Back in February I posted about the unbelievably awful experience I had with Best Buy over Christmas, and the two months they left me without a computer – only to give me back my laptop just as broken as it was when I first brought it in.

The situation was a shitshow from the start, and I’ll still never buy from a big box store again, BUT, after reading my post, the head office in Vancouver called me up and told me the store would be in contact with me to work something out.

The wonders of social media, friends.

So the store manager called me and apologized for the unnecessary wait, and he offered to set me up with a new computer. Thrilled that something good had finally come of this ordeal, I quickly accepted and he gave me some times to come into the store to see him directly.

Of course, this is the store that is full of fail, so when I got there during the time he told me he was working, dragging my super heavy 17 inch laptop with me, they told me he was already gone for the day because the other manager came in early. These people!!! The worst. 

So I dragged it in another day, and after a 10 minute wait he finally showed up, took a look at my computer and said he could give me a laptop for the current value of mine (600$). I wasn’t expecting to be able to choose one that day since on the phone he said they would have to look at mine and get approval, but now he said they could do it then and there.

Having no clue what I wanted other than a 17 inch screen, he gave me two options, and I went with a Samsung model he seemed to be pushing on me. Only upon looking at the receipt on my way out did I see this computer he recommended was on sale, and worth $160 less than my computer (it wasn’t even on display in the store). I had asked about an HP that was actually $600 but he told me Samsung lasts longer and that this particular HP was a cheaper model that would die sooner – having quite the love affair with my Samsung Galaxy SIII phone, I was inclined to believe him.

I’m still annoyed that I ended up with a cheaper sale computer, but the worst part is that it is running Windows 8. What a nightmare. While I’ve finally (mostly) gotten used to it, for about three weeks I really wanted my busted two year old laptop back just so I could have Windows 7 again. On the positive side, this laptop does have a faster processor and a lot more space than my old one, so I can’t really complain. If I could get the stupid right hand side panel to stop popping up EVERY single time I move the cursor slightly to the left I might not hate it so much.

Had I known when he first called me, that it really meant I’d have to give them my old computer to keep, and get Windows 8 instead, I’m not sure I would have agreed to it as fast as I did.

BUT they did make an effort to fix a major fuck up, and the new laptop is still a newer, better laptop without a busted hinge, so its still a nice little win against the corporations.

Have you ever complained to or about a brand and had them actually listen and fix their mistake? Share, please! 

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Came across this post through Pinterest, thought some of you musician types might find it useful. Have you used any of these? Are there better/more affordable apps out there that share similar features and capabilities? Share in the comments, please!

From what is listed I have only used Shazam (as I’m not a musician), which I adore and use all the time when I’m watching TV or a movie. Spotify is somehow STILL not available in Canada, so forget that crap. RDIO is better (and free for the first six months) anyway.

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I generally hate writing negative shit on my blog. I think the purpose of a blog is to share great things and hopefully inspire people (as cheesy as that sounds), not to wallow in your own anger or to hate on anyone or any brand.

That said, the photo posted above that I found through googling ‘best buy sucks’ showed me I’m not alone in how Best Buy cunningly screwed me up the ass with a metal fist, and it would be nice if maybe somehow my little rant combined with others horrible experiences gets them to be a bit more transparent with their warranty’s - or at the very least – prevents others from throwing away hundreds of dollars on them as I foolishly did.

I Decided To Buy My Laptop At Best Buy

I bought an HP laptop about a year and half ago – my crappy desktop had finally shit the bed months prior and I saved my pennies from my first few paychecks of my new job to finally get with the times and get myself a laptop. Of course, I figured to be safe I should purchase the warranty, thinking that would let me avoid any bullshit should it crap out early on as laptops tend to do. I agreed to the 3 year warranty which meant another almost $300 added onto the price of the computer. For me that was, and still is, a lot of money, but I figured it would be worth it should anything happen.

