Best Buy didn't honor my warranty

April 27, 2008

I need your help to report a negligent act on the part of Best Buy Corporation. In June of 2007 I purchased a Gateway Laptop from Best Buy and with that purchase a friend of mine purchased an extended warranty for me on that laptop as a gift. Approximately three months ago that laptop started having over heating problems and in turn the processor died leaving my laptop unusable. I tried to find the warranty but could not so I took it to the Best Buy Store and in turn they informed me they had no record of my laptop being under warranty. I thought the warranty was a two year warranty but to be honest I couldn�¢ï¿½ï¿½t remember since as I said the warranty purchase was a gift and I could not find any of my warranty information. Obviously I was bummed out that my laptop had died so in turn I had a friend of mine look at the laptop to determine how much it would cost to repair the laptop on my own and in turn it was determined that it was really not cost effective to do so. In turn I purchased a new laptop and turned my broken laptop into a place that recycles computer parts as eco friendly way of disposing of it.

This last Saturday (April 26, 2008) I received a mailer from Best Buy Corporation advising me that my extended warranty for this very same laptop was due to expire in June of this year along with an offer to extend the extended warranty again. Needless to say I was furious because as it turned out Best Buy made a huge mistake when I took my laptop in for repair by advising me they had no record of the warranty in their system. I not only disposed of a laptop that was under warranty and could have been repaired under such warranty without cost to me, but I purchased a new replacement laptop in the mean time.

I spent over 3 hours since on the phone with Best Buy store and then on to Best Buy Corporate who has decided they will do nothing for me but offer me a prorated refund on my warranty which would be what $5 at this point since it runs out in June. Actually though they (customer service agent who identified herself as Gaby, offered to refund my warranty in full, $250, but when I told her that was not good enough given the above facts, she said that is all or anyone else could or would do so I demanded to speak to a supervisor. After being placed on what I call indefinite hold (39 minutes) I finally hung up and called back. I had to tell my story all over again to yet another customer service gal who this time said there is �¢ï¿½ï¿½NOTHING�¢ï¿½ï¿½ she or they can do and she said there was no note of Gaby ever speaking with me or offerings me a refund on my warranty in full. So once again I demanded to speak to a supervisor. After 43 minutes total of being on the phone with them this time a supervisor who identified himself as �¢ï¿½ï¿½John�¢ï¿½ï¿½ finally picked up. He was very rude and condescending and said they are not responsible for this and all he can do is give me a prorated refund on my warranty. I explained on and on about how when I got the warranty (from my friend) they said all I ever need to do is to bring in the laptop and they would take care of it by identifying it as under warranty. They even said I could get a free battery every 6 months just because I have the warranty. I had faith all along that if I ever had an issue it would be handled yet this time I was at their mercy because I had no proof of my warranty and they claim to not have any record of it in their system. Yet somehow that record all oif the sudden has appeared and now they are even sending me warranty renewal offers! Well it�¢ï¿½ï¿½s too late for my laptop....it is in laptop heaven and I am out the cost of that laptop, the cost of the warranty my friend purchased for me and the cost for a new laptop, all things that were NOT necessary, yet Best Buy is refusing to do ANYTHING for their mistake except give me a lousy couple bucks back. I told them I think it is only fair that they send me a laptop that is comparable to the one I disposed of because of their mistake or offer me a reasonable refund for my laptop....maybe something along the line of 50% back since I did use it for almost two years ...they refused and blamed me for throwing it away. I asked what they thought I should do, store it in my closet or garage....how stupid, it was dead and would have just been taking up space and collecting dust.

Please help me. Thanks to the incompetence of the Best Buy Store I have completely ripped off and offered zero accountability on their part. I have the offer to extend the warranty in my hand....what reasonable person would discard a laptop under warranty still? They are being dishonest and not taking responsibility for what they did to me.

Sincerely,

Lisa

San Jose, CA