Returning Bd Player To Best Buy...

[PNKLoud]

Has anyone out there had to return a BD player to Best Buy recently under the service plan? I bought the Sammy 1400 last October, had them match Amazon for $410 at the time (BB was $500 then) and bought the 4-year plan.
The machine has become inconsistent and frustrating. All FW is up to date. Most movies play well but I've had issues with several WB movies.
The Sony 550 is coming out in a few weeks and the price will be the same for what I paid for with the 1400 and would be the better machine to have.

Will Best Buy try to send my machine off for repair (I can't see how they would be able to fix it since this is a very glitchy machine according to blogs and my own experience) or will they just replace it with a like priced machine? I know the latter is a possibility but I was just curious as to how many times they will try to fix the 1400 before they just give me a new one? Any one know or have a similar experience?
Thanks!

[fredreed]

It depends on what is wrong with the machine, If its in the machine itself and they cannot fix the problem then they will most likely will give you a new one to replace it, most likely because since you have a service plan with them with the machine. They may contact samsung about the problems with the machine but I will say that they most likely will give you a new one to replace it.

[BigSlade]

I'm not sure how they would handle it. I know when I've returned an item they no longer had in stock, I basically got the value of what I paid for it towards the new item. Good luck, and let us know how this turns out for you.

[utl768]

u can either replace it for the same one or put the amount its worth now towards another player

[gene9p]

you can upgrade to a better player with the service plan

[Hokis4ever]

As far as i know, within the warranty period from the manufacturer, you would have to send it to a authorized repair shop. After the warranty from the manufacturer expires, you do the same, but BB will cover the charges. If it breaks the 3rd time, they use what is called "lemon law" type thingy where they replace the device with one of equivalent value.

Now this doesn't mean they won't give you a new one, but i think that's the route they would probably go (went through one repair for my LG plasma, so i had to look in to all this stuff)

Good luck!!

[PNKLoud]

Thanks everyone! I think that the Samsung warranty is for one year. I bought the player October 21st 2007. I'm glad I bought the extended service plan for $60... I kind of anticipated this and if it did sputter within the 4 years, I was hoping to "upgrade" my player to the current year's equivalent. I'm going to wait until the Sony 550 is available and check it out.

[rmoody]

I work for Geek Squad so here's what I would do. It's under the manufacturer warranty for 1 year, normally you take it to GS and we send it to our service center. Now, we just started a new thing (meaning the nice lady at the customer service counter may not know about it yet) where if it's under the manufacturer's warranty and it's not working we can offer to replace it. Your mileage will probably vary with this so you will probably have to do some massaging to get this to work. I would start by calling the 888-BESTBUY and asking about this and see what advice they give you. Be sure to stress how unreliable the player is and that you have updated it and understand that the newer players are much more reliable, yada yada... If you get a good response go to the store and ask about it stating that you have talked to BB corporate and they advised that it be replaced under the manufacturer warranty. First thing to remember...BE NICE...more ants with honey and all. The CS people and management are much more willing to be nice back if you are nice first (this is the case anywhere that mean venom spewing people attack you all the time). See what you can get and if all else fails, send it to service (yes, it sucks to be without the player). Usually (check with your service plan options when calling BBY corporate) there is a "no lemon" clause and if it's still messing up, send it again until it gets replaced. Hope that helps you. Feel free to PM me if I can answer any other questions for you.

[PNKLoud]

I work for Geek Squad so here's what I would do. It's under the manufacturer warranty for 1 year, normally you take it to GS and we send it to our service center. Now, we just started a new thing (meaning the nice lady at the customer service counter may not know about it yet) where if it's under the manufacturer's warranty and it's not working we can offer to replace it. Your mileage will probably vary with this so you will probably have to do some massaging to get this to work. I would start by calling the 888-BESTBUY and asking about this and see what advice they give you. Be sure to stress how unreliable the player is and that you have updated it and understand that the newer players are much more reliable, yada yada... If you get a good response go to the store and ask about it stating that you have talked to BB corporate and they advised that it be replaced under the manufacturer warranty. First thing to remember...BE NICE...more ants with honey and all. The CS people and management are much more willing to be nice back if you are nice first (this is the case anywhere that mean venom spewing people attack you all the time). See what you can get and if all else fails, send it to service (yes, it sucks to be without the player). Usually (check with your service plan options when calling BBY corporate) there is a "no lemon" clause and if it's still messing up, send it again until it gets replaced. Hope that helps you. Feel free to PM me if I can answer any other questions for you.

Thanks rmoody! - I want you to know that I'm not trying to cheat the system. I'm just not in favor of another Samsung so waiting until the new Sony 550 is out at $400 is the unit that fits my spec needs right now. At this point the replacement would be the 1500 (its $400) and it doesn't have 5.1 outs etc... If its under the MAN Warranty are they going to automatically replace it with another Samsung? If I wait until my MAN Warranty runs out will I have a better shot at the Sony as a replacement?

