Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[Lariap99]

I purchased an insurance protection plan for two cell phones from Best Buy.  When purchasing, I asked if my credit card would be billed automatically or if I have to bring my card into the store for it to be charged.  The sales rep told me that I would have to bring it in every month.  This was NOT the case.  The next month when I realized that it had been billed automatically I called the store where I purchased from and talked to someone who claimed to be a manager.  He informed me that Best Buy was sorry for the inconvenience and that he would cancel my account and that if I came to him during my next visit, he would give me a discount to the store on my next purchase.  So, thinking all is well, I trusted this "manager" and went on about my business.  Now, 4 months later, I realize that I have been charged every month since I was told that it had been cancelled.  When I called the 1-800 number to question why it hadn't been cancelled and to get a refund they told me that the store I purchased from had to give me the refund.  They also told me that the money being taken out of my account is "irrelevant" to Best Buy.  So, I called the store back and they told me that only the 1-800 number can give me a refund.  So, here I am getting money taken out of my account every month without my authorization to do so.   Not to mention that everyone I have talked to with Best Buy has lied to me in one way or another.  It saddens me to know that a store will take funds out of an account after permission to do so has been revoked.  It saddens me further that I continue to get the run-around and none of my questions have been answered. I just want a refund for the last 4 months and the protection plan cancelled.  PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hi Lariap99, 

Thanks for posting your concern on our Best Buy® Forum.  Your issue has been assigned to one of our Community Connectors for further review and response, and you should be hearing something within the next few business days.  Thanks for your continued patience as we work to assist all of the customers who have reached out to us on this forum.

[John-BBY Community Connector]

Hello Lariap99,

I’m disheartened to hear about your experience with the purchase and cancellation of your mobile phone protection plans.  As you discovered, the fees for the monthly coverage are automatically charged; I don’t believe you should have been informed any other way.  I would also expect a member of the management team at your local store to be aware of the policies that govern how plans are canceled and be able to inform you correctly.  I apologize sincerely that we didn’t live up to that expectation.

To cancel a service or protection plan, our customers must visit the store with their purchase receipt and have the plan canceled at the Customer Service desk or write in to our corporate offices with the request.  The reason for this is that the service plans are actually binding contracts and there are specific procedures that must be completed for cancellation to occur.  This doesn’t change that a commitment was made to you that the plans would be cancelled and that the commitment wasn’t kept.

I would like to ask for the opportunity to help resolve this for you, so please watch for a private message from me.  To check your forum inbox, please sign in with your user name and password and click the envelope icon in the upper right.  I look forward to working with you!

Sincerely,

[MobileExpert]

This is what I've been told, and what has worked for one of my customers: Call the number on the GSBTP brochure that you received when you purchased the plan. They will cancel it for you. As for the refund for the past four months, John should be able to help you with that.