My head is going to explode. If you don’t see me write again for several days it may be because I’ve been hospitalized for traumatic cranial rapid expansion. I’m told that venting about an issue is supposed to relieve the internal pressure. Let’s see…
We went to Best Buy on 2 August to buy a new desktop computer for my daughter’s thirteenth birthday. We stood around in the computer section making eye contact with the three blue-shirted adolescent employees that were apparently assigned to the computer section, but none offered to assist us. When I began to approach one of them, they suddenly found something they had to do in another section of the store and hurried away. It was rather comical to watch them avoid trying to help anyone.
While my wife went to the front of the store to ask advice from the “Geek Squad,” I sent my children to the software section to gather up several of the programs we have at home so that we could be certain that whatever computer we purchased would meet system requirements for the applications and games we wanted to run. I began to chase down blue-shirts asking if one of them could help me. Before my wife could return with “advice” from the “experts,” I finally managed to corner one at the end of an aisle and convince him that I really wanted to spend money to buy a computer. To protect the guilty, we’ll call him Tweedle-dee.
Explaining that I wanted a computer that would support gaming heavy applications, he pointed me in the direction of a Hewlett Packard Pavillion with a Pentium Processor that just happened to be on sale as part of a package deal that included the monitor and a printer. My wife returned with a list of computers we shouldn’t buy, but no real advice on what we should buy. There was a helpful suggestion that we might consider a Gateway if they had any, but the professionals in the geek squad had no idea if there were actually any Gateways in the store. So, wait a minute. Why are they even selling computers that we shouldn’t buy? Oh well says I, trusting consumer that I am, I’m sure they know what they are doing…
I handed the pile of programs to the blue-shirt and explained that the computer had to be able to run all of these applications and games. He looked them over and knowingly assured me that there would be no problem. I told him I had a wireless router and needed a wireless adapter that was compatible with the computer. He dutifully went and found a box with a USB wireless adapter. Keep in mind that I have tame geeks that normally help me with this kind of thing, so I don’t pay attention to all the little details like network configurations and the like. If anyone at Best Buy had asked me any questions about my current system, I might have called a friend and asked. But we just kept piling boxes on the cart until we had everything we needed.
Checkout took nearly 45 minutes as the clerk had a bit of trouble deciding how to ring up my purchases and where the buttons were to approve or disapprove the various promotional options that I turned down. More time was spent trying to sell me things I didn’t want than in helping me pick out the things I did want. While I normally do NOT opt for a service plan since I am usually overseas when something goes wrong and it costs more to ship the computer back than it does to repair it, I felt uneasy about spending $1000.00 on a computer that I had no coverage for. Exhausted from our mostly self-service experience, we went home to set up my daughter’s birthday present.
The computer took almost no time to set-up and I quickly learned that none of the programs or applications I had shown to Tweedle-dee would work on the computer. It was running Windows Vista and most of our existing software was made for Windows XP or earlier. I wasn’t pleased. My daughter was crushed. I decided to hook up the printer and deal with the program issue in the morning. There was no printer cable. Tweedle-dee hadn’t mentioned that I needed one, and I wrongly assumed it would be in the box with the printer. Sighing with intense frustration, I decided to install the wireless adapter. It was for an N-router. I have a G-router. Many will say that I certainly should have known what wireless router I was running. I agree. But I also think someone at the store should have asked me, rather than assuming that I had one model over another. The next day I returned to Best Buy and bought a printer cable, took it home and hooked up the printer and learned that the printer driver would not load. I had also forgotten to take back the wireless adapter. Angry, frustrated and a bit overwhelmed, I did what any good husband would do in a situation like this, I went on a long trip for work.
My wife went back into Best Buy with several of the programs and explained that the computer was not working correctly. They told her that it was the fault of Windows Vista and that there was nothing they could do. They suggested that we try to run the programs as an administrator or to run them in compatibility mode for other Windows versions. Not knowing how to do this, my wife could only let the computer sit while I traveled around the world.
I returned on 31 August in time for my son’s sixteenth birthday and, being a glutton for punishment, went back to Best Buy to get him a computer. (If you aren’t slapping your foreheads at this point you should at least be imagining slapping mine).
