Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[darkedged]

I bought a Gateway P-6860FX from Best Buy Store #445 on 05/26/08. At the time it was the top of line gaming laptop the store had to offer, which I had my heart set on as I love playing MMOs. I also purchased the 3 year protection plan (although they evolved into two different types of plans after I purchased the plan, I think). It did amazingly able to handle hours on hours of gaming each day. Up until the first week of February 2010:

I go to turn on my computer and I get two blue screens of death, simultaneously one above the other. I take it in to the Geek Squad where I showed Agent Scott the dual death. It gets sent out for repair on 2/6/10. The hard drive gets replaced for work order ending 4303. I get it back and it has a generic OS, no biggie, I have the restore disk! So I pop it in and then get an error with reading the disk. So I take it back again-

It gets sent out again on 2/19/10 (order ending 2789) to get the disk drive replaced, it gets sent back with no replacement. Come to find out Gateway had sent a blank restore disk with the computer and I was never prompted to create one. So I contact Gateway (who apparently was bought out by Acer(?) recently) and had to buy the restore disks. They finally arrive (yay!) so I pop the first one in and it loads, never hits 100% and goes straight to the loading screen and freezes. So here I go again-

It gets took in on 3/3/10, order ending 3993 and 2725, to get the optical drive replaced. Again, comes back with no replacement. I contact Gateway and fight for a while to get new restore disks at no cost to me (as it turns out the first set were faulty beyond belief). During 2725 they replaced RAM as it didn't pass the hardware test. So I get it back, the disks work and I think I'm set. Nope, off again!

It gets took in on 3/23/10 (5375) as there are graphics card issues. They find out the motherboard was bad so it gets replaced. So I get it back, run the great new restore disks and think I'm back up and running... again, no haha.

So I took it back again on 4/19/10 (9839) cause it was having charging problems. I find out the motherboard was bad (I think, that's what I was told by a GS agent) and they replaced the AC adapter and battery. The battery wasn't charging so they sent a new one to my place and its been working great, until now...

Current problem: My cord and laptop aren't having a proper connection, I have to wiggle and really push it in the back to just power it. I have a screenshot of my desktop saying its plugged in and powered but the battery wasn't charging (sitting at 68%). While typing this, something popped or clicked around the middle of the keyboard and the battery started charging properly. I talked with someone at my local Best Buy store and he said the faulty connection was covered. Since I was without my games for over two months I could live with wiggling the cord and keeping my laptop stationary on my desk. Now that I'm moving in less than a week I'm afraid I won't be able to get it again after my troubles last night. Will this repair finally get me the no lemon replacement? I understand the hardware replacements are the only qualifying work to count towards it. Currently if I'm not mistaken this will be the 4th repair (4303 - Harddrive; 5375 - Motherboard; 9839 - Motherboard).

Also, I never got irate or hateful with any of the associates or managers at Best Buy store #445. They were always kind, helpful as they were able (they can't do everything on site!). The Geek Squad staff at that store is an asset to the company! Some of the other posters here should try working retail and have irate customers yell at them over something that is out of their control and see how they like it Honesty and kindness are the best policies!

Sorry for the wall of text, underlining my main question for easier viewing.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Good afternoon darkedged -

Aaron, 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!

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Hey darkedged,

Based on what you described it sounds as though your laptop should have three previous qualifying hardware repairs.  That means that as long as a service center technician is able to verify another hardware failure your computer most likely would qualify for a No Lemon replacement.  Just keep in mind that an exchange under your PSP coverage can only be approved by one of our off-site service centers, so your laptop would still need to be sent out for initial diagnostics and a No Lemon evaluation.

If you have not already done so, I would encourage you to bring your laptop to the repair counter at your local store.  Once there, simply send me a private message with the new service order number and I’d be glad to follow up with the service center on your behalf.  You can send me a private message by signing into the forums and then clicking on the letter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

[darkedged]

right, I've asked a lot of questions when it was sent off the second time. I also understand I won't get my exact money back and that it's based on equipment specs. I've been searching for something similar but no luck. Is it possible to get an idea? I realize quotes here don't really hold water here when it comes to it and based on the service center's estimate.

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Hey again darkedged,

If you'd like an idea of what to expect then I would encourage you to speak with a computer specialist at your local store - they'd be the most knowledgeable on what specs are taken in to consideration, and may even be able to recommend a specific model or two.

[darkedged]

Will do Currently I'm unable to view these pages properly so I'm unable to send a private message on my palm pre. The service order # shows the product has been shipped.