UPDATE 3: Best Buy charged me to honor their warranty?

[Rudy_v8]

UPDATE 3:

I contacted Best By corporate last week because I do not like the 15.6" I was provided under warranty, nor do I like how I was refused an identical replacement and also refused a apparently lawful request for a full refund per the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act.  Thanks google! I explained the whole situation, and I was told today that a replacement laptop identical to my original purchase was available to pick up at my nearest location!  Literally the exact same everything. Crazy how it took 3.5 months, 2 trips to the store, and a dozen phone calls before finally getting a corporate number to get them to give me an identical replacement under warranty! Except, it wasn't there.  Nobody in the store knew what i was talking about.  A different manager than the previous one found what he believed to be the laptop and I was ready to do an exchange until he started on his speech about paying $450 for a 3 year extended warranty.  I calmly told him that I was promised a replacement by corporate, and that I would not be paying anything extra for them to replace my laptop with an IDENTICAL model to my original purchase.  I left the store, and e-mailed corporate explaining the situation.  I asked them to send me a box or label to ship back the laptop I have and to ship me the replacement they claim to have.  I already paid for a 3 year warranty I am not paying $450 for another one.  I have spent over an hour alone driving to/from the store on 3 separate occasions, I have spent several hours waiting for UPS to deliver a "signature required" package that was left unsigned at my doorstep both times, and several more hours negotiating/explaining with people in person or on the phone 

Waiting on a response back. I hope it will be the last.    

Also, here is a TL;DR Breakdown of the specs

Original purchase with $350 3 year extended warranty:

>Dell - G7 17.3" 300Hz Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 (Max-P) - 512GB SSD

 

Replacement I was charged $217 for and given no warranty on: 

>ASUS - ROG 16" WQXGA 165Hz Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i9 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA RTX3060 - 1TB SSD - Off Black

 

Replacement #2 i was promised a $217 refund that never happened, 3 year warranty re-instated however.

>Lenovo - Legion 5 15" Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 7 5800H - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti - 8GB Memory - 512GB SSD - Phantom Blue

Replacement #3: was informed an identical Dell G7 to my original purchase was in-store for pickup, it was not, they attempted to charge me $450 for another 3 year warranty and ship it to my house.  I refused this time and walked out of the store with Replacement #2.  

UPDATE 2
I had to charge back my $217 that they charged me to "upgrade" my machine under warranty because they failed to refund me.  I knew this would happen when the guy said he was somehow going to refund a credit card charge to my debit card so I dutifully waited until it was clear it would not show up.  

All in all I am fucking pissed that I ONCE A FUCKING GAIN have a piece of shit I dont want because the warranty failed to do its job.  My last one took me years to replace and I swore to never buy from Lenovo again. Now I am stuck with another Lenovo piece of shit because Best Buy fucked me over on a warranty claim.  God fucking damnit.  

UPDATE

Went back in to best buy today, after an hour of telling the manager I wanted a full refund or a similar machine with no increased cost to myself I ended up accepting a different laptop.  Thankfully I had a friend there to support me or I probably would have caved again.  I called my bank in advance to verify I could dispute the charges and when things went south I told the best buy manager thats what I would be doing. Twice I had to do this before I was offered the laptop I ultimately agreed on. After this second attempt I am happy with what I received.     



A full list of changes:
3 Year warranty maintained and applied to new device
2070 SUPER upgraded to 3050
17.3" display downgraded to 15"
16G Ram downgraded to 8G
storage size of 512GB remains the same
Processor is identical I think as well. i9
Num pad maintained despite the small size
Brand change of Dell to Lenovo

And the big ones
the $207 I paid yesterday for the "upgrades" will be refunded to my credit card
I also received $309 in store credit.

Total cost to me after refunds = $1300 ish.

