Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[Jay1490]

To start off, let me just say how unhappy I am with the customer service I have received and misled I feel due to the employees of Best Buy and the "inaccurate" information I am given time after time.

Two years ago my dad bought the 3rd gen iPod touch.The sales associate who sold us the iPod convinced us to buy Best Buy’s PSP 2 year warranty plan for the iPod. We agreed that it would be a good idea to buy it. The sales associate said great and continued to explain how the plan works and what was covered in this warranty plan. He specifically said that if anything were to go wrong with the iPod, no questions asked it would be covered by the purchased warranty plan and I would receive a new iPod. I then asked him, “New as in refurbished or new as in a brand new iPod out of the box?” He responded by saying that the iPod would in fact not be refurbished and it would be fresh out of the box, they would just swap it. Lo and behold a year and a half later my iPod starts malfunctioning, I take it back to Best Buy and explain what happened & they tell me I would receive a refurbished iPod. I told them that’s not what I was told what would happen when I bought it. I was told that was their policy but if there was something wrong with the iPod I received I could bring the refurbished iPod back to Best Buy where I could then void my warranty and receive a brand new iPod.

Shockingly the refurbished iPod I received had issues straight out of the box. The thing wouldn’t even turn on! My computer couldn’t recognize the device and the screen was stuck on the apple icon. I immediately took it back to Best Buy and the same sales associate who had explained to me that I could void my warranty for a new (not refurbished) iPod suddenly caught a bad case of amnesia. He said he didn’t remember telling me that. I guess both my dad and I, who were both there, came up with that story on our own. This go around the customer service was beyond poor. The sales rep was so rude and short with me. He put in another order for rapid exchange without consulting me first and on top of that, sent it to an address I did not want it sent to because of the distance from my college!! Feeling frustrated and overwhelmed I decided to just accept the rapid exchange. This time the iPod was operating fine...for about 2 weeks, then I got the white screen of death. Today I took the iPod back hoping to finally get this issue resolved once and for all. No luck, now I’m stuck with a rapid exchange once again, which may start malfunctioning weeks from now, while my warranty ends in 2 days. Needless to say I am completely unsatisfied, unhappy, and disappointed with Best Buy’s customer service, broken promises, and misleading warranty policies.

What is going on Best Buy?!?! What kind of operation are you running here??

[CrystalWoW Community Veteran]

Your only option for ipods is rapid exchange. You have a 30 day guarantee on the refurb from the day you receive it. You can rapid exchange it again if it breaks.

[Justin-BBY Community Connector]

Hi Jay1490,

Welcome to the forums!

I agree with you that your described experiences involving your iPod and Black Tie Protection plan is quite disheartening.  No one wants to receive miscommunication about what their coverage plan entails and if this is the case, then I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

CrystalWow is correct; Rapid Exchange repairs are performed throughout the life of your iPod BTP.  Since you state that you just had a repair completed, you have a 30 day guarantee to bring it back into the store if you encounter issues.  On that note, I would like to get some additional information from you pertaining to your situation, so I'll send you a private message.  PMs can be viewed by logging into your account and clicking the envelope icon in the top right corner.

I'll talk to you soon!