My son and I stood around in the computer section trying to make eye contact with the three blue-shirts that…what the hell am I doing this again for? I went straight back to the Geek Squad and explained to the girl behind the counter that we had recently purchased a computer for my daughter that we were having troubles with, and while I was still working through those issues I wanted a computer for my son that would definitely NOT have any trouble. I didn’t care what the cost was, I wanted a computer that would be game and graphics intensive and would work when I set it up. I explained the problems I was already experiencing in great detail and asked the Geek Girl if she could please come with me to the display section. “Wait a minute,” she said, disappearing through the clear plastic flaps that seperates the counter area from the Geekroom. A few moments later, the master-geek came out. I never saw Geek-girl again. “How can I help you?” he asked. I took a deep breath, frustrated at how difficult it was to get any help the first time I asked for it, and began the story all over again.
When I finished, he nodded his head and said “First of all, all you have to do with your daughter’s computer is change the compatibility mode, I can show you how to do that, but meanwhile let me show you what you need. I’m a gamer myself and I run WoW, Crisis and anything I can get my hands on. You will love this computer.” He took us to the display area, explained why the computer he recommended was absolutely the best that Best Buy sold for gaming (It is a Gateway FX gaming computer and if you really care to know all the specs I’ll go upstairs and write them down). He recommended a monitor to go with it, helped me find a PCI wireless adapter for it and took us to the front for checkout. He spent a bit of time trying to convince me to buy a service plan for the monitor that cost about 25% of the total cost of the monitor (no thank you) and offered to help with my daughter’s computer. The master-geek had restored my faith in Best Buy. Maybe they do train some of their people.
We went home and set up the computer. We installed the wireless card and a few games we had on hand and everything worked. Victory. Master-geek was a hero. Then we tried to download the patches and updates for World of Warcraft. The download seemed slow so we went out to dinner for my son’s birthday, leaving the computer downloading. We went by Best Buy to return the wireless adapter for my daughter’s computer, but the store was closed. It was 8PM on a Sunday, I should have known.
The following day was Labor Day and the store was open, so my wife took the adapter with her when she went to the store and told her she needed a -G adapter, not an -N adapter. They sold her a -G wireless PCI card in place of her -N USB adapter. Sigh. My son and I had spent nearly seven hours trying to get the WoW patches to download and opening router ports, opening firewalls, doing everything we could think of. What we hadn’t thought of, until my wife brought home the wrong wireless adapter, was to check the wireless adapter speed. Master-geek had sold us the most basic version of PCI wireless card with minimal 1x transfer speed. The new, incorrect card was a 10X. We put my daughter’s card into my son’s computer and it worked like a charm. The Gateway is up and running with no issues.
The Hewlett Packard is another story. I spent hours and hours trying to change configurations, made two more trips to Best Buy to get the correct wireless adapter and appropriate software, but nothing works. The printer driver hangs up at 96%, the USB router adapter software won’t load, none of the programs we have work in ANY mode and the computer is basically a $1000.00 calculator. I would say that it is a word processor, but since I can’t print from it, I would have to move data on a thumb drive anytime my daughter wanted to print out her homework. I didn’t pay $1000.00 for an electronic paperweight.
This evening I took the computer back to Best Buy. The receipt says 30 day return or exchange. I brought all the paraphernalia and programs that wouldn’t load or run and went straight to the geek squad. A young geek behind the counter offered to help me fill out paperwork to get the computer examined. “I just bought it and it doesn’t work,” I said.
“What isn’t it doing?” he asked.
“Anything,” I said, “it is a piece of junk. This software works on other computers in my home but not this one. I just bought a computer here two days ago and it works fine.” (I didn’t relate my initial troubles with the other one). “I just want to get store credit for this piece of junk and I will buy another Gateway instead.”
“I’m sorry sir, we have a 14 day return policy,” he said.
“The receipt says 30 days,” I said.
“Wait here,” he said, disappearing through the plastic flap door into geekdom. Moments later he reappeared with a smug look on his face. “The second line on the back of your receipt clearly states computer returns are valid for 14 days.”
I looked. He was right. In tiny print in the second paragraph on the back of the receipt it clearly told me that I had 14 days to return the computer. Of course I wasn’t in the country during those 14 days, but that wasn’t their problem so I left that out.
“My wife has been here several times, as have I,” I said, “trying to straighten this out, and your geeks kept giving us advice on how to fix it.” He seemed hurt that I called his colleagues geeks. It says geek squad on the nametag on his shirt. He went through the flappy door to get his boss.
