"Surely your company must be so busy in this economy it cannot return the phone call toward a purchase of $1385.89?"

Sarcasm doesn't necessarilly belong in a formal letter if you want to be taken seriously.

@wgrune: You must be new here.

Elizabeth, don't PAY for recovery discs to be made in the future. Every pre-installed version of Windows I've seen has a recovery partition and/or the option to make recovery discs by the manufacturer. Especially with HPs, you'll get a reminder to make recovery discs after a few days of use. All you have to do is pop-in blank CD-Rs/DVD-Rs and let the disc creator do the work.

I'm sure they weren't both defective. What probably happened is, they either:

A. Found someone else who wanted that laptop and was willing to buy a ton of accessories (margin), more Geek Squad services (even more margin) on top of the service plan.

or

B. Somehow didn't create the restore discs correctly and couldn't make new ones. You only get one or two chances to create the discs.

We used to use excuses like that all the time when I worked for Geek Squad.

@G.O.B.: Come on!: Also note that the recovery discs DO include any pre-installed software and not just the operating system.

Why would you pay extra for recovery disks to be made on a brand new computer? Every brand new computer already comes with factory recovery software. I'm pretty sure Vista even has that capability built in.

@wgrune:
I don't think that is sarcasm as much as it is frustration
Especially since forming it as a question when the sentence is a statement.

You know, bashing Best Buy just isn't fun anymore. It's too easy. There are way too many things to nail them for.

Here's a money and time saving tip: buy the device direct from HP.com and pay $1269.98 for the laptop (+tax) with 3 year warranty and $19 for the recovery disks. I'm sure the price will be less than the Best Buy price, and you won't get the run around.

I was tempted to say "Why ws sh shppng t Bst By t strt wth?"

But it would have been too pretentious, and very Pointy indeed.

Wikipedia has this to say on the topic of being pointy:
"Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point."

The closest we have in the Commenters Code of Conduct is: "Commenters are not moderators".

Maybe we should add the "You are not being ironic. You are not cracking everybody up. You are just being disruptive." part to the code.

Obligatory link: [xkcd.com]

That said, I really would LOVE to have a "Why S THS N CNSMRST?" for a fair price of 20 bucks (that way its an implicit donation too).

With little or no other chains to buy laptops at I have to pity the OP at least. Frankly though if you're willing to pay so much you should just order straight from the manufacturer.

Umm, it appears the common denominator here is the geek squadder, who apparently is the one who keeps declaring the machines "defective". My translation: geek squad guy keeps messing something up or has other ulterior motives.

A tip for the OP: why in the world do you keep insisting on paying $70 to let some geek squad incompetent burn you a few 25 cent CDs?

Skip geek squad, take the thing home and burn the recovery disks yourself for next to nothing. I know Best Buy disagrees (I worked there as a lead "pc tech" yeeeeears ago, pre geek squad) but it is completely legal, even in Arizona, to buy a computer and just take it out of the store in the box. Best Buy tries real hard to convince customers otherwise though.

While I'm not one to blame the consumer, it's quite easy to make the recovery discs at home, and save the $70. Also, I'm confused by one of her points... She says that Best Buy told her they accidentally used a DVD instead of a CD for the recovery discs. IIRC, it takes something like 17 CD-R's to do the recovery discs, or 3 DVD-R5's. Besides, surely her new computer has a DVD burner.
All that aside, the fine folks of the Geek Squad probably kept messing up the computer somehow, although it would appear that she did all of the things that should ensure prompt cust service at Best Buy- service plan and geek squad services.
My advice would be to get her money back and go to a reputable online computer retailer. It's obviously too much trouble for BB.

@MostlyHarmless: Cn y gv m th twnty bcks f dsmvwld my wn cmmt?

@Adam Stouffer: That and HP computers come with a recovery disc wizard... why waste money and more importantly why let the GS touch the computer! No! Bad consumer. Although this is all Best Buy's fault, the consumer has learned the very important lesson of don't let geek squad touch the PC I'm sure the laptops were fine until they touched them.

@Adam Stouffer: I was just thinking that. Vista definitely has that capability. One of the first things I did with the HP laptop I bought in September 2009 was to burn my own recovery discs. Can't imagine paying that much money for a service I can do on my own with a click of the button and for the cost of a few CD's. Super easy, too. It's included in the HP quick start directions for their laptops, actually. And Vista runs you right through it. It's a breeze.

