Best Buy Targeted by Lawsuit, Blog Wrath

Hell hath no fury like a blog launched against your brand -- particularly when it merits major media coverage.

That's what big box electronics retailer Best Buy is learning. Raelyn Campbell is enraged the store lost her laptop after she'd brought it in for repairs. She's suing Best Buy for $54 million for exposing her to identity theft after months of getting the runaround regarding her computer's whereabouts.

Campbell is venting her rage -- and detailing her version of the story -- in her Best Buy vs. Consumer Protection Blog.

Hello, long tail. No matter which way the lawsuit goes, it's going to live on in search results for a long, long, long time.

21 Comments

• 31 Jul 2008 19:44 by Kenneth

  What a really messed up company from the top down. Customer service is a joke. They can't do one damn thing correctly. If I were HP..I would even allow then to retail my computers..They give HP a bad name..and we all know..HP really tries to do what's right..Best Buy is HP's curse..

• 2 Sep 2008 21:58 by Jason

  Best (or worst) Buy hires people that just want to sell you something. These sales people are worthless and don't have a single clue about what a customer needs. Even when you tell them what you're looking for/needing, they still don't have a clue. A person is better off doing their own research rather then depending on someone from Best Buy. Customer service is a joke, along with their managers. Both employees and managers could give a shit less about their customers. All they want is your money. So, stop going and spending your money at Best Buy and then we'll see how much they care.

• 3 Sep 2008 15:35 by pam

  Best Buy IS NOT THE BEST BUY.
  We recently bought a radio for my husbands 60th birthday and when we got home and opened the bos you could see it has been re-glued and some-one had switched the products. Not even 20 minutes later we returned to BEST BUY and was tuned away. After to calls to corperate we are still with out a solution. Who protects the consumer?

• 23 Sep 2008 06:52 by Ralph Compton

  The service at best buy is terrible and the word needs to get out. I took a computer in that had gotten quite slow. I dumped the cache and defraged the hd. I needed help so I take it to Best Buy and they wind up formatting the hd, losing all my data, the processor is still slow and the sound card does not work, I was charged nearly $400.00 and it took three weeks. Their "service" really sucks. Their "techs" do not appear to knnow much about computers at all. It will be a cold day in hell before I go back there.

• 15 Oct 2008 01:33 by Liz

  I bought a warranty from Best Buy for my refrigerator. After a year and a half my refrigerator light broke. I called Best Buy to enact my pre-purchased Performance Service Plan and scheduled an appointment. No show for the technician. I was told, "Sorry!" and will have to wait a week for another technician. I asked for a supervisor and was told a supervisor would call me in four hours. No call back. I called again and spoke to a supervisor who couldn't resolve my issue and told me I'd get a call back the next business day. There is no "service" in this warranty. I am very disappointed in a company that I trusted to do the right thing. Is there a number I can call to escalate this issue or should I write their Board of Directors?

• 15 Oct 2008 18:32 by wade m.

  you hit the nail on the head giving it the name worst buy. i called to see if they could fix my computer i could'nt get my windows xp reinstallation cd to run. thay told me to bring it in so i did.that was a waste of time thay said it would cost me 200.00 to fix .i told him i
  could get a new hard drive for less then that. it does'nt take a geek to realizes this. needless to say i grab up my dell computer and got the hell out of there.got home and called dell up and got it fixed over the phone with dells support and my keyboard at no cost.i will never go back to best buy again or recommend someone to the rip off squad.

• 30 Oct 2008 12:23 by Jim Bown

  best buy values make me comfortable with my coworkers and customers

• 7 Nov 2008 20:01 by BBCA

  I work at best buy and first off not all employees are evil. In fact they teach us to do top down selling where we are to show the most expensive biggest baddest and then the little thing. Guess what? I get in trouble because I tell the customer if you don't have to spend a lot DON'T! I have been verbally warned for having "dry sales" or "poor sales" where the protection plan isn't pushed. I offer it. If a customer says no i let them know they have 2 weeks to add on if they change their minds. Yes Best Buy sucks but please know its because they treat their employees like crap which in turn causes us to treat the customers crappy. I was new and had never done retail before. I received very little training. I was pretty much told to read the manual and follow other co workers for a few days and from there I was on my own. I'm not the only one that has gone through this. I've asked others and they told me the same thing happened to them. I have other stories I could tell but I will just end with saying I thought working at Best Buy would be a joy. I was wrong.

