Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[john1]

In September of 2006 I purchased a 73 inch rear projection TV from the Best Buy at the Rim in San Antonio. When I purchased the extended warranty, they assured me that If I had a problem with my TV they would respond in 24-48 hours. When we called on October 5, 2008 they tried to schedule us for October 16, 2008. I refused based on my verbal agreement with Best Buy and asked to speak to their supervisor. They agreed to come to my home to fix my TV on October 9, 2008.

When they did not call me between 7AM and 9AM as they had indicated my wife called them and they told her they had it on the schedule for October 16, 2008. I called the store manager and they "consented" to schedule me for October 13, 2008. I told them I had a doctor's appointment at 4PM and they assured me that they would be there "well before then". They called me at 3:30PM and indicated that they would be there at 4PM and arrived at 4:10PM. They took one look at the picture and told us they did not have the part with them. I asked them why they would come over without the part since we had made it very clear what was wrong with our TV set. They provided no answer but did inform me that because it was an expensive part they would have to get the approval of Mitsubishi, the company that manufactured the TV set we purchased. This did not make any sense to me since our extended warranty agreement is with Best Buy not Mitsubishi.

I believe we were misled by Best Buy when we purchased our TV two years ago and their response to our repair request has been unjustifiably slow. Today I filed a complaint with the Texas attorney General office of Consumer Protection and I encourage all of you who have had similar problems with Best Buy to do the same in your respective states. I also encourage you to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and your local Chamber of Commerce.

Best Buy

[DICameraguy]

....your part was made by Mitsubishi thats why he magically dosnt have one in his back pocket.

[damon]

John, take whatever steps you feel are necessary.  You know what is going on with your situation, and you know how you feel (and have been made to feel). Don't stop fighting until you feel like you have been treated fairly.

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hey john1,

I apologize for any misinformation you might have gotten from Best Buy®. As with any service repair company how quickly a customer gets an appointment is dependent on the schedule of the authorized service technician that services their area. The date you were originally offered of October 16, 2008 was most likely the first day that had any open appointments available, and when you were given an appointment for October 13, 2008 the store manager was most likely fitting you into an already full schedule.

The reason the technician didn’t have the part with him for the repair is the parts needed for a repair can only be ordered by an authorized service technician once they have diagnosed the problem and determined what is needed for the repair. Our technicians do have some parts on their trucks, but with the number of products we service the first appointment to repair a product in someone’s home is usually a diagnostic appointment only.

I’d like to see if I can assist you further so I am sending you a private message so check your inbox.

Thanks,
Allan
Community Connector
Best Buy® Corporate

[MtnXfreeride]

I guess I dont get the problem, it broke, a guy comes and says it needs a part, he will go and order a part, when part comes in he will install it, done.

Your TV is on its way to getting fixed.  Why would they have parts to a 2 year old TV with them?   

What is filing a complaint going to do if these are store policies and you were trying to rush things and go around them with your own appointment schedule.  I would say if they came on the 9th it would be unfair to the other customers who have waited for their appointments, and now would be rushed make time for you. 

[Rui]

 ***Tried making a new post, but the annoying spell check box pops up, and bugs out the subject box and you cant post a new...post.  By design? lol the conspiracy continues.. ****

I believe my story follows John.  This delay for repairs is lame, and unfit.  No way a company that size can be that slow.  Id almost be better off NEVER buying a warranty.

Look, Best Buy is a giant.  We all know this.  Cir. City (lol cannot mention it in here ) in store Customer Service can't hang with them, so they are dominating them.  I mean people who work at these stores/customer service didnt go to college, have little to no knowledge of products, so when I call in I dont expect IVY League style treatment.

I want to talk about my experience on replacing my bulbs of my TV.  Did I get it done, for free?  Sure, I payed for my warranty.  Was it done in a time fashion?  Thats debatable depending on who you ask.

What I hated about this experience was the communication.  I understand people dont call Best Buy to say " You rule " they call when they have an issue, so they are never happy.  I work in Health Care, I know all about it.

However you have got to be better with timetables.  I mean you do know people work in America right?  Staying at home for a repair and missing work is a big deal.

I called in, told them my bulbs were out.  They wanted 3 days to get to my house to "fix them".

3 days later they come in my house, look at the issue, decide what I already knew, and tell me they are going to order them and make an appointment to come back and install.

First reaction?  Frustration because I knew the issue, however..... I can respect them trying to make sure that it is in fact that.

Ok so this was Sept. 2nd.  I dont hear anything, and its now Sept. 8th.  I call in, and get your classical generic answer.... or did I?  I was told they were not sure where they were in the process.  Obviously when you call after being 5 days without a TV and get that kind of answer you want to scream!  I was told I would get a call by a "Manager" the next day sometime in the morning.  The call never came....

I decided to take the high road, and just ignore it.  I got a call 3 days later, Sept. 10th that my part was on order and would arrive 5 days later ( Sept. 15th ) and they could come to the house on the 16th.  Now I worked in shipping and delivering, unless there is a bulb shortage on the planet that I am not aware of, why is this process taking 2 weeks?

Essentially after he left my house that part should of been on order immediatly that night or the next morning.  MAXIMUM shoulder 5 business days ( this is MAXIMUM ) to get to them.  Why is it taking 2 weeks?  Too much to handle?  People putting things off?  " OH well its free, they can wait? "

This is when anger starts, and honestly can be easily fixed by a courtesy call to update the situation.  A gift card saying " Thanks for your patience".  Do I like Best Buy?  Of course, they are everywhere.  I'd like to see this communication clean up though.  Stop with the coorporate answers, and get back to some grassroots customer service.

Thanks.

[MtnXfreeride]

lol everything is a conspiracy!!   how about new forum running new forum software...  OR (sincen it works great for me) you should run windows updates and make sure your browser is up to date as well.

[rgrwalls]

I have been having a similar problem in the State of Washington with my computer.  It is my intent to file in Small Claims Court as well as with the Consumer Protection Division with the Attorney Generals Office.  Today, while in Best Buy, I tried to get some information regarding my computer.  Unfortunatly, their computer was down......speaks volumes.

[Sarah-BBY Retired: Community Connector]

Hi Rui,

First of all, I can completely understand your concern with missing work for your television repair.  Unfortunately, as I’m sure you’ll understand, for safety reasons we are unable to send a technician out to a home without somebody over 18 years of age being present.  However, as I informed another customer yesterday, if you have a friend, family member, or neighbor that could help with this - that could be an option.  Also, in some areas we are able to accommodate after-hour and weekend appointments, so that may be something to inquire about if needed (of course, knock on wood that you won’t need any additional repairs and that everything works wonderfully!).

While our technicians are able to keep some parts on hand, if the part necessary is not one they happen to have readily available on their truck, it is accurate that we would need to order it in and cannot place such an order until it has been confirmed by an authorized technician that the part is needed.  I certainly do apologize for any delay this may have caused you.

I would like to look into your situation, not only for future quality issues within our company, but also to see what I can do to help you feel better about purchasing the Best Buy® Performance Service Plan (PSP), which we truly do appreciate!  I have sent you a private message explaining what I will need from you in order to start my research, if you are interested.

Thank you,

Sarah

Community Connector

Best Buy® Corporate