F*ck you, BestBuy.

did you pay for the warranty, or was it the manufacturers warranty?
 
meeze said:
did you pay for the warranty, or was it the manufacturers warranty?
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It was probably Apple's Warranty. And Apple's a shitty company when it comes to replacing things.
 
Well, regardless of how good or bad apple is, if it is thier warranty best buy has nothing to do with it anymore. You are spinning your wheels yelling at Best Buy when Apple is the one carrying the warranty.

I'm pretty sure Apple makes you buy their warranty if you want one, that 3 year care pack. I have never had problems with apple, I just go into the store and they look me up, do what they need to do, later on I have a working product again.
 
actually best buy said they would replace the ipod....at about 20 bucks less than the price of a new one.

and yes it was apple's warrenty but best buy can still stand behind the quality of the products they sell...which it seems to me they don't
 
Ithenas said:
actually best buy said they would replace the ipod....at about 20 bucks less than the price of a new one.

and yes it was apple's warrenty but best buy can still stand behind the quality of the products they sell...which it seems to me they don't
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If you want someone to stand behind their products, go to a smaller store who will help you out. When I was shopping for fishing gear, I didn't go to big 5 or walmart, i went to a little bait shop. The guy took his time to explain stuff to me, and sold me gear. I paid more than I would have somewhere else, but I wanted the customer service and didn't mind.

They don't have to stand by the products they sell, they sell the consumer assurance and call it warranty. You want them to hold your hand? Pay the extra money whether it be mom and pop store, or by getting the warranty.

Anything over their return/exchange policy they don't have to deal with. It is easily posted on thier reciepts that you will deal with the manufacturer.
 
best buy is awesome where i live, They always have stuff. They had ToAU the day it came out but sold out just like everyplace else pretty fast, I got the last copy at EB games cause they sold out the moment they hit the shelf lol.
i got a great deal on my flatscreen monitor at best buy, And they always have their sales in stock.
i have never had a prob at best buy, And its my fave place for electronics and entertainment to shop.
 
{Hmmm.} I think everyone is being unreasonable to the corporate actions and stand point of Best Buy. After all, if their employee's suck there's a reason: The people who live in your area's suck. Best Buy didn't grow from that little store in Minnesota "Sound of Music" into what it is now by being a shameless, piece of shit retail corporation. You purchased the best buy warranty plan, they won't let their low-paid shitty tech's possibly damage your computer more than it is already with that. It'll cost them potentially more money as a clause of reimbursement is in that warrenty. They send it to your local service center (PA, MD, DE, VA, and some NY and NJ go to the Elkridge, MD location. There's 8 total service centers.) The I-Pod is more than obviously a manufacturer problem, and to expect a retail place of business to just give you a new I-Pod because Apple screwed up is ludacrous. That's like expecting a car dealer to buy you a new car when your car is a lemon. Not happening. The manufacturer arranges everything and the dealer suffers by losing inventory. Basically, in saying "and yes it was apple's warrenty but best buy can still stand behind the quality of the products they sell...which it seems to me they don't" you want a Company. A corporation to just basically throw money out the door. For you. Notice blunt statements. That's me in awe of this making no sense. Inconvenient to deal with this? Yes. It sucks you would have to, but simple fact is. Companies protect their assetts. Why? They must make money to justify their business expenses. What is included in business expenses: Payroll. Cut out payroll, lose employee's. IE: Ford and GM's major layoffs and it's toll on the economy. You want another Depression? Conduct business the way you want to. You'll be bankrupt in 5 years easily. And yes, I realize there's more factors then business expenses, income, and payroll. I'm just using one example. I apologize for the rant, but opening the eye's of the consumers out there from this "give me everything" attitude is important to me. Especially being in the car business and dealing with idiots 12 hours a day. -.-;;

Anyhow, on topic. Sucks it happened; hope you understand why. Now you know, assuming you have a job and lisence since you're 17 and should have that responsibility, you should just go yourself and pay next time. Family makes things more complicated then it needs to be, especially over such a minute amount like $50-$100 bucks. If that amount was higher, maybe consider it. Though, this a prime example why those warranties through Best Buy are jokes. I worked in the Elkridge location and items were treated very poorly there. If things break with me, I just by news ones. With exception to my car of course, since I'm gunning to run it into the ground.
 
