Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[HarleyMN]

On January 17, 2008, we purchased a 50-inch Samsung plasma television with accessories as well as the "extended warranty" as advised by the salesperson.

On the morning of November 12th, the screen went black. There was audio but no video. We called Best Buy and were told to stay by the phone on November 14th as we could expect a call from the Geek Squad who would be there to fix the problem. I stayed home from work that day waiting for the call. By 5:00 there had been no contact so I called again. At that point, I was told that they had emailed me. I checked my email and there was nothing. Again, another call to the Geek Squad. This time I was told that they would be out to look at the television on November 28th. Two weeks to "look" at the problem as they were "very busy this time of year."

My daughter stopped into the big box store to talk to someone as we thought it was ridiculous. She got the runaround and was told there was nothing they could do. She asked to talk with a manager but he was evidently too busy as the customer service person ran back and forth relaying her questions. I again called Best Buy to talk directly to the repairperson. He was given a message and never returned my call.

On November 26th, the Geek Squad called to say they would have to reschedule the appointment that had been made for the 28th. The repairperson had decided to take that day off. They would reschedule for December 18th. How ridiculous. A multi-thousand dollar television, less than one year old, an extended warranty, and an entire month without a television because of poor customer service. After much discussion, the Geek Squad said they could possibly make it on December 10th.

On December 10th, the repairperson diagnosed the problem and said a part would have to be ordered. He stated that someone would call within a couple days to set up an appointment for the new part to be installed. The call came that the part would be in the Baxter store on Monday, December 15th and would be installed on Tuesday, December 16th. So, another wait at home for the repairperson. By 5:00 no one had come or called so once again, another call to the Geek Squad. After a 30 minute phone call, I was told that the part would not be in until December 19th and they could install it on January 6th. Incredible customer service, huh? It is apparent to me that once Best Buy gets the money from your original purchase, they could care less how you are treated. They surely didn’t wait two months to cash the check.

We have been without the television for 5 weeks and before it is fixed, it will be 8 weeks. The customer service shown has been incredibly poor. Unanswered calls, no shows, a complete runaround.

[HT-Pro]

Excuse me sir, we don't sell "extended warranties."  We sell Geek Squad Black Tie Protection Plans. (GSBTP's)  Typically when a situation such as this persists it's due to the fact that one or more people dropped the ball.  Trying to schedule a repair during the busiest time of the entire calendar year is not smart and one can't expect it to be easy.  The logical and adult thing to do isn't wait all day until 5:00 p.m. it's to call after an hour or two and be annoying about it.  It's like waiting for a friend at the airport 4 hours after they said they'd be there.  An adult would get a cab after 30 minutes.  If you're so unhappy I'd tell you to bring back the t.v. and pick up a vizio from sams club.

[HarleyMN]

Excuse me, but I am a miss, not a sir. And the warranty purchased was a $300 service warranty plan. One or more people dropped the ball? We have talked to at least 10 people since November 12th. We have even documented the dates and times of the calls as well as the names of the persons talked to. Would you like me to list them? We have called at all times of day, not only after 5:00. I have personally stopped into Best Buy and the manager didn't have the "time" or the guts to come out from behind his curtain to talk to me.

"It's not smart to schedule a repair during the busiest time of the year?" Well, pardon me, next time my television breaks I will be sure to make sure it happens at a less busy time. Maybe you could program the screen to go black in mid-January when you aren't so busy? If you would care to read my original message carefully, you would see that the original appointment was made on November 14th and the date scheduled for repair was November 28th but the service person decided to take that day off, two weeks AFTER the appointment had been made. Where I work, if our schedules are backed up, there is no such thing as a day off.

I am terribly unhappy and would love to dump that television right on the Geek Squad's service desk but unfortunately I don't have a trailer to haul it in. No, actually, I'm not unhappy with Samsung. We got a bad tv. It happens. I am unhappy with the horrible service we have received from Best Buy and the Geek Squad.

I won't be shopping at any big box for any other electronics. From now on I will only purchase from the little guys who remember that they are in business because of the purchasing public and that customer service is a very large part of STAYING in business. Gee, I wonder why Best Buy is hurting in the market.

And, you may find this interesting. I reported Best Buy to the Better Business Bureau and you know the response I got? And I quote, "You should be aware that the company you have filed a complaint against maintains an unsatisfactory customer experience record with the BBB of Minnesota and North Dakota. In your BBB's experience, this company may or may not resolve complaints presented to them." So, it looks like I am not the only disgusted customer.

You can defend Best Buy and the Geek Squad all you want but the fact is that we have been treated badly for almost six weeks and once this television is fixed, it will never happen again. Any other snide comments you would care to share?

[Coolbballer21]

Ouch - I am sorry to hear about all your problems here, but HOPEFULLY your TV will be fixed soon. I luckily have had the complete opposite problem, on my Sammy Plasma I had a circuit board go haywire and made 1/4 of the screen look like blue static and Bestbuy sent out a local electronic repair guy, and he got a new part and the turnaround was like 2wks(but I was still able to watch tv) and my only other remote repair was on a Sony Grand Wega, it needed a new lamp - got it for free under warranty. So I am sorry to hear about your troubles, maybe a better route would have been contacting the manufacturer of the Television as there was "probably" a one year warranty(although I understand contacting Bestbuy as you have a 3yr warranty)....

Good Luck though!

[HarleyMN]

We did check into having it fixed under the Samsung warranty but they would not pay to have someone come out to fix it. We would have had to transport it to a local dealer about 35 miles away and frankly we were afraid that we might do additional damage in transit. We would have had to borrow or rent a vehicle large enough to carry it. Since we already had the BB warranty, we contacted them. If we could do it all over, I think we would make a different decision.

[Coolbballer21]

Ahh I understand, I have two samsung TV's, and as I said the one(plasma) had to get fixed....

yeah, hindsight is 20-20, I wonder if under that Samsung warranty if they would reimburse you the charges for transportation and such in that case - it may be a nicer idea. That being said though, I would rather have 3yrs with Bestbuy on my tv than just the one with Samsung.....but its a tough one...

[Sarah-BBY Retired: Community Connector]

Hi HarleyMN,

Being without use of your television is frustrating enough, and I am very sorry to hear of your disappointment with the service you have received thus far.  I would be happy to look into this situation for you to see if there is something I can do to help, as it is our intention to complete all repairs swiftly and completely, regardless if it happens to be around the Holidays or not!   

However, in order to get started I will need to get a little more information and I have sent you a private message explaining exactly what I will need.  To view your private message, first log into the forum with your username and password, and then click on the envelope in the upper right-hand corner of the page. 

Thank you,

Sarah

Community Connector

Best Buy® Corporate