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I never wait till more than the time they give. If they say the will call Wednesday, and they don't call by noon. I call them, an I call back everyday unless given a different time frame.
Sad reality is, they have a lot of people to deal with, and as my grandmother would tell you, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
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Yeah, I'll just add this to the long list of reasons I haven't bought a Sony product in 7 years. VIAO's are *almost* as bad as Toshibas.
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why would you take your second laptop to BB if they lost the first?
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I'm a bad bad person.
I couldn't finish reading it. It's \"lose\" not \"loose\".
I know! Get over myself! Not that important! Sorry!
My Gateway laptop developed cracks in the hinges a couple of years ago so I took it back to Best Buy for repair under warranty. It was shipped to Gateway and the whole process took almost three weeks.
A couple of weeks ago, the hinges started to crack again and I dealt with Gateway directly. They sent a shipping box the day after my initial contact with them with return shipping paid, I packed the box last Wednesday, called DHL for a pickup and Fedex delivered my repaired laptop on Monday morning.
While the hinge cracks on this model laptop was a known defect, I had expected that after a couple years from the original repair I was looking at getting stuck for a couple hundred bucks, but Gateway repaired it for free and ate all that next-day shipping as well. Every now and then a company stands by their product.
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Oh for the love of CHEESE! Why are people still shopping at Best Buy?
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I hear ya Clodia. I'm the same way with people who misuse \"your\" and \"you're\"; \"to\", \"too\" and \"two\"; \"by\", \"buy\" and \"bye\" and others.
As an Apple fan, I agree that it's great that they offered to replace your Sony with an Apple, (maybe BB agrees that Apple laptops, made after a certain date from 2006 and 2007, are more reliable than PC laptops). At the same time, they shouldn't make you switch platforms if you're happy with strictly using a PC.
The newer Apple notebooks can run both the Mac OS and Windows simultaneously, but I hope that the BB folks told you that when they recommended the Apple.
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Maybe the Geek Squad knows where the laptops are located.
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Interesting. I don't think I ever would have agreed to pay them money to replace a laptop they lost.
@clodia: No, not in some aspects.
It should be I'm a bad, bad person.
I couldn't finish reading the article. It's \"lose\" not \"loose.\"
I know! I should get over it, it's not that important! I'm sorry.
I mean, if we're going to go all retentive on it, go all the way, haha!
Because, Thrust, Best Buy isn't the only place that screws up. When you have a larger amount of customers, you have a larger amount of screw-ups.
Best Buy, B of A, Walmart, ect.
Just say no.
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When I worked in customer service at Circuit City I would basically refuse to take laptops in for repair under the manufacturers warranty because of exactly this reason. It's much easier if the customer contacts the manufacturer directly for any repairs. It's also much faster. At the store level, if a laptop was covered by manf warranty, we would send the laptop to our service center, who would then contact the manf to get the shipping label and all that mess.
And yet, some people would simply insist that we send it out for them, despite all of these shortcomings which I was very blunt about.
This was, of course, when we didn't have in-store \"firedog\" techs, so I have no clue what the repair policy is now...
@Xenuite: Futureshop, which is from the same parent company as BestBuy, is less-sucky than Bestbuy. Still pretty bad though. Staples is pretty damn good, many London Drugs stores have very good computer departments. Not the place to BUY a computer, but for all the extras LD does well by me every time. There's always the Internet for shopping. Memory Express for Alberta/BC, Tiger Direct or other such places for the US. Not to mention good local non-chain computer outfits. There are alternatives to Bestbuy, why subject yourself to their various forms of abuse and neglect. Seriously, stick with Staples and your problems disappear.
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@rbf2000: Could it be because they bought the ridiculous warranty from Circuit City and wanted to get what they paid for?
Picking up a laptop and getting an error (bluescreen, or just power off/on) is a classic symptom of motherboard joints becoming loose due to either flexing or dropping the laptop. Likely due to that tech beating it up.
I wonder why anyone goes through BestBuy to go to the manufacturer. I've always gone direct to manufacturer. Closest I would get is an Apple Store, and even then, it's still Apple.
So I guess when buying a laptop from Best Buy you should open the box immediately in front of them, turn it on, and then prove to them it wasn't user abuse when the screen doesn't work!
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@Thorimm:
The thing is though, Sony has no authorized repair centers for their laptops. They do have a network of field Technicians (I service Sony Laptops in addition to Dell and IBM). There are no local shops that can provide service on your Sony Laptop and get reimbursed for the repairs. Sony also does not publish it's parts lists and service manuals on public websites. So you're either going to pay for the parts and labor (good luck getting Sony to reimburse you because you took it to an unauthorized technician) or send it into the company. Sony is pretty slow if you send stuff in yourself, but not as slow as BBY. In fact, I'd say avoid the store warranty PERIOD. Always get extended coverage direct from the manufacturer.
