Best Buy Protection Plan / 100% Value Trade in within 1 Year - YMMV

sdcranford

sdcranford

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I was in Springfield, MO and Branson, MO Best Buy this week purchasing video games. Upon checkout the associate asked me if wanted a $3.99 protection plan. I declined, she told me that it also allowed me to trade the game in within 1 year and get 100% of what I paid for it.

She gave me the example of purchasing Madden 10 and within 1 year I could trade it for Madden 11 when it came out and not pay anything out of pocket.

Is this just a YMMV thing?

I did not do this since I was getting my free copy of X-Blades.

Sorry if this is a repost, I searched but could not find anything about this.
 
I work for Best Buy and that is most definitely not true. Sounds like they're just lying to get their numbers to look better. That program works as follows: scratch the game, call the number, they send you an envelope to put the scratched disc in and they send you a good disc of the same game.
 
[quote name='sdcranford']I was in Springfield, MO and Branson, MO Best Buy this week purchasing video games. Upon checkout the associate asked me if wanted a $3.99 protection plan. I declined, she told me that it also allowed me to trade the game in within 1 year and get 100% of what I paid for it.

She gave me the example of purchasing Madden 10 and within 1 year I could trade it for Madden 11 when it came out and not pay anything out of pocket.

Is this just a YMMV thing?

I did not do this since I was getting my free copy of X-Blades.

Sorry if this is a repost, I searched but could not find anything about this.[/QUOTE]

It's fairly true..I work at best buy customer service. The plan applies when the game goes "Bad or defective"-- or from "normal wear and tear" (i.e. scratches and dents---no cracks of any sort).

The way it works if this: within 90(typically that is what the MFG warranty would give you) you have to exchange the game for the same exact one, outside of 90 days it is a claim under the $3.99 plan which will issue you a store credit for what you paid for it. Hope this helps.
 
[quote name='ErynKD']I work for Best Buy and that is most definitely not true. Sounds like they're just lying to get their numbers to look better. That program works as follows: scratch the game, call the number, they send you an envelope to put the scratched disc in and they send you a good disc of the same game.[/QUOTE]


Not anymore...that was before RISE cameout in POS. Now a days its an instore claim process.
 
2 stores told me this. I
too thought it was too good to be true but i would say it could help their sales.

For example, when you buy something with mail-in rebate that makes it free. They bank on people forgetting, which most people do. I would be the person that would set an alarm on my phone 1 week before to remind me.
 
If they put it in writing I would do it in a heartbeat. If its not in writing I wouldnt trust the word of anyone.
 
[quote name='pram12']Sounded too good to be true.
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[/QUOTE]
It probably is, I generally don't fall anymore of these gimmicks from the big retailers.
 
I'm thinking about trying WET. I may go next week and ask about this program. I would probably go to Customer Service first and ask how it works. If more than one person can confirm the trade in part I would be in.

Main reason I believe it is because 2 different stores said the same thing. Also, both associates said if I don't like it, get tired of it, or beat it I can get another one. I asked several questions and got an answer without hesitation. Could be a regional thing.
 
[quote name='sdcranford']I'm thinking about trying WET. I may go next week and ask about this program. I would probably go to Customer Service first and ask how it works. If more than one person can confirm the trade in part I would be in.

Main reason I believe it is because 2 different stores said the same thing. Also, both associates said if I don't like it, get tired of it, or beat it I can get another one. I asked several questions and got an answer without hesitation. Could be a regional thing.[/QUOTE]


It could be a pilot program. Best Buy is very big on piloting experiment stuff in stores that are ideal guinea pigs(good video game sales in this case) or in whole districts/regions.
 