“Hi there sir, my name is Chief-geek, how can I help you?” He smiled a warm managerial smile.
I took ten minutes, now fairly fuming, to explain everything I had been through in my six or seven visits to Best Buy over the past few weeks, and that all I wanted was to hand over the electronic paperweight that had been sold to me so that I could buy a better, more efficient and frankly, WORKING computer. His smile vanished.
“All we can do is schedule your computer for an examination and see if there is anything wrong with it. Our return policy is 14 days.”
“I would have brought it back within the 14 days, but your employees kept telling me there was no real problem and all I had to do was change modes, or run as an administrator or…”
“You should have brought it back,” he kept saying.
“You could give me store credit and get even more money out of me, nearly $800 more, by selling me the other computer.”
“I can’t do that sir,” he said.
“I spend several thousand dollars a year in your store, but I will NEVER shop here again,” I said, not as a threat, but as a certainty. “This is the worst customer service I have ever seen.”
“Okay,” he said, not concerned in the least that Best Buy was losing a customer. “Did you want us to look at the computer? It is under service protection. We’ll have it back to you in 72 hours. What exactly is wrong with it?”
“What is wrong with it?” I asked. “It doesn’t work. It doesn’t run any programs, it won’t load any drivers, it can’t run the wireless router you sold me which incidentally is the third one you’ve sold me for this computer. It is a piece of JUNK!” Several other customers turned and looked at me and shook their heads sympathetically. They clearly had been where I was standing.
“Can you connect to the internet?” he asked.
“I just told you that it won’t load drivers for the wireless adapter,” I said, how on earth would I connect to the internet.
“When you plug a cable into the back of it, it doesn’t work?”
“A CABLE!?! I have a WIRELESS ROUTER! Why would I have a cable lying around my house? This computer does nothing, nothing, it is a piece of junk!”
“Well sir, we’ll certainly look at it and see if there is anything wrong,” he said condescendingly. “Please sign this paperwork certifying that you won’t hold Best Buy responsible for any data or media loss.”
“Data or media loss!?! How could there be any data or media loss? The computer doesn’t work. It hasn’t worked since I brought it home! There is no data on it because it has never been USED!”
“Please initial here sir, and sign here.”
“This is ridiculous,” I said. “I assure you that no matter what happens with this computer, I will NEVER EVER shop in a BEST BUY again.”
“We’ll call you in 72 hours about your computer. Have a nice day sir.” I knew that was Best Buy code for “How nice for you, which is of course code for other less pleasant expletives.”
I left the store. I will go back once to get my daughter’s computer, then I will never go back again. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, I will take it to a local hack shop and cut it up for parts. Maybe I can sell tickets to smash it and use the proceeds to buy her a new one. Anyone have the name of a reputable computer dealer with even modestly helpful customer service?
Nope. Venting did NOT work. My head is definitely going to explode.
Tags: Best Buy, computers, customer service, Sucks
If you had read my post at http://whymylifesucks.com/2008/04/14/big-box-stores-suck-film-at-1100/ you would have known better, or know what you were getting into at least.
Granted, I did some what make the name of the store a bit tricky to figure out, but it’s no harder than some of the puzzles you used to toss around as a DM, much less list all the V words.
[...] in Ads, Rants about, Software, Tech Of course “Jervis” was a little more direct about which store it was than I was here. I think the moral of the stories is that even if you are a geek, Best Buy is NOT [...]
Ahh, but you see, some time ago they started getting rid of the actual geeks on the geek squads and replacing them with salespeople in geek squad shirts, whose job is to simply sell you new computers rather than solve your old problems.
You might think I’m joking, but I’m not. This is a semi-well-known issue that was outed by a handful of the old geek squad people when Best Buy decided to replace them all with the salespeople.
Thus, getting ANY advice from the ‘Geek Squad’ is perilous at best, since the odds that you’ll get someone who knows what they’re talking about are extremely low.
Sorry. I found out it was acting up the night before I had to fly, and the 30 days was going to be up by the time I returned. I opined it was likely a Vista vs the rest of the world scenario, but it has been long enough since I did Windows support regularly I didn’t know how to fix it.
Your experience was brought to my attention and I was very concerned when reading of the above situation. I’m a corporate employee with Best Buy and would like to see if we can assist you in any way to turn this experience into a more positive one. Feel free to connect with me to discuss this further. I will need a little more information from you in order to properly research the matter.
