Did Best Buy screw me over

[Sinophile]

I am excluding a few details in order to keep the post from becoming TL;DR. Anyway, I had purchased an extended warranty from Best buy on my Asus laptop. My Asus had worked just fine for about 18 months, when suddenly the power supply produced a burning smell, and stopped detecting AC power. I had then decided to bring the laptop into Geeksquad. I come back three weeks later, and they told me that they had "junked" my laptop, because the repair center had determined that, 1.) multiple components had been damaged by spills, and 2.) the cost to fix the laptop would be $750, which was the cost of the laptop when I purchased it in January 2009. I had denied spilling anything on any part of the laptop, by which the smug Geeksquad agent said that,"it was possible that condensation may have occurred". After a visit to customer service, him and another employee took me back to the laptop section, and offered me a machine that had a smaller screen, less RAM, and a crappy Intel video card(my original Asus X83VB-X1 had an Nvidia 9300M). When I pointed all of these out, he said that since my laptop was no longer under manufacturer warranty, that he could only offer me a laptop with similar specs, as opposed to one with similar costs( A $750 laptop purchased in Jan 09' would be about 25% more powerful than one purchased in September 10'), and that this laptop had a larger hard drive( 320GB vs. 250GB). I found this especially frustrating since a 500GB laptop hard drive can be purchased for about $70, even at Best Buy. I had asked if I could come back another time, as I was feeling frustrated, and on the verge of tears. The Geeksquad person simply replied ,"I don't know". I had then informed him that I was going home, to which he said nothing.

 

My question for other posters is, do I have any other recourse for recovering my laptop, or the cost of it? Working with management does not seem to be an option for me.

[Sepherose]

They junked your laptop without informing you or allowing you to come get it? Well now, that's illegal. You could sue them for it. Even if the laptop was not working, it was still your property to do with as you please, ergo, destruction of property. Explain that to them, and they may be more courteous.

[jhardingame]

Agreed with Sepherose.

 

I've never experienced that with Best Buy, they've always been generally nice to me. But then again, I never went and talked to Geeksquad, cause half the time I knew about as much(if not more) than they do. Yeah, you did get ripped. Like Sepherose said, they had no right to junk your PC at all, espically if they didn't inform you. If anything, they should be giving you a better laptop due to lack of proper customer support and care. I'd also suggest filing a complaint through the Best Buy website or calling customer support. It would also be best if you remembered which store it was and the Geeksquad member who "helped" you.

Best Buy contact info can be found here.

[evilneko]

Document everything. Deal with managers or above only. Get statements in writing. Read that extended warranty scam of yours closely. Complain to corporate. Finally, if all else fails, consult a lawyer if you can find one who does free consultations. I've a feeling it wouldn't be worth it to sue over, though the legitimate threat of a suit may get Worst Buy to roll over and do something for you.

[myrmaad]

Document everything. Deal with managers or above only. Get statements in writing. Read that extended warranty scam of yours closely. Complain to corporate. Finally, if all else fails, consult a lawyer if you can find one who does free consultations. I've a feeling it wouldn't be worth it to sue over, though the legitimate threat of a suit may get Worst Buy to roll over and do something for you.

 

 

I agree, and definitely insist you want your laptop back.

[Illiad86]

that's just BS...wow. Even more of reason to hate Best Buy...

 

love the "it was possible that condensation may have occurred"........I bring my laptop out into freezing or humid conditions for many hours when the boyfriend and I do astronomy...never had any condensation on it. It's warm...how in hades does condensation form unless you have it outside not turned on for like 4 hours? Sheesh....what a bunch of newbs.

 

totally agree with Neko, threat of a lawsuit will probably freak them the heck out and they'll give you a brand new laptop :D haha