Best Buy Service Plan Warning

Thats not true at all. The service plan covers a number of things. I work for an Independant company who reviews extended warrentes and Best Buy is one of the best. On average most things are covered, Your lithium-ion battery for one as well as normal wear and tear. The hard drive in your comp suffers from that and that is one of the top things to go on your comp. as well as your cleanings on your tv. I'm sorry you had a bad experience and maybe they did lie but the majority of the time the Extended warrenties are a good idea.

surely if you work for a company that sells warantees, you'd be able to spell the work 'warranty'....!??!?! ;)

Ironic that you knock someone for spelling errors when you can't spell things correctly yourself.

Everyone, let me tell you my story. February 22nd '05 I went to best buy to take in my 17 inch flat panel monitor because only after having it for about 7 months it started to flicker, my screen shifted(couldnt adjust it back), my "auto adjust" stopped working ever since one of the buttons fell off, and the surrounding buttons stopped working as well. This was the second time taking in this monitor with this service plan. First time I had several dead pixels and some guy did not even check out my monitor and just told me to get a new one. My monitor was originally $500 but best buy at the time did not have any similar ones at the time so i had to settle for a monitor that cost $350--they said that if i didnt want to lose my service plan, that i would have to stick with the same brand--samsung. anyways, so i have this monitor, take it in for the second time this time they said they will need to send it in to the service center--that was totally ok with me. He said that i would get my monitor in no longer than 6 weeks. *let me make a note that I know the button falling off is a physical damage so i didnt want that fixed even though all the other butoms were just manufactured poorly and were a lil defective* 3 weeks later, i called bestbuy to check the status. they just said "awaiting repair"--no one had any updates. 5th week--still same message cam up on their computer and they tell me that no updates have been made since febuary 24th??? OKAY, right? now i am just starting to get a little worried. its 6th week expecting to get my monitor back. I called, none of the geek squad team knew what was giong on with my item, so they said for me to call back every 2 days because they should have updates and also that they will call the service center personally and call me back the same day--this happend about 4 times and i still hear no reply. half way into 7th week, i am frustrated now, FINALLY FOR THE FIRST TIME since i turned in my monitor, it was a thursday,i get a call from a manager of geeksquad telling me that a lady froma service center was going to call me back that day with what was going on. NO ONE CALLS, i call that manager back, he said he will call her and tell her to call me again-he says wait till tomorrow. NO CALL. so i call best buy corporate. the customer service person calls the service center and i tells me that "there are physical damages done to you monitor so your monitor has not began repair. There is an estimate of $181. when you pay, they will begin repair" I was like WHAT?!?!?!?! What physical damages--the button missing, if so i didnt care about that. the mans tells me its a "Crakced/Broken Front Case of the monitor" Hmm what is that? i asked. "its the front framing of ur monitor. OMG! I am so mad now. i had taken such good care of my monitor there shouldnt be any damages like that. Of course i denied the charges and the man escalated my service item to a high priority item and filed paper work saying the damages were done during the shipping process. Now, he tells me that THAT SAME LADY FROM SERVICE CENTER will call me and talk to me about something. she never called. also the mand told me that for me to call him back 2 days later becauase by then the service center shoudl have the paper work and have a solution to what was going to happened to my monitor. **i remember the best buy geek squad telling me that if the repair is too expensive, that they would probably terminate the repair and have be get a new one for the amount i have--$500** I thought, ok maybe i can finally get something worth the same amount i bought my Original-first monitor for--especially since the customer service guy also said the similar thing. I have been on the phone with them at least 40 min. at a time 3-4 times a week--not because i am a lil annoying pest, but becuase they wanted me to call back a lot. its 8.5 weeks, i still hear nothing from them. I really need my monitor now--so inconvenient becuase i need to work and do a LOT of school things on my computer. its so hard to goto school/public areas to use computers because i have conflicting schedules. i am sooooooooo impatient now, that i call and what they finally tell me is that they are going to replace my monitor with another used but repaired monitor...that may sound decent but not good enough for me especially with all the problems they caused for me. i told them, as a sonsumer, i have personal preferences as to what i want to purchase for myself and and all that junk becuase it is true. they should be like...okay we broke ur monitor, we will give you something else thats used and repaired... i was very upset at the whole thing so i called the superviser of cutomer relations and basically what he told me that once the store receieves the monitor back, that they can decided on whether they want to give me a new one or not if they feel it is not good enough. So i called best buy yeterday, and the manager didnt even know what was going on. He looked up my records and had no indications of anything. He said he'd call me back and havent heard from him yet and still no sign of my monitor--or the used different one they are supposed to give me. I basically did alll the communicatin with them, one person called me during this entired time to let me know that someone was going to call me, and i have been told 10 different things, and the corporate is saying that they have no control--its all up to bestbuy store now, but they dont even know what is going on. after this, i am NEVER going back. i feel you all.

So I have the same problem. My ipaq is broken, I bought the service plan. The difference is that I didn't break my ipaq, but I have been trying to get it fixed since LAST SEPTEMBER. They are horrible. I never will buy anything form Best buy again.

Well all you guys - I FEEL YOU! I used to work for BestBuy, I worked for 6 months in the computer department. My manager would all tell us to lie to customers and me beung an honest person wouldn't do that. so after getting sick of people coming in and yelling at me because some "Other Employee" told them something besides the truth I finally decided it was almost time to quit. Before I did quit I bought many things on the discount that was the only good thing about working there (Unles you like nasty managers yelling at you for every computer you sell because you didn't force them to get a service plan that they don't need and force them to get AOL and lie like the others and say it "Comes" with this package.) Well you may think employees get bonuses for selling the stupid service plans OH NO they sure don't but the managers do. Anyway so I bought a laptop from there and so far i have brought it in for repair twice! for the same thing! I got a Platinum service plan because I liked the guaranteed 7 day turnaround time but the last time it took 2 weeks!! I got a gift card for my troubles but now my laptop is breaking with the SAME thing and I'm gonna have to go deal with the retards that I used to work with - I hate BestBuy!

I got a Sony Vaio laptop about in March 2004. It worked fine until about a couple days ago. I used it in the morning about three days ago, but when I tried to power it on in the afternoon that day, it refused to boot up. Well, I was all giddy because my Mom got a "Service Plan" for my laptop, even though I was reluctant. I took it in to Best Buy, and they said they'd ship it off to get it fixed. Three days ago, I got a call from Best Buy's service center, telling me that my laptop could not be repaired, because a quarter ( a coin) was found in the RAM slot, and they said that would have caused the mobo to short out, so this was their cop out so they didn't have to do the repairs, but they said they'd replce it for $1400 ( the laptop's retail was 1300 a years ago, so that's the silliest thing I ever heard). Anyway, I feel like I was totally screwed, and I have been googling to find some kind of solution. First off, the laptop has never been opened. Wouldn't it be defective if a foriengn object could get into the laptop without it being open. What are the possibilities of a quarter shorting out my motherboard. How can they even prove that I got a quarter in there? What are my chances of some kind of suit? What the hell would they have blamed it on if the quarter had fallen out. The quarter wasn't physically damaged or anything. Don't I deserve an actual explanation of what happened to the mobo?I I really don't know what the hell to do? I'm really good at throwing tantrums. But am I just defenseless in this case? I hope this is readable. I have about three million jumbled thoughts in my head right now. I'm going insane. Any help appreciated I am typically anti-litigation, but I cooonsider that an option right now. I never put any type of foreign object into the laptop, and never opened it. As far as they know, I could have been framed.

I've bought extended service plans from reputable companies before and have been burned on all of them except Sears. NEVER AGAIN. I'll repeat. I'll NEVER BUY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY AGAIN. It's not worth the hassles. My situations were not unlike those mentioned above, some differences. Bottom line, service reps are courteous, but patronizing and they sound as if they have the situation in hand when all the while they are just note takers and "We'll get right on it" people. They make it sound as if you are the most important person to them, but ater the call ends, the notes go in the trash. If you want to hear my story, email me at chieft2@hotmail.com for specifics. If you are thinking about the extended warranty, DON'T DO IT.

all of you suck best buy is a great company and stands behind there product. you guys are to stupid to read the fine print!!!

extended warranty what is that best buy offers a performance service plan not a WARRANTY!!!

