Best Buy Holding Disabled Girl's Laptop Hostage

I never bought any Best Buy warranty, but the way it was described to me from a Best Buy representative is that I can take the product and throw it at a wall, and smash it to bits, but Best Buy will replace it no problem.

If that's true, then Best Buy has no excuse.
 
:mad: I expect nothing less from this crap-ass company. They have THE WORST costumer service of any retail store, and their "warranties" are completely bogus. They lie to you and go back on their word. NEVER EVER get the Best Buy warranty on anything you buy there (I suggest buying somewhere else in the first place!).
 
Didn't Best Buy's CEO say he hates customers? How long you guys think until Best Buy goes out of business? I give them under 5 years until they succumb to Amazon and the others.
 
conscript said:
1) I think everyone who is a member of [H] is Saavy enough to know that BB is overpriced and full of less than knowledgeable employees. I'll go there in a pinch and pay the markup if i need something in a hurry, but i think like the rest of you, it's newegg, amazon, mwave, etc...

2) I also hope everyone realizes that despite how ridiculous this story is, it isn't really indicative of the company BestBuy, but more so one store, or more specifically a few employees.

3) And lastly, I highly doubt we've gotten the full story here. I'm sure it's just as moronic on the customer's end as well, probably more so, but we just haven't gotten that side.
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I read just about this entire thread and it seems this is the most intelligent post so far and I agree with each point.

I have shopped at Best Buy for years (like the quote says above, spur of the moment, I need stuff). I've never once had an issue, even on price matching (got some headphones for 50% off about a month ago). Every company has rotten apples working there, and I don't think this instance would be what Best Buy Corporate would promote, if we even have the full accurate story.

There are plenty of horror stories about Best Buy, just like there are about every company (even the one I work for, and we go out of our way in extraordinary ways for our customers). I'm not going to judge a company based on some bad outcomes found online, especially after having years of good service, albeit I have never ever used Geek Squad and never needed to use a warranty there.
 
I would be surprised if BBY's corporate team hasn't already fixed this, probably with a new computer. That is their standard protocol. Of course, the store pays for it, not corporate.

These things happen. I'd like to say rarely, but they happened pretty much weekly when I worked for the Geek Squad. We'd do our best but sometimes it wasn't good enough, obviously the case in this situation.

But I'm certain the client already has a replacement or will be receiving one RSN. They might just fix the old machine but there's been such a public stink raised over this I'm guessing they want to put the best face on it they can.
 
Steve said:
This story is just horrible, even by Best Buy's standards. A disabled girl has her computer dropped off to the Geek Squad while it is still under warranty. Best Buy screws around with the PC for a month, during which time the warranty expires. Now BB will not return the computer unless she pays the full price of the repair. :mad:
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Probably payback of a disgruntled employee over privileged parting the girl gets all the time. Well played Sir, well played indeed!
 
Ashbringer said:
I never bought any Best Buy warranty, but the way it was described to me from a Best Buy representative is that I can take the product and throw it at a wall, and smash it to bits, but Best Buy will replace it no problem.

If that's true, then Best Buy has no excuse.
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No, some people use that as a selling tactic, even had a CompUSA guy tell me that once, but the Service plan while backed by an insurance company is not insurance plan, its an extended warranty. Even the replacement plans they have. If a product has been miss treated then its not covered, and that includes on PC's, it getting so dusty it overheats, or smoking around the PC.

The problem with Best Buy and companies like it is that they are performance driven with no other incentive to sell other than to keep their job. They are ridden hard and at random times for no good reason some manager might not like them and have to watch their P&Q's or be fired. The push for performance their is incredible and they can almost feel like they are working in a sweat shop (well as long as you don''t know what a sweat shop actually feels like) and at the end of the day walk away with their $8-$10 an hour and not much more. For this reason you have bad apples that will straight up lie to get a sale done, or in the case of service like this get the person to leave the store. Most of the time its 2-3 years later and no one can point to them even if they were still working there.

In my Best Buy experience, what probably happened, is that they checked it in for the problem and planned on attempted to get it fixed there and and back to the customer. Probably because the customer said it was so important and couldn't be without it that long. They probably told her that if they couldn't fix it there they would send it out and it would be 2-3 weeks later before its finished. Fast forward a month its sitting in the back room un-sent because someone didn't do the paperwork, got lost in the system. This stuff can happen all of the time. But from that point either afraid of the repercussions for screwing up they don't tell the manager when they come to pick it up out of warranty and not fixed, or a manager who only cares about the bottom line and not customer support, shoo's her off telling her she is screwed.

Not company policy, something that they would never support, and they will rectify this. But its god-damn about time they really analyze their corporate structure and policies and figure out why this stuff happens all of the time. There is only so many "bad apples" excuses you can use before you have to look deep down and come to your senses that even though its not policy, its what they push on their employees from the top down, that causes this type of issue in the first place.
 
Ashbringer said:
I'm lucky, I live near a Microcenter. Way better store then BestBuy, and sometimes even has competative prices to Newegg.
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I've lived near a microcenter as well in Cambridge, MA. I agree, from a techy standpoint it's better from a range of products standpoint. But still the same idiot salesmen and markups.

