Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[JimBadBuy]

BEST BUY GOING THE WAY OF CIRCIT CITY?

I am a Silver level rewards zone person, In the past three years I have spent over 12000.00 dollars with

Best Buy.  I have spent that much with them because up until today I have had great service. 

IN 2006 I PURCHASED A 32 SHARP AQUOS LCD FOR 1450.00 PLUS I WAS TOLD AND SOLD A "NO HASSLE" EXTENDED WARRANTY.  THIS WAS THE FIRST LIE, THE WARRANTY.  SO TWO WEEKS AGO I CONTACTED  A GEEK AT THE LOCAL STORE EXPLAINED THE FAILURE WITH THE TV.  HERE'S WHERE THE FUN BEGINS, HE SAYS THEY CAN'T LOOK AT IT IN THE STORE CAUSE IT'S OVER 27 INCHES, A TECH WOULD BE DISPATCHED FROM EL PASO, I LIVE OUTSIDE LAS CRUCES.  SO I WAS GIVEN THE PH# TO SCHEDULE A GEEK TO FIX MY TV.  THE GEEK IN THE STORE EXPRESSELY INFORMED ME THAT WHEN THE OTHER TV GEEK WOULD COME OUT, IF HE COULDN'T FIX IT, IT WOULD BE ISSUED A REPLACEMENT AUTHORIZATION.  THIS IS LIE TWO, 7 DAYS LATER THE TECH SHOWS UP 30 MINUTES LATE, SPENDS ALL OF 5 OR 6 MINUTES AND LEAVES.  HE TELLS ME THAT HE HAS TO ORDER A MAIN BOARD AND IT MIGHT FIX THE PROBLEM.  I SAID WHAT ABOUT THE NO HASSLE WARRANTY,   HE SAID YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH AT LEAST THREE ATTEMPTS TO FIX THE TV THEN THEY MAY AUTHORIZE A REPLACEMENT.  HE SAID THE PART WOULD BE IN 7 TO 10 DAYS, AND INSTRUCTED ME TO CALL AN SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT TO HAVE THE GEEK COME BACK AND INSTALL THE PART WHICH MAY TAKE UP TO 7 DAYS TO GET AN APPOINTMENT, TO INSTALL THE PART THAT MAY FIX MY TV.  SO, I CALLED THE GEEK REPAIR SUPERVISIOR AND SHELIA GAVE ME THE SONG AN DANCE.  I CALLED THE STORE MANAGER IN CRUCES WHO GAVE ME THE SAME STORY.  WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO IS THAT IF THE PART FIXES MY TV THE FIRST TIME, I WILL BE WITHOUT A TV FOR AT MINIMUM 6 WEEKS.  IF IT DOESNT, WHO KNOWS HOW LONG THE SECOND AND THIRD ONE WILL TAKE.   I TOLD THE GEEK TO TAKE THE TV WITH HIM AND BRING IT BACK WORKING OR AUTHORIZE THE REPLACEMENT.....HE REFUSED, SAYING THEY DON'T TAKE THE TV'S WITH THEM, ALTHOUGH HE HAD DROVE A FULL SIZE CHEVY VAN WITH LOTS OF ROOM. 

SO, ONTO THE COMPLAINT PROCESS, I TRIED TO GET SOME TRUTH ABOUT THE LIES THAT I WAS TOLD WHEN I FIRST PURCHASED THE TV AND THE EXPENSIVE NO HASSLE WARRANTY, SHELIA WOULD ONLY FURNISH ME A PO BOX FOR A LOCATION IN GREAT FALLS, MONTANA, ABSOUTELY WOULD NOT GIVVE ME A PHONE NUMBER TO CUSTOMER CARE.  THEN I CALLED THE GEEK'S AGAIN AND GOT A GAL IN TENNESSE OR ALABAMA, GOT THE SAME STORY, EXCEPT SHE SAID THAT THEY DON'T HAVE A COMPLAINT CENTER IN MONTANA, BUT WOULD NOT DISCLOSE THE CORPORATE HQ OR PHONE NUMBER.

SUMMARY, IN THIS TOUGH TIMES OF FAILING CORPORATIONS, I HONESTLY HOPE BEST BUY WOULD NOT BE ON THE SAME DOWN HILL FAILURE, BUT IT SEEMS AS OF TODAY, IT'S BUSINESS AS USAUAL NOW FOR BEST BUY AND THE RUN-AROUND-THE-LIE-POLE UNTIL YOU GET SO FRUSTRATED YOU JUST GIVE UP AND GO AWAY.

