Manufacturer Warranties and Protection Plans

[mnemosyne]

Oh, the PSP...  I got my first laptop for college from Best Buy in 2002.  It was a really awful laptop (HP's fault, not Best Buy's), and it was in for service CONSTANTLY.  After about 5 repairs (qualifying repairs all... screen, hard drive two or three times, motherboard), Best Buy agreed to give me a new laptop under the lemon policy...not without a little kicking and screaming (and crying) on my part....at one point, one of the Geek Squad people asked me why I didn't go to Chicago to get my laptop from the service depot (um, maybe because I live in NJ?).

So far, in a year, my replacement laptop (which I also got a PSP for, since it is a good value, even though the people who work at the particular store in my area are really useless) has gone in for service twice; the first time for a new motherboard, a new cd drive, a new battery and keyboard (which I'm pretty sure don't count as qualifying?), and a new AC adapter (which I know doesn't count).  I got it back very quickly; the Geek Squad representative who helped me in Baltimore was great, I was shocked how great, especially in comparison to the East Hanover people. (I also think the people at 1-888-best-buy are very good...).

My hard drive crashed on November 1; I brought the computer in to East Hanover, with much trepidation.  The person I gave it to told me they'd check it out and get back to me.  They called on the 3d and asked if I wanted them to back up my data because they had to send it out for service.  I said yes.  Two days later, I got an automated call saying it was ready to be picked up, and I was shocked at how fast the turnaround was, except when I got to the store, they told me they'd not taken off the automated call message that had generated when they closed the in-store portion of the ticket.  I was again asked if I wanted my data backed up (this is in person, in the store, at the counter), I said yes, please.

Two weeks later, I got a call, telling me my laptop needed to go out for service (um, yeah, I know that), and asking me again if I wanted my data backed up.  I said yes, again, please, and they said ok.  The very next night, I got another call!!  At this point, I'd had no computer for almost a month, and it hadn't even gone out for service!  I spoke with the manager, who apologized, saying they'd get it out right away, and, after I refused to pay the $100 for a backup, offered me one for about $26.

Friday I got a call saying it was back in the store and they needed my recovery disk.  I brought it in Friday afternoon, and was told it wouldn't be done that night, but should be done by Sunday.  I called Sunday, and was RUDELY told they hadn't gotten to it yet... when I mentioned again that I'd been computer-less for over a month because of errors on their part, I was snidely told that they were very busy and would call me when it was done.  I was shocked and irritated by the blase attitude, and called them back.  I said I'd be in to pick the computer up, as doing a system restore is simple.  They said no problem.

When I got to the store, they handed me my laptop and recovery disk.  I asked where the data backup was, and the employee said "Gee, it doesn't say anything here about a backup..."  He went to the back to look for one.  I found the service manager, reminded him of my problems, and he, too, went to look.

He came back and said "Well, there's good news and bad news....well, more like bad news and bad news....  There's no backup, because we couldn't do one.  Gee, I don't know why no one told you that..."  Without signing my service order (because no, I wasn't satisfied with their service!), I took the computer and walked out.

The computer won't restore, but I refuse to go back to the store to be treated like an idiot and a third class citizen... it's not worth the hassle.  Yesterday, I got a call from their data recovery center, telling me they had my old hard drive and offering to recover my data for between $250-500 dollars.  Knowing I could have a friend do it for free, I asked for the hard drive back, and was told it was no longer my property, that if I said no it would go to a parts dealer and be destroyed!  If I had know that, I would have taken the drive out before I ever brought the computer in for service, had my friend rip the data, and then dropped it off...it would have saved me a month of agony. 

I guess my ultimate question (griping about the East Hanover store and their COMPLETE lack of customer focus aside) is, how many "qualifying" repairs has my laptop had?  If it breaks again, rather than dealing with the people in the store, I'd much rather have it replaced, if it qualifies (yes, I understand I would have to take it to the store first and then they'd have to send it out to see if it counts) (and I really do love that laptop, and I'll be sad when it finally does kick for good!)...

Just as a final word, as a young person who spends about a thousand dollars a year on electronics and music, I don't think I can confidently shop at Best Buy any more, especially after the emotional distress... not unless something is done about the customer service.

[mnemosyne]

Glad I did bring it home with me instead of leaving it for the store to do the recovery - just got word that the DVD drive is (again) shot, and that's why it wouldn't run.  Now I really need to know what my options are before I bring it in!

[John-BBY Community Connector · Accepted solution]

Dear mnemosyne,

First of all, I would like to apologize to you for the store experience that you describe.  It is our goal to ensure that our customers’ requests for service are handled promptly and efficiently.  To be asked on three separate occasions if you wanted your data recovered and then to be informed after the fact that the data backup could not be performed is, frankly, unacceptable.  There are occasions where a few days delay occur because of how our stores ship to a service center, but it should never take two weeks before your product leaves the store.  I’m not sure what happened to cause this, but it should not have occurred.  The feedback you’ve provided about this experience will be relayed to the store management team for internal review and appropriate action.

Typically a “qualifying” repair is a hardware replacement.  Any time that a hard drive, motherboard, or keyboard is replaced, for example, that is a qualifying repair toward the fulfillment of the No Lemon clause of your Performance Service Plan (PSP) or Geek Squad® Black Tie Protection (GSBTP).  If multiple hardware replacements are made during a single service request, however, it is considered a single qualifying repair.

To address the question you ask about your repair history, I will need some additional information.  Please look for a private message from me.  You may check your inbox by first logging into the forum with your user name and password and clicking on the envelope icon in the upper left.

Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your experience.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,