You are all as ignorant as it gets. I work as tech support for novartis. But I know what tech support involves. The probability of you telling the truth about the quarter thing is very slim. AND BUY service MFR legalities and expenses. Geek Squad is a robust tech support machine... entangled in the retail environment where customers are always causing disasterous situations.DONT THINK ABOUT LAW SUITS. Its stupid. Its not there fault there was a quarter in your computer...Could of been framed? Who the heck cares about you and your issue? It doesnt mean anything to techs, they still get paid hourly. Its probably more of a hassle to rip you off then get it done,

I took my laptop to get repairs for a band of dim pixels on the right side of the screen and the CD/RW drive that NEVER worked right in the first place, but never had time to get repaired (school.) Never burned cds right, and either 'coaster'ed them or the cd will play 5 tracks out of 10 (example). I brought it in, two weeks later, its shipped back, and guess what? Now instead of a band of pixels, i have 7 dead pixels, and the cd drive wasn't replace on the excuse that 'there was no media to burn in the drive' Well, thanks for the heads up, bro. Since i Design with my laptop, i need those extra pixels working, no matter how tiny...and i especially need that burner. Back to the loophole with you HP laptop...

I've had nothing but good experiences with my service plan. My laptop quit on me and I sent it to them, the said it would be abou 3-4 weeks, but it too about 5-6. It was good that I had the plan, as my motherboard crapped out. My power able also broke so I went there and was mailed a new one in about 2 weeks. When the fan broke on my laptop, I took it in again and they fixed it in a little over a week and overnighted it to me. They've been helpful everytime.

Imagine this: You are a small business owner. You start a small business selling digital cameras. You choose to sell only the brands you find to be the best. You make an average of $20 on every camera you sell. In the first year you sell about 3 cameras a day. That's a little over 1000 cameras that year. Now, that next year someone brings back a camera. They say they had it out in the summer heat and now the lense won't zoom anymore. It's still under warranty so you call the manufacturer but they tell you that your customer is going to have to pay to ship it to them and pay for a $40 estimate, and that most likely the damage is due to humidity which is not included under the manufacturers warranty terms (ie. manufactueres warranties are limited to "defects in workmanship", humidity has nothing to do with workmanship.) Figuring how much margin the camera has, you realize that you would have to sell 20 cameras to make up for giving the customer a new one... but in the interest of satisfying an already angry customer you figure, "this is a one time deal, I'll go ahead and eat this one." This happens 50-100 times over the next year. Some customers products are in the manufactuers warranty, some aren't. Either way they're going to have to pay, going to have to lose their camera for a long time, they're going to be inconvenienced, and it makes you look bad for selling what the customer believes is half rate equipment. In the interest of your business, you have to stop giving away cameras after the 3rd or 4th time this happens. What do you do about this? 100 unsatisfied, frustrated customers every year? So, in the interest of maintaining customer loyalty you devise a plan! You think to yourself... "If I can offer the customers my own warranty on MY terms, I can really help keep them satisfied!" You figure, "if I charge $40-50 for my warranty, I can offer the customer the best coverage for not just one year but 3 or 4 years!" You realize that if 3 or 4 out of every 10 customers go with your warranty, and 1-2 out of every 20 need to use it, you'll minimize your losses and maybe even operate at a bit of a profit... not only that, but you'll have the most satisfied customers in your city. You decide that your terms will include everything except for physical damage to the camera, because you realize people would take advantage of this and total the camera near the end of their warranty just to get a new one. But heat, humidity, dust, normal wear and tear... you'll cover that... Heck, you'll even throw in free replacement batteries when their lithium batteries stop holding a charge. Now you have a system to warn the customers that while you sell the best products, there are a number of things that can happen to them and that you saw about 5-10% of them have problems last year, but for a really nominal fee ($60/4yr=$15/yr), you can guarantee that customer that they will get their camera repaired or get a new one unless they actually physically crack the thing or its been submerged in liquid. Sounds like good business to me! Some people have lost sight of what these service plans are about. I've worked at one of these stores in the past and have seen that at a minimum, we process 300 digital camera services a year. At the store I worked at, nine times out of ten we just gave the customer a new camera if something went wrong with it because repairs would cost the company more than the value of the camera. We regularly gave customers free replacement batteries, and on camcorders with moving parts we did full cleanings as often as they wanted (recommended once a year). Two of those cleanings would've cost the customer the price of the service plan. The battery alone was 75-100% the cost of the plan. On sony cameras, the batteries cost $60, so did the service plan for most of them. Those of you who've had issues with this... if I still worked for one of these companies I'd apologize on their behalf. But here's the thing, unfortunately the service techs were not well educated at the store you returned it to... but 9 times out of 10 at the stores I've worked at, if the customer is polite and understanding about it... they get what they want. If they get angry, flustered, and start screaming at people, they rarely get anything. It's in the terms and conditions of your plan that you must "provide a non-threatening environment" in order to recieve service on a product. You have to realize, maybe only one out of every 50 sales employees are robots. The rest of them are just like you, they have feelings like you, and have to do what their boss says like you. They go home to a wife, a husband, a mom, a dad, a boyfriend/girlfriend every night. They have friends and people who they love and care about just like you. To be so rude and inconsiderate to these people who make *maybe* minimum wage and don't even get recognition or comission for their sales is so inhumane. At the store I worked at, most of us had helping the customer in the forefront of our mind. I sold just as many $150 cameras as I did $500 cameras with no regard to cost whatsover... just what would best suit the customer. To be treated with disdain and hostility by customers was always frustrating and I'll go ahead and be man enough to say it for all the people who cussed you out in this blog... IT IS REALLY HURTFUL to be there for the sole purpose of helping the customer, not making any money on your sale, SHARING OUR knowlege of product, and be shut down or questioned or mistreated. As a person, you feel like your being taken advantage of when you spill out a load of knowledge, then start to recommend other things you think will be of value to the customer and have them cut you off and be rude. Even if you don't want the stuff, at least listen to what they're recommending to you. YOU'RE the one who benefits from it, certainly not the employee. It'd be one thing if we actually got paid comission for putting up with you, but we're simply willing to share our knowledge and experiences with you for whatever hourly rate we received. The reason why most Best Buy/Circuit/Future employees are college age is because people with rent/morgage/families can not afford to work there unless they're a manager. Plus, no offense, but in almost every situation we know a hell of a lot more about technology than most 35+ because we were raised on it and are interested in it. And like everyone else on here, if you really know so much about this stuff, buy it online. Don't bother the poor people who work in these stores to pay their way through college with your bad attitude.

The Best Way to take advange of it is keep the product in good condition. I bought a 40 gig color ipod for $499 and service plane for 49.99. After over a year now I told them that is skiping songs. got a store credit got a new ipod video 60 gig. for 399

I find it interesting that the only real pro Best Buy comments were written by "anonymous".

I bought a Gateway laptop from Best Buy and have had to have the keyboard repaired for the third time. Each time they send the laptop out for repair I am left without it for 3-4 weeks. That is annoying. Anyway, the third time I got the laptop back it was repaired with a refurbished keyboard and it is in very poor quality. All the keys are loose and sound like they may fall off at any moment and the right side of the keyboard bounces when I'm typing. I can't wait for a key to fall off so I can bring it back in for a new board. Thank God I purchased the service plan because Gateway keyboards stink and Best Buy stinks for repairing it with a used part!!!

Most service plans state that if they fail to fix an issue after three tries, you get a new device. Check yours.

What does it matter if someone lists their name or not. I could tell you my complete name and it might as well be anonymous. If you googled my name right now you'd come up with about seven thousand entries on an NCAA football player. I also work at a Best Buy retail loaction. I am in the Geek Squad. I work there because I have to pay for my car, insurance, and school. I have been employed in the Geek Squad for nearly 2 years. For the most part I enjoy my job, but it never fails that I always have that one customer a day that just doesn't get it. I can honestly say that I am as honest to my customers as possible. If you tell them the truth the first time there isn't something they can come back and lash at you about later. As for the original poster. It might have been that the sales employee was a somewhat new hire. If this is the case he might have honestly thought that the service plan covered the physical damage. I have to correct approximately 1 employee a month about this issue. So yes, he lied to you, but he could have been telling you the truth, from his perspective. I apologize for all the bad experiences that everyone has been having... As for the quarter issue, there is NO reason any of the techs would purposely damage your computer. When it came back and you were told that it was not repairable due to the quarter i'm sure that there was some raised voices involved. I don't know anything about your family... if you have any younger siblings or maybe a cousin that might have been around you laptop armed with a quarter... it's all possible. What I do know is that being in the Geek Squad, the thing I hate the most is being the middle man. I could name off all my certifications if I felt like it would matter on an online board... fact is that it doesn't. I know that I can repair any computer set in front of me. That's my job. Unfortunately, Best Buy's SOP for some computers ties my hands. The only laptop hardware we're allowed to replace, in store, is the hard drive. Even things as simple as RAM has to be sent out. From there, we have nothing to do with it until it gets back to the store and we call you. I know most of this is moot, and that a lot of people here have already made up their mind to "Never shop at Best Buy again." I'd just like to add that all best buy stores operate as seperate entities. The way they train their employees, to just the general staff that might be at the precinct at the time. I know that my precinct has a few people in it that are not the best with computers. I can always find something for them to do that doesn't involve repairing them, however. As for everyone that reads this and has had a bad experience, I apologize. I also hope that you have a better experience if you ever come to a Best Buy store again. Also, as a side note. If you happen to have a "Stand Alone" Geek Squad store in your area, you truely have the best chance for a good repair experience (With a computer) there.

