Droid Black Tie Protection

baaldemon

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So this is mainly going to be me venting, but hopefully it will serve to stop others from getting the black tie protection plan from best buy.

So it starts out when I bought the phone, Droid 1 A855, I wouldnt have bought the plan but I was assured by the sales rep that the plan would allow me to bring in an unusable droid and get a replacement for it immediately, and that if it was deemed repairable I would get a loaner droid and would have my own phone back shortly. With that knowledge and the no deductible I decided to go with that plan, oh and I bought this on the droid 1 release day.

So fast forward to Feb 9 2011. I was using my phone and it kept registering touches on the right hand part of the screen. This happens a couple times during that day and the next. Then the following morning, on the 11th, the sensors on that part of the screen stop working altogether. So I take it into best buy and start the process of getting it repaired/replaced. When I get in there they look at it, and had to talk to like 4 people because noone seemed to know how to process the claim. So they start putting things into the computer and say they will have to send it out, at this point I mention that I really need it back the next week, they assure me that the process generally takes 3-6 days and that they would overnight it to the repair center.

At this point everything seems good, and then they go and get me a loaner phone. They come out with an LG Ally, so I told them that I was told I would receive the motorola droid as my loaner phone when I bought the plan, to this they said the sales rep didnt know what he was talking about. So I reluctantly take the phone thinking I should get my phone back in a week.

Fastforward 6 days and I hadnt heard anything, so I give the store a call and ask for an update. Took them like 15 minutes to look up this information, being put on hold without them asking or telling me I would, and he comes back and says that he has no update because it hasnt gotten to the repair center yet. I informed them I was assured that when it was dropped off that it was being shipped out overnight, again I get put on hold without being told, 10 mintues later they come back on and say that they were mistaken and that the phone was at the repair center but that it was just waiting for a technician to update the record on it.

Fastforward 16 days after I dropped my phone off. At this point I still had no understanding when I would get my phone back and had simply gotten 2 emails saying that my phone was being worked on. So I go into the store and ask them for an update. They pull up the record, takes them a lot less time when you are there to watch them, and say that it shows the phone was delivered to the repair center 2 days ago. So I get a bit agitated and ask them why overnight shipping takes two weeks and ask why I was lied about the shipping by not one but two associates, never got an answer. All he said is that he would put an order in to expedite the shipping back to store and was still not given any kind of time frame as to when I would have my phone back. I will return this Saturday if I have not received the phone and try to get answers again.

From looking around on the internet this seems to be the common story that pops up when talking about best buys mobile protection plan. So if any of your are considering it, do yourself a favor and opt for the cheaper verizon plan with the deductible. I dont understand how they can get away with falsely selling their own insurance plan.
 

dezymond

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From my past experiences I never go to any "authorized dealers" when it comes to my phone plans. They really do tell you what you want to hear and don't follow up on their word, it's very frustrating.

This is exactly why I went straight to a Verizon store when I got my Droid. I had it replaced twice with no extra hassle than me going to the store saying it doesn't work. It was quick and easy. Get the replacement delivered and then send the broken unit no questions asked and at their shipping expense.

I also go against getting insurance as I find it unnecessary, as to how i take care of my things. Compared to the rest of my friends and family I take great care of my things and I would not benefit in any way from insurance. I know accidents aren't planned, otherwise they wouldn't be accidents, but I find these type of extra protection plans don't really benefit anyone but the company.
 

joncann

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I agree. Best Buy sucks a fat one for just about eveything. I have always been nothing but impressed by Verizon's customer service - over the phone. I've only had one or two negative experiences and I've had Verizon for almost eight years. Before I got this droid I was on my fifth NV3 in less than 2 years.

Sent from my DROID2 using DroidForums App
 

*22899

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This about par for Best Buy! I had all the same issues only worse. I was told all the same things. Bring in your broken phone and will swap it for a Droid of some sort until yours is fixed. If we can't fix it you'll get the next best thing if the droid isn't available. No questions asked coverage, YEA RIGHT! After reading all the bad press about it I started investigating myself. I called 4 different best buys in my area and told them 4 different story's about what happened to my phone.

1 Fell out of my pocket while I was grabbing tools at work. No sir we don't cover accidents at work.

2 left it on the roof of my car and it got ran over. No sir we don't cover any type of damage involving auto's because it's almost alway fraud.

