BestBuy lies, claims another victim

[VirtualLarry]

I have two friends, that I went with to BestBuy, to purchase a PS3 last January (or possibly the year before, I don't remember exactly).

What I do remember is what the saleperson told my friends.

He was selling their "Black Tie Protection Warranty".

He claimed that if your PS3 became defective within two years, that you could bring it in, and they would take a new one off of the shelf and give it to you. He also said that if they didn't have any in stock, that they would issue a gift card for the value of what they paid for their PS3, effectively getting their money back. He said that within the first year, you can exchange it as many times as you want, and during the second year, when you exchange it, that's the last one. He said that an extension to the warranty could also be purchased when the two years are up. He also said that if my friends wanted to upgrade to the larger HD model, that they could bring it in at any time during the warranty, and pay the difference between that model and the bigger model.


Well, as fate would have it, one of my friends' PS3 consoles stopped reading discs properly. It wouldn't recognize them anymore.

So we brought the PS3 back to BestBuy today.

Was told, first by Geek Squad "Agent", and then by Blue-Shirted "Manager", that their procedure is, that they send them out to a refurbishing place, and that they ship it back within 3-7 days. Only they don't repair your unit, they send you back a refurb from where ever they get them from. Was told that they DO NOT just take a new one off of the shelf, like my friends and I were originally told.

So BestBuy employees LIE to sell warranties. This is probably not news to some of you, but my friend was pissed.

Edit: On my friend's reciept, it shows "-R" on the warranty plan, which presumably stands for "Replacement", as far as I know. Only they refused to honor that.

 

[coxmaster]

I have two friends, that I went with to BestBuy, to purchase a PS3 last January (or possibly the year before, I don't remember exactly).

What I do remember is what the saleperson told my friends.

He was selling their "Black Tie Protection Warranty".

He claimed that if your PS3 became defective within two years, that you could bring it in, and they would take a new one off of the shelf and give it to you. He also said that if they didn't have any in stock, that they would issue a gift card for the value of what they paid for their PS3, effectively getting their money back. He said that within the first year, you can exchange it as many times as you want, and during the second year, when you exchange it, that's the last one. He said that an extension to the warranty could also be purchased when the two years are up. He also said that if my friends wanted to upgrade to the larger HD model, that they could bring it in at any time during the warranty, and pay the difference between that model and the bigger model.


Well, as fate would have it, one of my friends' PS3 consoles stopped reading discs properly. It wouldn't recognize them anymore.

So we brought the PS3 back to BestBuy today.

Was told, first by Geek Squad "Agent", and then by Blue-Shirted "Manager", that their procedure is, that they send them out to a refurbishing place, and that they ship it back within 3-7 days. Only they don't repair your unit, they send you back a refurb from where ever they get them from. Was told that they DO NOT just take a new one off of the shelf, like my friends and I were originally told.

So BestBuy employees LIE to sell warranties. This is probably not news to some of you, but my friend was pissed.

Edit: On my friend's reciept, it shows "-R" on the warranty plan, which presumably stands for "Replacement", as far as I know. Only they refused to honor that.

This happens at many retail stores.. It is more about the salesman than the store itself. Every store I've worked at (not very many) had honest and dishonest salespeople.

 

[thescreensavers]

Bestbuy does not care, they encourage it. Selling warranties is the one of the best things a sales man can do other then in home installation. You can lie up to a point.

Your friend should of read the contract when signing up for the black tie protection.

 

[thegimp03]

Unfortunate for your friend...the Best Buy salesman probably lied to sway him to buy it. I quickly checked the Geek Squad Black Tie Warranty site and it says that if your product has four qualified repairs, they will issue a comparable replacement...I take comparable replacement to mean refurbished PS3.

 

[Bateluer]

Always get things in writing. They sell warranties because they make a profit on them, but it seems like most of the time, its just a duplicate of the factory warranty.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Always get things in writing. They sell warranties because they make a profit on them, but it seems like most of the time, its just a duplicate of the factory warranty.

