Replacement warranties, what's fair?

[Lex]

As some of you may know, i recently had a Samsung hi-def Directv receiver go out on me. It actually started smoking.

It so happens, with the threat of the dish getting hit by lightning, etc... I put the Best Buy warranty on my 600.00 piece. The warranty cost me 79.00. Now, of course, they don't carry Samsung directv receivers at my store. They wanted to give me a 299 Directv brand, probably hughes receiver,and that's it. Alternately, they may be willing to get ma another TS160, which is now a discontinued item, or the newer 360 that is in production.

As it turns out, none of these products cost what my 160 did a year or so ago.

I maintain, I spent 600.00, and they owe me credit for 600.00, or product and credit totalling 600.00. Say a product went way down, maybe out of the loop for use totally, and they offered you a product that had went down to 10.00 for what you bought for 250. Would you be happy with that since the warranty cost you more than the piece? (that's just an example).

In this case, the identical piece to mine, that is discontinued at all Best Buys, is 199.00. I paid 599.99 + 79.00 for a warranty for a true high end HDTV receiver. Now, they want to give me a 299 average looking piece to replace it and say, ,whelp, that's it, technology changed, that's all you get.

I say, bullshit, I paid 600 bucks for it, and they owe me 600.00 in product, or equivilent credit.

I could for example, get the 900.00 Directiv tivo unit, and pay them 300.00,and they'd do that I bet. That is, full 600.00 credit.

Also, they will not apply credit to your account (best buy card), what a rip. If you do manage to talk them into giving you money for yours, it's a store credit, not a refund, not a credit to your revolving account.

[Gordon Moore]

What's fair is whatever you agreed to when you signed on the dotted line (good or bad). I don't know the warranty covers but I guess, as always, they do what's in their best interest of course :roll: .

Sorry you're getting gipped. Do you have legal grounds here? Small claims court make make them see otherwise (provided they are not living up to the replacement warranty).

[Kevin P]

Usually replacement means replacement with either the same item (if it's still available), or a comparable item now available. Since in the world of electronics, newer stuff always comes out at cheaper prices, that would mean you get a replacement item that costs less now (but is comparable in terms of features or quality).

I'm going through the same thing with my homeowners insurance. I have full replacement coverage on my belongings. So, if I paid $300 for a table 10 years ago and it costs $400 now, they'll cover me for the $400. But my RPTV, which cost $2700 5 years ago, I can now get (a similar size, current model same brand) for $1500. So they'll cover me for $1500.

If you want to replace your Samsung with an identical model, you'll probably have to find one on Ebay or something, if it's a discontinued model.

[Shane Martin]

I agree with Kevin here. The price has came down and you are going to have to take it up the you know what.

Now.. if the warranty says, store credit for xyz. then I understand but Best Buy warranties havent' been that way. I know Ultimate Electronics's were.

[Neal_C]

Unfortunately, I don't think you are going to get the full $600 credit. They are probably only entitled to give you a replacement, even if that costs less now.

I can't give you an electronics example, but I can give you an insurance example.

We took out insurance on my wife's engagement ring. They asked for the appraisal documents so they could assess their own value. It turns out that my insurance company is one of the largest diamond buyers in the nation (and I think even the world), so they can replace a ring much cheaper than most. Their replacement cost was 1/3 of the actual appraisal. So since they can replace it so cheaply (in relation to appraisal), they only charge me a premium based on their assessment. So since I get to pay a cheaper premium, if something happens to the ring, we can have them replace it, or just get their value of the ring, but not the full appraisal.

Also, I just checked the warranty cost of the $299.99 receiver at best buy. They still charge 79.99.

So if they are still charging the same amount for the warranty for a cheaper product, they are unlikely to give you $600.

[whoaru99]

I don't know what your warranty says, but I work a lot with warranties on other items. If the policy says that the item will be replaced with something comparable in the event it cannot be repaired, then you should not receive anything that is not comparable as a replacement. The problem is who's definition of comparable will be used.

It will be difficult, if not impossible, to argue with the store about the details of better circuitry inside the box, because the term comparable is likely with reference to general features and capabilities. If a current model has essentially the same features and capabilities, but the price is much less; I hate to say it, but that is probably the only remedy provided by the warranty.

We have provisions for "policy adjustments" to facilitate customer satisfaction in unusual circumstances, but then again we are talking items that retail for around $100K up to around $250K.

Be firm, but be nice, and make your case about what is comparable, not price wise, but in terms of features and capability. The burden of proof is on you, unfortunately. If you can provide facts why what they are offering is not comparable, you may be able to get something more in your favor but the prices have come down on this sort of thing, so in any case, you will not likely be getting your full $600 value back, but maybe something better than their initial proposal.

[Lex]

You guys make good points. But what you didn't take into consideration was the ay-hoila-factor. If you be a big enough ay-hoila, sometimes, you get your way just so they know you will leave, lol. It's called wearing them down.

Actually, I was worse last night and on the phone today because the guy was totally uncooperative today. The guy that I talked to on the phone was real uncooperative tonight too. I was hoping he'd be gone when I got there. But he couldn't tell me I couldnt' upgrade. So, that's what I am doing.

I am getting another Directv/TiVo high def box. The only regret is having to pay the 5 bucks a month for the TiVo dial up service. Well, I am not real keen on paying 400 bucks, especially now due to just buying my daughter a car, but...

So, it costs me another 400, but at least I didn't technically loose money. I was going to try and get the Samsung 360, but that wasn't going great tonight, and one guy said it was an open box. Was it? I'm not convinced, but anyway, I'd rather have the high def TiVo than loose 300 bucks.

