Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[BRoberts4]

In December of 2009 I ordered a 50" Samsung Plasma TV from Best Buy. The sales person told me to get the Geek Squad Service Plan which would fix or REPLACE the TV at no cost if something went wrong within 4 years. He did not show many any options for plans, nothing. The TV was delivered the first week of January.

The first week of April, the TV stopped working. A $1700 TV, 4 months old, not working..... I called Geek Squad. The sent a tech from a local contracted repair company. The tech messed with the tv and told me I needed 3 boards from the manufacturer. He stated they would order them and it would take 2 days. Well nearly a week went by and I never heard back, so I called the repair contractor. They informed me that one of the boards was on indefinite back order through Samsung and it could be months before it comes in. Thanks for calling and letting me know....

So I called Geek Squad again and asked if it can be replaced. After two days of getting the run around, they put in a request to "determine" a reasonable wait for parts. If the wait was to be more than the 5 business days it took to verify the status of the parts, they said they would replace the TV. So I was instructed to call today, April 26th.

I called Geek Squad today, and again was given the run around. They told me that they would not be replacing the TV, that it was up to the manufacturer of the TV to replace it. I asked why I was told something different over the last two weeks and they kept saying it is the manufacturers responsibility. I am furious. I paid for this service plan that THE SALES PERSON told me would fix or REPLACE the TV immediately if something went wrong. Now I have a $1700 paper weight, 3 weeks so far no TV, and now  I have to wait for Samsung of Japan to get me new TV.

WHY WAS I LIED TO BY THE SALES PERSON ABOUT THIS PLAN, AND WHY ARE THEY NOT LIVING UP TO THE PLAN THAT I PAID FOR!!!!!

This was a total waste of money. I will never get another Geek Squad or Best Buy product again if this is how the service will be.

Brandon S. *******{removed per forum guidelines}

Dunnellon, FL

*******.***********@*****.*** {removed per forum guidelines}

[starhelper2587]

There is no clause in the Geek Squad Black Tie Protection warranty that states a TV will be replaced if the parts are delayed for X amount of days ... however, it does happen. The "norm" though is 30 days. So if parts aren't available for 30 days (the tech ordering the wrong part usually doesn't count towards 30 days), a TV will sometimes be replaced. But again, this would be done as a courtesy because this isn't part of the MFG or GS warranty. One of the Community Connectors (BB corp employees/forum moderators) should be along sometime this week to assign your thread to the best suited CC that can work with you on this issue.

[BRoberts4]

I understand there is no set number of days that is considered reasonable. But I have been told two different things now by Geek Squad, and I feel it is terrible business for a sales person on the floor to lie to you about plan details to get you to buy it. I was told it would be fixed or replaced immediately, this is why I purchased the plan. That is horrible business practices. Now I have a $1700 paper weight for almost a month now that I am making payments on and who knows how much longer it will be. Not to mention, my family have been loyal Bymenest Buy customers who have purchased many items from appliances to computers, never missed a payment, and this is how we get treated when there is a problem. If this isn't resolved quickly, I will never purchase from Best Buy again. Nearly a month is long enough without the TV we just bought. It isn't right to have to make the TV payment for a TV that doesn't even work. It is sad when the bill comes in before the TV is fixed or replaced, especially when it is 4 months old.

[BRoberts4]

And just so you know, we are going on 30 days soon without this resolved, and it is not because the tech ordered the wrong part. It is because Samsung said the part I need is on indefinite backorder with no determined date of release.

[SlimJim77]

Welcome to the forum, Brandon.

Repair service is definitely something Best Buy needs to work on. The good news here is that you WILL be taken care of. It just won't be in a timely fashion.

Stand by for an official representative from BBY to look into your issue.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Good morning BRoberts4 -

Allan, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern.  I appreciate your continued patience until he is able to connect with you.

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi BRoberts4,

Anyone would be upset being asked to have their four month old TV repaired, and then being told that the parts are on indefinite back order would be very frustrating. I don’t blame you at all for wanting this TV to be replaced given the status of this repair.

Your current repair is most likely being covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, but your Geek Squad Black Tie Protection (GSBTP) plan would cover any part of the repair that isn’t covered by your warranty that is covered by your service plan. It is true that typically it would be up to the manufacturer to approve your TV to be replaced in situations like this,  but there is a couple of circumstances in this repair in which your GSBTP plan would approve your TV to be replaced.

I would like to personally look into this, and get you the fastest possible resolution to your issue. I am sending you a private message to gather some personal information I would need to look into this. To check your messages you should log into the forum, and then click on the letter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Thanks for posting,