Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[D1782]

I bought an Xbox 360 in January 2009 for $400 and a week ago the disc drive stopped ejecting so I took it in to best buy.  I have done this before and they give me my money back on a gift card to buy a new one. And I always do.  But when I took it in they told me it would be sent out and I would get a refurbished one.  I told them that is not what I was told when I purchased the plan and I am very upset by this.  I know you will tell me you are sorry you were mislead but these are the people your company hired.  I was told that if it broke I would bring it in to get a new one.  THIS is not the case.  You have to get a refurbished one back.  Which I don't understand because the pamphlet that I received says "we'll replace that gadget or gizmo with a new one".  So where is the new one?  Everything that I read posted here or the reviews for the refurbished ones say they still break down. So why would I want that one that will break down or was broken before. I work in retail and we always try to make sure the customer is happy but you guys seem like its no big deal.  I know that I won't be buying from you for awhile now that this has happened.

[cr_client]

"we'll replace that gadget or gizmo with a new one" doesn't apply to XBox 360's. It hasn't applied in years. Microsoft's policy on replacement of a dead system is to use their Rapid Exchange program. It is a Microsoft policy, not a Best Buy policy.

If you receive three approved exchanges, and a fourth one is needed, your plan will replace your system with a brand new one, under the "No Lemon" clause, and then your plan will be completely consumed.

[Melissa-BBY Senior Social Media Specialist]

Hello D1782,

I’m sorry to read that your Xbox 360 failed, as I know how important gaming systems can be to some. It was especially disappointing however that you were caught off guard by your Xbox 360 system being exchanged with a refurbished unit and not a new one as expected. I know I would likely have been upset as well if I were in a similar situation.

Before September of 2008, we offered our Product Replacement Plans (PRP) for the Xbox 360 consoles, which did allow the customer to receive a replacement voucher if their system failed. Since then, we are now offering our new Geek Squad® Black Tie Protection (BTP) plans on these systems, as we no longer have PRPs. Under the terms of the BTP plan, service is the first option that would need to be provided by the store, which in the case of Xbox 360 systems, would be a Rapid Exchange. The Rapid Exchange is where your defective system is sent to one of our service centers, and a refurbished system is returned generally within just a few business days.

The Rapid Exchange program is similar to what Microsoft uses under their warranty. The refurbish systems are returned back to the original factory standards and they should appear no different from a brand new system. While it may seem that there are many who have had troubles with these systems, this is likely a small percentage of those who receive them, and it is not often that what is posted publicly is a good experience. As cr_client mentioned, under our No Lemon Policy, if you do happen to have three completed Rapid Exchanges and the a fourth is needed, then you will be provided with a new comparable system.

That being said, it does appear that your replacement system should be at the store now, which I do hope will work well for you for a long time to come. If you do have any concerns with this, please don’t hesitate to let me know. If you’d like, you can reach out to me via private message by clicking the link in my signature below.

Best Wishes,

[darkcmf]

I had nearly the exact same experience.  I had purchased an XBox 360 Elite in July of 2007.  The system recieved an E74 error in January of 2009. 

I had always purchased the replacement plan for the systems, in case of an error like that.  I brought the crashed one to BB, and they did the same.  Told me to go and get a new one off of the shelf.  I did so, and purchased the plan for that one - at least I thought that I did. 

When that one started acting up recently, I took it in to BB and they told me that they'd have to send it out and I would receive a refurbished one in about a week or so.  I did, and I'm happy with that XBox to date. However, when the first one died, I not only received a new, updated system, I was offered the opportunity to buy a new service plan for it.  Now, the refurbished one will just carry the remainder of the plan that I bought on that day.  I didn't even have an opportunity to put a plan on it.  Based on how the plan works now, I don't know that I would, or will in the future.  I paid $60 for a plan that gave me a refurbished unit via the mail. I get that for free from Microsoft.  Yes, it is one year longer, so effectively we bought an extended warranty.  It is called a "Rapid Exchange, but I still had to go without my XBox for nearly 10 days this time.  The first time was a rapid exchange.  I carried it into the store, and walked out with a new one that had a new plan on it.  I missed only a few hours of gaming.

The old replacement plan was the type of move that said "We care about our customer's experience, and we want them to feel committed to us, because we are committed to them."  The new plan...  It doesn't do that.  It simply says "Well, okay.  We'll do you a little favor, but this is the end of it."  The way that we are treated as consumers is how we treat the store.  I used to feel a serious commitment to Best Buy, but that is really waning right now as a result of things like this shift in policy.  I would NEVER have considered buying anything electronics related anywhere besides Best Buy.  We bought our cell phones through BB too.  When it came time to replace the phones this time, we went through the service provider...  BB has weakened their customer relations with this shift, and many other little things.  It is highly unfortunate, as I did truly love and appreciate BB.  I went out of my way to shop there, and recommended the store to everyone at every opportunity I had.  I just don't do it anymore, because I don't feel that BB cares about me, as a consumer now.