Hey... I work for Best Buy, and I know that is not covered... It is on the service plan... and even though the sales person didn't told you... you had the terms and conditions with all the descriptive crap... in front of you.. You should have read it before you misuse your phone. AND.. It is a service plan... not an inssurance

The service plans are also only good for one replacment after the original manuf warrantee runs out. The sales people will lead you to believe a 3 or 4 year plan will last 3 or 4 years no matter what happens.

Best Buy's Geek squad personnel employ deceptive tactics in order to coerce customers into paying for repairs that are actually covered under the Best Buy, prepaid, service plans THE SERVICE PLAN I purchased Best Buy's service plan for my notebook computer several years ago Recently took it in for repairs ...battery failing ...plastic busted off USB port ...and other minor stuff After several weeks. Repair people called and said there was "liquid in the computer" and that it would cost $700+ to repair it. Arriving at the Best Buy store Brandon Wolf informed me that the service plan was void This was confirmed by his manager Charles Noling They said the liquid had voided the service plan We powered up the computer and everything seemed operational as before THE MYSTERY LIQUID (note: there is no liquid in the computer) We turned computer upside down ...no liquid??? We removed the battery pack ...peeked inside ......no liquid??? I requested a screwdriver to open case ...was informed by Mr. Wolf that this would void (the already voided) service plan ......hmmmmmmmm Requested that they open the case ...Mr. Wolf said they were not authorized to open the case ......hmmmmmmmm and recommended that computer be sent to the repair people and they would open the case and photograph the mysterious liquid CONTRADICTION The service plan covers "product failure due to dust, heat, humidity and normal wear and tear" Later in the service plan it contradicts itself saying "This plan does not cover repairs caused by ....condensation ..or.. spilled liquids....etc.." I would think that condensation could be caused by humidity which is covered under the plan????? and of course spilled liquids would be covered under the concept of normal wear and tear (especially a notebook computer) I then proposed that they repair parts not affected by the mysterious liquid ........like the piece of plastic missing from the USB port ........or the ageing battery They said that these defects could be caused by the mysterious liquid ....ha ha ha GOING HOME .... Started to leave with computer. Mr. Wolf informed me that I would required to sign something to get out the door ...The something I was required to sign, said that "I was happy with the repairs" .......ha ha ha .......I declined .......Finally scratched out that clause, and signed it ...........Note: there was no mention of liquid or $700+ on the form Arrived at the stores exit and was informed by security that ...they needed keep the piece of paper that I signed -- LOL ......finally we compromised and they made a copy At home, I called Best Buy's Corporate Headquarters - talked to Karen (no name). She confirmed the position taken by the store personnel i.e... that they would not repair parts related or unrelated to the non-existent liquid, she generously offered to transfer the call the her manager ...click click and was put in to the infinite phone queue ......LOL

I agree with what people are saying about the service plan and that the employees lie. My husband has a daughter that works at best buy and got gift certivicate after she would lie to the customer about the sevice plan. This was a pertect job since her careeris lieing.

I have a PSP plan. My HP laptop's LCD flickers on and off, pink lines shoot across the screen, and colors invert. It has been sent in two times for the exact same problem, yet it hasn't been fixed. I brought it back today for the 3rd time, and it is going through diagnostics. The LCD is still bad, and either Best Buy wants to push me around until my plan expries (August 18th), or they just don't want to pay to have the whole LCD replaced. I called corporate to make my complaint, and a technician is supposed to be calling me in a few days to let me know if a replacement is an option since they can't seem to fix it. This problem needs to be rectified somehow.

Fuck Best Buy

First of all, I work at Best Buy in Canada. Ok, I know some people always get screwed on service plans/extended warranties, no one always get the service that they want, but think it's not like the service techs are just sitting on their hands looking at your one piece of equipment. They're taking so long to respond because they're busy!! That means they're fixing a lot of crap. Let's face it, electronics aren't build to last. If they were supposed to be perfect and never have any problems with them, why any companies make any money??? NO! If my 20gb iPod didn't crap out, I would have never bought a 30! Or if our tv's were made to last forever, no one would go and buy a new flat panel tv. It's an industry to make money so the more you buy, the more they make and keep on making stuff that looks good for a while, but then will degrade. It's business. As far as service plans go, from Best Buy in Canada, I know we cover a lot more than the one in the US. From working the home theater department, I have to deal with really high prices for the performance service plan, but honestly, I would not buy a single tv we have in our showroom without it. Obviously, like anyone else, I only take notice of the bad things and not the good, but I hear and see a lot of crap happening to our tvs. We've had floor models go up in smoke. But having a friggin performance guarantee that says your tv will look the same now as it will 4 years from now and if it doesn't we'll fix it within 60 days or give you a new one. Someone said earlier that only about 5-10% of people really need to use it, but imagine if those 5-10 people out of 100 get their 50" plasma replaced, sure 4 years costs $1000, but they get a $5000 for free!! Yes, like any business, it's trying to make money, but would Best Buy be so successful in the States and now Canada that it would really be selling a completely bogus cash grab to "screw" customers!! Word of mouth is the best advertisement and if everyone got screwed by the Best Buy service plan, it would not be sold anymore because no one would buy it. But obviously, it still is so there are happy customers out there that have been extremely happy with the service that they get and tell their friends. In sales, I'll try to get you to buy the service plan, but I won't force you. It's not like I'm gonna go cry in the corner if I don't sell it, it's your money, but it's not a waste. I've seen the prices go up, 5 and 3 years drop to 4 and 2 so the frequency and the cost is going up in servicing. So yes I respect everyone's opinion, but really, if you don't get the service plan, have fun! hahaha, jk, but seriously, get the service, especially with stuff like computers, tvs, iPods, cameras, etc. It's worth it. And if you don't like the service, go ahead complain to a manager, if it's a top store, they'll try to make you happy as best they can.

the only response i have here is DUH!

Good Response "Anfuny". I am a supervisor for Best Buy Canada and I'm not going to flame or bash anyone here but alot of your problems are blatantly obvious as to why they were not covered. If you were all smart enough to read the pamphlet that we provided you with upon the time of the purchase you would realize NO physical damage is covered WHY is this? Think about it: "Johnny bought a iPod from bestbuy and purchased a 2 year performance service plan at the same time of the purchase. A year later Johnny realizes that a new iPod has come out and he would like to con the company into giving him a new one. Johnny then proceeds to take his iPod and throw it at the ground repeatedly, obviously causing some damage to the device. The next day Johnny returned to his local best buy and decided to exchange his iPod for the brand new 5th generation version. Isn't it a good world for Johnny" Hense the reason physical damage is not covered. When it comes down to it, if you are physically damaging your products, what are you doing with them? As I frequently tell customers "It covers almost everything with the exception of you putting your foot through the tv because your favourite sport team just lost". It's within reason people, we are a understanding bunch and if your device legitimately broke down or became disfunctional we will fix it free of charge, replace it, or just give you a gift card loaded with the initial monetary amount that you initially bought your product for. I can assure you hands down that if any of BestBuy's employee's is caught bending the truth to customers they will be immediately terminated regardless of the circumstance. No manager, or supervisor encourages sales reps to lie to customers to sell service, if proven, once again that employee (supervisor or salesperson) will be immediately let go. Just to inform most of your people out there, most electronic devices made within the past 2 years are equipped with a peice of litmus paper that indicates water damage. If any of you have any biology background you will know that only a wet substence, commonly our friend H20 will change the color of litmus paper. I'm going to blatantly spell it out for everyone who stumbles upon this. If you do not like the terms of the service plan, don't purchase it. I personally do not purchase anything, or sign anything without reading it to it's fullest extent. I can't force anyone to read it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, this is not my rule this is simply what the company policy states.

best buy sucks because i feel as if i am being stalked by the employees when im just browsing, yet when i actually want to buy something and need them to get it for me they dissapear. bastards

In October of 2006 I went to best buy for service on my Cd player and the guy gave me a ham sandwich instead.

