I had a problem with my laptop and was happy to have bought the $300.00 service contract. I was assured the laptop would be ready for pickup by the 24th of December. Since then I have learned that
Best Buy has a reputation and have read many horror stories on
ConsumerAffairs.Com. I have called
Best Buy everyday ...
04/05/2004: Purchased laptop from
Best Buy for $1949.99 and also a 3 year service plan for an additional $299.99.
07/2005: The power cord shorted out. Was able to situate it until I found myself in a position to have it fixed. I figured
Best Buy might take longer than three days and this was un-acceptable.
11/2005: The monitor (lid) loosened enough to not be able to stay in certain positions. Would slam shut.
12/13/2005: Finally took laptop in after the (optical disk) DVD/CD writer failed.
12/20/2005: Started calling for status. Was told it was waiting on parts.
12/21/2005: Called for status. Was told it was waiting on parts.
12/22/2005: Called for status. Was told it was waiting only parts.
12/23/2005: Called for status. Was told it was waiting on additional parts.
12/26/2005: Called for status. Was told it was waiting on additional parts.
12/27/2005: Called for status. Was told it was waiting on additional parts. Started to get different explanation like, "It is probably done and on its way, we have no way of REALLY telling".
12/28/2005: Called for status. Was told that the person would call me back after calling the person working on it. Never was called back.
01/03/2006: Called for status. Was told again that they would call me back. They never did so I got on-line and posted a message at their "Contact Us" page.
Wrote the following!
"I had a problem with my laptop and was happy to have bought the $300.00 service contract. I was assured the laptop would be ready for pickup by the 24th of December. I have called everyday since and have been flexible due to the holidays.
I still don't have my laptop back and it has been 21 days since I dropped it off. I always get the same answer, "We are waiting on parts". It may not seem like a long time but it is my only computer. For instance I have declined two photo shoots because I cannot process or access my digital photos.
At first I was glad to take the holidays off without a computer but now it is back to the grind and I am at a major inconvenience."
01/04/2006: Called for status. Was told it was waiting on additional parts. Was told that now that the holidays were over I would have it back within 3 days.
01/05/2006: Got a response from my on-line post. Was basically told that I must have patience that these things take time. I responded with another message and threatened to get legal help. Also called for status today and was told that it was waiting on parts. i asked to talk to someone to resolve this. Was told that someone would call me back ... no-one called.
01/06/2006: Called for status today and was told that it was shipped 2nd day air to my house.
01/09/2006: Even though it was overnight air I received the laptop late tonight. the modem is not working. have to take it back in the morning to Best Buy. Stayed up all night trying to fix it myself. Seems like something got messed up on the mother-board.
01/10/2006: Took back to Best Buy and the person "Grant" confirmed that something must be wrong with the mother-board. Sent it back to California. I showed concern and was told that it would be expedited and would be done in 8 days maximum. I noted that 8 days was too long but agreed to wait.
01/17/2006: Called for status. Was told that it was being shipped. Asked for Grant, was told that he was too busy to talk.
01/18/2006: Called for status: Was told a PO was being written up for it. Asked for Grant, was told that he was too busy to talk. I had enough and sent out a complaint to the Montana Department of Justice.
01/19/2006: Got a call from Dex.com in California asking for a BIOS password. There is no BIOS password. I am concerned that someone has taken my laptop so I called Best Buy and was told that they would call back. They never did.
01/20/2006: Called and finally got a hold of Grant. He said that he would call me back after investigating the previous nights phone call. He never called back. Dex called again and I gave them my passwords. I asked when it would be finished. They told me 5 days. Got paperwork from Montana Dept. of Justice to sign.
01/23/2006: Sick of the lies I have decided to let Montana DOJ do the work. Sent out the signed form.
01/27/2006: I know it is a stupid idea but decided to call
Best Buy for status. No one answered the phone. Called again. The person told me that they had it in store but it had no comment. Went looking for it but could not find it. Told me it might be in a un packed box and if so was not checked out to see if repair had been made. Told me I would get a call when it is ready.
Later in the day I stopped by to get a status. Was told that a serial cable had been replaced (doesn't sound correct ... what serial cable ... it's a laptop and the modem was broken) and the operating system re-installed effectively whipping out my data.
Then the person searched for 20 minutes but could not locate my PC. He looked it up on the computer and told me that it was shipped to a different store. He told me to check back with him in three days and that he would personally get it back. I suspect another lie to get me to feel better.
01/28/2006:This morning I went in to passably find a way to but a laptop, then return it when I get my laptop back. I chickened out. I wanted to approach the "Geek Squad" desk but did not want to appear like I was becoming a problem.
I called when I got home to get a status. No answer so I called back 10 minutes later. I asked for a status. I was told, "You were here last night!". I acknowledged and said that I wanted to know what the status was on them getting my laptop from the store that it was sent to. He told me that the store was closed and had been for three days. I asked what he planned to do. He said that he would just keep calling.
I got a phone message 3 hours later that my laptop had just arrived and was ready for pickup ... just like nothing had ever happened. I called back and inquired about how it just suddenly appeared. I was told that they had been great and sent it right away. I did not understand so i said I would be right down.
I picked up my laptop after waiting 30 minutes in line. Nothing was said or explained just here is your computer, thank you for bringing it in.
I inspected the laptop and it seemed to be functional. Spent the rest of the evening trying to work on it but discovering software and registry problems. For example my firewall had been disabled and I did not have permissions to turn it back on.
01/29/2006: Spent the entire day re-installing the Operating System. The computer was so messed up I felt it was necessary to get the computer running the way it was when I took it in. At 11 PM I finally installed the OS and its updates (had to go to a wireless network downtown to download).
01/30 - 02/03: Trying to re-install the software that I had on the machine when I took it in. Work on it 3 hours every night. Finally every-thing is coming back to normal and I have hundreds of hours of getting caught up on my photography.
02/02/2006:Got a phone message from Bob the manager at Best Buy. Told me to give hime a call friday between 10 and 4. I will do that.
02/03.2006: Called Bob at 10 Am. He wanted to know if I got the laptop back and I responded yes. He sounded busy and I did not seem to be able to let him know that the laptop still isn't fully functional. I said that the hardware seems to be working and when I went to continue to tell him about the software he inserted that anytime I need something expedited to call him out to the floor or contact him. He said that is what he was there for. Anyway the call ended and I did not get to say much. I should of went there personally.