I bought a computer from Best Buy 2 1/2 years ago. I was looking for a better computer so my daughter could use the internet for school research.
I was looking at a computer and wondering if I needed more memory, there was a computer sitting right next to it marked "open item" it had a lot more than the computer I was looking to buy such as: DVD drive (which the other computer did not) CD burner, double the hard drive space and double the memory and it was only about $200 more, the salesman kept pushing for me to buy the open box, he repeatedly told me that it was checked over and that everything was in working order, so I finally bought it. BIG MISTAKE!
He also kept pushing me to buy the extended warranty and I said no because I had already spent more than I could afford and after finally saying no 100 times he left it alone. At the cash register the girl pushed the extended warranty saying it would be a good idea since it was an open box, blah, blah, blah so I finally bought it. SECOND BIG MISTAKE.
Right away the computer gave me trouble, the DVD did not work, it was really slow - in fact, slower than my old computer so I took it in to get looked at, they could not find my extended warranty on the computer so I had to sit there literally for an hour until they located it and I had even brought in all my paper work. They said that they had to keep it to check it all out and ended up keeping it for about 2 weeks which is ridiculous. I picked it up and they said they had fixed the DVD and cleaned up the hard drive so it should work faster - JOKE! I took it in at least 4 times to have the DVD drive fixed and everytime I brought it home it still did not work, plus I took it in at least 30 times over the last 2 1/2 years to be repaired one way or another, one time I checked out the memory and I was suppose to have 128 MB of memory and had only 64 so they added more and that was about the only thing they really fixed under the warranty for me.
I finally quit taking it in because they would keep it for weeks at a time and we needed it at home, I use it for my business and my daughter for school. A few weeks ago a new Best Buy was built by my house so I thought I would try that store to see if I could get better service and I sure did. I brought it in for one of the things I had taken it in several times for and started telling him about everything else like the DVD drive and he looked at the computer and said this computer does not have a DVD drive on it, how could they have fixed it?
Luckily all this time I kept the card that was marked open item and had a list of all the features of my computer so I showed it to him and he started looking very puzzled, next thing I knew he had called a manager over and he started looking it over very carefully, asked where the model number was on the computer and finally found it and guess what? Best Buy sold me a different model number than what I paid for and of course a cheaper model. They then told me I had to go to the Maple Grove store where I purchased it and they would help rectify the situation. I went directly to the Maple Grove store and asked for a manager. After about 30 minutes one came up and I explained to him what happened and I could not believe how I was treated, in fact my daughter was with me and was getting furious because of how he was talking to me.
I was told that I should have noticed the different model number 2 years ago and then they could have done something but because I didn't think to look I was out of luck and that I should be happy with the computer I got at the price I paid because it was still worth a lot more even without the DVD on it. He must have said that to me at least 5 times. He looked up my extended warranty and when going through my papers found my list of things wrong with the computer including error messages I would get and started in on those and how those were my problem to fix and not theirs.
I told him that I did not bring the computer into his store to have them look at the error messages that I wanted to talk about how the store sold me a computer that I did not get and he started in again about how I basically should have been smarter and noticed it was a different model. How come none of the technicians at Best Buy noticed it when they were working on my computer, fixing the DVD drive that wasn't ever on the computer? I guess that no one really looked at it at all did they?
Wonder how much they charged to fix nonexistant parts. After about an hour and a half when I could not hold my cool anymore I took the computer and loudly said "thank you for the great customer service" and walked out of the store so basically I spent $1,400 for a $800 computer plus the extended warranty that did not get me a thing.
They won't even put in a DVD player for free under my warranty or a network card, etc. I called 1-888-BESTBUY and the kept me on hold and talked to the manager and came back on the phone and told me there was basically nothing that they could do for me just like everyone else. So BEST BUY screwed me and there is basically nothing they can do to rectify the situation.
Pretty sick if you ask me, especially when its a known fact that between Thanksgiving and Christmas they pull in One Million Dollars a day and no matter who you talk to almost everyone has a similar story. Anyone have any suggestions on what I could do to get better results?
Darcy
Coon Rapids, Minnesota
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Best Buy