Best Buy lied to me as well.

[robnix]

Long story short.

Bought a Toshiba 42H83 from Best Buy this past December with the extended warranty. During the decision making process on the warranty, I was told by the sales rep that once a year I could have a tech come out and perform a free calibration, which was a $300.00 value. I thought that was great, so I paid for the warranty. Unfortunately it seems I was lied to. I called today because of some other problems I was having, and asked to have someone come out. She politely told me that there was no calibration included, and was terribly sorry, stating that she new people were being told it was included. The tech is still coming out because of the other issues, and the store I bought the TV from will be getting a call tomorrow. We've bought a range/oven, a washer & dryer set, and now the TV from them over the past two years, plus assorted other stuff. I'm angry and feel taken. Thanks for reading. I feel a little better now that other people know.

[hawks066]

That amongst other things is why I don't shop at Best Buy

[57U]

Since one ISF calibration costs roughly $300, you couldn't have expected several calibrations and an extended warranty. Now, like others, you will know that if something sounds too good to be true, it is.

Sometimes they will send out a tech once a year, however, they usually just check to make sure you have an image and press the "magic focus" button.

[DoubleDAZ]

Yeah, I think the point of contention here is the use of the term 'calibration'. I doubt seriously the saleman meant to imply an ISF calibration every year. If he did, he's an idiot. More probably he was just talking about sending out a tech to adjust (calibrate) things once a year, most of which can be done by the customer with just a little research and knowledge and an AVIA/DVE DVD.

[grapaslingo]

This employee made a promise on behalf of the store. There are states that say that in these situations the store must honor the agreement (verbal included) between the employee and the customer, made on behalf of the store.

In practical terms, if I go to Home Depot, and the clerk gives me a deal on merchandise, including making it free, the employee might have to deal with the consequences, but I don't. <---Speaking from experience here.

[57U]

These "agreements" including advertizements, have to be "within reason".

For example if an employee says you can buy a TV (that normally sells for say $3000) for $1000, the store is allowed to "renege" on the "deal".

Same goes for a print ad that says something similar. ie TV normal selling price $3000, advertizement says $300 (obvious misprint).

Now, if the TV normally sells for $3000 and the "sale" is for $2000, then the courts would probably side with you, but I believe the store only has to sell one at that price.

[lizzyh]

I would only buy electronics from a local and reputable HiFi dealer, never from a mass merchandiser.

[kevinw]

Yeah, I think the point of contention here is the use of the term 'calibration'. I doubt seriously the saleman meant to imply an ISF calibration every year. If he did, he's an idiot. More probably he was just talking about sending out a tech to adjust (calibrate) things once a year, most of which can be done by the customer with just a little research and knowledge and an AVIA/DVE DVD.

Should one not ask what is entailed before paying also? People tend to throw the words ISF and calibration around as if they really mean something. Even an ISF certified technician is only as good as the experience he has on the TV in question.
What does calibrate mean? To some it is getting into the service menus and tweaking, While other it is just taking the remote and doing a AVIA tuneup.

[rschneider]

I agree with robnix,

I have personally heard the salesmen at Best Buy promise "calibrations" with the purchase of the warranty, on more than one occasion.
I have hung around to hear all kind of warranty doozies such as, replacement of CRTs due to burn-in (they won't) and recharging the gas of plasma displays (not possible).

These sales people, while not commissioned per se, are under a great deal of pressure to sell the extended warrantees. Whether they honestly don't know, or they are lying, I don't know. But I think its safe to say that very few Best Buy salespeople would know what an ISF calibration would entail.

For more info on this topic, check out the warranty horror stories at www.bestbuysux.org

[DoubleDAZ]

I guess I'd have to know what you mean by local and reputable. For example, does Ultimate Electronics fit your definition or are they mass-merchandisers like Wally World/BB/CC? How about the Tweeters/Showcase Group?

I certainly agree with supporting a local, but there has to be some $$ level that makes it silly to simply throw away money vs buying the exact same brand/model from one of the others, no?

[kevinw]

I agree with robnix,

I have personally heard the salesmen at Best Buy promise "calibrations" with the purchase of the warranty, on more than one occasion.
I have hung around to hear all kind of warranty doozies such as, replacement of CRTs due to burn-in (they won't) and recharging the gas of plasma displays (not possible).

These sales people, while not commissioned per se, are under a great deal of pressure to sell the extended warrantees. Whether they honestly don't know, or they are lying, I don't know. But I think its safe to say that very few Best Buy salespeople would know what an ISF calibration would entail.

For more info on this topic, check out the warranty horror stories at www.bestbuysux.org

I still needs to see it in writing before spending the money..I want to know and have what a "calibration " entails before I hand over the credit card. Part of this is buyers error as well as uniformed ordertakers trying to impress the boss.

