Best Buy PDA Service Plan Changes!!!!

[megatron]

Well, today my ipaq 3835 froze up on me. Can't reset, can't power off, no hard reset, nothing.. So i drive up to best buy since i bought their service plan for 3 years expecting to do what i usually do when my ipaq has problems (has happened twice before). I walk in and talk to the guy in pdas...he looks at it and is like, yeah, there is a problem with it and asks me if i have the box, charger, cradle etc. I told him i did, then he walks over to the tech service department with me. Over there he shows it to a tech who fiddles with it unsuccessfully. The tech then walks over and looks up the service plan. I begin telling him i want to switch to the toshiba e740 since myipaqs have always caused me problems. Then he tells me the change WE NO LONGER DO SWAPS FOR PDAS, WE HAVE TO SEND THEM OUT FOR REPAIRS. THIS USUALLY TAKES 3-4 WEEKS!!!!!!! I spoke to the manager about this for about an hour to no avail. They did not tell anyone who had a service plan that this would be a change. The guy in the department selling the PDAs didnt even know, he was still using it as a selling tactic! So just an FYI for those of you with service plans from best buy...be prepared for a long wait if you have a problem!

 

[Fant]

Isnt that illegal? Do you still have the terms and conditions document of the service plan? No extended service plan should make you wait 3-4 weeks.

 

[freebee]

Which is why you should get the Staples plan which just gives you the money back....sell the old one of ebay or get it fixed. You don't have to return the old product to get the refund....they take your word for it.

 

[olouie]

as always best buy sucks

 

[Zorro]

Originally posted by: megatron
Well, today my ipaq 3835 froze up on me. Can't reset, can't power off, no hard reset, nothing.. So i drive up to best buy since i bought their service plan for 3 years expecting to do what i usually do when my ipaq has problems (has happened twice before). I walk in and talk to the guy in pdas...he looks at it and is like, yeah, there is a problem with it and asks me if i have the box, charger, cradle etc. I told him i did, then he walks over to the tech service department with me. Over there he shows it to a tech who fiddles with it unsuccessfully. The tech then walks over and looks up the service plan. I begin telling him i want to switch to the toshiba e740 since myipaqs have always caused me problems. Then he tells me the change WE NO LONGER DO SWAPS FOR PDAS, WE HAVE TO SEND THEM OUT FOR REPAIRS. THIS USUALLY TAKES 3-4 WEEKS!!!!!!! I spoke to the manager about this for about an hour to no avail. They did not tell anyone who had a service plan that this would be a change. The guy in the department selling the PDAs didnt even know, he was still using it as a selling tactic! So just an FYI for those of you with service plans from best buy...be prepared for a long wait if you have a problem!

What does the contract specify it will do in case of defect? repair or replace?

 

[GetReal]

Originally posted by: freebee
Which is why you should get the Staples plan which just gives you the money back....sell the old one of ebay or get it fixed. You don't have to return the old product to get the refund....they take your word for it.

That may have been possible in the past under Staples old PPPs (Product Protect Plans) , but this is NOT possible under their current PRPs (Product Replacement Plans). Staples switched to PRPs effective 3/31/2002. When you file a "claim" under the new PRP, you must return the defective unit to Warranty Service Corporation and they will send you at your discretion either a free replacement product (may be refurbished), an equivalent unit (may be refurbished), or a Staples GC prorated to the "market value " of your covered item at the time fo the claim. The Staples GC is NOT in the amount of your original purchase price. Here is the link to register or file a claim under Staples new plan. You can thank the frequent abusers of these programs for the recent changes. All of the retail stores that I can think of have swiched to similar product replacement plan policies due to abuse.

 

[yodayoda]

as usual, bestbuy and extended warranties is suck.

to quote the great bard (homer simpson): "extended warranty, how can i lose?"

 

[Zorro]

Originally posted by: GetReal

Originally posted by: freebee
Which is why you should get the Staples plan which just gives you the money back....sell the old one of ebay or get it fixed. You don't have to return the old product to get the refund....they take your word for it.

That may have been possible in the past under Staples old PPPs (Product Protect Plans) , but this is NOT possible under their current PRPs (Product Replacement Plans). Staples switched to PRPs effective 3/31/2002. When you file a "claim" under the new PRP, you must return the defective unit to Warranty Service Corporation and they will send you at your discretion either a free replacement product (may be refurbished), an equivalent unit (may be refurbished), or a Staples GC prorated to the "market value " of your covered item at the time fo the claim. The Staples GC is NOT in the amount of your original purchase price. Here is the link to register or file a claim under Staples new plan. You can thank the frequent abusers of these programs for the recent changes. All of the retail stores that I can think of have swiched to similar product replacement plan policies due to abuse.

Staples prp has not changed all you have to do is call them and tell them it broke and they will send you a cash card for a new unit no ? asked.

 

[SinnerWolf]

i can answer this for you...

