I had lent my computer to my friend Tony, and three years later the computer presented symptoms that made the computer unuseable. The symptoms included the following:
* extremely slow Windows XP startup,
* mouse cursor freezing indefinitely during startup,
* extremely slow system function.
I was unavailable to help Tony, who lives approximately 50 miles away from me, so on April 7, Tony took the computer to Geek Squad for diagnosis and possible repair on my behalf out of a perception of debt to me for allowing him to use the computer for so long. Tony paid for the $69.99 Diagnostic service and after reading the posted warning about non-liability for lost files due to system failure during diagnostic procedures and worrying about some irreplaceable photographs, Tony paid for the $49.99 backup of his personal files.
After the Geek Squad agent explained their service and offered to Tony an option for Advanced Diagnostic & Repair, Tony paid $199.99 for the service, contingent on the results of the Diagnostic service.
One week later, Tony received a call from Geek Squad, during which the agent explained to him that the hard drive crashed and that their was a system failure, and Tony went back to the store to discuss his options. Those options included the following:
1) continue with the ~$200 advanced diagnostic and repair for which Tony paid in advance—a service that they couldn't guaranty;
2) try to save the existing hard drive by wiping the hard drive and running the HP recovery kit to re-install the original software, if Tony had the restore discs (but the recovery kit was on a separate recovery partition on the hard drive, and the computer didn't come with any restore discs), for an additional cost of $150, also a service that they couldn't guaranty;
3) try to save the existing hard drive by wiping the hard drive and installing a new copy of Windows XP, for an additional cost of $150, also a service that they couldn't guaranty;
4) replace the hard drive and try to run the recovery kit, as in option 3, for an additional $150;
5) replace the hard drive and install a new copy of Windows XP, for a total cost of $300.
Tony tentatively approved option 3, as it sounded like the most attractive option, considering no guarantee on trying to save the existing hard drive. However, Tony asked the agent for an opportunity to consult a friend before they started the repair, and Tony called me.
I told Tony that the diagnosis didn't make sense in conjunction with Geek Squad's recommendations, and I advised him to retrieve the computer so that I could evaluate and give him a second opinion about his options.
Tony retrieved the computer, and Best Buy credited his credit card $200 for the pre-paid advanced diagnostic and repair service that Tony declined.
I found that Windows XP had forced the IDE controller into PIO mode, due to having accumulated six CRC errors. I also found that the hard drive had two pending sectors.
I ran Western Digital's Data Lifeguard Diagnostic Extended Test, and the test reported zero errors, indicating with more than a high level of confidence that the hard drive had no physical defects, which told me that the pending sectors were correctable and corrected by the extended test. I then removed the IDE controller device from within Windows XP, and I rebooted. All of the symptoms disappeared. The computer has functioned normally for over two weeks now.
My complaint is that Geek Squad undermined Tony's confidence in the hard drive, when there was evidence that the hard drive had no physical defects. Geek Squad did not give Tony enough information to make an informed decision, as advertised by Geek Squad for that same service, when a five-minute Data Lifeguard Diagnostic Quick Test could have revealed with a high level of confidence that the hard drive had no physical defects. Whereas Geek Squad did not advertise that they would use that particular software, Geek Squad did advertise that they would test and ensure proper functionality of all software and hardware. All software and hardware was functioning properly, and correctable data corruption was the cause of the computer's symptoms. Therefore, Geek Squad deceived Tony into thinking that he needed a new hard drive. These actions fit the definition of violations of Arizona's Consumer Fraud Act. Accepting Tony's money and not doing what Geek Squad promised to do was a breach of contract and possibly fraudulent. Further deceiving Tony was also an unlawful act, even though he wasn't ultimately deceived (a willful violation, according to the Arizona statutes).
For more details, I have published a complete report of this transaction at http://geeksquashing. Blogspot.com/06/who-let-geek-fraud-in.html
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