Who hired those employee's? Who hired the guy that hired those employee's? Who let this story go so far to the point where it's on the news?
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By that logic my great great great great great great great grandfather is responsible if I commit a crime...

If the story is right, then they had the laptop for 3 months and got nothing done. The warranty ran out and they won't help the girl out. What details are we missing that could make Best Buy look any less worse?
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that's just it, we don't know. But for every stupid BB employee, there are a 100 moronic consumers, so i'll play the percentages on this one and bet there's some culpability and/or misrepresentation occurring here as well before I blanketly crucify BBY for this story. Like another poster has said, my experiences at BBY which I think have been pretty extensive have really only given me cause to see them as any other major retailer, with their fair share of inept techs and sales associates, and fairly non competitive pricing with e-tailers like amazon/newegg. But lest we forget, Amazon and Newegg have had egg on their face in the past as well. I know everyone remembers this:

[ame="http://youtu.be/TQrAOQ4TzQc"]302 Found[/ame]
 
Team Obi Juan said:
I would be less raged if the victim wasn't disabled.
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Agreed. Should it not matter? Sure. But I've worked in a retail environment, and if it is obvious the customer is having difficulty during a normal interaction, you cut them some slack. I doubt this person was trying to put one over on BB; a sane person would see what kind of backlash holding onto a person's laptop for 3 f'ing months would bring and just write it off as a loss. I worked in a bank branch and we did it all the time. Able body and mind, young dude has overdrawn his account non-stop...his problem. 80 year old comes in on a walker, has nothing but a small social security check, and has the same # of overdrafts? I'd probably take care of it. Double standard? Absolutely, but thats life.
 
They owe her a new laptop + $100 gift certificate, minimum. Inexcusable and rediculous.
 
title should read: relative of disabled girl attempts to hold BestBuy hostage

I know everyone hates BestBuy, with good reason, but we only have 1 version of the story here and it is full of holes (among other things).
 
burnin8r said:
title should read: relative of disabled girl attempts to hold BestBuy hostage

I know everyone hates BestBuy, with good reason, but we only have 1 version of the story here and it is full of holes (among other things).
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Ok, where's the accurate/full version of the story? Any updates?
 
gibber said:
They owe her a new laptop + $100 gift certificate, minimum. Inexcusable and rediculous.
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curious why BestBuy would give away a laptop for a failed battery or ac adapter. do you believe they should wipe the HD and reinstall the operating system when adding a new RAM module ? =P

also, learn2spell
 
The fact that she's disabled and it's mentioned in the article is just sensationalistic journalism (and I use that word very loosely) at its best.

Fact of the matter is something was under warranty, it was returned in time, means this gal gets her laptop fixed/replaced. PERIOD. Warranty's don't work for a number of years that THEY can get you back your goods, but a number of years that you give said goods to them. Otherwise all companies would drag ass on those that were almost out of warranty "whoops sorry here's your stuff, btw it'll cost you $182 because the warranty expired mid repair"
 
Arcticfox04 said:
Best Buy is the scum of the earth. Other horrible chains have fallen and so will Best Buy in due time.
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Best buy is terrible but they are not going anywhere, they successfully killed all their competition off. How are they going to fall when most towns do not have any other options for a major electronics retailer.
 
Doesn't matter if the girl was disabled or not.

If the laptop was in warranty when dropped off, it needs to be honored. End of story.

Best Buy will probably be guilted into doing the right thing because of this story with a disabled girl, but that won't fix their shady business practices. They need to do the right thing regardless of who their customer is.
 
WorstBuy is definer for what is really wrong with retail electronics on every front. I'd like to see the free market shun them for this kind of flagrant abuse.
 
It's $170, $85 bucks each between "loving mom and sis". The right thing is to pay it and fight with BB on the side, instead of making the deaf girl wait. BS all around.
 
MavericK96 said:
That is absurd. They allowed the warranty to run out and now won't honor it? Fucking ridiculous.

Plus, how does ANYTHING computer-related even take a month to fix? Even replacing the motherboard (arguably one of the more time-consuming fixes) would not even take more than a week or two assuming they had to order the part and wait for shipping.

I haven't been to a Best Buy in months and hearing stuff like this just makes me not want to go there even more.
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easy as to why it can take a month.
all laptops must be shipped out to a central repair facility and Best Buy only ships out twice per week
Then they have to receive it in at the repair facility
Then they have to have a tech look at it which can take two to three weeks.
Then they have to order parts which can take a few days to several weeks..
I have been through this several times like over several laptops.....
on average it is about a month but sometimes it is faster.,..
 
While it sucks this happened to a disabled girl, we have to remember, it'd suck for anyone else equally as bad. Best buy shouldn't be able to get away with this no matter who the customer is.
 
Just read a bit more of the article...The initial issue was "occasional freezing" of the machine. Then later BB comes back and says it's the AC adapter? Sorry, wrong. The AC adapter failing would never cause a machine to freeze. It's clear that BB fucked up and now are going to have to backpedal in order to avoid a total PR nightmare.
 