I've had mostly nothing but luck with my service plan with best buy. Got the first one about 4 years ago. Hard drive died about 6 months in, walked in and they told me to get a new computer, about 8 months after that the hard drive died on me, so took it in, and two days later they had a new one in. then a few months later battery died out, and they shipped out a new battery. All goes good for about a year, and then I start getting some power supply problem, take it in and they ship it off for about two weeks (only bad part). It comes back, still not fixed, so i take it back and they ship it off again (another two weeks). So i take it in again, and they gave me a new laptop. The only down side is that I had to get a new service plan when they replaced the computer. (never explained that when i got it) well it's about 6 months later and my hard drive has been acting up, so i'm hoping it dies before the manfatures warrent goes out :-D

yeah if you have a laptop or pc going out to the "Service Center" good luck. They would hire anyone there that knows how to turn a screw driver. A buddy of mine worked for one of Best Buy's service centers and he tells me stories about all the dumb bastards that would work on some of these laptops. they would send them out not working, missing screws etc etc . there were only some techs there that actually did the job right, but from what he told me they would get in three to four houndred in a week(laptops). So now you have two problems dumb bastards that dont know how to actually repair a laptop and a sh*t load of laptops to work on. them actually repairing your laptop the first time is like winning the lottery Now the have this PSP that covers accidental damage...well the only thing is that if you crack your screen or trip on you power cord and rip of your dc jack and mess up your MB, or you spill liquid on it...you can only claim that damage twice then your 1000 dollar psp is out the window. best buy sucks

I had a platinum service plan. I was just informed that they discontinued it because they couldn't guarantee the turn-around. Nobody informed me of this. Until after my laptop was shipped off for a week and a half (supposed to be back in 7 days) and it wasn't even repaired. It took them a week in Atlanta to determine that they couldn't work on it because I have the platinum plan. SOooo back into the store, (keep in mind i'm traveling, and now have to drive back to durham nc to get my computer that I think is fixed.. they just called and said your computer is back) computer has to go to geek squad city. I explain that I have a platinum plan that I paid extra for, and I want it fixed NOW... keep in mind all i need is the fan replaced, and they won't do it in the store. So "off to geek squad city" a week goes by, i go back into the store, and to check on it, and I'm told that it has been routed to a technician, and he will should be looking at it shortly. 2 days later i get a call that my laptop is in the store... never been sent. They can't get the shipping label to send it to GSC, and that is required in order for them to track my laptop. SO... now we are at 3 weeks, nothing has been done to my laptop. Doesn't this sound messed up. I call corporate, and they say its out of their hands. I talk to the manager, and he says... you know what it feels like to have your hands tied... So basically... the PSP is now worthless... shouldn't they have sent everybody who bought the PSP a letter saying that it was worthless now, (and in my case, causing me more hassel, and refunded our money?) I think we should talk to someone about a class action to refund everyone who bought a PSP that is still in effect, because it was misleading, and does nothing.

I tried to purchase an HP laptop (pavilion DV 9000t) online with a bank card that didn't have a large enough daily limit and my order was rejected. Fine, Okey Dokey. I'll use another, and this time by phone to get it right! Well, I did so and the chap in New Delhi (Or wherever) couldn't tell me on the spot if THIS card went through. "Check your e-mail the following day before 10 P.M. and see if it went through," he tells me. It didn't. Ok. I called my bank; "Yes, they said, HP put a hold on your account for (unspecified amount"). No problems here. Right-o. Rang back HP. Stuffy woman on line: "WE did try to contact you you know!" She said in extremely officious tones dripping with scathing contempt for my stupidity. "We left two e-mails AND called you twice!" Left unsaid but implied in her tone; I was being told that naturally I was to stay at home for two days so they could call to see if I indeed ordered what I, well, quite obviouosly, ordered. SO! It was MY fault! I did actually receive one e-mail at 9:49 P.M. telling me that my order was processed but unconfirmed and was to call them back to confirm, but by the time I received this e-mail the service department was closed and HP killed my order themselves! I rang my bank next day, told my story, and was informed that HP had my credit amount under hostage and to call them to get my money released. (The bank did say that the amount would be available immediately after being released by HP.) Miracle of miracles!, the money was released the SAME DAY! Well, I thought, I guess I set a fire under their bums! So! Armed with truth and justice, I reordered: over the internet, mind you, no fool I! It worked! Next day dawned with a nice new e-mail; everything was hunky-dory and right in this world. I will get my stuff in two shipments, wrote my saviour. One which I received today. Yeah! Good deal! Right? WRONG! In this shipment were a backpack, car adapter and two year warranty. The bad part is, I must send in the warranty within ten days WITH THE SERIAL NUMBER OF THE LAPTOP WRITTEN ON IT! Here's the problem; I won't receive the laptop itself in less than seventeen days. Do the math. This warranty cost $267.49 and WILL BE VOID. I rang New Delhi again and was told that all I had to do was ring when I get my laptop and they will override this stupidity. I think I will go lie down now. I don't believe them anymore, and a nervous breakdown is entirely possible. God help us all. I know ordering a custom machine is an arduous task, but, being a computer tech I thought I could handle it. But I can't, and neither can you until service people are hired that can handle the tasks given them.

I bought a Denon stereo receiver at Best Buy for $200. It was a great deal - it was reduced because it was a floor model, and half off the reduced price because it was a year old. I also bought a service plan. The volume control knob didn't work, so I brought it back for repairs. They eventually returned it - but now the other big knob didn't work. I suspected they might have just removed the knob from one side and moved it to the other. So I brought it in again. After a few weeks, they told me they could not repair it, and I would have to exchange it. I thought it odd that they couldn't replace a broken potentiometer. But I went in to exchange it. THEN they told me that, in order to exchange it for an equivalent model, I'd have to pay the price difference between what I paid, and the current cost of a new model. Hundreds of dollars. If I'd known that, I wouldn't have gotten the service plan in the first place. They broke my receiver, then they can't fix it, they can't replace it, and they don't know if they can give it back!

I bought a PC laptop at Best Buy a few years ago for about $1400.00 along with a service plan. Then, earlier this year, I brought the laptop in for repair because it was overheating and the battery was not holding charge(couldn't use it on battery power for more than an hour). Well that first time, they simply replaced the battery and called it a day. That didn't fix the problem with the low battery life. Well, let me tell you, I brought it in 5 times after that and they kept replacing the battery each time... which again did nothing. Actually along with a couple of those times, they replaced the keyboard and the dvd drive(which I had no complaints about). Anyway, the 7th and final time I brought it in, the technician actually talked to me and understood that replacing the battery was not doing anything. So he said, well we should qualify it under the lemon law clause. After a few days, they got back to me and had me come in to pick out a new laptop. I picked a $2500.00 Apple Macbook Pro. When I brought it to the front, I fully expected to pay the difference between the $2500 price tag and my old laptop's price of $1400.00. Guess what... they adjusted the price of the Mac and gave it to me without me paying a dime. Umm... I think you can consider me a fan of the Best Buy warranty and service. Thanks Best Buy, you're the Best! Uh, buy... err... : )

I bought a psp. i i only had it for like 20 days my screen broke and i took it back and they would want to replace it because they said the plan can cover it i told her but the clerk told me if anything happens to the psp like the screens gets broken take it to any best buy stores and we will raplace you a another one. I went to BB and they wouldnt replace it. and it was less than 30 warranty and i had the 2 yr warranty so they should be able to changed it if it was like 20 days that i got it . So BB Fuck you and your warranty that doent even cover anything .

EMPLOYEE NR 311005. Best Buy is great. Just because some Idiots dont learn properly what the BBY service plan is about, and they lie to you , does not mean that it is BBYS fault. I quit working in BBY because i moved to germany, I am back to the states now , and at any time i would start working there. Get a Grip and leave some good comments about BBY. And next time you complain here , please include the service order number so that i can lookup things and verify or even may be able to help you. Thank you. BBY IS GREAT ! Frank

DOES ANYONE HAVE A COPY OF THEIR BEST BUY PLATINUM PLAN?? I'VE BEEN TRYING FOREVER TO GET THEM TO SEND ME A COPY (I LOST MINE) WITH NO LUCK. IF YOU DO, PLEASE EMAIL ME A SCANNED COPY LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED A FAX NUMBER TO SEND IT TO. IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. MY COMPUTER IS IN FOR REPAIR FOR THE 4TH TIME...

