Best Buy Misled on purchase of extended protection plan. Would not honor plan sold. Internet

Stay clear of Best Buy if you are too stupid to shop.

Look at the following excerpts from the Columbian Neck Tie Plans:

"This Plan is inclusive of your products manufacturers warranty; it does not replace your products manufacturers warranty, but it does provide certain additional benefits during the term of the manufacturers warranty. 

Coverage: This Plan covers parts and labor costs to repair your product in the event your product fails to properly operate due to:

a) a defect in materials and workmanship;

b) normal wear and tear;

c) dust, internal overheating, internal

humidity/condensation;"

"Your coverage under this Plan is effective beginning on the date you purchase your product."

"ADH Coverage is only available for the following products: notebook computers, digital cameras, subscription based mobile phones, digital camcorders and portable DVD players. "

FACT #1 - Most BBY "sales" staff have no clue as to the terms and conditions of these plans. They are NOT considered experts in these terms and conditions in a court of law.  Hence, what they say is heresay.  Hence - NEVER listen to the sales pitches!  (I believe all agree here)

FACT #2 - The first year warranty OVERLAPS the first year of "coverage."  What is normal wear and tear vs. ADH (accidental damage) ?- ADH is NOT part of this plan.  The OP says "the unit fell apart."  Is this normal wear and tear, is it ADH??  One can actually go directly through the mfr (and probably get a replacement through the mail with only shipping to paid for) in year 1 bypassing BBY.

FACT #3 - BBY's offer to replace the unit in Year 1 is NOT predicated upon buying another plan.  That simply, is FRAUD (state insurance law and/or consumer protection laws); BBY, doing business by their terms - gift card replacement is part of the solution mix as is stated: "If we determine in our sole discretion that your product cannot be repaired, we will replace it with a product of like kind and quality that is of comparable performance or reimburse you for replacement of the product with a voucher or gift card, at our discretion, equal to the fair market value of the product, as determined by us, not to exceed the original purchase price of your product, including taxes."  So the OP could have gotten a gift card and used it towards the upgrade.

Conclusion:  The practice of selling and invoking the plans consistently (that's right) contain lies, half-truths and deceptions on part of the BBY sales staff and managers.  Customers have NEVER been encouraged to read the fine print/terms and conditions in the stores.  As we see above, even interpreting the terms and conditions is nefarious.

Easiest thing to do is stay clear of these things and stay clear of BBY.

So let's say you bought a policy for a car, and paid $1200 a year, and you paid it all in one lump sum. If you totaled after, say, 7 months, you would get refunded for the months it was not insured for, i.e. $500. Then you would buy a new policy for the replacement car.

So anyway, this is yet another reason to not buy these extended plans; they are a total ripoff. And it seems that Best Buy has a lot of complaints in particular on this board about their "black tie" thing. Seems to be the most complained about company next to MagicJack. 

@Steve - when you total a car and have to replace it under the insurance you purchased for it, do you not have to purchase annual insurance for the new car? Anyone who does their due diligence and reads the Terms and Conditions of the Black Tie Warranty can educate themselves to the limitations of the program. Once the product is replaced, the warranty is fulfilled and can't be used again. Common sense rules the day.

Where are you getting those stats from? You can use this sites search engine to find the counts...so I will do a few for you...Also consider Best Buy has thousands of customers that shop in thousands of stores per DAY.

best buy warranty | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds ReportedYour Search | best-buy-warrantyApproximately 13 Reports Found

black tie protection | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds ReportedYour Search | black-tie-protectionApproximately 6 Reports Found

best buy extended warranty | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds ReportedYour Search | best-buy-extended-warrantyApproximately 10 Reports Found

best buy | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds ReportedYour Search | best-buyApproximately 1536 Reports Found

magic jack | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds ReportedYour Search | magic-jackApproximately 272 Reports Found

Alternative Health | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds ReportedCategory | Alternative HealthApproximately 3831 Reports Found

Attorney Generals | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds ReportedCategory | Attorney GeneralsApproximately 3612 Reports Found

Auto Dealers | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds ReportedCategory | Auto DealersApproximately 12570 Reports Found

Auto Repair Service | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds ReportedCategory | Auto Repair ServiceApproximately 6378 Reports Found

Builders & Contractors | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds ReportedCategory | Builders & ContractorsApproximately 3857 Reports Found

Banks | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds ReportedCategory | BanksApproximately 10104 Reports Found

Credit Card Fraud | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds ReportedCategory | Credit Card FraudApproximately 8371 Reports Found


I could keep going so what are you talking about with magic jack and BTP plans? And how is it a trap? Either you want the insurance or you don't. I do agree however that people should know what they are buying no matter where they buy it...that is common sense. And don't believe salesman ...yeah we really need to be warned of that. here???


