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269 Comments
- iceman0113, on 10/11/2007, -8/+45A similar situation happened with my friend. He works at Best Buy and bought a laptop there. It was defective, so he gave it to Geek Squad to fix and they ripped him off and he couldn't return the laptop either after being fed up with it. This is an employee from Best Buy and they do the same ***** to their own employees, how messed up is that.
- redrock34, on 10/10/2007, -2/+35Buy your electronics with an American Express card if you can. If it happens to break, Amex will give you a new one.
- StingerMS, on 10/10/2007, -0/+28I've worked in retail for three years. Just so you know, Acers ALWAYS break.
- cheviot, on 10/10/2007, -4/+30The argument here is with Acer, not Best Buy.
If Best Buy can't return the laptop to Acer, they won't take it back from you. It's that simple. - Charlatan22, on 10/10/2007, -1/+18As a counter story, my Xbox360 got the red ring of death a few months ago. I had bought the system at best buy so i decided to take it back there to see what I should do. I went in expecting to give it to them and either have them send it to Microsoft or have them tell me to send it myself. They told me to leave the machine there and go pick up a new one.
I walked over to the place they were selling the 360's and picked up one that had a free copy of need for speed in it. I brought it back asking if it was ok that I was getting a free game and they said it was fine. I then asked if i could get my old hard drive out so i wouldnt lose all my data, and once again, not a problem. After all this they also gave me a 20$ gift card for the trouble, and i was sent on my way. All in all i got a brand new system and controller, a free game, and 20$ for returning it. All that for just having to drive to my best buy was actually more than worth it.
So not disagreeing with this "ugly" story, but simply sharing a completely different one. - Al3x, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16Interesting to read...the only thing I would like to see is more evidence of these "other" cases of defective Acer LCD screens. That would make me think he was very wronged...as it is written, he could be 1 in 70,000 and it may look very suspicious to BestBuy (rightfully).
- ubermonk, on 10/10/2007, -2/+18I think he literally has no idea what "literally" means.
- richgustavson, on 10/10/2007, -7/+221) Every retail store matches prices. Price is not a reason anyone shops anywhere anymore. 2) According to you, the last time you were in Best Buy was when you were 10. How much help do you need when you are 10, and where were your parents? 3) LITERALLY ***** on you?
You sir, are a dumbass. - SonicRush, on 10/10/2007, -3/+18Because Best Buy claims to have a "no questions asked" 14-day return policy on defective merchandise and they are not honoring that policy.
Also, toward the end he says that Acer shares some of the blame too. - Evols, on 10/10/2007, -7/+19The LCD screen is cracked. What are the people at best buy supposed to think if it's cracked. What if someone who did drop it and cracked it came in and gave the same story this person is giving? Best Buy would lose a lot of money. If it won't be covered under Acer's warranty, best buy doesn't have to do anything for you, they just sold you the computer, they didn't make it.
- Seifey, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12You give out computers for Christmas?
Want to hang out some time? - aknowles5139, on 10/10/2007, -4/+15Why in the right mind choose the name "theRIAA" ?
- brucebeh, on 10/10/2007, -4/+14I know I'll get dugg down for this but seriously, he clearly stated the laptop worked perfectly when he first got it, so first of all it was not DOA.
Second, he said he put the laptop in a secure area, then after that the screen problem occurred, if it was in a secure area with seriously nothing touching it and nothing dropped on it, how would this have happened? I'm not saying there is no chance it can't break itself, but its very slim. How do you expect best buy to believe something like that?
Like someone has said already, if you owned your own store and you sold a laptop to a customer, the customer comes back 5 days later and the screen is all f'ed up, would YOU return the laptop and eat the cost yourself?
Seriously, even if this laptop was bought at Wal-Mart, Target or probably even Costco, they would NOT accept this return. It's unfortunate, and it is really up to the manufacture to do something about this, not the retail store.
Best Buy may not be the best at all times and I would agree with that, but this is definitely not best buy's fault and they should not take responsibility, he should be lucky best buy is offering to pay half the cost of the repair! - jpt62089, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8But what about Best Buy completely ignoring their return policy? They claim they have a 14-day return policy, but yet two business days later he can't even return it.
