To all it may concern,
I will start plainly, be blunt and straight to the point. Do not purchase an extended warranty from Office Depot.
I purchased my Notebook less than two years ago, I had some minor problems with it to begin with. The keys on my keyboard began to fall off, at this point I was still under the manufacturers warranty. HP handled this efficiently and without any hassle whatsoever.
Now, here i am nearing the end of my extended warranty through Office Depot. My notebook begins shutting down randomly after being used for roughly an hour. Then it stops working all together. So what do I do, I think ok im glad i got this warranty.
I contacted the Warranty Department through Office Depot, speak with an operator named Chad who is very pleasant and helpful, he sets up my service order, sends me a box, and away she goes to be repaired.
About a week goes by and i decide to contact them on the status of my notebook. Call #1 was pleasant and somewhat helpful, they kindly reffered me to the outsourced service department called MicroMedics, supply me with a contact number and reference number.
Call #2 I contact MicroMedics, asking on the status of my notebook, this would be my first "i dont know" I was unaware that is actually the extent of this and office depots vocabulary. Anyway, they politely let me know that they havent finished their diagnostics yet and refer me back to the Office Depot Warranty department.
I could sit here and outline the whole series of phone calls, which would probably be somewhat amusing but i think you get the idea here.
Finally a couple of weeks have passed with me spending hours on the phone trying to get a simple answer. "Are you going to repair my laptop?"
Their simple response was "Due to physical damages to the machine we cannot do the warranty work, the damage must be repaired first"
Ok, MicroMedics graciously offers to send me a qoute on the repairs that need to be made before my warranty work can begin. Here is the mighty list of Damage done to my machine.
-The Right Control Key is missing from my keyboard (im certain this is from shipping)
- There is a crack...(more like a scratch in the gelcoat) in the case above the left USB port
- This one was just added in today during my last conversation with Jason, the hard drive is disconnected
Three Days later i recieved my notebook back in a smashed box.
So i started on the phone again, determined to get satisfaction, which did not come in the form of my next several phonecalls (other than the people who shipped my notebook, they have been more than helpful). Now i spoke with Jason, he seemed eager to help.
He was kind enough to tell me that my warranty did not cover accidental damage, which is fine. I had already offered to pay to have the damage repaired.
So i asked him very simply "is my motherboard covered under your warranty?"
...."I dont have that information available sir"
So here is where i stand over a month after submitting my notebook for warranty work.
I have my notebook back, in a smashed box.
MicroMedics claims they returned the notebook, minus the qoute, on Office Depots order
Office Depot denied this at first but then said yes they told them to send it back (eventhough i offered to take care of the keyboard)
I have filed a complaint with Office Depot Headquarters, Now with Rip Off Report, and im about to move on to any organization that i can complain to.
Im sorry if my story got a little scattered around, i have spoked to every customer service rep in the PPP department including an unpleasant supervisor named MaryAnne at least twice, and it seems their main tactic on covering warranty work is to pass the buck back and forth until you are completely livid at which point the switch to I dont know.
To all you would be consumers of Office Depots extended warranty Beware, take the time to verify what is covered and what is not. As for me, I will never purchase anything from Office Depot again. Or if you need an extended warranty check with your notebook's manufacturer they probably offer one. Be certain that you have accidental damage, or replacement coverage. Be Certain, i was led to believe i was covered for these things.
Fortunately, it appears that my notebook was mishandled during shipping so the kind folks at the un named shipping place are going to help me out. Good Luck!
God Bless America and Take good care of our troops.