 
I pick up the laptop tomorrow, will update if anything new goes wrong.  The only other thing I am disappointed with is that the replacement is a Lenovo. My last Lenovo Y-50 touchscreen cost me $3000 and it has structural issues that caused it to blue screen if you held it with 1 hand from the keyboard while the screen was open & laptop running.  I had to send that one in for warranty, and they replaced it with an identical model that had the exact same issue but due to them taking up most of my first Senior Semester replacing I couldnt afford to do it again so it effectively became a desktop when in use and rarely moved until I graduated but by then the warranty expired and Lenovo refused to fix it.  Furthermore, years later I find a friend ALSO has a Lenovo y-50 touchscreen and it ALSO had the exact same issues and was a general piece of shit.  So..... Lenovo has begrudgingly been given a 2nd chance. I pray to god that this being a different version of laptop entirely means that I wont have issues since they seem to have an acceptable reputation.... part of the reason I was so upset about this warranty issue was because I have been stuck with this $3000 piece of shit for YEARS now and I finally save up for an upgrade only for it to happen AGAIN.  UGHH

 

Thank you all for reading  
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Im not sure where else to post this as there isnt an apropriate section.  I had a 17.3" Dell G7 laptop with a 2070 SUPER in it and I had to send it in under warranty twice for issues before Best Buy told me I would be getting a replacement.  When I went into the Best Buy store I was told to pick a laptop for a replacement but they didnt have an exact replica and couldnt order one either.  I was under the impression I was getting a free upgrade since they could not provide an exact replacement so I settled on a 16" ASUS with a 3060 in it.   

Turns out, Its not a free replacement. they charged me $207 for the "upgrade" and had the audacity to ask me if I wanted to spend another $450 on another 3 year warranty like I did on the laptop that just took a shit.  

This seems.... illegal?   My warranty should entitle me to a replacement or better no?  

[dizmo]

Depends what kind of warranty it was. If it was Best Buy's warranty, it's highly unlikely they'd be screwing you over. You likely just didn't read the fine print.

[Mark Kaine]

yeap. 

[Rudy_v8]

2 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Depends what kind of warranty it was. If it was Best Buy's warranty, it's highly unlikely they'd be screwing you over. You likely just didn't read the fine print.

I read all the fine print and tried to understand it afterwards.  I purcahsed the extra protection that went as far as accidental spills and damage etc. 

[m9x3mos]

24 minutes ago, Rudy_v8 said:

I read all the fine print and tried to understand it afterwards.  I purcahsed the extra protection that went as far as accidental spills and damage etc. 

I think they either get you a replacement of the same model or apply a credit of the purchase price to a replacement. My bet is that is the difference in price between your original purchase and the one you selected. 

[crakddx]

still, that upgrade just for 200 is pretty decwnt, and its a brand new laaptop

[Rudy_v8]

8 minutes ago, m9x3mos said:

I think they either get you a replacement of the same model or apply a credit of the purchase price to a replacement. My bet is that is the difference in price between your original purchase and the one you selected. 

Thats what happened but I am pissed because I bought this thing in June, I sent it in for repairs late July because the speakers were broken but it otherwise worked fine. Then they sent it back and it started thermal throttling.  They literally broke my laptop installing new speakers.  Now its been another month of me waiting on repairs for a laptop I bought just a few months ago, only for them to force me into a purchase of a laptop I did not want.  I spent hours picking out the right laptop and now they are all sold out.  The one I picked is 16" not 17.3" and more importantly to me it does not have a num pad which is a massive loss of convenience for me.  One I thought I was settling with because it was free but then I paid $207 for it. I am going to go back to Best Buy tomorrow to cancel this order I dont want this thing.  The sales rep rushed me through everything so freaking fast.  

