Geek Squad Thinks Self-Immolating Laptop Just Needs New Parts

Daniel has a Black Tie service plan for his laptop, so he dropped it off at Best Buy for what he thought was a simple camera repair. Back at home, he realized something must be wrong when smoke billowed out of the computer. This seems unsafe to Daniel, and he thinks that Geek Squad needs to replace the entire computer instead of just swapping out some parts. Geek Squad disagrees.

This has to have [been] and continues to be the worst experience in computer tech support and warranty service I have ever seen.

I dropped a lappy off to BB for a “Black Tie” service to fix a busted camera.

It took about 2 weeks to get to their depot and back.

I plugged it in and turned it on, and smoke started bellowing out of the thing and catching fire.

Wow… ok… well I know from working with other warranty providers (the best by far is Dell, they actually send a tech to your place within a business day or two.) that whenever a thermal event like this happens, the only option is to replace the unit. It is too much of a risk to the customer.

So, I went to BB store to explain the situation. The guy didn’t care to even ask a supervisor, just had me fill out the standard repair form and not take ownership of the case. Sent back to depot.

It has been another 2 weeks. This time I wanted more answers… like when will I get a laptop? It has been about a month now without one. And when will I get a replacement?

So I have talked to Geek Squad Techs, Supervisors, Store Managers, Executive Office, and Depot all pass the responsibility to someone else. It seems no one there can authorize anything. I have run out of contact info over there, lol.

I am without a laptop and they are not even saying I will get a replacement… in fact, what it sounds like is that they want to repair a laptop that was previously on fire.

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