Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[timecoloured]

I purchased a projector with 4 years black tie protection because I knew from experience that since I was going to use it as my television, the bulb would burn out at least once. The first time it burned out, dealing with the people at 1800GEEKSQUAD was so difficult we just bought our own ($323). When the projector started warning us it to change the second bulb, we did manage to get a CSR who could help us and we received a replacement bulb.

However, when we changed out the bulb we found that the replacement bulb doesn't work.. I called 1800GEEKSQUAD 5 times and got 5 different unhelpful answers about what to do. Finally my husband called the local Best Buy store to find out what to do, and spoke with the head geek (who was the only helpful person we have dealt with). She told us to contact the parts department to exchange the defective bulb.

When we contacted the parts department as instructed, they refused to replace the defective bulb because it had been more than 30 days since they sent it (we did not install it until a few days ago). I want to know where in the contract it states this policy. And at any rate, if we had used it for 30 days and it only lasted that long, it would STILL be a defective product that we'd be stuck with. I don't understand that they will replace a broken part but see no need to replace it with a FUNCTIONING part.

I hope that this can somehow be resolved or I will never shop at Best Buy again. This has been a dreadful customer service experience all around and now I have to spend $300+ when I was promised a replacement bulb when I got the expensive protection plan.

[CrystalWoW Community Veteran]

Best Buy has a 30 day service guarantee on all services so that would apply to the replacement part as well. Also, part store who provides the parts says:
"Policies
WARRANTY POLICY
Best Buy PartStore warranties all parts and accessories for thirty (30) days from the shipping date (the "Best Buy PartStore Warranty"). Defective parts must be returned within (30) days of the shipping date for refund or exchange. After 30 days, the part may carry a warranty from the manufacturer. Please contact the manufacturer directly for parts found to be defective after the expiration of the Best Buy PartStore Warranty."

Someone might have a different solution for you so sit tight and a connector will be in touch, normally in 3-5 business days.

[Justin-BBY Community Connector]

Hi timecoloured, 

Welcome to the forums!

It is my understanding that our PartStore reps were just following policy, as Crystal has notated per the terms of your plan. I'm very sorry that you might have to purchase your own replacement bulb for your projector, and although I cannot guarantee an outcome at this time, I'd be glad to look more into this for you to see if there are any other alternative options available. 

To do so, I'll begin by sending you a private message. Private messages are viewed by logging into your account and selecting the letter icon in the top corner of the page. 

Thanks for posting, 

[timecoloured]

Thanks for the response, I have responded to your private message. Even if there is no resolution, it's nice that there is at least one person in this organization who understands how to speak to customers. 

Before I found this board, I sent an email on the Geek Squad site. (The service plan portal is broken; at least, it fails to recognize my plan number and will not allow me to set up an account). So I used the generic "contact us" email. This is the response I received.

Hello good morning,

I am sorry for the inconvenience but since it is past the 30 days of purchase it cannot be exchanged. I know this is very frustrating.

Have a great day!!!
Geek Squad PD/Escalation Team
Email Response Team
LAURA

Seriously? 3 exclamation points to tell me I threw away $325? After I and my husband had spent hours the previous day trying to deal with GeekSquad on the phone, my head nearly exploded. No, wait, my head nearly exploded!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[timecoloured]

Not that anyone is likely to read this, but I just wanted to respond publicly to Justin, who has been contacting me via PM. He was the one person in the whole mess who a)sounds intelligent and b) at least seemed like he was trying to help (I suspect he may be a robot!). Of course BB policy is to refuse to help and I am stuck with a useless bulb and a useless 4 year protection plan. We ordered a replacement bulb from Amazon which we received in one day and which works perfectly -- not  a shock that Amazon is taking over the world and Best Buy stock is tanking! So we learned a $350 lesson. We may be late to the game but I suppose now my husband and I can just be added to the list of people with money to burn on toys who will never do business with Best Buy again. So glad I just paid off my Best Buy card, I at least derived a teeny bit of pleasure in seeing how many tiny pieces I could cut it into. I will derive slightly more pleasure watching Best Buy go the way of Circuit City. It is clear to me now why their service model is being called obsolete! (how ridiculous is it that they have to have an online discussion board for anyone to get any help regarding Geek Squad! Wouldn't it be more efficient if Geek Squad actually functioned?)

[biff]

300 dolar part....couldnt install it in thirty days (lol), now BBY's fault and becuase you waited, they are going the way of Circuit City.

[timecoloured]

Actually the Circuit City comment was based on reports from several finance sources and recommendations not to pick up BBY stocks despite their lower price. I never said my choice to wait until my original bulb burned out was a sign of the company's issues. I just think they should replace a defective product.

Their obvious customer support issues (see the 1 million other posts in this discussion board), multiple store closings, and issues with their CEO are signs that they are not doing well.

[CrimsonRain]

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timecoloured wrote:

Their obvious customer support issues (see the 1 million other posts in this discussion board), multiple store closings, and issues with their CEO are signs that they are not doing well.

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1. I only counted 847832 posts. Not quite 1 million.

2. If multiple store closings means 50 stores out of 1200, then yea, multiple...

3. CEO resigned for personal conduct investigation. Timing could have been better, but it is what it is.

Could we for once get a valid complaint on these forums that doesn't follow the theme of, "I had a bad experience so that obviously means Best Buy is not doing well."?

[APR28]

Without throwing blind attacks at BBY about falling stocks, the real question that should be answered is why BBY didn't help get a new bulb in a timely manner the first time?

Why did the op have to resort to buying a bulb from Amazon after shelling out a huge sum of money for a 4 year plan?

[SlimJim77]

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APR28 wrote:

Without throwing blind attacks at BBY about falling stocks, the real question that should be answered is why BBY didn't help get a new bulb in a timely manner the first time?

Why did the op have to resort to buying a bulb from Amazon after shelling out a huge sum of money for a 4 year plan?

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The OP never did elaborate on how the original interaction was so difficult, it warranted spending $300. I can think of only a few circumstances that would force me to do such, and none of them would involve a phone call.