Best Buy paid too much for all the hassel ripoff Bloomingdale Illinois

After approximately one year of researching and comparing we decided to purchase a new computer. We weighed the pros and cons of ordering direct from Dell or purchasing from a local store. Our previous experience of purchase from a local store, (Computer Reinessance) made us a little leary of purchasing from a small business. Two months after we purchased our last computer, Computer Reinessance went out of business thus leaving us nowhere to turn with our warranty.

We are not computer technical people. The seemingly logical conclusion was to purchase locally in case we needed help with set up, repairs, or questions. I was scared if something was wrong with the computer then we would have to pack and ship it back to Dell for repair with the hopes that we would get it back (We have friends who received another computer in error and they were never able to find their computer which contained all their information).

We went into the Bloomingdale store on 09-30-05 and purchased the HP Media Center 3400+ that was on sale. The sales associate, Josh, was incredibly friendly. This particular model was on sale and they had no other models in stock. We ended up purchasing the floor model with a open box discount.

Christina, from Geek Squad came to our home to set up the system. It seemed to work fine for a little while after she left. When we were surfing the web suddenly the whole screen went blank and then to a white screen with red pin stripes and froze.

I called the store and waited for about 20 minutes or so pressing different prompts to get through to a live person. I was a little aggravated by this point. The wait on the line was a bit excessive. I would have rather left a voice mail that would be returned within a 2 hour period.

I finally got through to representative from Geek Squad who told me to bring it back in so that they could trouble shoot it.

I packed it up and took it back. After a few minutes they told me it was a bad motherboard and asked me what I wanted to do. I said that I would like a refund. I was asked to wait for a manager.

Christina from Geek Squad came over and asked what was wrong as she was just at our home the day before. I told her what had happened. She appologized and went to see what was going to happen.

Josh, came over to where I was standing at the counter for service and repair and appologized for the inconveince. He said that they could give me a upgraded computer (HP Media Center 3500+). I was very hesitant because we had already had problems and it had only been less than 24 hours. I did however agree and left with the new system.

A few days later, Christina, came back to set up the second system. It was set up successfully. I discovered about a week later that this new system didn't have a second drive to burn DVD/CD like the original system did.

I went back into the store. I tried to call but was on hold for over 30 minutes with no live person answering the phone. I saw Josh and he went and spoke with a manager. I asked again for a refund, but the manager told me she could not do it because we had already opened the boxes and tore off the UPC's for the MIR. I again had to bring the system back into the store so that they could install the second drive. I was asked to pay $20.00 and then was given a $20.00 MIR. I have yet to receive this MIR let alone the remaining 4 still from the original purchase.

I have only received 3 of the 9 MIR from this purchase. The rebate center is still yet another fiasco that I am getting tired of tracking down. Needless to say I made copies of everything that was sent and still have only received 3 of the rebates.

I have tried to run a defrag on the new system and it simply won't run. I called HP (I was able to get through to a live person pretty quickly - about 5 minutes)and they had me run a few checks and they told me that the software is installed incorrectly thus voiding my warranty with them. They do not support Windows XP Professional in a Media Center computer.

I again, called Josh and he asked me to bring the computer back so that they can trouble shoot it agian. I will hopefully be doing that this week. Quite frankly I am getting tired of packing up the computer and taking it back to the store. I have three small children and it is definately not on my list of favorite activities for the day.

Josh and Christina have been super great. They are the only asset in this situation. They have worked hard to keep up the good communication. I only wish that they would be able to take over the management positions.

The one and only manager whom I dealt directly with was incredibly rude to me. I think that my only saving grace the day was the fact that a Bloomingdale police officer was there in uniform and returning something and was being given the same hassel and he finally said to the manager, "Now I see why people get upset with you and you have to call us. Customer satisfaction here, stinks." I was the next one in line behind him. He looked around and simply shook his head at the rest of us in line.

All in all, we have paid about $1600 for a system that has given us problems since day 1. After all, we have been back to the store 5 times in two months and 3 of those times were within the first 24 hours. We still have to visit at least one more time to try to fix the whole defrag problem. All we want now is a refund. I am willing to give back all of the refund money that has come to us. I want my money back and want to put this whole mess behind me.

I know that they have attempted to "make things right" but I have asked for a refund twice well within the return policy limits only to be told that they could not do that. I don't believe that I should have to continue to go through all the hassel of continually returning with my computer to fix it. It is only two months old. It should run problem free for much longer than that.

I am very dissatisfied. I will not be buying anything else other than to use up our accrued credit points.

Maggie
Roselle, Illinois
U.S.A.

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