[kevinw]

I would only buy electronics from a local and reputable HiFi dealer, never from a mass merchandiser.

If you know what you are buying then it does not matter if it is a BB/CC/HHGREGG/SEARS or Hi Fi buys or Joe Schmoes Home theater store.
I go for best price on same product. I will just not buy from a jerk salesperson. I'll get somone else to help if the price is good.

We have a local company that sells high end equipment -PIoneer/Mitsubishi
Yamaha etc. Very knowledgable people. Unfortunatley they are 25-30% higher than Tweeter. They are the only place within 30 miles outside of Sears. They do a great business with the Lake Lanier home owners. (million dollar homes) There customer base has a lot of disposbale income and pays for the personal service.and custom installations.
The average guy drives the 30 miles to save 300-400 dollars. Places like the box store are needed just for price alone. The internet/magazines is where you learn about what you want.

[Deathlok2001]

I was at BB today & the salesman there told me that with the extended 3 year warranty, they would sent out someone once in that 3 year period to check the set for dust on the lens, clean them & make sure they are properly focused. Thats it. It sounded good to me.

[NcBaller1985]

That's Best Buy for you...take my advice...shop at Circuit City if you want to buy from a mass merchandiser. I am not even saying that just because I work there. I seriously never even used to shop a CC...just Best Buy before I got hired. The customer service is a lot better at CC and there warranties (City Advantage) are better…on some things. The TV and camcorders are actually worth buying…but not the PC warranties.

Then again it all depends on the sales person...not the store itself. Neither Best Buy nor CC work on commission...so technically no employee should have a REAL reason to lie to you. So I would assume one of two things…either the employee was new and was just making things up or he/she was lacking in sales and just wanted to get his numbers up. Warranties are one of the number one things stores focus on because they make almost ¾ profits. Its sales people like the one you talked to that make every sales person look bad. We aren’t all bad…I finished with $105,537 with a 1.8% return percentage. :)

The best thing to do is to talk to one employee at a particular store and then come back and ask another employee at the same store the same questions you asked the first. See if everything matches up…and if not, then ask for a manager and ask him for the straight answers.


-NCB

[robnix]

That's Best Buy for you...take my advice...shop at Circuit City if you want to buy from a mass merchandiser. I am not even saying that just because I work there. I seriously never even used to shop a CC...just Best Buy before I got hired. The customer service is a lot better at CC and there warranties (City Advantage) are better…on some things. The TV and camcorders are actually worth buying…but not the PC warranties.

Then again it all depends on the sales person...not the store itself. Neither Best Buy nor CC work on commission...so technically no employee should have a REAL reason to lie to you. So I would assume one of two things…either the employee was new and was just making things up or he/she was lacking in sales and just wanted to get his numbers up. Warranties are one of the number one things stores focus on because they make almost ¾ profits. Its sales people like the one you talked to that make every sales person look bad. We aren’t all bad…I finished with $105,537 with a 1.8% return percentage. :)

The best thing to do is to talk to one employee at a particular store and then come back and ask another employee at the same store the same questions you asked the first. See if everything matches up…and if not, then ask for a manager and ask him for the straight answers.


-NCB


Thanks. I'm going to visit my parents shortly to run CAT5 and speaker wire through their house, and go shopping for their Home Theater setup. I'll take your advice to the store with me.

[robnix]

I still needs to see it in writing before spending the money..I want to know and have what a "calibration " entails before I hand over the credit card. Part of this is buyers error as well as uniformed ordertakers trying to impress the boss.

You're right, and this is something that I'll definitely be doing in the future.

[gparris]

Tweeter was good enough to call me after delivery to make sure I was satisfied with the delivery and if there were any setup questions. Then when I came in to buy something else, they gave me discounts and package deals like I was their only customer. I should have bought my first HDTV set with them.

[TimeWarnerAustinUser]

If you are unhappy with your extended warranty purchases its my understanding they are terminatable at a pro-rated amount. That is to say if you paid $300 for a 3 year extended warranty, and have used up half a year, that you would be entitled to roughly 2.5/3 of your moneys should you terminate the warranty.

I do a lot of business with Best Buy and Ultimate Electronics in my area, I know the managers at both, and I would not hesitate to leverage them with my future business and the cancellation of all the extended warranties.

Im certain they will accomodate you in some fashion. Even if it means giving you a partial credit on your extended warranty.

[Burned In Victim]

I bought a 55RPTV 4 months ago, also bought a 4 year esp. Come to see a line on the bottom of the screen and call a tech out. They tell me I have "burn in" because the t.v. is on CNBC a lot. They then proceed to tell me that the warranty will not cover this problem. The tech quickly points out in the user manual that this could occur etc.

The tech goes on to tell me that 1/3 of the calls he makes on a daily basis are to people who have burn in's from such things as watching Disney channel home shopping etc which have their logos etched on the screen at all times.

