Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[dancingrabbit]

While we were gone over Labor Day weekend, our 6-month-old refrigerator stopped working.  We came home to find everything in the fridge and freezer spoiled.  When I called Tuesday morning to schedule a repair, we were told to turn the thermostat all the way down and call back in 24 hours.  Finally they scheduled a service call for Thursday afternoon, but only because we absolutely insisted on it.  After all, we were told, "It's a 6-month-old refrigerator.  It shouldn't be broken already."  Indeed.

In the interim, we left the fridge plugged up and set on its coldest setting.  It was making this awful BAAARRRRRAAAAAAACCK noise that I could hear in the back bedroom while vacuuming.

Thursday afternoon rolled around, and the technician never came.  I called the geek squad, and they said this:  "Ma'am, I'm going to be honest with you.  There was never a service call scheduled for you.  I don't know who told you someone was coming to look at the fridge, but someone dropped the ball."  THEN he went on to say that the next available appointment time was for the 23rd - two more weeks away.  He finally gave me the number of a 3rd party repair center and told me to contact them, that my best bet was to "hope and pray" that they could come out soon.  I asked what he could do for us in the interim, but he said there was nothing he could do.

So we visited the BB where we purchased the appliances, Hwy 72 in Huntsville, AL and talked to a shift manager, Caleb.  We explained the problem, and he said, "It looks like you're just going to have to wait."  We tried to make him see the urgency of our situation (two small children, no refrigerator, a $300 service plan that is getting us no service whatsoever) and he said, "You're just going to have to put your anger aside and see that there is nothing we can do for you."  Then he turned us over to a very nice lady who had no authority whatsoever to do anything but tell us how various managers told her there is nothing they can do.  It was pretty crappy of Caleb to put her in that situation, and especially knowing she was going to have to lie to us and didn't like it.

We asked about several options:

-providing us a loaner while we wait on someone to decide to come out and see the fridge.  (They said it is "not legal" to loan us a refrigerator, but we are welcome to buy a new one!!  Seriously??  Buy a new one????)

-refunding our money (we were told "It's not a lemon, because we haven't verified 4 major flaws with it."  It doesn't refrigerate food - isn't that a sufficient major flaw for a refrigerator??  And how do you plan to 'verify' its flaws when you won't send a technician to look at it?)

-exchanging it (An identical model would not be available until Oct 15, and anyway "There is no system in place to allow us to do that."  A similar model, well, only an identical model would be fair and besides, LG has so many rules they have to follow regarding warranty issues.)

-anything that would get us a refrigerator sometime in the next few weeks.  ("There is nothing we can do but hope the 3rd party can get out there soon.  Then hopefully they can get it fixed soon.")

The story they tried to placate us with was that they requested the service call Wednesday afternoon, by fax, but the 3rd party repair never got the fax, therefore did not know they were supposed to come.  In talking with various people, it feels like there are multiple people who dropped the ball and are now trying to cover their butts.  I was told this morning that, "Oh, yeah, you had a service call scheduled the whole time.  The 3rd party just didn't make it."  Thursday evening on the phone, they said, "Someone dropped the ball because the system shows no service call."  I'm hearing a different story from every person I talk to.  If the real truth were known, it is that BB took my $300 and now has no incentive to provide service.

First of all, it is a refrigerator.  A TV or something nonessential, ok, sure.  I can wait a week or so.  But I have a family to feed.  Letting me sit here for two days while I think a technician is coming, and then not sending one is unconscionable.

Second, you can't tell me that BB can't get us hooked up with a refrigerator while we wait.  It's unfair to expect my family to be hungry while you keep my $2700 and refuse to look at my refrigerator.  Why can we not make an equal exchange and BB technicians can diddle with it on their own time?

Third, this item is still under the manufacturer's warranty.  What does BB have to lose in getting me a new one?

Fourth, my service contract is with BB, not the 3rd party.  I shouldn't have to be the one contacting them to beg and plead for a service call.  I'm using my time and my phone to do what BB should be doing themselves.

Last, I was told that my $300 bought us protection for spoiled food.  We were told that the proper form would be emailed to us.  It never came so I called and asked about it.  Then I was told that there IS no such form.  I was given an address and told to mail a list of the spoiled item along with our service #.  Snail mail - are you kidding me?  Have we been transported back to 1950?  Does BB not have a web form or fax number or email address we can use for this??

Why does everyone I talk to tell me something different?  Why is BB not bending over backwards to make this right?  I was expecting at least for BB to offer me a loaner and maybe a small gift card or something since so many people have dropped the ball.  Instead I have been lied to, given the runaround, told that they don't need to fix it because it clearly can't be broken as it's only 6 months old.  This is the worst customer service I have ever heard of.  Basically BB doesn't want to have to deal with LG about the warranty issue, so they are putting all this off on me.  And they don't want to deal with me either, so they are hoping I'll just go away.  Believe me, I won't.

