I bought a 50 inch Samsung plasma tv at best buy in March of 2008. At that time the tv cost me about $1500.00, I also bought a service plan that cost me about $300.00. So basically I paid $1800.00 for this tv and to receive good service if I had to. Well 5 weeks ago the picture went out. The tv didn't even last 2 years. My old tv lasted me 15 years before it went out. Which tells me the quality of tv's has gone down.
So when I called to get my tv serviced, the lady made an appointment with the geek squad to come out at look at the tv. I had to wait 2 weeks because they were busy. So I waited and on the day of the appointment I cleared my morning because they were supposed to show up between 8am and 12 noon. I waited all morning and nobody showed up. I finally called to find out where the were and they told me that the appointment had been cancelled. Not one person called me to tell me the appointment had been cancelled. I was told that it was given to a third party company and that they were coming the next day. I will tell you "best buy", this is very unsatisfying to me because I don't like waiting 2 weeks for nothing and waiting the entire morning when no one was going to show up. If you would have called and left me a message telling me that the appointment was cancelled it would have been better for me as a customer.
So the next day I waited again for someone to show up. Two guys from the "third party company" showed up and took the back off of my tv. They couldn't tell what was wrong with it so they said they had to take it into their shop. I asked them if they had a lot of trouble with these tv's and they said, yes this type of tv has a lot of issues. Not just Samsung, all brands of plasma tv's have problems because the technology hasn't been perfected. This makes sense because the tv didn't even last 2 years. So they told me since I already waited 2 weeks that I wasn't going to like that it was going to take 7 to 10 days to get my tv fixed. He was right, I didn't like it but it really wasn't their fault that best buy waisted 2 weeks for me with their ignorance. So I told them, that's ok as long as it is back before the first football game starts.
It has now been 3 weeks since they took my tv. More then 5 weeks since it stopped working. I have called multiple times to find out the status and all I ever get is the ansewring machine. Not one call back from the people fixing my tv to tell me the status or give me a return date. I have called multiple times to the geek squad and have talked to best buy. They found out who the person was that gave us the first appointment and they said they would talk to her. I asked if I could get a loaner and they said that I didn't buy the package that would allow me a loaner. Best buy, why do your customers need to buy a package to get a loaner for a product we buy from you? Don't you stand behind your products? Don't you care about the satisfaction of your customers? So no, I didn't get a loaner. I ended up buying a used tv so that my family could have something to watch. And still no date for when I get my tv back.
I am frustrated. Someone from best buy called and asked if I had heard anything from the people working on my tv, and I told her straight out, no. They called them and were told that the parts may or may not be in and that they were going to put it together that night and give us a call. That was over a week ago and no one ever called. I have called the geek squad multiple times and everytime I get the same "oh I'm sorry you are having to deal with this problem". No one does anything to get them to call me. I finally asked for a manager and was actually connected to someone that said they were a manager. I told her what was going on and she started giving me the same story everyone else did. So I asked her how much I paid for the tv, and she looked it up and told me the price, I then asked her how much I paid for the service warrenty and she told me that also. I asked her why, if someone paid that much for a tv and a service warrenty from them, why can't I get proper service from them. She started getting smart with me and said, well you could get it fixed anywere and get reimbursed for it. That really upset me because I paid for a service package and can't get proper service, do you think they are really going to pay me back for getting my tv fixed somewhere else? And why should I have to anyway? I pretty much told her that I won't buy anything else from best buy. And I told her if I ever get it back and it breaks down again I was going to take it back and get a new one. She quickly told me that the tv has to break down 4 times before they have to replace it. She acted like she didn't know anything that would help me, but she sure seemed to know everything to protect best buy from their customers.
So here it is, 5 weeks after we first called to get our tv fixed. I called yesterday and left another message with the people fixing my tv. I would give their name but I don't want to give them free advertisement. No one called me back by this morning so I called again and left another message. No call back, so I called the geek squad again and truthfully, I am tired of them and would rather cuss them out then deal with them. According to them the parts were supposed to arrive last friday. The same old story, so I told her that at this point I just want my money back. And of course, they can't do that. They don't care about their customers satifaction and they don't back up their products. So I hung up on her and called the local store to see if I could get a replacement. But of course they said they couldn't because we had the service warrenty. Best buy, the geek squad, and the third party "business" can't do anything to help me. I'm sitting here watching a used tv for 5 weeks because I bought a very expensive tv with an expensive service warrenty from best buy and they won't stand behind their products and they don't care about the satifaction of their customers.
So if you are thinking about buying a tv or anything else from best buy, my advise to you is, DON'T. Because they act like they are only a middle man for the companies that make the products they sell. They don't look at themselves as a store were people buy products from them. I think that is why they don't back up their products or their customers. And when you get as frustrated with them and their products and their service as I am, you can't even get your money back.
@Dorothy_BestBuy
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