Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[Maceman121]

I have a question that I hope can be answered.  My wife has a Droid, bought it a little over a year ago, and loves it.  Yet problems exist, I fear always will that be the case in life.

She had to send it out for repairs earlier this year without issue but on the 1st of Sept she had to send it out again do to slight water damage that made her slide sticky.  When she received the phone back (3 weeks later), it came back with the slider still sticky, but to top it off, there was molding damage and scratches across the back of the phone.  Like her receipt said, the phone was sent out in pristine condition, yet came back more damaged than it left, WITHOUT the reason it was sent out even being fixed.  

She had it resent the same day back for all those damages, including the new damage done at the repair center.  A month plus later and the phone finally came back once again, still without any fixes to the problem.  Both the store and corporate (888-bestbuy) told her that it would be covered under the Lemon Policy since this was the fourth repair, but it isn't.

The reason?  Instead of actually doing any repairs to the phone this time, the agency instead simply "Changed Settings" and sent it back.  Now, it was sent out October 28, and just got sent back yesterday (November 16), three whole weeks to change settings.  The problem is, since this fourth repairs ISN'T actually a repair, it does not count towards the Lemon Policy.  So after nearly three months, we are getting back the same, over damaged phone that was sent out in the first place without anything fixed.  My issue?

I called Corporate today, spoke with a Senior manager in Geek Squad and another member at Customer Relations in hopes of getting this fixed.  Problem is, we are being told by Geek Squad that since it was sent out right after it got back, all these fixes only count as ONE repair.  Issue?  The Customer Relations Rep said that each time it was sent out, according to the files submitted by the repair agency indicated something different was being replaced, fixed or changed each time, and thus should always count as a new repair.  Still, does not help with the fourth, but getting them to change it from 2 repairs done to 3 is a big step to getting the phone replaced.

The help I need though is this.  I have spoken to everyone in the store, up to the GM, about this.  Thing is, the GM will not replace the phone until corporate authorizes it, and I can understand that.  The store should not have to eat in its own profits to cover a problem caused by a third party repair center.  Yet corporate will not authorize the replacement as it has only been "fixed" two or three times depending on who you ask.  Either way, it is not four times.  So, who can I call and speak to in order to replace this phone, a phone that has been damaged from pristine to OK while out at the repair center?  There is no reason we should be forced to keep a phone damaged while sent out, most agencies would quickly replace it to keep good customer relations, after all, the customer has a damaged product caused by the agency (or here a third party through the agency).

Does anyone have a number, a person, I can contact for help on this?  Nearly three months with a phone damaged worse than when it was sent out, with the same problems remaining for what it was sent out for, have passed.  Or is this simply the cost to the consumer for no true competition being left out there with Circuit City, CompUSA and such all going under?  Any help would be greatly appreciated, I am at my whits end on this, spending hours on the phone and everyone saying someone else needs to do it.  The store has been great, friendly, working with us, but unable to do anything, so my issue is not with them, not at all.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Good afternoon Maceman121 -

Melissa, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern.  I appreciate your continued patience!

[Maceman121]

Thank you very much.

[Nokia]

Don't listen to the repair notes that you receive back from the service center. They are often inaccurate, and usually have nothing to do with what they actually did. It seems like they have to put something down, but just put whatever they feel like.

The reason the second service repair isn't covered is because it's a redo. A qualified repair is a hardware replacement that fixes a problem. The qualified repair is still open as long as that issue exists.

[Maceman121]

I guess that they meant by "will contact you", I would need to wait at least 24 hours, or more...

[Nokia]

Normal reponse time is 3-5 business days.

[Maceman121]

I see.  Thank you :-).  I noticed very quick responses on other topics and just assumed, which was my bad.

[Nokia]

Melissa will research your issue before responding (if able) in order to give you an informed response, rather than just a "Hi, let me look into this."

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert]

Many times the response is quick, but typical response time is 3-5 business days.  That may seem long, but they have multiple people that they are helping, and many times they try to research the issue first.  So, have patience and they will get back to you to help with this issue.

[Melissa-BBY Senior Social Media Specialist]

Maceman121,

I know I depend on my phone daily and after reading of the trouble you and your wife are having with her mobile phone repair, I was very disappointed. I can certainly understand the frustration of having to send her phone out so many times to not only repair the initial concern, but also the damage you indicated that happened during the repair process.

Under our No Lemon Policy, if an item has had three qualified repairs, and is diagnosed for a fourth by the service center, then your item would be replaced with a new comparable technology item. Generally, a qualified repair is one where a hardware component is repaired or replaced, however this is determined by the service center.

That being said, I would like to look into your wife’s repairs further to see if there are any other options available at this time. I was unable to locate the service orders with the information in your forum profile, but if you would be able to send me the name and phone number on the service orders via private message, this would assist greatly. To send me a private message, simply click the link in my signature below when signed into our forum.

Sincerely,