IT WAS A SIMPLE CASE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE or actually a lack thereof.
Last week we posted about our technology challenged week, so we went out in search of help.
Our search led us right into Best Buy and over to the Geek Squad. A techie guy comes out, boots the machine, scans the info all the while chewing on his nails and eyeballing the store activity. He gives us his diagnosis in two words without looking up “not working”. Ahh, no fooling, we think, that’s why we are here! He then states for around three hundred dollars he can give it a fix that may last for a bit or we can add a couple hundred bucks to that and just buy a new one, which he gets up and leads us to.
Okay, he may be right, but our confidence level in him was way, way down due to his presentation of the facts.
Next stop, Staples. We were welcomed by a friendly member of the ETF easytech force. No problem leave the machine with me for a cost of fifty bucks, I’ll open her up, while she’s on the table I’ll give you a call and we’ll fix her up for you, Should be simple give me 24 hours he says.
Well 48 hours later no word, so we call. Sorry service department is not open on weekends. WHAT? No one told us, no one called us; excuse us we use the machine for business and need it! Nothing we can do for you, sorry, was the reply. Why weren’t we told, why didn’t anyone call was the question. Don’t know came the response coated with a don’t care attitude.
What do we do now? Options, wait til Monday or come pick it up was the response with a yawn.
We chose the ‘we’ll pick it up option’ which was met with a fill out the form (whatever) response. At this point we can not contain ourselves any longer and say this is all very disappointing and unbelievable. With the millions spent trying to get customers, no one wants to help. Then came the final slap in the form of a response, "there is nothing I can do to help, you are agitated and we will not get anywhere"!
THEN we read the paperwork as we drive away, with out $50 refund. The computer was looked at, had been anaylized and would cost two hundred buck or so to fix. Only thing is, nobody followed up when they were suppose to, so it could have been fixed before the weekend.
It is all in the presentation isn’t it? How many times have clients asked us a question, for information or to do something and we have ‘blown’ them off in our response or attitude?
Giving ourselves a check up from the neck up.
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I agree with you ... they spend so much money getting you in the front door, only to frustrate you. It makes no sense whatsoever!
Totally unbelievable/sadly believaable at the same time. Don't you just want to pinch yourself when you're asking for straightforward service and you have to fight so hard to get nowhere?
Locally, there are several small hole-in-the wall shops that are excellent and reasonable--maybe you can find something similar in your area. Maybe call the locall community college instructor and ask where they recommend.
This doesn't shock me. Customer service in a lot of businesses today is, for lack of a better word, lacking. Sorry you had such a hard time! :(
I actually am having a hard time thinking of the last company that does give good customer service. We have had the same type of thing happen with computers many times.
Al & Peggy - Sad story but all too common. Customer service is sorely lacking in most businesses, and when you find it you're always surprised--it should be the norm. Then, these same businesses don't understand why they can't retain customers. There's a serious disconnect between what management may "know" and what the employees actually do.
Al & Peggy: It is experiences like that that cause me to be even more kind, more professional, and provide better, faster, service!
Hi Al & Peggy, giving yourself a check from the neck up eh? LOL, we always have such good examples of what NOT to do, don't we. Wow. Hope you resolve your problem.
Al & Peggy, I share your frustration. I won't buy or deal with Best Buy because of similar experiences with the Geek Squad and sales people that are less then helpful. Our Staples does not repair. I found a nearby computer store that does a wonderful job but they too are closed on Weekends and your repair can take up to a week....
Al and Peggy, clients want to know that we care. If we show them that we do care, then everything else seems to take care of itself. If clients are not comfortable with us, it does not matter what the rates or price are, they will move on to someone else. We need to treat our clients in the same way that we would want to be treated, we need to make them feel like they are the MOST important client that we have.
Al & Peggy - What a frustrating ordeal, I rarely get good customer service anywhere.
Al and Peggy - I know your computer hasn't been working for a few days. Is it a laptop or desktop? When you say it isn't working, can you indicate what is not working? Is it booting up fully or partially? What Windows version do you use? Do you have backups of your data?
Hi Everyone, if you had a chance to read through the comments you can see we are all agreement that it is hard to get good service almost anywhere. We see this as a lesson to ourselves to go the extra mile and give service that people probably are not expecting.
We have an idea in mind and are working on it and will share it with you soon.
Marc, it was Al's laptop that went down. Loaded a FREE program that was to make the computer work faster... it killed it faster, it was 4 years old but worked great.
You are getting this comment on my new HP laptop, still a Pentium with 4 gigs of ram, 320 gig hard drive, 2.1 processor, 16".... working on Microsoft 7 and Explorer 8, it was on sale at Best Buy last week at $499 then when we went in to get it, it had increased to $549. Peggy charmed Customer Service and got them to give it to us tofor the $499.
Best Buy has the old computer, is transferring the data and goint to try to re install the Windows program. Keeping our fingers croseed, will be a good back up.
By the way, the Geek Squad were really good, were looking for all angles to save us money and get the old one going.
I'm glad you are finally geting an answer to your computer problems.
Thanks for the reminder of treatment of our clients. We probably miss a lot of things that we do not realize.
Al and Peggy - Bad time for a computer to go down and for you to buy a new one. Windows 7 just came out yesterday to replace VISTA and I assume you have a VISTA machine.
Irene we should be reviewing our methods on a regular basis, always trying to get better.
Marc, the new computer has Windows 7 installed, had XP in mine but Peggy has Vista. Don't see a lot of difference yet from Peggy's Vista.
I feel for you. I had lots of trouble with this laptop. I fear there isn't much life in it left. I keep thinking I must get all my photos onto discs before I lose them. Or else upload them all to a web program. I have some on Flickr but not all. I have a love/hate relationship with computers.
My question would be why you came to the States to get your computer fixed. Why didn't you get it fixed in Canada? LOL
I think for $50 Staples Depot carry out the so called tuning but not the repair.