I am beyond my wits end. Words can not express the extent of frustration and living hades I have been put through by every level of Best Buy over the course of the last two years...especially the last two days. Let this post serve as a warning to anyone who buys products from Best Buy (worst service) along with a "Protection Plan". 1st, let me state that the terms used by Best Buy associates such as “Early Replacement", "No Lemon Policy", or "Exception" are fictitious. I have also come to learn that regardless of how unique your situation is and how many times you have been lied to, Best Buy will never make an exception to take care of a customer who has been wronged. Here is my nightmare, in part... I have spent thousands, not hundreds, thousands of dollars at BB over the last few years. I have even waited in the the freezing cold for over 8 hours to buy a laptop on Black Friday. My TV saga started in Jan. '08 when I purchased a Samsung 55'' Rear Projection TV...got it home...it was broken (bad HDMI input). I decided to spend twice as much money and buy a top of the line 46'' Samsung LCD. Within less than 1.5 years, the LCD panel started to de-laminated (came unglued) causing dark spots. I had the LCD replaced under my PSP and within 2 months, the 2nd LCD became de-laminated even worse. I called for a replacement on Nov. 1st '09 and the technician arrived 30 days later. Between the time I called on 11/01 and the tech arrived on 12/01, the capacitors in the power supply went out (common issue I found out). I figured, since the Geek Squad guy was coming out anyway, I would just tell him then, so I didn't formally report this 3rd issue. While he was here yesterday, he repaired my power supply and replaced the LCD again. Then plugged the TV back in and nothing. It was dead. No TV at all. At least before I had a viewable picture. Now what? I asked the GS Tech to put my old LCD panel back in (at least it powered on) and send the bad one back. He would not, as it is "against our policy". So now I'm stuck with NO TV at all. When he called to order another panel, he recommended to the parts guy that this lemon be replaced, not repaired. The parts guy disagreed and ordered another >+$2, 000 panel (more to repair it than replace it of course). All while I'm stuck for another 14 days to 1 month with NO TV. NO TV. I decided to call BB and file a complaint. Boy was that a colossal failure. After 2 lost days at work and hours and hours of being on hold, transferred and lied to, I have no resolution. I have been lied to by line level employees, 1st level supervisors and 2nd level supervisors. 3 different people, from Geek Saqud to Customer relations, have empathized and stated my situation warranted an "early replacement" under the "No Lemon" policy. I have spoken to at least 7 different people in every department possible and I keep getting re-directed. I keep getting told, "but the policy says...". I respect that, however, where in the policy does it state if you have a "functional" yet defective product on the day of repair, then a completley broken product after the repair, do you have to be stuck with nothing for another month? There are many other incidentals here (like losing programs on my DVR each day I have no TV now), but this comes down to principle and service, and recognizing a unique situation involving a loyal customer who has spent thousads of dolars at Best Buy, only to spend two days in BB hades with a lemon TV, losing 2 days of work and being lied to. Not to mention, I will be out another $200-$300 on a new PSP even if they did agree to replace my lemon. There are always exceptions. But unfortunately, Best Buy could cares less how many customers they lose, how many lies are told, how many incompetent people they employ, how convoluted their so-called "customer service" is. I don't know how this will turn out, but regardless, I will never spend another dime at Best Buy again after this. I will also share my horror story with anyone who will hear, and warn them not to buy products from Best Buy, because of the potential hades that will follow if they have a lemon. The Best Buy Protection Plan ONLY protects Best Buy, not the customer !
As an aside, while I was on hold for an hour or so, I decided to research other BB customer horror stories. I came across this interesting one, where a customer called their local congressman to report being wronged by BB. The congressman contacted a local TV station who contacted BB. Not only did BB call with an apology and swift replacement (TV), they also compensated the wronged customer with $850 in BB gift cards for the inconvenience. I have NO TV now thanks to BB. I will be contacting my congressman and local news media and BBB as well. I feel certain my situation is even worse than the poor guy in this story...
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=6643937
I am willing to join a class action.
Best Buy Case #[protected]
[protected]@yahoo.com
M. Leotta
Columbia, MO
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