My TV quit working out of the blue one day, and after all my troubleshooting efforts failed, I reached out to Best Buy to see if they offer TV repair, even though the TV was well past warranty. Turns out they do. They informed me a solely diagnostic appointment would cost $125, before any parts and repairs. This seemed high to me, but after contacting another shop to price-compare and getting a comparable quote, I called Best Buy back to schedule the diagnostic appointment. I was scheduled for an in-home appointment with technician Connor for a few days later.
Connor from Geek Squad (part of Best Buy) arrived as scheduled, and was friendly and professional. He quickly diagnosed the problem with the TV, which was a broken backlight, and after doing a search, informed us the replacement part from Samsung is no longer available, and that our only option is to purchase a new TV. Fair enough, not his fault that we have become a throwaway society where nothing is built to last anymore.
Connor then told us that since we paid $125 for what was essentially a 5-minute appointment, he would be happy to offer additional services included in that price. He told us if we purchased a new TV from Best Buy, he would pick it up from the Best Buy store, deliver it to our home, set it up, and haul away our old TV. He left his number and told us his offer would remain open for 90 days. Awesome!
But here's where it goes south....
The very next week we went to Best Buy to check out new TVs, found one we were happy with, and purchased it. We explained to the salespeople about Connor's offer to pick up, deliver, and set up the TV, and they were incredibly perplexed, as if they had never heard of such an arrangement before. To simplify things, my partner decided he would pick up the TV himself another day (on the day of the purchase we had other things going on and couldn't lug around a TV in the back of our car all day).
After my partner brought our new TV home a couple of days later, I texted Connor to tell him we had the new TV, and requested to set up a time for him to install it and take away the old one, per his offer.
Two days later, Connor responded with a totally nonsensical message about how he couldn't fulfill the request, because he would have had to sell us the TV himself in our home in order to set it up. And that he would have to charge to haul away our old TV as a separate service.
What?
Neither of these things aligned with what he had told us before. And why would the new TV have to be ordered specifically through him, and from our home? Best Buy gets the sale either way, so what's the difference? Do Geek Squad employees get a commission for this? If so, this was never mentioned before.
As far as hauling away the old TV, when we checked Best Buy's website, there was conflicting information about whether there is a fee at all, and how much it is. But regardless, Connor should have honored his offer to take away the old TV at no additional charge.
The whole scenario was bizarre: the false assurances from Connor, as well as the disconnect with Best Buy. Were we just promised the bonus services to entice us to buy the TV from Best Buy, and then once we did, the offer was dropped? Whatever was behind it, I'm never ok with a lack of integrity. Be honest with your customers, and follow through on your promises. These are basics. Anything less diminishes your reputability as a business. read more