Stores, Electronics - Best Buy beware of extended warranties / service

BEWARE BEST BUY EXT. WARRANTIES / Service

Retail Superstores, Other

From:

Date: Saturday, September 01, 2001 01:27 PM I purchased a HP computer system and extended warranty at BEST BUY in Raleigh, NC for approximately $3000 2 1/2 years ago. My computer crashed in June 2001, however I had purchased the extended warranty, so I delivered my HP system to Best Buy on June 20 with a promise return date of July 10. When I picked up the CPU on July 10th, it didn't work and I didn't even leave the store with the unit. I was told to come back in a week and they would expedite the repair. I was called on July 20th and told my unit was ready. As I went to pick up the unit at the store, they could not find the unit and said it was still out for repair.

They promised me it would be ready by July 28th. I arrived on the morning of July 28th to be told it was still at the service department in Atlanta and would be here in a few days. Four days later I checked with the service department to find it wasn't ready yet. After being severely frustrated and making many trips to Best Buy at 2 hours round trip, I had enough and my wife called the General Manager and spoke with Darren Williams.

Darren asked her to wait 7 more days and promised her if the unit wasn't ready to pick up in Raleigh on the 7th day at 9 am, he would provide us an exchange under the extended warranty they sold us 2 1/2 years earlier. I arrived to pick up the unit on the 7th day (August 14th Approx) at 9am to be told my computer wasn't here and that Darren wouldn't be in till 11am so I would have to wait to speak with him. Also, they sent me home to get my original receipts which was another 2 hours round trip. After returning to the store that afternoon with receipt in hand, Darren Williams said he was not going to provide a replacement because my unit was being shipped from Atlanta.

When I remind him of his promise to replace the unit if it wasn't here by 9am on the date promised, he states, "I didn't promise you a replacement, I spoke with your wife and promised her". Finally after refusing to leave the store, Darren said they would provide a replacement system. I was handed off to 3 different people to order me a replacement system which took another 2 hours and then I was told it will be shipped to my house. Upon receiving the system at my home via fed ex, I find that Best Buy took my cables that connected to my speakers plus my printer cable.

When I called them regarding this matter, I was transferred to several people and again to Darren Williams whom told me I should be thankful I got a new system and that I can buy the speaker connections out of my own pocket, however, they gave me a printer cable. So I waited in line another hour at the stroe to get my printer cable and spoke with Darren Williams explaining the system should have been equal or better and I shouldn't have to spend a dime on cables sine they took mine. Again, I received feedback from Darren that I should be happy I got a new system and I can buy the cables myself. I bought the speaker cables and hooked them up to find I have no sound card installed on this new system. I am so very frustrated that I haven't returned to Best Buy to resolve this matter. I must add that I have many years of customer service backround and have never received such bad service from a giant retailer. Best Buy demands your receipt and has no traceability of your purchases once you leave the store. As I waited in line in the computer repair center many times, I saw endless upset frustrated customers. Their personnel are not empowered to make any decisions. I strongly feel Best Buy needs to evaluate their processes and procedures for handling customers. I must admit that I have spent $10K plus at Circuit City of the Years and they are musch better aligned to service their customers. I would strongly urge anyone to think twice before buying from Best Buy for they are in the top three retailers for customer complaints which validate my perception. I have been in the store many times for service and encountered

an attitude of indifference towards customers from many of their employees. Let me also add that my orignal purchase was a complete HP system. They would not replace it with an HP but a compaq that was built to order. I am not just angry with Best Buy but very upset. When I asked Darren Williams whom the Regional Manager of the Best Buy Stores for the SouthEast, he refused to give me the name and said to call the 800 number. After all of this, they tried to sell me an extended warranty on the new system. I would not ever buy a warranty from a store like this for it is not worth the hassle and headache to utilize it if needed.

Comment On This

AMEN! Worst Buy's extended warranties are worthless! I bought a cxomputer system from Best Buy, had the dvd drive to go out, carried it in under war4ranty to be repaired. The stupid people there took out my good cdrw drive put in a dvd drive and keft the bad one in the unit. When I picked it up I received a Sys 32 Core error, carried it back, they did nothing. After my 4'th time back in their store, the manager lied to me. I needed to get a compiuter working at the spot I had pulled this one from and bought anoyjer like an idiot. It was a piece of crap and gave me errors galore. I loaded everything back up, carried it in for a return. Manager got mad and told me to leave. This was in the Winston-Salem Store. They are a bunch of ripoffs. Do not buy from them!

Comment On This

I have had the run around and pass the buck from Best Buy regarding a faulty icemaker on a new refrigerator. I was on the phone for eight hours. You would think that after checking the facts they could issue a check for a repair bill of $75 that I should not have had to make on a new item. I won't go into further details, I have made a post on the internet, but suffice it to say that I had worked for ten years in appliance sales and would never have put a customer through all this crap. I am disgusted with Best Buy and their deceptive practices.

Comment On This

First to clarify, you did not purchase an extended warranty. You purcahsed a Performance Service Plan, which means that Best Buy absorbs the cost of getting the computer repaired (which they did). If it cannot be repaired, then you are given a comparable system for free or allowed to apply the full dollar amount of the original purchase towards the purchase of an upgrade. There was obviously a problem at the service center, which was not the fault of that particular location. As far the promise given by the store manager, that is another story. But calling the 888-Best-Buy number is your best bet for filing a complaint because it goes directly to the corporate office.