Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[blackstone]

This is an epic saga

At the end, I am stuck in limbo with no tv

I noticed that some people got some satisfaction here when they couldn't elsewhere.

For reference, if needed, my service request # is {removed per forum guidelines}

I purchased a 26" Dynex tv from Best Buy at the Pittsburgh Mills store on 12/16/08

The tv had a 1 year warranty. We did not purchase an extended warranty.

On 12/7/09, the tv malfunctioned.

The screen turned pink with no volume.

We took the tv to the store on 12/8 and they said the problem was with Direct TV.

Please note: the closest store is 40 miles away!!!

Contacted Direct and had a service man come on 12/10

He replaced the box which didn't fix the problem.

After further testing he determined that the tv was bad.

He proved it by hooking another tv to the connection which worked fine. He also hooked a dvd player to my tv which didn't work but did on the other tv.

We contacted Customer service. on 12/10.

First we were told that the tv would have to be sent out which would take up to 3 weeks

This is unacceptable!!!!

Then, got some run around over the warranty in my owner's manual.

It explicitly states that there is in home service. We were told that this was discontinued and only applies to 32' or larger

Only after pointing out that this was an implied contract did we eventually get them to agree to send someone.

Contacted the service company today and he had never heard of a Dynex and is 50 miles away

Back to square one

We are on our 4th call for service.

Each time, we have to repeat our story from the beginning

We are told we can't get a replacement or a loaner while ours is being repaired

Right now, we are in a 4 hour waiting window to determine if they can find someone  else to service the tv.

If, at the end of the 4 hours, a service person can't be found, then we go into a 3-5 day review to assess whether to decide to replace and issue a voucher.

Although every CSR has been very courteous, the result is the same.

The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of cheap price is forgotten

Given the run around in getting service of any kindI would be very hard pressed to ever buy from Best Buy again.

We had purchased a tv from you for my daughter's Christmas present.

Right now, I'm inclined to return it.

There was a book in the 1970's called "The Greatest Salesman in the World" by a guy called Joe Girard. He sole something like 400 cars each year.

He said that the average person knows 200 people and they are willing to tell more people of a bad experience with a business than a good one.

I can't understand how a company even the size of Best Buy can alienate customers.

[sham]

i was under the impression that if you had an issue with your tv after 30 days (without the black tie protection plan) that you would have to deal with the manufacturer regarding any issue.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hello blackstone -

Allan, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern.  Thank you for your continued patience.

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi blackstone,

This does indeed sound like a very frustrating experience, and I’m sure it became even more frustrating after having to continually re-explain the issue to everyone you spoke with. I can also understand you not wanting to wait three weeks to have the TV repaired if it was sent out for service.

It sounds like the current delay is in the fact that we are having a difficult time finding a local service center that is authorized to repair this TV, and it is true that if we cannot arrange for repairs on this TV the manufacturer’s warranty should replace the TV with a comparable model.

I would like to look into your repair, and do what I can to get this resolved faster for you. I am sending you a private message to gather some personal information. 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,

[blackstone]

Alan, thank you very much for your interest and help.

There has been some progress but not sure how it will resolve.

A local service shop was found and the TV was delivered on 12/15/09 in the afternoon

The repairman found the instructions  on 12/16 am.

Prior to that, he believed that he had not been contacted. He was mistaken since an email had ended up in his Spam folder.

During the period before he found this email, we contacted Best Buy again because we (incoorectly) felt we had been lied to.

Here's what we learned may happen.

Depending on the problem, if Best Buy determines that the repairman supplied parts are too expensive, they will take 3-5 daays to look for cheaper parts.

If they cannot find cheaper parts, they can then take 3-5 days to review whether to replace the unit.

If so, they will issue a voucher. for a comparable replacement.

I can see this easily dragging out through the holidays well into the New Year since we're almost into Christmas.

I may get lucky and the problem is minor and I can get the tv returned before Christmas.

I'm not sure what the repairman has to do to get authoriztiion to proceed once he identifies the problem.

I am afraid that however this now works out, we will never buy anything else from Best Buy.

This morning we returned a TV that we had planned to give our daughter for Christmas.

We weren't asking for the world.

We would have accepted a "loaner" until our set was repaired, honoring the warranty in the manual or a replacement.