tech. If you're in South Florida call Preemo 305.669.6049 they're amazing.

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DumpTheIdiots
, US
Aug 22, 2009 12:26 pm EDT

Also, you can easily make it part of the deal that IF your computer can't be fixed, you want your info transferred to the new laptop before giving it to you. For a reasonable fee for the time, they will do this, it's a common service. Often people badmouth a company or group because THEY didn't understand what was going to happen. They did no wrong by following the letter of the contract. Heck, even when the salesman told me all the "great" things I'd be protected from if I bought the insurance for my laptop, I insisted on noting every claim and verifying each was really in the contract before I got it. And I refused a 3 yr contract because by then the computer isn't worth much, so the extra money for the coverage would be paid to cover something not worth fixing.

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DumpTheIdiots
, US
Aug 22, 2009 12:18 pm EDT

YOU decided not to backup, a no brainer any time you even THINK something is going wrong. YOU signed the contract, and shouldn't need to be verbally told anything you signed as agreeing to. Your signature says you understand every word written there. You could have written an addendum to it, saying YES you see they can destroy the hard drive, but YOU WANT TO BE ASKED FIRST in case you 1- want to retrieve info first, and 2- you may want to keep the computer and have someone else fix it, voiding the warranty but keeping the computer and your info. Hard drives are destroyed to protect you from having sensitive info retrieved from it. I always make it known in writing that NOTHING is to be done without a call first to let me know what my options are. That computer is your property and remains so even in their hands, and shouldn't have been destroyed UNTIL YOU HAD A NEW ONE IN YOUR POSESSION, but you let it happen by agreeing to the contract terms without questions. There is no reason you should be angry they didn't call you because they probably assumed you were smart enough to backup, and also to not sign anything you really didn't understand.

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somecallemwaffles
, US
Feb 16, 2009 12:17 am EST

Apple warranty does not guarantee they will send back your data intact, ask the millions of people who have no way to get their iPod data back after a battery replacement. I don't know of a single repair shop on Earth that does not have a clause stating that backing up data is the responsibility of the owner. The moral of your story is 'back up your data before having work done', not 'don't buy Best Buy warranty'. Oh, and of course 'read what you sign'.

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Geek Squad idiot squad is more accurate!

Why did it take Geek Squad SIX WEEKS to tell me my digital camera had NOT been repaired because THEIR staff entered it as a CAMCORDER in the computer/service request?

On 12/19/08, I took my digital camera into Geek Squad to be repaired. I also brought in the original box and the Best Buy Performance Service Plan brochure and receipt. I'm told they'll call me in about three weeks to pick it up after being repaired.

On 01/12/09, I go into Best Buy to the Geek Squad desk. I tell them that I have not been contacted about my camera being repaired, and I ask about the status. They look it up in the computer - there's NOTHING to see. They tell me there's no updates from the past three weeks. The send an "escalation report" and I wait again.

The week of January 27, I received an automated message that my item is fixed and to pick it up from Geek Squad. On 01/31/09, I go to pick up my camera. The Geek Squad rep tells me that my camera was NEVER FIXED because they submitted it as a camcorder instead of a digital camera. They need me to bring the original paperwork back in so they can NOW REPAIR my camera. Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!? None of this was mentioned in the automated message they left me!

Geek Squad --> aka STUPID squad! They can't tell a digital camera from a camcorder AND it takes them SIX WEEKS TO REALIZE THAT and contact me. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Someone needs to create a checks and balances system for them.

I went all the back home, got my paperwork and took it back to Best Buy. I filed a complaint with the manager and made a copy of the service plan for them to include with the camera. This time I received actual paperwork from them, which did NOT happen the first time. Now all I can do is keep my fingers crossed and take names and really good notes.

The $80 for this service plan was a WASTE OF MONEY! I've already replaced the camera (bought at Circuit City). This lack of service isn't worth $80 and getting my hopes up with expectations that Geek Squad will come through for me. It's annoying to have geniuses not have common sense.

