Complaint Review: Best Buy Geek Squad - Madison Heights Michigan

First of all I am a geek squad employee (3 years) - pt and a raytheon employee (8 years) - full time #1. Hey sir, lets say that you never burned those recovery discs and the hard drive goes.....what's next, you've just lost the ability to burn those puppies....and you have no choice to go speak to the Indian/Asian buddies on the phone....god forbid if the suckers are on backorder (that's you, with a computer that says nothing but "Operating System Not Found", or "No Suitable Boot Device found), you might end up waiting 3 weeks to 2 months for your recovery discs....OMG that's really bad don't cha think. #2. It's correct we offer services that the average tech person, with knowledge, can accomplish at their leisure. But haven't you noticed that the tech person is a human with a life and isn't always readily available like those of us that stand behind the counter waiting for ya. Your tech person could even call himself helping you out, only to leave you with a non-genuine copy of windows on your computer....yeah try using it after the 30 days goes (welcome to your new paperweight). In a way, those services that are offered help the non-knowledgeable in the long run. Do you really install antivirus when you get that computer and set that to a schedule to scan so that you are protected. #3. look at it this way recovery disc creation - 30$ - Operating System Reinstallation (with our legal disc) $129.99 virus software + installation - 80$ - Advanced Diagnostic with repair (virus removal) - $199.99 3 year geek squad black tie protection with ADH - $279.99 running over your laptop accidentally with a car (cracked screen and worse) - $1000 - $1500 Oh and sir, if you called dell, they would have sent you an ac adapter in the mail in 3 to 5 days.....duh. I keep telling customers, best buy simply sells the product that the consumer wants. We didn't sell dells for a long time, for a reason, their product is cheaper than most competitors, because they use low grade internals (samsung hard drives and ram) to drive down costs. Last time i checked Samsung was only known for TV's. We only started selling them because the consumer demanded that we did....i rest my case

Two weeks ago I purchased a Quad-Core desktop at Best Buy. The salesman asked if I wanted Kaspersky and an extended service plan but he didn't pressure me into it. He also left the PC sealed in it's box and didn't need to check out the hard drive or anything.

First sir I am going to ask you to look around at some of the other reports on here about people crying because they dont have the restore disks. Yes the folks in the blue shirts are trying to up-sale you its their job. We dont hold anything hostage if you decline all our services/add-ons we will stil be more then willing to sell you the computer. Their goal is to sell you anything you might possibly need. As for myself when i am out on the floor I will sell somebody a computer and then try to attach a new phone to it with the gs service letting us install the software to for the phone on the computer. I do this because for all i know you want a new phone and the software installed. However i would never know if u did if i didnt offer it. I think i speak for most bby employees when i say we really dont care what you buy as long as you get everything you need/want to go with it. Now directly at your post i will say I belive you simply misunderstood the blue shirt helping you he was problably strongly advising you to get the restore cd's made and would apologize for the misunderstanding. As for the 14 day comment I would call ?liable?. Any computer bought from best buy WITH OR WITHOUT the Black Tie Protection can still be brought back into any bestbuy under mfg warrenty. We will run diags on it and ship it to service if nessesary. Also we would not allow a new computer to leave the store if it was "rattling like a mad man". I will straight out call that a lie. Now for the personal note. I dont know if it is or need for drama or your need to make yourself seem like a victim but you need a new hobby. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that you scewed the facts so far away from reality it shouldnt even be posted here. p.s. If you tell me you would have burned those disks yourself without calling back up to geek squad to try and get step by step free over the phone support i will again happily call you a liar

In re: to Steve, if you had a surge, it could take out the hard drive, or shut down the computer while writing to the disk, which could cause a BSOD. And saying your power supply acts as a firewall for brownouts? Wrongo! A power supply gives you nearly zero protection for brownouts. Those capacitors simply can't hold enough power to prevent damage. And I am sorry if you have never encountered a device damaged by a brownout. I have seen a few computers that had issues due to brownouts happening too often. I have even blown out a speaker by not supplying it with proper voltage (rapidly oscillating signal at lower than intended voltage). And as far as line conditioners, they are useless, but a UPS that does that for you is gold. Computers are very sensitive devices, subject to all kinds of interference. The biggest interference source is the power coming in. You should read up on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_quality And to the other best buy dude posting, you shouldn't give out your full name and location on websites like this.

I work at best buy and where i work they don't "con" customers into buying a recovery disc. They try to provide it for you because the majority of people don't know that the majority of pc's don't come with recovery disc. Not to mention they don't know where even to access to create one or even they do it incorrectly which will not help you out. And for the amount of time you waited I apologize, one hour is the normal waiting period to get a recovery disc done.

