Need Advice: Best Buy trying to screw me over (TV related)

[Matt Young]

This will probably be lengthy, but I'll try to summarize as best I can. I owned a 42" LG Cinema 3D TV that had 4 years of Geek Squad Protection. A few weeks ago, Geek Squad determined that I was eligible for a replacement. This was after they claimed my protection plan had expired, mind you. Luckily, I had the receipt that proved otherwise. They still tried to get out of it.

After waiting a week, my new TV was delivered. They didn't give mr a choice of what I wanted. They replaced my old set with a 50" Sony Bravia 3D smart TV that cost $700. Basically, it was the smallest, cheapest 3D TV they sold. Still, it was an upgrade over my old TV... or so I thought.

The TV had serious issues with grey spots appearing on a black screen during dark/night scenes. So I ended up having to travel to another city to exchange the TV since my local store had none of that model in stock. It took over 1 hour and half a dozen employees trying to refuse my return (which was within the 15 day return window allotted with receipt) before they finally relented and sent me home with a replacement. This was after I had talked to 2 different employees on the phone and had been assured that there would be "no problem whatsoever" with the exchange.

After hooking everything up myself and waiting forever for the TV to complete its software update, I was greeted with a screen even worse than the one I had just returned. Check out the enlarged version of this picture:

Now I don't know what to do. I don't want another of the same TV, because this seems to be a trend. Even if I did that, I'd still have to go to another city and deal with that terrible staff again. But I'm not sure what options I have. They don't offer any other 3D TVs in that price range. There's a larger version of the same one I have now, costing $100 more. Then there's a Samsung that costs $300 more at $999.

I'm not paying extra, but I am entitled to a 3D TV that works. So what the hell do I do? Do I contact Best Buy corporate? Better Business Bureau? Somebody else? I have less than 2 weeks to work with in the return period, and it would also be nice to have a properly functioning TV to use. Please help!

 

[dchrisd]

I don't know how the warranty works, as in what they're required to do in case of problems, but if you're having problems with the store, just contact corporate.  Give them a rundown of what you've been dealing with and be sure to get names / employee numbers in case there's problems later on.

 

[shrike4242]

Matt, just call BB's corporate office and stop dicking around at the local store level at the moment.

BB corp office number is 612-291-1000.   I'd suggest you ask for Executive Customer Relations or just ask for Hubert Joly (Best Buy CEO, as we all know ).  That should get you to the executive customer relations group or the assistant in Hubert Joly's office who should get you to the right group to handle your issue.  That should also insure that you don't get dumped into the main BB customer care group, as well.

I would have your original receipt on-hand, the new receipt, pictures of the issue and any other items of note when you call them. If you're MyRZ Elite or Elite Plus, make sure to name drop that as well, since they know you're spending money in their store on a yearly basis. Make sure you have some time to spend on this issue since it may be a not-so-short phone call.  I would explain the situation calmly and clearly, making sure to point out the numerous times they tried to denied your return in-store and the number of employees in question that were party to it.  Point out that you're entitled to a replacement TV of comparable quality of the one you had that failed, as well as that the replacements you've been given have been defective.    Check reviews of the one you have and if it's really crap, find another replacement like the Samsung you mentioned, that isn't crap.  BB can always refund your money and use that towards a different model.    Would also be a good time to use a Mover's coupon if have one / can get one, as that helps with dropping the price of another replacement.

Don't take no for an answer and keep a BBB complaint up your sleeve, as well as a local Attorney General complaint as well for deceptive business practices, if they try to give you the run around.

 

[Donut2922]

I have no experience with Geek Squad protection but iirc the warranty service only promises to fix the TV for you, replace with another available set that is the closest to which they can find and if none of the above works, they refund you your original purchase price. 

The warranty isn't supposed to transfer so you have to sort out all of your issues either at Best Buy (14 days) or with Sony directly (12 month manufacturer warranty).  Although in this case, I wonder how Sony would handle a warranty replacement that is DOA.  The warranty isn't supposed to work for you for 4 full years.  It's either 4 years or your first replacement - whichever is first.  Now is one of the best times during the year to search for open box deals.  A lot of TV's get returned after Superbowl week so you may find some great deals during this month.  Good luck.

 

[shrike4242]

Donut, that's correct with one minor caveat.  The warranty stays in effect while the owner still has their original TV, so unless BB replaces it with a comparable replacement of another brand/type or refunds the money, the warranty is still in force for repairs on the original set.

Most manufacturers don't do much in the way of component-level repairs these days, TVs are usually whole-unit replaced by the manufacturer when there's a warranty issue with it, replacing it with a factory refurb model of the same one that is under warranty.  BB is doing the same thing, though they're writing off the cost of the replacement TV.  If they could repair it, they would, though parts tend to disappear from a manufacturer's inventory 18-24 months when they stop making a TV, so that's likely what happened here.

For Matt's TV that is DOA out of the box, the manufacturer will stand by it and replace it, since it's under factory warranty, though they strongly suggest to deal with the retailer within the return period.  If it's defective and under factory warranty, they have to repair/replace it, though again, they want the selling vendor to deal with it within that return timeframe first.