1. On February 5th I bought my computer to the Geek Squad at Best Buy in Paramus, NJ. I know it had a blue screen error and wanted to extract the pictures & documents from it. With all I have ever heard about blue screen errors, I figured I would need an expert to help me.
2. I explained the situation to the technician at the counter who plugged my computer and he witnessed the blue screen error.
3. He told me it would cost $99.99 to do what they called a back up/transfer. I agreed and he gave me forms; on one I wrote exactly which files I would like to recover. I wrote: All Pictures & documents (excel&word) When I told him all pictures, he also wrote on the form: jpeg, pdf, palm
4. He never said there was a possibility of no recovery.
5. I paid $99.99 cash and was told I would receive a phone call in 1-2 days when it was complete
6. I received a message on approx. February 8th and went to pick up the computer on the 11th
7. When they bought out my computer I was informed that they were unable to perform the service I purchased and that they would be able to escalate the recovery to level 2 but that could cost anywhere from $500 - $1000.
8. I told them no thank you & also asked for a refund because they were not able to perform the service I purchased.
9. At that time I was told that there was a “tech fee” involved and that I would receive the balance. I asked how much this “tech fee” was and he said he was going to discuss it with his manager.
10. After going to the back and speaking with his manager he told me that it’s usually $70.00 but because of the circumstances he was only going to charge me $60.00
11. At this point I asked him where on the contract that I signed does it say that if the service I purchased could not be accomplished, that I would be charged a “tech fee”.
12. He told me it wasn’t on the contract so I told him to ask his manager about it.
13. When he came out again he showed me a line on the contract that was very vague and not applicable to my situation. I did not leave a deposit; I paid for a service that they could not provide.
14. I asked if I could speak to the manager myself.
15. The manager of the Geed Squad, Richard came out, told me he did the best he could by taking $10.00 off and told me if I had further issues, to contact corporate.
16. I had them process my $40.01 refund and left.
17. I immediately went and called the 800 customer service number and spoke with a rep. I explained to her the situation and she put the same manager on the phone from Paramus.
18. We ran around the same block & he told me that “a technician spent HOURS trying to recover the data” I said, “how many hours?” He told me, approx. 48, this was with the customer care rep on the phone. So they need to recoup fees for that time spent.
19. I saw I was getting nowhere with the conversation so I ended it with no resolve.
20. I decided to do my own research. I am by no means a computer expert, but I do have a limited understanding of how they work.
21. On February 12th, after reading a couple of blogs I came across an article which referred me to a website: prosoft engineering which could supply me with free demo software to see if the drive was recoverable
22. I followed the instructions by disconnecting the burnt drive, and installing it as a secondary hard drive, to a working computer I have.
23. I downloaded the demo but had difficulty making it work. I called prosoft engineering for their assistance and they sent a link to my email that worked.
24. After installing their demo and running it through the burnt drive, I discovered that I was able to retrieve all my files, myself, for free; from the drive that the experts said had “no data”.

· If this has happened to me, whom else has it happened to?
· I believe that I should be compensated for the rest of my “tech fee” and some

I received an $50 Itunes gift card for Christmas of 2009. On 2/28/10 I finally decided to use it. When I went to scratch off the back to get the activation code, the substance erased part of the code. Since I knew it was purchased at Best Buy, I decided to go to the store in West Paterson, NJ to see if I could exchange it. After waiting on line forever, I spoke with a rep who basically said that without a receipt there is nothing they could do for me. I indicated to them that I just wanted the code, there had to be a way for them to retrieve it. They said no and there is nothing they could do. So I asked to speak to a Manager and got some guy named "Jonathan". He was unprofessional. Once I explained the problem to him he basically repeated the same line but stated for everyone to hear, "how do we know if there is even a balance on the card if we exchange it"? I was insulted that he was implying that I was trying to get over on his store for an insignificant amout of money. Especially when I was just trying to get the activation code or a contact number for assistance. So I left and went to the Apple store. What a difference in customer service. The manager listened to me, showed me the way to contact itunes support, and had one of his people walk me through the process while I was in the store, which involved e-mailing suppor with my issue. All I needed to provide was the serial number and the activation code numerals I could see. Within 3 hours they resolved the issue and I was able to use my card. The point was the lack of professionalism by Jonathan and the other Best Buy staff compared to the people working at the Apple store. Best Buy lost a customer...

