Best Buy Randall Road

Avoid This Best Buy – Shady Practices and Terrible Customer Service I had one of the most frustrating and shady retail experiences I've ever had at the Best Buy on Randall Road in Geneva, IL. I came in to purchase two open-box RTX 5080 graphics cards — one for me and one for a friend. They were sitting right there on the counter, available and ready to go. But when the associate tried to ring them up, they came up as “not for sale.” Multiple employees couldn’t figure out why, and then the store manager (Yenga Basolene) abruptly took both cards, walked them to the back room without a word, and later returned simply to say, “I can’t sell them to you. You need to purchase online.” No explanation, no effort to help, just outright refusal. When I tried purchasing online, the app said they were out of stock—even though I was literally looking at them in person. I explained this to the manager, and he didn’t even care to listen. His response? “Call corporate. I’m not explaining anything.” After a long and useless call to Best Buy corporate and then headquarters, I finally got the truth: Best Buy had pulled all the SKUs for the 5000-series GPUs (specifically 5080 and 5090 models) so that customers can’t purchase them in-store. Their goal seems to be to force everyone to order online. What they didn’t account for is that pulling the SKUs also makes online orders fail — even if the item shows available, you get an error at checkout. So basically, Best Buy created a situation where you can’t buy these cards anywhere — not online, not in store. And to make matters worse, the Geneva store manager seemed especially shady. When I came back to ask them if I could purchase using mobile checkout on my phone as opposed to the POS system as headquarters suggested I try that, I overheard him telling his supervisor “Do not even touch them.” It honestly felt like he was holding the cards for himself or someone he knows. Why else would a manager go to such lengths to keep cards out of a paying customer’s hands, without any transparency? If you’re looking for a GPU, avoid this store completely. Between the lack of customer service, poor transparency, and possibly unethical behavior from management, this location is not worth your time or trust. Will be reporting this store to the BBB, as well as this manager to Best Buy Headquarters.

Update: Changed to 3 stars from one. Didn't put 5 stars because of the problem with the watch which caused hours of lost time and gas it took to get the problem fixed. Geneva Best Buy called me. They said to bring the watch back. Upon my arrival, they did not have a comparable watch available. The manager was going to order one and have it shipped to my house, however, he found one at a store that was close enough to go to. Since it was closing time, I had to go the next morning to pick it up. The new watch works very well and I did not have any problems setting it up for the recipient. I personally will not recommend, nor purchase, any open boxed items that require a password. I will recommend the Best Buy in Geneva because of their willingness to get this situation fixed in a timely manner. Original review: Will change this review if the situation is fixed. Purchased open box Pixel 3 watch for a fall detection device and health monitor for an elderly person that wouldn't have a monthly service. Device wasn't charged when I purchased it. I didn't expect it to be charged. However, the problem began when I tried to program the watch and it is requiring the passcode from the previous owner. Even though the watch was factory reset, the watch still requires the previous owners passcode. I can't afford a new watch and don't want an inferior watch so not sure if they'll be able to get a replacement that works by tomorrow. Hopefully I won't have to go through this again

The store is clean well laid out I went to look at refrigerators to compare prices. Unfortunately, the prices were greater than what I was getting at Home Depot, but the staff was kind and friendly. Direct me right where I needed to go as they met me at the door.

Waited at the front counter for 5 minutes to purchase a $250 coffee maker. Nobody acknowledged us or said someone will be right with you. We walked out and the rep at the front who knew we were there for the coffee maker didn’t say anything to us on the way out. Just reminded myself today “Why would I ever go to a big box retailer in this day and age? Or what value are they adding here compared to Amazon?”