Umar bought a DLP in 2005 with a $400 Best Buy Performance Service Plan. The TV keeps blowing through expensive bulbs (Umar has replaced 7 $275 bulbs in 3 years,) and rather than wait 2 weeks for a technician every time this happens, Best Buy provided a telephone number and told him to order and replace the bulbs himself. Now, because he followed their directions, Best Buy is refusing to cover the TV under the “lemon” provision of the service agreement.
Umar writes:
I purchased a new DLP-HDTV w/ an extra paid-for 4-year extended service/warranty plan (additional $400) from Best Buy on May 28, 2005. The total amount spent: $3,285.61!
The TV keeps blowing up it’s expensive bulbs (DLP-lamps). At first, a service-call was placed and a week and a half later, a tech’ came to replace the bulb/lamp. He stated that in the future, I should just call the 800-number and order a bulb and install it myself (he showed me how to do it, a simple 5-10 minute procedure). This would avoid down-time.
Well, since then another 6 bulbs have been replaced in about 2 1/2 years. This is uncharacteristic for any TV.
The paid-for additional extended service/warranty has a policy to buy-back/exchange the TV if more than 3 services are performed. However, they are now stating that bulb-replacement isn’t grounds for return/’lemon-law’ because I didn’t report each bulb-replacement as a service-call. Uhh, their own service tech’ told me not to call in the future and instead order the bulbs directly. Also, it takes at least 1 to 2 weeks (quite often longer) for a service tech’ to come to your residence. So, go w/o TV for 1-2+ weeks? Yea, ok…
They realize that there is something wrong w/ the TV, causing it to blow the bulbs so rapidly (each bulb costing $275+).
The Best Buy store manager (Brian) repeatedly stated initially that the TV should be bought-back by Best Buy because I have purchased a service plan and that there is an inherent fault w/ the TV. Corporate has thus far refused to buy-back/exchange. And the Best Buy store manager is now refusing to do a store buy-back saying he doesn’t want the loss in profit/final-numbers. The local Best Buy is capable of doing a buy-back if the product is defective.
I purchased the expensive service-plan to be protected. Instead, I got a lemon for a TV.
Because it’s been a few years since you purchased this TV your options are slightly limited. We think you might want to consider filing a small claims lawsuit against Best Buy. You have the receipts for the bulbs that were replaced under the protection plan, so a court may rule in your favor. Better yet, Best Buy might not even show up to court and you’ll get a default judgment. You mentioned in your letter that you were in Texas, which has a $10,000 small claims limit, so you should be able to ask for a refund.
If you’re intimidated by the process, check out this story from a reader who took Best Buy to small claims court over a washing machine and won.
And, not to be jerks, but this is the part where we remind you not to purchase “extended warranties” or “protection plans” from retailers. Get a credit card with extended warranty protection instead!
Small Claims Court In Your State [NOLO]
More From Consumerist
-
Dell Hell: Every Time Dell Touches My Computer, They Break It More
-
Help! Neither Best Buy Nor Asus Will Give Me A Laptop That Works
-
AT&T And Apple Pass The Buck, Blame Each Other For Non-Working iPhone 5
-
Have Best Buy Staff Changes Led To Increase In Shoplifting?
-
Time Warner Cable Dangling Free Xboxes To Entice Customers To Sign Up At Best Buy
I’m glad to have read this discussion. Have a friend who’s likely going to unload his DLP TV. Even at a bargain price, I think I’m not interested.
Putting on my Electrical Engineering hat…
Light bulbs have a given lifespan, and it is certainly longer than roughly 100 days. That does assume that the television is not running 24×7 and is in a normal home environment.
Knowing that, one can logically conclude that there is an underlying problem that is causing the light bulbs to fail before their time. That could be an external source (power anomaly) or manufacturing defect.
The advice to use a UPS is a sound one. It will give you to opportunity for a normal shutdown in the case of a power-outage, it will bridge the inevitable power blinks of a second or two duration, and it conditions the power. In other words, it eliminates the power anomaly aspect of the equation.
If bulbs are STILL burning out, you more than likely have a manufacturing defect that underlies the bulbs. And that most certainly would be warrantied.
I have a 3 year old Toshiba DLP set. It’s still on its original bulb. Beautiful picture, no problems. Flat panels have come down in price alot since then. But DLP’s still have better images than LCD sets, especially the cheap ones priced near dlp. Plasma was several times the cost of DLP back then, its still significantly more expensive and you have to worry about burn in.
