I purchased a Samsung 30" 1080i CRT Television in 2007 along with the extended warranty from Best Buy. Two weeks before the warranty was set to expire, the television began emiting a very loud humming noise. I called Best Buy and they set up a date and time for a repairperson ("In Home Tech Solutions") to come to my house. The repairman showed up right on time and was extremely helpful and diagnosed the problem very quickly. He put in a parts request to the warranty company that subsequently showed that the needed parts were no longer available. The warranty company called me the next week with a confirmation number and gave me instructions for returning the TV to Best Buy for a comparable replacement.
Last night I brought the old television to Best Buy and attempted to start the process for getting a replacement. I gave the original receipt and the confirmation number to the woman behind the counter and she looked up the information in her computer. She said that a replacement television SKU was found and that the price was $349 which could be used as store credit if I did not want the replacement television itself. I asked if it was a "generic" brand and she replied that "No," it had to be a Samsung because that's the brand I brought in (I know she was incorrect and that brand isn't figured into the equation.) She wrote down the model number and I went to look at the floor model. The "comparable" model turned out to be a 32" Samsung 720p LCD television. I returned to the counter and asked the woman how a 720p television is similar in features to a 1080i television. At this point her tone turned condescending and she asked me what I would be viewing on the TV, and I said "Well, for one thing: my cable box" to which she replied that cable wasn't 1080 so it wouldn't matter. When I insisted that 720 was definitely not comparable to 1080, she snidely remarked "I know what 1080 means." The conversation continued for quite awhile with her stating several times that since they don't carry any CRT televisions, they did not have anything similar to offer, and that I should be grateful for the "technology upgrade" I'd be getting with the 720p LCD television. She eventually gave me a model number for a 32" Insignia brand 1080p LCD television ($379) and I attempted to find the floor model for that TV, which they turned out not to even have in stock. (Something she didn't mention when I went to look for the TV.) I was able to view the specifications for this TV, which turned out not to have an S-Video input that I required. Again, her tone became condescending and she asked what I would need to plug in that used S-Video. We continued back and forth for a long time, and she eventually found another Insignia brand television with most of the inputs I would need, but not all of them.
Every time I requested a product with similar features, she stated that no such product was sold at Best Buy anymore. When I pointed out that the PSP offered an option "4" to issue a credit equal to the amount of the purchase price on the original receipt, she stated that it was not possible and there was absolutely no way it could be done. Whenever I would ask her why that option was listed, she'd repeat "You're not understanding me" and she'd again say that I they could only go with the SKU that the computer listed.
When I asked to speak with a manager, she said "Okay" and she left for several minutes. She then returned, alone, and stated that the manager agreed with her and that there was nothing more she could do for me other than what was already told. I repeated "I'd like to speak with the manager" and she said "Okay" again and loudly called across the store to have the manager come to the counter. When the manager (Paige) arrived, she barely spoke other than to say there wasn't anymore more that could be done, before I'd even had a chance to explain anything to her. As I tried to ask the manager why I couldn't get a credit for the original purchase price on the receipt since they had admitted that there was no comparable item, the customer service woman continued to argue with me and the manager didn't even address me. She stood there looking very timid and apparently didn't want to have anything to do with what the customer service representative was turning into a confrontation.
They then said if I wasn't satisifed with any of the options they were giving me, I could take the TV and call the warranty company myself. I asked them for the phone number for the Best Buy regional manager and she stated "We can't give out employee's personal phone numbers." I clarified "I'm not asking for their personal number, I want an office number." and they told me to call 1-888-BESTBUY.
I decided to re-load my original TV back into my car (the television weighs about 120 pounds) and neither one offered to get someone to assist me.
All I was asking for was a comparable television with similar features, which they repeatedly stated was not available. Since it's not available, I wanted to exercise the clearly stated option to get Best Buy credit for the original purchase price. I shouldn't have to argue with someone at a technology store that a CRT 1080i television is NOT comparable to an LCD 720p television with fewer inputs.
I also don't like to be talked down to and receive an argumentative tone from someone simply because I'm asking questions of her.