Exactly. Hopefully your friend now knows to RTFM and only trust the fine print.

"The large print giveth and the fine print taketh away"

 

[coxmaster]

Always get things in writing. They sell warranties because they make a profit on them, but it seems like most of the time, its just a duplicate of the factory warranty.

I would say this is a good idea. But good luck getting anyone in a retail store to actually give you that in writing. Plus once they do, there's nothing saying that they will honor it..

 

[DCal430]

I have two friends, that I went with to BestBuy, to purchase a PS3 last January (or possibly the year before, I don't remember exactly).

What I do remember is what the saleperson told my friends.

He was selling their "Black Tie Protection Warranty".

He claimed that if your PS3 became defective within two years, that you could bring it in, and they would take a new one off of the shelf and give it to you. He also said that if they didn't have any in stock, that they would issue a gift card for the value of what they paid for their PS3, effectively getting their money back. He said that within the first year, you can exchange it as many times as you want, and during the second year, when you exchange it, that's the last one. He said that an extension to the warranty could also be purchased when the two years are up. He also said that if my friends wanted to upgrade to the larger HD model, that they could bring it in at any time during the warranty, and pay the difference between that model and the bigger model.


Well, as fate would have it, one of my friends' PS3 consoles stopped reading discs properly. It wouldn't recognize them anymore.

So we brought the PS3 back to BestBuy today.

Was told, first by Geek Squad "Agent", and then by Blue-Shirted "Manager", that their procedure is, that they send them out to a refurbishing place, and that they ship it back within 3-7 days. Only they don't repair your unit, they send you back a refurb from where ever they get them from. Was told that they DO NOT just take a new one off of the shelf, like my friends and I were originally told.

So BestBuy employees LIE to sell warranties. This is probably not news to some of you, but my friend was pissed.

Edit: On my friend's reciept, it shows "-R" on the warranty plan, which presumably stands for "Replacement", as far as I know. Only they refused to honor that.

Best Buy encourages people to lie like this. Cashiers must sell a certain amount of warranties each week/day or they will be fired. They must also sign people up for magazine subs, and Credit Cards or they will be fired. There is a strong sense that lying is mandatory at BB.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I would say this is a good idea. But good luck getting anyone in a retail store to actually give you that in writing. Plus once they do, there's nothing saying that they will honor it..

If it's in writing and you have a copy, it's a contract. Your credit card company and state Attorney General's office would both consider it fraud if they don't provide the benefits listed in writing.

Something else to learn if signing up for any kind of extended warranty is that you do need to demand a written copy of the benefits, and that you need to keep your copy not trust them to remember the details a year from now.

 

[thescreensavers]

I would say this is a good idea. But good luck getting anyone in a retail store to actually give you that in writing. Plus once they do, there's nothing saying that they will honor it..

bestbuy has small booklets with the contract in it. iirc you get one when you buy it too.

Out of my time working at BB, only one person every asked for the fine print, and he kept asking legal questions to me was kinda annoying lol.

 

[BudAshes]

When i was a teenager I worked at CC. The managers just made up stuff about the warranties and then tried to make us memorize their b.s. so that we would tell their lies word for word to the customers. All the managers were just their best sales people who were promoted when they started making too much money. So basically the guys that were best at exploiting the system are now in charge of the system. Lying was second nature to them like any good salesmen. It ended up being like a mental institution with the mental patients in charge.

 

[Miramonti]

Bestbuy, like other retailers, squeeze the cr@p out of their employees to sell this warranty sh!t, so employees resort to dishonesty in order to keep their metrics up and maintain their work schedules.

It all comes down to dirtbag companies like Bestbuy, not so much the employees imo, given the pressure they are under.

 

[Meghan54]

If it's in writing and you have a copy, it's a contract. Your credit card company and state Attorney General's office would both consider it fraud if they don't provide the benefits listed in writing.

Something else to learn if signing up for any kind of extended warranty is that you do need to demand a written copy of the benefits, and that you need to keep your copy not trust them to remember the details a year from now.

