Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[MAC_TICO]

I have been a loyal customer for years and today I just received a very embarrassing welcome from a store I will never visit again nor will recommend anyone to go.

I bought a Macbook Pro 15" the latest 2011 edition, top of the line, having a closer Apple Store I still chose BestBuy since I am a Premier Silver member and I have been very satisfied SO FAR!

After using the machine for 4 days, one of the keyboard keys just pooped up, came off, so I just packed trhe machine and visit the store I bough it from to exchange it/return it. When I went there I told them exactly what happened, instantly the CS rep told me they could not accept it because it was damaged and I said yes that is why I am here, there is a defective key that came off, because it is defective I need to exchange/return the machine, and they told me absolutely NOT, because it was damaged, I asked them to explain what damage meant for them and they were just able to show me a line saying "damaged"

In other words they blamed/accused me of causing the damage when it was just a single key, a defective jey that came of the keyboard, the computer was in perfect condition, brand new condition, no physical damage at all! But they said the key that came off was physical damage so Best Buy policies did not allow them to accept my exchange/return.

The store manager came in and I asked her to have common sense and make that experience easier for the both of us, it was a defective machine that I received with a defective key that came off so I needed a new machine or my one back to buy it somewhere else. I asked her to be objective and not make her own judgment over the transaction that was already frustrating for me.

Even when the computer was 4 days old they did not even mentioned that it was covered under BestBuys warranty, that actually covers manufacturers defects/malfunctions! I bought it there, I should not go to Apple to deal with a defective machine I bought from BestBuy, BestBuy should have been responsible to take care of it and deal with it.

They finally made me go to Apple, at the moment they did not give me another choice! I go into the Apple Store and was assisted in 10 minutes, and they replaced the key without even asking about the warranty expiration or anything else. I came back to the Apple Store and I could have kept the machine since Apple fixed it, but I was not happy with this experience nor was confident to deal with BestBuy if something else happened in the future.

Furthermore, they decided to comment the case in a way that when I came back to return the machine, the manager decided to take her lunch right away to avoid talking to me and all the rest of the stuff was positively and loudly aware of the situation and that made me feel very uncomfortable.

[deusexmachina Valued Contributor]

Did you buy the additional warranty that covers accidental damage from handling? Or just the one year?

Apple can fix products without caring about warranties because of how much money they make on them. I promise that it doesn't cost them $1,000 to $2,000 to make a laptop...there is essentially a $300-$400 amount built in that allows them to do free reasonable repairs while still making tons of money.

Since it's not possible to prove how the key came off, I'm not going to even go there.

[AaronE]

Really the store is under no requirement to take back damaged merchandise; whether it be a TV with a cracked screen or a key missing from a laptop. I don't believe they were really acusing you as no one could know how it became damaged but you assumed they were blaming you. Sometimes things happen but as you were in posession of the laptop the store has no way to know for certain what happened.

As previously noted: Apple being the manufacturer has upwards of 20% margin on all computers sold (per their recent publically available revenue calls). This means that they can afford to replace a broken key where the retailer may not. Sometimes to fix keyboards on these unibody laptops you need to replace the entire top case which is not cheap.

[MAC_TICO]

I appreciate your point of view.

1. Customers should not be forced to buy extra warranties to rely on the confidence a a distributor can give them specially when they are buying high end quality electronics that are made to last.

2. The profits Apple and BestBuy make are not the customers concern since we do not buy based on how much the seller is going to make nor the service should depend on that. If that is the case and BestBuy cannot afford to honor warranties on Apple products, they should stop selling them.

3. The geeks at BestBuy have very little to Zeros knowledge about Apple devices (my own personal experience) and they send any products for repair somewere else, sometimes taking up to a month to do a repair.

4. To prove how a key came off from a 4 day old machine in perfect condition, physical and functional, is very subjective and if there is no signs of abuse or misuse by the customer, BestBuy should consider that a defective product and deal with the manufacturer themselves, not have the customers do so.

[MAC_TICO]

BestBuy has its won warranty for the products they sell, so is every distributor/reseller. A cracked screen or a broken hinge are signs of pysical damage caused by abuse or accidental damage and can be very objective likewise since something like that could be the effect of transportation/carrying of the product(s).

There is no assumptions here, it is a fact that the key came off from a 4 day old computer, coming from a very reputable company (Apple) that proves to build products that last for ever. This was a key that came off the keyboard, a deffective key.

Using your common sense, sometimes devices come defective and not necessary internally, it can be a weaken hinge, a thinner than usual frame, a misplaced seal any and many more can be and can come from the manufacturer. If that is the case, BestBuy is selling their products, for that reason they should deal with those defective products and not have the customer deal with them.

