Best Buy Repair Support

[phoehn32]

I bought a Google phone at BestBuy 2 months ago. The phone started having hardware issues. I confirmed with Google support that the issue was faulty hardware, and I confirmed with BestBuy online customer support chat that I should bring the phone to a store to replace under the 1-year manufacturer warranty.

I brought the phone to a store and was told they needed an "RA" number from Google in order to exchange the phone. I got Google support on the phone and they talked with the BestBuy rep. Google does not provide "RA" numbers for BestBuy exchanges. The BestBuy rep told me there was nothing they could do, that I could not return the faulty phone at BestBuy.

Google is now helping me to exchange the phone directly even though I purchased it at BestBuy.

Your website claims you will honor all manufacturer warranties. Your customer service reps instructed me to exchange the phone in store, and made no mention of needing any special confirmation number from Google support.

If BestBuy will not honor warranties as promised, I have no reason to ever be a BestBuy customer again.

[sparklingwater]

Can you provide a link the the page where it states Best Buy fulfills all manufacturer warranties? 

[hockeycanuckjc Valued Expert]

Unless you purchased protection from your phone, Best Buy does not exchange phones under manuacturers warranties. The Return and Exchange Promise is limited to the phone working properly within the return timeframe outlined by your My Best Buy Membership.

With your extra protection, Best Buy will try to help you reach out the manufacturer first before using up your premium warranty.

I too would like to see the documentation where it says Best Buy will honor the manufacturers warranty.

[phoehn32]

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/help-topics/warranties-and-manufacturer-contact/pcmcat204400050042.c?id...

The website does claim all manufacturer warranties will apply; this seems . The customer service reps I talked to instructed me to bring the phone to a retail location and they would exchange the phone under the manufacturer warranty.

I have typically understood manufacturer's express warranties are to be honored by retailers that sell products. If that isn't the case, the representatives of the retail company should not tell their customers that it is, and the retailer website should inform that while the warranties apply, they are not honored by the retailer themselves.

Add to that "implied warranties" on a product performing for a reasonable amount of time. A phone that can not make phone calls 2 months after purchase obviously does not fit any reasonable expectation for performance.

[sparklingwater]

Respectfully, I'm not sure how you're interpreting that page the way you are. It's simply stating that Best Buy can get you a copy of the manufacturer's warranty upon request. 

Additionally, your understanding of manufactuerer's warranties is incorrect. The warranty itself, in this case from Google, will specificy exactly how to go about fulfilling it. 

Refering to said warranty, Google doesn't seem to give any options other than mailing it to them unfortunately. 

https://support.google.com/store/answer/7528518#start_a_claim

[hockeycanuckjc Valued Expert]

One thing I will admit, is that the wording is very vague and can lead to other interpretations as the original poster. I think that maybe there is room to improve the veribiage that appears on that page.

If this is something everyone would like I would suggest going to a page called IDEAX and suggest your idea that is is re-worded.

[phoehn32]

If my interpretation is incorrect, then employees of BestBuy should know that. Again, the online customer service rep instructed me to bring the phone to the BestBuy store and they would exchange it (They did not tell me to exchange through Google, or tell me that BestBuy does not honor manufacturer warranties). The reps in the store did not tell me that BestBuy doesn't honor manufacturer warranties, either, they tried to get a return confirmation number from Google support and only turned me away when they couldn't figure that out.

If my interpretation of BestBuy's policy is wrong, then maybe BestBuy employees should know that.

My understanding of manufacturer's warranties is not factually incorrect. Some retailers honor them, some don't. If BestBuy doesn't, then their employees should never tell customers that they do. End of story.

[hockeycanuckjc Valued Expert]

FYI I am halfway on your side that this should be improved because I do agree again.. its VAGUE,

If you agree, Please post your case here and let them know how you feel its confusing https://forums.bestbuy.com/t5/Best-Buy-IdeaX/Improve-Veribage-on-return-and-exchanges-page/idi-p/130...

[jdogg836]

I also agree the wording can be better, the quote about Manufacturer’s Warranties apply to Online purchase exists because there are websites where that is not the case. In a competitive online marketplace, lots of companies try to gain the competitive pricing edge by selling gray market goods or goods intended for other countries which could mean no warranty at all. This text on our site means you get a manufacturer’s warranty but does not alter who provides that coverage in any way.

[AndrewB-BBY Social Media Specialist]

Hi there, phoehn32,

Welcome to our community forums and taking the time to write to us regarding your phone. As someone who uses my phone for almost everything, I know I would want to get it repaired as quickly as possible. There's been some good discussion in this thread and I would like to provide some clarification regarding manufacturer warranties.

In most cases we are unable to fulfill a manufacturers warranty for a product. If you purchased a Geek Squad Protection plan for your phone we would be happy to help you look in to what options we have available in store. I'm glad to hear that you are getting assistance with your phone and would encourage you provide any feedback to our IdeaX page so we can continue to improve the purchasing experience in the future.