Shafted by BestBuy! I NEED ADVICE

[lx_flier]

In 2004 i bought a 3000$ sony vaio computer VGN-A290.
I never had problems with it until almost the end of 2005. So the problem has generally been that the computer gets so dam hot that it actually burns itself and then shuts off. The bottom of the computer is toasted from this heat and so is the area by the mouse. I have sent it with my psp plan (Active till 12/22/2007) for repair and for the exact same reason 4 times now, the exact same problem is occurring and they are not doing anything to fix this, (only cleaning/reapplying thermal grease WTF?) So i am pretty pissed off at this point the dam thing loves to shut off when i am playing games and tomorrow i will take it back for another repair(cleaning i bet) So i was wondering if their is anything i could do to get this replaced or something, i mean they are really just waiting till my psp runs out and are not fixing shit . I was hoping i could use the no lemon policy but i don't know it that well.

This labtop has never been o/c, i just posted it here because its the most active part of the forum!

Please any advice will help .

 

[Gh0stDrag0n]

Shafted by Sony, they made the crappy products not BestBuy.
Lately it seems the quality of sony products have taken a nosedive, their motto must be "if we make it they will buy it no matter what"
Apple is headed in the same direction.
Anyway, due to the fact the laptop was purchased in 2004 I would say you are going to have to bend over and take it. Just remember the problems you have had with their products and look elsewhere when you buy again.

 

[babybudha]

I worked at Best Buy for 3 years.

PSP policy states if the product requires more then 3 repairs, on the 4th repair the "no lemon" policy kicks in.

The PSP is BS anyways! Takes forever to get a repair, and they tell you BS when they can't fix it.

Just grab one of those PSP brocheres you see everywhere at Best Buy, and just read through it carefully so you know your rights as a PSP owner. Knowledge is power!

Hope I was of help.

P.S. I hate Best Buy!

 

[babybudha]

due to the fact the laptop was purchased in 2004 I would say you are going to have to bend over and take it.

HECK NO!!! You bought the crappy PSP for a reason! For insurance if something like this came up! Stand up for your rights!

If you do nothing about this.......I will be pissed!

 

[babybudha]

Worst case senerio, jump start you laptop with jumper cables to your car battery! That will cause a surge and fry it!

I know they cover powersurges! It's one of the gay selling pitches!

Disclaimer - Do this at your own risk!

 

[eric54]

As the brochure indicates, the "no-lemon" policy is a contract to cover property that has needed repeated repairs that are not the result of the user.

You are absolutely within your rights to request a replacement or full refund of your purchase price, whichever is greater in value. The PSP is designed not to be used, and they will hate having to actually honor it, nonetheless, the rarely utilized "no-lemon" policy as written on the packet does state the number of repairs necessary for it to qualify the lemon status.

Remember, as a consumer you are bound ONLY by what is presented to you in a clear concise fashion (that is, only what is in the brochure). Anything they say outside of what the PSP brochure states is not valid, as only the courts at that point will be able to back you up. Once you request that they honor their no-lemon policy they must in accordance to contract law.

Ask for the head manager, the guy that actually has the pull to fulfill the no-lemon policy. Bring all the invoices that show work on your computer, the area affected, and tally up the days/weeks you were without the use of your computer. Make photocopies of this prior to facing the manager, and insist that he take a look at the invoices/work orders, finally show him the brochure, highlight the no-lemon policy.

Before he opens his mouth to tell you to "buzz off" tell him that if best buy refuses to honor its store policy that is clearly shown in highlight, you will pursue legal action, and sue for the value of the laptop as well as punitive damages resulting from the stress and lost productivity due to the clearly defective hardware contained in the computer.

If he still refuses to honor the no-lemon policy, produce a sheet of paper with your personal phone number, along with information stating that he has 48 hours to comply with best buy policy before you send a complaint to the head office with his name attached to the documents. After 72 hours you will forward your complaint to the BBB. And finally, after 96 hours you will proceed to book a small claims court.

At this point, you have a rock solid case against best buy, the courts will see you gave the manager access to all documents pertaining to your case, a detailed timeline of your course of action against best buy, and full informed the manager of your intents and complaints.

The max you can get is 5000.00 per claim, per court appearance. Claim a full refund of the cost as written on your receipt, as well as punitive damages that round out to 5000.00.

Please let us know what your outcome is!

 

[lx_flier]

Ok, thanks guy's. I will attempt this tomorrow, This store is really starting to piss me off and these repairs have taken over 4 months. Tomorrow they will feel my wrath, i'm glad to see all of your feedback and will keep you updated on the situation.

EDIT- I have one last question, What if the manager tells me that these last 4 incidents where not repairs, because nothing has been replaced or actually repaired. They have only cleaned the product/applied thermal grease?