The Best Buy where I live is great, stuff is usually in stock and the people know what products their selling. On the other hand when I check the store locater for the local GameStop and it says they have whatever I need in stock, they don't. I always call before I go to make sure and they say yes and will hold it. Then always when I get there they say sorry they couldn't find it and must have forgot to update their computer systems for the past week. Uhh.... how can a store always forget to update merchandise list??? idk but when they have it they have good customer service.
 
I know how you feel man, i have posted a flame or 2 on bestbuy and screwing me over. they broke my computer a few times when they "fixed" it >.>
 
Skaw said:
More importantly, why are you buying prebuilt machines?
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Excuse my ignorance, but what is wrong with a prebuilt machine? Just add a video card, some ram, and your good to go. All the hardware is specificly made to work together so you won't get any conflicts there. They always come with a nice software package, and usually your choice of Norton or McAfee.

As a matter of fact, the only comp I've ever realy had a problem with that I couldn't fix by myself (or make kyp do it) was with a custom machine. The fan fell off the cpu (AMD) and it blew. I had to order another one for $100.
 
I'd have to say that the BestBuy in our area isn't all that bad. Do I know more about everything in the store than any of the sales people? Yes. Are they extremely taken aback when I waltz in and know exactaly what I need? You bet. But they normally have stuff in stock, the sales people seem capible yet poorly trained. But then again ... where we are, there is a Circut City right across the street, Comp USA a block up, and EB Games and Gamestop within 2 miles. Maybe the ammount of other stores allows them to keep stuff in stock or maybe they're just more "on their toes" because of all of the compititon in the area. I think that's a bit bogus though, because honestly, look at all the salepapers .. everything is the same price, and even if it's not, they all say they honor competitors deals. I've had one warrenty through Best Buy on a 57 inch RCA TV. I had one problem with it, picture tube went out, guy was there a day later and fixed it.

I worked for Whirlpool's customer service center for a long time. Behind closed doors, their idea was "If it's under warrenty, we're gonna do the work, find the parts, and deal with the customer's needs on our own time. If they pay for the work, we make a lot of money, so we'll be more attentive" Don't think the rest of corporate America is any different. Their loyalty isn't to you, it's to the shareholders.

On the topic of pre-build vs. custom machines -

I've owned one custom machine, from Gateway, and it was awful. Maybe because Gateway is awful but I dont know, I've never had another one since. I've had my share of problems from pre-built machines but I'll say this, Emachines has always taken care of me. For those of us who do more than sit in front of our computers all day, a pre-built machine is just fine. The last emachines I bought lasted a good two years, not bad for 400 bucks. Then it did about the same thing the OP is talkin about. Heard a loud 'pop' and the area around where my power supply was plugged in was blackened, power supply failed, sent a surge through the motherboard and fried it. I called Emachines on it because as it clearly states on the BestBuy recipt it ain't their porblem after 30 days and I didn't get their extended warrenty since it was almost the price of the computer and they only offered a 2-year plan.
All I did to that machine was stick in 500MB of ram and a decent video card ... GForce 4 i think. And it ran FFXI wonderfully. Since it died, Trippy has pirated my video card and ram. So a week later Kyp and I went out and got me a new machine. Right now I'm running another Emachine, couldn't tell you my processor speed, nor my RAM. All I can tell you is that it ran FFXI right out of the box without even cracking the case. I lag a bit more than normal, but tests have proven that it's the ram. But still ... I run a new-gen MMO on a friggin chip set! How awesome, and only $378, and it has a full 2 year warrenty from Emachines, who offered to extend it to 5 years for about half the price since I had a reported problem with my old one.

In the end - extended warrenties FTW. Allows the store to take care of your problems or farm the work out to a local company they've allied their service department with. If it's a really expensive item (I'm talkin a full kitchen set) It will also give you a little pull with the customer service dept. (or at least it sure did at Whirlpool) And highest quality is not always the best option, just get what you need.
 