My history with their service plans is about 70% good, 30% bad. Please bear with me, but to make a long story short, the good outweighs the bad and I will still trust them - also note, I am a seasoned veteran of A/V components, computers, A+ certified, and in the computer and A/V industries for 20 years, and am not an employee of Best Buy. Only a fastidious customer. :) First the bad news and I will say upfront this was a unique situation. I bought a laserdisc player in 1997. Demo floor model as it was their only one left. I bought the plan, of course. It kept failing to switch to side 2. Three of the 4 repairs said "reseated arm and cleaned" and other stuff to that effect. The 4th trip, in 2001, just said "Cleaned". They were probably trying to push me aside, but given how the laserdisc format was LONE GONE after 1998, I don't think they could be held responsible if the entire platform disappears. Laserdisc was on its way out. I'm not as miffed as I possibly could have been. But it was at the very end of the warranty period when I took it in for #4, and the final 2 repair trips were worrisome on my part because the standard was dead and the brand I had bought didn't treat the LD format as their lifeblood. Again, a unique situation so I'm not going to lambaste Best Buy on this. Best Buy, with scanners, has been a JOY to use. I no longer use flatbed scanners, but between 2000 and 2006 they honored their warranty EVERY TIME - which I've had to use for 2 different brands, for 3 conditions (1 was a mechanical fault and the other 2 were due to the clear plastic discoloring from heavy use; clear plastic will fog up over time.) Having shown a clear description of the problem to the front techies, they complied. (some stores are more stringent about qualifiers than others, but I do bring proof to show I am not trying to cheat them.) Oh, I also had a PDA bought in 2000 and started failing in 2002. I had to send it in because it kept resetting on me. Took a bit over 2 weeks, but they had put in a new logic board AND battery. They followed through here. On a digital camera (2003), I sent it in in 2006 -- they had to replace the lens gears - this involves the actual sensor too. The replacement unit had a faulty sensor. It would be fun to know who tested it the first time, but oversights DO happen even in the best of times and they were fairly quick to correct it. I wish I could have used a loaner for the interim, but meh. Overall, I'm satisfied. June 2007 - bought a new DVD player. They told me of 2 available service plans. One that covers standard issues; the other for accidental oopsies. I went for the standard issues one as, for DVD players, I really don't play drop-kick football with them. However, I wouldn't be surprised if a standard defect were to occur within 2 years. And for $30, that isn't bad for a $100 player. I just bought a laptop. Knowing what can break in a laptop and how much those components can cost, you bet I'd buy it. Especially how Best Buy is now telling customers, for laptops, they WILL cover accidental damage, I will take them at their word for plonking down $280 on a new laptop costing $700 (on sale). I typically don't abuse laptops (the general idea of being out it for 2~3 weeks would drive anybody nuts, so most people would do everything to protect their investment), but for me their track rating combined with their recent changes/additions has me feeling very confident they would honor it. Plus, the salesperson I talked with yesterday was very much knowledgeable on laptops and not just the upfront sales cue cards either. Oh, if you do use their service - bring in evidence (printouts of the defect) and take pictures of the equipment in its current condition. While the customer should always be considered right, preemptively disproving anything on your part helps. Anywhere. Thank you for reading.

Hey Dumbass, Your PDA is PHYSICAL DAMAGE. A Manufacturer won't even cover it. How do you know the employee wasn't a new guy. Try Reading the pamphlet that provides ALL the information needed and maybe you won't blame your ignorance on somebody else!!!!

The PSP doesn't cover neglect. You're the moron in this case here!

On April 13, 2003 I ordered a plasma TV with a four year extended warranty from the Best Buy Store in North Olmsted, Ohio. I was on a six month travel order with the Department of Defense. I was assured that it would not be a problem when I received the unit as I was planning a renovation when I returned home to San Diego, CA. The clerk told me the dates did not matter. The TV was delivered September 13, 2003 and the Best Buy installers attached it to my wall hiding all the wires on Sept 17. The TV operated fine until Sept 4, 2007, suddenly the TV went out. Although I thought I still had a few more days left on the warranty, Best Buy informed me that the warranty had started 5 months before I received it. Best Buy prorated the extended warranty refunding me $41.62, which I did not cash. I found out from Samsung that the TV was manufactured in Korea 17 days after Best Buy said the warranty started. Samsung also showed that their 24 month warranty started from the date I received it, Sept 13, 2003. Samsung also shows Sept 13, 2003 as the date of purchase. I went to small claims court November 1, 2007. The judge ruled in my favor. The judge ruled that I am entitled to costs of Best Buy repair service visit of $100 and have the TV fixed or replaced. I am now waiting for the court papers. I can only imagine what Best Buy will do next. I would be happy to help in any way I can for others. There were a number of things they told me that were not true. In one instance I have a witness, my brother a licensed plumber. During my renovation in 2003 their installer told me that I needed to replace my copper plumbing with plastic. Their installer wanted to steal my copper. I wish to help others in anyway I can because I feel Best Buy misrepresented the facts but got caught on a technicality. I was lucky but they said they can fix the TV four times before replacing it. I do not trust them and expect there will be more problems when I should be getting an apology.

I bought a Toshiba flat screen tv at a BB here in winnipeg, three months shy of the expiration of the product performance plan, it blew out. I called the customer service line explaining the sitch, and they gave me a warranty number and told me to take the tv to a local repair shop. the repair shop called me the next day, and said they told BB the diagnosis, a blown screen. BB said repairing the screen wouldn't be economicly feesible. to come in and get a replacement tv. I went to BB with the info, and after nearly an hour of getting my chain jerked, they told me to go back to the local repair shop, get the tv, and bring it back to the store for an exchange. doing so the next day, I did ALL the legwork in this so called plan, lugged the tv back to BB and they jerked me arounf for ANOTHER HOUR before going into the back to get an identical tv. the service rep asked me if i had brought the tv manual with me when i came, to wich i replied no, the tv is almost three years old and had moved since then. so he opens the sealed tv box sitting right there, tears open the bag, removes the manual, and tells me to have a nice day. I have bought houses in less time than bantering with this product plan..... I will never....never. shop at a best buy again. the product plan is a pain in the ass if you have to use it it's overly expensive. the sales people are rude and unknowledgible. whenever i go to my local BB store there are only about 10 customers in the store, and at least 4 of those people are in the customer service line. 3 salespeople will jump on your back the SECOND you ponder an item in the store... and nobody works the customer service area. people complain about wal-mart, I hope they kick bestbuy's ass right out of winnipeg. Dustin Boath

Best buy WILL NOT honor their service plans. Forget the Best Buy Service Plan and forget the Best Buy Product Replacement Plan. It is a 100% revenue generator for Best Buy that will do nothing but turn you the consumer into a sucker. Sales associates will lie and tell you how you're failed / dead product will be replaced without hassle, however should you ever try to make a claim, you will be subjected to scrutiny as if you are a criminal. Following that, you will have to leave your product with them for 6-8 weeks as I was told today. After that time, they will "make a decision" as to weather your product should be "repaired, replaced or no action taken". NO action taken? Thats right. They'll hold your product for 2 months, then return it and say thank you, here is your dead product and we will do nothing for you. I live 6 months out of the year in South America for work, and was also told (at time of purchase) that BestBuy has authorized service centers in South America to repair failed laptops. Another lie. I was told today by a best buy representative, that since I am returning to South America in the next week and can not wait for 8 weeks of their indecision, that I should visit any computer store in South America, and get a letter stating that they are not a best buy authorized service center, at which time best buy will determine what to do. What?!? That is by far the single most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life. Worse, this minimum wage earning, brilliant telephone agent's supervisor stood behind her statement. I've bought over $150,000 in appliances and electronics from best buy in the past 5 years. Most were for our companies real estate rehab projects. Never again will Best Buy get another dollar from us.

I just did a system recovery on my Gateway I bought from Best Buy with a in-home service plan. I did everything right. I tried a Restore to earlier time 3x but it wouldn't take so I used the Gateway Recovery CD and didn't interrupt it. When I was done I had no partition left, no drivers installed for modems among other things. Best Buy said if the CD was corrupt it was Gateways fault, Gateway said that all they could do was wavie the fee for reinstall disc and that Best Buy Performance Service Plan was responsible. I called Best Buy back and they gave me the crap that it wasn't covered under "This plan does not cover conseqential or incidental damages, including but not limited to, loss of use, loss of business, loss of profits, loss of data, downtime and charges for time and effort." So what the heel is that supposed to mean? It means I am screwed by Best Buy again.

It would take me too long to go into why I don't shop at Best Buy, so you'll have to take my word for it. Believe me, I don't hold a grudge against ANY other company but this one. Don't buy anything from Best Buy. They are a bunch of *#&(%^*(*$*!!!

does anyone have an electronic copy of the PSP plan from 2004? I ask because a particular Best Buy was REALLY rude, disrespectful, and unhelpful. I will go to corporate about this by the way.

your dumb you must have bought the basic warranty! when you should have gotten the accidental i believe its around 10-40 dollars more...know what your buying!!!!

Ruth B. is just mad because some new employee was rude and provided horrible service, or he could have been a complete D!ck to the employee. the employee isn't going to take your SH@# they have plenty of other customers to help.

I will never buy anything from best buy again. The extend warranty is a joke, the geeks are no help, rude employees walking around trying not to notice you need help.