The problem is getting that salesman to put anything in writing is rather meaningless and pointless. Unless it's from BB itself, it means nothing. The salesperson can write anything you want him/her to write, but BB will simply say the salesperson wasn't authorized and/or lacked the authority to guarantee a damned thing.....and the state's attorney general's office would get a good laugh out of someone bringing in that scrap of notebook paper with a salesman's scrawl all over it because it means nada.

 

[coxmaster]

If it's in writing and you have a copy, it's a contract. Your credit card company and state Attorney General's office would both consider it fraud if they don't provide the benefits listed in writing.

Something else to learn if signing up for any kind of extended warranty is that you do need to demand a written copy of the benefits, and that you need to keep your copy not trust them to remember the details a year from now.

Yes I know. But standard sales associates at Best Buy don't have the power to enter a contract with you on behalf of Best Buy. So if they're gone, you aren't getting anything probably..

 

[Slew Foot]

See if your credit card automatically extends warranties or offers a broken item replacement. American express does.

 

[alkemyst]

Many people tend to remember warranty details wrong...not that I am saying salesmen don't lie about them many times.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I really don't get the point of encouraging lying to sell these things. After all, they basically just caused your friend to never buy another extended warranty from them ever again. Hell he may never buy anything from them again.

 

[Pulsar]

Folks,

Warranties are just one more product that stores sell. Which means that they have engineered it so that they make money. Which means that logically, the vast majority of customers who buy warranties must LOSE money on them, or the stores wouldn't keep selling them.

Basic equation balance.

 

[pontifex]

I would say this is a good idea. But good luck getting anyone in a retail store to actually give you that in writing. Plus once they do, there's nothing saying that they will honor it..

If thats the policy/warranty it will be written down and full of legalese.

if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

[Corporate Thug]

The problem is getting that salesman to put anything in writing is rather meaningless and pointless. Unless it's from BB itself, it means nothing. The salesperson can write anything you want him/her to write, but BB will simply say the salesperson wasn't authorized and/or lacked the authority to guarantee a damned thing.....and the state's attorney general's office would get a good laugh out of someone bringing in that scrap of notebook paper with a salesman's scrawl all over it because it means nada.

AFAIK, every warranty plan BB offers is in writing (its a pamphlet). At least that's how it worked when I worked their.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Folks,

Warranties are just one more product that stores sell. Which means that they have engineered it so that they make money. Which means that logically, the vast majority of customers who buy warranties must LOSE money on them, or the stores wouldn't keep selling them.

Basic equation balance.

True for the most part. One exception may be the xbox360. I know a lot of people who got warranty replacements.

 

[pontifex]

Yes I know. But standard sales associates at Best Buy don't have the power to enter a contract with you on behalf of Best Buy. So if they're gone, you aren't getting anything probably..

when we say in writing, we don't mean to have the 16 yr old kid literally write out the "warranty" on a piece of paper. Best Buy should have pre-printed pamphlets or actual printed documentation with all of the information about the warranty.

 

[Icepick]

This is why I don't buy warranties.

 

[Tristicus]

I must work at one of the most truthful stores, as we can't do anything even relatively shady.

"Can you hold a Touchpad for me?"
"No that'd be unethical."

Manager to GM "Can you hold a Touchpad for me?"
"No you have to come down to BB two hours before your shift starts even though you live an hour away to get one."

when we say in writing, we don't mean to have the 16 yr old kid literally write out the "warranty" on a piece of paper. Best Buy should have pre-printed pamphlets or actual printed documentation with all of the information about the warranty.

There are. One for computers, TVs, consoles, replacement plan, appliances, etc.

 

[Bignate603]

I would say this is a good idea. But good luck getting anyone in a retail store to actually give you that in writing. Plus once they do, there's nothing saying that they will honor it..

When they say get it in writing they mean get the conditions of the warranty in writing. All of these warranty things have a pamphlet or something that explains all the benefits.