For example. I buy a PS3 the disc loads for the first week and then it decides to keep one of the discs inside, that is hardware damage, physical damage and it could have been caused by a defective product or misuse from te customer, teh decision is very subjective and unless BB has prove or signs that it was caused byt the customers, they should deal with the problem themselves and give the customer a replacement or a refund!

Again, it is not the customers concern the margin of profit Apple or BB makes on a product, if BB is not able to sustain and support Apple products and offer a mediocre service due to that, they should simply give up and do not resell them anymore.

The difference here is that Apple could verify that it was a can happen case where the defective key came off the keyboard, no signs of abuse or misuse and a pretty much brand new computer, simply a defective product! they offer the sevice BB should have matched.

So by not accepting a refund/return for this, it was BB's very subjective and implied reason to blame a customer for having caused the damage on the machine, with no and i mean Zero evidence to prove that which is a very questionable practice.

[deusexmachina Valued Contributor]

Unless you puchase an additional service plan, best buy cant do anything for you per their contract with apple. All apple products only under mfg warranty must go through apple for repairs. You're right that its not your concern how much bb makes on the laptop, but it does determine the repair service you get. If apple made the same 10 - 20 dollars per computer that everyone else makes, you can bet that they would have been more skeptical about losing even more money by repairing

[MAC_TICO]

Your pointless arguments keep highlighting the same thing: your tendency to back up BB and their internal contracts and profits which are of not importance or liability for their customers.

What if we are not talking bout Apple, what if we are talking about HP or eMachines which do not have local stores? BB will send me to deal with them? To look for a store? To ship the item? To deal with their sellers? I was lucky I had bought an Apple product and they had a Store a block away so they offered me their unmatched service and I could return the machine as BB forced me to do it!

BB warrants their products, they offer an in-store warranty that includes defective items, which I received one of them! BB is liable and it is their problem the contracts the sign WIth their vendors not the customers!! They offer a warranty for 14, 30, 45 days in my case for being a RZ Silver member.

I am very skeptical for the first time and many years buying from them, so skeptical I invite people to be as careful as I will be in the future and invite other people to buy Apple products directly from Apple, since internally there are many things with their contracts, we do not know, we do not care! that affect our buying experience there.

BestBuy Santana Row, is a store that offers a mediocre service, where employees use their subjective criteria and judgment to emancipate a loyal customer which experienced a singular case where received a defective item, was blamed for the damage and was part of gossiping among employees where they were rumoring about the situation and laughing sarcastically  making the customer feel very uncomfortable. That has nothing to do with BB contracts with their vendors, the profits they make or  their regulations for a specific product, in the end that is not the customers concern.

And forcing customers to buy a extra warranty from a mediocre provider like the GeekSquad is a very lame and unfortunate policy!!!!

[AaronE]

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MAC_TICO wrote:

I appreciate your point of view.

1. Customers should not be forced to buy extra warranties to rely on the confidence a a distributor can give them specially when they are buying high end quality electronics that are made to last.

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No one forces anyone to buy a Service Plan. Yes apple products are quality products but I find your use of 'made to last' an oxymoron. Guess how many charge cycles Apple will warrant the battery (300). This kind of contradicts the made to last argument. Truth is all computers have some amount of 'planned obsolescence' even macs.

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MAC_TICO wrote

2. The profits Apple and BestBuy make are not the customers concern since we do not buy based on how much the seller is going to make nor the service should depend on that. If that is the case and BestBuy cannot afford to honor warranties on Apple products, they should stop selling them.

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I agree the profit margin apple makes isn't your concern. I am sure the local best buy would have been more than happy to send your laptop to fix the broken key under Apple's mfg warranty. Apple forces them to be sent out. You would have been without it typically 2-3 weeks depending on part availability.

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MAC_TICO wrote:

 3. The geeks at BestBuy have very little to Zeros knowledge about Apple devices (my own personal experience) and they send any products for repair somewhere else, sometimes taking up to a month to do a repair.

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Actually I'm an Agent at a store and I have a ton of Apple knowledge. I used to work for an AASP and I know how to take them apart and fix them. So while your store may not seem knowledgeable about Apple products please don't generalize. Repairs sometimes take a month because Apple requires repairs under their warranty be sent in to service and not because of the knowledge of the local Agents.

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MAC_TICO wrote:

4. To prove how a key came off from a 4 day old machine in perfect condition, physical and functional, is very subjective and if there is no signs of abuse or misuse by the customer, BestBuy should consider that a defective product and deal with the manufacturer themselves, not have the customers do so.

