Back at the end of September our 42" Hewlett Packard Plasma TV broke and it was only two years old. I immediately called Best Buy because we had purchased a 4 year service plan so we were sure we were covered and it would be handled quickly and efficiently.
Boy was I wrong! When I called, an appointment was set up for me for almost two weeks out. That was the "soonest" available appointment. I patiently waited for my service appointment to arrive and when the technician showed up he spent all of two minutes in my home. He looked at the TV and said he needed to order parts. He said he would have the parts in 3-4 days and that I would receive a call to schedule another appointment to complete the repairs. Keep in mind that this was on OCTOBER 10th.
When the time came and went that I should have received a call I placed another call to Best Buy (once again sitting on hold for 20 minutes). During this call I was informed that the parts had actually never been ordered but the gal I spoke with assured me that she was taking care of it and I would once again receive a call to set up my appointment. Again, that did not happen. I was also told on both occasions that my service plan did not cover a "loaner" TV...so too bad!
Another week went by with no call...so I attempted yet another frustrating and long phone call. This time the gal told me that one part had been received, but the other was on backorder. Who knows how long that could be. She said that she would check on the status of the backorder and get back to me about possibly replacing the TV if it was going to be a very long delay. She reiterated that there was no "loaner" option on my service plan so I am just out of luck! Two weeks have gone by since that time and still no return call!
Today, November 3rd, I called again and was told that the parts had still not arrived. This time the rep said she could schedule a service appointment for me on November 17th (another two weeks out). When I asked how she knew that the parts would be here by then she said that she didn't and that the technician would call to cancel the appointment if they didn't arrive. I was thoroughly disgusted at this point by the fact that they would so casually just leave me hanging like this! I asked to have my call escalated to a supervisor because I would prefer to have the tv replaced at this point rather than wait any longer. She quickly "put me on hold" to transfer the call and I was suddenly disconnected. Shocking!!
I then spent another 30+ minutes on hold trying to reach a supervisor in that department since that is the only way to reach anyone with any authority. I was told it would be 8 minutes to speak with a supervisor. After 36 minutes a supervisor came on the line. I explained everything that had transpired to date. I said that my main goal with this conversation was to get the TV replaced rather than wait an unknown amount of time for the repairs to occur. Now this supervisor tells me that the parts HAVE shipped to the technician and that he can schedule an appointment for repairs on the 18th...yet another day later. Not knowing which of the 6 or 8 people I have spoken with to believe, I told him to escalate this to his supervisor. I want this tv replaced! He says it doesn't qualify for replacement since the parts have theoretically been shipped (which is not what the last rep told me). I tell him that I want the tv fixed by the end of this week then...and he says the 18th is the best he can do. I am fed up!!!!
The year we purchased this TV we spent over $12,000 at Best Buy! We will NEVER purchase another product of any value from Best Buy again and I would certainly not recommend their service plans to anyone I know. I guess for Best Buy, the bottom line is the main goal and customer satisfaction is secondary. They have certainly lost a faithful customer in me!
UPDATE: I found a supervisor who "said" that the parts had finally arrived and that they could schedule and appointment for Wednesday, November 5th, (today). I was told that I would receive a call between 7 and 9am to set up the time. I stayed home from work and we unhooked everything and took the tv off the wall as we were instructed to do. Funny, but it is 10:16am and NO CALL!! Why am I surprised??
Message Edited by angryinbothell on 11-05-2008 12:17 PM
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