I PAID FOR A PREMIUM TV, WORKED GOOD, AND STUFF DOES BREAK.  PAID FOR PREMIUM WARRANTY, GOT LIED TO WHEN I PURCHASED IT, GOT LIED TO WHEN DIRECTED HOW TO GET MY TV FIXED....SO I GUESS I WILL POST THE JOURNEY AS IT CONTINUES..  DEAR MR. BESTBUY-CEO, I HOPE YOU READ THIS, YOU MIGHT GOOGLE AND SEE HOW MANY INTERNET COMPLAINTS IN REACTION TO OTHER UNSATISFIED CUSTOMERS.  OH AND BY THE WAY, SHELIA TOLD ME I COULD GET REFUND FOR MY WARRANTY IF I WAS DISATIFIED, LET SEE  I PROBABLY HAVE WELL OVER $2000.00 OF OTHER PRODUCT PROTECTION WARRANTIES ON THE STUFF I HAVE PURCHASED AT BEST BUY, MAYBE I SHOULD JUST GET A REFUND ON ALL THOSE SINCE THEY ARE NOT WORTH THE PAPER THERE PRINTED ON.

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hi JimBadBuy,

Your post was moved to a new thread to allow personal attention to your concern.  I've asked Dorothy, one of our Community Connectors, to review and respond to you.  You should be hearing from her shortly.

Thanks for your continued patience,

[drnancy]

They make a lot of money on those warrantys, and then they treat you like there is

something wrong with you when you want to use it.  They should call it the 3 or more

hassles warranty and it should come with Tylenol for all the headaches you are going

to have.  It also takes a lot of your time and energy to do all of the phone calls and

complaining.  I hope you get your tv.

[grod]

I think I need Tylenol now with all the yelling in here (typing in all caps). LOL 

I have never had a problem with BB on any of my warranties from them including the one on my TV (read here: http://forums.bestbuy.com/bb/board/message?board.id=Warranties&thread.id=2585)

I am also in the El Paso area and the three BB's here have been good to me and my family except when you try and buy a computer or laptop (pushy blueshirts pushing GS services) , It seems to me that it's standard to wait a while because they have to make appts, order parts, etc... In my experiance with my TV warranty I NEVER called in. I used the Live Chat through the Tech Portal. Each time the online reps are nice and are quick to help. I also noticed that when a part is going to take more then 14 days you can ask for a replacement which of course they have to approve, but most get approved anyway.

I guess my suggestion to you is try using the Live Chat they might get you your help right away. 

Good luck!

[JimBadBuy]

Well, so much for following up.  I called the GEEK phone number, my parts were in LAST week, NO phone Call to RESCHEDULE the install of my parts.  So, the woman on the phone said she was going to esculate my disatisfaction with the GEEKS policy and performance, she said some one would call me and get me scheduled before the 16th of March,2009.  IT'S A GREAT THING I DIDN'T STAY SITTING ON THE PHONE ALL DAY, CAUSE AS I PREDICTED, NO PHONE CALL.

MR CEO IS YOUR SHIP SINKING BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES.  OR ARE YOU AN OSTRICH, WHO TAKES THE BIG CHECKS HOME AND LETS THE PASSENGER(EMPLOYEE'S AND CUSTOMERS) GOES DOWN WITH THE SHIP?

I AM CALLING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE TOMORROW AND FILE A COMPLAINT FOR FRAUD.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Good afternoon JimBadBuy -

Being without your television is never fun, and feeling you received false information can definitely add insult to injury.  While I am not quite sure where the information you have reported came from, please allow me to clarify the Performance Service Plan (PSP) on a 32 inch television. 

On any television over 27 inches, you will receive in-home service.  There may be times where the unit has to be taken out of the home for service, however you never have to bring your unit to a store or repair facility and this varies with service providers. 

The PSP has a no-lemon clause which states that if your unit has 3 qualifying repairs and a fourth failure, you will receive a replacement unit of comparable technology, not to exceed original purchase price. You do, however, need to allow the original service calls to take place to arrive at that requirement.   

This information is outlined in your Performance Service Plan brochure in the terms and conditions from when you purchased the unit.  You can also review all the specifics of your PSP here.  

I would like to see what I can do to help speed up this repair process, however I will need a bit more information.  I will be sending you a private message so please ensure you are logged into the forum, then click the envelope in the upper right hand corner. 

Thank you. 

Dorothy

Community Connector

Best Buy® Corporate

[TongieCB]

You said the following: "The PSP has a no-lemon clause which states that if your unit has 3 qualifying repairs and a fourth failure, you will receive a replacement unit of comparable technology, not to exceed original purchase price."

Do you mean if the customer bought an item on sale, and when an replacement is issued, and the item is no longer on sale, Best Buy will replace it with a unit of comparable technology and asking the customer to pay the differences? or, give its customer a lower quality or cheaper product to match the origianl price? What if it is determined on the first visit that the TV is not repairable?

You also said: "This information is outlined in your Performance Service Plan brochure in the terms and conditions from when you purchased the unit." Can you point to me where I might find the information outlined on the brochure? I cannot find it.

Thanks!

[Soccrmom]

I read all these wordy post and wonder if there is some way I can tell my story in fewer words, so here goes ….

