Dear Best Buy Community,
I feel it necessary to share my disappointment with Best Buy’s Geek Squad and extended warranty services. I have a three-year old Westinghouse 42" LCD TV. In the last couple of months, we noticed some lines down the sides roughly where 4:3 letterbox edges are. One on left was dark, and the one on right was bright. The lines were only visible on certain backgrounds, green and grey showed them most prominently.
We were sold on the extended 4-year warranty and called Best Buy to send out a technician to diagnose the problem with our TV. The person on the phone was courteous and sorry for our trouble, and scheduled an appointment about a week out after some basic troubleshooting. Two days before our appointment, we received a call telling us they would be unable to come on Saturday and we would need to pick another day. The next Saturday appointment was far away, so I agreed to take time off work and do a weekday appointment between 8 AM & Noon. That day, I received a call from the tech that he would arrive between 11AM and Noon. He showed up an hour late at 1:00 PM with no explanation or apology. That was a waste of my time.
The tech looked at the TV for less than a minute and said it was 'image burn' and was not covered under warranty. I said the whole reason I bought LCD was it does not suffer from burn in. There is no phosphor in an LCD TV to burn in, so it must be something else. He said I should have used the stretch mode to widen the screen to 4:3. The salesman never told me I needed to do that when he sold me the TV and warranty, nor is it anywhere in the product manual. The tech said he would call the manufacturer and see if they would cover it and left.
A week went by with no call from Best Buy. I called them and they said they had a call in to the tech for him to call me back. He never called! They suggested I call the manufacturer directly. I called Westinghouse and they went through some troubleshooting steps with me. I did a factory reset, and that actually made the lines even worse! Not only that, but recently a wavy patch of brighter screen has developed at the top. My wife and I thought there was no possible way that could be “image burn.’” There is no image I know of that would cause that sort of uneven pattern. So we decided to call out another tech.
Again it was a week out appointment with nothing on Saturday, so I had to take an 8-12 PM window during the week and again take time off of work. That morning, the tech called and said he would be there between 11-1 PM. He didn't show up until 2pm! The new tech looked at the screen and immediately said it was 'image burn.’ I said how can that possibly be image burn, the wavy patch of bright at the top is of no discernible image I know of. I was upset at this point, and tried to convince him that could not be image burn, asking him to do something to try and fix it or adjust it. He said he was just a tech, he can't do anything, and that I should "sue Best Buy.” He said that repeatedly… “Sue corporate and you’ll definitely win.” Really? Is that what I should do? I asked if he could at least calibrate the screen and try and make the lines less noticeable and said he wouldn't. Then, in a loud, abrupt voice he said, "I don't have time to waste on you!" and promptly left. He was here less than 5 minutes. What about wasting MY time yet again, especially showing up hours later than my scheduled appointment that I stayed home from work for?
I find it hard to believe how horrible both service calls were. The Geek Squad was late, rude, they lied about calling back, were unhelpful and unfriendly. I’ve never experienced such poor service.
I am also really upset about the crooked warranty. First off, LCD's do not suffer from image burn. Even Westinghouse's FAQ's say so:
http://westinghousedigital.com/faqs.aspx?itemnum=LCD_Q5
Q: Do LCD’s have a burn-in problem?
A: No. Unlike CRT and plasma TV’s, liquid crystal displays ( LCD) do not use phosphor and thus have no problems with a still image becoming permanently stored on the screen. "
LCD's can suffer 'image retention,' which is temporary, not permanent like the issue I have with my TV.
Best Buy’s policy is supposed to cover the TV under normal operating conditions, and that is all I have done. I really feel like they use 'image burn' as a blanket excuse to weasel out of covering legitimate issues.
Overall, I can’t imagine that Best Buy intends to treat its customers this way. We spend (spent) a lot of money at Best Buy over the years, but no longer trust that the products will be high quality or that the store will stand behind its products with good service and integrity.
This is night and day compared to the Apple extended warranties I've bought. Never ever a hassle getting service, the geniuses actually know what they are doing and at least try and fix things and make the customer happy. I wish they sold TV’s.
I still can’t believe that we are just out of luck and look to you for possible solutions to this problem. If you need any additional information regarding this fiasco, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Greg {removed per forum guidelines}
San Jose, CA
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@BBYCameraGuy