3 My child spilled soda on it. No water damage is covered sir sorry.

4 It just stopped working. Bring it in and we will send it to MOTO, but we can't issue anything close to that type of device as a loaner.

What to they cover? almost nothing as far as I could tell. I canceled my plan right away.

I also agree insurance is out of control!!!!!! You should insure things you can't live with out or afford to replace your self if something happened to them.

House, Cars, Family not TV's and cell phones. We are an insurance crazy society and the worst part it most of the plans our garbage for electronics. Excluding Costco which is excellent! and verizons insurance I've heard is pretty fair.
 
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baaldemon

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I made an exception in paying for the insurance with this phone, something Ive never done with other electronics, and will not make that mistake again. I could have easily gone out and got a used Droid and had it in use within a couple days for the same price Ive paid for the insurance.
 

joncann

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I made an exception in paying for the insurance with this phone, something Ive never done with other electronics, and will not make that mistake again. I could have easily gone out and got a used Droid and had it in use within a couple days for the same price Ive paid for the insurance.

Insurance is something like $10/month. A new droid is like $300-$600 it's only $100 with insurance. I had five or six warranty claims that cost me nothing in the last four years and paid $50 with insurance for a new $200 phone. Forget all the other crap I'll insure the hell out of anything worth more than $200. I avoid the big "box stores" like the plague. They don't have to have customer service. They know you'll be back.
 

Aerogriff

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That's a bummer they did you like that. I have that protection on mine but they did tell me I would get a loaner phone, not neccesarily a droid. And that it might take longer than a week. Granted one of my best friends works for best buy mobile and did my plan, but regardless. They shouldn't have done you like that, but its still a nice little plan if you have a good store near you.

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Dusty

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I had the original Droid with BB protection and my dog knocked a glass of water over on to it.

The dude at BB was straight up. He said it'll take 3 weeks for the phone to get passed around and for the paperwork to return allowing for a replacement.

I had a Droid X 20 days after we spoke. The only hassle was waiting for the phone to be declared dead. Most people get mad because they don't get a replacement right on the spot.

I have no problem with it. The plan was worth it to me. My fiancée got soaked in Nicaragua and her iPhone was destroyed. I talked her into getting the plan with her new iPhone (that she paid full price for) 6 months later she dropped it and had to get a replacement. Once again the protection plan paid for itself. It depends on the person I guess, but I think it's worth it. Everytime they gave me store credit for a new phone and the same went for the fiancée.
 
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baaldemon

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Well I got my droid... or I should say a droif back. Once again I was lied to. The form said that they replaced the screen and cleaned the filters but I just got a refurb... which I wouldn't mind if that's what they would have told me. How do I know I got a refurb, well I now have a flat keyboard, which is now where as good as my previous droid, alsol the speaker cover is almost falling off, along with a couple other wear differences. I told this to them but they said they would have to send it out again, so I juat took it and am now cancelling my coverage.

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rixa

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I got a droid1 in January 2010 with the black belt protection and in September 2010 I slipped on the kitchen floor the droid fell out of my pocket hit the floor and I landed on it.. tragicly the screen had a NICE crack down the middle and all that would display was colored lines...

so I took it to best buy they declared it broken and gave me a loner phone.. a crappy lil LG enV thing.. and said that it would take 7-14 days to get fixed.. I said ok.. 14 days later I still hadn't heard anything and the geeksquad website said my phone was at the service center, they ordered parts but were waiting for them... another week later still no word and still waiting on parts..

an entire MONTH later about mid October I go back to best buy and say "Why has it taken over 2 weeks to get the part for my phone? and it's been an entire month without my droid!!!" because of course I was still getting charged $29.99 for the data plan that I couldn't use on the crappy little LG loaner phone..

the guy was like really?? they still haven't done anything yet?? I'm going to expedite this NOW.. so he went and typed some stuff into the pc and said ok I'll let you know within 48hours if they will fix your droid or we can junk it out and give you a new one. So i was like ok FINALLY something is going to happen yay!

2 days later I go back to best buy and ask what they decided.. and since the repair center took too dang long to attempt to fix it they said junk it and so the guy took me over to the smart phone rack and said ok.. since you got the black tie protection program pick out any one you want.. the HTC incredible, droid1, droidX, droid2, blackberry wichever smart phone you want.. so I picked the droid2

dancedroidand of course got the black tie protection for the new droid2 dancedroid
 
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