 

Next to MagicJack, this has to be one of the most common complaints on this site, which does lend credibility to the complaint. Since the point of this site is to warn people, hopefully this will prevent others from falling into the trap. 

I am sorry to hear that you were sucked into this stupid insurance. I agree that Bestbuy policy sucks. Also, their employees do NOT really know everything and most of the time not have the up-to-date information. One must read everything and do not listen to their employee when the one buys anything from Bestbuy...

Just my curiosity (off topic), spending $199 for your 14-year-old kid is a good idea? How a kid would appreciate the money when he or she could get anything by just asking for...

No need for that and name calling. The OP states the manager would not issue a refund. That is because they don't state a refund with the plan and I find it hard to believe anyone who works there told him that. Sometimes people just hear what they "want" to hear but I know at Best Buy they must give you the terms in writing since it prompts at POS and the customer must press the screen stating how they want to receive the terms (email or paper,) so they got it somehow. 

Companies can not change their policies based on what a customer says an employee said. They have a refund policy in place and if the customer met those requirements they would have got a refund. I do not see a rip off here, just a disgruntled customer like we can see in any business when they expect special treatment but just have to abide by the same policies as the rest of us. That is why they say buyer beware.

Really? I sure as heck didn't. I mean, these are basically (ripoff) insurance policies, and if you insure a car and you make a claim you do not have to pay your annual dues all over again. In any event, these plans are an amazing ripoff, as you are paying $40 to inure a $200 set of headphones. The only time to insure anything is if you would be SOL without the insurance (e.g. a house).

As a side note, if the salesperson lied to him, that is absolutely a valid thing to complain about. Yes, what is in writing is what counts, but I would still feel ripped off if a salesperson lied to me (then again, the commissions on these insurance plans are HUGE, so they are definitely incentivized to lie). In any event, the lesson to learn here is to never buy these plans, as they would be a ripoff even if they WERE always honored. 

Besides the fact that Best Buy held up their end of the bargain by replacing the headphones.  You always have to buy a protection plan for the new product, everyone knows that.  The protection plan is for the one you bought, not the new ones. Incidentally,  $199.00 headphones are a long way from top of the line.  Here are a few and there are others even more expensive. http://www.sweetwater.com/c412--Headphones/low2high/pn5

However, if indeed they were carefully used, they should not have broken.  What actually happened to them?

Making a fool of yourself in public was probably not the best lesson to teach your son either. 

The exchanged the headphones for a new pair of headphones, no questions asked. Yes, they would need to purchase a new protection plan for the new headphones. Your $39 piece of mind insurance did get you piece of mind with a new set of headphones. The question I have, why didn't you file for a repair/replacement under the warranty? You said it had a 1 year warranty on the product. If you had filed for a warranty repair, you would still have the protection plan and you likely would still have a pair of headphones. Unless your son just broke them and it was outside of a warranty repair, in that case your kids needs to be more careful with expensive headphones. Did you have anything in writing saying there would be a refund at any time? Also, there are brochures available all over best buy explaining the protection plan they offer. You should grab one of those and read it.

What the salesman and cashier said about the extended protection plan is irrelevent.  What is in writing is all that matters.  The protection plan the OP purchased was on the original set of headphones.  If the OP wanted the protection plan on the replacement set, it would need to be purchased.  I've never heard of an extended protection plan allowing refunds for any reason.  There may be some out there, but I've never run across any.  As for Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, everything I've read about them says they're over priced pieces of junk.

Ronnyg, You are clearly a poster child for the ignorance of consumers. You are missing the boat and a few cells to keep your comprehension skills moving. The Main frame of concern was the extended protection plan that wasn't honored. Who cares if the guy had an attitude and didn't stay even keel according to YOUR STANDARDS. He had every right as a consumer to have the extended plan honored, yet they snookered him yet again.  His points are valid and he is bringing  such awareness to others of the pitfalls of these types of transaction with Bestbuy. You don't get to decide that the guys attitude alone was enough to dismiss compensation ...there are consumer laws for a reason. 

..that says Best Buy will give you a refund with this plan? If so post it and then you have a case., But if you were accusing and yelling at some cashier that he/she is a liar and a thief..then yes, I hoped they at the very least had you tossed out of the store.

Thank you for telling the truth about these "add on protection plans".  Lesson learned at such a price...sad that manufacturers are not aware of the vendors antics. Can you write the manufacturer to see what they can do for you? You'd be surprised at how they don't want the vendor damaging their reputation.