[Ravendarat]

Thats the way their warranty has worked for the better part of 15+ years. I get your frustration for sure and Id hope that you can maybe get some kind of help from a store manager if you calmly explain your situation BUT it is the way their warranty is written, nothing illegal about it. As I said though, calmly talk to their manager and after a conversation with him/her if you dont get a result you find satisfactory simply thank them for the time but explain you still arent satisfied and will instead try to go through head office to get a satisfactory fair result. Dont yell, dont threaten, just explain yourself, be firm in your stance and dont be afraid to escalate higher if you feel you arent getting a fair resolution 

[Rudy_v8]

22 minutes ago, Ravendarat said:

Thats the way their warranty has worked for the better part of 15+ years. I get your frustration for sure and Id hope that you can maybe get some kind of help from a store manager if you calmly explain your situation BUT it is the way their warranty is written, nothing illegal about it. As I said though, calmly talk to their manager and after a conversation with him/her if you dont get a result you find satisfactory simply thank them for the time but explain you still arent satisfied and will instead try to go through head office to get a satisfactory fair result. Dont yell, dont threaten, just explain yourself, be firm in your stance and dont be afraid to escalate higher if you feel you arent getting a fair resolution 

Im about to just cancel the whole thing and get a refund if they run me up the chain. I dont wanna play these kinds of games.  The laptop worked fine until I sent it in for a speaker repair and then it started having thermal throttling issues. They bricked my laptop and then charged me extra to replace it.  

What bothers me is I got a good deal on this laptop. I ended up paying like $1150 and I splurged on a 3 year warranty because of how cheap it was. I was expecting the refurbishing to cause issues in a few years but it came with a broken speaker so I had to send it in right away and they broke it.  

[Ravendarat]

1 minute ago, Rudy_v8 said:

Im about to just cancel the whole thing and get a refund if they run me up the chain. I dont wanna play these kinds of games.  The laptop worked fine until I sent it in for a speaker repair and then it started having thermal throtteling issues. They bricked my laptop and then charged me extra to replace it.  

Right but even getting a refund will be outside policy so at the end of the day you need to make sure you can get them to play ball with you. Far easier to be reasonable than to lose your shit on them in the store, not saying you will, just saying ive seen people do it and its generally a bad play

[Rudy_v8]

2 minutes ago, Ravendarat said:

Right but even getting a refund will be outside policy so at the end of the day you need to make sure you can get them to play ball with you. Far easier to be reasonable than to lose your shit on them in the store, not saying you will, just saying ive seen people do it and its generally a bad play

I am going to have a tough time keeping cool if they try not to refund me

[Ravendarat]

1 minute ago, Rudy_v8 said:

I am going to have a tough time keeping cool if they try not to refund me

They have no obligation to refund you, thats what im trying to tell you. I understand your frustration but you are wanting them to go above and beyond their written policies, polices that btw are shared by most major electronics retailers. Its been a while since I read the policy but it used to be that they would give you a product of equal specs or a in store credit for the original purchase price less the warranty, which ever is less, moneyback is never a standard option. Sucks as a consumer but these policies are not hidden. Its unfortunately a buyers responsibility to make sure they either read these in advance or ask the associates at the store about any questions you would have before handing over money to them.

 

What I can tell you from working in electronics retail stores for over 20 years is that if you walked into my store, well outside policy and decide to come unglued on me you are getting no special treatment from me and ill follow store policy to the letter and nothing else. BUT if you walk in and are reasonable to deal with and explain your shit luck you've had so far I will almost always go above and beyond to try to find a good solution for you, that generally would involve me waiving a big chunk of or all of that price difference you are dealing with because I would agree that its unreasonable that you be hit with an extra bill only a few months after buying a laptop you had decided on. My point its flying off the handle is almost always a shitty way to do business. 

[Rudy_v8]

8 minutes ago, Ravendarat said:

They have no obligation to refund you, thats what im trying to tell you. I understand your frustration but you are wanting them to go above and beyond their written policies, polices that btw are shared by most major electronics retailers. Its been a while since I read the policy but it used to be that they would give you a product of equal specs or a in store credit for the original purchase price less the warranty, which ever is less, moneyback is never a standard option. Sucks as a consumer but these policies are not hidden. Its unfortunately a buyers responsibility to make sure they either read these in advance or ask the associates at the store about any questions you would have before handing over money to them.

