Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[mando41]

It all started April of 2006 when purchased a 42 inch Phillips Plasma TV with ambilight for $1950 with a 300 dollar 4yr psp plan. The ambilight feature was the best and was the main reason that I purchased the TV.  It was the extra little something that separated my plasma from the rest and I loved it. The TV set was working fine until about October of 2008, when the set and volume started to turn off and on occasionally. In May 2009 the problem started to happen so frequently that I called Geek Squad and they came out and repaired it.  When the service guy left the TV was working great again for a couple of weeks then the sound starter go off and so I called geek squad again. On September 15th I called again to schedule my fourth repair and the tech said that I was eligible for and exchange because of the no lemon policy.

On September 17th I went to the West Covina Best Buy and was not happy to hear that the ambilight feature was no longer available and that the new TV that I was going to end up with was$680 dollar substandard plasma.  I really felt ripped off.  I thought to myself “I was sold a lemon that I could not use for 5 months and now I am getting a substandard set with no ambilight on top of that I have to purchase a new PSP plan because I am now terrified that it will break”.  I told the sales guy (Which by the way was very professional, knowledgeable and made me feel like he understood my situation. I believe his name was Matt, just in case you want to give him a raise.) that I felt ripped off and taken advantage off and because they did not have a set similar to mine that I wanted credit for the amount that I purchased the Phillips 42 inch set. I also did not want another plasma because of the horrifying experience I just had.  He said he would talk to his manager; he did and later offered me a 42 LG LCD.  He said it was a great set told me about the great features and sold me on it.  I paid an additional $99 dollars more and upgraded to a 47 inch LG LCD TV.  I paid $338 for the new SPS and size upgrade. So even thought I wasn’t thrilled with the TV I said okay this is an LCD so I should be okay.

 I went home set the TV up and immediately noticed that there was a 1 second lip sync problem.  I thought okay there must be a something in manual that lets you adjust it.  There was nothing so I called LG customer service on September 18th and asked to see if they could help me troubleshoot the problem.  I spoke to Eddie, he asked me a couple of questions about the TV (svs code and model #’s) and determined that my set is defective and that LG is currently working on a firmware update to resolve the lip sync issue. He said that they did not know when they will have the update available.  At this point I feel extremely frustrated and don’t want this TV. I do not understand why someone would sell a set that is defective.

The bottom line is that there is nothing comparable to the 42 Phillips plasma with ambilight, and Best Buy should honor me with a credit of $1950, which is the amount that I paid for the 42 inch Phillips. I really feel that my lemon was replaced with just another lemon. I have lost all faith in Best Buy and its PSP. I have purchased all of my major electronics from best buy and have been a loyal customer for many years.  I hope that someone in can help me end this nightmare and make things right.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hello mando41 -

Welcome to the forums!  Melissa from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concerns.  I thank you for your patience!

[Melissa-BBY Senior Social Media Specialist]

Hi mando41,

I am very sorry to hear that your television failed, though happy to hear that you had our Performance Service Plan (PSP) on it to allow for a replacement. It is disappointing to hear that the features you were most hoping for were unavailable now.

With our service plans, if a TV is being replaced and the same model is not available, we will provide a comparable technology (usually size and type of TV) TV that does not exceed the original purchase cost. While the stores do try to match all features, this is not always possible. Due to ever changing technology, this may result in getting a replacement television that is drastically lower in price than what you had paid. It does sound like Matt and his manager did try their best to find a more acceptable replacement for you.

This is the first I have personally heard about the syncing issue with the LG LCD televisions, and it is difficult to determine if this was a known issue within our stores or by our buyers. As with computers, most televisions today have updates from the manufacturer to correct issues such as this and to keep them up to date as technology changes. I do hope that LG will be able to resolve this shortly.

Regardless, it does sound like you have ended up with a television that you are unsatisfied with and I would like to see what I can do to assist in providing a better experience for you. I will send you a private message within the next couple of business days with some additional information. To check your private messages, first ensure you are logged into the forum, and then click the envelope in the upper right corner of this page.

Melissa
Community Specialist
Best Buy® Corporate