For everyone here claiming to know technology, ya'll seem to be confused about the difference between a surge protector and a UPS (uninterruptible power supply). A surge protector is a small device that protects against overloads, usually built into power strips. A UPS is a large, heavy battery that protects against outages and brownouts by providing additional power for a few minutes. Mine trips a few times a day when the A/C turns on and dims the lights for a few seconds.

"Kristy you have just proven your ignorance of computers with one statement. 'I would suggest getting a decent surge protector. I have seen cases where a PC got Blue screens (Stop 9C) specifically because of bad power' That is the most patently false statment I have heard from anyone that claims they have computer knowledge(or openly admit they work for Geek squad). Those must be spectacular surge protectors if they are conditioning the power as well as protecting from surges. A surge protector does only that, protect against surges. you my friend are a wonderful illustration of the quality of employee that is hired into the Geek squad." ________________________________________________________________ Okay, you've said a few untrue things Steve! First on the quality of Geek Squad employees: If you have ever been to a local (not box store, or franchise) repair shop, you usually notice they are a mess and the employees know nothing. In best buy, you go to the well set up counter and talk to a geek squad representative. This person tries to help you in a way that should make you happy, and make their boss happy. This includes trying to sell you things you can get for free. If the original poster had checked their brochure, or asked, they would have told him that they would make recovery disks for him. So, yes it's free, but you must pay for labor. Mind you Steve I'm 15, and I repair computers, host websites, and design websites for a living. I may not have a lot of experience, but a little common sense goes a long way. While not all employees actually give a crap about you and they just want their paycheck, at least they know some things unlike you. As to the power conditioning. Many surge protectors claim power conditioning. This basically means that they are less likely to "shoot sparks" if properly used. In most cases, this is just a fancy way of saying something to market with. If you manage to get ripped off by BEST BUY you are an idiot, because they clearly explain what happens if you just ask. They only thing they try to sell people usually is service plans and anti-virus protection! Proof of my work: http://www.ezbudgethost.com (I only repair locally, so it's not on the site!)

You could have simply asked the clerk if it was something you could do yourself. If you didn't know in advance how to create a restore disk (which you certainly didn't because you need to know more than just how to burn a cd) then it's your own fault for buying it. Companies have these services for those consumers who can't do it themselves. Recovery cd's can take anywhere from an hour to 8 hours if done in your own home. Not everyone wants to mess around with that and to pay $25 instead of $50 plus shipping an handling through the manufacturer isn't a bad price. Maybe you should do some research before making a big purchase. It's just common sense.

I have read through all the responses and as far as Surge Protectors go: 1. They do provide protection (Very Limited) 2. Do not filter 3. Kinda like Seatbelts-Don't need em 99.9% of the time. As far as the Restore CD Creation: Yes you can make your own. No one ever says that you can't. It is a service that we offer as Very Few PC's/Notebooks come with them. We see a lot of consumers come back to us and need a restore and we do not have the discs. It is a service we provide as protection. (See #3) above. As far as the time period. I apologize; sometimes it takes a little longer than planned. The normal time to make them is about an hour. Question is? How busy were they? Just because you spent an extra $29, doesn't give you preferential service. You go in a line just like at any other Retailer/Service/Grade School. As far as the Power Supply being messed up: Again I apologize, but did you bring it back into the store? It was probably a wire that moved inside to interfere with the fan on the PS. If it wasn't that then you would have gotten a brand new unit. No one lied to you. They did save you money and time. Try ordering a new set of Restore CD's from HP. (Which owns Compaq) I know of at least 4 PC's that were less than 6 months old that HP quit making Restore CD's for. What do you do then? You have to purchase a full version of Windows XP=199.99. And all the programs that came with it=$??.??. And then you have to spend countless hours on the internet trying to find drivers that only HP has and are not readily available to the public. So there is that enough money saved. That isn't counting the time needed to make the cds that we saved you. Most services that we perform are services that you can do yourself, but most don't take the time to even do them before it is too late.