Random Hinge Explosion = “Physical Damages”

Fast forward about a year, and I am leisurely opening up my laptop as I always have – and the hinge EXPLODES in my face – I did nothing out of the ordinary. It was closed – I opened it – and it just immediately came completely undone and some of the metal snapped off. Horrified, I thought – thank GOD I bought that damn warranty – and breathed a sigh of relief knowing that I could just take it back to Best Buy’s trusty ‘Geek Squad’ and have it fixed in no time.

That was TWO MONTHS ago (if you’ve been wondering why my blog’s been quiet – my lack of a functioning computer at home since before Christmas is the big reason).

I took it in, and the worker asked me what was wrong – I told him how the hinge busted out of nowhere, and it was also overheating here and there, and the screen was starting to go a little red.

He filled out all the forms and had me fill out all the forms, then tried to sell me data recovery, you know, in case they delete all my files while fixing it – and then told me that HP may not cover it because it is a physical damage. I explained to him that I didn’t drop the laptop – in fact I rarely ever moved it from my desk where I used it – and had done nothing to cause this damage. He said they would do some kind of test to ‘check’ if it was my fault or not, and go from there.

The next day, they call me and leave a message asking me to call back. I try to call a couple times and no one answers, so I figured it wasn’t important.

Physical Damage = VOID WARRANTY!!!

Three weeks pass by and I’m starting to wonder what the hell is happening so I try calling again, and again, and again. No one answers, and when someone finally does, he puts me on hold as soon as he picks up, and then the call gets rerouted to the front desk where they tell me they can’t help me, but they will give my number to the Geek Squad guys to call me back when they get a chance. At this point I decided to just go all the way to Best Buy, where maybe I would actually be able to talk to someone who knows what’s going on.

I get there and ask about my computer, and he looks in the back and brings it out to me telling me they would not fix it because it had a physical damage – therefore VOIDING the warranty I spent $300 on. This means they wouldn’t even fix the fact that it was overheating or that the screen was going red. I paid all that extra money, literally, for absolutely nothing.

This is the trick with buying these “warranty’s”. They make you think you need it, but there are all these little fine print rules they make up and conveniently forget to mention when pushing it on you, that make sure they never have to actually fix it – they just get to keep your money and increase their profit.

The ‘Geek Squad’ Doesn’t Answer The Phone, Or Call You Back

Worst is the fact that they kept it for that long knowing it wouldn’t be fixed – and never even bothered to call me to come pick it up. Who knows when I would have ever heard from them had I not went in. The people at Best Buy Yonge/Dundas are probably pretty busy, but not to busy to do their job, or you know, maybe pick up the phone one of the 20 times I tried calling.

So when he tells me this I immediately freak out – as I think anyone who just lost their job and writes online for a living would. I don’t have any extra money to get it fixed, and I can’t believe that they won’t even fix at the very least the non physical problems with this piece of junk they sold me. I ask to talk to the manager, and the manager brings out another guy, and eventually after I publicly humiliated myself and shed some tears feeling all the stress hit me at once, they say that they can have their people take a look at it for me – but that they can’t make any promises. Their people? Why were they sending it back to HP and blaming it on them for rejecting it when I thought I bought a warranty from Best Buy in the first place – not HP?

Anyway I was happy that they seemed to be at least trying to help me out.

$1400 To Fix a $700 Computer… Umm

But then, a few weeks back, I get a call from the Best Buy repair place quoting me $1400 to fix it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT. THE. FUCK. I could buy a MacBook Pro for that price, or two new HPs. My head almost exploded, again.

So I rejected the charges, and asked when my computer would be available to pick up. They said in a few days, so I waited to get the call that I can finally come and pick up my computer. Of course, days and weeks passed, and no call. Yet again I had to call and call, and be ignored. Yesterday they FINALLY called me back and said I could come get it. Had I not hassled them I can’t help but think they would have just kept it indefinitely.

The Lesson Learned = Avoid Best Buy At All Costs

Apparently hinge problems are incredibly common for laptops, so this nice little excuse they have of voiding the warranty if any physical damages happen must mean they get out of actually having to fix it at least 70% of the time.