Oh, before I start my story I have to say I have been a happy Best Buy customer and Rewards Zone member for years. We have spent thousands of dollars on TVs, electronics, appliances, etc. 

In September 2009 I purchased a HP computer and the recommended antivirus and spyware programs. I decided to let the Geek Squad install the Trend Micro antivirus and WebRoot spy sweeper as part of their $129 package. I also bought the extended warranty, as I always do with computers.

I took my new computer home, turned it on and immediately got an error messages stating a problem with the operating system. Not a good sign on a brand new computer … so I took it back. No problem there, they let me exchange it for another computer. I decided to try a Dell.

The Geek Squad said if I would bring my Trend Micro and Webroot programs back in they would install them on my Dell and run the $129 package for me. Took programs in and they were installed. So far so good.

Took computer home, had trouble with IE and called for help. Was asked to bring computer in again and have Trend Micro reinstalled because there seemed to be a problem with it.

 I took it in on my way to work the next day and was told it would take at least an hour for them to run the package and install the software. I told them I would be back in around 4pm to pick it up. Got there at 4:30 and they hadn’t even started on it. They told me they would do it then, and I could come back in an hour or wait in store. I left and went to the grocery store, came back 1.5 hours later and they still had not touched it. I ask to speak to a manager, he apologized and took my cell number and promised to call me as soon as it was done. I had to go buy ice for my groceries then returned to the store to wait. After a considerable wait I went to the Geek Squad counter to check on computer and found it was done, but manager had not had a chance to call me.

Still having trouble with IE and could not get my tax updates for QuickBooks. Called Tech support for Intuit and was told to uninstall and reinstall Trend Micro. Uninstalled Trend Micro using add and remove programs, but when I put the disc in to reinstall it wanted to do an uninstall, so I let it, thinking I just hadn’t gotten it all. After uninstall, still could not reinstall, program still wanted to uninstall.

Called GS and they told me to bring it in. Service order stated: Trend will not reinstall because it is stuck in the registry. Suspect registry problems. I was called a few days later and told what it would cost for them to remove the Trend Micro from my computer. I told them I didn’t see why I should have to pay for them to remove something they recommended and installed in the first place and then buy another program to replace it. They agreed to remove the Trend at no charge and I told them I would come and get my computer and install another antivirus on my own. When I got there to pick up my computer I was given a replacement antivirus free of charge. Things are looking up again.

When trying to install the new antivirus program I got a conflict messages saying there was still Trend Micro files in there. Yet another call and trip to BB, the GS techs tried to remove the files while I was there with a utility program designed to remove old versions of Trend. It kept freezing up and stopping so I was asked to leave my computer yet again. Received a call two days later informing me that they could fix the problem but it would cost me $130 to which I said no thank you and told yet another person to check my service history and see that they installed the Trend (and recommended it) in the first place. This person also told me I had a virus, but when I talked to the GS tech I was told there was no virus but that there seemed to be a problem with my OP. I ask why they didn’t see this the last time they tried to remove Trend (and btw told me they had removed it) and I honestly could not tell you what the heck he said … blah blah blah!

Got a call two days later telling me they would do the service for half price, and was told (a little rudely) that I should have been charged the last time.

This is where I stand now, my computer is still there and really don’t know what to do. I actually am ashamed to walk back in there because I feel like they see me coming and hide. This is not my fault and it upsets me that I would feel ashamed to even go into the store.

[GeraldRose]

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TongieCB wrote:

You said the following: "The PSP has a no-lemon clause which states that if your unit has 3 qualifying repairs and a fourth failure, you will receive a replacement unit of comparable technology, not to exceed original purchase price."

Do you mean if the customer bought an item on sale, and when an replacement is issued, and the item is no longer on sale, Best Buy will replace it with a unit of comparable technology and asking the customer to pay the differences? or, give its customer a lower quality or cheaper product to match the origianl price? What if it is determined on the first visit that the TV is not repairable?

You also said: "This information is outlined in your Performance Service Plan brochure in the terms and conditions from when you purchased the unit." Can you point to me where I might find the information outlined on the brochure? I cannot find it.

Thanks!

---

While this may have been lost in translation, the first part of your question means this;

If the customers tv was 700.00 for a 32inch tube tv, the customer would NOT be entilted to get 700.00 towards a new tv of his/her choice (like and lcd/plasma), because of technology advancements 700.00 today will buy you A LOT more tv than it would even 1 year ago. Therefore the customer would be entitled to a tv with similar/equivlent features and the same tv size if applicable, in addition, although the customer may have got a great deal previously it would be very unlikely that the cost of a similar tv now would ever exceed the cost of when it was purchased. At the stores discretion the customer could possibly be allowed to upgrade the tv and pay the difference between the two. Again, that is a managers decision.

As far as the second part, I don't know where you can find the "old" brouchures online. You can however find the terms and conditions to the current protection plan (which probably are nealry the same) <a href="http://www.geeksquad.com/services/content.aspx?id=2005&menu_id=495">here</a>