Best Buy ,4yr PSP, Camera image sensor broke. Geek Squad refuses to repair sensor. Austin Texas

is that you should get warranties from squaretrader in the future. Check out their approval rating anywhere online. Ebay uses them as well.

The real question here is, did you purchase an accidental damage PSP? If you did not, than anything that remotely appears to be physical damage is grounds for denial.

Additionally, you purchased a 3.2mp 10x zoom camera. If you purchased a cheap $90 insignia camera at 7-8mp, you could blow up the center of the image and end up with the same quality/size picture.

Your store's General Manager should be able to make an exception. However, if you purchased a four year PSP in 2004, it would have expired some time last year. That means you waited until the very end of your PSP contract to get it repaired. In my opinion, that does sound quite suspicious that it should have some sort of cosmetic defect and functionality problems in that time frame.

A warranty is for defective items, a camera thats over 4 years old imo is not defective but due to normal wear and tear and this is not covered under anyones warranty. Go buy yourself another camera and stop complaining. At the prices today they are so cheap.

best buy will do whatever it can to not honor any warranty. i stopped shopping there because no matter what was wrong with any of my stuff, it magically was not covered. they are scam artists.

More housekeeping. In my original post I said the camera was splitting near the viewfinder. I said this because Precision stated this to me, but now when I see the camera again and the photo they provided, I realize that they meant the flash was seperated 2mm from the body. There is no splitting of anything on the camera after all.

First a little housekeeping: After intial interest no one picked up the story, but yes, in Central Texas this is newsworty...you'd be shocked at what becomes news here. See a roach in a Taco Bell? Headline. Also, I can easily see how a problem wouldn't arise for four years. Some parts may just be inferior quality and wear out prematurely, as I suspect the image sensor has.

The above-referenced eyepiece turns out not to be the issue. It's a cosmetic part that simply came off years ago and has nothing to do with the current situation..

Anyway, Precision Camera cited "impact damage", and even provided a photo of what they meant: This camera has a pop-up flash. A little spring allows it to pop-up and a latch keeps it from always staying up. Currently, and for as long as I can remember, the flash is rising about 2mm from the camera body. I've seen this on new cameras and nearly any other camera with a pop-up flash. But Precision claimed that the lifting of the flash mechanism from the camera body indicated impact damage, which is completely bogus. Even if it were impacted, that's not the kind of damage that would result. Everyone I showed this to, including four different Best Buy employees, laughed at Precision Camera's assertion and cried B.S., much as I have.

I've caught Precision Camera in a lie and will continue to pursue this. If they know anything about cameras, they know their assertion is flat out wrong.

The problem wasn't the Geek Squad, they sent it out as apart of the PSP and it's Precision Camera you should be having qualms with. Precision Camera had the final word and Geek Squad's hands are tied. If the camera truly is defective how does it take 4 years to find out? The story you describe warrants the term 'accident', as in it was bumped and now it doesn't work. Service plans in most places do not cover accidents. Parts and labor, surge protection, normal wear and tear, and yes, defects, are covered. You must ensure then the plan covers accidents before assuming so. This applies everywhere not just Best Buy: Next time, ask specifically, or have your sales person explain the plan inside and out. It's better for both of you.

Also, the sales people at Best Buy do not work on commission, so if by being aggressive you mean they reiterated what a service plan covers and why it's recommended it's because they honestly recommend it. Buy a $2000 TV and it's broken outside of the manufacturers warranty...you just wasted $2000. But if it's mounted on the wall and it falls down is that covered? What if my picture goes fuzzy? How about bulb replacement? etc


How is this newsworthy?

I've seen cases like this alot while working at Best Buy basically the local Geek Squad is really out of the picture.. they simply note the condition of the camera and sent it to precision camera (an authorized repair center for Canon) the who makes the final decision on the repairs. you could appeal to Best Buy corporate office (or have the camera returned unrepaired and ship it directly to Canon for analysis) but they will probably come to the same conclusion.

the problem here is that the MFG warranty covers original manufacturing defects, if "push comes to shove" and you take legal action. the problem is that you've got to prove that thier is a manufacturing or design defect in this model.. and that "dozens of customers" have had the same problem... that's hard to do when you admit in your posting below that you hit (or brushed) the camera.. which caused both the viewfinder to crack.. (in other words it wasn't that way out of the box when purchased) - if you had of purchased the Accidental Damage service plan they would have fixed it..

regarding the TV service plan.. not a good deal... per the service agreement you can be without a TV , in repair.. for over 45days before they will determine the item isn't worth fixing and give you a new one - you can yell, scream file complaints etc. nothing will change. it's a horrible policy.. but unless you can bring some political pressure ... Best Buy wont back down from there decision..

That shouldn't stop them from making it right. How long has it been since they contacted you?

I would start sending letters regarding them not honoring the warranty.

...keep a lookout on Statesman.com and FoX News. Slow news week? Anyway, this seems to be a pattern and they've been interested in a possible story. Other cases are even more cut-and-dried than mine, which is apparently compelling.

...keep on the lookout at Statesman.com and FoX News (local). Apparently this is a pattern and due to perhaps a slow work week they're interested in picking this up.