Geek Squad Replacement Claim
Gwenda Arguin
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I'm having a problem with my charging port. It seems to be loose and will not hold a connection unless its pushed in and held up and both of the lightning cables I have work perfectly fine on the iPad, does anybody have a solution to this problem? I've done the dust and lint check, took compressed air to it and nothing came out, I've taken it to verizon and geek squad and nobody has a solution. The phone isn't a year old, a $600 retail value phone shouldn't have this kind of problems.
None. I've found tutorials on how to replace the charging port, but I'm not a tech specialist nor am I willing to take the two tiny screws out of the bottom and suction cup my screen off to get to the charging port. I could do the insurance claim through asurion, but that's $169 and I've had to do it twice before and I've gotten to very poorly refurbished phones. All I need to know is if there's a way to repair the charging port instead of blowing $169 on a refurbished piece of garbage. The rest of the phone works perfectly fine and I just spent $190 getting my hard drive in my MacBook Pro fixed after that went out after 10 months of purchase and just happened to be just outside my manufacturer warranty
If you don't do something silly like trying to take the phone apart yourself, Apple should sell you an out of warranty replacement unit. They are not "a refurbished piece of garbage". They are devices that go through more testing than a phone right of the factory assembly line. They have new batteries and new casing. They are indistinguishable from new. An an out-of-warranty replacement unit will, without question, work better than your phone after you try to repair it yourself.
What do you mean a refurbished piece of garbage? Refurbished iPhones are checked closer than the brand new units and come with a 90 day warranty. Better than losing all oof your post warranty support by opening the phone.
Lifehacker reader and former Best Buy employee Dannie Armas discusses the particulars of Best Buy's extended warranty program, explaining why he always recommends the alternative extended warranty service, SquareTrade.
I now advise all to consider the alternative. Don't get me wrong, I've never had a bad experience with Best Buy's extended warranties, and they do cover what they say they will cover. (Assuming the sales person gave you correct information, or didn't bend the truth to make their individual goal sheets look better.)
My reason for the change of heart is an alternative warranty service that covers more for less. Sometimes they even offer sale pricing on warranties. Best Buy's policy is to never adjust pricing of a Product Service Plan (from now on PSP), or now the Geek Squad Black Tie Protection (often referred as GSBTP or BTP). There is also ADHD, which is your accidental coverage. This warranty service also guarantees 5-day turnaround on warranty claims. SquareTrade is that company, and that's where I'll do my warranty purchases for any electronics from now on.
Below I've compared what SquareTrade and Geek Squad Black Tie Protection extended warranties cover; you can use the information and make your own judgment call as to which warranty is best. In these examples, I'll cover a couple of common items you'll find yourself purchasing at a Best Buy or any other electronics retailer.
Notebook computers: Probably the most commonly purchased item from Best Buy is notebook computers. For the sake of easy comparison, we'll consider an Apple Macbook Pro with a 13.3" display. You can get your hands on one of these bad boys for $1,199.99 of your hard-earned money. For an additional $299.99 you can get a 2-Year Geek Squad Black Tie Advanced Protection Plan that will cover you in case of accidental damage.
Best Buy's Black Tie Protection with Accidental Coverage covers the following. Note: accidental coverage is not included automatically. Do not assume so, you must opt-in and purchase the completely different sku accordingly.
Normal wear and tear (It sounds like you could take your notebook in for a cracked palm rest, or scratched notebook lid. That's not the case, the policy is that it must affect the normal function of the notebook. For example, cracked hinges would be covered. Another example of vague wording.)
Vi-Spy protection (This one drove me nuts, and on a Mac computer you'll likely never use it. To be fair it can occur on a PC, but you should know that your manufacture already empowers you to easily wipe your computer and get rid of such malware. Next time you're in a Best Buy, have some fun, ask any Agent if they can briefly tell you how to restore your own computer because you have a virus. Then wait for the flood of excuses and avoidance of answering the question. To be fair, not all agents are like this; I personally had no problem teaching [briefly] and empowering them to do it on their own.)