I really doubt the fine print would say what the rep told you. If thats the case, this would be totally unenforceable by you even if you were mislead. These contracts explicitly say the sales rep has zero ability to alter them. It's possible you'd get a customer service person that would let you exchange it, but its definitely not guaranteed and likely not the intended use of the program. I'd imagine the only way it would work is if you said the game wasn't working and they didnt have that game in stock. But, I always hear sales rep misleading customers about these types of warranty's, typically saying it covers accidental damage when it does not(although I believe with video game disk warranties they often do)...the thing you gotta know is what comes out of the rep's mouth means zero, all that matters is the contract. Of course some stores don't follow the contract and let you do the exchange but its never something you can rely on.
 
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I still find it weird that 2 different stores told me the same thing. I've been told by the Sony video game rep & Nintendo rep that the Spfld, MO store has one of the top 10 video game sales in the whole company so that could be a reason to pilot it here.

I will definatly go by there on Monday and ask if they put it in writing. If so I will definatly buy all of my video games there. This would be an absurd deal. It could be like a buy 1 get 1 free deal or better if you can rebuy the $3.99 plan on the one you get after the trade in.
 
they've been offering the protection on disks for a long time so I dont think its a pilot program. I really think its most likely just the sales reps trying to make a sale, maybe they have the same manager telling them to say that and the manager may even be intending on honoring it, but if theres something in writing I would be shocked if it provides for what they are telling you.
 
This sounds like the PRP people would buy for their systems. If it's true you just bring back to the store and get a giftcard. All you would need to do is scratch it up and claim it doesn't work. If that's how it works, I wouldn't be surprised if this gets canned shortly since it will be easy to abuse. BTW, they have been offering protection plans for games for a couple of years now, it's just that the cashier will rarely ever offer it up unlike the computer guys.
 
[quote name='sdcranford']I still find it weird that 2 different stores told me the same thing. I've been told by the Sony video game rep & Nintendo rep that the Spfld, MO store has one of the top 10 video game sales in the whole company so that could be a reason to pilot it here.

I will definatly go by there on Monday and ask if they put it in writing. If so I will definatly buy all of my video games there. This would be an absurd deal. It could be like a buy 1 get 1 free deal or better if you can rebuy the $3.99 plan on the one you get after the trade in.[/QUOTE]


you where probably told this by the two stores because they are in the same district, which means the district manager is trying to get his people to sell these scratch plans to people because 95 percent of the time peoples discs are okay and Best Buy gets the extra 4 dollar income, this makes his numbers look bad. Best Buy employees are measured on how many protection plans, magazine subscriptions etc etc they can tack on to a sale, each clerk has to do like 4 add ons a week. So they are using the we'll give 100 percent of the buy price for free, but only if there is a scratch or incident from normal wear and tear, you could defraud the system like this and get free games...which translates into sale clerk speech as, please buy a lot of games from me with this thinking you'll get full trade in price if you buy this add on.

1. Best Buy MAY...MAY give you store credit for the game, only if you make a claim on the plan. They can always deny it under some fine print rule.

2. Best Buy will keep of track of how many times you do this, so if people start buying 6 games a month and making 6 claims 3 months later for store credit they will tag you as high profit loss and start denying the claims.

nothing against people who work at best buy , I just don't trust clerks who don't know how programs work. I've had my credit card charged 4 times for those stupid magazine subscriptions when I have said no. Each time they give me crap about taking my name off the list and I have had magazine still show up 3 of those times, each time its like pulling teeth to get them to cancel them, I finally needed to close the card and get issued a new one because of clerks who want to pad their numbers.

TL:DR - clerks at best buy need to sell so many add ons, some will lie and cheat to get anything to pad their numbers. don't listen to anyone who says they are a sony / nintendo rep they never set foot in a store while you are there. they where working for best buy.
 
It was a Sony rep, I doubt they would make up the Sony business card I got, the Sony shirt they had on and the Sony binder with all of the promotional stuff in it. Plus the same Nintendo rep I've seen at Wal-Mart and other stores. If you read the job postings on Nintendo's career website part of the job description is visiting stores. I'm smart enough to know a BB clerk from a sales rep.
 