Typically when a product first comes out, it has what best buy terms as "devo" status (devoid of operation). What this means that in the event the item is returned, broken, defective, etc...they send it back to the manufacturer for a full/partial refund. After the product has been available long enough to prove viable, the status is changed to repairable (not sure if bby corporate decides this, or the product manufacturer, but crap brands like emachine and mintek are devo 99% of the time, whereas other brands go through this cycle. all internal pc components, cd's, software, etc... are devo FYI). A PDA has maybe a 3-4 month retail in store, and as it is new will most likely be DEVO the entire time they sell it. There is no way of knowing exactly when the status will change or if it will, but sadly it doesn't matter because the psp brochure doesn't say anything about an exchange in the event of problems. There are 2 official loopholes within their service plan that can lead to a replacement. One is that when the item is sent to the service repair center, they deem it is more costly to fix then to replace, which i've seen happen several times on PDA's (except for broken buttons/springs/hinges. keep in mind, broken screens are considered misuse and abuse and negate any warranty). If they deem it is more costly to repair then to replace, you'll have the dollar amount you paid for it (assuming you have the receipt, otherwise you will get the lowest selling price the product has EVER had) towards a new one. The 2nd way is using the No Lemon policy. Basically, if the device is repaired 3 times during the warranty's time frame, and has a fourth failure, it's considered a lemon and will be replaced. This of course means you'll be without the device for 4 X repair/shipping/part ordering time (4-6 weeks each). You can opt to buy an open item loaner to tide you over until your device is returned, and then return the open item for a full refund. Of course, any manager has the ability to ignore these rules, as does the lead tech.

The only products i ever buy warranties on are cd burners, car speakers, vacuums, large appliances and big screens can be good at times, cell phone/laptops (only due to battery replacement if not holding a full charge), most anything that offers a PRP (product replacement plan, basically a one time exchange guarantee based on the paid price), printers can be a good thing (since color/black ink cost the same as a new printer anyhow) and i think they just started offering them on hard drives which would also work for instant grat. And in case you're wondering, i've worked there as a tech. Yes i think it's a BS system, they don't even keep records of the purchase price if you buy a warranty, and that's assuming your info was saved in their database when you purchased the warranty (KEEP your receipt). 1 out of 10 service plans will ever be used, so you do the math. I can't begin to count how many items i've seen "serviced" that come back to the customer with the same problem or another one altogether. I've seen a legacy PC go to service for not booting, and they replaced EVERY single component which (not even counting man hours) cost double the purchase price.

I'll end this here, but if anyone has any specific questions i'll be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.

 

[dpham00]

service plans is suckekeke. whatever you do, be sure to read them thoroughly before signing. the salesman will promise you anything to get you to buy the extended warrantee, even though Best Buy employees aren't on commission

 

[AdamsJabbar]

Originally posted by: dpham00
service plans is suckekeke. whatever you do, be sure to read them thoroughly before signing. the salesman will promise you anything to get you to buy the extended warrantee, even though Best Buy employees aren't on commission

Best Buy employees DO get commissions on the service plans they sell. They won't push you to an item, but they sure as hell will push a service plan on it once you do decide on something.

B

 

[kilmanjaro]

Originally posted by: AdamsJabbar

Originally posted by: dpham00
service plans is suckekeke. whatever you do, be sure to read them thoroughly before signing. the salesman will promise you anything to get you to buy the extended warrantee, even though Best Buy employees aren't on commission

Best Buy employees DO get commissions on the service plans they sell. They won't push you to an item, but they sure as hell will push a service plan on it once you do decide on something.

B

Unfortunately, we don't make any commissions off of our service plans. They certainly push us hard enough to sell them like we do though. As much as people don't like to believe it, we really are non-commision. The managers have this novel idea that if they bother the living piss out of their employees we'll sell their service plan. And it works until the employee gets pissed off and leaves...but we'll save that story for another time. But as it looks right now, the service center only verifies the problem and gives the OK for us to replace it for you. So there is still hope that you can replace your PDA with a new one, other than getting a refurb. Anyways, enough of my ramblings...

Oh yeah, thought I'd say hi to Sinnerwolf

 

[Dragnov]

Hey I worked the Wireless department (the PDA/Cell section) for Best Buy a couple months. Thank god my last day was the day they changed their service plan to repairing PDAs... now I don't have to worry about all those soon be angry customers.

The company is horribly ran, no wonder its doing poorly.

 

[FSUpaintball]

CUSA will just give you store credit for the amount you paid, so you can buy whatever you want with it.

 

[GoingUp]

While the compusa plans are more, they are automatic replacements which can be a good thing. Just save your box and reciept and bring it all back in when your item breaks. No "prorating" BS.

 

[kinkyboy702]

I'd also like to confirm that Best Buy employees are not on commission. Kilmanjaro is right. The freakin' managers bug the crap out of us to sell their darn PSPs and so we do. It's a "team" effort afterall.

 

[timmychen]

So, which company service plans can I walk in and buy without having to have bought the product from them? CompUSA? Staples? BestBuy? Which is best?

Hey, did they change this on the digital camera's at BB? I've been waiting to bring mine in until after they stopped carrying the exact same product so I can change it.... anyone know?

thanks.

