Best Buy, College Station, TX - Toshiba 5005-1805-S504 laptop power supply failure - poor service

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on August 2, 2002:

From:

RE: Best Buy, College Station, TX - Toshiba 5005-1805-S504 laptop power supply failure - poor service

As a pre-note I am a certified PC repair technician and I work part-time at A&M University as such. I am fully aware of when the scope of a problem is beyond user-related and requires repair beyond that which I am capable. This is a complaint against Best Buy (Store #332, College Station, Texas)’s computer repair/customer service and overall manager response (some managers have been helpful, others have been downright hostile and un-cooperative, while another treated me like an idiot teenager(and no, I am not an idiot teenager.. 22 may not be old, but I am fairly well educated and not ignorant)) I purchased a Toshiba 5005-1805-S504 (In Houston Store#216?) with the $219 extended service plan on November 23, 2001. It refused to power on in February of 2002 so I visited the local best buy and presented it to the “computer repair” counter for inspection. They determined that they couldn’t power it on either and that it would need to be sent in for repair.

They then informed me that it would probably be faster if I used Toshiba-direct service because it was under manufacturer’s warranty(Toshiba also promised 36-hour turnaround on laptop repair versus best buy’s 2-week “guesstamite” (best buy will *not* promise anything involving repair or service dates)) , I then queried them about whether this would go on record w/ my extended service plan (I am more than fully aware of the no-lemon policy included in the plan) they replied that as long as I could provide documentation/proof that it was indeed serviced and required repair that it would be on the record(yes, I have record as well as Toshiba has record of the service performed and repair needed). A few days later the laptop broke again with the same issue(it would stop halfway through the boot process, no not the windowsXP logo process, but the hardware boot routine(POST)). This time I wanted complete documentation of the problem and took it to best buy and had them handle the repair process(I later discovered their “technicians” just forwarded it to Toshiba since it was still under warranty) this process took better of a week. They then returned my laptop(it was working) *but* it was minus the power supply I had included that they wanted to “test”.

Now a laptop without a power supply is only useful for.. a few hours of battery life, and then it’s a $2000 paper weight. I demanded to know why my power supply was missing and where it was located?(especially since it was listed on the service order list of items returned with laptop). Nobody(including the manager) could give me an answer other than (we don’t know, maybe the service center knows, call to service center=busy signal, sorry we can’t get through, we’ll send them an email). Now I use the machine for both work/school/home so I demanded some kind of resolution, I even offered to drive to Houston(1 hour away) to obtain a replacement power adapter(the service center is also located in Houston) they replied that that was impossible, i demanded a universal power adapter and the manager agreed to give me one, unfortunately they were out(they’ve been out, I visit the store regularly, they’ve been out of regular universal power adaptors 3 months previous to my problems and ever since) and that I could wait for them to get one in stock? Maybe? I don’t think so, I asked if they could purchase one at a local store and provide it to me as a customer service(for $219 the extended service plan isn’t getting me much service).

The manager replies “no sorry , we can’t do that, impossible” (this is not impossible, all retail stores have petty cash for store costs/miscellaneous costs/no not normally for customer satisfaction, but I know the store has the ability to do it if needed) They don’t even offer me a gift certificate for THEIR mistake. I finally end up leaving the store w/ an CAR power adapter for laptops(so if I wanna work.. I gotta do it in my car..) and a promise that they will email the service depot and return my power adapter. I find this to be abhor able but there is nothing else I can do w/o having to spend more of my own money.

I then wait for a week and return to the store seeking my “lost” power adapter, I get the response that no, they do not know if the service center has it or when it will return and that I should go home quietly and do nothing.. I find this to be really .. “dumb” and ask them another question “I see your display laptops, some of them are Toshiba, they aren’t the same model? But are the power supplies compatible?” insta-response “no, sorry they’re not, we can’t give that to you anyways” my response “oh really?

Let me walk over and see, I know my power supply requirements since they’re printed nicely on the bottom of my laptop, 15V, 5W, oh gee, every Toshiba laptop on display has the identical power supply w/ identical specifications, I refrain from calling the customer service person a liar and then ask them to ask the manager whether I can just take one of those? (I don’t know why I didn’t do this in the first place, didn’t cross my mind until I saw the displays). Finally the manager agrees to give me one(to get me out of his hair) and I finally leave w/ a complete working laptop at the end of march(note this started at the end of February, 1 week to toshiba’s support(unfixed), 1.5 weeks in best buy’s support(fixed, no power adapter) 1 week w/o power adapter(I do not consider a laptop to be working and complete w/ a power adaptor missing). So I think my problems are over? Correct?

