Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[Rjonzb]

I type in hopes to get some help in my current situation. Around this time last year I sent my Macbook Pro in for service via the Black Tie Protection for non working keys on keyboard\ and dead pixels on screen. While writing up my service order the over counter agent also made a note that battery would be replaced at the time of recieving the laptop back from service.

When I got the laptop back I was happy to see that the service center must have been very thorough in checking my computer because the , keyboard assembly, Screen/clam shell and the Super Drive were replaced (didnt know I had a super drive problem)

Now jumping ahead about 3 months I find troubles and of coarse I am now out of warrenty via Apple and Black Tie Protection. After doing pictures and video for a family members wedding I discover the Super Drive will not burn DVD's. Frustrated but being one to not count everything out right away I hit the web to troubleshoot the problem. I quickly discover the error code I was reciving meant the that there is a problem with the super drive itself and would need repiar or replacment. At this point I was very disapointment and pretty mad to say the least but figured well my dumb fault for not trying to burn a disc before this point and wrote it off.

Ahead another couple of months and the monitor/screen decides its gonna start to die on me by not producing correct colors and becoming imposible to read. Again in attempt to trouble shoot and rule out a motherboard/video card problem I test the computer with an external monitor to find it works fine leaving it confirmed that the monitor is failing.

At this point I decide to back everything up in preperation to take it to an apple repair center for diagnosis and possibly send it out for repiar.

FYI for those who dont know Apple will repair any Mac laptop for a one time fee of $320 which covers any repairs to get your macbook back to new working order.

Jumping ahead to now I decide its time to bite the bullet on the $300 dollars and finaly get this laptop fixed that I havent been able to use for about 6 months.

After confirming the problems at our closest apple store 45 miles away it's on its way in for repair but wait here come the bad news we were not expecting.

2 days after sending it in I get an update from the apple service center stating our laptop cannot be repaired under this option becasue it has unathorized parts (monitor And Super Drive)and it was going to cost me $1240 to have it repaired.  After trying to explain that the laptop was repaired by Best Buy about a year ago under the Black Tie Protection I was left with trying to find resolution via Best Buy. Right after I hang up the phone with apple I immediatly called 188-best-buy which turned out to be a waist of my time. Once I was finaly able to reach someone at geek squad I was told they have no record of what parts were installed in my laptop and was going to have to call the store to potentialy get a copy of the service order and go from there via someone at the store to find a potential resolution.

So right now I have a laptop that cannot be repaired unless I pay $1240 vs $300 because unathorized parts were used by Geek Squad who is supposed to be an authorized repair center for Apple.

I know its a long and probably broken recap of my issue but I am very disapointed and I had to post something here in hopes to get my problem resolved.

Thanks in advance

[zztoluca]

And this is why im a DIY kind of person, and don't purchase overpriced products like macs.

I hope you can get this sorted out cause this rediculous. It seems to me they incorrectly serviced your laptop causing the current issues it has. Either by parting yours out and giving you old defective parts or by not waering an antistatic wrist strap while reparing it.

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert]

Per the Terms and Conditions of your Black Tie Protection Plan of which you can find a copy at this link.

• "Replacement parts or products may be new or rebuilt to meet the manufacturer’s specifications of the origi- nal product at our discretion. "

Parts are not required to be manufacturer parts, but they are required to work to the manufacturer's specifications.  This means that third party parts that do not carry the additional 50% cost associated with having an Apple logo on them are eligible to be used.

Example:  Memory purchased for my iMac through Apple would cost me $400 just to add 2 4GB sticks.  See the price here.

Third party memory that works just as well through Best Buy only cost me $50 on sale.  See the normal price here which is $60.

I'm not paying 8 times the amount of money for the ram that will do the same thing.  My computer works just fine with the new ram but it isn't "Apple Authorized" because it doesn't have an Apple sticker on it.  Best Buy uses other replacement parts also during repairs and doesn't just stick with Apple parts because in order to provide less costly repairs and thus driving down the cost of the Service Plans, they can't always use the inflated cost of Apple Authorized parts.

Apple, while they put out amazing products, has over inflated costs associated with their replacement parts and I'm perfectly happy to go with a cheaper part that works the exact same rather than having to purchase a part at 8 times the normal cost that won't work any better.

This is why they use third party parts, and it is laid out in the Terms and Conditions of Black Tie.

[Area51Kev Regular Contributor]

Great explanation Mbrguy!

When I got my iMac one of the first things I did was double the memory from 4GB to 8GB. Did it myself, with memory (taken out of another iMac) which I bought online. Very reasonable price doing it that way.

Omg, I'll bet that is SO unauthorized.  

[Ryan-BBY Senior Social Media Specialist]

Hello Rjonzb -

Doug from our Social Media team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern. Thank you for your continued patience!

[Douglas-BBY Community Connector]

Hello Rjonzb,

Welcome to the Forums.

$1240 is a steep cost for a repair, probably a lot more than the computer is worth at this time. I’m sorry that the drive issue hasn’t made itself known until now and that Apple isn’t willing to work with the parts we used.  Our Agents would be glad to diagnose the computer and give you a second estimate if you would like.

Additionally, I would also be glad to help you try to track down your service record with us. I wasn’t able to bring up any information using the email address you registered here, but might be able to bring up some information with some older contact information.  Could you send me a private message with an approximate date of your last service and the phone number you may have used at that time?  You can send me a private message once you’re logged into the forums by selecting the envelope icon in the upper right corner of the page.

Regards,