My LG Chocolate, which was purchased with a PSP, has been giving me problems. It has become quite a little chore to get this taken care of. I just got off of the phone with them after being given a much anticipated "confirmation number". We'll see how it goes once I show up to Best Buy with this number. I feel like I've been given a bit of the run around from the moment I first brought the phone into the store. I'm told that I will be able to exchange this phone for a new phone of equal value. As of now no one has even checked the phone out. If they exchange it of course I'll be happy but I get the feeling it won't be that simple. On a slightly better note: a few years back I had a Toshiba laptop fail on me. After 4 weeks at the service department I received a call from them telling me it was a "no fix" and I was able to get a brand new laptop (the one I'm typing on now) of equal value. That was quite a long four weeks for me but in the end I would say Best Buy honored their end of the bargain.

does best buy track ipod serial numbers if i bought a product replacement plan 2 years back? i bought 2 and im not sure which ipod went with which brochure number. If im forced to send in my broken ipod and the numbers dont match will they know?

My experience with the BestBuy PSP was good. I bought a 61" RCA DLP HDTV in 2005. Thursday the TV stopped working after 3 1/2 years (I'm glad the PSP for home theaters is 4 years). I called BestBuy and a service call was scheduled for Saturday and the guy showed up as expected. He identified the problem and said it would be about a week to order the parts. Later that day, he called and said BestBuy was going to replace the TV since the repair would cost more than a new unit. I went to my local BestBuy and explained the situation. After some initial paperwork was completed I was told to go back to the TV area and the sales rep would show me which model was the replacement. BestBuy no longer carried RCA so I got a 61" Samsung instead. Went back to customer service, scheduled a delivery date no problem.

it's true, best buy sucks i had a xbox 360 from there and because it was after 90 days, but before a year, they told me i had to deal with microsoft directly. when i bought the 360 from them i specifically asked, if it breaks or gets the red ring of death within the 2 years of the parts and service plan, what happens? and the salesman said if it breaks in the 2 years during the parts and service plan, just bring it back and we'll swap one of the ones in store, with it. those best buy salespeople are liars, only out to make a sale. i wish i had the funds to sue them over this, because i surely would.

Best Buy employees dont make commission, therefore dont care about the sale- The supervisors do because they make bonuses on making their numbers MEANING, the sales guy was either new or was fed lies- Putting that aside, The guy who broke his PDA doesnt sound like the most intelligent person to be taking advice from. nice try though.

"years during the parts and service plan, just bring it back and we'll swap one of the ones in store, with it." Parts and service plan? you mean Product replacement plan? If its a laptop or Tv or something BB offers a SERVICE PLAN- meaning you get them to fix it....if its a game or 360 and you get a REPLACEMENT plan, they will swap it out...Sounds to me like you dont know what your talking about though. My Xbox 3 Ring of Deathed me and they swapped it out (happened a year and a half after) NOT ONLY THAT...but microsoft has a 3 year warrenty on red ring (red ring only i believe)

I purchased an iPod 1 1/2 years ago from Best Buy along with the Performance Service Plan. Three months ago, I removed my iPod from my purse and noticed the upper right hand corner had a crack screen. In spite of the damage, I was still able to play music. Three weeks later, I took it into Best Buy to have it repaired. I was told that there was no apparent customer abuse and it was sent for repairs. Three weeks later, I called to check on the progress and was told that they were waiting for parts from Apple to repair it and that I would get a call when it was ready for pick. Two weeks later, I received the call to pick up my iPod. When I arrived, I was told that it was apparent customer abuse that was not covered by the PSP and that I refused the $226 repair quote. I was NEVER called regarding the repair quote. I was expecting to pick a good, repaired iPod but after two days of charging the battery. The iPod no longer worked and when I went back into the store, I was advised that the PSP does not cover hard drive problems and the warranty was now VOIDED. I had to request a prorated portion on my PSP back. How can you leave a working iPod with only a cracked screen with Best Buy and get it back with no warranty and it doesn't even work anymore. There is absolutely no ADVANTAGE to purchasing a PSP from Best Buy becuase most repairs will not be covered.

buy a REPLACEMENT plan to cover accidental damage, not a service plan

Interesting. I had a 2nd gen iPod with a 2 year service plan (back before Apple took over these plans), and when I broke my iPod (thrown on the ground numerous times until it split in half. When it still worked, I cut the cords and smashed it back together and played dumb), I was given a gift card in the amount of the original gift certificate. So my 15GB ipod with a service plan became a 30GB ipod, a computer game, and a 2-year warranty with Apple (they didn't offer me one from Best Buy). So I have no complaints at all about the program.

retail stores arent "out to screw you", you are acting unreasonable. Everyone should be required to work as a server and retail associate as their first jobs. You would all be embarrassed to see yourselves from the other side. for every 2 horror stories there are 50 good ones, they just dont get on the net and type. retail employees would love nothing more then to take care of our guests. Its unfortunate the guests dont always take care of us. There are many more customers trying to screw stores than stores screwing customers. you broke your toy, get over it.

Like anonymous above me, now you know why we try not to accept physical damage, blame him not the store. He/she is the reason you have problems getting it repaired........

shut up about getting a replacement plan everyone. yeah they are supoposed to fix it. if they are too stupid and cant fix it how is it my fault. they should replace it or learn what the hell they are doing. EVERY salesman says no matter what happens they will fix it. one guy that was there for 10 years told me i could throw it on the ground, jump on it and bring it in and they would give me a new one. i guess being there for ten years is a new person. bulll. they lie and they know they are lying so that they can sell you something you don't need so they can rip you off. so if they are going to rip you off other people should be able to rip the store off

Best Buy used to be my favorite store. Because I have spent so much money there I am a Best Buy Premium Black Tie member. I just bought a 42 inch Panasonic Plasma flat screen TV. I've been trying to get it repaired. The problem is the menu's pop up on their own at random and block the picture. Then the remote control can't close the menu. The menu scrolls through the options on its own. Often things get selected off the menu on their own. For example, it may select "game" for video game when I am watching TV and then the picture goes out. I have the 4 yr service plan. I need to have the main board replaced, but the tech's keep trying other things and don't order the main board. Most visits they just look at the TV, do nothing and they close the trouble ticket. This has been going on for 3 months now. I am up to 9 technician visits for the same problem but no results. Best Buy threatened to start charging me for visits if I keep calling them. In addition, some of the technicians have been rude to me. For example, I have been lecture over not thoroughly reading the instruction manual. Well, I have read the instruction manual from cover to cover and that still isn’t going to fix a defective main board. Other Technicians don’t show up when they are scheduled to. I feel like I’ve been scammed over the Service Plan. I wish I never bought this TV and Blueray DVD. I'm so frustrated. Adam

ahahahah u guys are retarted

I should have read these complaints before I purchased my computer. Bought it on Jan. 2, 09 pick it up after they loaded some programs in it on Jan 4th. Returned it Jan 6th. It never worked Also Purchased their Preimum Protection Plan. Have not heard a worrd back from them. Since they don't return phone calls I have made two visits to at least find out the status of the computer. All I get a run around. To add insult to injury the reason for purchasing a new computer was that when I took my old one in to get it repaired, they wanted $500.00. I am not computer literate so I thought I should buy a new one. Guess what? I am writing my comments from my so called broken computer. I perservered for an afternoon and fixed this thing. Which leads me to the question...why can't the Geek Squad fix my new one. First and last time I will shop Best Buy.

And if you didnt have the plan you would have another broken computer with NO ONE working on it. It may take a little longer but you will prolly get taken care of. You prolly already did get your computer back, and did you come repost your resolution???... hell no....

I had the same problem with my zune, I bought the servce plan because the seller told me that it would work with everything (scratches, drops, cracks, software) except water damage and obvislly missing or robbed. It sounded very good to me. I mean, why would I buy a service plan that only covers stuff like battery and factory defects if I got the same for free from factory warranty and for a whole year. So I though, its worth the pay. And after a month from purchase it drops and got a little crack on the screen protector (not even on the screen), and now, after 3 months it just stop working. I happily took it to best buy to use my service plan for the first time, and what was my surprise, the service plan is not good anymore because that little crack, not even if there´s a software error or the usb cable doesn´t work, that´s bullsht. I think all should sue best buy for all the frauds they´d made just to sell some useless service plans. Is there a lawyer here or someone who knows one??? It´s not fair what they´re doing, we should do something instead of just stop buying there, they´re just playing with us and feel that they´re untouchable, but they´re not....