- godcanmoan, on 10/10/2007, -5/+13If you sold a guy a brand new laptop and a few days later he brought it back to you broken would you take it back and eat the cost? yeah.. didnt think so
- regexp, on 10/10/2007, -3/+11Here is the simple truth - if everyone was having an issue with Best Buy (or -insert brand name here-) they would go out of business. But, from Best Buys point of view, you make 90 to 95% of your customers happy then the mission is accomplished. The remaining 5 to 10% show up on digg complaining and doesn't really make any difference to their bottom line.
- thetechaddict, on 10/10/2007, -4/+10I definitely wont be buying a laptop from Acer.
- AeonTorpor, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5*****' seriously. I've seen more returns on Acers than movies at Blockbuster.
- TomFrost, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Yep-- when you need things in a hurry. I got thermal compound at Circuit City today because I forgot to put it in my newegg order that's being delivered tomorrow. Last Christmas, I was building a computer as a gift to a friend, and the graphics card was DOA.. and Best Buy had the most reasonably-priced I could find at 10pm the night before.
- ch33sehead, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Paragraphs, my friend. Paragraphs and summaries.
- jdoc, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6I think even more "Messed up" is the fact that your friend actually used GEEK SQUAD to get it fixed. How messed up is that!
- statc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4yeah acers really are pieces of *****. I bought a TM4400 about 2 years ago off newegg due to the specs and price. Performace wise it's nice(after ram and CPU upgrade) but the case and screen are pure garbage. Screen starts flickering randomly from time to time, and the hinges are starting to break off the screen. Not to mention ***** ass customer support. Ahh cant wait to buy a macbook pro when the new quad cores come out.
- Scienceisfun, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4From bestbuy.com (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=page&contentId=1117177044087&id=cat12098 ):
"Your original receipt is required for all returns, exchanges, price matches and warranty repair services. All returns and exchanges must be in original condition and include all accessories. All returns, exchanges and price adjustments must be made in the country of original purchase. Best Buy reserves the right to request identification and to deny any return.
30-day return period
We accept returns or exchanges 30 days from the original purchase. Please review the exceptions below.
14-day return period
We accept returns or exchanges 14 days from the original purchase on computers, monitors, notebook computers, projectors, camcorders, digital cameras, radar detectors and video games purchased as used."
If the notebook came out of the box defective, and it was brought back within 14 days, it seems to me that it qualifies for a return/exchange since it is still in its original condition, and doesn't need to have been covered by any service plan, which is another can of worms entirely. (I do concede that there is a gray area in that neither side can conclusively prove the state of the LCD screen when the guy bought it, but as a multi-billion dollar company, I'd say $800 is a small price to pay to avoid the negative press.) - emjaymj, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Interesting... I go to the exact same Best Buy, it's two minutes away from me, but I had a very different experience. I bought a camera, and the extended warranty (my cameras always break so it makes sense for me).
Anyways, a friend dropped it 2 years later and it broke. I lost the receipt but they still took it in and tried to fix it. When they couldn't fix it, they gave me credit for the original purchase price instead, with which I bought a brand new and MUCH BETTER camera. - Shadowrose, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Except that the exterior of the screen was undamaged, and the entire case was very likely unscathed? If you drop it, the soft fleshy plastic bits will very, very like show signs of damage. Unless you drop it from extremely high onto a pillow. Honestly, it's pretty easy to tell damage from defect.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5supporting your local economy? Providing jobs in your area? you know..."those things"
- FDL1, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7Pics or it didn't happen. Seriously, I've never heard of this ever happening, and if there aren't any scratches or cracks, then it should be obvious that it wasn't user error. Maybe I'm giving Best Buy too much credit...
- insomniac8400, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3My acer 3003lci is 1.5 years old. I just even upgraded the ram, processor, and put in a dvd burner and dropped it off my desk why it was running. I even had to replace the keyboard because water got on it and screwed the keys up. Granted the graphics card is terrible and overheats from any game that is full screen. But it cost 350 bucks, so oh well. I know now not to buy any laptop that doesn't have a radeon or nvidia card in it.
- cgomez, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Thank you, somebody with some sense.
- cosmotic, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4The reason people shop at places like best buy instead of online is because they need what they are buying AT THAT MOMENT. Additionally, when purchasing a TV, you should look at it. You can't look at TVs on the internet. You can at best buy. I suppose you could go to best buy and look at them and then buy them online. Another reason would be to save on shipping costs.
- emjaymj, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I'm in the same boat, and the one I go to is the one he claims he had a problem with. Never had a problem.
