Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[cr_client]

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CoyoteMoon wrote:

Unfortunately, you are not listening. I'm very glad you're 1/2 a semester "away from law school" & congratulate you for your success. However, after a lawsuit by citizens left waiting full days for service - I believe it was either with a phone company or cable company - precedent was set in the decision that providing a four-hour window was "reasonable," waiting full days was not. As stated, I am NOT a lawyer but do manage to stay somewhat informed as to consumer law since much of what I do now is in that realm as a consumer advocate & patient advocate. I don't have a law degree but have a number of acquaitances who do, including sitting judges. I do have half-dozen other degrees, none of which serve a purpose here.

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Setting an appointment window multiple-days long or completely skipping an appointment is not the same as never setting any appointment in the first place.  The technician did the latter, in this case, not the former.

It's a fairly important distinction with rather significant consequences with regards responsibility and culpability in the eyes of the law.

[CoyoteMoon]

cr_client: This is under the same warranty - in essense, the same sale. No, I have not continued to do business with BB. As for my comment, I assume you are unfamiliar with satire, which is really unfortunate. Simply because I am retired from one profession does not mean I have idle time to waste, dear. I happen to maintain four other professions at the present time. As for my going rate, it depends upon which profession you are referring to. As a patient advocate, I don't charge but I would imagine the lives I save might be worth something to the families. As a consumer advocate, pro bone to upwards of $500 per hour. Then we can throw in small business owner, caregiver as well as policy research for various politicians.

I simply posted with the hope of helping someone else with similar problems. I had no idea this exchange was purely for those in the service of BB. I will unmark this & not return. It is obvious this board is not to help those in need. What a bunch of jerks.

[starhelper2587]

I only mentioned my experience with the law since you had already done the same.  I'm not saying my credentials are anything impressive, I just thought maybe you thought you were talking to people that didn't know anything about the subject matter you were speaking of.  

If there was truly a case settled like the one you're talking about, it wouldn't really matter if it wasn't a case in a federal court. State courts set precedent for their own state but those case decisions don't have to be followed by other states.  They only have to consider them.

A case decision doesn't make law, legislators do in our respective state congresses or our federal congress in DC.  So even if this was how the case was settled, that doesn't mean there's an actual law in existence like you're talking about, only case precedent.

[cr_client]

Some day I'll be worth $500 an hour myself.  For now, I'm stuck at $400.

Either way, most state laws cap the lost-wage benefit for missed service calls.  California, for example, caps it at $600.

So, I suppose I would go with the $500/hr job as the "lost wage", but for anything much more than an hour, it wouldn't matter, because it would be capped.

C'est la vie.

[CoyoteMoon]

You are fast, I'll give you that! Unfortunately, when the "appointment" was set, it was an appointment, or at least that is what I was told. Only several calls revealed it was a "priority appointment." Not working for BB or GS, as pointed out previously, I am unfamiliar with "priority appointment," appointments to make appointments, or whatever else may be used. I was told it was an appointment, the repair service would be here yesterday. Not difficult to understand, even for an old coot like me.

Have fun, kids. I know understand why all the complaints about BB.

[starhelper2587]

A priority appointment does exist within BB and GS, but it's just a sku that clients pay extra for to get installs scheduled sooner.  Maybe the 3rd party company that you're dealing with has a similar type of setup going, but you probably would have been notified if this was the case b/c of the extra $$$ charge.  It sounds like what you stated earlier was probably correct in that you were grossly mis-informed   It sounds like (maybe) the scheduling rep you spoke w/ couldn't pull up dates and had to contact the 3rd party company to get some appointment choices but instead he/she told you that you were scheduled.  I wouldn't know for sure w/out looking at the notes on the order but one of the Community Connectors should be able to do that for you.

[CoyoteMoon]

I believe it is exactly what you stated - the wrong info given due to the third party service provider. You kids are fast, too, as I barely get something posted & there are two replies, making it difficult to get out of here. However, I won't pay extra, I get what I paid for, period. I've made certain they put on the file "big pain in the a&%" as I am. I have not blamed those I've spoken with for any of this; none of you make policy, nor are you responsible for inept contractors. However, my contract is with BB/GS, not those you contract out. Any problems in that area are your problems - or corporate - my business is with the company.

