Best Buy Refusal to Return or Exchange! Orlando Florida

I know a thing or two about Best Buy and it's operations. In your case the first thing I would recommend is never ever go to a geek squad person for anything but a computer never ask for them as well. I get that a lot "my tv broke I need to speak with the geek squad" let them do their pc thing.

I would have called the in-home service the 1888-best-buy since that tv was so big it would have gotten inhome service by a tech not some kid working after school at the local best buy. even if the tv didn't have a extended plaln bby would have sent someone out and if the damage done was unrepairable then it would have been replaced under a little thing called QSA wich will cover plasma screens up to a year after purchase. and thirty days on anyother appliances.and ganurteed 48 hr service.

don't bite the hand because the person you spit on might just be the person who could go the extra mile and get a replacement. People call all of the time angry. I would be angry too if it was my $2000 tv that it took me a year to save up for but the people answering the phones probably make less money then you do and only want to help. And i am sorry to say that if your 3 thousand dollar tv just broke down and you didn't get next day service, I think the single mother with 2 kids and a refridgarator that won't cool is a little more important than you not being able to watch american idol.

Bring it back to the store and set in down in the middle of the door way and take a picture of it for evidence and of course hold on to all paperwork. Since you have your money back you will be inconveniencing the store because they will have to have employee's move it themselves and customers will see. Do it on a Saturday when they are real busy so they may perhaps loose some business :)

We received a chargeback for the damaged tv on our credit card. My husband tried to return the tv since it's no longer ours. Best Buy refused to take it back. They had 2 managers talk to my husband. They said if he left it there it would be considered customer abandonment. Well, my husband has written a letter to Best Buy. He told them that if they refuse to take the tv we will start charging a $25.00 a day fee. Hey, it's not our tv anymore, it's their's. I just want this useless piece of junk out of our house.

since the local store manager is being difficult.. I would contact Best Buy main corporate switchboard phone number (not the toll free #) this is listed someone on the website under investor relations.. once you get through to them.. ask for the Executive Resolutions dept. (they handle letters to the CEO, Public relations issues etc) explain the situation.. to be fair.. this person probably will need 48-72hrs to research your issue & get back to you..

if you don't get anywhere with them file a Better Business Bureau complaint .. with the local BBB chapter in Richfield, MN (not your local one) since Best Buy is a member they need to offically work with the BBB mediator .. but rememeber the BBB is funded by Best Buy (consumers pay nothing) it's not a govt agency. anyone that has a business license, forms a Corporation & writes a check for $800 (that's what it cost me in the past for my own company) can offically place the logo on thier website. if that all fails, contact your local TV News station consumer helpline.. or small claims court is another alternative..

I would also file a credit card dispute with your bank (insist they mail out the paperwork) if your the type of person that has never filed a dispute before and actually have some $$ in the bank.. & are never late with a credit card payment (more so with American Express -vs- Visa/MC) you will more then likely win... if you paid with debt card -vs- credit.. your basically out of luck.

to answer Tom's question.. Best Buy sales people should be offering both the service plan & home delivery simply because it's an addon for margin to the sale. (I believe it's company policy) the point is mute, because all the employee has to say is that they did offer it, customer refused.. (he said.. she said) Once an Item is paid for.. it's your item... your welcome to open it up in the store & inspect it.. no employee is going to stop you... the only reason the sales person doesn't do this is mostly handling multiple customers not having time.. if you do a Google Search on: Best Buy sony tomato .& a 2nd search on: Best Buy bathroom tiles .. count yourself lucky you actuallly got a TV in the box.

regarding your question of returning a PC due to a bad hard drive.. generally the policy is 14day return policy & a 15% restock fee if it's NOT defective.. because this is such a short return time.. generally PC's returns are approved but the attitute of best buy is "ok prove it" that the customer must prove /show the agent the defect on the spot... things like .. but the PC wont run my accounting software so I want to return it.. doesn't count... if you say wireless doesn't work.. but they can connect wirelessly in the store.. it's not defective.

this is one of many reasons Why I quit Best Buy (if the company treats customers this way.. imagine what happens to employees with things like pay raises, benefits denied.. etc) and I wouldn't have them install anything in my home.. and be careful buying a "new" PC that it has not been opened and pre-optimized by geek sqaud for an additional fee added to the price. the only worse company I have found is Fry's Electronics.

The Best Outcome that Best Buy will agree to is probably to allow an exchange for another TV in the store, a simple apology from someone and maybe a $20 gift card for your trouble.

I've only bought tube tvs from Best Buy in the past and personally never had a bad one, transporting them home myself, and these weigh far more than a 42" lcd. This complaint and rebuttal, as posted so far, makes me wary of buying lcd or plasma ones from them in the future.

