Complaint Review: Best Buy - Tulsa Oklahoma

Several of you asked why I even purchased a Sony Vaio from Best Buy... The reason I purchased it at Best Buy was because I had purchased a Compaq Computer from Best Buy and also purchased the warranty there, so I had no choice. Trust me, had they given me my money back, I would have definitelly looked else where for another computer.... So... as it was I got nothing.... I had even less problems getting them to re-place the first computer due to all of the parts that went bad, etc... I had my ex-husband with me and he argued with them until they finally gave in and told me to go pick out another computer of my choice. This has been several years ago, and I wasn't as computer literate as I am now, so I didn't really know what I was buying, only knew that it cost over 1000.00 more than what I paid for the first one. During that time period they changed managers quite a few times, and it seemed as if each one was worse than the next one. Now I am still stuck with this POS that hasn't ever worked right in the first place..... Whenever you go into Best Buy one of the first things they tell you is that we "Don't work on Commission", so we are here to help you purchase what is right for you.... WRONG!!!! Anyway, I just wanted to let all who wrote and asked why I didn't buy a computer on-line or somewhere else was becasue of the warranty I purchased from Best Buy....

The appeal to in-store purchasing is that you get it now. I've done it several times.. Can get a better deal online, but it's the whole "get it in your hands now" thing. Best Buy does have some issues with their warranty stuff. I wonder how much of it is due to unethical people who would buy a DVD, copy it, then return it and things of that nature. Not accusing the OP of anything here, but she does have an inordinate amount of failures. Poor shipping accounts for some of it (obviously, not her fault) but after reading it I had to wonder if she purchased anything that worked from BB. Computer equipment, specifically monitors (and TVs for that matter) generally either fail in the first month or so, or run great for years on end. Sadly, most of the 'repair' issues have little to do with equipment failure and alot to do with 'user failure'. In this case.. I would begin to suspect power issues at the OPs home, but that doesn't explain keyboard failures.. About the only thing that explains keyboard failures are people who eat or drink coffee at their computer. There's just nothing in a keyboard to fail on it's own. It's a pretty passive part. But... Assuming the manufacturer's warranty is expired, and Best Buy's 'extended warranty' is now the primary because of that.. She's got a point.. It's their responsibility. Own up.

Generally its always better to buy online. But once in a while a store will have a 'good enough' product to be worth buying. Openbox. Heavily discounted for whatever reason. Phase-outs. Ive bought mostly online, but once in a while there is a local store selling something that is a good enough deal to bother with. I too wouldnt spend a fortune on pc's locally except for above, but would consider everything else around it. Especially monitors & parts, periphals, etc. Its surprising at times to see as much store buying as there is.

Why would you purchase a Sony Vaio at Best Buy? You can get it online direct from Sony. It's beyond me why anyone would buy an expensive computer from a box store. The box stores don't sell computers and electronics. They sell worthless extended warranties that have a product associated with them. Always buy online direct from the manufacturer, you won't be pressured, and you'll learn a lot too and the purchase won't be impulsive.

Why would you purchase a Sony Vaio at Best Buy? You can get it online direct from Sony. It's beyond me why anyone would buy an expensive computer from a box store. The box stores don't sell computers and electronics. They sell worthless extended warranties that have a product associated with them. Always buy online direct from the manufacturer, you won't be pressured, and you'll learn a lot too and the purchase won't be impulsive.

Why would you purchase a Sony Vaio at Best Buy? You can get it online direct from Sony. It's beyond me why anyone would buy an expensive computer from a box store. The box stores don't sell computers and electronics. They sell worthless extended warranties that have a product associated with them. Always buy online direct from the manufacturer, you won't be pressured, and you'll learn a lot too and the purchase won't be impulsive.

Why would you purchase a Sony Vaio at Best Buy? You can get it online direct from Sony. It's beyond me why anyone would buy an expensive computer from a box store. The box stores don't sell computers and electronics. They sell worthless extended warranties that have a product associated with them. Always buy online direct from the manufacturer, you won't be pressured, and you'll learn a lot too and the purchase won't be impulsive.