Problem 1: Sony Vaio
Problem 2: Best BUy
Just a guess - Best Buy sent it back to Sony and Sony said \"It's not worth fixing\". Best Buy can then give you a new laptop, but they choose to wait as long as possible because Sony has already paid them. Why would they be in a hurry?
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Why is it that people continue shopping at Best Buy?
Because it was the replacement laptop that Best Buy sold him after they lost the first one, so when it needed repair, he had to take that one back to Best Buy, too.
This is for everyone but especially for David.
Rule 1: NEVER take your laptop to a repair shop. I don't care it it's Geeks or anyone else, unless:
Rule 2: You can determine that it is something that is field upgradeable. Examples are memory, removable hard drive packs, removable batteries.
Here's the reason -- 99% of all laptops are serviced and managed by what is called Depot Service by the OEM. Think Geeks repairs that sucker? Nope they box it, get a RA from the OEM and ship it off. But YOU are out of the loop and at their mercy. That and you are paying a premium for essentially clerking.
So what's the alternative? Here's my suggestion:
Already own a laptop:
1) Call your laptop makers customer service line. Tell the rep you lost some documents and can she provide the 800 you should call if the unit ever needs repair. She/he should be able to provide it. Write it down and keep it handy. (I tape the 800 number to the inside battery compartment.)
2) When it does breakdown you make the call and go thru the process. You do NOT go to BestBuy/CircuitCity/Frys. Folks like HP, IBM, Dell will send you a shipping box for the unit. Pack it and seal it. If it's a unit under warranty they will even pay the return shipping in most cases.
3) Go to any of your carriers of preference and ship it out. Have it insured for its replacement value and get the tracking number! Get it confirmed that the OEM has received it after about 48hrs. They will send it back repaired.
Sounds like a lot of work, but it's worth it. Most repairs are done right and completed in 5 days or less.
Buying a laptop?
1) Besides determining features and price and before you plunk down the plastic; inquire as to all the details of the OEM 800 repair line is. And have your seller provide you that information in writing. They don't, find another seller.
2) If you are going to buy an extended warranty with it, determine whether that warranted extension is provided by the OEM or the seller. If it is provided by the seller its next to worthless. See if you can get a extended warranty provided by the OEM themselves. (This is why buying direct really makes more sense.)
When it breaks just follow the step outlined above.
But NEVER send a laptop to a third party when the vendor is doing the work.
Had you bought the service plan (which is commonly misconceived as an extended warranty), Best Buy has a no-lemon policy. They will only replace the laptop after the 4th repair. So, complaining enough
a bit unrelated, but in case for some reason you didn't know, the squiggles on that computer screen are arabic characters. i can't make it out exactly; i thought it might be the word \"hate\" but after looking i don't think so.
Dude, it isn't \"Arabic.\" It's squiggles, intended to say \"Sorni\" and \"Vaio.\" The \"Sorni\" is on the screen frame and the \"Vaio\" is on the screen itself.
\"Sorni\" is a joke from The Simpsons (although I think they spelled it \"Sorny.\"
Maybe Vaio is Arabic for HATE... It would make sense to me.
Someone probably already said this, but when getting a laptop repaired, don't ever ever bring it over to a place like Best Buy, CompuSuck, Circuit City, Office Dept, etc for repairs, you're just asking for trouble.
I've been a computer reseller for 15 years and cringe when my corporate clients tell me their laptop stories.
If you need it repaired, go ONLY to the source, deal DIRECT with the source, get the mfr extended warranties if you have to have it. Be sure you document it before you mail it out.
JohnMC, my apologies I didn't see your comment before I sent mine but essentially the same thing.
Just a note about mfr warranties which can get tricky
Let's look at Apple, for every Apple laptop you get 1 year of Apple care, that's 90 days of Phone support and 1 year of mail-it in for repair support.
If you buy the \"3 Year AppleCare\" you don't get 3 years on top of the 1 year you already have, you're getting 3 years total, yes I know...sigh.. but sad to say a lot of mfr's do that, however to be fair to Apple, they extend the phone support from 90 days to 3 yrs of coverage.
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They have a policy on their repairs; if they send it out for work and it never comes back, since they are the agent, they are responsible to replace the lost property.
In any case, find a local repair shop. Rather than send out the machine somewhere for repair of a componant such as a fan, a local shop will ORDER A FAN and install it on site.