I have had tons of problems with bestbuy as of recently (2 years now) when it comes to redeeming warranties. The fact that they switch priorites on the warranty upset many customers who purchased warranties prior to the priority switch. It used to be instantly replaced if there was stock left over. Now it is shipped off and you receive a refurbished product. It really is unfair to those who purchased the warranty prior only to see it was changed. Now I did a bit of investigating on my last trip to best buy:
---> I went into best buy a little while ago and pretended I was interested in buying an Ipad 2. The gentleman who helped me with my issue was very nice. I cannot remember his name. Once I visit, ill be sure to locate him and thank him yet again for his service. Unlike most people employeed there, he actually took 2 hours of his time JUST to help me. A good sales person could sell so much in two hour but he decided to help me in that time. I did not purchase an Ipad 2 keep in mind. I talked to him about the features of an Ipad 2 pretending to not know a single thing about it. I also asked him about details about warranties they offer and why there are better than getting it through apple. He mentioned that apple does not cover accidental replacement while best buy does for around $169. Having purchased an Ipad 1 long before, I was aware of this. I also asked if I could purchase an Ipad 1, since they are a bit cheaper. He said no since they are not allowed to sell a previous generation Ipad. So we went back to the warranty. I asked him what would happen if my Ipad 2 broke under the advanced warranty when the Ipad 3 came out. He told me that they would test to see if it works INSTORE by running simple tests such as trying to power it on, charging it, etc. If that failed they would issue me a brand new Ipad 3 if stock was available and if it was not I would be issued a floor model or a refurbished model of the Ipad 3 since they no longer are allowed to give out Ipad 2 or 1. Now pretending not to know a single thing about the warranty, this would seem like a very good deal. Keep in mind this was after best buy did the switch on the warranty. After that I began to ask some questions about previous models. I told him "Lets say I bought an Ipad 1 with the 2 year advanced plan and it breaks while the Ipad 3 is out. Will I be given a new/refurbished Ipad 1?" He could not stress enough that this would not happen. He told me that a Ipad 3 would be the only option since the Ipad 2 or one would no longer be an option. So granted on this knowledge, I asked several other people around the store to make sure I was not being tricked into buying something I would not get. I received the same answer from others patrolling the area. So based on this knowledge, who would not want to buy the warranty? You would be crazy not to.
You can rabble on about its a buyers beware but most people ask employees to fill in the answers to the major questions they have, such as this instead of reading over a document which is worded so difficultly that not even the Manager on Duty could translate this. English is not my first language and sometimes things are very difficult to translate in terms of word placement and such.
Also I would like to take he time to complain about Geek Squad aswell. About 4 years back I purchased a laptop without a warranty. After a while, the laptop would refuse to turn on. The laptop was still under manufacturers warranty so I took it to best buy. Before I took it to best buy, my cousin who is a computer expert diagnosed the problem for me as he had the exact same laptop purchased from another country. What was wrong with my laptop was the cable connecting the powerbutton was unplugged and would not start up the computer. When sent in to get repaired, I was told that my laptop had a motherboard issue and that I would have to pay in order to get it fixed. Instead, my father and I opted to have the laptop brough back to best buy so I may pick it up and take it home. When we arrived at best buy, the manager refused to give me my laptop because he said he had plenty of work to do despite the fact that I saw it laying on the counter in the back room. After 20 min of waiting he gave it to me. I asked him for a moment of his time and he decided to give it to me. I showed him that it would not start up by pressing the button. In the matter of 3 min, I opened up the laptop, reconnected the cable and it powered on. Who is incharge of repairs?! This was just insane. Since it was not under the BTPP, they were going to charge me $194 to repair the motherboard which had NOTHING wrong with it. The manager put on a smirk, laughed, and walked away. I cared not for how he acted since it seems like bestbuy highers nothing but jerks for managers.
My rant is over and I hope to get my issue with my Ipad all figured out. Thanks.
Ryan-BBY
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