It’s a girl!
My truck gave birth to a beautiful baby versa. Let’s all wish her well.
Epic Best Buy FAIL (part 2)
This was what I got in return. I thought I was going to get something in return for my troubles (they did ask for my contact information). I suppose they are just going to send me junk mail with ads about how great Geek Squad service is.
Hi Galen,
Thank you so much for sharing your troubling experience. It is important to gather such insights to both provide solutions and/or improvements when warranted. While unfortunate we did not find a possibly pending problem, I am at least relieved to learn you did find a resolution. My sincere apologies for the frustration you felt with both communications and service results.
Again, thank you, Galen, for taking the time to share your insights and partner with us. We hope you will continue choosing Best Buy® for all your technology needs.
Regards,
Lesson learned. Even if Apple tells you to take your computer to best buy, use common sense and never let those butchers touch your computer. They were probably selling washing machines the day before.
Epic Best Buy FAIL (part 1)
I think most mac owners would agree, Best Buy selling Apple products sucks. Not only do they sell macs, but hey are also authorized repair agents. When I had a problem with my mac, I took it to Best Buy as per AppleCare’s suggestion. Not only was the problem not fixed, but the service was horrible.
I have debated weather or not to show this email publicly. After careful consideration, I have decided that Best Buy will not improve without serious public scrutiny. Here is my tale (some parts have been omitted for privacy):
I received a reply on Twitter (http://twitter.com/geeksquadhelp/status/1724869562) about a Tweet I had posted (http://twitter.com/mrgalen/status/1719851056) and was asked to send details about my bad experience.
To start, I’ll describe the problem I was having. The cooling fan inside of my Macbook laptop computer had been making a grumbling noise, it was definitely nearing the end of its life and would need to be replaced. Finally, while running a few intensive programs, the fan finally broke and began to make a noise like it was trying to spin but couldn’t. I looked at my monitoring utility (istat pro) and saw that the fan RPM’s had gone to 0 and the computer temperatures were rising. A few seconds later, the computer shut down due to overheating.
SInce I had extended Apple Care I called them to find out where I should send my computer. I was told that I could either wait for a box to ship it to them or take it to Best Buy because they are now an authorized reseller/repair agent. Thinking that I had nothing to worry about since I was still under warranty, I took it to Best Buy.
On 17 APR 2009, I dropped my Macbook off at the Best Buy Geek Squad in Gainesville, FL (store 424). I described the problem and the tech seemed to understand. From there, the problems began. The service order number was: (omit).
I received and email on 24 APR 2009, a full 7 days after I had dropped my computer off, telling me that my computer was received. If I had waited on an overnight box from Apple, my computer would have been to the repair center before the 24th. I’m sure I don’t need to go into details about how frustrating it was to find out that a week had gone by and my computer was not touched.
On 27 APR 2009, I received a call from a Geek Squad Service Tech. At the time, I was in the shower and could not get to the phone. The tech left a voicemail letting me know that there was nothing wrong with the Macbook cooling fan and the unit would be cleaned and sent back to me. About 5 minutes after the call came, I tried to get in contact with the Geek Squad tech by calling the number on the voicemail, no luck. I then called the number on the Geek Squad website. The first person I talked to had no idea what I was talking about when I said I would like to talk to the tech that just called me. After explaining twice that a Geek Squad tech was working on my computer and I would like to talk to someone about it, I believe this person gave up trying to find out who I needed to talk with and transferred the call. I was never told to whom I was being transferred to. This person picked up and again I had to explain that I wanted to talk to someone about my Geek Squad service. I was then told to hold while I was transferred to a third person, during the transfer I was hung up on. Frustrated, I called the local store to talk to someone in Geek Squad. After following the prompts on the automated answering machine, I was connected to the Geek Squad desk. The phone rang for about 10 minutes and nobody picked up, I then hung up the phone. I gave up trying to contact Geek Squad.
I picked up my computer on 29 APR 2009. Upon returning home, I turned on my computer and immediately heard the familiar rumbling sound from the bad fan. 45 minutes later the fan failed again and the computer overheated and shut itself off a few moments later.
I took my computer to the Jacksonville Apple store later that same week. I was told that my computer would be hooked up to a diagnostic machine that would run the fan at maximum RPM’s and that if there was a problem, it would be discovered then. 6 hours after I dropped my computer off at the Apple store, I got a call from them telling me that the fan was broken and had been replaced. What Geek Squad failed to do in 2 weeks, Apple did in 6 hours.
I can only assume that the Geek Squad tech that worked on my Macbook, turned the computer on, verified that the fan was on, and shut it off again. As far as I can tell, there was no attempt to troubleshoot or recreate the problem I described when I dropped off the computer for repair. My computer is my livelihood, I make most of my income from web design. The 2 weeks that Geek Squad had my computer were also the weeks that I had to study for my final exams in school. I can’t blame Geek Squad for my computer breaking when it did but I can blame them for having my computer for so long and not actually fixing it.
Thank you for your interest and listening to my complaints. I sincerely hope that the Geek Squad service offered for Apple products will one day meet the standards that Apple sets for its own products and service.
I’ll post the response later…..
