Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[price2724]

I am so frustrated with best buy right now..i was tempted to call the police cause what they do at that store is a crime...

I purchased an xbox 360 on 9/28/08 from my best buy store in scranton, pa.  when i purchased this item i was asked by the person who rang me up if i wanted to purchase the black tie protection plan.  i asked what it was and they explained that if anything went wrong with my 360 i could take it back to the store and they would swap it out and give me a new one THAT SAME DAY, i asked even if it gets the red ring of death and the person said even the red ring of death..so i told them i would think about it and they informed me i had 14 days to purchase it.  so on 10/10 i went to same best buy inquired about the plan again. employee gave me same information as previous employee did, and i asked again if i would get a new one THAT SAME DAY and was assured i would and i asked again even if i get the red ring of death and was told yes even with that..so i purchased the protection plan figuring it was good insurance for an item that has been known to die...

fast forward to last night..1/23, less than 4 months since i purchased 360 i get the red ring of death..so i contact the scranton, pa best buy where i purchased the 360, speak with a mark in geek squad explain my situation, he informs me that when i bring it to the store they will test 360 to ensure it is the red ring of death and if they determine it is i can get a new 360 THAT SAME DAY, now this is three employees at that store that inform me of this..so i get in my car this morning with my 360 go to scranton, pa best buy..take it to geek squad, they test it determine red ring of death, then tell me to go get new xbox and they will exchange it..so far so good..i go get new xbox girl starts to ring it up for exchange then after five minutes tells me oh wait we have to mail it out..WHAT? i told her my story and she gets manager, who couldn't care less..comes over and tells me i have two options, send it out or get refund for protection plan..real good customer service..insinuates that i am lying about what his three employees told me, and that they don't swap out in store.

i contact geek squad by phone spoke with judy a supervisor who was condescending at best, told me it is up to store if they want to give me a new one but that is not policy.  so after an hour of arguing back and forth, i tell them i will never shop there again and don't want anything from them...i attempt to take broken xbox out of store till my bf talked me into just shipping it out.  now they tell me i should have REFURBISHED xbox in 3-5 days ( i won't hold my breath for that), i argue the case of why would i get a refurbished product when less than 4 months ago i paid a lot of money for a brand new one...i was answered with that's just the way it is.

i have never been more disgusted with any store or customer service in my life.  i will never shop at best buy again, and i have spent a lot of money there.  THEY ARE LIARS..AND DON'T CARE ABOUT BACKING UP THE LIES THEY TELL...i should have been compensated for being lied to by not one but three employees who basically conned me into purchasing a protection plan under false pretenses.

THANKS BEST BUY FOR THE FRUSTRATION AND LIES, AND LACK OF COMPASSION TO YOUR CUSTOMERS...YOU JUST LOST ONE.

[collegekids]

how many red rings did the xbox have? if you dont mind me asking.

[price2724]

three

[Starflyer59]

I would recommend just calling Microsoft Support. If you purchased it in August 2008, then you have a manufacture warranty until August 2009. Microsoft has also extended all warranties for red ring of death up to 3 years.

Message Edited by Starflyer59 on 01-25-2009 08:02 AM

[price2724]

still no reply or acknowledgement from best buy..i guess they really don't care about losing a customer who buys all electronics and appliances from them..in the last three months alone i spent close to 1,000 dollars there....what do they care though...now i just found out that i was lied to again for the fourth time, when i was told i would have a refurbished xbox in 3-5 days, with reading these message boards i came across one where a geek squad person told someone 10-14 days...when do the lies end...they just tell you anything they want and you can't do anything about it...i would just like to be acknowledged...i didn't get one i am sorry for the miscommunication, i just got rude and condescending remarks from employees...the customer should never be treated in this manner, i may just go to the better business bureau tomorrow with this...cause from the looks of what i read on these boards i am not the only person this has happened to..

[caitig53]

I agree, I just wrote a long post under poor business ethics. I won't rewrite it, but anyways, when I called to try to figure things out with my laptop, both the salesperson AND the manager were EXTREMELY rude to me. they were arguing with me, and interrupting me. I HAVE NEVER NEVER been treated so poorly by customer service before in my life. Although I was admittedly upset, I thought customer service was supposed to work things out with you, rather than be rude and make me MORE upset. The manager even told me that he was doing me a favor by sending the computer for free to be fixed (it would take THREE WEEKS!!!)...this really struck a cord with me, they are not doing me a favor, i paid for a computer that was supposed to work correctly, and unfortunately returned it 25 days after i purchased it,  not knowing that laptops were a 14 day product, since nobody told me when i purchased it. I told the salesperson that I thought this was fundamentally unethical (see original post for FULL story), and he told me he did not agree and continued to argue with me. He told me that it was uneconomical to accept a return, and told me some story about another company changing their policy. I dont care. They sold me a defective product and should assume responsiblity.

[Starflyer59]

Give the moderators time. It's Sunday and they are probably not working today.

[Mudbug]

Starflyer59

I would recommend just calling Microsoft Support. If you purchased it in August 2008, then you have a manufacture warranty until August 2009. Microsoft has also extended all warranties for red ring of death up to 3 years.

and might have sent you a brand new one instead of a refurbished one also. Thank you for the information I would not want a refurbish one either. I would rather have mine fixed and returned. I had a refurbished phone sent to me and it was in worst shap than the one I had. Took getting 4 phones sent to me before I would except it. Same thing the phone was only 3 months old.

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Dear price2724, 

Thanks for posting your concern on our Best Buy® Forum.  Your issue has been assigned to one of our Community Connectors for further review and response, and you should be hearing something within a maximum of 3-5 business days.  Please note that it may be sooner depending on the complexity of your issue and the current volume of posts.  Thanks for your continued patience as we work to assist all of the customers who have reached out to us on this forum.

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Hey price2724,

Although I cannot provide an explanation why you might have been informed otherwise, please understand that Geek Squad® Black Tie Protection (GSBTP) provides repairs first and foremost. This is a significant change from the Product Replacement Plans (PRPs) that Best Buy® has offered in the past, so I do certainly apologize if this was not communicated by your local store.

That being said, there are a couple of other threads on this topic that you may be interested in:

http://forums.bestbuy.com/bb/board/message?board.id=Warranties&message.id=1434#M1434

http://forums.bestbuy.com/bb/board/message?board.id=Policies&message.id=2614#M2614

If you do not wish to seek an exchange through our Rapid Exchange program, however, remember that you always have at least three other options:

1) Filing a GSBTP claim by calling Geek Squad’s toll-free hotline (1-800-433-5778)
2) Filing a GSBTP claim online at https://blacktie.geeksquad.com/
3) Cancelling your GSBTP coverage for a pro-rated refund

Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us.

Agent Aaron
Geek Squad® Community Connector
Go Ahead. Use Us.