I am a current Best Buy employee ( a humble cashier). It seems that for a technology store, Best Buy attracts mostly technology ignorant folks. First of all, its not a "Best Buy Extended Warranty", it is a Geek Squad Black Tie Protection Plan. This Plan is available for Cameras, TVs, Ipods/Mp3s, stereos, ect. Lets say you are purchasing a an Ipod, I would definitely RECOMMEND, not force you, to purchase the Geek Squad Gadgets and Gizmos Service Plan (specifacally for Ipods/ Mp3s). I would then explain to you that this plan covers regular wear and tear, dust damage, water damage, heat damage, battery replacement, headphone replacement. Soooo if you go home, and you drop your ipod in the toilet, as long as the device wasnt fully submerged in water, Geek Squad would try to clean out water damage, if they are unable to do so, you'll get a new one or store credit. However, for the idiots who refer to this plan as an "extended warranty" ummm, youre stupid. Extended warranty? HOW THE FRICK DID YOU EVEN COME UP WITH THAT???? You make it sound like insurrance, and for insurance you'd pay out the butthole, not $15.99 measley dollars. Best Buy employees DO NOT make commission off ANY sale. WE reccommend these services to benefit you, the customer. Because you battery WILL suck after a couple of months and your headphones will too. And personally, I would MUCH rather pay 15.99, than 50 bucks to have the battery replaced. These plans cover LOGICAL and LIKELY problems you way experience with these devices, not accidental damage, theft, or any of that other crap customers complain about. COMMON SENSE PEOPLE!!!!

lol this is hilarious. because obviously you werent paying attention to the sales person that was trying to sell u the service plan. theres 3 plans. you shouldve gotten the one that covers everything. because im a manager at best buy and i know what im talking about. so shut up, quit beaing a bitch, go back to best buy, and get a better plan you retard!

retard everyone knows that no warranty or service plan would ever cover accidental damage. read the fucking service plan for yourself before you purchase it, moron.

Wow, lol. lots of angry people? Well i'll tell you something shhhhh it's inside info... I work for BestBuy Canada. I must say I have seen so many angry customers turn happy after the fact I tell them yes we will help. You have to know as well that it is electronics and that is what we sell just that. things do break wear and tear or just junk out thats why we offer a service plan. Now as for people being lied to, honestly? who covers physical damage other than liquid besides dell and hp but your paying big $$$ for thoes lol. I surely hope that you shop by your gut feeling and do consider our service in the future because it does work i am an honest customer now employe. As of lies any of my staff who have lied are written up and then terminated for breach of contract.. actually says customer first on the pins we have on. Repair depo is not a bunch of monkeys with screwdrivers they are trained certified pros who do know what they are doing.. you get bad apples in every bunch folks so really shop with your brain and go buy your gut. how would you like a new camera if yours fails after two years? how would you like a new tv if you have an electrical strike? how would you like the sand cleaned out of your laptop after you get back from over seas? I sure would.. it's worked for me many times. I am in no way saying as an employe you must buy it every time. NOPE use best judgment listen to what we have to say and go from there. http://www.bestbuy.ca/helpsection/EN/psp.asp?pspID=1&logon=&langid=EN&test%5Fcookie=1 Questions? come on in and ask a sales rep this is what they are there for.

For the person who said "retard everyone knows that no warranty or service plan would ever cover accidental damage". Surprise! OfficeMax does and it's branded as Accidental Damage from Handling (ADH).

Here we go....didn't have the time to read all the comments on this, sorry if this has been said. I work at Best Buy in Philadelphia. There are certain protection plans that cover accidental damage (ADH) on certain products, and some that do not. While yes, it sucks your salesperson did not explain this to you, think of all that could go wrong with any piece of technology besides physical damage, insect infestation, etc. A PDA could have magnetic damage, RAM that no longer responds, loading issues, battery issues, pixel blow-out on the LCD screen. Hey, that's all covered, even in an non-ADH plan! I've learned customers have selective hearing. I've been guilty of it too. You hear what you want to hear, but when there is an issue and you are told exactly the same thing as the first time, you swear on your mother that certain information was withheld from you. I stress to all my customers that TV protection plans do not, under any circumstances, cover physical damage. Yet two weeks ago one of my customers came running back in after dropping his TV and threatening me to replace it, because he bought his "warranty." It's almost at the point where I write it on the receipt and Terms and Conditions just so it's officially in writing, and in my handwriting. By the way, Best Buy does not sell "warranties." Best Buy sells protection plans. A warranty is from a manufacturer, and only covers manufacturer's defects. Basically, as I stress to my customers, only if they built the product wrong. THEY DID NOT BUILD IT WRONG. But it is not invincible. You use it, it has wear and tear. Protection plans cover wear and tear. Warranties don't. Bottom line - don't be so clumsy with your equipment. I'm tired of people bitching about Best Buy because they messed up. It's not the store's fault you dropped your PDA. I'm sure the salesman did not withhold information just to make you buy it. He didn't trick you, he didn't con you, he didn't scam you. I promise.

Oh, by the way, if you have questions about the protection plan when presented with the information, JUST ASK. Don't wait for your shyness to bite you in the ass. This is how you learn things, you ask questions. No Best Buy employee will have a problem with answering a question about a protection plan. We want to make sure you understand it.

Don't bother asking a Best Buy employee about the protection plan, they will just lie to you. Always ask for the brochure or something in writing AND READ THE FINE PRINT. They got me when I broke the screen on my Zune, I specifically asked the salesperson if the "protection plan" would cover a broken screen and was told I could throw my Zune on the floor in front of him and they would replace it for me. Guess what happened next?????

Samething happened to us. We brought in a laptop, after 3 times they give you a no lemon law policy . That means you get a brand new computer, but your warrenty ends. Which is retarded because we had 15-18 months left over which they say ends because the fact we got a new computer. What kind of stupid thing is that. We checked it over and the WARRENTY SAID NOTHING ABOUT IT. The fact that they lied to us is the stupid part. We also read all the fine print.

Think about this logically for a second. First of all, did they expressly tell you that if you were given a new computer, the protection would carry to the new one? If they did, they lied. If they didn't, the DID NOT LIE. Why is it that people hear only what they want and place blame when it is their fault? You bought protection on the first particular laptop. It was, as I'm sure you realized when yours died, a smart move. It's like saying with an insurance policy, "The same coverage I have should apply to my son when I die, because I paid for it." WRONG. Your insurance covers you, you die, it pays off. Policy terminated. Your computer died, which sucks, I won't deny that. I've had it happen to me. But still, your plan covered that one laptop. They lived up to their end, by replacing it. Why would you logically think that same plan covers a new computer?

Actually she spelled all of her words correctly. She just used the word "work" instead of "word" in context incorrectly. doy...

To the guy that works at bestbuy in philadelphia not only the store staff sucks and people don't have selective hearing it's just the sales staaf don't care pretty much like the geek squad with home repairs, I'm still waiting on a phone call back that was to take 20 minutes it has now been 3 weeks, I have had 6 diffewrent techs over my house only 1 actually knew what he was doing, bestbuy sucks as far as I can tell fron experience.

You guys do realize that this is not BEST BUYS plan at all? They use a warranty company which is the SAME company that Sears, Wal-Mart and every other retailer out there uses. Even your cell phones use the same company. Got DirectTV? They use the company too! It's not insurance, it's a protection plan. It doesn't guarantee you'll get it fixed. If you wreck your own car you can expect to pay for the damage right? Even with insurance. Read the fine print, take care of your stuff and realize that there are a million other people with the same problem. Companies can get overloaded with repairs.

dont buy best buy anything they r liers on everything. in 2002 i purchaced open box freezer refrigerator that had scratches n some kind of tape resedue all over it. the sales person told me that they would replace all the dammage b4 it was delivered it.. they was late a couple of days but when it was delivered the repairs wasnt repaired. i called the local best buy n they said that they would send repairman to fix it. about 2 weeks later the repair person came out and said he couldnt replace the parts that was damaged and after about 30 minutes scrubbing the tape resedue, he concluded he couldnt fix that either because he was damaging the paint. and notified someone he couldnt fix it. i contacted the store manager and he said it was open containor when i purchased the unit n it was my problem. n he wouldnt take it back and the sales person said he didnt tell me he best buy would fix it because it was open containor. fortunately my sister was with me and heard the whole conversation between the sales person and me. after a long heated discussion because i had witness n convenced him i would sue him he very reluctantly took the unit back and gave me refunf. but if i hadnt had witness he would have refused 2 honor my complaint. i hope someone will file class action suit aginst best buy i would love 2 b part of the suit

i purchased a laptop computer at best buy in the summer of 2008. the sells clerk and the person at the checkout assured that if i purchaced the extended service plan that my computer would b unconditionally repaired or replaced within the 2 year period. he told me if i dropped it off the empire statbuilding, or ran over by a car it didnt matter it would b replaced. i took it in 4 repair and they kept it 4 2 weeks and when i got it back. they hadnt fixed anything, and after 3 or 4 weeks i was in the process of taking it back 4 more service. and when i got 2 my van i decided 2 check if i left any important information on the computer and was checking it when i got distracted and set the computer on the back of my car and 4got about the computer. when i got finished with my distraction i got into my car and backed it out of the garage and heard big crunch. the wind had blown the computer off the car and under the back tire where i didnt notice it when i got in my car and destroid the computer. i took it to best buy where i purchased it and they told me no way they would stand behind fixing it. 2 weeks before i took my sister to best buy to purchace a new computer and the sales person there told her the same thing n added if she got mad at it and shot it with a shot gun or ran over it with a truck or anything ntha best buy would replace it free fot the life of the service plan. i think that best buy has consperacy to sell their worthless service plans. i hope some will get class action law suit against them to stop their lies and forse them to pay up for all the people who got cheated by them. i would love 2 testify against them.