[quote name='sdcranford']It was a Sony rep, I doubt they would make up the Sony business card I got, the Sony shirt they had on and the Sony binder with all of the promotional stuff in it. Plus the same Nintendo rep I've seen at Wal-Mart and other stores. If you read the job postings on Nintendo's career website part of the job description is visiting stores. I'm smart enough to know a BB clerk from a sales rep.[/QUOTE]


not if he just works as a "sony" rep for best buy, at my store we have "kodak" and "fuji" reps who come in all the time, all they are is employees for my company who where trained to fill stuff to seasonal binder they get. When all is said and done they work for my company and their jobs can be done by anyone. and before you ask they have business cards with kodak and fuji logos on them, as well as kodak and fuji polos.

I'm just warning people this is just a ploy by best buy to get people to buy these protection plans. For all I know you could just be a best buy viral marketing guy, I've seen them on this and other sites before spreading false info.
 
This is really a YMMV thing when you file a claim.. depending on the customer service your dealing with. What the Best Buy Rep is telling you is more of a technicality.. My Uncle bought Rock Band 1 kit last year with Replacement plan, the drum and mic stopped working after 6 months.. he took it to Best Buy, and they gave him a Rock Band 2 kit since they didn't have Rock Band 1 anymore.. They could just have given him a stand alone mic and drum kit, but they replaced the whole thing. So yeah technically when Madden 11 comes out and you file a claim with your Madden 10, if they have no Madden 10 in stock they have to give you Madden 11 or maybe store credit..its really YMMV kind of thing.
 
I'm not a Best Buy or marketing company employee. I don't buy protection plans on anything except my 360 since I heard about the RROD.

I just wanted to share and figure out if somebody else heard about this. I hope it's true but just don't see how it could be profitable. If they can put it in writing I'll try it. I used to be in auto sales and know that sales reps will do anything to make a quota or living.
 
Sounds like she was just talking about a loop hole, making it sound like a "feature" of the ext. warranty. As far as know, you can do this. I've returned things before, they ask (or just assume) if you want a replacement and you tell them you'd rather have store credit. I can see certain manager types giving you a hard time but the average return desk person is pretty apathetic, thankfully.
 
If you can somehow get a couple associates on video saying this I think you would have enough evidence for your claim, but usually when cashiers make these claims and you actually go to return the product in a year they won't let you return it. I don't fall for these scams either, and even if you had a video of BB people saying that its probably not worth the trouble for a $60 game. If you want the game and not sure if your going to like it its just less trouble to wait for it to drop in price and buy it then. If it was a more expensive item I would definitely go through the trouble of getting some sort of evidence that the workers actually said what they did.

That's just me though, I like to avoid as much confrontation with retail store employees as possible.

If you can get it in some sort of official writing easily though, go for it, if someone hand writes it then its not going to count for anything.

Even if its official they could claim that they have the right to change the policy at any time or restrict or limit returns.

Honestly, what I do whenever I am considering a large purchase at a store (that I might have to return something at) is I observe the return line. This is especially easy to do at stores like Sam's Club as they have the food tables right by the service desk. If people are having trouble exchanging things you will be able to tell right away. If it looks like everything is going smoothly then it might be a good store to purchase something at.

Sams goes well, Sears on the other hand, I have seen a few screaming matches in my time shopping there, I would never buy anything significant there, especially appliances.
 
I used to work as an independent wireless salesperson at BB and the "teammembers" are pushed to sell PSPs (the protection plan). They would consistently tell people that it basically was like an upgrade program and then see people get denied because the salespeople lied.

Best Buy has EXTREME inconsistency in associates not knowing the actual policies. They just make shit up. Anyone who has tried pricematching at that place knows this. And I won't get into the associates that I have caught lying about products. Instead of saying "I don't know" they make shit up... What a surprise. When employees consistently do not know and make up policy, it is evidence that this is likely an unwritten policy and the effects are well known. This is simply fraud.
 
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