 

[applejuice85]

Ask the manager if having to have you computer taken apart is part of normal care for a laptop if they give you any crap. You can always call 1-888-Bestbuy and complain to them. For some reason they seem to be much more receptive than the instore people.

Anything beyond normal maintenance is service. So having your thermal paste replaced counts.

Good Luck.

PS: They may say they need to send it out again. This is not true. The general manager can authorize the exchange on the spot if all your paperwork is in order with previous service issues.

Hope this helps.

 

[lx_flier]

ok great, so even if he does give me that crap i have two previous instances (replaced av jack) (and then replaced whole lcd screen!) plus the reapplying of thermal grease would make at least three.

P.S. Check out the userbar i just made :lol: .

 

[eric54]

The laptop overheats to the extent that it is rendered unusable, providing not only a fire hazard, but safety risk. You sent it in to be repaired of the heating issue, when it wasn’t fixed the risk remained. This makes it Best Buy's liability since they did not make the effort necessary to protect your safety and since they took the case, provided no documentation that showed it was not their responsibility they are bound to remedy the situation, not to mention they continued to leave you without the use of your computer.

The point of this is to explain that best Buy is liable, what constitutes a repair is the work order itself, and that a faulty item could not be remedied in an effective manner. Clearly Best Buy made several attempts to fix the part, but failed to fix your computer, thus they clearly, without a doubt, proved that the computer is a lemon, and you are promised a refund or replacement of the PURCHASE PRICE. Unless Best Buy wants to accept that they committed fraud by falsifying a work order.

Accept nothing less than the full price you paid for your computer or a computer that is AT LEAST the exact value of the purchase price of your current computer, if they do not offer you something of equal or greater value, demand a full refund, including the cost of the PSP. Since you are declaring the contact delinquent and reversing your purchase entirely from best buy, if they are not satisfied with this penalty, let court decide. Book the courtroom, call a lawyer about the risk of injury Best Buy put you through, and pursue fraud charges if they claim their work orders did not constitute repairs.

Looks like you've got an even stronger case by the minute, time for me to sign out though, its 3am now. Lemme know how your adventures at Best Buy go. As much a pain in the arse this is, I bet you'll be stoked to stick it to 'em!

 

[pseudopeon]

...sounds like eric54's done this before :lol:

 

[lx_flier]

Ok, So here is today's update on the issue. I went into bestbuy and aquired the psp borchure and it states
"Preventative maintence checks, cleanings, product diagnosis, cystomer education, accessory repairs/replacements, ice makers, computer keyboards, speakers, headphones, non-consumable battery or mouse repairs/replacements, computer software related problems and repairs done outside the U.S.A are not considered repairs for the purpose of the No Lemon policy."

So... This pretty much screws me, but today what has been done is that they are taking the computer in and running a diagnostic to determine if the computer does indeed overheat, they will run graphics and cpu "torture test" to determine this, once this has been done i will be contacted and then i may speak to the manager about a replacement. I was promised i would be contacted within 24 hours of today, so lets hope they keep their word.

 

[Stewartwi]

Ok, So here is today's update on the issue. I went into bestbuy and aquired the psp borchure and it states
"Preventative maintence checks, cleanings, product diagnosis, cystomer education, accessory repairs/replacements, ice makers, computer keyboards, speakers, headphones, non-consumable battery or mouse repairs/replacements, computer software related problems and repairs done outside the U.S.A are not considered repairs for the purpose of the No Lemon policy."

So... This pretty much screws me, but today what has been done is that they are taking the computer in and running a diagnostic to determine if the computer does indeed overheat, they will run graphics and cpu "torture test" to determine this, once this has been done i will be contacted and then i may speak to the manager about a replacement. I was promised i would be contacted within 24 hours of today, so lets hope they keep their word.

Hope everything works out for you that's just BS that they don't fix it but I was never partial to other people repairing my computers. Goodluck either way.

 

[lx_flier]

I would of fixed it myself, but at the time i was not very knowledgeable and laptops are a B**CH to fix so i bought the psp (meaning that if i open it i will void the warranty). Anyways if they do not replace my laptop under the no-lemon policy, i am pretty sure they have to refund my money because this computer is a fire hazard and a safety risk and their little "cleanings" aren't cutting it.

 

[babybudha]

Eric54,

I like your style. Don't take no BS, and do it in a legal and professional style. I wish I was more like you in this regard.

Out of curiosity.....what do you do for a living? (If that's not to personal of a question.)

 

[eric54]

I am a business student working part time delivering pizza. The meat of my knowledge is from the internet, and my own experiences working in the customer service industry. I've had encounters like this before, consulted with some knowledgable people regarding law, and also researched like a demon on the subject. This all goes to show what the internet can teach you!