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As previously stated I'm sure the store would have gladly sent the item to service to have the keyboard fixed. They're under no requirement to return damaged merchandise.

It sounds like the store gave you the best advice they could give you to avoid a 2-3 week repair turn time: take it to an Apple store. I hope the above information helps shed some light on the situation and provides you additional information on how absolutely strict Apple is in regards to who/where can repair stuff under their warranty.

[MAC_TICO]

You continue to emphasize and back up the horrible experience I had at that specific store, with that specific crew, with that specific manager, with a every specific situation and you talk about not generalizing, well I am being very specific and the name of the store is BB Santana Row!

You keep highlighting the type of contracts and policies Apple and BB have with one another, that is not the customers concerns, it is not available for us to see it or approve it, we don't know and it is not our problem nor our concern how much money BB makes or looses selling Apple products.

I need to emphasize I have never had an experience like this at a BB store and I will continue sharing my case with everyone I can so they know what is going on there, they know those fine prints that are so fine they do not even exist on paper!

Your information regarding corporate and contracts is of no use in this case! BB has always been there when I needed an exchange/return, that is why I am a RZ Premier Silver Member, it is not because I won it in a raffle! The fact that I preferred to buy an Apple product at BB instead of going with Apple which I know offers the best retail service I have experienced so far, is because of a reason. That specific store has change the was I look at BB from now on, it has changed the way I will share my experiences from now on.

Your redundant information about contracts and profits from BB has helped even more to my bad experience, you are an insider and you work for a department that has the worst reviews among many service centers, and I have experienced their inefficiency myself, if you are different, that makes you special but again that is subjective, just my opinion.

A fact is that I received a defective product from BB and they had me go to take it to the manufacturer, they gave me very little information about their damage product policy that does not say more than damage, a fact is that I was blamed for the damage and that employees were sarcastically giving me a horrible service when I came back with the repaired product to return it, it is a fact that the manager decided to take lunch when she saw me in line to be assisted.

Honestly, your BB fanaticism is of no help here and you keep giving me the same redundant data that is not available to regular customers, for instance, not suitable or of no help to solve this case.

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert]

Wow, it seems like MAC_TICO is doing the equivalent of plugging your ears with your fingers and singing "la la la la la la la....I don't care...la la la la la la la"

Whether you care about vendor agreements or profit margins or not, the result is the same.  Best Buy cannot take back products that may appear damaged, nor can they repair Apple products under Apple's warranty.  Apple requires any repairs to go through them.  Again, this is whether you care or not, this is the way it is.  

Since they cannot take back damaged products the product had to be repaired which Best Buy can't do.

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MAC_TICO wrote:

I appreciate your point of view.

1. Customers should not be forced to buy extra warranties to rely on the confidence a a distributor can give them specially when they are buying high end quality electronics that are made to last.

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This is true and I agree with you.  No one should be forced to buy a warranty.  But with Apple products, you can either buy a Black Tie Protection Plan or have your laptop serviced by Apple.  If Apple does not allow 3rd party service centers to perform warranty work, then Best Buy cannot repair it under warranty.  I know it sucks, but Apple is the manufacturer and Apple makes the rules.  You may not care about them, but they still must be followed.

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MAC_TICO wrote:

If that is the case and BestBuy cannot afford to honor warranties on Apple products, they should stop selling them. 

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It's not that they cannot "afford" to honor warranties on Apple products, it's just that Apple will not let them honor it.  So, if Best Buy "honored" the warranty on an Apple product without Apple's permission and you decided to bring the computer into an Apple store and they found out, they could void your warranty since Best Buy isn't authorized to do warranty repairs.  And I'm willing to bet that you wouldn't be happy about that now, would you?

Best Buy is the retailer, not the manufacturer.  The manufacturer provides the warranty, not the retailer.  So why is it, in your mind, the responsibility of the retailer to repair items under warranty when they are not the ones who provide the warranty?  *Remember that the manufacturer MUST provide permission for them to do that*

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MAC_TICO wrote:

BB warrants their products, they offer an in-store warranty that includes defective items, which I received one of them! BB is liable and it is their problem the contracts the sign WIth their vendors not the customers!! They offer a warranty for 14, 30, 45 days in my case for being a RZ Silver member.

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Uh....No.  Best Buy does NOT warrant any of the products they sell.  Best Buy is a RETAILER.  They offer a return policy for 14, 30, or 45 days for UNDAMAGED products.  This is a far cry from a warranty.  

I understand that you do not care about internal polices, contracts with vendors, etc, etc, but they are still in place and they are still rules that must be followed.  I may not care one wit about the speed limit, but it is enforced whether I like it or not.

Our wishes of how the world should be has no affect on how the world actually is.