Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[mutsky]

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...demand that you be provided with a copy of the Best Buy Extended Warranty BEFORE you plunk down your hard-earned cash for one.  They will tell you in the store that you can review the policy on-line, but trust me, if you do, you will not want to buy it.

At the end of every transaction in the store, you will be asked, either by the cashier or the salesperson, if you want an extended warranty.  This happens nearly everywhere you shop.  What you are really buying is an insurance policy, and depending on the level of coverage, you are buying something that may be completely worthless, unless, of course, you happen to be content waiting for months for your item to be repaired or replaced.  I never accept these offers, but alas, this time, I did.

I purchased a $680.00 laptop (ASUS UL50AG) for my son to take to college.  Salesperson amped up the pitch when it came to the "Accidental Damage" warranty, telling us that even if the computer were damaged accidentally, it would be repaired or replaced, usually within 2-3 weeks.  Warranty cost:  $300.

It's been over seven weeks now and still no end in sight.  The "Damage" is due to a defective A/C jack (common problem with ASUS laptops) and we have been getting the royal runaround.  Store says they can't do anything (to replace the unit) until authorized by service center, customer service people say they can't do anything, all roads lead back to the the mythical service center, in Kentucky, WHICH NO ONE CAN SPEAK TO DIRECTLY.  Punchline:  if you want to send you kid off to college with the confidence that his/her key piece of equipment will be repaired properly and PROMPTLY, DO NOT BUY IT AT BEST BUY.  They put the store people in a no-win situation:  you're angry, because it seems as though nothing is happening, but they reality is, they can't do anything to help you, nor can they speak to someone who knows what's going on. We were told that the store e-mails in their requests for repair status, and if they get an answer in less than 24 hours "It's a miracle" (their words, not mine.)  If you do purchase the extended warranty, be prepared to spend lots of time on the phone, on hold, getting absolutely no satisfaction, unless, of course, you like taking $300 out of your wallet and flushing it down the toilet.

I did learn some interesting facts:  normally, if a repair takes longer than 30 days, they will (supposedly) move quickly to "junk" the machine.  If they provide you with a replacement, they consider the warranty "fulfilled" and will not pro-rate it.  However, if they return the machine to you, you can demand that a pro-rated portion of the warranty be returned to you (assume $100/ year on this particular one), and they will, reluctantly, return the remaining value of the warranty to you.  Of course, at that point, you've paid an additional $100 for something you may already gotten for "free" (depending on manufacturer's warranty period).

I work in an office.  We buy all of our computers directly from Dell or H-P, and they offer "concierge" service.  If your kid can't be without their machine for more than a few days, I suggest you got that route.  OR, pay the extra money and buy a Mac, if you child's school is near an Apple store.  They will repair or replace it on the spot.

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert]

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mutsky wrote:

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...demand that you be provided with a copy of the Best Buy Extended Warranty BEFORE you plunk down your hard-earned cash for one.  They will tell you in the store that you can review the policy on-line, but trust me, if you do, you will not want to buy it.

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Best Buy gives you a 30 day period in which to read the Terms and Conditions and if you don't like them, you may return it for a FULL refund.

[mutsky]

Great.  Can you explain why Best Buy cannot / will not supply a copy of this (very expensive) insurance product in the store?  Also, how much do you, the saleperson make, each time you sell one of these policies?  Clearly, you are incentivized to sell it, but the salespeople (and in-store management) have little or no information regarding how these policies work.

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert · Accepted solution]

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mutsky wrote:

Great.  Can you explain why Best Buy cannot / will not supply a copy of this (very expensive) insurance product in the store?

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Best Buy should provide EVERY customer with a copy of the Terms and Conditions and does it's best to do so before the sale.  Sometimes, they may be out of the actual pamphlets, but it is available online.  

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mutsky wrote:

Also, how much do you, the saleperson make, each time you sell one of these policies?  Clearly, you are incentivized to sell it.

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$0 .   That's how much I make (other than my normal wage) if I sell a Black Tie Protection Plan.  0.  That's how many real incentives I receive every time I sell Black Tie

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mutsky wrote:

but the salespeople (and in-store management) have little or no information regarding how these policies work.

