On March 30th, I bought my HP OfficeJet D145 into BestBuy for repairs. The problem I was having is whenever the printer tries to print on an envelop, the printer will also make stray marks around the area being printed on. After minor inspection, the tech said he will send it in.
After it was supposedly fixed, I brought it home and tried it out. Not only was the problem still there, I find that there are a lot of scratches around the printer, which gave me an idea of how they abuse heavier machines behind close doors. What is more ridiculous is that when the printer was shipped, I had about 90% of ink in both cartridges. When it came back, only about 10% was left on both. So it means that all the so called experts at the repair center did was run the print alignment and cleaning of the print head (default functions built-in to the printer) until my ink cartridges are almost depleted, hoping the problem will just go away.
So on April 15th, I brought it in again. I mentioned to the tech that there are scratches and marks on the printer from the first repair and if he could ask the repair guys to go easy on my printer. He said he will put in a note and if they can't fix it, they will give me a replacement. Scheduled completion date is 04/25/05.
So I waited and when 04/25/05 came around, I phoned in and asked if it was ready. They told me that the problem was too costly to fix and therefore need to give me a replacement. They said they will call when the replacement printer comes back.
So I finally got a call on 05/08/05 and went down to pick up my printer. This time, the replacement printer was in even worst shape. The front panel has marks that looked like someone accidentally dropped a few drops of acid on it so instead of being silver, the color on the affected spot was eaten away. The machine had a lot of scratches and very dirty. Last but not least, the feeder tray was broken on one side with a small broken piece of plastic left in the feeder tray.
I told the tech who brought out the printer that I am not taking delivery of this. He said he will get the manager and see what the manager can do. The manager, Paul, came out, despite the scratches and broken tray, he said it looked fine to him.
I kept my temper and explained that if the printer is malfunctioning again, BestBuy will surely blame the broken tray as my fault, so no, I am not taking it. He further explained to me that I was lucky I got the PSP plan and that is why I now have a functional printer. Then he looked over to the tech and said: if he can live without his printer for another few or so, we will send it out, it cost us nothing to do so. After that, he looked back at me as if I will bend and say I will take it as it is.instead, I said no. So Paul told the tech to send it out again. The new service order form shows a completion date of 05/18/05.
The next day, May 9th (4:07 pm), I called the 1-888-BESTBUY number and talked to Cora about my incident. She was patient and nice. After taking down all the information, transferred me to Jean at the corporate office and said Jean will be able to take care of the situation. After answering a few more question from Jean, she made a conference call to the Best Buy store I brought the printer to. She got in touch with Chris, another manager and conference me in. I answered a few more questions and was told I will be given a call the next day, after Chris gets a chance to talk with Paul.
The next day, I did not get a call from anyone. So I called the 888 number again, around 5:00 pm, and was patched through to Jean. She was surprised neither Paul nor Chris has called me. So she said she will call down there again and give me a call back. I asked her, according to the PSP plan, they are of course entitled to give me a refurbished replacement. But the wording on the plan also said they have the option of offering me store credit to purchase another printer from them. Especially when there is a problem they cannot fixed. The replacement is in horrific condition. I have been more than patient, waiting 38 days for the printer to come back. She said she understands but Paul did ask if I can live without a printer, and I had them sent it out anyway, but she will get to the bottom of this and call me back. She said it is also a very busy day, the phone is ringing non-stop so it will take her some time. I told her to take not more than 3 hours because by then, it will be still be 8 pm in the west coast. I will still have enough time to go shop for a printer elsewhere since most electronics stores like Circuit City and CompUSA closes around 9 pm.
Around 7:34 pm, I received a call from Chris from the store. He apologized that Paul did not call for he did talk to Paul earlier in the morning. But in terms of the printer, all they can do is to find yet another refurbished unit. I ask him why am I being put through this for my printer did have a real problem that they can't fix and the refurbished unit's condition is not even close to acceptable. Stop wasting my time. He explained that in order for them to give me store credit, they have to base their decision on how long I have the printer. Since I have the printer for about 2 years, they can't issue the credit. Then I asked if he is telling me that I should have taken the 2 year plan instead of the 3 year. Obviously, it will not matter if I had an even longer plan because at this stage, I will only be pushed into accepting back a refurbished unit in poor condition. He tries to explain that they will give me back a comparable unit, stating the example that if I bought a big screen TV, and that technology is obsolete, they cannot give me a plasma TV even if it is the same price, so the only option is for them to find a comparable unit and there is nothing more he can do. After that explanation, I felt that it was useless to talk more so we ended the call. And since the service order form shows a completion date of 05/18/05, the total time my printer is out of service will be at least 48 days.
Now I fully regretted the decision to purchase the PSP plan. I should have kept the $99.99 PSP Plan cost towards the purchase of another unit elsewhere. As most of you have been sold to by Best Buy salespeople, they tell you that if there is a problem, bring it back and they will fix it. If they can't fix it, they will give you a new one.in reality, the plan states that:
Products, including those within the original manufacturer's warranty period, may be repaired or replaced with a comparable product, or Best Buy will issue a voucher for the original purchase price at our discretion.
Never did it mention that if you have the printer for 2 years, only a comparable replacement product will be given to you, and that Best Buy will not guarantee the condition of the replacement unit. Further more, there does not seem to be a time frame for them to settle the matter. For all I know, they could take as much time as they want. I will never, ever, ever buy from Best Buy ever again, never!
Kelvin
Emeryville, California
U.S.A.
0 comments