We just got an email from reader Mike, who claims to be a former Best Buy employee who regrets selling all those extended warranties now that he’s actually trying to use the one that he purchased.

While my story hasn’t cost me thousands of dollars, it’s brought me a lot of disappointment with the company I used to work for. For two years and three months, I was employee [redacted] at Store [redacted]. I sold computers, service plans, accessories, Geek Squad services and everything else they wanted me to like a good employee. I often defended the company online from people who had complaints and offered advice on what to do, based on my “inside” knowledge, to get these issues handled. So imagine my disappointment in the Geek Squad upon having to use a Performance Service Plan (PSP) on a Samsung monitor I had purchased.

On the morning of August 20th, I discovered my Samsung 204T was not responding to anything I was doing. After determining it was not the computer, based on a second monitor I have, I decided to make use of the PSP I had purchased for the monitor nearly three years prior when I was still working for Best Buy. I brought it to a different store than the one I worked at, and after having a small chat with the Geek Squad employee about it, he determined it would need to be shipped off to the repair facility. That’s fine, I was expecting that. I asked him point blank “What are the turn around times like these days?”

“7-10 days” was the response. I commented “Oh, back when I used to work here it was closer to 2-3 weeks. Good to see it’s gotten faster.”

I figure that this is great, I’m going on vacation anyways and when I get back, the monitor should either be repaired or ready to be exchanged. Geek Squad even sends a tracking number to track the repair status of the monitor.

But nothing changes. Until August 29th, when it says it’s arrived at the repair facility. Again, as a former employee I know that the service centers are USA based. Nine day shipping on the continental United States? What? I decide not to question it at the time. Status updates later in the day saying Parts Have Been Ordered. I’m a little disappointed that they’re going to fix it instead of giving me a new one, but whatever. On September 4th, the status updates are saying that it’s being repaired currently. No update until September 10th, at which point it is changed to “Exchange Assessment.” “Product is in the process of approval or has been approved for an exchange. Please contact the Geek Squad Precinct within your Best Buy store for additional information.” Great, I can get it exchanged finally!

So I head to the store with the paperwork from the Geek Squad page. Hey, it’s the same guy that told me 7-10 days. But I let that slide at first when I show him the paperwork. He looks into the system and can’t find any information on exchanging the monitor. He calls over a customer service representative, Rebecca, and the two of them look over the information on my repair. I hear some mumblings about the monitor being “junk out”, and knowing what that is, I’m annoyed they’re even looking at that since it has nothing to do with the exchange or repair. They also mention to each other about the parts for the monitor not even being available to order. Which makes me wonder where did 4 days of ordering parts and 6 days of repair go to when the parts didn’t even exist? But I bite my tongue, hoping they’ll just exchange it. At this point, they both inform me that the exchange has not been approved yet. I’m pissed now, and for the most part I keep my cool. The exchange I have with the Geek Squad employee goes like this.

Me: “When I first brought this in, you told me 7 to 10 days.”
Him: “Business days”
Me: “That was like three weeks ago!”
Him: “Well there’s nothing I can do about the service center being backed up.”
Me: “You know, I used to work here. Why would you lie to me about the turn around time? That’s bullshit.”
Him: “All I can tell you is that this is the second to last step and the turn around for this should be pretty fast.”
Me: “Whatever, I’ll be back.”

At that point, I leave. That was September 10th. At the time of this e-mail, it’s September 15th and the system still has not updated.

I’m so disappointed in the service I’ve received on this monitor. It makes me feel bad that I sold these services for over two years, only to see this is how they were treating customers. One of the core things we were taught was to “Under promise, over deliver.” Meaning that if a customer asks how long something is going to take, always go with the high end, and if takes less, great! Happy customer that we did something faster than we stated. If it takes the time we quoted, still happy that we did it on time. To see this core idea violated to this degree, it really cheapens what I did for them.

We recommend sending an EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) to your former bosses. Just because you used to work there doesn’t mean that you’re not a customer, too. For more information about launching an EECB, click here. Maybe hearing from one of their own will be a wake-up call.

If not, if you used a credit card to pay for the monitor and warranty, you can always contact your credit card company and see if they’ll help you get what you paid for.

(Photo: dooleymtv )

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