Other Customer Service Support

[chocoboat]

I had a more detailed version of this typed up before but I lost it, so here's the shorter version of events.

I purchase a gaming PC bundle from Best Buy that included a PC and an HP Mixed Reality Headset. I didn't get around to using the headset for a while, and when I did I found out it doesn't work. I tried it out on multiple other high end PCs that meet the requirements, and it didn't work on those PCs either.

Within the 1 year warranty period, I contacted HP about the faulty headset to get it replaced. After an absurdly long and slow process involving over a dozen people in various departments at HP that dragged out over 2 months, the following things occurred:

• They told me I contacted them outside of the warranty period, and I proved that they were incorrect about that.
• They told me my PC doesn't meet the requirements to use the headset, and I proved that they were incorrect about that.
• They told me I had refused to contact their tech support team so they can't help me, when in fact I had just spent over 2 hours with them - and the tech support team concluded the headset is faulty.
• They told me their tech support team concluded my PC was faulty and not the headset, when the opposite of that is true.
• They told me their 1 year warranty only covers 30 days.

It went on and on like that, with them being willing to say anything to refuse honoring the warranty. Finally they saw my order receipt and saw that the PC was priced at $630 and the headset was priced as $0 (being part of the bundle), and told me that under warranty they are only responsible for refunding my purchase price - which is $0, so they don't owe me anything.

I realize that none of this is Best Buy's fault. HP produced a faulty product and then refused to honor their warranty. However, I am asking if there's any way possible that Best Buy could help me out with this situation. Though it's not Best Buy's fault, I was sent a faulty product with my purchase. I was wondering if there's any way to exchange this headset for a working one, and then Best Buy can send the faulty headset back to HP so there's no financial loss on your side, or something like that.

I'm not sure what to do next so I just thought I'd see if any help might be available on here. Thanks for your time, and any response or suggestions would be appreciated.

[nckhammond]

HP has their own support forums, have you posted this there? There are a couple HP employees that monitor them that have been helpful to me in the past.

[Sam-BBY Retired: Social Media Specialist]

Hello and welcome, chocoboat,

Any time I’m looking to make a bigger purchase, I tend to seek out any sort of bundle or special offer that can give me more bang for my buck.  If a free item I obtained through such an offer stopped working as expected, though, I’d certainly seek assistance through both the retailer with which I made my purchase, as well as the manufacturer of said product.  I was unhappy to hear that your attempts to receive assistance from HP have resulted in more frustration rather than satisfaction.

As it sounds like you are outside of your return period, it’s unlikely Best Buy would be able to offer a return or exchange at this time.  If you happened to purchase a Geek Squad Protection (GSP) plan for the computer or headset, it’s possible we’d be able to explore further options in-store, though.  That said, seeing as this headset was part of a bundle, I’m unsure whether the option to purchase a GSP plan would have been available at the time of purchase.

I would have to echo @nckhammond’s recommendation to partner with HP for further assistance.  If you’d like to access HP’s support forums, you may do so here.  Let me know if you need a copy of your receipt to present to HP, and I’d be happy to assist.

Thank you for writing to us.