Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[mrtetz]

At the end of April a transformer near my house was hit by lightning and as such fried a large number of electronics, my furnace and other devices. Approximately $6000 in damage excluding my new tv that was purchased in December. Everyone has been excellent in getting me up and running and replacing the damaged goods except for Best Buy. All of the various repair techs who look at the damaged equipment have said due to lightning strikes and such power surges it is better to replace than repair due to unknown issues that can crop up.

I paid to have a TV repair specialist come look at my TV prior to Best Buy, he said you needed the main and secondary circuit boards replaced just to diagnose any other issues. His recommendation (again by a completely 3rd party) was to replace the TV due to the high cost of repairs. 

So I call Best Buy right after the strike, it takes over a week and a half for someone to finally get out and look at my TV. Keep in mind it is barely 4 months old... I am told that they have to order 2 circut boards. Even then they don't know if it will fix the issue. They then proceeded to tell me this is all LG's doings because it is less than a year old and if I don't like it I need to call LG to discuss a replacement of the TV. I call LG and it turns out it isn't even covered. Power surges aren't part of their plan. So really it's just Best Buy giving me the run around and trying to save a few bucks.

When I call back I proceed to be told over and over, this is just how it is and I have to wait another 3 weeks for the parts and a repair tech to be back out. This will put it at roughly 1 month without my new TV. Sadly, even then, it likely won't work since there is a very strong chance the ports are bad (every device that was plugged in to the TV had it's HDMI ports fried) so it will be even more waiting and repairs.

I understand saving a buck, but at the expense of a customer is just horrible service. I asked why they couldn't simply replace my TV since it was likely more damaged and they wouldn't even answer me. I don't think it's too much to ask for some decent service considering the TV was new.

I was also promised a call back from a supervisor on Friday the 8th... guess what? No call back. 

[mrpmpfan]

Have you ever heard of "an act of God?"

Best Buy is not responsible for replacing your TV, that is why investing in a good surge protector is a good idea most of them have a warranty amount they will cover if the lightning strike was still able to affect your items plugged into it.

[mrtetz]

haha humorous. Actually... read the best buy protection plan? Power surges ARE covered... and funny enough surge protectors were on all of my electronic devices. Funny how the amount of electricity that flows from a lightning strike can do a little damage even with the all mighty surge protector. Trust me I did my research on this otherwise it would have been claimed under my home owners insurance along with the other devices.

[mrpmpfan]

Well just because your items were plugged into surge protectors means nothing because most people use super old surge protectors that should have been replaced years ago.  But if yours are actually new surge protectors I would get my money from the respective company who made your protector, because each surge protector has a warranty on items plugged into it.

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hi mrtetz,

I've asked Allan, one of our Community Connectors, to look into this and follow up with you.  You should hear from him within the next few business days at the most.

Thanks for posting!

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi mrtetz,

I’m sure after owning your TV for only four months this repair experience is not what you anticipated, when you purchased your Geek Squad Black Tie Protection (GSBTP) plan to cover repairs that wouldn’t be covered by your manufacturer’s warranty, and damage caused by power surges is an example of coverage provided by your GSBTP plan that isn’t covered by your manufacturer’s warranty.

It sounds like we are waiting for the parts that were ordered for your TV to be delivered before we can continue with the repair. It is true that if we determine that repairing your TV would not be cost effective your GSBTP plan would replace your TV, but if there are parts on order that would mean that we have determined that your TV is cost effective to repair.

I agree that asking for decent service from Best Buy® in regards to this repair is not too much to ask regardless of how long you’ve owned your TV, and I would like to see what I can do to get you the service that you deserve. I am sending you a private message, and 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 your concern,
Allan
Community Connector
Best Buy® Corporate

[mrtetz]

Thank you Allan for the response and I sent you a message back. I am appreciative that the earlier repair could be scheduled so hopefully this Wednesday they will be out and this can be resolved. My main concern is that all of the features and ports also work even if the TV turns on, since several of the items plugged in to the TV had their HDMI ports fried I am concerned that the TV's may also be damaged.

[mrtetz]

Hi Allan,

I just sent you another private message about the issue. It seemed like everything was fixed but it turns out my fear about the HDMI ports not working correctly turned out to be true. There's an issue with the TV still so I hope you can help get this resolved quickly.

Thanks.