Extended Warranties :nono: who needs them? I had my last computer for like 4-5 years lol I never had a problem except when I had to format it ;p I hate/like Bestbuy lol, I bought 2 PCs(Great prices) there recently one for me and one for my sister, but I hate how they try to shove everything down your throat:

Warranty? No I dont need it. Really but its a great deal if anything goes wrong we'll replace it? No thanks. Programs virus, firewall? No.... You know it's going to cost you money to send your pc in right? Yes.... USB Cable? WTF do I need a USB cable for, just give me the damn PC... (This really happened) -.-
 
Fuck Best Buy for adding a $50 PRP to my Xbox 360 purchase WITHOUT ACTUALLY OKING IT WITH ME. When I noticed it on the total screen it took a total of three managers and close to 20 minutes to explain to them that no, I do not want this plan and no, I did not ASK for this plan and yes, I understand that my 360 will now spontaneously snap in half and catch fire because I am not giving BB more money and please just remove it from my order and stop fucking harassing me.

If I hadn't been paying with store credit I would have told them to fuck off and shopped at the Gamestop down the street (to be fair that's a whole other can of worms, but whatever.)
 
Trippyhippy said:
Excuse my ignorance, but what is wrong with a prebuilt machine? Just add a video card, some ram, and your good to go. All the hardware is specificly made to work together so you won't get any conflicts there. They always come with a nice software package, and usually your choice of Norton or McAfee.

As a matter of fact, the only comp I've ever realy had a problem with that I couldn't fix by myself (or make kyp do it) was with a custom machine. The fan fell off the cpu (AMD) and it blew. I had to order another one for $100.
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Other than the fact you have to add a video card and some ram? :crazy:
 
Claxton said:
Other than the fact you have to add a video card and some ram? :crazy:
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And the fact that sometimes this is unpossible (Though I think manufacturers have been leaning away from this. Proprietary pieces of crap. :/

Traditionally, they tend to be built to encourage replacement, rather than upgrade... Never cared for em, never will.
 
The greeter at the front of the stores usually says hi or does a cool nod. So… at least the associates know that part. ;p

As for computer repair and pre-built machines, it is usually better at most times to consult the manufacturer first. Then they usually recommend a few options. Some can be to put the tower into a box and ship it back, go to an authorized place (can be either a chain retailer or some local repair company), or recommend a replacement. Remember associates only get as much training from personal experience or a representative from the company.

Prebuilt machines are easy to purchase but most of them come with package deals and additional programs that can be needless to say, annoying. And if a reinstall is required, those programs that took an annoyingly long time to get rid of are with the reinstall CD (one prebuilt has their own reinstallation software of windows, etc, while some others might give the windows discs… erm not too sure since I have not made a pre-built purchase sides a Mac in 1995 and a Compaq in 1998 )

As for best buy and their associate training, it is probably simple because of high employee turnover rates. There are few and rare best buy employees who stay with the company for more than a few years. Plus it would be more of a company expense to do more extensive training to have the associate quit three months after.

There is also another culprit who could be to blame about the employee’s lack of merchandise knowledge: The sales representatives of the product. It is their job to make sure their B2B actions will help both interests of the manufacturer (sales to the retailer) and the retailer (sales to the customer, B2C). (It’s more complicated than that but those are boring details)

Eh, it’s an okay store. Personal research about companies and their products may help to make a better and more informed decision in the future. But it is fun sometimes to ask an employee a question and for them to disappear afterwards. ;p
 
Direwolf said:
QFTT.

My god dude prebuilt machines (barring laptops for lack of options) is like shooting yourself in the god damn leg.

Regardless, replacing a faulty power supply would probaly be fitted in the category of things that are just not worth the effort of the warranty if you have to send it away. 50-60 bucks compared to PC being gone for weeks... Not worth it IMO.
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I'm too lazy to track down parts and check for compatability.
 
Westyle said:
I'm too lazy to track down parts and check for compatability.
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Buyilding your first computer is the hardest, then after that, it is all mundane and easy.
 
Zeromous said:
I called Emachines on it because as it clearly states on the BestBuy recipt it ain't their porblem after 30 days and I didn't get their extended warrenty since it was almost the price of the computer and they only offered a 2-year plan.
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not to nitpick or anything, but PC's are *14* days return/exchange. they are less. there are certain products that fall into this category, and computers/laptops are one of them.

there are also some products that have restocking fees. such as notebooks, 14days return/exchange and 15% restocking fee *unless defective*

some of the return/exchanges timeframes can be waved, and some of the fees can be waved, but its a case by case scenario.

anyways:) i worked there several years as a senior/supervisor and dealt with alot of the stuff talked about here.
 
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