Picked up the camera. The photos I took in the store on the spot looked ok. Got home and in a controlled environment took some long-duration exposures of pitch black. And lo and behold… the same exact problems are still there. 19 days in the shop, and Best Buy did nothing.
<> This was the fifth time I had the camera in for repairs, and at least the third time they didn’t fix the problem I brought it in for (including the one time when they made it worse.) Next time… no cameras from Best Buy.
This is what a photo of “black” looked like prior to “fixing:”
This is a photo of “black” after it was “fixed:”
Bah. Let this be a warning to anyone contemplating purchasing a camera: it’ll work great, up until you need some sort of repair. Some companies do not do a very good job with repair. Caveat Emptor.
BB was supposed to outright *replace* this camera after the fourth time in the shop. Supposedly the Geek Squad guy there was checking into seeing if, after this *fifth* time, they’ll replace it. If I took it back to have it fixed *now,* that’d be the *sixth* time it was in the shop, and with good evidence that they wouldn’t actually repair it. Hopefully Tuesday or so I’ll be informed that they’ll simply swap it out.
10 Responses to “Best Buy fails me again. I’m shocked, SHOCKED!!!”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Does the camera behave differently when it’s cold? I ask because the sensors will also respond to IR and I’m wondering if there’s something “warm” near that corner of the sensor.
The problem is obviously a ghost, maybe try an exorcism on the camera
> Does the camera behave differently when it’s cold?
Nope. That “glow” is there whether the camera is hot or cold.
> maybe try an exorcism
I have a .44. That’ll exorcise most anything.
Have you tried the manufacturer? Frankly I wouldn’t trust Best Buy to fix a pet rock let alone anything they might f–k up. (Is it still under warranty?)
Some cameras do just do that. Look at the examples in the noise section here:
http://www.bythom.com/d80review.htm
> Some cameras do just do that.
Well, how about that. That looks to be exactly the same problem, and thus not Best Buys fault (gasp). It pretty much trashes the camera for any long duration photos. What especially sucks is that the link shows that the Nikon D80 seems to have this problem in spades… and if a large pile of cash fell out of the sky, the D80 was one of the cameras I really wanted to get.
Hi,
I’m Sarah, one of Best Buy’s Online Community Agents. We frequently review online postings in an effort to assist our customers when possible, and hopefully restore all confidence that we do hope to make your experience with us a great one!
I am sorry to hear that you continue to have issues with the quality of pictures your camera is taking. It sounds as though you have one of our Plans on your camera – which includes No Lemon replacement per the terms and conditions. If you would be willing to send your name, phone number and your repair service order number to us at Online.Communities@BestBuy.com, someone from my team will gladly look into the situation further and follow up with you directly.
We hope to hear from you!
Sincerely,
Sarah
Best Buy® Community Connector
Wow, now that is either really good customer service or Big Brother moonlighting! Kinda spooky, maybe that exorcism is not such a bad idea.
Yeah, took me by surprise as well.
Right, what you’ve got to do now is tell them,
‘look, I’ve had enough of this poor service, I oughta sue, but as a gesture of goodwill, I’ll take a DSLR, or a prosumer model…’
worth a try, methinks…