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Jacie
, US
Mar 10, 2010 5:57 pm EST

I had a similar problem with these guys and getting my digital camera to talk to my computer. I bought both from them at the same time. It was one of those buy one get one type deals. If I bought this special HP computer, it came with a very nice, higher end digital camera. I was one of the last customers to be able to take advantage of this 'awesome' deal. Turns out the operating system (os?) that was on the computer was too new for the digital camera and the two would work or talk together. The guys at Geek squad told me to bring both of them in and they would work on it. $60 diagnosis fee later, they told me I needed to purchase a new media card reader and have it installed. This would cost a couple hundred. Instead of doing that, I took the advice of another customer standing in the best buy purchase line who had overheard my conversation. They mentioned a service and repair company called secureremotesupport.com (long winded I know.) Upon speaking with a technician there, at 10pm at night, he connected to the machine and fixed the camera problem for me. No extra money, and I got to use the existing equipment that came with the computer and camera! I can now see my families pictures!

Moral of this story, and all of these horror stories, is not to use geek squad at all. Look for a more reputable company, Secure remote support is atleast US based, and affordable. Explain your situation to those guys and see if they can help you out.

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Geek Squad inspiron 1525 notebook

was given a gift of a brand new dell inspiron 1525 from best. right out of the box it crashes to the blue screen. second boot seemed to go just fine then it crashed again.I ran the diagnostic tools several times and it found know errors. however the research i did on the net from the error codes told me it was either bad RAM or a bad mother board. so i call dell for tech support after "Bob" who i could hardly understand and had to ask him to repeat himself becasue his english was poor finally told me that i would have to take it to best buy. They told me to take it over to the Geek squad in the store. I told them all that i had done and found. they kept it for a day or two and called me up and informed that it was a bad install of windows and would i like them to reload windows for $150.00. I asked why i should have to pay for something that was screwed up right out of the box, but the poor girl on the phone couldn't give me an answear. I told them not to bother as i was capable of reloading windows myself. got it home and downloaded a third party ram tester. found one of the chips that came with the computer was bad. computer started working a better for a day. then half the monitor died so i can only see the top of the screen. dell says its best buys problem, best buy says its geek squads problem which boils down to one thing. I dont have a chance at getting this thing fixed.
If you buy from Dell I hope it works.
If you bought it at Best Buy good luck.
If you have to go to geek squad you might as well write it off.

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bridgette martin
Longview, US
Jan 25, 2009 7:37 pm EST

I had same problem and after speaking with manager i was issued and new computer everything monitor and all. I even got a better one because they did not have the one i had and were not carrying it anymore so maybe u need to try again

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Geek Squad awful experience

I use my laptop for work while in travel, and at such times my wife's desktop becomes the computer with primary link to the local Verizon wireless module.

A few weeks ago, after returning from business travel, I re-established our home network but found that my own laptop wouldn't connect to the network, after trying numerous re-connects and re-starts.

I called up Geek Squad (their blanket 1-800 number) and signed up for the phone assistance ($ 79). Because the phone connection dropped off twice, I needed to go through complicated procedures to get myself re-established for the over-the-phone assistance. The second time (with a second person on the tech support end) I found myself trying to understand a woman with a heavy South Asian accent directing me through various DOS commands (from the 'Run' link at Windows Start). The especially 'entertaining' part of this was that try as I might to get her to use something like aviation references to alphabetics ('A as in Andrew, ' etc.), she would not do it, even though I often had to ask her more than once to repeat something through the unclear audio over the phone connection.

I'm generally willing to let some Tech Support person lead me down a path for a while, if it would eventually get us to a solution. This got us nowhere. And I had a hunch, from a lot of experience with my home network, that her approach was not getting to the solution.

Eventually this connection, too, dropped off with no ready explanation.

In both instances, the connection dropped off, Geek Squad had my phone and email contact points, and I heard nothing back from them. After the second experience, in frustration I decided I wouldn't bother calling again.

I kept fiddling with my network settings and after about 15 more minutes I had the connectivity problem fixed on my own. My Geek Squad experience, however, was a disaster.

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gnarkill5821
, US
Sep 29, 2009 5:45 pm EDT

@ Harvey

Geeksquad receives numerous calls daily about computer questions / problems / sales ect. Most of those calls are 'quick fixes' (very simple issues that can fixed by walking you through it over the phone). Now it sounds like the initial description of your issue would fall into this category, but after attempts of what sounded like: resetting ip settings / flushing dns / resetting access point settings didn't work. Your problem no longer would be able to be diagnosed over the phone. Phone diagnostics are not an exact science and it is always better to have a tech in front of the electronic that is giving you issues. Auto mechanics do not fix cars over the phone but with computers there is a bit of leniency in reference to car mechanics. However, the principle is still the same. I am fortunate to hear that you were able to resolve your issue. It could have been different though. The symptoms you explained initially with the tests the agent walked you through over the phone could also point to a hardware issue with your WNIC.