OP must not be familiar with that. Not her fault. But it certainly makes me think very little of Geek Squad that they'd take that much money from someone for a service that could easily be done on one's own.

@MostlyHarmless: Maybe we can sell a "Why is this on Consumerist/Slow news day, huh?" bundle for the low, low price of $30. Or, if this were Target, $50.

The following isn't blaming the OP, because BB still screwed up royally however this PSA needs to be made.

QUIT PAYING THEM TO MAKE YOUR RECOVERY DISKS.

The PC will prompt you to burn those discs (if it doesn't come with them in the box), and it's so easy a trained (or untrained) monkey can do it.

- "Would you like to make recovery disks? It would be a good idea blah blah."

- "Done."

Is 10 minutes of your time worth paying BB $70? If so, I wish I was so highly paid and important. I'm surprised you had this much time to waste trying to buy a commodity computer you could buy faster at any of 1000 websites at one B&M store.

Anyways, consumers would do well to stop paying through the nose for whatever unnecessary and time-consuming services a clerk at BB tells them they need.

I bet the computers weren't even defective, the Geek Squad guys probably are told to say that whenever they f**k up your laptop trying to perform these unnecessary tasks.

@tcp100: Yeah, the common thread in the sequence of events seems to be the Geek Squad. I'd skip the backup creation, save $70, do it myself, and see exactly how defective the unit is. :-/

@Laura Northrup: Or maybe a "It's the OP's Fault" sticker shipped from Amazon in a huge box with lots of stuffing.

Let's not bash the consumer -- that's just silly.

This is what shocks me -- BB has a consumer who is PAYING FOR THE WARRANTEE (second time!) and PAYING FOR GEEK SQUAD TO DO RECOVERY DISKS, and they still can't get it right?

This consumer is GOLD to BB. They should bend over backwards for them.

Do not pay Geek Squad to do ANYTHING. Get a sealed box and leave. Do not pay for a service plan, it is nothing but a profit item for the store. You bought a warranty in 2006 - did you use it?

@Adam Stouffer: Some do and some don't. I read reports where Compaq had started charging for some of their physical recovery discs. If you don't have physical recovery discs, you probably have a recovery partition. Unless you delete or reformat this partition, it can be used to restore the computer to its original state.

You don't have to pay Best Buy to create these for you. I thought Vista had this capability up until SP1 (when it was removed), but I could be wrong about that. I know there are tutorials out there for creating XP and Vista recovery discs. I'll admit that I like having the physical discs as a back-up, but lately I've used the recovery partition and have been pleasantly surprised.

I was at Best Buy yesterday (ironically enough, I live in Yuma) and while waiting in line was looking at the prices for Geek Squad services (which I almost needed to grab the on-sale binoculars nearby to read, they're so tiny). It would almost be cheaper to buy a new cheapo laptop than get them to fix your old one...

I'm not blaming the consumer here, and best buy is totally in the wrong here.

But the computer didn't already come with recovery software disks? I guess it's because it's a HP, well known on this site for crappy service.

@RecordStoreToughGuy: Yeah, I meant the t-shirt.

Or they could sell some

"M vwls fr n dt bttn" mug too.

Really now, how can someone who claims to have done her research on a new laptop carefully: a) buy an HP b) buy it at Best Buy?

Perhaps she was suffering heat stroke from the hot sun in Yuma?

But the girl that talks about the guy calling from WalMart in the commercial sounds so convincing....

@BartleyR7: Yes I agree some don't. I know Dell charges for recovery disks too.

Here's one more PSA...dont purchase a computer from Best Buy!!!

@kamel5547: I would drop the 3 year warranty and use AMEX which automatically extends your warranty another year.

@frari489: A lot of computers now come with recovery partitions, which means they don't generally ship with recovery disks. Some people are stupid enough to say, "OoOoOoOoh I have a recovery partition, I don't need disks!" but you do if your hard drive dies and you don't want to either pirate or pay out the tushie to reinstall the OS and other pre-installed programs.

@Kevin Wolf: Hmm. Maybe it was the HP recovery disc wizard that walked me through it, then, and not Vista. All I knew is that it was one of the first things I did. But there is no reason the OP would know about that, necessarily. Evil of Geek Squad to just take her money like that. I understand that they are a business, but if someone charged me that much money for something I could easily do for free, had I only known, I'd never trust them again. In the long run, they'd lose more money than they'd gain.