 

What I can tell you from working in electronics retail stores for over 20 years is that if you walked into my store, well outside policy and decide to come unglued on me you are getting no special treatment from me and ill follow store policy to the letter and nothing else. BUT if you walk in and are reasonable to deal with and explain your shit luck you've had so far I will almost always go above and beyond to try to find a good solution for you, that generally would involve me waiving a big chunk of or all of that price difference you are dealing with because I would agree that its unreasonable that you be hit with an extra bill only a few months after buying a laptop you had decided on. My point its flying off the handle is almost always a shitty way to do business. 

i dont understand how they arent obligated to refund me. they sold me a broken laptop and spent 3 months "fixing" it.  They cant replace it with something identical despite the warranty saying so.  How is that legal for them to refuse to refund me but also force me to pay more for an upgrade.  

 

 

ugh. i dont want the laptops they offered me and i dont have enough money to one that I want now. I just want my money back.  

[Rudy_v8]

sigh. im frustrated im gona go to bed man ur a solid dude i apprecaite u  

[Ravendarat]

1 minute ago, Rudy_v8 said:

i dont understand how they arent obligated to refund me. they sold me a broken laptop, they cant replace it with something identical despite the warranty saying so.  How the hell is that legal for them to refuse to refund me but also force me to pay more for an upgrade.  

Sure I can explain this. The policy for refunding a product is between 15-30 days depending on the product, for computers I believe its 15 days. You said you bought it in June so obviously well outside that period. They fixed the faulty speakers, the laptop developed a thermal throttling issue, which by they way you have no way of proving they caused. Do I believe it could have absolutely been an issue cause from their work, sure but unless you have actual proof its all conjecture. Either way the laptop goes back to repair depot. Now you are saying its being replaced but you never actually said why that is? Did they deem it unrepairable? Or is this something you initially requested? Replacement parts not available? You kinda left that part out or maybe I missed it, either way they are now offering you the solutions laid out in their policies which you agreed to when you bought the laptop. You are unhappy with those options now that you are being faced with them but thats not actually the retailers fault.

 

Now if I was in your shoes would I want a better option than being offered, yep I definitely would. But do I realize that they arent OBLIGATED to give me a different option, yep sure do. So this goes back to what I was saying before. Be reasonable and respectful with the way you treat management and any good store manager will go out of their way to maintain a customer that is a pleasure to deal with. You might not get a refund but you might very well get a suitable UPGRADED laptop for no extra charge and that would be a big win in my books for you. No matter what I am sorry you have to deal with the stress here and good luck in your dealings tomorrow, post up the results

[Gohardgrandpa]

If it covered accidental I would ask for it back, football spike that shit in the parking lot and bring it back in. Best Buy is the worst. I had an iphone 8+ that wouldn't turn on. Apple said BB is authorized to fix phones. They had my phone for a week and called and said they couldn't replace the phone because the sim card tray didn't match the IMEI on the phone. This was a brand new phone I got directly from apple 4 months prior, they mixed my sim card tray up with a different phone when they had it. I took it to the apple store 90 minutes away and the guy plugged it in, saw it didn't work and grabbed me a replacement. BB sucks man

[Mark Kaine]

8 hours ago, Ravendarat said:

Thats the way their warranty has worked for the better part of 15+ years. I get your frustration for sure and Id hope that you can maybe get some kind of help from a store manager if you calmly explain your situation BUT it is the way their warranty is written, nothing illegal about it. As I said though, calmly talk to their manager and after a conversation with him/her if you dont get a result you find satisfactory simply thank them for the time but explain you still arent satisfied and will instead try to go through head office to get a satisfactory fair result. Dont yell, dont threaten, just explain yourself, be firm in your stance and dont be afraid to escalate higher if you feel you arent getting a fair resolution 

So if you buy something from them and do not pay for warranty  - you don't get any warranty at all? I'm just wondering because in EU you get 1-2 years warranty on any new products you buy, and additional warranty is usually to extend the time frame.

