Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[DSilva1013]

Hello everyone,

I purchased a Gateway NV55C56U from my local Brick, NJ Best Buy on Black Friday of 2011.  I love the laptop and it was providing me with exactly what I needed in a computer, but this past weekend I started having issues.  First, over the course of the weekend when I would put the computer in Hibernate mode, and later go to turn it back on it was showing that it was shut down unsuccessfully.  Very soon after that started, I kept repeatedly getting a blue screen that said there was a hard drive error, before it would automatically reset and repeat that process over and over again.  So I gave it some time where the computer was powered down, and now it gets to the Gateway screen but then sits on a black screen with one white blinking dash on the screen.

I gave Gateway a call to try and troubleshoot the issue and they said it would need to get sent out to Texas to be serviced and that the process could take anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks.  I'm posting here to see if there is anything that Best Buy would do in store to resolve the issue?  I'm attending college online so being without a computer for two weeks is really not a practical option for me at this point.  Unfortunately I didn't purchase any extended warranty or geek squad protection.  So basically the question is, would I be wasting my time taking my computer into the store?

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert · Accepted solution]

Bring it on in. They am usually run a diagnostic in-store to determine the cause. Unfortunately, in case of bad hardware if this is the case, they may need to send it to their service center which is certified by Gareway to perform warranty work.

Main thing is, they need to see the computer and run a diagnostic to determine what is wrong and what steps to take to repair it properly. Good Luck.

[DSilva1013]

Thanks for the input.  I appreciate it.

[ncoclub]

What you weren't told is that if it must be sent off they cannot guarantee a repair time. I have read on this forum that 4 weeks is usually the minimum. Dont expect any fast turnaround time. Also, if they must reinstall the OS YOU will need to provide back-up disks. If you dont have them I would get them from the manufacture now so you will have them on hand in case needed. If it is a hard drive issue they may not be able to recover any of your files and it can get VERY EXPENSIVE for Best Buys to even TRY and recover them...Good Luck.

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert]

Unlike usndoc, I have actually seen hundreds of computers sent off and don't base my opinions on "minimum" repair times on the few cases we see here that have had issues.

In real life, average repair times from the day you drop it off till the day it arrives back is 2-3 weeks. 4 week repairs on computers (not including Sony PCs) is EXTREMELY rare. Most Sony PCs go directly to Sony instead of the Geek Squad service center and Sony is very slow.

Usndoc is correct that Geek Squad cannot provide your recovery discs for you IF the hard drive needs to be replaced because Geek Squad is not authorized to keep Gateway recovery discs and tey will not violate copyright laws in the name of "customer satisfaction".

If the hard drive is determined to be bad, tey can attempt to retrieve the data in-store for $100 to be transferred back to your computer once the hard drive is replaced. If the hard drive is damaged to the point where it. Annoy be read in store then usndoc is correct that they can have the Data Recovery Department look at it and attempt recovery though data recovery IS an expensive proposition due to the extensive work it requires.

But that is looking at worst case scenario. Bring it in and let Geek Squad take a look at it. Anything else we say about what costs, etc. is purely speculation.