Also, is this really fixable? I doubt there is one "part" that can be replaced that will be a fix all.

Watcha think?
Oh, I can be really nice. I'm not crazy angry at this point and nor would I be at a CS person. I just want to get a player that works more consistantly.

[jsmiddleton4]

Yes it is fixable. The part that has to be replaced is any thing that has Samsung on it and you replace it with the machine that has Panasonic on it.....

[PNKLoud]

Yes it is fixable. The part that has to be replaced is any thing that has Samsung on it and you replace it with the machine that has Panasonic on it.....

Agreed! That's my whole goal here... get another player (brand). I don't want them to try and "fix" it. Its one of those things that at times it will work properly and at other times it won't. I bought Phantom for my wife back on Mother's Day... we haven't been able to get through it yet (I've tried 3 different copies so I know its the player) and this past weekend the player ejected it after trying to load it for a few minutes... 2 nights before it loaded and played just fine (that happens 1 out of 50 tries). Hopefully it will "not work" when they look at it or they may think I'm trying to pull one over on them.
How is your Panasonic?

[rmoody]

Yes it is fixable. The part that has to be replaced is any thing that has Samsung on it and you replace it with the machine that has Panasonic on it.....

Totally agree on that!! For a company to make such great TV's they sure make shitty BD players! Panny, Pioneer, Panny, Sony, Panny all the way.

It's not cheating the system if it's a policy that the company allows . I will tell you what I have experienced...a guy had a crappy Kodak printer (don't ever buy a Kodak inkjet, ugh) and we were able to let him basically return it for store credit to get another printer of the same value...he got an HP. So, if they will allow you to do the manufacturer warranty exchange (which may only be on certain products...not sure the official policy so call 888-BESTBUY to make sure) then you can use the store credit to get a Sony, Panny, etc. The Samsung BD players suck ass, no doubt, terrible firmware. As far as waiting for the manufacturers warranty to expire, I think you would honestly have a better chance at trying the exchange route because after the manufacturer warranty is out, that ability is not available and it has to be sent to service. To get it replaced under the service plan, it will need to be sent off for 3 qualified repairs (meaning they found something wrong and tried to fix it) and on the 4th time, it will be "junked out" and an in-store replacement authorized.

The only thing I can think of that would fix this would be a faulty laser pick up in the drive. But, I am not a service tech. Knowing Samsung and their firmware, it's just the player.

[gto5830]

Has anyone out there had to return a BD player to Best Buy recently under the service plan? I bought the Sammy 1400 last October, had them match Amazon for $410 at the time (BB was $500 then) and bought the 4-year plan.
The machine has become inconsistent and frustrating. All FW is up to date. Most movies play well but I've had issues with several WB movies.
The Sony 550 is coming out in a few weeks and the price will be the same for what I paid for with the 1400 and would be the better machine to have.

Will Best Buy try to send my machine off for repair (I can't see how they would be able to fix it since this is a very glitchy machine according to blogs and my own experience) or will they just replace it with a like priced machine? I know the latter is a possibility but I was just curious as to how many times they will try to fix the 1400 before they just give me a new one? Any one know or have a similar experience?
Thanks!

Not to change the subject, but I thought Best Buy will not match Amazon? I got a tv from Best Buy less than a month ago and called them to see if they would match as Amazon has the same tv $100.00 less than BB did when I bought it. Sorry to cahen what was being talked about.

[PNKLoud]

Not to change the subject, but I thought Best Buy will not match Amazon? I got a tv from Best Buy less than a month ago and called them to see if they would match as Amazon has the same tv $100.00 less than BB did when I bought it. Sorry to cahen what was being talked about.

You're right, they don't. I'm not sure if they changed that after I purchased the player or not but I got a cashier that kind of had a "don't care" attitude. I showed her the paper showing $409, she said ok, looks good and then I gave her $35 in reward zone certs plus a bunch of gift cards I had been collecting since my birthday specifically for buying a BD player.
The kicker is that they were running a program for 2 free BDs with the purchase of that player. The website listed 10 to choose from, mostly lame choices, but when I spoke with the asst mgr hanging around the movies he said "I THINK you can choose any movie." I didn't argue and came out with Casino Royale and Blackhawk Down! He even yelled across the room to the cashier that it was ok!

[NoSireeBob]

You're right, they don't. I'm not sure if they changed that after I purchased the player or not but I got a cashier that kind of had a "don't care" attitude. I showed her the paper showing $409, she said ok, looks good and then I gave her $35 in reward zone certs plus a bunch of gift cards I had been collecting since my birthday specifically for buying a BD player.
The kicker is that they were running a program for 2 free BDs with the purchase of that player. The website listed 10 to choose from, mostly lame choices, but when I spoke with the asst mgr hanging around the movies he said "I THINK you can choose any movie." I didn't argue and came out with Casino Royale and Blackhawk Down! He even yelled across the room to the cashier that it was ok!

I've had similar experiences. It's a crap shoot; depends who you get at check out.