These days if you walk into a store it seems that you dont really have a choice but to get a flat panel display though. I guess the “cool” factor won out over price and picture quality. But what do you expect from the general public that is apparently okay with the appalling signal quality that cable and satellite operators feed us.
@HykCraft_Returns: Buying a TV from Best Buy as oppose to buying the same model TV elsewhere results in you getting the same TV. The only difference usually is price and level of after sale service. If nothing goes wrong with the TV, then you might be happy with buying the TV from Best Buy, it most likely is cheaper then buying it from a local shop. If something does go wrong, then you take a gamble that Best Buy won’t have horrible service. Just like the BB warranty, you are taking a gamble wherever you buy the TV from.
As for saying that he voided his warranty, that might be true if what he did was an actual repair. But what he did was a service on his TV. Just like me changing a burnt headlight on my car is a service, and does not void my warranty.
@Marshfield: Thousands of people have DLP TVs and are happy. I’m sure that there are also plenty who hate them. Weigh the cost of the bargain that your friend is planning on giving you and the cost of a new TV. I can say that I’m perfectly happy with mine, never had the bulb go out (purchased in May of 2005).
@Viva La Volvo: I’m going to have to say that he probably did not.
I work for Best Buy and I will honestly say that in the time I have been there, we work our best when people have the service plan/replacement plan to make sure that everything is going to be okay…I dunno? It seems like since it was a problem that had to be fixed 4 times, it should get a replacement.
@WoodsWrecker:
Sorry you don’t know what you are talking about.
Power or line conditioners regulate, filter, and suppress noise in AC power for sensitive computer and other solid state equipment. Power conditioners typically consist of voltage regulators in combination with output isolation transformers and transient voltage suppression circuitry. They provide electrical isolation and noise and spike attenuation to ensure the quality and consistency of power to sensitive medical, laboratory, computer, and other high technology equipment.
Important specifications to consider when searching for power conditioners include power rating, input voltage, output voltage, voltage regulation accuracy, phase, and frequency. The power rating is usually expressed in volt-amps, which is the product of the maximum RMS voltage and the RMS current that the conditioner can handle. Input voltage is the nominal line voltage to which the conditioner is connected. The output voltage is regulated or conditioned voltage. The voltage regulation accuracy is the accuracy with which the output voltage is controlled. Choices for phase are single phase or three phases. General public or standard commercial voltages are typically single phase. Examples of these power conditioners include computers, office equipment, and many types of laboratory instruments. Three phase power is typically reserved for industrial use for machines that benefit from its efficiency. Industrial motors and machines with motors often use three phase power. Frequency choices include 50 Hz, 60Hz, and 400 Hz.
Normally they would exchange it after the 3rd repair but I believe that light bulbs are considered consumable items which arent considered a “repair” for most retail service plans much like brakes and tires arent covered under a new car warranty, however the fact that it has needed 7 bulbs may be a reason to go above and beyond and just replace it.
@CharlieIn Seattle
Unfortunately I think I do. I have 20 years in the electronics industry covering military and civilian communications. I have worked on VHF/UHF mobile and portable communcations, SATCOM, GPS and TV. I have also installed and maintained UPS systems. I have owned my own TV repair shop for two years now.
I say that a ups specifically for a TV of other piece of electronics is a waste because of my experience. The typical consumer wants to plug something into a wall and forget about it. They want to press a button and look at pretty pictures, or listen to pretty sounds. A maintenance schedule is beyond most typical consumers. The batteries on a UPS or SPS need to be changed typically about every 2 years or so. Mileage will vary.
A true UPS is NOT a power “conditioner” (A $5 weasel word if I ever heard one). It will convert the incoming AC line voltage (single or three phase) to a DC voltage to charge the battery backup system, and back to AC (technically it is a pulsating DC) to power whatever is connected. When power is lost to a system connected to a UPS there will be no indication of power loss. The system goes on working as normal. There will be an alarm at the UPS control panel.
Most battery backups or power “conditioners” are Standby Power Supples. An SPS does not convert the voltage from AC to DC back to AC. It does filter, and it does convert a portion of the line voltage to DC (to charge the batteries), but it does not provide a steady voltage. When power is lost to a system connected to an SPS you will see a “brownout” or sag of the line voltage as the control panel requires several milliseconds to switch to battery power.