I guess I have learned my lesson – I won’t be wasting money on a useless warranty in the future and I sure as shit won’t be buying anything from Best Buy ever again. I highly recommend you avoid them as well. What a nightmare.

Best Buy goes ON AND ON about how their people are not on commission (remember all those annoying commercials?), but, you should know that the BB stores are rated based on how many warranty’s they sell and employees that sell more are scheduled for more hours – hence all this bullshit. Stores that don’t sell enough get in line to be cut. The salespeople are still trained and pushed just as hard as Future Shop to push that garbage on you in fear of losing their hours, so be strong and say no.

Now that I finally have my laptop back I have duck taped up the hinge, and can only hope the other side doesn’t explode too. At least I can still use it until it completely dies.

Have you ever been screwed by a useless warranty, or one of these big box tech stores that upsell you useless shit they know is useless? Please share your story below. I hate wallowing alone.

And if you’ve ever had a problem with Best Buy, please join me in tweeting them @BBYCanada with the hashtag: #bestbuyworstbuy. Even brands as clueless and careless as them pay attention to social media – it’s the fastest way to create change.

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My inbox received what I think is pretty awesome news this morning – two big promoters – Collective Concerts (who happen to throw the majority of shows I attend) and Union Events (for those of you who are into EDM), have done away with the evil monster that is Ticketmaster and teamed up with Ticketfly, finally bringing another option to Canada. Inertia Events (for the heavy metal fans) and University of Calgary Students’ Union are also on board for the launch.

Ticketfly claims to offer much more reasonable fees than Ticketmaster’s complete bullshit, but I won’t comment on just how much cheaper the fees are until I actually attempt to buy a ticket myself. Your best bet is still to head to your local record store and support them without paying much extra per ticket – but it’s good to know that Canada FINALLY has another option to Ticketmaster for the shows you can’t buy tickets to in stores. Oh and an option that so seamlessly interacts with social media – I can buy my ticket right on Facebook now? AWESOME.

Here’s hoping all the promoters in Canada will pick up on this and give Ticketmaster the boot, once and for all. If you are throwing an event – try using Ticketfly. Looks like it’s open to anyone (not just big promoters) as far as I can tell, and the analytics behind it are pretty incredible.

“Our history and relationships in Canada made it the clear first step in Ticketfly’s international expansion,” said Andrew Dreskin, Ticketfly’s CEO and Co-founder. “We offer Canadian venues and event promoters something they haven’t experienced before – a modern, integrated digital marketing and ticketing platform that provides real, measurable value by streamlining operations and driving incremental ticket sales.”

“We saw a great opportunity to bring our brand of technology-forward ticketing and marketing to an underserved market,” said Gannon Hall, Ticketfly’s CMO and Head of Product. “According to comScore, Canadians have the highest level of Internet usage worldwide and are power users of social networks. Our platform leverages the mobile and social web to turn fans into marketers, increasing event discovery and driving ticket sales. Plus we’re huge fans of Rush and Neil Young.”

“Ticketfly is making a big move into Canada and we are excited to be working with them. They have built an impressive business in the United States and as far as we can tell they provide the most progressive technology available. Ticketfly’s integrated platform and detailed analytics help us to save time, better market our events and sell more tickets,” said Harvey Cohen, Director of Union Events.

Watch the video below (which features two Collective shows I was at last month – Joel Plaskett and Pink Mountaintops) for more info:

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As always, one of my goals this year is to travel more (hoping to get outside North America this time!) and this incredible photo spread I came across on Pinterest is very inspiring. Please, take me to all of these places. The use of graphic design on these beautiful photos is perfection. I wish I had the skills to make the photos I post here so pretty (another goal, perhaps!).

Where are you planning on traveling to this year? January and February make me long to be anywhere but Canada. Where is the nicest place to visit during these crappy months? I’m in desperate need of reminders of warmer places, so do tell.

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