You can take a look at the whole agreement yourself here. There are some things that are covered that I felt were too small and hardly a benefit to cover but you can view the agreement yourself and make your own judgment call.
From my experience as Geek Squad Agent, I'll point out that they will not cover full immersion into any liquid. You will likely never hear about this until after the fact. Also, if you're in a car accident and your notebook is damaged in the crash, don't bother telling them. At that time they'll refer you to your car insurance for coverage, and that's not a fun venture. I will also note there is no specific turnaround time guarantee for repairs that are sent to Geek Squad. You can expect most repairs that are beyond basic memory, hard drive, and OS-related issues to be shipped out. I've seen it take anywhere from 10-14 days to up to 2 months for repairs when items are shipped out. That does not include whether or if the repair was not done correctly the first time. It is not uncommon for Agents to ship items back multiple times in hopes of resolving the issue.
5-Day Service Guarantee (Claims can be filed online or over the phone, 24-hours a day. No need to wait for a store to open. They provide a pre-paid shipping label and a specialized box for shipping notebooks.)
Option 3: No cheap refurbs: SquareTrade will not replace your item with a refurbished model. With a reimbursement from SquareTrade, you can go out and get a newer model for the same price you paid originally.
Mechanical and electrical failures that occur during normal use of your item. Your item is covered for up to the full purchase price of your item (tax and shipping are excluded) (Similar to Best Buy, except Best Buy will only reimburse you the current value of your item. SquareTrade will cover you up-to the purchase price of your item.)
iPhone warranties: The next example that I personally have taken advantage of is SquareTrade's iPhone 4 warranty. I purchased two iPhone 4's for myself and my girlfriend. iPhone 4 at the new contract price will run you $199 for 16GB and $299 for the 32GB model. I think we are all already on the same page on this, but I'll cover it anyway just to be fair. AppleCare Protection is $69 for a total of two years. It's a well known fact that all that AppleCare will do for you is extend the manufacturer's warranty, which isn't much more than manufacturer defects. Not worth it to anyone if you ask me.
Moving onto what Best Buy's Geek Squad Black Tie Protection for the iPhone 4 would cover. We find it to be just as unimpressive as AppleCare's solution. Coming in at $15 (rounded) a month which equals $360 a year. You also will NEVER get your original phone back, but a refurbished unit, which is what I witnessed when I was previously employed at Best Buy. They do try and resurface the unit to give a "like new" feel, but it looks terrible.
SquareTrade faces off the Geek Squad Black Tie Protection by offering a $124 plan that covers your iPhone 4 for 2 years, still falling under all the great benefits they offer like no refurbished units. There is in fact a deductible for phones replaced due to physical damage of $50. Fortunately, even with a deductible, it would still take 5 replacements before reaching the price of the Geek Squad Black Tie Protection or PSP offered by Best Buy.
Don't get me wrong: If you already have a Best Buy warranty, you'll be covered as promised, but it will not compare to what SquareTrade can cover. It's too late to change an existing warranty, but keep it in mind on your next purchase.
Have you ever purchased something from Ebay and been in fear that it may break. If you purchase electronics from Ebay, SquareTrade as an added bonus also has the ability to cover such items purchased.
After struggling for a long time while standing in their customer service area, I was finally able to convince one of the managers to have the notebook inspected at the Best Buy depot where they will evaluate whether or not the customer is guilty of misuse. Guess what, they already made it clear that my chances of getting it replaced or fixed for free, are extremely slim. And guess what else, they are going to give me a call about this in 3 weeks. Yes, the birthday was today, goodbye surprise.
Dear Antonio,
I am writing to you to advise that we have received a copy of your recent blog regarding your Acer laptop. We are currently investigating your case and have asked that the diagnosis be expedited.If you could reply to this email with a contact phone number I will phone you once the diagnosis is completed. If you prefer email communication my direct email is [omitted].
As I mentioned in our conversation, the laptop engineer from Acer advised that out of the 70, 000 units they have shipped throughout Canada they have not received any reports of an LCD screen cracking on its own. If the LCD screen fails due to a defect, the screen would be covered for 90 days, however if the screen cracked and was deemed physical damage you would be responsible for the cost of the repair.
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