Like I said, a UPS is a waste of money unless you want to protect your whole house.
I was talking about line conditioners not UPS’s. My experience, electronic failing left and right, put conditioner on electronic, nothing fails again.
<– Broadcast engineer.
I have a similar electronics background, and I was talking about line conditioners. UPS’s do protect computer electronics, line conditioners do protect TV’s. I’ve seen it many times first hand, person goes through many electronic components, puts a conditioner on the equipment, and electronics stop failing.
I don’t use line conditioners, never have. I would just as soon use a UPS as a line conditioner. They seem a waste of money to me. I’ve had customers ask about them and I’ve recommended they go buy a surge protector instead. Unless you live in a rural area where power is somewhat unreliable, surge protectors are a better choice.
I was going to buy a big LCD or plasma tv but I wanted a bigger one then I could get at walmart
So after looking at all the options I bought an Epson 77c projector that I have mounted on the ceiling. I made the screen from a 4×7 sheet of white board (and some woodworking). I love that thing and now I have a 100″ HDTV.
The resolution in wide screen mode is somewhere between 780p and 1080p. It looks awesome esp when watching HD shows. Now when I watch even a 50″ plasma it looks small.
It has 300 hours on it now and going strong
The bulbs are less then $200 and are rated for at least 4000 hours.
The way I look at it is that I was going to spend about $1500 on a TV. I got the projector for $650 on sale so after I go through about 5 bulbs it will have cost me the same as the small 50″ tv. By my calculations I will get at least 1 year from the bulb. So I have a 100″ tv that will last 5 years for the price of the tv I was going to buy.
I love having a 100″ tv and will never go back to a regular tv again. When I build my new house next year I am going to make a new screen that is about 130″.
This projector offers 2200 lumens and can be watched during the day and at night we have a lamp on in the room unless we are watching a movie, then we go into theater mode
my advice is to get a projector and a HD satellite reciever
First off, I work for Best Buy and these are some experiences that I have had at my store when customers had issues like this.
A manager can do pretty much whatever he or she wants when it comes to returning and item even past the 30 days. At my store we “usually” go above and beyond to help a customer out. Yes we do give you an option of getting a similar TV to the one that is covered by the PSP(Performance Service Plan). But if you insist, we can give you a full store credit for the $3,285.61. We have done this for customers in the past and they usually blow past the store credit and spend even more money on a newer, bigger, or better TV. Remember it is up to the manager’s discretion so if you are fortunate to live near many different Best Buy stores try another and another. Yes you might spend money and gas but its worth getting 3k back for a new TV.
“Now, because he followed their directions, Best Buy is refusing to cover the TV under the “lemon” provision of the service agreement.” -Umar followed the instructions from the technician and not Best Buy. Like Frank stated, Umar didn’t let BBY fix the TV under the PSP. Sorry man you got some bad advice but that manager should take into account that he is losing a future customer and any other customer that you share your story with.
“The extended warranty is backed by an insurance company. If Best Buy buys back the TV, they just file a claim with the insurance company and get their money back. They wouldn’t be out anything (except labor processing the return) so I don’t see why they won’t just replace it.” -All the money that customers pay for PSP’s goes into a big pot and that money is used to pay for repairs, shipping, and any other costs. The rest is profit. If the stores don’t follow the right procedures, then they lose the money. This would be one of those cases.
If all else fails, post the full name of the people you spoke with at Best Buy and the store location. Go into Best Buy and show them the link to your discussion. Good luck Umar.
@CharlieInSeattle: Way to cite your source, don’t take people’s words and use them as your own. YOUR SOURCE
@WoodsWrecker: I don’t know what magic happy land you live in, but when I turn on the vacuum in every house I have ever lived in, the lights dim. When the air conditioner compressor kicks on, the lights dim, and when the freezer compressor kicks on, the lights dim. This is happening inside every piece of electronic equipment you own. These products are calibrated (especially DLP, with spinning mirrors) by control voltages, and when the input voltage varies, so does the control. This causes premature wear. Line conditioners prevent this. Do you customers a favor and recommend one for expensive stuff. Also, the fact that you don’t seem to have heard of UPS w/ AVR (automatic voltage regulation) tells me you haven’t looked at a UPS in about 6 years. Go shopping sometime.