[dancingrabbit]

Oh, and one more thing:  I got in touch with the 3rd party, and they are going to try to come out today or next Monday.  At first they said, "Oh these LGs often lose a board.  The LG parts place is just across town.  We could just go and get it, but LG won't allow that so we have to wait on them to ship it UPS.  It might be Monday or Tuesday."  I questioned the wisdom of making me wait until next week, to replace a part that may or may not be the problem part, when no one has looked at it yet!  And would a controller board malfunction really cause the BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAACK noise it's making?  So then they said it's possible that the BB installer might have failed to remove a shipping pin.

If that turns out to be the case, I am going to hit the roof.  To be without a refrigerator for over a week because BB can't do their jobs, then won't try to provide customer service?  Outrageous.

[dancingrabbit]

Most of the problems I see on here are with computers and DVD players and the like.  Have any of you been royally screwed over with an appliance breaking down on you, and you can't seem to get it fixed?

Best Buy has left me out in the cold, metaphorically speaking, that is.  My 6-month old refrigerator doesn't refrigerate.  I called BB, they said someone would be out in 2 days.  That person never came.  After finding out that a service call was never actually scheduled, and that it would be nearly 3 weeks before a Geek Squad technician could come out, BB gave me the number of a 3rd party company and told me *I* had to call them to schedule someone to come out.  I don't feel like i should have to contact a company with whom I have no service contract, nor any other affiliation, and beg and plead for help, but that is what I did.  The guy I spoke to said he "knows" what is wrong - the controller board.  Now I happen to know that no controller board malfunction makes a refrigerator go AAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCKKKK loudly enough to be heard in my yard.  But somehow without seeing the appliance, the guy just "knows" what is wrong.  This was Friday afternoon, and the magic part is expected to be here today.  So I have waited here all weekend with no refrigerator for a part that probably isn't the problem.

BB won't give me a loaner, exchange, store credit, or refund.  While I am waiting on them to finally do something, I am here with 2 small children and no refrigerator.  I can't even keep milk or baby food for them.

Really, what I WANT from BB is my money back.  Since my appliance is still under the manufacturer's warranty, I should easily be able to get a refund or identical exchange, but BB is unwilling to help.  I asked about a loan - they said no, but offered to let me buy a new one.  Seriously.

If you have a refrigerator in your home, take a moment and go give it a big kiss and thank it for being in your life.  Seriously.  You don't know how nice a refrigerator is until you've been a week without one.

[mstng87gt Trusted Contributor]

Since its under the Manufacturer's warranty did you call them?

[Nokia]

You are not eligible for a refund as you are outside the 30 day return policy.

[Dorothy-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hello dancingrabbit -

Thank you so much for being patient!  Allan, from our Community Connector team, will be reaching out to you shortly to try to provide assistance.

[Allan-BBY Community Connector]

Hi dancingrabbit,

Being without a working refrigerator for any amount of time would be difficult for any family, and I agree completely that the repair of a refrigerator is much more important that a nonessential item like a TV. I truly do apologize for any miscommunications that have happened while trying to get your refrigerator repaired.

I would also like to thank you for being specific in your questions for Best Buy® in regards to your issue. The store was correct that we don’t provide loaner refrigerators for customers when theirs is in repair, and in fact we don’t have any refrigerator’s that would be able to be loaned out.

If a refrigerator is found to be defective within our 30 day return or exchange period we of course would be more than  willing to refund the purchase or exchange it for a non-defective model, but beyond that 30 days the unit would have to be repaired. While your unit is covered by the manufacturer’s warranty the repair would be covered by them unless what is wrong with your unit is not something their warranty covers. After the warranty has expired your refrigerator would be covered by your Geek Squad Black Tie Protection (GSBTP) plan.

Both types of coverage are intended to repair your refrigerator not replace it, but under certain circumstance both would replace the unit instead of repairing it. The manufacturer would replace your refrigerator if it is deemed to be un-repairable, or they determine the repair wouldn’t be cost effective to continue.

Your GSBTP plan would replace your refrigerator for the same two reasons as the manufacturer would, but would also replace it if it qualified for the no lemon clause in the terms and conditions of your plan. The no lemon clause states that if your refrigerator has had three previous qualifying repairs and there is a diagnosis by an authorized service technician that a fourth repair is needed your refrigerator would be replaced. A qualifying repair is when a non-consumable part(s) is installed and due to that part(s) installation an authorized service technician determines your refrigerator is functioning properly.

With all that being said I did look into your repair and I found out that the technician was out today and installed the parts that were needed, and determined that the unit was functioning properly. The service center also said they should be calling you tomorrow to make sure it is still functioning properly.

I am sending you a private message, and to check your messages you should log into the forum and then click on the letter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Thanks for posting,