On 2/24/2010 at 9:05PM, I have purchased a Cordless Desktop MX5500 Revo keyboard & mouse set at above mentioned store. It was a birthday gift for my wife. When she opened a box, it was the whole bunch of different items, none of which belong to the item purchased. We brought this back to the store the following day at 1:00 PM, in less then 24 hours for an exchange. While waiting on the line to exchange the product, person in front of us has returned 2 products back to Best Buy. Store employee failed to even look at the boxes that were returned back to them. I have asked them a question how they are taking the item back without inspecting them. The answer was "The box looks good". After explaining what have happened, store manager Alexander (Refused to provide his last name) advised us that there is nothing that they can do, and said that this is a Small Claim, and nicely asked us to leave the store. He said to deal with the manufacturer of the product directly. After lengthy conversation with the manufacturer they suggested that the mix up happened at the store. Because none of the items in that box belonged to that set. It looked like someone shoved old used products in that box. I have called the Best Buy Corp, and spoke to Customers Relations operator that said that this issue can only be resolved by the store manager. I have lost $185.08, but the Best Buy will loose more then that on the long run. There must be someone in the Corporate Office that can understand that. This is very unfair that the store can treat the customer like that.
Gary L. Brooklyn, NY

This store has the worst customer service I've seen in 10 years. I bought a laptop that was offered on the website with a package worth $150. They gave it to me without th package saying they can't match the offer and then I came back again to replace it with another laptop since I felt like being deceived and they wanted to charge me a restocking fee for exchange. The manager was very rude. I spent over $4000 over the years on this store but this will be my last time buying from Bestbuy.

Please be aware when buying things even within the 14 day period since they'are gonna charge you if you exchange. Very frustrating.

I purchased a laptop from BestBuy in Richmond, VA. I also purchased a 3 year warranty on the laptop. The release button to open the display soon began sticking (due to a hinge problem) and the laptop could often could not be opened.The disply would not turn off sometimes and the laptop would be sitting unused getting extremely hot. When trying to open the stuck laptop, it popped open so hard it cracked the display. I took the laptop to Bestbuy (Worstbuy) and a month later, they "fixed" the hinge and display.
Shortly after this (a few weeks) the exact same problem began occurring. Since I did not wish to be without the laptop for another month (for a "repair" that only lasted a month), I continued using the laptop but did not fold it shut. When setting it down on the table it rolled back and cracked the display. Apparently, there is some cushioning around the display that was probably not installed correctly. I returned it to Worstbuy and they again had it for a month and returned it to me.
Once again, a short time later, the same exact problem returned. I continued using the laptop without closing it thinking itwould stilled be covered since the warrranty had a year to go.
A short while back I googled the problem and discovered HP realized they had a design failure and had issued a retrofit repair( free of charge) that would have fixed the problem. WorstBuy had never mentioned the recall to me.
I then took my laptop to Worstbuy. They took my computer, referring to my service contract in their system.
I receive a call weeks laterfrom WorstBuy telling me that they refused to honor their service agreement since they had replaced the display twice. "Doesn't matter" that the displays broke because of design flaws and incompetent and incorrect repairs. Despite the fact that I had over a year remaining on my service contract, I was told my warranty expired 30 days after the last repair. No one at WorstBuy mentioned this little "fine print nugget" to me.
After multiple calls to WorstBuy, I was told I should have read the fine print when I bought the contract. The FINE PRINT THAT SAYS WORSTBUY CAN VOID THE CONTRACT BASICALLY WHENEVER THEY GET TIRED OF REPAIRING THEIR FAULTY REPAIRS!!!