Full disclosure: I work at Best Buy as a manager, and I think I can clarify some things that might help Umar now and in the future, as well as debunk some PSP myths
1. As another commenter already posted, DLPs carry a *1 time only* bulb replacement coverage. For most DLPs, that’s worth the price of the PSP alone.
2. After 3 qualified repairs, the 4th repair can be sent up with a no-lemon request. What is a qualified repair? A qualified repair is an actual repair to a physical component of your TV/appliance/computer. For example, a qualified repair would be to replace a bad motherboard on a laptop. A, unqualified repair is replacing a cracked screen under the Accidental Damage PSP.
3. The PSP never covers consumables unless stated. For example, a laptop qualifies for a one-time battery replacement. A refrigerator water filter is not covered.
4. The receipt the OP has is from PartSearch. This is a 3rd-party company that we source parts from for PSPs. It’s also where customers can go to purchase parts not covered under warranty.
5. Most techs are 3rd-party employees and do not work directly for BBY. While what Umar’s tech told him saved Umar some time, it’s also the backdoor way to get things done and isn’t linked in to BBY’s repair tracking system, since Umar isn’t having his TV *repaired*.
6. Because Umar did not want to place a service call and have a tech come out and look at the TV and chose to perform the repairs himself, he does not qualify for no lemon even though the TV is clearly a lemon.
As a manager, I would probably let Umar exchange his television for comparable technology (i.e. a DLP) or give him about a $1000 credit toward a new TV. Why? Because a TV purchased today is a lot better than a TV from three years ago. Your 2004 Civic isn’t worth today what you paid for it originally, why should your TV? There is no refund/buyback, there is a feature-for-feature exchange and it’s written in the PSP.
I would suggest calling customer relations at 888bestbuy and being super, extra nice. You may be very surprised.
Hmm….
I’ll be honest, when you got the Service plan, it came with a small pamphlet… that pamphlet has the details of the plan placed inside.
The tech should NOT have told you to replace the bulbs yourself… and each bulb should at least be covered under the warranty… however silence does not a good argument make.
If you were having this much trouble, you should have complained at the third, or even second replacement. What the tech said, is unfortunately, and most likely, not Best Buy’s Policy.
Yes – it bites to have downtime… but it’s a TV… just a TV. It’s not a phone, it’s not something that is impossible to live without. Downtime on consumer products is common. Bringing the item back to the store insures two important things for the CONSUMER – not BBY.
1. The unit is being worked on buy authorized professionals. even if there is a claim that they aren’t fully trained, Best Buy is putting their name behind their service, which leads to reason 2.
2. If they break-it… they replace it. By opening up the TV yourself, you open a can of worms. “What did you touch?” “Do you know what else is inside?” “Do you know the proper safety procedures?” “Do you know what not to touch?” these are questions they will ask you. They will want to look at the TV and honestly if there’s a single thing out of place they can claim you did it.
The motto is… NEVER listen to the tech… he doesn’t know contracts, he doesn’t know SOP, he does NOT speak for the company’s policy, nor the the policy of the company. they know the technical stuff… not the red tape.
it’s possible that, because he said this, you may indeed get a settlement… if he still works for Best Buy, and if it doesn’t change into a “His word vs. Yours” you have money to gain… he does not (granted, his job is probably going to be on the line, because God knows who else he misinformed…)
I had issues with my DLP but I got it through Circuit City. My DLP lamp light would just blink for 30 mins then it would eventually turn on.
Circuit City came out replaced the light bulb. – No Go
Replaced the in[something] the thing that fires up the bulb – No Go
They ended up replacing a whole board to fix the issue.
So, they replaced everything in the tv and got me back up and working. For what is worth I enjoyed the fact the came to my house and did not leave 10 hours later until the TV was fixed. This is one of the few things I will miss about circuit city when they go out of business. They still need to improve their car installation or get rid of it.
After the second bulb replacement you should have had the tech out there. I worked for Best Buy Service not even as a tech and I could have deduced a problem with your set. Sure you “may” have gotten a bad bulb, but not 6.
The tips the others are providing are valid, but not always accurate. The employees of Best Buy are mostly right. You need to have qualifying repairs done to the unit for it to qualify. I usually called in a few of these for techs and sometimes we went out more than 3 times.
