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Best Buy and computers - ranty
Oct. 9th, 2004 05:19 pmI bought myself a computer, a laptop, in June. In August, I downloaded and installed Service Pack 2. Yeah.
Then, I realized the error of my ways and took it to BB to repair because I had purchased an extended warranty thing with the understanding that that meant Best Buy fixed my computer if something went wrong. I knew what the problem was and told them what the problem was.
Have you ever known me to be less than upfront? Perhaps even a weensy bit brusque on occasion (or all the time - hee)?
They spent an entire day "disassembling" my laptop to "test" the hardware to be sure problem was not with hardware. In the process, they cracked my laptop case. Known defect, they say. Whatever. I need hard drive, the hard drive which is now not booting, backed up, even though I'm not entirely certain there's anything important on it yet. They want me to fork over $80 for the privilege. Hmmph! I say nay, that I'll take it someplace and get it backed up for less than a quarter of that, thankyouverymuch.
I want to know, when I return, approximately how long will it take your ever-so-talented geek squad to fix the problem I told you is the problem? Oh, about two or three weeks. Double Hmmph!
I hie myself over to Xstream Computers, where the lovely -young- gentleman behind the counter listens respectfully to my opinions and tells me it'll be done before closing time the next day, as they are backed up with much Service Pack 2 cheerfulness. I practically jump him in glee. OK, I don't jump countertops, but you get the idea. And not only does he actually have it done before closing and wait for me because I don't get there before 7, but he also moves the entire contents of the laptop I had been using (not mine, just a temp) to the desktop of my spanking new laptop (oh, forgot something, tell ya in a minute) without adding any more time to his ETA.
The new laptop? That was Best Buy's way of saying, "Hey, you're being such a bitch right now about the little tiny crack in the case, which is a known defect anyway (said by young man behind the counter NOT in uniform) and the quite reasonable two to three week repair time and the perfectly reasonable $80 we want to back up your silly little hard drive and we don't want to have to involve the manager in this, that we'll humor you by giving you a replacement computer, and since we don't carry this one anymore, it'll actually be an upgrade to the next model number," without actually coming out and saying it. I might have more respect for them if they had actually said it out loud.
I was actually really angry and I've heard people say that pissing me off is a bad idea, but I was calm and cool and speaking in a really reasonable tone of voice, yet still making it quite clear that I was not pleased by their ridiculous anticipation that I would fall in with their demands. Yeah, follower? Not.
Then, this week, I got a lovely little email from Best Buy asking me to complete a customer service survey about my experience with the service and repair team. I answered all the questions as truthfully as radio buttons allow. I got to the comments section. I read it out loud to Kid. "Do I sound like I'm mad?" "Yes." "Am I cursing or insulting them in any way?" "No." Yay me.
Now I hear that some computers download and install Service Pack 2 for Windows XP with nary a problem. My brand new computer at the office survived this installation perfectly,but that Service Pack 2 came on a CD, and that computer was just out of the box, with nothing on it yet. Perhaps it's an XP Home problem, rather than an XP Pro problem?
The short story? I will not buy another computer (or probably anything expensive) from Best Buy again. I will not take advantage of the repair services of Best Buy again, even though it means that I'm out the whatever money for the extended warranty. I will sing the praises of Xstream Computers in Frisco and the particular praises of the -young- gentleman behind the counter who is respectful to his clients even whey they're his elders and women who may or may not know a damn thing about computers.
Thank you for your attention, especially if you actually got this far. :)
p.s. Thanks to ropo for the icon.
Then, I realized the error of my ways and took it to BB to repair because I had purchased an extended warranty thing with the understanding that that meant Best Buy fixed my computer if something went wrong. I knew what the problem was and told them what the problem was.
Have you ever known me to be less than upfront? Perhaps even a weensy bit brusque on occasion (or all the time - hee)?
They spent an entire day "disassembling" my laptop to "test" the hardware to be sure problem was not with hardware. In the process, they cracked my laptop case. Known defect, they say. Whatever. I need hard drive, the hard drive which is now not booting, backed up, even though I'm not entirely certain there's anything important on it yet. They want me to fork over $80 for the privilege. Hmmph! I say nay, that I'll take it someplace and get it backed up for less than a quarter of that, thankyouverymuch.
I want to know, when I return, approximately how long will it take your ever-so-talented geek squad to fix the problem I told you is the problem? Oh, about two or three weeks. Double Hmmph!
I hie myself over to Xstream Computers, where the lovely -young- gentleman behind the counter listens respectfully to my opinions and tells me it'll be done before closing time the next day, as they are backed up with much Service Pack 2 cheerfulness. I practically jump him in glee. OK, I don't jump countertops, but you get the idea. And not only does he actually have it done before closing and wait for me because I don't get there before 7, but he also moves the entire contents of the laptop I had been using (not mine, just a temp) to the desktop of my spanking new laptop (oh, forgot something, tell ya in a minute) without adding any more time to his ETA.
The new laptop? That was Best Buy's way of saying, "Hey, you're being such a bitch right now about the little tiny crack in the case, which is a known defect anyway (said by young man behind the counter NOT in uniform) and the quite reasonable two to three week repair time and the perfectly reasonable $80 we want to back up your silly little hard drive and we don't want to have to involve the manager in this, that we'll humor you by giving you a replacement computer, and since we don't carry this one anymore, it'll actually be an upgrade to the next model number," without actually coming out and saying it. I might have more respect for them if they had actually said it out loud.
I was actually really angry and I've heard people say that pissing me off is a bad idea, but I was calm and cool and speaking in a really reasonable tone of voice, yet still making it quite clear that I was not pleased by their ridiculous anticipation that I would fall in with their demands. Yeah, follower? Not.
Then, this week, I got a lovely little email from Best Buy asking me to complete a customer service survey about my experience with the service and repair team. I answered all the questions as truthfully as radio buttons allow. I got to the comments section. I read it out loud to Kid. "Do I sound like I'm mad?" "Yes." "Am I cursing or insulting them in any way?" "No." Yay me.
Now I hear that some computers download and install Service Pack 2 for Windows XP with nary a problem. My brand new computer at the office survived this installation perfectly,but that Service Pack 2 came on a CD, and that computer was just out of the box, with nothing on it yet. Perhaps it's an XP Home problem, rather than an XP Pro problem?
The short story? I will not buy another computer (or probably anything expensive) from Best Buy again. I will not take advantage of the repair services of Best Buy again, even though it means that I'm out the whatever money for the extended warranty. I will sing the praises of Xstream Computers in Frisco and the particular praises of the -young- gentleman behind the counter who is respectful to his clients even whey they're his elders and women who may or may not know a damn thing about computers.
Thank you for your attention, especially if you actually got this far. :)
p.s. Thanks to ropo for the icon.
