Russ used to have a TV, but now all he has are problems. He summarizes his 52-inch Insignia (Best Buy‘s House Brand) HDTV’s decision to check out, then goes into Best Buy’s bumbling attempts to fix it.

He writes:

Here’s the summary:

02/20/09: purchased Insignia 52 inch LCD from Best Buy for $1,398.99

08/15/09: TV died; went to repair hell

08/24/09: wrong part replaced then unreplaced for $407.07 by technicians that had to drive 120 miles each way for the wrong diagnosis from Best Buy.

08/25/09: placed in cost effectiveness committee

08/28/09: sent to parts research purgatory

09/04/09: still haven’t said enough Hail Mary’s to the right Best Buy Saints

What I thought was really disturbing was something the last CSR I spoke with told me: If the repair cost doesn’t exceed the purchase price, they would rather send out a tech to repair it multiple times.

My response was that it would seem to have an extremely negative impact on your profit margin.

It should be noted that every CSR I have spoken with has been extremely professional and polite. I have mirrored this attitude as well and have had extraordinary patience as a result of my 10 plus years of experience as a former CSR and Quality Assurance Agent. I have never been abrasive to their customer service because I refuse to be that customer and it will usually have a negative impact on the problem being resolved. My blame goes to the policy and not the paid rep that is just doing their job.

Russ says Best Buy doesn’t know where his part is or when he can get it replaced. He says he’s shut off cable service and laments that his TV is a “giant paperweight in our living room.” Have any of you experienced a similar TV repair runaround? Is this what you should expect when you buy Insignia?

(Photo: bmljenny)

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