Of course, I'd never buy a PC or laptop from there... - brundlefly76, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Best Buy is a great place to shop! I love to go there, handle the goods, play games on the demo machines, etc.
Then I go home and buy it on NewEgg. - rpphoto, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Nonsense. I have had a number of similar incidents caused by damage in shipping and handling before purchase. Such fascist narrow-mindedness is completely irresponsible.
- OpCzar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Is this true for Canada, too?
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2That is the main reason I use an AMERICAN EXPRESS card exclusively when making large purchases. They will put the money back in your account with a simple phone call (not a written statement and filled out forms). They also double your warranty on anything purchased on with the card.
- mcosmi, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4so people should pay more just to keep someone in business? No thanks, I'm not independently wealthy...and its not my responsibility to keep ma and pa employed if they chose to stick with an inferior business model. capitalism works like this, you don't like it go move to a communist country....i think there are still a couple left. You can even get a loaf of bread each month so you dint starve to death.
- goodnewsevery1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Your X-Box story reflects MICROSOFT'S return program not Best Buys. Best Buy said sure do it because Microsoft is doing everything it can to pay consumers and retailers for the red ring of death issue. The earlier comments are right..this is an ACER issue.
- mbdesigns, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4not to mention the $2 bill situation...
- insomniac8400, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Yes it is. If you buy something and it kills itself within 30 days, you get it replaced. If best buy advertised all sales final no warranty, their sales would drop big time. They are 100% lying to their customers.
- nitrusoxyde, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2SHATTERING NEWS REPORT: Customer breaks laptop and invents story to try and get money back - fails and is called out on probably breaking laptop! FILM AT 11!
- Salesti, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I purchased an item once (a bit less expensive) which was apparently dropped before I bought it (by another shopper?) -- after removing it from the package and setting it down, part of one side just dropped away -- I hadn't even jostled it! Couldn't prove it, though, and didn't take it back. It might not have happened the way he said, but who knows?
- EpicCrusadr, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Who said that you save on shipping costs? Best Buy has to get it to the store some how, and they sure as hell aren't going to do it for free.
- mnemonic, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I have seen it happen, though it is rare, it does happen. If the frame that holds the LCD was warped due to a manufacturing error, or there was a small bump on the plastic casing around the screen, which would cause a pressure point, then heat would cause this to happen.
- bossm4n, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2That's ridiculous. Best Buy is culpable and responsible for the products they sell. If I sell ANY product to one of my customers and it is defective, my first reaction is to correct the problem to satisfy my client, then resolve the issue with the manufacturer or distributor of the product. I had my own return issue with Best Buy years ago when they would not even take back an item still in the box, unopened. They are quite simply the worst retailer I've ever done business with. I'm glad that stories like this continue to come to light in hopes that Best Buy will either wise up or go out of business.
- mcosmi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2i think it was maybe something called sarcasm...
sarcasm |ˈsärˌkazəm| noun the use of irony to mock or convey contempt : his voice, hardened by sarcasm, could not hide his resentment. See note at wit . ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from French sarcasme, or via late Latin from late Greek sarkasmos, from Greek sarkazein ‘tear flesh,’ in late Greek ‘gnash the teeth, speak bitterly’ (from sarx, sark- ‘flesh’ ). - TheBigBad, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2"I brought it home that night, checked that it was OK, booted it up, installed the OS and surfed for a while."
You bought a laptop that did not come with the OS already installed? Acer really must be cutting corners. - andyd273, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2The worst laptop repair problem that I've ever had was at circuit city...
Granted that was before they started the fire dog thing, but it was still horrible.
every time I sent it to service it came back with parts missing, and I finally just gave up.
if only it was as easy to build/repair a laptop as it is to build/repair a desktop. - rpphoto, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Nonsense. I have had a number of similar incidents caused by damage in shipping and handling before purchase. Such fascist narrow-mindedness is completely irresponsible.
- Sp0rAdiC, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Should've just returned them and took your business elsewhere.
- sannm, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Except those warranties are known to be shady (atleast the Best Buy ones) they are often "lost", not honored, or claim the damage is outside the warranty. Best Buy is notorious for warranty problems, I know more than one person who's been screwed when they were supposed to be covered. Besides, he shouldn't he have to buy an expensive warranty to make sure a brand new defective product is returnable.
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