 

[mrwade]

I used to work for Best Buy as a PC tech. The warranty is for repair of the item, if they cannot repair it, it will be replaced. When you bring in an item the tech looks it up on the store data system, if it is returnable to the vendor Best Buy does NOT service it, so they have to replace it; if they cannot return it to the vendor, it MUST be serviced, unless this is the 4th breakdown and then it is replaced under the "no lemon" clause.

I have seen items go from "devo" yes (can return to vendor) to "devo" NO (cannot return) so you may be able to exchange a defective item on Monday and have to have it serviced if you wait til say Wednesday to bring it in.

The above refers to the Best Buy service plan, there was also a Product Replacement plan for items costing less than $200 that allowed you to get a "voucher" by mail for the vaiue of the product if it needed repair.

 

[GetReal]

Originally posted by: Zorro

Originally posted by: GetReal

Originally posted by: freebee
Which is why you should get the Staples plan which just gives you the money back....sell the old one of ebay or get it fixed. You don't have to return the old product to get the refund....they take your word for it.

That may have been possible in the past under Staples old PPPs (Product Protect Plans) , but this is NOT possible under their current PRPs (Product Replacement Plans). Staples switched to PRPs effective 3/31/2002. When you file a "claim" under the new PRP, you must return the defective unit to Warranty Service Corporation and they will send you at your discretion either a free replacement product (may be refurbished), an equivalent unit (may be refurbished), or a Staples GC prorated to the "market value " of your covered item at the time fo the claim. The Staples GC is NOT in the amount of your original purchase price. Here is the link to register or file a claim under Staples new plan. You can thank the frequent abusers of these programs for the recent changes. All of the retail stores that I can think of have swiched to similar product replacement plan policies due to abuse.

Staples prp has not changed all you have to do is call them and tell them it broke and they will send you a cash card for a new unit no ? asked.

You are mistaken! You can no longer get cash for PRP claims for items purchased at Staples with a PRP plan. In fact, Staples has NOTHING to to do with PRP claims. When you call Warranty Service Corporation, the underwriter of Staples PRPs to file a claim, they give you the choice of getting a replacement product whcih they state is most likely a refurbished product or a Staples GC equivalent to the current market value of your covered item. In either case you get NOTHING until you return your "defective" unit to them. Under no circumstances do you ever get your original purhase price or or any cash equivalent for a covered item. Staples used to do this but stopped earlier this year. They also use to let you do in-store exchanges, but not anymore.

 

[JHawk]

I've purchased pdas from both BB and Staples. I've returned 2 ipaqs to BB. Each time they gave me a replacement and actually gave me a "rebate" so I didn't have to pay any extra $ to upgrade. This last time I exchanged for a Toshiba because of the poor battery life of the ipaqs.

Staples on the other hand has had my son's Clie for going on 6 weeks now. I got fed up and called Staples last week who then referred me to the company that covers their warranty work. I was told that they were looking for a replacement. I said good luck since they haven't made that model for over a year. I got pi**ed and called Staples again. They told me a new one would be sent to me that day. Guess what...it's a week later and still no Clie. Time for another call. I will never buy an extended warranty from Staples again.

 

[freebee]

It is true you do not get cash for the item, however the amount is refunded in the form of a Staples cash card including the tax paid. For auditing purposes the unit may be requested to be sent back to the warranty company (should be Federal or something like that) but at no charge to the consumer. There is a lot of legal mumbo jumbo to cover the warranty company and to limit possible fraud, however all you have to do is call the number in the brochure to see the actual plans in action. They really do take your word for it and in most cases you can keep the defective item.

And also, don't forget that Staples treats customers that buy their service plans with extra care...meaning at least in my stores they get to use a special no-line checkout, increased discretion in product returns and exchanges, free carry-out, and sometimes even free gifts.

 

[MueveloNYC]

Best buy was always known for their sketchyness. I've read a lot of the stuff that they did on bestbuysux.org which has stories as well as emails that they've collected on how they just change things and really don't look out for the customer's best interests.

 

[dpham00]

I'd also like to confirm that Best Buy employees are not on commission. Kilmanjaro is right. The freakin' managers bug the crap out of us to sell their darn PSPs and so we do. It's a "team" effort afterall

oh yeah...team effort

only problem is only the manager gains from it.

 

[T2T III]

Unfortunately, we don't make any commissions off of our service plans. They certainly push us hard enough to sell them like we do though. As much as people don't like to believe it, we really are non- commision. The managers have this novel idea that if they bother the living piss out of their employees we'll sell their service plan. And it works until the employee gets pissed off and leaves...but we'll save that story for another time.

Thanks for the information. I'm glad that I constantly refuse to purchase extended warranties - my appologies to the sales people because they then have to deal with the managers when they are not able to sell the service plans. However, that's life - and until Best Buy changes their policy, I'll either continue to reject their offers for the service plans, or continue to make my purchases somewhere else.

 

[megatron]

Wow, thanks for the flood of info and support! I'm hoping that the techs at the service center do find that it is not repairable so i can get this taken care of. this is the 3rd time i'm sending out an ipaq (not the same model each time though). I started out in 2000 with the 3635, then kept upgrading because of problems. Ended up with the 3835 in February...and it died yesterday causing me all the problems. Anyways, thanks again to everyone who has posted.