You've Got to be Kiddin' Me!
I can remember times my grandparents told me about times that businesses cared for their customers. People weren't called account managers - they were called service representatives. When did this country change from caring about the customer to caring about the buck? Are we only a $ to them now?
I loved the day Best Buy was built here in Valdosta. The Mrs. and I didn't travel much when buying things, so normal purchases that could be made just down the street were a God-send. Everything went well for quite a while. I purchased an XBOX that ran perfectly until I pawned it. CPU software and games that ran like a dream. Movies that played with such clarity I could reach in and run my fingers through Jessica Alba's silky soft hair. Then, I bought a $70 digital camera.
My wife and I love to take pictures. To capture a moment in time and reminisce about the joy in our hearts and wonder in our eyes as we saw new and fantastic places was to be captured for all time in still-motion. On our trip to Disney World we filled that camera with a plethora of pictures ("Would you say I have a plethora of piñatas? Yes, El Gaupo!"), only to have the screen get broken/cracked on the way home; it was still under manufacture warranty (but not Best Buy's Accidental Warranty, we didn't see a need to have bought that extra $30 safety). Because the injury was accidental, Best Buy said neither they nor the manufacturer would do anything . . . to a camera not even a month old!
OK, water under the bridge as they say.
We went back a year later to buy a laptop computer. I settled on one I loved and made sure to get the warranty protection this time . . . total cost = roughly $2000. Only once during that time did I take the comp. in to be fixed, my hard-drive had cracked. I lost all the information, but it was fixed for free.
The warranty was for three years, and I was told that no matter what I did to the computer it would be fixed, and if it couldn't be fixed it would be completely replaced. Just two weeks ago it fell down three flights of concrete and steel-lined steps. Yep, it was completely busted. I mean everything was broken. The screen smashed. Keys broken off and fallen everywhere. The hard-drive even popped out and the center disc shattered (if you held it up to your ear and shook it, it sounded like a box of Rice Krispis). It was a Gateway. You know those little Gateway logos that sit on the center of the monitor? Yea, that even popped-off, and the guy said he'd never seen one of those come off before. OK, no biggie. I was still under warranty, luckily there was still two months left. I took the comp. all the way to Valdosta, I live in Thomasville, so they could repair it. I talked to them about what happened and left with the confidence that in only two weeks I'd get a call to come pick up my new laptop (they told me 99.99, like Lysol, that it'd be junked out and replaced).
When I got home, I noticed my paperwork still had our old address, so I called them to update their records. I was then told that the computer would not be repaired or replaced. They said that some of the damage looked intentional, like a hammer had been taken to it. Obviously in their world concrete is made of marshmallows and steel is made of cinnamon sticks. I tried to explain the complex matrix that makes up steel and concrete and how such damage does indeed look like "a hammer had been taken to it." Needless to say, if I wanted a new comp. I'd have to go buy one, so immediately the Mrs. and I went to Tally where we found our new favorite electronics store, Circuit City. I got an even better, faster laptop for half the price - warranty included!
I will write a letter to both the Best Buy corporate offices and the Better Business Bureau. Nothing will probably happen of course, and I already threw the busted computer away in a fit of rage. But when did I change from a person in need of service into a walking dollar sign? I'll NEVER shop at Not-So-Best Buy again, and they won't care . . . my puny dollars lost will never hurt them.
And by the way - the Best Buy warranty policy states that any damage that is not done by manufacturer is customer abuse, even accidental damage is considered so.
I loved the day Best Buy was built here in Valdosta. The Mrs. and I didn't travel much when buying things, so normal purchases that could be made just down the street were a God-send. Everything went well for quite a while. I purchased an XBOX that ran perfectly until I pawned it. CPU software and games that ran like a dream. Movies that played with such clarity I could reach in and run my fingers through Jessica Alba's silky soft hair. Then, I bought a $70 digital camera.
My wife and I love to take pictures. To capture a moment in time and reminisce about the joy in our hearts and wonder in our eyes as we saw new and fantastic places was to be captured for all time in still-motion. On our trip to Disney World we filled that camera with a plethora of pictures ("Would you say I have a plethora of piñatas? Yes, El Gaupo!"), only to have the screen get broken/cracked on the way home; it was still under manufacture warranty (but not Best Buy's Accidental Warranty, we didn't see a need to have bought that extra $30 safety). Because the injury was accidental, Best Buy said neither they nor the manufacturer would do anything . . . to a camera not even a month old!
OK, water under the bridge as they say.
We went back a year later to buy a laptop computer. I settled on one I loved and made sure to get the warranty protection this time . . . total cost = roughly $2000. Only once during that time did I take the comp. in to be fixed, my hard-drive had cracked. I lost all the information, but it was fixed for free.
The warranty was for three years, and I was told that no matter what I did to the computer it would be fixed, and if it couldn't be fixed it would be completely replaced. Just two weeks ago it fell down three flights of concrete and steel-lined steps. Yep, it was completely busted. I mean everything was broken. The screen smashed. Keys broken off and fallen everywhere. The hard-drive even popped out and the center disc shattered (if you held it up to your ear and shook it, it sounded like a box of Rice Krispis). It was a Gateway. You know those little Gateway logos that sit on the center of the monitor? Yea, that even popped-off, and the guy said he'd never seen one of those come off before. OK, no biggie. I was still under warranty, luckily there was still two months left. I took the comp. all the way to Valdosta, I live in Thomasville, so they could repair it. I talked to them about what happened and left with the confidence that in only two weeks I'd get a call to come pick up my new laptop (they told me 99.99, like Lysol, that it'd be junked out and replaced).
When I got home, I noticed my paperwork still had our old address, so I called them to update their records. I was then told that the computer would not be repaired or replaced. They said that some of the damage looked intentional, like a hammer had been taken to it. Obviously in their world concrete is made of marshmallows and steel is made of cinnamon sticks. I tried to explain the complex matrix that makes up steel and concrete and how such damage does indeed look like "a hammer had been taken to it." Needless to say, if I wanted a new comp. I'd have to go buy one, so immediately the Mrs. and I went to Tally where we found our new favorite electronics store, Circuit City. I got an even better, faster laptop for half the price - warranty included!
I will write a letter to both the Best Buy corporate offices and the Better Business Bureau. Nothing will probably happen of course, and I already threw the busted computer away in a fit of rage. But when did I change from a person in need of service into a walking dollar sign? I'll NEVER shop at Not-So-Best Buy again, and they won't care . . . my puny dollars lost will never hurt them.
And by the way - the Best Buy warranty policy states that any damage that is not done by manufacturer is customer abuse, even accidental damage is considered so.
posted by Jeremy Tucker at
8:34 AM
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