Things i've researched,

Speeding tickets
photo radar
EULA, specifically WoW's
Store policies (return policys, sigh psp's *minidisc player)

 

[eric54]

[/u]

Ok, So here is today's update on the issue. I went into best buy and acquired the psp brochure and it states
"Preventative maintenance checks, cleanings, product diagnosis, customer education, accessory repairs/replacements, ice makers, computer keyboards, speakers, headphones, non-consumable battery or mouse repairs/replacements, computer software related problems and repairs done outside the U.S.A are not considered repairs for the purpose of the No Lemon policy."

Cleaning is the removal of excess dirt, grease, or anything altering the appearance of an object or thing. Taking away or removing something that is part of a system is not cleaning. Washing your car is cleaning, adding grease to the door is maintenance. But taking the door off, and replacing the bolts that hold the door in place is repairing. Furthering the example as follows will get to a conclusion in your favor: Though the no-lemon policy states that such things as cleaning, inspecting, or diagnosing thereof is excluded from the policy, it fails to include in itself a statement regarding the integral component of a computer that is the CPU and its corresponding Heatsink, fan and thermal compound. Replacement of any of these parts, especially thermal grease, needed to repair a heat issue must be constituted as a repair. The reasons include: it is necessary for the cpu to function, acts as a method of heat transfer like the HS, and it ensures that other components do not fail prematurely. So it does not just act like a lubricant like the hinge grease from the cars door, it is far more analogous to the quintessential rod that bonds the doors hinge fingers to the corresponding cars'. Therefore it can be seen as something as essential as the case itself.

Ask him this.

"Would you be debating if this was a repair if you had replaced the case?"
Fact is you repaired the functional use of the heatsink by replacing the thermal compound. Otherwise, the HS would need to be replaced, therefore, since nothing was replaced, and the affected area was diagnosed as the problem, your technicians replaced
the compound, thus repairing the HS's functionality.

The only conclusion that can be made is that thermal grease is not something considered part of regular maintenance, Sony is so confident that it should not need replacing that it does not allow the user to replace it without breaking the warranty. However, cleaning the inside with a can of air is well within what Sony recommends its customers do, so long as you don’t remove the case. To go even further, Sony’s policy is to have the system looked at by a professional to see if any integrated and vital pieces of the computer need to replaced, which would include such things as a hs and the corresponding thermal material.

Hope that helps you, I know I’m late on it, but it should prove useful when they splatter some BS on you again

 

[pseudopeon]

eric54: When cutting through the bullshit, he takes no crap

 

[weskurtz81]

Hey man,

If you end up getting screwed with this whole deal, by a laptop cooler. You can get some that are USB powered. It might help you deal with the problem.
But, Eric54 seems to be on point, don't take any crap, and get what you paid for the first time, one way or another.

wes

 

[lx_flier]

Ok, So an update of what happened today, I went into the store and i asked for the same guy i was talking to yesterday. He talked to me about the diagnostic and told me nothing happened no overheating and no shutting off, so i got pissed turned it on and ran prime 95 and started "multi tasking" the computer instantly shut off and he insisted it was a power issue because it wasn't plugged in. So we plugged it in and the same thing happened, he then agreed with me that something was wrong and said he was going to send it in to have the whole motherboard replaced, i tried to argue saying that its a health risk and a safety hazard but the computer would not get hot enough while i was at the store for them to believe me :x also i was informed that i only have 1 valid repair (replacing av jack) because the screen they replaced was because of accident damage (I punched it ). As you guys stated i could argue the thermal paste but that would only leave me with two, so if the computer still has problems after they replace the motherboard i will qualify for a lemon. :?

 

[babybudha]

so i got pissed turned it on and ran prime 95 and started "multi tasking" the computer instantly shut off and he insisted it was a power issue because it wasn't plugged in.

Yes......This is completely logical. Laptops are not meant to be mobile units!

Suck on my balls! (As "Eric Cartman" would say)

Stupidity like this deserves a punch in the face! This is the kind of BS they try to feed to people.

 

[eric54]

So when the motherboard replacement doesnt work, and they replace the Ram after that, and they replace the CPU after that, and then replace the power supply after that, and the replace the hdd after that... Don't worry, i believe in you! You made the right move, after all, the more repairs the stronger your case gets, and the less bs they will throw at you. Once they stop talking to you, you know you've got them!

 

[lx_flier]

Well, the worst case that could happen is that they replace the motherboard and then the computer remains the same, in which point it gives me the absolute right to use the no lemon policy and they have invested even more money on a worthless computer :lol: .

 

[ZozZoz]

Umm, perhaps this can help:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834998052

 

[lx_flier]

Don't know why i would buy a cooler when my computer is under warranty, but thanks for the gesture .