I see that here that someone (Lisa) from Best Buy already appears interested in your story but if you want some resolution from Best Buy you may need to write an official complaint letter. The consumerist has some good suggestions on how to write these letters in a way that is likely to get you noticed. http://consumerist.com/consumer/complaint-letters/how-to-launch-an-executive-email-carpet-bomb-259713.php
This link provides some guidelines to writing complaint letters. I know there are people out there who are willing to help you. These types of stories are very bad publicity for corporations and they may try to avoid further damage by helping you or even giving you a new computer. Don’t give up, persevere!
Heather,
Wow! No wonder the geek squad guys never seem to know what they are talking about (except the one who sold me the Gateway…apart from the wireless adapter he did fairly well). The others seem more intent on selling than giving advice. You MUST be right.
Matt,
I certainly won’t give up. I’m supposed to get a call tomorrow from the Geek Squad (they said 72 hours) telling me that they’ve discovered what is wrong with my computer. We shall see. Meanwhile, my daughter’s birthday present is just an empty spot on the upstairs computer table. Not sure what the letter you suggest would do, but I’ll look into it. Thanks.
Lisa,
How on earth could you have noticed my little rant among friends? If your corporation had put one-tenth the energy into talking to me in the store that you have shown by sending me an email, I wouldn’t have been ranting in the first place.
If you’re looking for an alternative for next time, check out GeekGhost.com.
They have a flat rate fee, no matter how much time they spend on your computer, and you get your money back if they can’t fix the problem. And it’s all remote – they don’t have to come to your house, and you don’t have to go to them.
Added bonus: enter promo code KR588 for $10 off online repair!
Re corporate:
Many corporations now Google to maintain their corporate image, though that may not be the case here.
Re remote service:
Of course, they can’t be remote if your network isn’t working.
Re Service in general:
How much time`should I allocate this weekend?
[...] Best Buy Sucks, and Other Understatements My wife went back into Best Buy with several of the programs and explained that the computer was not working correctly. They told her that it was the fault of Windows Vista and that there was nothing they could do. …Thraveon – http://www.errantdreams.com/thraveon [...]
Yeah their extended warranty is all but worthless! It took us a month and a half to finally get our tv repaired.
http://www.freewebs.com/bestbuyblows/
Below are my experiences at Best Buy:
What happened to me inside the Melville NY store, was not a matter of misunderstanding the store policy. Frankly they could have charged me a 10% restocking fee, and I would have left satisfied. I have never been treated like I was treated at the Melville NY store by this young woman named Geriann, who I understand no longer works there. Simply because I stated to her “I will never buy anything at this store again”, she told me if I did not like it I could get the F*** out of HER STORE. Frankly I was shocked that she would dare speak to me like this and when I asked her what gave her the right to do this, she said that if customers say ONE BAD THING about her store she has the right to throw them out of the store. Then, she told me I HAD TO SPEAK to the stereo guy about my broken transmitter. I was so shocked by this that I did, and I was escorted to the area, escorted like I could not be trusted. Come to find out that the reason she did this was so she could get this guy to state that I had broken it myself, which I did not. The story that this woman Geriann concocted was amazing, I guess since she knew I was going to call Corporate Customer Service, she had to get a way to cover herself. Since that day, I have never bought anything at a best buy store. I would no longer feel compfortable shopping there. I shut down my credit card, and none of my friends have bought anything there either. From what I have seen on the internet, and from the amount of claims against Best Buy with the consumer protection agency and the better business bureau, I am not alone. And, since you asked how is it working out for me since Circuit City is in bankruptcy, it’s working out fine. I order from Amazon.com, or buy.com and can tell you that if I have a problem which is rare, it’s taken care of immediately, which is more than I can say for itself. Best buy reputation speaks for itself. So do me a favor Megain, (AKA BEST BUY EMPLOYEE), call back under your rock and stay there.
I found your post after googling “Best Buy Sucks” after my third “head exploding” event with them! I’m sorry for you, but also relieved, to see that others share my frustration and contempt for Best Buy. This is my third post today, in an attempt to alleviate my frustrated inability to get any response or care from Best Buy’s online customer service. Isn’t it amazing how you can spend so much money at a store and be treated with not only discourtesy, but out and out contempt?
