Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[llcarpe]

My wife and bought a television back in May of 2008, along with the expensive television we bought the service plan to go with it.  September 2009 the lamp in our television went out.  We called the protection people and the did contact the service technician and they came out and "fixed" it.  April 2010 our lamp once again went out.  Again we called the protection people and they contacted the service technician again.  This time they came out replaced the ballast, power supply, and lamp.  The technician told us at that time that your lamp should be lasting almost three to five years, not going out every 10 to 12 months.  Guess what happen again in April 2011.  The lamp once again went out.  It is still uncertain if the protection people are going to cover this.  Whenever talking to the sales associate in the store he assured me that lamp would always be covered and that I would have no problem getting the item fixed.  I decided to talk with the associate over the phone at the protection hotline.  The lady on the other side of the phone then preceded to tell me everything about my television and that this was normal, instead of understanding my frustration with my purchase.  I asked her about this following under the lemon policy and she basically laughed at me.  She said that the lamp was a consumable item and that it is exempt from the lemon policy.  I would personally be happy with in-store credit to go towards another television because of my dissatisfaction and frustration with this television.  I have submitted my concern through best buy website doubt anything will come of it.

If anyone has any help on how they got their issues resolved I would be much appreciated.  This is absolutely ridiculous that you spend so much money and get a television that you would have been better off paying a cheaper price for a television at walmart and not have had this many issues.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Good afternoon llcarpe -

Allan, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you regarding your concern. Thank you for your patience until he is able to contact you.

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi llcarpe,

I can certainly understand your frustration after hearing that the lamp for this TV has been replaced two previous times in the last year and a half, and I can say that the representative you spoke to should not have laughed at you when you asked if the TV qualified for replaced by your Performance Service Plan (PSP).

Your PSP is intended to repair your TV, but there are certain circumstances in which your PSP would replace the TV. The TV should be replaced if the TV has had three previous qualifying repairs, and there is a diagnosis from an authorized service technician that a fourth qualifying repair is needed.

A qualifying repair is when a non-consumable part(s) is installed, and due to that part(s) installation the technician determines the TV is functioning properly. It is true that lamps for projection TVs are considered a consumable part, which means that any work order where just a lamp was installed would be not be considered a qualifying repair.

Going on your description of the repair history on this TV it sounds like you have one previous qualifying repair on this TV, which does mean that your TV would not qualify for replacement due to the number of repairs on this TV.

The TV would also be replaced by your PSP if we determine that the current repair would not be cost effective to continue, or if we determine that the TV is un-repairable. Neither of these determinations can be made until an authorized service technician diagnoses what is needed to repair the TV.

I do see that you contacted us on 4/10/2011, and the request for service was sent to a local service center. I don’t see that any parts have been ordered; I called the service center to get an update on this repair, but I got their voicemail.

Once I hear back from this service center I will follow-up by sending you a private message, but if you do need anything from me before then you can send me a private message by clicking on the link in my signature. 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,

[llcarpe]

Allan

If I was you I would not even bother with the matter.  I have talked to another customer rep from best buy and have already got a solution.  I am going to get the TV fixed, sell it, and then buy my remaining electronic items somewhere else.  I have been told by several people that the lamps should be lasting more than one year.  Nobody that can help me with the matter seems to think that they should.  So we have a difference of opinions.  So instead of relying on a corporation to fix the situation I am going to take care of it and never shop at best buy again.

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi llcarpe,

I realize you said you don't want my assistance in this matter, but I did hear back from the service center on this. I have sent you a private message with what they said, and reiterating my offer of assistance.

Thanks,