Best Buy removes 32GB RAM worth $600 to "repair" customer's 64GB gaming laptop - TechSpot
Best Buy allegedly "repaired" a customer's gaming laptop by removing one of its two 32GB memory modules, reducing the system's installed RAM from 64GB to 32GB. When that did not help, the laptop was sent to Best Buy for warranty repairs. The work order allegedly issued by Best Buy.
WTF?! Best Buy allegedly "repaired" a customer's gaming laptop by removing one of its two 32GB memory modules, reducing the system's installed RAM from 64GB to 32GB. The customer had sent the laptop to Best Buy for warranty repairs after it began experiencing random BSODs just eight months after purchase.
Redditor GRINZ_DOCTOR claims to have bought a Lenovo Legion 5 gaming laptop from Best Buy's website last December. The laptop reportedly worked as advertised for a few months before it began crashing during gaming sessions.
The device is powered by an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor and an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU. It features a 15.1-inch WXGA display, 64GB of DDR5 RAM in a 2x32GB configuration, a 2TB SSD, and a 1TB dock station. On the software side, it runs Windows 11 Pro out of the box.
Once the random BSODs rendered the laptop unusable, the poster reinstalled Windows as a last-ditch attempt to resolve the problem. When that did not help, the laptop was sent to Best Buy for warranty repairs.
According to the official work order, the company received the device on July 25 and completed the repairs on August 4. However, when the laptop was shipped back, the owner discovered that it was missing its second memory module.
In the invoice, the company explained that the second SODIMM had been removed because the laptop only supports up to 32GB of system memory. The documentation also stated that the removed module, worth more than $600 as of August 2026, was returned with the device.
The work order allegedly issued by Best Buy.
The poster insists that the laptop was sold with 64GB of system memory and that they had not installed the additional module themselves. According to the Redditor, "this computer was listed with those specs and that's how it was prebuilt/sold."
The Legion 5 model in question is still available for purchase from Best Buy, where it is listed as "Lenovo - Upgraded - Legion 5." It's unclear what "Upgraded" means in this context, but online speculation suggests it could indicate that the third-party seller, PC Heaven, manually installed the second 32GB module.
Some Redditors who replied to the thread suggest the poster escalate the issue with Best Buy's online customer service. Others advised them to visit a store in person and speak with a manager, asking for either a second working memory module with the exact same specifications at no additional cost or a replacement laptop with identical hardware.
The OP has yet to reveal what their next course of action will be, but they have indicated that they intend to pursue this matter further with Best Buy.