MavericK96 said:
Just read a bit more of the article...The initial issue was "occasional freezing" of the machine. Then later BB comes back and says it's the AC adapter? Sorry, wrong. The AC adapter failing would never cause a machine to freeze. It's clear that BB fucked up and now are going to have to backpedal in order to avoid a total PR nightmare.
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You didn't read it carefully enough.

They are not blaming the fails on the ac adapter, they were just saying that the laptop was low enough on battery that without the AC adapter they couldn't enter some sort of activation code they apparently needed (Activation code? Odd).
 
Zarathustra[H];1037511346 said:
You didn't read it carefully enough.

They are not blaming the fails on the ac adapter, they were just saying that the laptop was low enough on battery that without the AC adapter they couldn't enter some sort of activation code they apparently needed (Activation code? Odd).
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The next phone call she received from the Geek Squad was that in the time they have had the computer, over a month at this point, the warranty had run out and the AC adapter that had to be repaired the second time they sent the computer in was going to cost $170.
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Second time, okay, but they still said it had to be "repaired". Plus $170 for an AC adapter is insane.
 
dzuchowski said:
easy as to why it can take a month.
all laptops must be shipped out to a central repair facility and Best Buy only ships out twice per week
Then they have to receive it in at the repair facility
Then they have to have a tech look at it which can take two to three weeks.
Then they have to order parts which can take a few days to several weeks..
I have been through this several times like over several laptops.....
on average it is about a month but sometimes it is faster.,..
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Oh yeah, I forgot they don't actually do any real repair work in-store...lol. :p :rolleyes:
 
Typical be$t buy shenanigans. Wouldn't expect anything less from them quite frankly. I wonder if the manual for the geek squad employee has a specific section entitled 'Ways to dick customers out of money'
 
dr.kevin said:
hahaha.

she broke both rules of laptop ownership.

1. never buy HP pavilions.
2. never let Retard Squad touch your shit.
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I have exclusively used HP laptops and actually find them to be very good. On average, I get between 3-5 years per HP laptop that i've had and I only spend a maximum of $700 or so for a budget HP laptop with 17 inch screen. My last HP laptop lasted 3-4 years, and the one before that lasted about 5 years before it died which I find to be completely acceptable for a budget laptop.

Ashbringer said:
I never bought any Best Buy warranty, but the way it was described to me from a Best Buy representative is that I can take the product and throw it at a wall, and smash it to bits, but Best Buy will replace it no problem.

If that's true, then Best Buy has no excuse.
Click to expand...

Having been a BB sales associate back when I was a kid, they'll frickin tell you ANYTHING to get you to buy their warranty. This is how twisted they are. If they catch you giving someone $10 off just to get you to buy their warranty, you get fired. If they catch you outright lying about what the warranty covers in order to get a customer to buy it, they'll praise you once the transaction is completed.
 
conscript said:
1) I think everyone who is a member of [H] is Saavy enough to know that BB is overpriced and full of less than knowledgeable employees. I'll go there in a pinch and pay the markup if i need something in a hurry, but i think like the rest of you, it's newegg, amazon, mwave, etc...

2) I also hope everyone realizes that despite how ridiculous this story is, it isn't really indicative of the company BestBuy, but more so one store, or more specifically a few employees.

3) And lastly, I highly doubt we've gotten the full story here. I'm sure it's just as moronic on the customer's end as well, probably more so, but we just haven't gotten that side.
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I agree this is just one side of one story. Sadly I have read far to many stories about Best Buy to feel completely unbiased anymore. If you hear a negative story once in a while it is one thing, to have them around multiple media sources on a regular basis is entirely another.

Regardless of who is in the right with each of the situations I have read, many, many, people are upset with the Best Buy experience in a big way to take the time and energy not just to post their own stories (one sided or not) but to re-post and widely disseminate them.

It also does not help Best Buy in that when reading stories like this that I can relate to more then one personal experience in the store, with aggressive unknowledgeable employees who have tried to dick me over as well. Even to the point of my leaving over $200 in merchandise at the register and walking out of the store because of the hassle and grief I got asking the store to price match MSRP.

Do I know the whole truth behind this situation? I severely doubt it. Do I know Best Buy, as a corporate entity (and it's corporate culture), is a dick and abusive to its customers? Why yes I do.
 
TwistedAegis said:
Agreed. Should it not matter? Sure. But I've worked in a retail environment, and if it is obvious the customer is having difficulty during a normal interaction, you cut them some slack. I doubt this person was trying to put one over on BB; a sane person would see what kind of backlash holding onto a person's laptop for 3 f'ing months would bring and just write it off as a loss. I worked in a bank branch and we did it all the time. Able body and mind, young dude has overdrawn his account non-stop...his problem. 80 year old comes in on a walker, has nothing but a small social security check, and has the same # of overdrafts? I'd probably take care of it. Double standard? Absolutely, but thats life.
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You cant have been working for BofA. At least from my experience at a call center, as supervisor, at the end of the month we were graded... part of our review, for how many dollars we refunded and who or why we gave the refund didnt matter. We had a tool that said this customer could get this many dollars. We were even told at one point to offer 1/2 just to make out refund percent at the end of the month.
 
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