As stated, this is the second HDTV, all under the original purchase. When I received the last replacement, I demanded the warranty be extended & received it. I called the store to ensure my exchange would be handled promptly, that the merchandise was there, all to no avail. The "store manager" attempted to make me accept a lesser quality item since the original wasn't available; she never got assistance from GS &, from what I understand, that is required to ensure specs are the same. When I walked up to her, she was with a group of half-dozen employees, bad-mouthing me as I'm standing behind her. Corporate hung up on me the first time. After that, they paid me in a substantial store credit in addition to a new replacement HDTV, complete with new warranty, all at no expense. Needless to say, that manager was fired. If you're going to diss a customer, at least wait until they leave the store or go in the back, NEVER on the floor.

I don't mean to be a pain to anyone, truly, but I do expect & demand I get the product & service I pay for. I have been around long enough & in enough industries to know you guys have it rough; too many out there want to take advantage so it's not something I am blind to. I also know, if something in policy isn't right, it's not your fault, you don't make the policy. But I am insistent, will push until I get what is fair &, if a company truly is breaking a law, have been known to spend decades taking them down. It stems from a belief simply in "doing the right thing," nothing more. It's not a question of bragging; do you really think I like to brag about being a pain the backside? But I do believe in operating in a fair & just manner; I only get snippy with employees when they get snippy with me, I warn that I'm angry & apologize when I use foul language. The vast majority seem to enjoy my sense of humor & I'm only too happy to bring a smile to their day. I also understand company loyalty, which can ensure a company stay in business & be profitable for many years. You get that by treating customers as well as employees right; in my case, that isn't happening.

Sorry if I've ticked you guys off but am very glad we seem to have gotten past it. Thank you for your last reply, starhelper; while the first wasn't appreciated, your tone in the last was very kind & helpful, very much appreciated. cr_client, it's not bad for an old bag in retirement & at least pays for the cat food. I couldn't handle the business world as it is today, not with what you guys have to deal with. Btw, I'm not in CA, left there decades ago. The price of my time isn't the issue, it's about principle, which I will likely die defending. You cannot keep people waiting a day & a half for nothing. This all occurred just after an error my my daughter-in-law's medication caused complete respiratory failure; she died officially for 4 minutes & I had to drag my grandkids sobbing out of the ER bay with their last sight of their mother being her collapsed on the concrete, essentially dead. So wasting my time right now wasn't right, good or smart. Luckily, she's ok but that doesn't negate the fact someone messed up, which is my point.

I do recommend you guys keep your snippy remarks on a leash in the future. People come here looking for help or, in my case, I was seeking only to offer what has worked for me & got attacked for it. Not smart, especially if you work for the company.

[starhelper2587]

Emotion can't be properly judged from forum posts.  LOL  I was never trying to be snippy or rude to you.  I guess I was just stating what I knew b/c lots of people assume call center workers for any company are uneducated morons that don't speak English.  HaHa

If you were able to get the store to give you a new warranty when your 1st defective TV was exchanged, that's awesome!  under the GSBTP warranty terms, a warranty is considered fulfilled and therefore null and void once a TV is replaced under it.

You're right about the specs comment - replacements are determined based on important specs like resolution, screen size, type (LCD, plasma), etc.  However, it's unfortunate you were offered something less than what you had originally been offered just b/c the 1st TV wasn't in stock anymore.  Sales associates have BB.com and OMS system to utilize to order product they don't have in their store from other BB stores in the US or BB warehouses in the US.

You were also lucky to find out the manager was fired after her bad-mouthing incident.  Usually, no matter how bad the client's complaint is, any disciplinary action on a BB employee will be completely internal and confidential, per BB's privacy policy.  Hopefully finding that out at least did make you feel a little better since your complaint obviously hadn't been ignored!

Thank God your daughter-in-law was ok.  What a scary experience for her little ones.  

[cr_client]

Just to clarify, since this seems to escape people, time and time and time and time again...

I don't work for Best Buy.

I don't work for Geek Squad.

I don't work for any company that's even remotely associated with Best Buy.

I don't work in a call center. 

And, for all of those "I don't"s above, add also "and I never have, either."

The only retail I ever worked was in a small mom-and-pop store.  Beyond that, I've been in some sort of customer-service-type of job for a while, in private and public sectors, including fast food, animal care, computer systems, etc.  I just happen to still post here after my issue was resolved a couple of months ago because I get sucked in by web forums, and can't get out.