 

I mean he bought it just a few months ago, would be different if it was years ago (also mentions the warranty was for extension thereof,  not to waive rights on regular warranty,  depends on local laws tho obviously)

[Rudy_v8]

Went back in to best buy today, after an hour of telling the manager I wanted a full refund or a similar machine with no extra cost to myself I ended up accepting a different laptop. 

A full list of changes:
3 Year warranty maintained and applied to new device
2070 SUPER upgraded to 3050
17.3" display downgraded to 15"
16G Ram downgraded to 8G
storage size of 512GB remains the same
Processor is identical I think as well. i9
Num pad maintained despite the small size
Brand change of Dell to Lenovo

And the big ones
$207 refunded to my credit card
$309 in store credit.

Total cost to me after refunds = $1300 ish.  
 

[Middcore]

5 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

So if you buy something from them and do not pay for warranty  - you don't get any warranty at all? 

 

His warranty would be from the laptop's manufacturer, not the retailer, unless you purchase an additional one from the retailer.

[Rudy_v8]

5 minutes ago, Middcore said:

 

His warranty would be from the laptop's manufacturer, not the retailer, unless you purchase an additional one from the retailer.

On my original order, I purchased an additional 3 year warranty from the retailer at the cost of $350.  I am unsure how this 3 year warranty interacts with the manufacturer warranty, if it is an extension or if it simply replaces it.  

When the first machine broke they wanted to charge me $450 for another 3 year warranty on the new device they just charged me $207 for.  Remember that $207 was because they could not replace the machine with an identical one and the $207 price difference was the next best thing.  

 

[Middcore]

2 minutes ago, Rudy_v8 said:

On my original order, I purchased an additional 3 year warranty from the retailer at the cost of $350. 

 

That's fine. I'm answering the other poster's hypothetical question about what warranties apply if you don't purchase one from the retailer. 

 

Quote

When the first machine broke they wanted to charge me $450 for another 3 year warranty on the new device

 

Yeah, that's pretty typical.

 

I've purchased protection plans on phones before and they basically give you one replacement. The warranty doesn't apply to the replacement, you want protection for the replacement, you buy another plan. 

[Rudy_v8]

10 minutes ago, Middcore said:

 

That's fine. I'm answering the other poster's hypothetical question about what warranties apply if you don't purchase one from the retailer. 

 

 

Yeah, that's pretty typical.

 

I've purchased protection plans on phones before and they basically give you one replacement. The warranty doesn't apply to the replacement, you want protection for the replacement, you buy another plan. 

Im never paying for a warranty again then if thats the case.  Why am I paying $350 to "save" $1000? I only truly net $650 in savings thats such a massive loss for a minimal gain.  I'd rather go to vegas and put that money on a roulette table I think id come out ahead more often.  

[Mark Kaine]

50 minutes ago, Middcore said:

 

His warranty would be from the laptop's manufacturer, not the retailer, unless you purchase an additional one from the retailer.

That's completely diametrically opposite of how its in the EU, here you have 2 years (usually) 1 year minimum warranty,  from the retailer,  you have no contract whatsoever with the manufacturer so there is no warranty from them, although they can and often do offer it voluntarily of course. 

 

So OP should have asked the manufacturer then? I mean it just seems *really* weird to pay for basic warranty...

[Middcore]

2 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

So OP should have asked the manufacturer then?

 

He probably could have. The advantage (in theory) to buying a warranty/service plan from the retail is that it's more convenient and hopefully quicker to take the broken device to the retailer's local brick and mortar than to contact the manufacturer and ship things back and forth, etc. 

[Gohardgrandpa]

So what I'm seeing now is this 

2070 super to 3050= downgrade 

16gb to 8gb= downgrade 

17.3 inch screen to 15 inch= downgrade 

And you got $309 in store credit. 

 

What was the total for the new laptop and what CPU is in it ?