Best Buy Sucks Too!

A little over a year ago I bought a tower computer from Best Buy in Salisbury. The manufacturers warranty was one year. I purchased an extended warranty which picked up when the manufacturers warranty stopped. 3 weeks ago it showed a blue error screen so I took it to Best Buy for repair along wth all of the warranty paperwork. The "agent", a tall heavyset guy with blonde hair and glasses named Dan, advised me that the error code meant that the RAM was defective and needed to be replaced. He stated that it couldn't be repaired at the store and would have to be shipped to the Service Center in Kentucky. Not being a computer guru, I asked if I would need to have the hard drive backed up. He stated that the hard drive would not be touched, it was the RAM that was the problem. He told me that he would send it off and it would be back in 2 weeks. At the end of two weeks I received a phone call that it was finished and that I could come pick it up. Upon my arrival I talked to another "agent" who advised me that the hard drive had been replaced. I immediately felt sick to my stomach as I had over a years worth of files, estimates, saved data, not to mention the fact that I had a professional come into my office to wirelessly network all of the other computers together. I aasked if the service center had transferred the data from the old hard drive to the new one. NO! The "agent" advised me that he would send the service center an e-mail asking them to hold my hard drive until the situation was resolved. He stated that there was no way to contact them by phone - only e-mail. The following day I received a call from "agent" Ricket from Kentucky. She advised me that they had in fact put my hard drive aside and that they retrieve the data for me.......for a fee of $260.00 minimum. It would be more if the amount of data exceeded 9 megs. Agent Ricket advised me that she would call the Salisbury Store and that it was ALWAYS an option for them to call the service center but everyone doesn't know that. She stated that if the Salis. store was willing to pay for the recovery they would start right away. She stated that the Salis. store should agree to pay for it since I asked if I should have had it backed up before it was sent.

A short time later she called me back and advised me the the manager at the Salis. store would not pay for the recovery because he didn't believe that any of his employees would advise me not to back up my hard drive.

Today I went back to the store and spoke with a "different" manager who advised me that he was authorized by "his" manager that he would pay for half of the difference between what their service center would charge and what Brainwave would charge. I went to Brainwave who stated that the cost to retreive the data would be...................$85.50 regardless of the amount. Even better.......Brainwave would have replaced the hard drive, recovered the data, and installed the data on the new hard drive for about $200.00.

I don't mind paying the $85.50 since I would have had to pay it anyway. But the fact is that the Geek Squad is SCAMMING EVERYONE. What was the point in paying for the extended warranty? I'm supposed to go in and speak to the managers managers managers manager tommorrow to try to work this out. (How the hell many managers does one place need anyway?) I can't imagine how much this fiasco is going to cost me before it's all over.

My first mistake was buying from a chain store and expecting good service. My second mistake was getting the extended warranty from a chain store. I should have kept my business with a locally owned company who could have fixed my computer at that location within a few days. I guess I was trying to be penny wise and ended up being dollar foolish. Go to Brainwave for all your computer issues folks - avoid those chain stores like the plague.