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Geek Squad diagnose problem

I took a Dell E310 to the Geek Squad at the Best Buy located at 2727 W. Thunderbird Rd, in Phoenix, AZ, to have them diagnose why the computer would not startup.

They took the computer, charged me $69 and told me they would diagnose the problem and give me a quote to repair it.

They called me in three days, and told me what was NOT the problem, but did not find the problem. When I complained that they did not do the job they promised and that I paid for (find the problem), they said that the did all they could do at the store and would have to send it out to a more experienced lab, and that it cold take up to two or three weeks. I ask them to return my money and they refused. They are a total rip off. The take your money and do not do the job they promise. Avoid them at all costs.

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iblisa
Palm Bay, US
Aug 15, 2009 11:17 pm EDT

I just had a similar problem with best buy in melbourne, FL ...they won't get anymore of my business or my family or friends business. I took my laptop in because it wouldn't start up. They charged a 70.00 diagnosis fee. I wanted them to retrieve the important files off of my computer so agreed to the 70.00 diagnosis fee and a 35.oo retrieval fee. Paid it up front as requested. They then told me it was a virus caused my hard drive to go bad and said the data was not retrievable. and that hard drive and cost to fix this was too high and said to basically get a new laptop. Took it home and went back and bought a new laptop a couple weeks later from them. Well my sister came to florida for a visit a few months later and she works on computers. I told her the problem so she looked at it and in a couple hours had it up and running and all the data was still there and retrievable. Hard drive working just perfect i had gotten into some malware she was able to run trojan remover and it started up after reboot and has been running ever since. So then I made a trip back to best buy mad because i was told my laptop couldn't be fixed and i went out and bought a new one. They felt they didn't owe me a thing. I felt they owed me the diagnosis fee back and an apology for there incompetance and maybe even a little discount on the new laptop i bought from them that I really didn't need. Instead they said i got what i paid for.

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9:36 am EST

Geek Squad geek squad

I contracted with their store to have someone come out for $49.99 and do a consultation on what I neede to do to connect all my sound and video equipment in our new home. They promptly called the next day to schedule it. The "geek" identified himself as a Secret Agent for the Squad and was calling from the Master Control Center or some such nonesense. After about 20 minutes of them not having any record of my purchase (even with the numbers on my receipt), and them repeatedly asking what exactly I wanted them to come out and do, they finally said they had it (along with numerous "apologies" about my inconvenience) and scheduled to be at my home the next day. That morning the Secret Agent called to verify the appointment (good) to fix my computer (bad). when I explained that it was home theatre and not computers, he informed me that he would get the Home theatre folks to call me. He then called back a few minutes later to inform me that they did not do Home Theatre consults in my area of town. When I asked if he could refund my money, he said I would have to call the store to accomplish that. never got an apology or an explanation how all of this got so screwed up. I am still awaiting the store to call me back (they were too busy to talk to me when I called--low staffing during business hours I guess).

Decent products and prices, just very poor service.

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5:32 pm EST

Geek Squad lost files

Computer won't turn on. Brought it in. Said I just want my files. If I can fix the computer, great. If not, just need the files. They give me a form and ask for important files. I say "I can't think of every importatn file off the top of my head here". "No problem, we get it all but just want to make sure we get the priority ones." Picked up my back up cds. Well, since they weren't on my list they didn't retrieve them. The drives have been scrubbed and they are gone. Kids photos, budget info, music. I can't put a price tag on the damage these people did. If I would've known I needed to tell them EVERY file I would've but "we get them all". So now I'm totally ticked off and lost a year's worth of photos of my kids. Nice. Thanks Geek Squad.

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Hercules21
juno, US
Jun 25, 2011 11:16 pm EDT

Jkrue, for the $100 to $150 they stall for back up files (seriosuly give me a break, assuming the computer turns on any idiot can do that themselves at home with minimal equipment), they certainly should save everything that isn't irretrivable. For that amount of money they ought to image the harddrive (which everyone that I know that repairs computers does for free with a repair, I might add), but they don't seem to offer that. Or if they do, god knows what it costs.

