Dealing with Extended Warranty Vendors? 144
edg176 asks: "I am wondering about other people's experiences with getting Extended Warranty service. I bought a laptop at Microcenter. Got the top of the line extended warranty. Laptop died. I sent it in for service, and the outside repair place, MicroMedic, claims they can't fix it, and the actual warranty administrator is separate from the repair place -- way out in Florida! My warranty says I can get a full refund of my purchase price if the warranty people can't find me an equivalent laptop. They can't, because Microcenter no longer carries the sharp ultralight laptops. Dealing with warranty administrator people, Warrantech has been a nightmare. They won't let me speak to a manager and they keep jerking me around. So far, I've gotten them to agree to give me 1200 bucks store credit, which is still 500 bucks shy of the purchase price. Is it worth fighting them for the last 500 bucks? Does anyone have success stories or tips for this situation? Should I just take the 1200 and be happy I got that much?"
"They claim that a 1200 dollar, 4.5 lb laptop is the same as my old 2.5 lb model. The dude on the phone actually claimed that low weight was not a significant feature in a laptop. Right now I have to say I would never do business with these guys again, as they have been relentlessly condescending and obstructionist."
Good advise (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:three words (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't know how it works in Florida, or inter-jurisdictionally for that matter, but in New York, you can request that the County Sheriff where the business/person resides enforce the judgement. They will go, judgement in hand, and request payment. If payment is refused, they can seize assets to cover the settlement. (I believe they have this kind of sweeping authority because we're talking about small claims.)
If your state has County Sheriffs, I would start by talking to them once you have a small claims judgement in your favor and see what they advise.
Also, unless the refund guarantee specifies "Store Credit," I wouldn't even settle for $1700 in Store Credit. That's not a refund.
Dealing with companies who try to screw you (Score:5, Interesting)
Dig out all paperwork--in this case the original warranty and receipt for the laptop. Also photocopy everything you mail off. If the warranty company answers emails and faxes, use these methods for rapid communication with some amount of papertrail. If not, call them. But log all phone calls & followup with letters. Also cc microcenter on everything. Unhappy customers might mean they lose their contract with microcenter, which they don't want! Hopefully you've done this, as it seems like you're not getting anywhere with them.
Because of this, you should start contacting consumer advocates. This is typically free, aside from postage & quite effective. File complaints against both Microcenter and the warranty company. File complaints with the BBB and the FTC. You should use the local BBB of both companies. Also use a service such as planetfeedback.com to send letters to reps at both companies who might actually have the power and the willingness to fix this for you. These are often addressed to the CEO & if not, you can always write to the CEO yourself. Also contact the attorney general of the state these companies are headquartered in. If applicable, also the US Postal Inspector. Sometimes states also have a Department of Consumer Affairs.
You can reuse your complaint letters for most of these. In the first paragrah, summarize your complaint & what resolution you want. In subsequent paragraphs, give a detailed history with names & dates. In the final paragraph, say again what it is you want. Try to make this about a page. Say that you have supporting paperwork & perhaps include the original warranty, as that seems to be the most relevant piece. But don't flood anyone with papers. Also try to be civil, but firm.
Submit these on the same day & wait about two weeks. You should start to see results in your favor.
I have almost always had success at this point with complaints on behalf of myself, my family, or friends. If not, you do have more options. You can contact the media if you are savvy or even setup your own microcentersucks.com website. This is typically cheap & these businesses do not want to lose business because of a squeaky wheel. This slashdot post is actually a decent start. If you have a friend who is a lawyer, have him send additional correspondance on his letterhead.
If none of this works, go to small claims court. This will cost a filing fee, but you will most likely win & be awarded the money they owe you plus the filing fee you paid. Many companies won't fight a small claim. Those that do in cases like these lose.
Perhaps the most important thing that all of these do is that they start or continue a trail of complaints about shady companies. Microcenter may choose to use a less shady warranty administrator or customers who see complaints to both Microcenter and the warranty administrator will think twice before getting the extended warranty. If you don't do it for the $500, do it for the rest of us!
Credit Card Extended warrenty experience (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Dealing with companies who try to screw you (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:three words (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Time to call the CEO - or e-mail him! (Score:2, Interesting)
Similar situation... (Score:3, Interesting)
After having the laptop for a year and a half the unit would not power on from time to time. I didn't think much of it at first until the unit would not turn on at all. I called the support hotline and explained the problem. They said it was the battery but I knew it wasn't because I had swapped batteries with a friend who had the same model. I got the new battery and it did not fix the problem. I call support again and explain to them that the battery did not fix the problem.
At this point they claimed to have no record of me purchasing an extended warranty. I told them they had sent me a battery already and they claimed no such thing had happened. At this point I asked to speak to their manager. After on hold for 30 minutes I finally got through. I explained to them the situation. Again she said there was no record of the extended warranty. I asked her to look at my account information. She said there were only two entries. The first was the shipment of my laptop and the second was an unnamed package sent out a week ealier. I told her that the other entry was the battery that was sent out. She said there was no way to confirm this. I told her that I would be happy to fax a copy of the original invoice proving the extended warranty. She said that the document could not be sent because there was not a record with Toshiba.
At this point I became angry and asked to speak with her manager. She said that her position was the highest in the support department. I asked who her boss was and she said his name. I asked to be transfered but she refused. She then said I could write a letter to corporate headquarters. At this point I hung up.
Since I was in college and had free time I decided to call support every chance I could. My roommate was a support person at one time and he said that the customer should always hang up first. I decided to exploit this rule.
I called every waking hour and spent as much time as I could with anyone I could talk to. I would ask questions completely unrelated to my problem and would always make sure the person on the other end knew my name. I also made sure that I wrote down the name of the person I was talking to.
After doing this for two weeks I had talked with 58 different people and had spoken to some individuals as many as six times. I finally got my way and was asked to fax the invoice.
So here is my advice to you. If you have the time, be a thorn in the side of the company. Waste their time and resources.
Re:Best Buy (Score:3, Interesting)
The Ohio AG is (was?) investigating Best Buy for a variety of reasons, among them failure to honor warranties, IIRC.
I will never purchase anything from BestBuy anymore. I bought a car CD player there a few years ago, and when it broke, I had to take it out of the car and have it sent in. Not only was the original problem not fixed, but the "fix" had created an entirely new an unrelated problem with the unit. After about 3 times of taking it back and getting crap about how nothing was wrong with it (!!), they said that they were just going to, as per the extended warranty, replace it.
Unfortunatley, my model was no longer made, so the tech guy decided he'd pick out what he thought was an equivalent model - priced about 100$ less than what I'd paid for my model and it lacked several features that I'd bought the original for. I asked him about the lack of one of these features on the model, and he said something to the effect of "thats not an important feature". I was royally pissed off, partly because the guy was being a real prick. They pulled some other crap, like sending the wiring harness (sold seperately) to the repair shop and not replacing it.
Their idea of a replacement model sucked, so I bit the bullet and paid about 25$ more to get a model that I wanted, since I couldn't get a refund or a store credit. I'm dreading going back there again, because this model is crapping out as well. I think this time I'm going to insist on all the same features, sell the unopened product on ebay, and buy what I want from crutchfields.
Needless to say, this as well as stories like this [slashdot.org] and this [slashdot.org] mean that I warn everyone I talk to about electronics to find somewhere besides Best Buy to shop.