Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[POdbyBB]

Took my 2-month old DVD player to Best Buy because it was not working.  Said I wanted it exchanged.  They told me they couldn't exchange it because it was past 30 days from purchase, but they would gladly send it off to Samsung for repair since it was still under warranty.  Told me we'd be charged nothing b/c of the warranty. 

3 weeks later we come back for it.  We are told the DVD was working just fine, and that because Samsung couldn't reproduce our defect in their repair facilities, they were charging us $34.95.  We complained and said we wouldn't pay for it because it was clearly under all warranties, and it wasn't working.  Best Buy manager (Troy or something) put on his best lying face and told us that Samsung charged them $34.95, which they paid, and so we had to pay Best Buy to release the DVD player or we couldn't take it home.  He calmly and slyly explained that this was a shipping charge, but later changed his tune to explain that this was because Samsung couldn't find anything wrong with our player, so they charged Best Buy a diagnostic fee just for looking (even though we still had full labor warranty).  We stupidly felt for Best Buy, paid the $34.95, and took our unit home, hoping to tear Samsung a new one.

Of course, our unit was not working.  Same problem as before.  But this time, instead of going back to Best Buy, we decide to call Samsung directly to complain.  That's when the fun starts.  Samsung has NO RECORD OF OUR UNIT EEEEEVVVVERRRRR being sent to their repair facility.  Our unit NEVER saw the hands of ANYONE at Samsung.  In fact, they guaranteed us that in our case, they would have NEVER charged for shippping, diagnosing our unit, or anything like that, since we were 100% under warranty.  They promptly arranged to have our unit shipped to them directly for repair FOR FREE. 

So, what gives Best Buy?  Charging for a service you NEVER PROVIDED???  I believe that such false utterances and business dealings in Virginia are called FRAUD.  And I believe you are both civilly and criminally liable for such fraudulent business practices.  And I believe that if you don't resolve my situation ASAP by immediately refunding my $34.95 I might just have to bring suit against your company.  All I want is the money I paid to have my unit looked over by Samsung, not some idiot from Geek Squad in your back room.  $34.95 is sure a better penalty than the thousands of dollars one is entitled to under Virginia law.  And you told me over and over again that Samsung was the one at fault, when they didn't even touch my precious player.  That, my friends, equals fraud. 

I am hoping this post generates swift response from Best Buy before I am forced to take legal action.  I am willing to discuss my situation privately with a representative from Best Buy. 

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Dear POdbyBB, 

Thanks for posting your concern on our Best Buy® Forum.  Your issue has been assigned to one of our Community Connectors for further review and response, and you should be hearing something within a maximum of 3-5 business days.  Please note that it may be sooner depending on the complexity of your issue and the current volume of posts.  Thanks for your continued patience as we work to assist all of the customers who have reached out to us on this forum.

[Allan-BBY Community Connector · Accepted solution]

Hi POdbyBB,

I apologize for any miscommunication surrounding  the repair of your Samsung DVD player and I can assure you I would be just as upset if it was me in the described situation. When a customer requests us to repair a product covered by a manufacturer’s warranty, we ship the product to one of our regional service centers. In most cases, we are an authorized servicer for products under manufacturer’s warranty; if we are not, we would then send the product directly to one of the manufacturer’s service centers to do the repair.

When a customer requests that Best Buy® repair their product, they should be required to sign a service order disclaimer, which states that the customer agrees to pay for any service/estimates (including diagnostics and other charges) that are not covered by a manufacturer’s warranty or service contract. A ‘no problem found’ diagnosis is not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty or a service contract, and the $34.95 fee was associated with the cost of diagnosis.

Still, it doesn’t sound like this was explained appropriately or thoroughly when spoke with our store representatives, and I am disappointed that they were unable to resolve this matter to your satisfaction while you were in the store, especially if you were continuing to experience problems with the product. I would like to try and get you resolution in this matter so I am sending you a private message. 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,
Allan
Community Connector
Best Buy® Corporate

[POdbyBB]

Allan,

Again, thanks for your reply and attention to this matter.

I understand your explained procedure for dealing with repairs.  However, our issue arises out of Best Buy's claim, from our initial interaction, that this would be sent out to Samsung itself.  I never agreed to have Best Buy or any of its authorized facilities look over this, and I was under the guise that Samsung itself was in charge of any repairs.  Imagine my shock when I call Samsung to complain about their bad repair and unfair charges and I'm informed they never even looked at my DVD player. 

I don't think Best Buy should be authorized to speak on the behalf of other companies in such a manner.  Had we not discovered the real trajectory of my DVD player, Best Buy would have succeeded in damaging Samsung's goodwill and my loyalty to that brand. 

Again, I hope we can resolve this issue swiftly through our private communication, and I suggest that your company's employees be encouraged to better explain any policies or service agreements they enter into on behalf of Best Buy.  It seems that customer-employee interaction is a big issue for this forum.  Better training of employees on the potentially actionable ramifications of their actions is needed. 

Thanks.