@MostlyHarmless: LOL @ self-disemvowelling.

LOL @ that entire comment, now that I think about it...

@MyLud: That's what I don't get about this situation.

@Cogito Ergo Bibo: What I'm scratching my head at is that the OP knew she needed to make recovery disks but didn't know she could make them herself. Unless BB was the one that told her about the recovery partition catch-22 (lose the hard drive, lose the partition) BECAUSE they could then sell her the recovery disk service.

It all makes so much more sense now...

@West Coast Secessionist:

BB was lying to you, you can use DVDs even if only a CD was required. They probably just forgot to do the job and needed an excuse).

Not if the machine didn't have a DVD burner. While I'm absolutely willing to believe incompetence on the part of the techs, I don't think we've seen enough evidence to accuse them of deliberate, willful lying. Seriously, what do they gain from that?

@tcp100: Yeah, I'm not really getting that two computers in a row were declared "defective" enough to not even give them back to her. They're brand new computers. Different models. Both covered by warranty. What am I missing?

@katstermonster: Well, on prior computers (which maybe didn't have the handy disc wizard) she said she'd had Geek Squad create them for her. I'm thinking it was habit on her part. Buy computer. Have Geek Squad burn discs. She didn't know that the newer HP's are capable of burning their own discs, so she just did what she'd always done and gave her new computer to Geek Squad to make them for her.

Homer: Aw, twenty dollars! I wanted a peanut!
Homer's Brain: Twenty dollars can buy many peanuts!
Homer: Explain how!
Homer's Brain: Money can be exchanged for goods and services!
Homer: Woo-hoo!

Well, apparently not everywhere.

lol, you're dead on. The only thing you forgot is:

C.)let the Geek Squad touch it. Everything the Geek Squad touches turns to shit or gets Nero on it. But that's redundant...

@Nicholas Semrau:
(Meant as a reply to jpdanzing)

@MostlyHarmless: D'oh! Darn my poor reading comprehension skills!

That said, I'd totally buy a disemvoweled consumerist T.

@wgrune: Last time I checked, a bit of healthy sarcasm doesn't precurse decent customer service, it often highlights the complete lack of logic involved in CSRs/store employees' handling of it.

My guess is that the HP recovery disk process is defective. I bought an HP directly from HP, and tried to make the disks at home - it never finished, and I ended up quitting the process. The PC is fine though.

There's an awful lot of "why would you buy a laptop/pay for recovery disks/pay for other support" type comments here, which has gotten me thinkng.

As a member of the rather techy/geeky crowd, I've found myself wondering: what is the draw? (Seriously, no obnoxious-ness intended.)

I feel like it's close to my #1 geeky maxim: Thou shalt not buy any technology from a brick-and-mortar store. (The sole exceptions being when you absolutely cannot wait the 24-48 hours for delivery, like the time my cable modem ate itself.)

I can't think of any non-techy parallel to make an analogy here, sadly.

Granted, I do make use of the B&M stores occasionally to do things like test out keyboard feel, or something else similar that I can't do online, but my ultimate purchase is usually online. But in my head (and maybe I'm wrong here), the only models that BB or other retailers sell are...er, souped-down. Less memory or smaller disks, or just the lack of ability to configure your own specs.

Also, things like creating recovery disks (in the OP's case). If you know enough to know you should have them, how do you not know how to make them? Is it a convenience thing? A fear thing? (Again, this is said with absolutely no obnoxiousness...I hear rumors that changing your own oil is rather easy, but I'm pretty much terrified to open my hood.)

Can anyone enlighten me?

@Laura Northrup:
same here...this si just the type of sheep...er...customer that best buy could actually milk some more cash out of over the years. Instead, hopefully she's seen the light and decided to simply order the thing from HP.com, newegg, or amazon.

why didn't she wait till Windows 7 was the standard OS?? Isn't it only a few more months now??

Not blaming the OP, but your headline is wrong...she very clearly isn't a reader if she bought her computer at Best Buy, let Geek Squad touch it and purchased recovery disks. And told Best Buy they would still get her business.

All things considered...this is like Best Buy's perfect customer...and they are still screwing it up.