I feel Best Buy knows there is a problem and should better educate people when they buy rptv's of the dangers of burn in. As for me I go to plan B. I will wait for a huge electric storm to hit and then let the t.v. blow up due to a surge and they have to take it back.

The tech essentially told me that several customers told him since the warranty wont cover the burn-in problem they were going to plug the t.v. into the 220 volt socket their clothes dryer runs on and then call best buy saying it was ruined by a surge. He said there is little they can do but give you a new t.v. he said they cannot argue at all when it comes to surges but they will not take back a t.v with burn ins' that being said they are going to get a lot of surged customers in the next year and I would love to see them deny that type of claim. That would be grounds for a huge class action lawsuit imho. as the warranty explicitly says it will cover any and all surges that cause damage

[57U]

There are lots of people in the world who believe they bear no responsibility for what happens to them. Unfortunately, the rest of society pays extra for these people who don't take responsibility for their actions, or worse still, they become malefactors to get what they want.

[sto22]

Burn in on a 4 month old TV?

May I suggest turning it off occasionally? :D

sto22

[JetFlyGuy]

I realise it sucks that your new TV is messed up, BUT!

Screen burn in is not a defect, it is in a limitation in the technology. As you pointed out, it is written right in the user manual! No retailer can take resposisiblity for the knowledge level of their customers. Hopefully next time you will take the time to real the manual! I am not trying to be too hard on you here, but in reality Best Buy has no liablity here. When you get your new TV after the "surge", try turning the brightness level down when watching channels with fixed logos, as dimmer images take much longer to burn in than brighter ones do. GOod luck.

[lpierce]

Best buy told me the same thing. For the Xwarranty I would get
my HDTV callibrated every year! But I never buy the Xwarranty, so
I am fine - but I am having other problems with Best Buy, so they are
off my list FOREVER.

[Ratman]

Best buy told me the same thing. For the Xwarranty I would get
my HDTV callibrated every year! But I never buy the Xwarranty, so
I am fine - but I am having other problems with Best Buy, so they are
off my list FOREVER.

And... what exactly is your problem? You decided not to get the extended warranty. After 30 days, Best Buy has no obligation to you.

So... if you have problems, wouldn't it be the responsibility of the manufacturer to resolve your issues?

... or am I missing something?

[lpierce]

I have not problem with the x-warranty since I did not buy it
(and never would). But the fact is they are pushing the warranty
with the promise of a tech coming out and re-aligning your guns.
This is a 100% false statement.

Allot of people are getting duped into buying the x-warranty under
a false statement.

I filed a complained with the BBB for them to look into this. Best Buy
did other horrible things to me, that I am taking out side action on.

They are just not a nice compnay and people should be careful.

[Splicer]

Well said! :smokin:

[Brian@BBY]

As a supervisor in a Best Buy Hometheatre department i will shed some light on what i think may have happened here.

Basically the service plan covers all parts & labor for 4 years. Starting on the day of purchase (not after the manufacturers warranty expires)

the performance service plan does not cover any "scheduled" maintenance.

HOWEVER,
If the product does not function properly, or breaks down due to normal wear and tear than a service call can be made and completed.

i always tell my customers the truth, there is no "scheduled" maintenance, but if the tv doesn't work exaclty like the day you bought it, anytime within the 4 yr period you are covered. I have found from my experience that dust can collect on the guns and convergance can go out of alignment and needs to be re-adjusted roughly once a year. If this should happen and your picture quality is suffering because of it, or it is resulting from some other problem. give us a call so we can have someone look at it and get it taken care of for you.

so i don't know if the associate lied to you, or if you took his words the wrong way. All i can reccomend is that when you call for service, change your words to your advantage by claiming the picture isn't as sharp as it used to be or it's fuzzy or blurry now. Instead of saying, yeah im calling to schedule my yearly maintenance.

the people who repair them fix problems in tv's, they don't maintain televisions. there are places in the phone book that do that.


GoodLuck,
Brian

[GuyS]

The State of Ohio has sued Best Buy alleging that they engage in unfair and deceptive business practices. The Ohio Attorney General Office has received hundreds of complaints from customers that claim Best Buy has repackaged goods and sold them as new, and failed to honor rebates, refund and exchange programs, and extended service contracts.
My own personal experience with Best Buy has not been bad. I have not purchased anything larger than a DVD player but have made many smaller purchases. I have never had to return anything because I was dissatisfied with the item.
I am looking to buy a HDTV in the coming weeks and have pretty much decided on a Toshiba. The last two TV’s I purchased I got from Circuit City but they don’t carry Toshiba anymore. Best Buy sells Toshiba but at this point I don’t know if I want to spend that kind of money at Best Buy after hearing about the current legal action.

