Bestbuy and extended warranty service

I dont know if best buy's and compusa's warranty service is the same, but my digital camera from compusa broke, and i brought it in and they asked me if i would like to drop it off and get a brand new one, or they take the camera, and say you got the camera for about $255 is the orginal price. And you decide you dont like that camera, then they wll take $255 of any other camera in the store you get and you pay whats left.

I have no experience with Best Buy but I did have a camera repair incident with Ritz camera a few years ago.

I had purchased a Minolta SLR 35mm. It worked great and took good pictures but on the day of my buddy's wedding it quit working. I bought an extended service policy with the camera so I took it back to Ritz. They sent it off and said it would be a couple of weeks.

Trouble was, I was leaving for vacation before it was supposed to be back and I wanted my camera. They tried to ruch it but it wasn't ready so I complained bitterly. In the end, even though it wasn't part of the policy, they gave me loaner 35mm slr for my vacation.

I would certainly mention that you have waited long enough already and that the damage that now needs to be repaired was not from you. Demand either an equivelant replacement or a purchase price credit. When clerk boy says no, get a manager. If manager boy says no, get him to give you the name and number of his district/regional manager. Odds are one of these guys will give it to you as long as you are firm and angry but cool.

BestBuy should have explained their warranty to you.
It goes like this... you must bring it in 3 times with problems. After this, not before, they can give you a new camera based on the original price you paid for it. Its like a 3 strike lemon law.

Unfortunately, how long it is gone is not something you can control. They claim 4 weeks....since everything is shipped out.

When you first take your equipment in, they look it over and record any scratches/blemishes, so if you just got it back and they damaged it, you have some leverage to get a replacement earlier. Although, if you have it at home already, they could claim that they did not damage the device.

In my limited experience, the squeeky wheel get's the grease. While it's somewhat unfortunate that these places don't try to provide the best possible customer experience on their first try, speaking to the manager usually gets good results, their job, after all, is preventing bad press, which includes word of mouth.

The issue here isn't so much the time required, which according to Galaxie was less than their stated turnaround time, but the poor condition in which it was returned.

Just remember to be polite, but use strong words: such as 'unreasonable' or 'unacceptable', and don't dance around the point. Being direct but polite tells them that you respect their position and that you are a confident individual who expects proper treatment. Going in yelling or being confrontational only indicates that you're uneducated and aren't able to carry out a civilized conversation, so how hard will they try to placate you? Bring the camera (and receipt) and show the manager the condition in which it was returned. I wager they offer you a new camera or the value off a new one of your choice.

i would be demanding a new camera .. if it has cracks in the case and has been dropped i would not trust it to work properly in the future .. be nice about it but firm ..
if you go for a new camera get an Olympus .. for the price you paid for yours a few years ago you can get a real descent olympus .. and there lenses and pict quality are great ..
im not endorsing them .. i just own one ..

Marn

Their policy is to send things out. My first laptop had to be sent off 3 times. On the third time when they looked at it they sent a message back to the store I was dealing with and told them to call me to get a new one. My laptop was 2 years old at this point. Got a new one paid diff in price. A year later I had to take 2nd one in due to my son leaving it on the floor under a cover and it got stepped on (was told never to touch it). Where the power cord goes into the laptop to charge it was broken. Repair office said too much cost involved in repair so they had me get another (had 2nd one a year) got a new one paid diff. and purchased a new warr.
Now with my vaccum they just replaced it and didn't send it out (broken locking mechanism). Well worth the warr. coverage for $20 I think.