• 11 Nov 2008 18:43 by Ollie Brown

  I am currently dealing with Best Buy's Consumer Relations dept. I bought a new Dell PC in May, and it started crashing around the beginning of October. I took it into Geek Squad on 10/15/08 for service. They said they updated my video driver, which I had done a few days before. So I picked it up, thinking maybe I did something wrong when I up updated my video driver. I got home and within about 10 minues my PC crashed again, I immediately took it back to Geek Squad, this time they replaced my video card. I took my PC back home, started to play WoW, and it crashed. I then called Geek Squad, they said it must be something on Blizzard's end. This is impossible, as my computer crashes no matter what program I am running. I took it back to Geek Squad, they sent it to their service center, who replaced my DVD drive, I picked it up from the store last night, got home it ran for about an hour then crashed. I am now being told I have to take it back to Geek Squad, they will send it to their service center, who will then ask HP if they will replace my computer. I just want to get what I thought I paid for, a computer that works.

• 11 Nov 2008 18:45 by Ollie Brown

  I am currently dealing with Best Buy's Consumer Relations dept. I bought a new Dell PC in May, and it started crashing around the beginning of October. I took it into Geek Squad on 10/15/08 for service. They said they updated my video driver, which I had done a few days before. So I picked it up, thinking maybe I did something wrong when I up updated my video driver. I got home and within about 10 minues my PC crashed again, I immediately took it back to Geek Squad, this time they replaced my video card. I took my PC back home, started to play WoW, and it crashed. I then called Geek Squad, they said it must be something on Blizzard's end. This is impossible, as my computer crashes no matter what program I am running. I took it back to Geek Squad, they sent it to their service center, who replaced my DVD drive, I picked it up from the store last night, got home it ran for about an hour then crashed. I am now being told I have to take it back to Geek Squad, they will send it to their service center, who will then ask HP if they will replace my computer. I just want to get what I thought I paid for, a computer that works.

• 7 Dec 2008 14:07 by Carol Sheely

  You are right. I bought a Toshiba laptop Sept 23, two months ago. As I travel I have had it back 10 times now all for the same problem, to 3 different locations in 3 different states. It LOCKS UP! First they blamed it on the free Anti-virus they had installed then they blamed it on the FREE spy sweeper they installed. After that they decided it was the hard drive (I had purchased a 3 year warantee) They kept it three weeks. I got it back yeterday. IT STILL LOCKS UP. It has NEVER worked since I bought it. They said they do not fix software issues. The only software on it is what I purchased new from them. For $130.00 per hour they will wipe the harddrive and I will have a "new" computer. It should be new. They have had it more than I have! I am taking it to Staples now. I would rather pay them than give one more cent to Best Buy!

• 22 Jan 2009 11:29 by Ginny

  Best Buy is awful. Just bought a TV set and it had lines in. Brought it back right away and they refused it. I bought the warranty. They said I should of checked it out in the store. Once you leave with it, it is your problem. Buyer beware. I learned my lesson. DO NOT SHOP AT BEST BUY. WALMART IS THE BEST.

• 9 Feb 2009 07:19 by NORMA

  My son and I went to Best Buys on Regency in Brandon Florida yesterday to buy a small television. The price was 249.99 when we got to the register it rang up at 299.99. We were told the 249.99 was only for open boxed items. Definitely false adverising, we walked out of the store and bought the TV elsewhere. Never again will I visit a Best Buys store anywhere.

