Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[Sarah1019]

I purchased a 50" Samsung projection television in Sept. 07.  Of course, I thought it was wise to purchase the extended warranty for 4 years of coverage...

About 3 weeks ago I called to schedule a repair since the lamp had gone out. This is the first and only problem we have had with the television. From what I've read online this lamp can cost roughly $150.00 but only takes about 5 minutes to replace.The repair was outsourced, meaning it wasn't a Geek Squad official who came to my home, but an employee of a local Audio/Visual repair shop.  He came and verified what I had told customer service, the lamp was blown out, but they do not keep them on hand so it will have to be ordered. 

I'm sitting here now 3 weeks later with a TV that's still broken.  No one has made a point to call and update me on the status of my pending repair. I have had to call twice a week to check up on the status only to hear over and over again that "they can't locate a lamp".

Needless to say, this is getting extremely frustrating. 

[starhelper2587]

You could possibly try calling 1-800-GEEKSQUAD and asking for the Parts Department. This department is setup so clients can order small parts under the GS warranty and have them shipped to their house to install themselves. If you aren't comfortable installing the part yourself, you could call the 3rd party company you've been dealing with and setup an appointment so they could come install it for you once it's shipped to your home.

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hi Sarah1019,

I've asked Allan, one of our Community Connectors, to look into this and follow up with you.  You should hear from him shortly.

Thanks for posting!

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi Sarah1019,

Three weeks without a working TV would be a long time to wait for anyone, and I’m sure the fact that you are waiting on a part like a lamp that should only take five minutes to install even makes it more frustrating. I’m sure the fact that you have to call twice a week to get an update on your repair makes it feel like Best Buy® is not taking your repair seriously.

It sounds like we are having a hard time getting a hold of a replacement lamp for your TV, and that is why your repair is being delayed. I would like to look into this for you and see if I can get your TV repaired quickly. I am sending you a private message, and 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,
Allan
Community Connector
Best Buy® Corporate

[Dragnfly]

Sarah,

I'm with you on this one. I also bought a nice LG 42" flat panel TV in February of 09 and it stopped functioning just this past Friday night. I took the TV to the local BestBuy and they would not take the TV there to repair. I had to return to my home, schedule a visit that I'm pretty will not remedy my problem and I cannot get a scheduled visit during a time I will be home. (I work for a living, so its tough to take days off to have someone come into my home during the week.) I too picked up the extended service.

In the end, I can say that I'm less impressed with BestBuy service and policy more so than the failed product after 4 months of use. I've purchased a significant number of products from BestBuy in the last 1-1/2 years and have decided that this situation will determine whether or not I continue to do so in the future. Good luck to you........I hope you get treated the way you should from BestBuy.

[sdownie]

Define shortly......is that in most people's thought of resonable amount of time or "Best Buy" time?

[darthgonzo7]

There's a difference? I didn't know we had "Best Buy" time. Is it like Chronicles of Narnia where normal time is 1 second but in Narnia it is multiple years later?

That'd be cool.

[shrrtrver10]

Gonzo that is funny. It can seem like 2 seperate times when it takes over a month or so. Hope you get your tv fixed ASAP.

[whatawaste]

I feel your pain.  We stupidly bought the Black Tie warranty for our projector.  This week makes two weeks since the lightbulb died (with only 600 hours on it).  Called geek squad and those fools sat on it for a week before they sent it to an outside repair company.  After 6 days and a few calls they said "oh yeah, you have to call the manufacturer since it is under warranty"...we had to tell them that the warranty for the bulb was only 90 days and it was pass that, so calling the manufacturer was not an option.  They actually argued it even after my husband told them he was reading it out of the manual that he had in his hands. 

Now we get to wait for the bulb to finally get delivered to the repair company they sent our job to.  As of right now we "might" get it fixed three weeks after the original call.

I will NEVER buy any geek squad protection plan again and I doubt I will ever agree with my husband buying anything from Best Buy (he is an adult and will do what he wants, but I'm sure he will think twice about it in the future).  With all the on-line options for purchasing these big box stores are not the only game in town and should learn to act as though they realize that.

I will gladly pay more for any item as long as I trust in the customer service of the store I buy it at.  I won't be doing that at Best Buy after this crappy service....doesn't matter that it was Geek Squad...Best Buy offers the product so they are willingly associating them with a company that seems to excel in bad customer service (at least according to a google search for Geek Squad).

Why pay hundreds of dollars for a plan where the employees don't know the basic facts about warranties from companies that make the products they are offering to cover?