Did you know that Best Buy has a stated policy of dividing their customers into “angel” and “devil” customers. They define these customers in polar terms that are exceedingly offensive. See the WSJ article: http://wsjclassroomedition.com/archive/05jan/bigb_bestbuy.htm. So for the customer who has legitimate complaints, I guess they default into “devils” since it appears that complaining at all is not to be tolerated!?!?
Evidently their model is to target a particular customer–one who wants to give his (and it is particularly upwardly mobile males that they identify) money away. My husband and I are sophisticated consumers who have spent quite a bit of money (probably close to $10K) there in the past few years, yet minute problems we’ve had with gift cards and online CD purchases have been unable to be solved by their often rude, untrained, and yes–unwilling, “customer service” reps. We’re through with Best Buy!
If you conduct a search, as I did, you will find many self-proclaimed Best Buy current or former employees, either complaining about customers who complain, or revealing what they know about Best Buy policies–both are very disconcerting.
I’ll post here what I posted at another site, we have the power as consumers to exercise choice in who receives our money. For me, I’ll shop where my consumer power is respected, where I’m presumed to be an intelligent human being who is not only creating a viable business for the chain, but who deserves to receive products and services that I paid for in the manner the store describes, and where I’m not considered disposable. I am fairly sure that the more consumers hear that they are likely to be tagged as “devil customers” by a mongo chain like Best Buy, the less likely they’ll be to support Best Buy’s success (or lack thereof) by giving them their money!
I have had a simialr experience with BestBuy regarding my son’s computer, that had extended warranty. The Geeksquad expert will say unless he is able to reproduce the error we will not accept any returns or warranty repairs. How can he reproduct the error when the error occurs once in twenty times. But he does not have the patience to check more than twice.
Best Buy please go out of business!!!
Their customer service is the worst I have ever dealt with. They will lie to you and don’t even try to ask for a supervisor, they told me that they would call me back within 24 to 48 hours 2 weeks later no call.
I got a gift card for Christmas and made the mistake of ordering an Ipod online. I got to the store and they said that they did not have the one I ordered in stock. They had another one in stock so I said I would purchase that one. The customer service(they don’t know what that means) person said that my gift card had been charged for the Ipod that they didn’t have and would not be credited for 24 hours. This customer service idiot said I could just pay for it and use my gift card later. I left the store pretty mad and started calling 1-800 best buy – don’t ever waste your time they are complete idiots. I went to a different store hoping a manager could straighten this out Best Buy has cornered the market on incompetent people. This manager couldn’t understand what the problem was.
I never got an answer to the question why did they charge my gift card for something they did not have.
I HATE BEST BUY!!!!!
Just got screwed by Best Buy. Went in to buy a high end microwave that was inset into a kitchen cabinet. Asked by the “appliance team” to go home and get all six critical dimensions and then they could recommend a microwave/bezel combination. Brought those dimensions back a week later and ordered the combo. Waited six weeks and it came in. Went to install it and guess what? They forgot to account for one critical dimension–the offset of the bezel from the front of the microwave when installed. It stuck out about 3/4″ and thus the bezel floated “in space” in the front of my cabinet. Clearly my wife was unhappy and I went to return the bezel. They charged me $50 restocking fee. I argued, 1) they didn’t tell me I would be charged such a fee (they pointed to a sign hanging from the ceiling and said, “we are only required by law to post the policy in two places in the store”?!?!?! I’m guessing the other spot was in the head???), and 2) my incorrect purchase was solely the fault of their “appliance team” as they specified fit procedure and recommended the product. Well as you can expect, like talking to a brick wall including a clueless person at 888-BESTBUY. Needless to say, I will never make the same mistake twice, and although I have frequented Best Buy over the years, I’m staying miles away now. When a company cannot fess up to their errors and serve the customer, it does not deserve to be in business.
Yea! A place to vent!
I also was dumb enough to buy a computer from Best Buy. My main comp went down with what turned out to be a bad power supply. In the meantime, I bought a computer from Best Buy. I brought it home and turned it on. A loading screen came up. It informed me that some software/drivers were being loaded. In the meantime it played some elevator music while a loading bar moved across the screen. A few min later, I hear a horrific screeching sound and look up to see the screen covered in green and white pixels.
Reboot: same thing.