The agent said it all in the first paragraph about them just "making money" and "make no money on the computer". Those statements are completely true. There is almost no money on the main computer itself. The items with any real markup are the extras from surge-protector/powerstrips, all the way down to mice, etc. But considering that this original poster has a problem with their purchase, its a little un-settling to see someone blatantly come out and state "tough luck, thats where we make our money....deal with it" (granted not exact words....but the basic gist of it is the same). Now on the "surge protector" business..... My two cents.....(ok maybe its a dime!) This is one of the biggest scams in the computer biz today. I make my own computers (piece them together with the parts I choose), and I have done so since the XT days. Computers are very picky about how their power is distributed. Unless your powergrid is prone to "surges" then by all means go down and buy a nice cheap surge protector/powerstrip combo. Thats all you need. But in all my years, I have never seen such a power grid in this country. The two things that DO happen are "brown-outs" (when the power DROPS!). These are not "surges", they are the exact opposite. And next is an actual lightning strike. Now on the brown out end, dont worry about them at all. The computers these days have very complex power supplies designed to do many things. A brown out may make your computer reboot, shut-down, or just barely flicker. All depending on the severity of the brown out. The power supply is like a firewall for you juice so a brown out wont harm a thing. Maybe in a rare case this can occur, but not in my 20 years of experience have I even remotely heard of such a thing. On the lightning strike end.....NO SURGE PROTECTOR will save you. If you live in a lightning prone area...tough luck. You, your appliences, inculding your computer are completely at the whim of the powers that be, or what your particular power company suggests for the ENTIRE house power grid (lightning rod, grounding, etc.). So if anyone tells you an off the shelf surge protector is going to save you....believe them at your own peril! Now on the "line conditioning" end of the story, its all crap. The power supply in the computer does all the "line conditioning" you need (I mentioned it was complex as far as power supplies go....this isnt the transformer in Gameboy charger!). If the power in your home or wherever is so feeble that you computer wont function then no amount of trinkets bought at Best Buy are going to help you. As a general rule, since most people (including myself) need multiple power jacks for their computer workdesks, I suggest just getting a powerstrip WITH a surge protector just to be safe. But I dont put a lot of faith in the "chicken little" stories that salesmen will tell you to buy a whole bunch of trinkets and voodoo items to add to your purchase. If you buy a power strip, just get one WITH a surge protector for the hell of it....its only a buck or two more (or less sometimes!). What the hell...why not. If you have power.....and your computer turns on....your fine. Anyone that mentions "line conditioning" is just trying to scare ya. The computer's supply does that already.

In answer to Steve, there are products that condition the lines as well provide surge protection. APC, to name one, has many such products. They are not cheap, however. This may be what Kristi was talking about. If she was indeed speaking of a simple, basic surge protector then you are absolutely right about her ignorance.

Kristy you have just proven your ignorance of computers with one statement. "I would suggest getting a decent surge protector. I have seen cases where a PC got Blue screens (Stop 9C) specifically because of bad power" That is the most patently false statment I have heard from anyone that claims they have computer knowledge(or openly admit they work for Geek squad). Those must be spectacular surge protectors if they are conditioning the power as well as protecting from surges. A surge protector does only that, protect against surges. you my friend are a wonderful illustration of the quality of employee that is hired into the Geek squad.

Best buy's main job is to make money, as it is with any business.. they don't make a profit selling PC's... it's on the network cables, power strip & geek service (which has a 60% profit margin) the goal of attactments is about $300 on a new PC.. having said that.. I would suggest getting a decent surge protector. I have seen cases where a PC got Blue screens (Stop 9C) specifically because of bad power.. I've seen surges take out a PC so it wouldn't even turn on. I would also install anti-virus /anti-spyware before installing it on the internet.. you can do this yourself or pay best buy to do it....but to say it's not needed is incorrect.. I placed my PC on the internet without a firewall for about 3hrs and it already had a trojan on it. so I don't think everything they told you was B.S. I would stay away from systems customization or having them "open the box" and test it.. the CD does cost about $50 to order from the vendor and you should have one made.. the fact they didn't specifically tell you ... that you could make it yourself.. they were not lying.. just not volanteering info not asked for. if any problems are found AT ALL during the 14days do NOT get it fixed.. get a new one.. remember the store has no legal obligation to sell you that $499 laptop special if you don't buy the addon's ... i've seen cases where the store has "pre-installed" the anti-virus packages on items. etc..

If your fan is vibrating, I would suggest checking to see if it is mounted flush against the side or if there might be something obstructing the fan (like the old baseball-card-through-the-spokes-of-your-bike deal). I had a similar problem when I installed a second fan on my system. All that was required was a few extra turns of the screwdriver and the rattling went away. I can't offer any suggestion for the power supply, though. I had a technician replace mine when it got smoked.

Something does not seem right here. Didn't you know the computer you were buying had a DVD burner in it? If so, why would you pay for a backup disc if you knew how to make one yourself? Best Buy is a business, not your best friend, so they are there to make money, not save you any!