• 13 Feb 2009 00:30 by scottg

  I just had a poor experience at BAD BUY !
  bought a laptop and they offered new or repackaged. I bought brand new but it had been optimized by the geek squad. got home and the battery did not belong to this computer. went back to the store and got a replacement computer which I think is used or as they say open box.
  I am going to write our attorney general in the state to investigate these guys. I think they are making a killing on customers by selling them used equipment and calling it new.

• 18 Feb 2009 21:40 by camera53

  I sent a Nikon D-50 camera off to be CLEANED and they returned it BROKEN. Sent it back. Came back broken again! Wanted me to send it back 4 times before they would do anything. MY GOSH I SENT IT TO BE CLEANED AND THEY BROKE IT! WHY WOULD I KEEP SENDING IT BACK. They are awful when it comes to a warranty. I wouldn't buy another extended warranty from them for ANYTHING! I ended up having to buy a NEW lens for my camera! Won't deal with Best Buy ever again.

• 21 Feb 2009 18:33 by glenn

  Customer service needs a boost from executive management. I am in the middle of getting the run around by the Geek Squad. I requested a service call for my TV and was called at 4:30 (last call of the day) and told that the service tech got sick. Went to the store and they looked up my ticket. Guess what, his excuse was a family emergency(hmmm). If your going to lie then you should at least make it consistant. In addition I was pushed out another 2 weeks to get an appointment. The guy shows up and I try to explain the issue. It only occures when a low pitch sound is played through the speakers. Just my luck as I searched through the channels to get that type of sound it was taking a few minutes. Guy blew me off and said he was busy and left. this was only after maybe 10-12 minutes. Just a few minutes later I was able to get a show that was able to reproduce the problem. He's also claiming he was here for a lot longer than he was. After calling back in and trying to get another service man out to my house today I am pushed out another week before I can get another appointment. Customer Service is tough sometimes, but they should never be rude or not give you enough time to reproduce your problem if it can be done in a reasonable amount of time. By the way, they do not have a policy for how long it should take to find a problem, it's up to the tech. (Not so long for mine I guess). Hope to be able to post out a good resolution to this issue. More to come.

• 9 Mar 2009 10:26 by drnancy

  bb just threw me off their "open forum" website.
  There are about 6000 complaints on there, & lots of people complaining about them & saying they are
  awful, but I think the last straw was when I asked
  if anyone had considered a class action lawsuit.
  They immediately started deleting my posts as soon as they were entered & now I no longer have
  a reply button, so I can't respond to any posts.
  
  But that's ok because I just registered with a new email & identity & this time I will avoid the word lawsuit.
  
  

• 15 Apr 2009 00:54 by Rich Cunningham

  Best buy sold my 15 year old son a maintenance agreement on a Zune for $35, "Because if it breaks we will replace it for free". Guess what the equipment broke and since the case had a small crack they would not replace the unit. They said he should have read the warrenty before he purchased it. When i went in i was told by an obnoxious arrogant geek squad agent that my son was out of luck with a smile on his face. This was a fraudulent transaction to a minor. I will never buy anything from Best Buy again.

• 21 May 2009 10:30 by Vicki

  BEST BUY SUCKS!!! Worst return policy ever, bought a faulty product and they would not let me return it, they would only give me the same faulty product, unwrapped to be sure it could not be returned...They do not stand by the products they sell. I will never shop there again, and hopefully many more will follow!!!

• 20 Jun 2009 05:10 by Cheap Computers

  I think this is not a healthy deal in favor of buyer as it gets out of order early and its warranty claims sucks...

• 8 Feb 2010 15:01 by bandsxbands

  Virtual Memory sure is becoming cheaper these days. I wonder when we will finally hit the rate of $0.01 to 1 Gig.
  
  I'm quietly waiting for the day when I will finally be able to afford a 20 TB drive, lol. But for now I will be happy with having a 16 GB Micro SD Card in my R4i.
  
  (Submitted using NePof for R4i Nintendo DS.)