I purchased a Sony Vaio from Circuit City in May along with the City Advantage Protection Plan. Like everyone else I was also told that this plan was "no hassle".
December a few of my number keys stopped working. After opening a ticket with City Advantage, I had to send my laptop to them. About a week later I checked the status on online and it said the ticket was closed, so I called City Advantage to see what the outcome was. They then let me know the technicians said since I spilled something on the keys, which is not covered, therefore will not be fixed. My response was that's funny because I have never spilled anything on it. Mind you I'm single and live alone so no one else uses my computer, ever! I am 100% positive and would swear on anything you put in front of me that I did not spill anything on my laptop. Since it's their word against mine and impossible to prove, I sucked it up and called a local computer repair person. So, Problem 1 accused me of something I didn't do.
The local repair guy turned the computer on to check it out and found nothing was working.
City Advantage had returned the computer to me with everything unhooked from the motherboard... Or whatever controls the keys, mouse pad, etc. So, problem 2 City Advantage did not return my computer in the same condition they received it. Knowing they won't fix it forcing me to hire a third party. Not only would he have to fix the keys, but City Advantage knew he would have to put my laptop back together. Also knowing having to hire a repair guy would give them excuse and allow them to not take responsibility.
Once he connected everything and was able to fix the keys I was able to look at my computer. This brings me to the biggest problemCity Advantage also returned my computer with someone else's hard drive in it! That's right, someone else's family photos, baby pictures, documents, etc.
When I called City Advantage they tried to tell me there was nothing they could do about it and tried to blame my repair guy. Fortunately, for me, the repair guy has written a statement detailing the condition he received my computer and the documents that he backed up before performing any work. So, not only is City Advantage trying to blame yet another person for their garbage, they were trying to tell me there isn't anything they can do.
After waiting their required 2 to 3 day turnaround, every time I called City Advantage, my ticket has finally been escalated to the Resolution Team. They actually called me within the timeframe, but are now trying to say they can't guarantee anything because of the length of time that has gone by. Which is bogus since the condition City Advantage sent my computer back to me would have prevented me from discovering this any earlier.
This whole thing has given me so much stress it's ridiculous. I even broke down when I was on the phone with the Resolution Team, which was totally embarrassing, but this has stressed me out in a major way. Not only is something I purchased, what I thought was a good product (Sony), from what I thought was a good company (Circuit City) stressful enough. I may need to come up with another $1,000 - $2,000 for another laptop. Plus hoping someone in my family has copies of all the family pictures and baby pictures of my niece and nephew are gone. And to think all I sent my laptop in for was a couple of number keys!
Apparently the people at City Advantage can afford to buy brand new computers every time something doesn't work, well I can't! I've spent a lot of money at circuit city over the years, but after all this I will never purchase anything from them again!
I advise anyone who reads this if you purchase anything from themdo not get the City Advantage Protection Plan. You will save yourself a lot money, stress and time.
Sarah
Mebane, North Carolina
U.S.A.
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