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kris10mariee
, US
Jan 09, 2011 5:54 pm EST

They did a back up for me. They saved everything for me except pictures from October and November of the last 2 years and a very important document for our tennant. I think they gave me back my old hard drive...so im taking it somewhere else and hopefully they can get them off of it.

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jkrue18
Huntersville, US
Dec 18, 2009 10:44 pm EST

actually when you reinstall an operating system, everything you had on your hard drive is lost. As far as your complaint with the backup, Geek Squad backs up everything they possibly can off of a bad hard drive. They have you fill out a form with what you want backed up (documents, pictures, music, etc.) and also where they are saved on your hard drive (file path.). If you did not tell them what you wanted backed up, that's not their problem, that's your fault. Don't blame them.

For the original poster: Geek Squad does not "scrub" hard drives. If you had a back up done, all they would have done was exactly what you asked for. They would have put the files you asked for on a cd/dvd/removable media then they would have given you your own hard drive back, exactly as you gave it to them.

For the "extremely angry" poster: you probably did "have viruses" on your computer, don't blame Geek Squad for making you aware of the fact, blame yourself for getting them. Geek Squad is not out there to screw people over. It's hilarious to me to see comments like these.

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extremely angry
Colorado Springs, US
Apr 13, 2009 4:08 pm EDT

Exactly the same problem my wife had. No power. Turns out the monitor was the problem. In the meantime, those incompetent worthless jerks destroyed all the data on the hard drive, even though they were told to back up the data before reinstalling the OS, which should have been unnecessary anyway, but they "found viruses". By the way, you DO NOT have to delete the data in order to reinstall the OS. A second copy can be installed with a choice as to which one to use at startup. But in the meantime, irreplacable data collected since 2002 has been destroyed. Lesson learned: The Geek squad is incompetent and will never be used by anyone I have the opportunity to talk to. The best thing they can do is just go out of business, They do more harm than good for customers that need some help with their computers

Geek Squad In-depth Review

Overview: Geek Squad is a renowned company that offers a wide range of services to meet all your technical needs. With a rich history and background, Geek Squad has established itself as a trusted provider of expert solutions.

Services Offered: Geek Squad offers a comprehensive range of services to cater to various technical requirements. From computer repair to home theater installation and appliance repair, they have you covered. Their services are available both in-store and on-site, ensuring convenience for customers.

Customer Experience: Customers have consistently praised Geek Squad for their exceptional customer experience. Based on reviews and ratings, it is evident that the company prioritizes customer satisfaction. Their customer support is highly responsive, ensuring that all queries and concerns are addressed promptly.

Expertise and Qualifications: Geek Squad technicians are highly skilled and qualified to handle complex technical issues. The company offers certifications and training programs to ensure that their employees stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in technology. Their expertise in resolving technical problems is commendable.

Pricing and Value for Money: Geek Squad's pricing structure is competitive in the industry. When compared to competitors, their prices are reasonable, considering the quality of service provided. Customers have found their services to be a good value for money, as they deliver reliable solutions at affordable prices.

Convenience and Accessibility: Geek Squad understands the importance of convenience and accessibility for their customers. Their online booking system and appointment scheduling process make it easy to avail their services. The company strives to meet customer needs in a timely manner, ensuring a hassle-free experience.

Reliability and Trustworthiness: Geek Squad has built a strong reputation for reliability and trustworthiness. They have a proven track record in resolving customer issues efficiently. While there may be occasional incidents of unsatisfactory service, overall, Geek Squad is known for their commitment to providing reliable solutions.

Additional Benefits and Features: In addition to their core services, Geek Squad offers various additional benefits and features. They provide warranties, guarantees, and service plans to ensure customer satisfaction. Their standout features set them apart from competitors, making them a preferred choice for many.

Online Presence and User-Friendliness: Geek Squad's website and online platform are user-friendly and easy to navigate. Customers appreciate the simplicity and convenience of their online resources and educational materials, which provide valuable information and assistance.

Conclusion: Geek Squad is a top-notch service provider that excels in delivering expert technical solutions. With their exceptional customer experience, qualified technicians, reasonable pricing, and convenient accessibility, they are a reliable choice for all your technical needs. Geek Squad's commitment to reliability and trustworthiness, along with their additional benefits and user-friendly online presence, make them a standout option in the market.

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