Geek Squad and Best Buy suck

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

I hate Geek Squad and Best Buy.

Bought a new computer from Best Buy at the end of December. I couldn't get online, and they told me that I had to take the computer back to the store since it was within 2 weeks of buying the computer (despite the 3 year warranty I bought which was supposed to cover home visits). Waited in line forever and finally Geek Squad told me that when they installed software on my computer, they forgot to uncheck a box (!!) and now the problem was fixed.

Well, I've been able to get online since then but each time I bring up Internet Explorer, I get an error message. I have to reset the network adapter Local Area Connection (whatever that means...I just follow the prompts) each time I reboot the computer to get online. Today I finally had the time to call the 800 number given to me as part of my warranty. Geek Squad told me that they cannot trouble shoot this over the phone (how hard is it to reset the LAN?) and that I need to have someone come to the house and it'd be $159. I protested, telling them that I purchased the 3 year warranty and that the problem was with the computer I bought from Best Buy since my old computer didn't have this problem. It seems crazy to have to pay $159 since it's their mistake. I had the guy check with his supervisor, to no avail. I told him to forget it and I'll just reset the LAN each time I reboot.

Oh, and Geek Squad still has not recovered the contents of my old computer's harddrive. It's been over 2 weeks now. I called them to check on the status. Couldn't get a live person, but their message on store hours says "Our hours on December 21-24 are...we will be closed December 25..." Um, idiots? It's January 11!

Am never buying from Best Buy again.

Edit - I got through to Geek Squad today. They said that my harddrive recovery was completed 4 days ago. No one ever called me.

Comments

[zooey-glass04.livejournal.com]

That sucks *hugs you*

I've heard a lot of bad stuff about Geek Squad - it seems like they have a bit of a habit of overcharging people for simple stuff. So I'd try to fix the problem yourself, first. There's a comm called computerhelp which is pretty good, if you treat their advice with due caution.

Also, I don't know how the law works in the US, but it definitely sounds like your warranty should cover this. SO if you threaten to contact the Small Claims court / ombudsman / whatever consumer enforcement type thing there is, you might find they're suddenly willing to do the job for free after all. In my experience, sucky companies will often see how far they can push the customer, but cave dramatically if it looks like there will be any kind of comeback.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the hug. Computer problems - combined with crappy customer service - are so tough for those of us who lack computer skills.

I like your idea of threatening to call Small Claims, but I worry that it might not work. I work for a huge company, a bit bigger than Best Buy. People threaten to sue us all the time. We have a huge legal department and we don't think much of one individual who'd threaten to sue over $159. My legal fees would be far greater than $159 anyway, they know that, so they wouldn't take it seriously. I hate to sound defeatist but I truly believe this is the way it is. I guess it's karma coming back to bite me in the butt. :) (For the fact that I work for a huge corporation too).

[denisia.livejournal.com]

Oh geez. *hugs* I feel really badly about this, especially since I gave you the number for them. I never would have expected them to be this way, because the Geek Squad in NYC has always been really good. I'm sorry about all this. It sounds as if they did get your data back, though? That's a good thing, at least.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

No need to feel bad at all! I think I would've had to have called them anyway since I had that problem where I couldn't disconnect my monitor from my tower (and so I needed someone to come to the home, and they are the only ones I know who do that).

I think they've gotten my data back though now that I think of it...the guy never specifically said that. I'll believe it when I see it. I plan to go to the store tomorrow and pick up whatever they have for me.

[sarahetc.livejournal.com]

As above, I've heard some pretty nasty things about Geek Squad service. I hate that they've screwed you.

Can I ask what operating system is on the new computer? You might experiment with using Firefox instead of IE (of course, you'll have to do the whole reboot/reset thing one more time at least to load IE so that you can dl Firefox *cringe*) and see if maybe it's something in IE's unsupported code fighting with your LAN. What is the error message? And if you're over it and just want to not think about it, that's fine, too, I'll hush.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

How could I have forgotten Firefox?? Of course, I remember when I had problems with my old computer, you had me switch to Firefox and I loved it! I just forgot about it with this new computer. I will go download it.

My operating system is Vista.

Here's what happens when I boot up the computer and click on IE. I get a message saying something like 'IE can't display website'. I click where it says 'troubleshoot'. Then it says that I need to do is "reset the network adapter Local Area Connection'. I click that and the problem is solved. Weird, huh?

Thank you, hon.

[mcookies.livejournal.com]

That really sucks. I went to Geek Squad once to get a new hard drive installed and it was really expensive. I asked how much the data transfer would be and it started at like $250 for 10GB. Who has only 10GB on their hard drive?

It is so hard to find someone good for computer stuff. I went to them because I figured that while I prefer small, independent stuff in general, I don't know how to evaluate computer repair people and assumed a big company would at least have some accountability and competitive pricing. Apparently not.

After that, I just googled computer repair and picked the guy closest to my house. Turns out I made a good choice but I think I got lucky. It's like picking a good car garage. And computer folks tend to be male and condescending to women, just like car repair folks.

Glad the hard drive recovery is done.

Good luck.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

And computer folks tend to be male and condescending to women, just like car repair folks.


I think you hit the nail on the head. I'd pay really good money if I had a great female mechanic and computer techhie.

[mcookies.livejournal.com]

I would, too. We had some major car issues last fall and dealing with the mechanics was horrible. I finally got to the point where I spent several hours researching possible explanations for what was wrong with the car. Now, when I take the car in I always research what it could be or look up everything they tell me it could be.

Stupid heteropatriarchy! ;)

That icon is cracking me up.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

Where do you go to do the research?

Stupid heteropatriarchy! ;)

LOL!

Glad you like the Mal/Simom slash icon. :)

[mcookies.livejournal.com]

I usually just google the symptoms and see what I find. There are a number of really good websites I read through that helped out with the clutch problem we had last fall. They had diagrams and explained things pretty clearly. Unfortunately, I do not have those sites bookmarked or anything so I cannot figure out what I used. This one is the only one I remember:
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/techcenter/articles/43837/article.html
and I did not find it by putting in the symptoms (clutch wouldn't engage) but found it after I had found the key words "clutch bearing".

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[invisibleshrew.livejournal.com]

Yay! Come to the Firefox side of the Force again! I'm so enjoying AdBlockPlus that sometimes I forget to turn it off to check whether a site is monetizing my eyeballs without me being aware of it. Also : Yay hard drive!

I count myself very lucky to have in-house non-patronizing tech support. And tech support which is not only willing to cope with my "extremely late adopter" tendencies, but also with requests which range between "just fix it, already" to "explain exactly what has happened, and walk me through diagnosing and fixing it myself".

I'd love a great female mechanic. Our best option at the moment is kinda iffy on the great front, and is definitely overpriced, but has what passes for a neutral environment (that is : male privilege assumed, but no more than usual, rather than exaggeratedly so).

[mcookies.livejournal.com]

Plus, female mechanic? Cute in the outfit! When I lived in Denver there was a Grease Monkey that was almost completely populated by cute ladies. I did not have a car but I made my friend Chuck get his oil changed there.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

I did not have a car but I made my friend Chuck get his oil changed there.


:-)