Instead of wasting all this energy and buying six bulbs ringing up the cost, you could have the tech come out, tell him your issue and if he’s any sort of qualified individual he should be able to find a problem and address it accordingly.
Also if you’re in major metropolitan areas, most techs are not 3rd Parties, they are company men.
He should also check into his state lemon laws. Many states have them on the books for cars and housing but some are so broadly worded they could apply to major purchases too.
@dveight:
I stand corrected! Per Best Buy’s policy I would see how they would say it is not covered, however I would still stand by my statement that I would not have waited until the bulb blew 7 times before trying to find another fix! On that third bulb I would have had Best Buy back to do a more in depth check of the tv to make sure there wasn’t a different underlying problem.
Check with your state attorney general’s office as well. I know the state I live in, has laws protecting the consumer, that many people do not even know about, such as a 4 year IMPLIED warranty on ALL products. Which is why, I have, in the store I manage, had to give a full refund of $200 to a customer bringing back an electronic item they purchased 3 1/2 years ago, which we now sell for $40. It sucks for us to do it and my boss got upset with me, but I looked at him and said “well, would you rather have the bad PR?” If your state does, make sure you have a copy of the law handy so that you can give it directly to the store manager.
Reading all of the negative stories about extended service plans, my parents got lucky. I guess I’ll tell my extended warranty story, sorry if it’s long =)
About 4 years ago we bought a Sony 51″ rear projection at the Bay for about $3500 and we bought the $500 5 year protection plan. About 2 years after we bought the TV the blue picture tube started to fail. The Bay sent out a Sony (still under manufacturers warranty) authorized repairman to replace the tube. The blue tube ended up failing 3 more times over the course of 3 years, and after the crappy repair job (lets just say this guy had barely seen a rear projection before) from a repair shop authorized by The Bay my parents said screw it and phoned The Bay warranty ‘company’ to see if there was another repair shop that knows what they’re doing.
About a month after calling we get a call from The Bay saying they are going to refund $2000 for the TV. In the end the refund paid for a 46″ 1080p Sharp Aquos, which was also on sale.
I think we only paid about $800 for taxes, 2 year extended warranty and a TV stand that was on sale.
I guess a positive extended warranty story is a rare thing.
Woodswrecker: An inbuilt conditioner will not prevent a 1 second power outage from blowing a bulb. Only a UPS will do that.
Fail.
I’m not sure I saw this in here because I didn’t have the patience to read everything. The “no lemon” policy states that after four SEPARATE, UNRELATED repairs, it is deemed a lemon. If you’re paying for the DLP engines yourself, then you’re getting screwed, but they don’t have to replace the TV because of a single problem (That happens to be repeating)
Wow! Too bad he didn’t wait for a better unit, with better technology, such as LC.
If Best Buy covered all 6 bulbs you already won. The Performance Service Plan on a DLP TV covers ONE bulb. If each bulb costs $275 the first was usally more than the cost of the Service plan itself. Also if you READ the information that you should have been provided. The no lemon policy doesn’t cover items such as bulbs.
[Thursday, August 7, 2008 3:32 PM]
Consumerist,
This is Umar again. Thanks for posting my story:
[consumerist.com]
I got a following reply this morning from Michael Arrighi (Senior Executive Resolution Specialist) @ Best Buy, after I sent an email cc’ing the top brass yesterday evening (Wednesday, August 06, 2008 6:31 PM). He issued me a confirmation number for replacement. I will goto Best Buy this evening to see what the process entails.
I sincerely appreciate the contact info’ you guys had for the Best Buy movers-&-shakers. It worked. Fast.
Also, I’d like to clarify some of the confusion from my original post, that readers/posters have addressed:
- The replacement bulbs/lamps were ordered from Best Buy parts, under the performance service protection plan (no direct cost to me). This was the recommendation of the 1st service-tech’, back in August 2005.
- I purchased a spare bulb/lamp from Toshiba back in early 2006 from my own pocket to use while a new bulb/lamp was being sent (avg. delivery time: 2-3 business days).
- Starting November 2005, the limitation of (1) bulb/lamp per plan was added to the policy for new purchasers of the performance service plan; apparently unscrupulous individuals were ordering dozens and dozens of bulbs and then reselling them.