[kevinw]

The State of Ohio has sued Best Buy alleging that they engage in unfair and deceptive business practices. The Ohio Attorney General Office has received hundreds of complaints from customers that claim Best Buy has repackaged goods and sold them as new, and failed to honor rebates, refund and exchange programs, and extended service contracts.
My own personal experience with Best Buy has not been bad. I have not purchased anything larger than a DVD player but have made many smaller purchases. I have never had to return anything because I was dissatisfied with the item.
I am looking to buy a HDTV in the coming weeks and have pretty much decided on a Toshiba. The last two TV’s I purchased I got from Circuit City but they don’t carry Toshiba anymore. Best Buy sells Toshiba but at this point I don’t know if I want to spend that kind of money at Best Buy after hearing about the current legal action.

Sears sells Toshiba,, HH GREG may as well

[Splicer]

Yeppers...HH Gregg sells Toshiba :rockon: , But I got BB to come down lower in price (WAY lower) then HH Gregg would come down to...

[empire29]

Ok - i know this is an ancient thread but I have to post my experience purchashing a Toshiba 42H83 from BestBuy as well.

So I goto bestbuy looking around for a HDTV and get a super-cool sales guy who shoots the **** with me for 2 hours looking at TVs. I end up settling on a open box Toshiba 42H83. The sales guys is pretty cool, tosses in a dvd player, knocks $200 off the price, gets be free delivery (the thing is huuuge). I end up signing up for a BestBuy CC because it took some more $ off or something (there was a good reason i did this instead of paying cash, cant remember anymore).

So i take the TV home and works fine until days 2 .. and the set starts turning itself on and off. I call up the repair service and the guy comes out and says its a known issue and its gonna take awhile to get a new part and suggest we just take it back and get another TV . Since its open box they wouldnt let me exchange it and get this, they wouldnt REFUND me because i hadnt paid off the BestBuy CC balance!!! I had just signed up for the card less than a week ago and hadnt even gotten my first bill. They were adament that they couldnt do anything at customer service.

lucklily my sales rep that sold me the unit was there and he was able to talk to his manager and swap my open box unit out with a brand new unit that works perfectly!

Needlessly to say that after my terrifying experience with BestBuy customer (dis)service i try not to shop there.

/end rant

[empire29]

i hate best buy with a fiery passion. i used to like them more than CC because the CC sales people used to be on commission and hover around like vultures... but atleast customer service didnt treat me like a criminal when i tried to return something.

Bestbuy is the ONLY store i've ever been to where ive seen them call the cops on a customer... and believe it or not i saw it happen on two separate occasions.

[ohheck]

Well, there are generally two sides to a story. I have been making major purchases from BB since the 1990's. In that time, I've purchased 4 big screen tv's, a Bose surround sound system, a dvd player, cordless phones, cell phones, two computer systems and various smaller items. Never once in all that time have I experienced the kind of service you describe. And yes, I did return two HDTV's that I purchased within the 30 day return period and had absolutely no problems in doing so. In both return cases, their customer service people were very polite (I was as well) and as a result, they kept me as a customer. As for BB calling the police on a customer, I would be willing to bet that the customer/s in question were probably confrontational and/or creating a disturbance that left BB's management with no option but to call for assistance. Finally, in your post of 8/11 (where you reactivated a 4 year old thread), you made the quote.... /end rant...yet you reposted today with more of the same. :whistle:

[Rick-F]

57U: "THere are lots of people in the world who believe they bear no responsibility for what happens to them. Unfortunately, the rest of society pays extra for these people who don't take responsibility for their actions, or worse still, they become malefactors to get what they want."

Indeed there are, 57U. We call them liberals here in the lower 48 . . . It amazes me that people can damage their TV themselves, then brag about how they are going defraud the store/manufacturer to make them whole again. . . . . and if they don't pay our fraudulent claims, we will sue . . . It's sad really.

[kevinw]

57U: We call them liberals here in the lower 48 . . .
Liberals?? Morals have no political connection and are not limited to one side of the aisle...

[Rick-F]

I could not agree more, kevinw. I was not speaking of doing RIGHT or WRONG. Many people do the wrong thing and know they are doing wrong. . . but there is a large group that actually see NOTHING WRONG in their action; they are ENTITLED to a new TV even if they damaged it . . . besides I never mentioned anything "political". Is "Not so moderate" a political statement?

[kevinw]

I could not agree more, kevinw. I was not speaking of doing RIGHT or WRONG. Many people do the wrong thing and know they are doing wrong. . . but there is a large group that actually see NOTHING WRONG in their action; they are ENTITLED to a new TV even if they damaged it . . . besides I never mentioned anything "political". Is "Not so moderate" a political statement?
By stating those that feel they were entitled to lie and be dishonest or have no morals are liberals smacks of a political statement.
"Not so moderate" goes back away. Refers to my style of moderating. I use no moderation according a past member.
For political discourse I go to www.CrazyAmerica.org