Two years ago I purchased a 65” Mitsubishi rear projection 1080p TV. At the time of the purchase, the sales associate recommended the 4 year extended warranty. One of the benefits of the warranty, he explained, was their lemon policy. I was told if the TV ever required multiple services calls (I believe the magic number was 4) for the same problem, I would be provided with a replacement or a refund under this policy. So I ended up purchasing the additional coverage and went on my way. Within a few short months, the bulb burned out. This was a little concerning as the sales associate explained that the lifespan for these bulbs was roughly 2 years. So I called Best Buy service and had to wait a week for a tech to be sent to my home. He confirmed the bulb was burned out, and It took another week for the replacement bulb to be ordered and installed. This same scenario has played out several times since the purchase date.
Recently, the bulb burned out yet again. When I called Best Buy customer service to report it and remind them that this has been an ongoing problem, they reviewed my records and confirmed that it was time to enact their lemon policy. I was told that a technician would be sent to my home to evaluate the problem and make a recommendation based on their findings. To my surprise, the technician who was sent to my home was not there to evaluate. In fact, he knew nothing about the history of problems I’d had with my TV. As he stated, he was simply there confirm that it was a burned out bulb and to place an order for another. Another call to Best Buy was made, only this time I was told they would NOT be considering my case for replacement or refund under their lemon clause because the bulb was considered a “consumable item”. I explained to them that the bulb wasn’t the problem, but a symptom of a problem elsewhere within the TV. A problem their technicians had not been able to nail down in the numerous service calls made to my home. The customer service rep was unyielding and insisted the previous rep had made a mistake and that Best Buy would not be honoring their promise to replace my defective set.
After speaking to a customer service supervisor, I was told I would be receiving a call from a service rep supervisor within 4 hours to review my history and discuss getting the issue resolved. The call never came that day. Or the next. It was two days later when I got a call from a rep telling me that they would (yet again) be sending a technician to my home to evaluate the TV make a determination as to whether it qualified for replacement or refund. I received a call from the service tech this morning telling me the part wasn’t in and he would need to reschedule. When I asked if he was still coming to evaluate my TV, he had no clue what I was talking about! Once again, Best Buy was simply sending someone out to throw another bulb in the set and go on their way. In the two years that I’ve owned this set, I’ve had to have 4 bulbs replaced. Each time it takes an average of 2 to 3 weeks for the repair process to be completed. That’s approximately 2 months that I’ve gone without use of the TV they sold me as a result of this ongoing problem. Each service call requires that I take time off from work to wait at home for a tech to arrive and tell me what I already know. It’s ANOTHER burned out bulb.
I’m tired of getting the runaround. I’m tired of having to wait for weeks to have the same problem “fixed” every few months. Best Buy has gone out of their way to find reasons why they shouldn’t have to honor their warranty and, in the process, they have left a longtime customer twisting in the wind. If Best Buy is unwilling or unable to make things right, I’m prepared to take whatever steps necessary to get results. I just hope it doesn’t come to that.
Dorothy-BBY
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