- I didn’t stock-pile the bulbs/lamps (you need to send back the defective/blown one in their own FedEx pre-paid box, each w/ their own unique number for: shipper-receipt, shipping-number, item-receipt, all as part of the requirement to receive a subsequent replacement).
- Avg. wait for service technician is at least 2+ weeks. Each time I needed a bulb/lamp, I’d call them so they’d have on record that a bulb/lamp was being replaced.
- I didn’t know about the No-Lemon/3-service fine-print until a few months ago. I replaced my 4th bulb in early May 2008 (actually 5th bulb in all, 1st one was replaced by service tech’), which made me eligible. That’s when I started efforts for replacement. Since then, I’ve changed the bulb once more (late July).
- A Best Buy tech’ did come in June 2008 (after 3 weeks wait) to see the TV. He spent less than 5 minutes and left, saying the unit was fine and he wasn’t going to endorse a buy-back.
- I told a Sr’ Best Buy Customer Care Rep’ (after “escalation”) on the phone back in May 2008, that no matter the outcome, they were gonna get the TV back at the store. He replied, “that would be littering.” I also told him their Performance Service plan would lose them more money than what the TV sold for through bulb/lamp replacements. He stated, “it’s no loss to us, the insurance company pays for it.”
- There is no voltage instability to speak of at the residence. All precautions have been taken. Numerous other voltage-sensitive electronic devices have never had any issues over the years, including another non-HD projector TV (as well as an LCD HDTV & a home computer-network). My father is an Electrical Engineer, by trade.
- The TV is used for avg. hrs in the daytime and then at night. Not sparingly, not excessively. No surround sound, no gaming, no nothing. Just Dish-Network & DVD’s.
- I was out of the country for nearly a year, hence why I didn’t take the initiative earlier.
- I’ve been 101% honest & forthright from the start. And fortunately, it may have paid off. I got a message this morning that I was issued a buyback-code for replacement (whatever that may entail). I believe it was my meticulous record-keeping (invoices, shipping-receipts, service-documentation, etc’) that prevailed in the end.
Attached below is the letter from Best Buy Corporate…
________________________________________________________________________
Best Buy Corporate Offices
7601 Penn Avenue South
Richfield , MN 55423
August 7, 2008
Dear U’:
I am writing in regards to your email from August 6, 2008, that was directed to various individuals at Best Buy’s Corporate Offices. Your correspondence was ultimately referred to my attention to investigate and respond.
I’d like to apologize on behalf of Best Buy for the difficulties you encountered regarding this matter, but I appreciate the time you took to voice your concerns to allow the company an opportunity to properly address them. Indeed, Best Buy values this sort of contact as it provides the corporation with important feedback to make decisions regarding its future direction.
I am sorry for any disappointment that generated over this situation, for the events that you describe are both rare and unfortunate and not reflective of the optimal experience Best Buy strives to provide its customers. Please note that any Performance Service Plan (PSP) sold prior to November 1, 2005 (including yours) affords unlimited bulb replacement benefits, and each lamp replaced constitutes a qualifying repair under the No Lemon coverage. Since the No Lemon clause specifies that there must be three qualifying repairs and diagnosis of a fourth problem for a product to merit replacement, I am happy to report that your television meets this criterion and consequently has been approved for replacement under confirmation number XXXXX. This means that you can take the confirmation number to the Cedar Park location for store personnel to facilitate the transaction; in addition, Best Buy will need to take possession of your current television. Also, please be aware that if you elect to purchase another PSP for your new television, the current plan allows only one bulb replacement to count as a “qualifying No Lemon repair” throughout the lifetime of the policy.
I am very happy that you will be acquiring a new television, and I hope the above explication clarifies the benefits of your PSP. Thank you again for allowing me to respond to you on behalf of Best Buy. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. You can reach me through email at Michael.Arrighi@BestBuy.com or via phone at 612-XXX-XXXX.
Sincerely,
Michael Arrighi
Senior Executive Resolution Specialist
Best Buy Corporate
go ahead with the lawsuit if you buy the lamps the service plan wont cover them it may if you submit the bills
you should have called best buy 800 to have them send you a lamp best buy is so out of control now though that the techs that come out dont know who paid for what and they cant give people their money back many of these products have class action lawsuits on them and the mfgr is offering a replacement
product best buy refuses to tell anyone and the mfgr doesnt care if you dont find out
friends dont let friends shop or work at best buy