On 09-06-05 Dell Computer sent a technician to my house to replace a defective hard drive in my desktop Dimension computer.
On 09-07-05 I took the hard drive to your Geek Squad Department at store #252 located at Scottsdale Pavilions, 9190E. Indian Bend Rd., Scottsdale, AZ.
I told the Agent, Joshua, who was very friendly and helpful, that Dell had checked the hard drive and found it defective and had replaced it. I asked them to retrieve the data on the defective drive. He told me there was a $59 diagnostic charge (to see if the data was retrieval) and an $89 cost to recover the data. He had me list the most important files to be recovered, on the In-Store Tactical Analysis form (copy enclosed), and they charged $148 to my credit card.
The called me later that evening to tell me that the data was not retrievable and to come pick up the drive.
On 09-08-05 I picked up the drive and they credited my credit card for the un-used $89 since they had not retrieved any data.
That same day I took the drive down the street to a Data Doctor Service Center. Within 10 minutes they determined, without the demand for a diagnostic fee, that the data was readily recoverable. An hour later, after paying a $89 recovery fee, the data was on a CD.
On 09-09-05 I returned to your store and was told that they had earned their diagnostic fee by determining that the drive was defective. I asked them to explain why Dell had replaced a perfectly good hard drive and why would I ask them to determine the drive was bad when that had already been established. As I said earlier, my only wish was for Best Buy to retrieve the data.
My contention was that their diagnosis report was 180 degrees wrong, since the data was retrievable, and they should not charge me for a wrong diagnosis. The Geek Squad Manager was rude and insulting and suggested I contact Corporate, which I am doing. I can only wonder if it is company policy to charge a "diagnostic" fee to determine that BB cannot perform a certain repair, which they know they don’t have the equipment or expertise to perform, and then keep the fee. As a long time BB customer, I hope this is not the case