Reboot: same thing. The only thing that varied was that the crash didn’t occur in the exact same place. But in invariably happened within the first few minutes.
So I decided to try a clean install of the OS. Unfortunately the computer didn’t come with a disk, so I installed my own copy of Windows XP, and it worked fine.
Meanwhile, a few days later I got my main computer up and running again, and I can’t have both my computers running the same copy of Win XP.. at least not with the latest updates. So I brought it back to Best Buy to see what could be done about getting the Vista it had come with up and running.
The Geek who helped me was the most condescending prick I’d ever met. He said I couldn’t return it because I had changed the OS. Fine, I never mentioned wanting to return it, I only wanted it to run Vista like it was supposed to.
He stated that I could get the disks from the manufacturer, and that if I returned it to it’s original state within 14 days I could return it. I informed him that the original state was broken, I wasn’t trying to return it, and I just wanted it to work. So I left a little pissed.
So I received the restore disks for free, directly from the manufacturer. One phone call and I had the restore disks in 2 only days. I could have easily reinstalled VISTA and returned the computer with over a week left on my 14-day return cutoff. But like I said, I didn’t really want to return it, I just wanted it to work.. and I was quite busy with work at that time… so the disks and computer sat unused for a few weeks. I was inclined to believe that the computer would work fine, anyways.
So I eventually hook everything up, install the disk, and it does the exact same thing it did before. It crashes horribly a few minutes into the installation. At this point I bring it back to the store to see what they can do.
Words can’t describe the grief I received. It literally took hours for them to finally concede that the computer was not working like it was supposed to and that is was under warranty. But no.. they won’t do a warranty repair until they have determined the cause of the problem, and if it turns out to be my fault then they will charge me. So I told them that would be fine.
I called every few days to find out what was happening. I was repeatedly told that I would receive a call in the next 48 hours, and this repeatedly failed to occur. Then I was told that they were going to ship it to their repair facility in Kentucky. Fine. A few days later, no new info. Now 10 days at the repair facility, I am finally told it has just shipped back from the service center, and that’s all they know. I will receive a call when it arrives. A week later, still no computer, and still not a single return phone call from BB, ever. I call up. I’m told my computer is in the service center in Kentucky. OMG.. WTF.
So I google “BestBuy customer service.” To my horror I see a story about a guy who’s computer is at Best Buy being repaired… for OVER A YEAR. The next day I head to the store.
I am at this point convinced that there is no intention to fix my computer at all, and I don’t even think it ever went to a repair facility. I am finally speaking to a manager at this point, and halfway into the conversation he says they are still working on it right now, as we speak. I say, “They are? Where?” He says in the back of the store. At this point I am overwhelmed with happiness. For nearly 3 weeks I’m being told that my computer is in Kentucky, or on the way back from Kentucky, and now it’s still in Kentucky. Well, here I finally know where my computer is! Or do I???
me: Give it to me.
manager: What?
me: my computer. The computer that I bought, paid for, and own. I want it. Give it to me, now.
manager: But it hasn’t been fixed, yet!
me: I’ll worry about that, myself.
The guy will absolutely not give my computer back. At this point I wonder if they just repackaged it and sold it to some other sucker. The guy is sweating balls and keeps running in circles about how they are definitely going to fix it. Finally, he agrees to give me a replacement computer with the same specs. And I ended up paying another 50 dollars because the new model has like 1G more RAM. W/E. I finally got it and it worked, but I’ll not be buying another computer from BB ever again. I still wonder what the hell they did with that computer. You do the math on it. Central repair facility cannot repair it, so they return it to the store thinking that a couple high school punk Geek squad dipshits can fix it any better? So why bother shipping it to Kentucky in the first place? The only possibility is that they boxed the piece of junk, sold it to the next sucker, and the “it’s at the repair facility” farce is just a means of making the computer disappear, indefinitely. No doubt the next sucker would bought it went through the same shenanigans.
Addendum: can you imagine the guy that waited a year?
customer: I appreciate all your help, can I just have my computer back?
Manager: uhh, how bout we replaced your computer with a comparable model? Let’s take a look… Oh, gee, this is the closest model we have. It has 10 times the memory, 6 times the hard disk space, and the processor is 2 Ghz faster. You’ll have to pay an additional $500.00, and you’re getting a great deal! Would you like the extended warranty plan with that?