[Nokia]

MS is the company that made the change. BB had no control over it. BB had to either go with RE, or stop offering the GSBTP plan altogether.

[D1782]

I got the Refurbished one a little over a week ago and already it is has stopped working with a e74 message.  I only played it for about ten hours in that week.

[darkcmf]

WOW...  I say wow because guess what just happened.  My recently received refurbished XBox 360 just gave me the E74 error.  Are you sure you're not me, but a week into the future?  This is ridiculous. 

I know what's going to happen now.  I'll take it in, they'll take another week to ten days to get me another refurbished one that will last until about the 12th or later in January when my GS Protection plan expires and it will give me an error or break somehow...  At which point in time I will buy my next XBox 360 from someplace else that still appears to care about the customers having a satisfactory experience.

I used to be frustratingly loyal (in my wife's opinion) to Best Buy.  There would be something that plugged in that was around the corner, at Kmart, or Walmart for slightly cheaper and I would take us out of the way to get it at Best Buy and pay slightly more so that I could get it there.

No more.  I'm done with the crappy and consistently further degraded services that keep being pushed on us as "something better, (just not for the consumer)."

[cr_client]

It sounds more like you're frustratingly loyal to Microsoft, not Best Buy, if you're still willing to keep buying XBox 360's that keep having similar or the same error time and time again.

As you mentioned, you purchased an additional year worth of warranty coverage for whatever you paid for your GSBTP. If you had not purchased that coverage, your system failure earlier this year would have been outside of the Microsoft warranty period, and you would have had to purchase a new system entirely. Your GSBTP will be providing you with a second replacement on failures that both happened outside of the manufacturer's warranty period. Some refurbished consoles may have problems, but most shouldn't. If Microsoft hadn't changed its policy, you would have been out $60 a month ago for an in-store exchange and new GSBTP, and another $60 with the failure on the new system, which, including the $60 you paid for the GSBTP in January 2009, puts you $30 over the price of a new Xbox 360 Slim Arcade model. You're still $120 ahead with your current rapid-exchange plan than you would have otherwise been, and your next refurb machine could end up lasting 24 more months.

Or, it could last 2 days, because the fact of the matter is that the underlying hardware is still a "fat" 360, which has proven time and again to have problems for many, many customers. Your experience wouldn't be any different if you had purchased it at any number of other retailers, because they all have to abide by Microsoft's Rapid Exchange program.

Unfortunately, if your system dies again after the GSBTP expires, that's a fact of life. I was pretty devastated when my original-revision 60 GB PS3 died a few weeks ago, but it served me a long time, and I made it much longer than some people did without it dying. I ended up buying a new Slim model, which I'm quite happy with, and which should be more trouble-free for a long time. With any luck, Microsoft has finally exorcised the demons from the original 360 systems with their introduction of the new slim model.

[darkcmf]

While I will admit that your point about Microsoft and the REP is valid, it is bigger than just the 360 issue.  I am RZ Silver Premier.  You don't get there just replacing a 360 here or there.  When I said that I would take us out of our way to buy something at Best Buy, rather than a competitor, I meant ANYTHING that plugged in, or went/goes into something that plugs in.  Our PS3, and Wii?  Best Buy.  Electronic toothbrush?  Best Buy.  New Mixer?  Best Buy.  Alarm Clock?  Best Buy.  Doesn't matter what it was.  If it plugged in, or went with something that did, we bought it at Best Buy.

The point is that it began with the "silent" change in the replacement/protection plan.  That is just a symptom of the problem, and the one that you can comment on because it is the one that I posted a follow-up comment on.  There has been a trend over the last few years, and it is that the overall customer service has substantially decreased. 

Maybe I'm being snobbish/elitist or something here, but I used to feel that as a RZ Silver Premier member, Best Buy appreciated my business.  I got that feeling every time that I had any dealings with them, in any store.  That doesn't happen anymore.  I'm a very loyal person.  I've committed over 20  years to our country as a member of the Army.  I don't just walk away from anything I've started, unless I feel that it has lost its value to me or is no longer treating me with the respect that I deserve.

Thank you, for your loyalty to Best Buy, as I feel that they are still a great company.  I just think that they need to address some issues through their management teams.  Customer service reps should never come across as rude or arrogant when dealing with customers.  I never get out of line or cross with any of their employees, but I've had some of their reps (particularly the GS folks) treat me quite rudely on a few occasions.  When it appears that loyal customers are respected and appreciated by the organization again, I will reciprocate with the loyalty that I have demonstrated in the past.  In the meantime though...  I'll feel free to search out competetive pricing, rather than just going to Best Buy because whatever I want to buy is available there. 

[cr_client]

I've been Premier Silver for a number of years now. There are only a handful of stores that I can walk into in my town where anyone recognizes me or knows me by name. Best Buy isn't one of them. And, frankly, I doubt it ever will be one of them, because the store is just too big.

Although it WOULD be nice, from time to time, if the person at the register look up once in a while and scan my RZPS membership card while I'm holding it in my hand instead of asking for it without seeing that I've had it out for the last 5 minutes...