Oh get this little gotcha. They say, if you get the replacement, and the factory warranty is out? Your replacement policy is OVER. So, it's a 1 time replacement basically, and that is NOT how it's represented. I beooched, and got approval to transfer it, they said they'd take the 99 bucks out of the difference. What a rip. A 4 year warranty should be a 4 year warranty, not "until".

Lex

[Race Car Driver]

IM sorry your having issues with the PSP, I will have to bring in my RCA HD reciever shortly under the PSP (750$ unit).
I know that I will ... get a comparable product, regardless of cost.. or if Id like something better, I can pay the difference.
And the PSP covers you for 4 years, if it breaks any time within the manufacturers warranty, it transfers over, if it breaks after that then you are covered for the swap, but if you get another product, and would like the PSP on the new one, you will have to purchase a new service contract.

Look at it this way, good thing you spent $79.99 or you would be out $599.99.
Hope it all works out for you.

[Lex]

Sounds like Race car driver works for best buy. Right? Maybe the guy I talked to here locally that worked at BB that said they frequented our forum?

Well, I'm sorry, but I disagree what you said about , if I buy a 4 year service plan, it's supposed to be a 4 year service plan that guarantees I have a working unit for 4 years. Otherwise, it should be called a "one time replacement plan". Best Buy like all businesses cannot use deceptive practices to sell warranties, and cannot tell you one thing, but do another by virtue of fine print. They represent it as a 4 year service plan when they sell it to you. Just because Best Buy made a big profit deal to sell DirecTV's receivers only, not competing firms higher end products like Samsung, that they sold me, is not my problem. Best buy made a commitment to me that they would be selling high end Samsung units or equivilent high end units. They stopped. Under this plan, well, they could swap manufacturers every couple of years and escape warranties where 1 replacement has been made. I believe the courts would have something different to say in a class action suit by people that had their warranties lost. Best Buy would loose.

You know, I boycotted Best Buy for a year once, over being told one thing by a salesperson, then have the store do a completely different thing, and not take care of me, the customer. I could and would do it again, had I not got satisfaction here.

Doug

[Race Car Driver]

Again, I am sorry you are having this issues,
How long ago did you buy the Samsung? Again, if I was in your shoes, I would pay the difference and get a better unit, or just let them swap it out for a comparable piece of technology. So what your upset is over the $79.99 PSP you would have to purchase on the new unit? Try to get the MGR to get you the sales price on the new unit to help you out, but they cannot mark the piece down $79.99 just so you get the PSP, that would be against policy.
If the PSP does transfer over.. then what... you have 1-2 years covereage on the new piece, when it already comes with a 1yr mfg warr? Id pay the 80 bux for 4 years.

Yes, I do work the for big blue box, have for 7 years now. I get the PSP on all my equip, when you see stuff come back ALL the time, you see the benifit. Good thing I got it on my $2000 HD TV that went up in smoke 2 years after purchase.

If you boycott BBY im sorry, we dont want people to do that, but really IMO its not doing a whole lot of "i told ya so" to BBY, they wont even feel it.

This is in no way me trying to say im or BBY is right and your wrong. Im just stating my opinion, and really do hope it all works out for ya.

[Lex]

One person's boycott does nothing, that is true other than personal satisfaction. But if enough people do it, it can have impact. A good example is what's going on with the lawsuits of one big brand of cables. Even this may not be hurting that company yet. But the point is, it can and will someday if they don't do the right thing by people. Maybe it has started to have impact, since they seem to be getting a bit more sensitive to this matter.

Customers make a business what it is. It's not the other way around. When a company looses that belief, well, look at what happened to Service Merchandise, KMart. Both companies that were big. not saying both their woes occured because of how they treated people. But it is an example of companies that did thrive, taking a dive. It can happen. No business is invincible.

I did get satisfaction this time. They paid for my new 4 year warranty too. I won't say it helped the "brand" name best buy in my mind though. Not at all. In fact, the fact I had to argue this point at all made me loose faith in them. You know what they say, once burned twice shy. Well I've been burned once, almost a second time. I have little confidence in BB at this point for major purchases.

Lex

[Neal_C]

You know, I boycotted Best Buy for a year once, over being told one thing by a salesperson, then have the store do a completely different thing, and not take care of me, the customer. I could and would do it again, had I not got satisfaction here.

Doug

Don't let this one time satisfaction fool you Doug, Best Buy doesn't care about their customers. They care about the bottom line...it is the end all, be all for them. And yes, I know, the bottom line is important, but so are your customers.

I have been boycotting Best Buy for 2 years now. And I'm sure it hasn't hurt them and I'm sure they don't care, but it will eventually catch up to them when enough people realize there are better places to get the same products.

I won't go into why I decided to boycott them, because that is OT for this thread.

But I will say it thrills me everytime I can get someone to buy something at a place other than Best Buy.

I recently had two people spend their money somewhere else after finding what they wanted at Best Buy...one was going to get a computer (about $700), got them to go to CompUsa instead; the other a HDTV (about $3200 after warranty), got them to go to a local home theater store.

I have even gone into the Best Buy, heard employees tell customers blatantly wrong info, then when the employee leaves, I help out the customer, give him/her the right info, and suggest a different place to buy the same product. Ahh, the joy of seeing someone walk out of Best Buy empty handed and know that I helped out...
:

[Race Car Driver]

Im sorry you guys didnt have the best experience there.
I totally understand that the customers are what make or break the company, and I dont like to hear that people are boycotting my company.
I KNOW that mis information gets out there, and its not BBYs goal to do that on purpose, its not our goal to make people upset.
But im sure many of you understand that it happens anywhere you go, there will ALWAYS be un happy customers.. unfortunatly.

And if you get satisfied out of boycotting, more power to ya! :T But im sorry you are doing it.

Again, hope it all works out for ya Lex.
Keep us updated, im curious to the outcome.