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In a perfect world, every manager and every employee will know everything about every policy, plan, product, gadget, gizmo, etc. that is sold at Best Buy.  In a non-perfect world, each employee has a knowledge base that is different from everyone else.  Some may know more about specific products, and some may know more about the Service Plans.  I know more about the Service Plans than many at my store, but I know less about the in-store financing offers than other employees.  Most of the employees in the sales dept. know the basics of the Black Tie protection plan and can inform customers about the basics that the Terms covers.  Occasionally they may misinform due to lack of a more in-depth knowledge, which is why the Terms and Conditions are provided either in paper form or electronic form for the customer to peruse.  I have only seen a few of these cases in my store and stepped in to correct the associate so that he or she knew the correct info.  Working at Best Buy isn't just standing around waiting for a customer to come in.  There is a vast array of information that requires multiple hours of training.  It just isn't possible for everyone to know everything, although Best Buy provides the information so that the employees may learn what they need.

Since Best Buy cannot verify what was said at the time of purchase, there is no way of knowing if an associate said something would be covered or not.  So, they provide a way for the customer to read the Terms and Conditions in paper, or electronically.  If, within, 30 days the customer reads this and does not like the Terms (since legally, the only binding terms are within the Terms and Conditions and your receipt, not what an associate said) then the customer may return the Black Tie Protection plan for a FULL refund, or a pro-rated refund after the first 30 days.  This way, the customer has a way to read and FULLY understand what IS and ISN'T covered by the Black Tie and may decide whether to keep it or not, because by keeping the Black Tie, the customer is ACCEPTING and AGREEING to the Terms and Conditions.

[mutsky]

This is the height of hypocrisy, and mirrors my experience to date.  It's as if you want the customer to believe that you're like the "Caveman Lawyer".....hey, it's not my fault, I just work here, I'm just a Caveman, your world confuses and mystifies me.

Since you are SO familiar with the Black Tie policy, it would be great if you would reply with an answer that addresses my main issue:  seven weeks and counting, no end in sight, and NO ONE able to provide an answer to the most basic of customer concerns:  when the heck are you going to either return my (repaired) laptop or classify it as "junk" and provide me with a new one?

[Swedevil]

I had to send a desktop off (in '08) 7 times to be repaired. It wasn't until the 7th time (this time they had it for 45 days) they finally ruled it a lemon.

If you purchase the Black tie Protection, as you said, once they replace the computer, the protection no longer exists because they have fulfilled the Protection plan. Otherwise everyone would 'accidentally' run over their laptops every three years and always get a free one that is fully covered. Thats a way BB can cover themselves.

I'm sorry for the troubles, but there are some people in customer service that can effectively contact the service department. Private message me and I'll get you the email of someone that helped resolve mine.

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert]

All I can do is provide basic information.  Since I do not represent Best Buy here, I cannot provide anything other than information.  A Community Connector should be on within a few business days to help you address your issue.  Hopefully they can provide some more information and can look deeper into your situation.  While the store has access to the notes and can send escalations, sometimes these Community Connectors can get more access to the info you want.  

They should be on soon, although during the Christmas Season, they have a larger workload.  But sit tight and they'll get to you soon.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Good afternoon mutsky -

Justin, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern.  Thank you for your patience until he is able to touch base with you.

[Justin-BBY Community Connector]

Hello mutsky-

I agree with you that you should have been provided with a copy of your Geek Squad® Black Tie Protection plan for your ASUS laptop during point of sale.  I also agree that seven weeks for a laptop to be in service is way too long.  If that is the case, then I understand your expressed position on the subject, and I'll do whatever I can to how I can further assist. 

I'm terribly sorry that you've been inconvenienced during this time.  Whatever the case may be, it seems apparent that we did not extend you the excellent customer service that you should receive being one of our customers.  It's equally troubling to realize that you still have no status updates.  I hope to change this and get you some answers soon. 

With that said, I'm passing you a private message.  You may check your private messages by logging into your account and clicking the envelope icon in the top right corner of the page. If you have other questions that you'd like to post, feel free to reply to this topic; or send me a private message by clicking the icon beside my name. 

Thank you for sharing your experience with us on the forums!

Sincerely,

[BooBoo]

i like square trade