Chris learned a very entertaining lesson this weekend. He tells Consumerist that he went out yesterday in search of a Mini SD card at his local Best Buy. A Mini SD card that the Geek Squad staffer who picked up the phone at Best Buy assured him the store carried. Guess where this is going?

I received a device for Christmas that required the use of a mini-sd card (it is a bit smaller than regular Secure Digital cards, but larger than micro-sd cards). I called many local stores, and none of them carried that type of card.

When calling the Best Buy in [redacted], PA, nobody picked up for the “speak to a sales associate” menu option. I eventually pressed the option for Geek Squad, and got connected right away. I asked the Geek Squad “technician” if they sold mini-sd cards, and I made sure to specify that I did not want micro-sd. He seemed to pick up on what I was asking for, and he put me on hold to go check. A few minutes later, he came back and told me they had those cards in stock. I again made sure specifically ask for mini-sd, and not micro-sd, and described the physical size difference. He said that they definitely had them in stock.

So I got in the car and drove to the store. I don’t think I have ever seen the parking lot
so crowded (going to the store on the day after Christmas is something I should have avoided). I walked into the store and asked where they had the cards. The gentleman at the door said to try the Cell Phone section and Camera section. I tried the Cell Phone section first, however they only had micro-sd on display. I went to the Camera section and asked an employee if they had them in stock. He said that they did not carry those cards anymore in the store. Needless to say, I got pretty angry and snapped back saying that I called 20 minutes ago and a Geek Squad employee said they were in stock. The employee in the Camera section took me back up to the Cell Phone section and talked to the 3 employees up there. They all said that mini-sd cards are no longer sold there, and then proceeded to say that “Geek Squad does not know what they are talking about.”

So I left the store, pretty angry that I drove around in all the traffic for nothing, but humored that even Best Buy employees know Geek Squad does not know anything. And I do have to give credit to the employee in the Camera section, since he did take the time to investigate further if they sold the cards.

I ended up just purchasing a 4 gig mini-sd card on Amazon.com for $17.99, probably much cheaper than Best Buy was selling them for anyway.

Asking a Geek Squad member this question probably wouldn’t have been a good idea in the first place even if this particular person apparently didn’t understand the difference between MicroSD and MiniSD cards.

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