No, laptop breaks again, same issue 1 month later, I repeat the process, this time w/o the power adapter since I know they don’t need it. This time its fixed and returned(after being shipped directly to Toshiba from best buy) after a week and a half. Now, the cd-rw has ceased to function, dvd’s play, but place a blank cd-r in the drive and it begins to panic, 5 minutes later(literally) it acknowledges blank media in drive, but any attempt to burn a cd (yes I have tried several different types of blank media, generic 12x silver sided, imation, TDK, etc.) ends up w/ a frozen system(and yes, all windowsXP updates are installed as well as bios updates and up-to-date system drivers as far as I can find from the Toshiba support site, and yes, roxio easy-cd creater basic has been updated w/ the winxp fix, and yes, winxp directCD writing does not work either) But overall, best buy/toshiba did not understand the problem, or have been fixing the wrong problem, because 4 breakdowns in 8 months of use is not a good track record, the latest best buy outrage is outlined below, they *lost* my service records in their computers.. and the manager thinks I’m lying, and they won’t take toshiba’s word for it. ~Justin Hao(Email User) I have sent the following through the online best buy repair service inquiry form: I am curious, I have given my laptop to the Best Buy store #332 twice directly for repair(and found out that since it was covered under 1 year manufacturers warranty they just forwarded it to the manufacturer's facility) in addition to having sent it in for repair directly to toshiba the first time. Now the curious part, the store no longer has any record of any service performed on my laptop, at all, under any name, phone number of mine. My extended service plan shows up under the correct name and phone number, but according to their computers, no previous service had ever been worked upon my notebook. Now toshiba does have records of all 3 service repairs performed on my laptop and i have hard copy of my service orders yet how did they "Disappear" from the best buy database? i was placed into an argument situation with the "general manager"(this is the one who treated me like an idiot teenager, the first manager(Ed) I spoke with was courteous and treated me like a customer, the 2nd manager(no name, I was flaming angry by now) appeared after my service history was discovered to be missing)) of the store who repeatedly ignored my questions and repeatedly stated something completely irrelevant to what i questioned him about. He could not explain the missing service files(i had to drive home and return to the store w/ my copies which totaled a 3 and a half hour "experience" with customer service). And he could also not promise the repair or return date on my laptop.

Now my computer is in for repairs for the 4th time in 7 months and nominally under the No-lemon policy stated in the extended service contract i would be entitled to a replacement, now with the missing service records how does the no-lemon policy stand? and how did my service records disappear? thankfully my $219 "extended service" plan still remains, however i fail to see what i paid for, the "new" service order i received for this current repair(Service Order #:00332-701873680) has a completion date of 8/23/2002, over *3* weeks from the date i dropped it off(7/31/2002) Toshiba direct has a *36* *hour* turnaround guarantee on *standard* 1 year warranty which is what best buy is currently using, what is the extra 20 days being used for? shipment? And according to the store manager the best buy service center is supposed to "verify" the no-lemon condition of the laptop and authorize the best buy to provide me a replacement. why does this take over 3 weeks? i am highly suspicious of the "lost" service orders due to "software issues"(according to the service tech). I am a certified PC Repair technician and i do not believe a software error erased the service history of my laptop. I will investigate and should i find deceptive practice or foul play involved action shall be pursued against guilty parties. This has extended beyond a repair service inquiry but it is where i felt the inquiry should begin, any forthcoming response would be greatly appreciated.

Comment On This

I feel for everyone on this blog about Best Buy. IWILL NEVER PURCHASE SO MUCH AS A CD FOR THIS EVIL CHAIN AGAIN. Three years ago my husband and I purchased a Bose surround sound system for $1200.00 needless to say it was a lemon. We did purchase a 3 year warrenty plan to safeguard our investment. Less then 6 months into ownership we began having problems. We would lose sound, than the DVD didn't want to open, than we lost sound again, and on and on. We brought it in for service 7 times, each time meeting with some sorry excuse for why it might not be serviceable under the warrenty terms. Needless to they did replace component after component but would not replace with a new system through Bose. Each time we brought it in it always took no less than 4 weeks (ridiculous). At one point the snotty little Geek Squad jerk said it could be our fault because there was some dust on it. AS IF!

But my biggest heartbreak by far is as of recently when stupidly I purchased an Apple Macbook Pro. I purchased it in April of 2007, at the time Best Buy didn't sell Apple in store so the sales rep ordered it online. I told him I wanted to purchase the Applecare plan for protection and for its tech support as I was anew Apple user. He of coursed talked me out of it saying that Best Buy's protection plan covered personal damage and theft. I could purchase a 3 year plan for $250.00 or a 5 year plan for $400.00. I said I would purchase a 3 year plan because I have kids, pets and bad luck. Unfortunately bad luck came my way when I put it on my window seat to answer the door it slid off and fell to the floor about 2 feet. Needless to say I now have a crack on my LCD screen. I was highly upset but thought to myself hey this is why I purchased the protection plan. Of course when I brought it in for service lo and behold that plan doesn't cover personal damage the $400.00 plan covers that and there is no such thing as a 5 year plan. Yes, I lost it! I told them that they sold me $250.00 worth of shit and that if that sales KID was still there I would wring his neck because either he lied to me or he had no clue what he was talking about. Now the battle is on and I will have to come back and update everyone. I will be taking this publicly and have lodged a complaint with Apple now that Best Buy is carrying Apple in store.

It is funny you should mention that your service history had gone missing because the same thing happened to us with the Bose system on our 3rd or 4th repair session, not sure I began to lose count.