Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[RLynn1237]

I purchased a 40" Samsung TV with the 4 year service plan.  I have had repair done on the TV before in the past with no problem in getting the service completed within 2 weeks.  However, back in the middle of August, I called Best Buy's 888 number to request for Service Repair and was told that the 3rd party vendor they use for repairs would call within 1 business day (mind you, this is the same company  that did previous repairs within 2 weeks).  The 3rd party vendor did call and told me that the problem was the same as before and would have to contact Best Buy's warranty to see how they would proceed.  After about a month, I called the 3rd party vendor on Sept. 11th, 2009 and this where I was told that they ordered the part, but didn't received it yet and didn't have a tracking number provided.  They suggested that I call Best Buy back and find out if they had any more information.

This is when the customer service from Best Buy went downhill.  When I called Best Buy back to find out more information on the part that  was ordered by the 3rd party vendor, the representative said she was sending this issue to the parts dept to see if they could expedite the part or replace the TV.  Again, I never heard back from Best Buy and called back again on Sept. 21st.  This was when I was told that they saw that there was an approval to replace the TV, but that they were waiting for an authorization number and that someone would call me back with it.  Now, 2 months since the beginning, calling numerous times, talking to 2 supervisors, and someone from consumer relations (which by the way cannot help you and revert you back to the TV repair dept), I was told the hold up in getting the so called authorization # for the replacement was due to the fact that for some odd reason, the Performance Service Plan for the TV didn't have a name to coincide with it and that I would have to either call or visit the local store to have them fix it and that once I was able to do that, that once the system was updated, they should be able to generate the authorization #.

Well, needless to say, I called Best Buy again  and was told that they didn't have the information they were looking for yet on their end (3 days later after I got the whole name and Performance Service Plan thing squared away.  I even went to the local Best Buy store to see if they could see that the Performance Service Plan was listed under my name and number and shows the TV it covers.  Now how come the store can see this, but the Best Buy Geek Squad TV repair customer service team can't see this?  I've been in retail  management for over 10 years and have never experienced customer service like this.  I have done my part to try to resolve this, but it doesn't seem like Best Buy is.  While talking to everyone I have talked to from Best Buy, no one is yet able to resolve my issue or be able to give me a name, phone #, or email address for someone higher up.   That is ridiculous.  Again, with my retail management experience, there is always someone higher up or other alternatives a customer can contact to resolve issues.  Is there anyone here from the forum help in this?  Thank you.

Reliantly

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hello RLynn1237 -

Welcome to the Community!  Allan, one of our Community Connectors, will be reaching out to you regarding your TV repair concern.  I appreciate your patience!

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi RLynn1237,

This sounds like a very frustrating TV repair experience, and I’m sure you felt like you were in limbo after being told your TV would be replaced by your service plan, but because of a clerical error we could generate your confirmation number.

It is true that a store would require a confirmation number before they could process the replacement of your TV, and I would like to personally look into this to make sure this is done as quick as possible. I am sending you a private message to start that conversation. 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,