When you buy a tv, such as what was bought by the OP, does BB advise them that home delivery is available? Does BB also advise that if they do not pay for home delivery/setup that if it has damage that they cannot return it? That's essentially what is being said here. It would be different if BB allowed the person to open the box at the store, after buying, for inspection and testing but BB doesn't allow that, that I am aware of (and it actually would protect BB's position).

It would be helpful to know what component BB feels was damaged as the OP's first contact with Phillips indicated a "bad" screen. A "bad" screen is not the same as a "damaged" screen. And what qualifies the Geek Squad kid to be an expert on tv problems and diagnosing them? If your tv is under warranty BB sends a factory trained technician to work on it, not Geek Squad.

This seems very unfair to the consumer. The logic would be the same if I bought a computer there and, after bringing it home, discovered the hard drive was bad. Would BB tell me that's too bad, that I must have damaged it by transporting/setting it up myself? What seems to me is that the bad tv cost would come out of that store's cost center, which affects mgt bonuses. Or, the OP may have declined the BB PSP overpriced extended warranty and somebody in the stock room decided to give it a little drop before bringing it out to the customer (yes, that can happen too, not very professional either).

I would research the screen issue further on the web, newsgroups, with Phillips directly, or even a tv repair shop. No mfgr ships 100% defect or damage free lcd tvs, bottom line.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Here's the problem. We were never offered home delivery. If we had, I would have have gladly paid $60.00 to do that. We were also never offered to purchase an extended warantee. I find that kind of strange. The point is, the Geek Squad employee claims it couldn't have happened during shipping since the box wasn't damaged. That being the case, how could I have damaged it during transport. If I did, then so could they. Unless they hook up the TV in the store, there's no way of really knowing if it was in good condition when it left the store. Also, I did not use a pick-up. It was placed in the back of my car. If they thought that was an unsafe way to transport the TV they should have offered me home delivery.

Here's the problem. We were never offered home delivery. If we had, I would have have gladly paid $60.00 to do that. We were also never offered to purchase an extended warantee. I find that kind of strange. The point is, the Geek Squad employee claims it couldn't have happened during shipping since the box wasn't damaged. That being the case, how could I have damaged it during transport. If I did, then so could they. Unless they hook up the TV in the store, there's no way of really knowing if it was in good condition when it left the store. Also, I did not use a pick-up. It was placed in the back of my car. If they thought that was an unsafe way to transport the TV they should have offered me home delivery.

Here's the problem. We were never offered home delivery. If we had, I would have have gladly paid $60.00 to do that. We were also never offered to purchase an extended warantee. I find that kind of strange. The point is, the Geek Squad employee claims it couldn't have happened during shipping since the box wasn't damaged. That being the case, how could I have damaged it during transport. If I did, then so could they. Unless they hook up the TV in the store, there's no way of really knowing if it was in good condition when it left the store. Also, I did not use a pick-up. It was placed in the back of my car. If they thought that was an unsafe way to transport the TV they should have offered me home delivery.

I feel for you here. some suggestions on how to get a new TV.

to be fair. let's first look from the store's point of view.

basically what Best Buy is saying is that the TV was in perfect condition when it left the store. They have you, The TV & any employee that help you out with the set on videotape showing no damage to the item... that can be used if a legal case ever happens. the TV manufacture also supports Best Buy position that Thier product should be professionally delivered & setup. State Law in many states (WA, CA NY etc) have strict requirments about "unsafe loads" simply transporting a 65" TV in a small pickup truck could cost you a $200 fine. if it falls out & it's the road.. fines jump up to $5000 & up to 1yr in jail) Best buy offers a delivery service for a small fee around $60 you refused. so there attitute is once it's out the door. it's yours. if you had of come back maybe 1hr later but time isn't on your side here.

It's a tough call for the store.

I can tell you, store employees do see cases of customers placing items inside cars that are unsecure. they warn the customer.. (there ignored) something breaks and the customer tries to return the item claiming it was damaged before they got it.

Basically it all comes down to things like.. how much do you spend at the store yearly? did you buy a service plan? are you the type of customer that does excessive returns? how sucessful is the individual store at meeting it's monthly budget (in the past you could walk into any Best Buy and see how many district /region /state banners that individual store had won & how much shoplifting or internal theft occured by simply looking at banners or numbers hanging on the wall) in general stores that do better. tend to treat customers better. unfortunately these items are no longer displayed on the walls,


how to get a New TV from Best Buy...
see my other posting in this group for details..

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/294/RipOff0294912.htm