Thank you very much for responding to my report of what Best Buy did to me regarding the Warranty for my computer.... First of all, before even bringing in my Computer to Best Buy, I talked to the Manager of the Computer Department. I had my warranty in hand with everyone that I had talked to plus all of the case numbers that they had assigned to me, which were many... After the Computer Manager looked at all of my paper work, he told me to bring in my computer and everything else that I had on the warranty and that I would be able to walk out with a new computer..... The next day I did just what he requested.. I had to stand in line at the Customer Service Line with my whole computer system in a cart. I again had every piece of information with me regarding all of my warranty information, and what all had been done, etc.... The customer Service person sent me to the Computer Department window to talk to the computer tech about my computer and all of the problems that I had had.... After several of them had looked at my warranty, they said that I had to have four separate calls for them to validate me getting a new Computer, which meant them comeing out and fixing the various parts of my computer..... I then asked to speak to their Manager..... He came over and looked at all of the paper work and told me that I only had 3 separate service calls.... Plus the fact that I only had 2 with the monitor. I bought everything as a package deal.... I wasn't very happy at that point, so the manager said that they would send off my computer to Sony and have whatever was still wrong with it to begin with fixed. I waited over 3 weeks for my Computer to be shipped back from Sony. (Note: that's with my in-home warranty, which I carried it to them instead of them coming to my home). After many phone calls to them requesting what was going on with my computer, and why it was taking so long, I finally got phone call from them saying it was shipped back to the store and I could come pick it up. I went back into the store and asked what all Sony had to replace when they had it.... They were very evasive at first, and finally just told me a few of the parts that had to be replaced. OK, I then asked to speak to the Manager again and said that this would be the 4th time I had had my computer worked on, and I requested that they hold up their end of the warranty and let me pick out a new computer.... The Manager said that wasn't possible as they had just had it all fixed... This is B.S.!!! When I first got the warranty one of the first questions I asked was if I was to receive new parts, a new monitor (if it went bad), etc. They said yes.... Only for me to find out when my monitor went bad that they would replace it with one of equal or greater value.... They sent me 2 different Monitors, as the first one that I received was all busted up when I opened the box to take it out. To me that meant recieving a new Monitor... WRONG!!!! It meant receiving a re-built Monitor, which was nothing like the one I had to begin with..... The Manager called the main store and talked to them. They didn't even have half of the calls that I had documented on my warranty along with who I had talked to and the case numbers... So the Manager said I am sorry I cannot help you and you CANNOT get a new computer..... I am not a dis-honest person and I expected that when I purchased the 3 year in-home warranty that they would live up to their end of it and would replace my computer. I was at Best Buy for well over an hour discussing in a calm tone asking them to tell me Why I could not get a new computer... Finally I started to get angry as they were getting angry at me. In fact, they were down right ugly to me.... I was embarrassed to say the least...... There was a customer behind me that had just bought a new computer and were fixing to purchase a warranty and I told them in a loud enough voice where the manager could hear me that they would be wasting their time as Best Buy didn't live up to their end of the Agreement.... Bottom line is that I trust people to do what they say they will do, and when they don't, it makes me lose faith in their Company and I will never Purchase another thing from them again!!!!!

I dont wish to dispute any of your experience with BestBuy. Its obviously most likely valid and true. And while Ive never been a employee of Bestbuy I did work in the store as a HP rep years ago. I have heard of recent problems at Best Buy relating to support. Part of the problem is the quality of people has gone down. They are not hiring 'high end talent' like they used to. I myself am a IT guy of 27 years, and was in their store partime as a HP rep for 4 years. I am a programmer & technician, and could easily do a much better job than them but dont want to cut my income in half. I wonder about whether everything was done right on the warranty, and with this kind of deal, you should naturaly talk with a manager right off. Or rather ask immediately for one. I wont talk to just any salesman when I need warranty work. Also, I would have had warranty extensions on all the products individually, and not on the package. Did you have a 'product package' extended warranty? I actually had almost everything I bought at another vender under individual warrantys. However, some of those warranties were not 'store related' warranties. But the overall reality, storebought warrantys are often not worthwhile. If at all possible one should always get warranties elsewhere. With cars, get it from insurance not from dealer. With DELL go direct to Mfg. I also deal with some very high end keyboards, why would you pay more than $20-$30 for high end. I do have one very high end for $250, but its a very specialized deal. All the others I have are actually some of the same ones that stores sell for 3-10 times as much as I paid. I bought very very high end keyboards for a lot less and they werent even on sale. $75-$100 is way too much. Did you shop around? Btw, going to any retail store is not necessarily a wise thing to do to buy computer products. I like going to retail stores, primarily to look at the physical product. But not neccessarily to buy. Personally, it depends on the product on whether I would bother with extended warranties. Only if the product is complex enought to justify it. For example I wouldnt bother with warranties ona microwave. I probably wouldnt get warranties extended on anything other than pc and monitor.