A BIG FUCK YOU FOR BEST BUY.

Best Buy continued to charge me $9.99 a month for a service plan. The problem was I received and upgrade from my carrier 4 month prior. I notified best buy concerning my new purchase and I didn't want or needed the old or new service plan anymore. A review of my bank statement reveled $9.99 charges from best buy. But I contacted best buy concerning the charges. "You the consumer must notify best buy of your decision to decline the plan. But not at the store you must notify our customer care center of your decision by calling 1-800-XXX-XXXX. "That's priceless". Luck for me the total was only $29.97. But I will never purchase a service plan from best buy again "on a cell phone". Do the math 9.99 monthly @ 24 months = 239.76 (new phone). Corp America at its finest..."priceless"

Omg all of your a stupid. First off 239 is the price of a new phone under a new 2 year contract! You dont get a new phone for that price after 6 months of owning it and dropping it. It covers you from dropping it and breaking it. Go into verizon after breaking your new blackberry and try and get them to sell you another blackberry at a 200 dollar price. They'll just laugh in your face and charge you 500 bucks for one. Second there are 2 plans at best buy. One covers accidental damage one covers manufacture defects. Putting a laptop behind your back tire and running it over isnt accidental its just straight negligence dumb ass. If you put your computer behind your car on accident you deserve to have people laugh at you and not fulfill the plan.

Best Buys service plan is bullshit and an easy way to get royally fucked over. The salesmen lie to you about what it covers, so when you bring it in the dont have to give you your money or repair your product because "they are not liable for what a salesman says". And yes harddrives commonly go on computers but lets do the math here. Harddrive $75 (if that) Service plan 250 minimum if your buying a decent computer... Theres a reason why they make so much money on service plan. FUCK YOU BEST BUY AND ALL OF YOUR DIRTY SLIMEY SALESMEN!!!!!

I'm not even going to dignify Steve's foul mouth comments. The obscure author of the, "The story of why I no longer have a PDA", really needs to own up to his carelessness. You are responsible for what happens to your equipment, tools, and toys. If you damage it, it's your fault. It sickens me when these mob mentalities think they are the victim and it is the responsibility of the retailer or the manufacturer to replace the product because of your negligence. Dry up you tears, smarten up, get off your pity pulpit and look at the way you treat your things. May be a little behavioral modification is in order. Read your service plan and see what is covered. If accidental damage is not included, or it’s listed in the exclusions list, then accidental damage is NOT covered and you are going to have to be more careful. dv

I juat want to say a big Thank you to everyone that took the time to complain here about Best Buy service plans. My son bought a 40 inch Samsung T.V. will all of his High School graduation money . I chiped in $300 and we also got the $80 service plan. Big Mistake and waste of money. There was a dent on the frame and after a couple of months one of the pixils went out. We called the geek Squad to come out and repair it. They did come out but they refused to fix it because there had to be more pixil out before they would replace it. My son was furious. We both stormed into Best Buys and spoke directly to the manager that kind of listened and took the reciept back to see why they didn't fix it. He came back and said the same thing, we can't fix it for just one pixil out had has to be more. I asked if they would at least call Samsung to see if they would fix it since there is a one year manufactours Waranty. They refused to even do that for us. We asked them to at least give us the phone number of Samsung and at least they did that. We did call Samsung and they were so much more helpful. They are ordering the new parts for us and they have told us that they will repair it for us. They are going to contact us when the parts get in. I am still furious with Best buy for luring us into spending $80. 00 for a worthless Waranty. And I am going to go back and get my money back for it, but only after it is fixed by Samsung. I have also told them that I will never buy anything at all from Best Buy ever again and we mean it. We have have other issues with them as well but this was just the last straw. I also escalated my complaint to the higher ups in the geek squad. All they did was offer to sent us thier exclusions and highlighted what they don't cover. How nice of them was that!! Lets sell you a bougus plan and then when you need our help lets highlight and sent you an e-mail telling you want we won't cover!!!!!! DON'B bUY THE SERVICE PLAN AT BEST BUY EVER. I even posted it on my facebook status.

If you buy a laptop from BestBuy in Canada you should know that they WON"T replace the battery ever. I have had my laptop for less than two years and the battery no longer holds a charge. You might think that this is covered under the service plan however I can assure that this is not true. In Canada, your battery will not be replaced by best buy if you have their Performance Service Plan. Don't let their sales people try to tell you otherwise and pressure you into buying the service plan.

If you're thinking of getting the Best Buy Product Exchange Plan - STOP. It's a scam. Best Buy will use any excuse to reject your claim. And at the end of it, you'll have spent as much on the plan as you would have to simply replace the product yourself. Arggggg. And save yourself some time - don't bother with Best Buy's Customer Service help. that is time spent you will NEVER get back!

I bought a ultimate protection plan from best buy 6 months ago for my laptop. i am not a computer person. so the sales rep cheeted me selling an unnecessary plan for me. im paying 30$ per month now . that plan is for three years. after the initial setup we didn`t use this service for anything. so we wanted to cancel the servie plan. but when i call them they told that we cannot cancel the plan and i have made three service calls. i explained to them they are not service calls but they are only for initial set up and one time is they didn`t install the msoffice as they promised and other time they didn`t create the recovery dvd as they promised at the initial setup stage. they wated to do it online by ourselves. so all those three occations i hv contacted them because of their mistakes and the things they promised and didn`t do. so they cant say they are service calls. that is only the initial setup. so months passed by and i am using the computer but im not using so called plan but paying 30$ per month for nothing. so i understood this is a useless plan and i dont want any longer pay this money for nothing. but thy say i cant cancel it just i have to pay money monthly 30$ for all three years. i cant believe this is canada. and how come the law allow this kind of thives exists in the business. they are robbing money from poor peoples pocket. they misleading people know less and cheating them and robbing them. SHAME ON YOU BEST BUY. PEOPLE YOU SHOULDN`T BUY ANY THING FROM THIS KIND OF STORES AND DONT LET THEM ROB YOU ANY LONGER. I WILL NOT DO ANY MORE BUSINESS WITH THEM AND I WILL NOT LET THEM ROB ME AGAIN.

Hi Dona, I'm a producer at CBC TV's consumer show, Marketplace, looking for people who've bought Best Buy's Ultimate Protection Plan. I would like to hear more about your story. Could you please email me asap? jennifer.fowler@cbc.ca.

Contract? Ever read the "fine print"? It'll take all day to understand the jibberish. Instead of fine print, why not the bullets printed in bit letters.

Got flat screen TV. It stopped working. They came to house and ordered part. Called me back and said it would take too long for part to come in and gave me a new TV as replacement. Okay, that's cool. However, computer bought hasn't worked since I got it. Still trying to get it fixed. Have high hopes. Always have good clerks waiting on me except for a nut case today who said I was yelling at him (I wasn't) and then hung up on me. I know he did because he told me he was going to right before he did it. My go to it guy called me and is working on the problem. Won't buy another service plan from them but will wait to see if my computer gets replaced (this is 4th repair so THEIR lemon rule should fit this time.

Just a point of interest: Best Buy has sorted through enough complaints about non-coverage of accidental damage that they moved to include it for service plans on things like PDAs (which no longer exist really). Unfortunately, however, Best Buy can never cover all their bases because if every employee spent their entire shift listing only a fraction of the possible damage scenarios and whether or not they are covered, they wouldn't be cutting their sales per day back to one, they'd be cutting them back to zero as the one customer they had got tired of waiting and walked away. Now, as far as misleading salespeople go, I'm very aware that they exist and I'm very sorry for the trouble they cause, but please don't judge an entire sales force based on this. Yes, some stores have trouble with these thing; some may even have a management team that encourages it, but the hiring department can only do so much to hire the right people and eliminate the wrong ones. Let me put it this way: there have been several cited cases of scout masters and religious clergymen sexually assaulting young boys. Do we now make sweeping comments about every scout leader and clergyman's sexual deviousness? Okay, it's a grossly exaggerated analogy, but the violation is much more severe and the consequences to others sharing the same titles is far less severe; that's the angle I'm trying to shed light on here. Trust me, these organizations do not intend for corruption to happen, regardless of severity, but with a troop-, church-, and floor-level workforce that is many thousands of times larger than those in charge of it, one can only do so much. Anyone who's worked on a large enough underpaid workforce for a long enough time has seen it from the other side. If they haven't, well...that's why I wish everyone could have that experience at least once at some time in their lives.