hhgregg Warranty Service Sucks

Posted in Random Rambling, Rant, Technology on 06/22/2009 02:27 pm by James

Around this time two years ago the wife and I were buying our first home.  It’s not huge but it fit the two of us perfect, especially after 6 months of searching.  Once we had our home we had to buy all new appliances and it was the perfect time to fulfill my dream of getting a big screen TV.  I did the research and shopped around and realized the flat panels were still way to expensive for the size of TV I wanted so we decided a rear projection would be great for us.  This is when we went to hhgregg and bought a Samsung 50″ DLP Projection TV.  Once we got it home I quickly noticed a rainbow effect while watching Tv.  It was driving me crazy so we went back a few days later and exchanged the Samsung DLP Projection for a Sony 50″ LCD Projection TV.  Specifically Model KDF-50e2000.  They brought out the new TV and took away the old one the next day.  No problems, no headaches, just great service.

I don’t know what has happened to hhgregg since.  Two years later the bulb in my TV went out.  Something I knew would happen which is why I bought the extended warranty.  I knew $400 was too much but when you figure a lamp is definitely going out and it is several hundred plus you get the service of someone coming out AND the peace of mind that if anything else goes wrong in 5 years it will be fixed it seems like it’s worth it.  Plus I’m a sucker when it comes to people selling me crap.  It’s all I can do to not order the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter and I don’t even like tomatoes.  When I call to get it fixed they schedule me service for a few days later and all seems great.  A couple of hours later the people coming out call and tell me that the lamp is backordered from Samsung and it will be a few weeks.  First I say “Weeks?!?” then I say wait, I don’t have a Samsung.  She notifies me that I in fact do have a Samsung model something or other.  I assure her that no, I have a Sony.  I’ve been staring and the dang logo on the bottom of my screen and on the remote for two years.  To which she cancels the order and tells me I need to straighten it out with hhgregg and promptly hangs up.  Thanks I. A. Electronics!

I called hhgregg to figure out what was going on even though it was pretty obvious they never put in the information for the new TV.  It turns out it’s way more complicated than that.  GE Warranty Service is apparently who hhgregg gave at least a portion of my money to and who is now responsible for fixing my TV… kind of.  All they do is coordinate with I.A. Electronics to get it fixed.  GE won’t do anything because I have warranty for a TV that I don’t own.  hhgregg tells me that they’ll have to research it and get the proper information to GE.  The next afternoon I still hadn’t heard anything so I went to the store and was told that hhgregg corporate would have to notify GE because they wouldn’t believe the store and on top of that they still can’t find my invoices.  I bring in my own copies of the invoices and they email corporate with the invoice numbers so they can look them up.  Come Wednesday I still hadn’t heard anything so I called corporate myself to complain.  I gave the nice lady my invoice numbers and my TV model and serial number.  She says it will take a day or two to get the info updated.  I decided to call GE the next day just to check and amazingly they finally had the correct info for my TV!

I walk through getting an appointment set up and the guy at GE asks me what time Monday would be good for me.  I stop him and say that Monday is Memorial Day, a holiday.  He assures me that they will be working that day so I get everything set up and he gives me the contact info for I.A. Electronics along with my service number.  I promptly call I.A. to check on everything and when I mention I have an appointment Monday the guy on the phone laughed.  I mean he actually laughed out loud and then said “No, no.” still chuckling.  That made me a happy camper of course.  He went on to inform me that Monday was a holiday and they weren’t going to be working.  Being a computer tech I’m upset this whole time anyway because I know I could change that stupid lamp in 10 minutes if I could just get it in my hands.  So I ask the man if I can just come by and pick up a lamp to which he looks up my TV model and tells me that the lamp is going to have to be ordered and it will take 7 days.  Ugh.

So now it’s been a week.  My TV is still broke.  It’s most likely going to be broke for another week.  No one will take responsibility for any of the mistakes that’s happened and I’m going crazy here.

Fast Forward several weeks…

I finally resolved this issue.  Eventually GE Warranty shipped a new lamp out to the people who were going to service my TV so as soon as I saw it arrived I told them I’d be in to pick it up myself because I didn’t want to wait another 4 days on top of the 16 days it had already been.  Replacing the lamp literally took 30 seconds and I didn’t need any tools.  I just popped off a panel, twisted another panel off, pulled up on the old lamp, and then did all that in reverse.  30 seconds!  I waited 16 days and it was only 30 seconds worth of work!

Let this be a lesson to you, the extended warranty is a rip off!

<end rant>

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  • Mario W
    I could not agree with you more, on April 30th 2010 I purchased an Epson 8100 projector and was told for a few dollars more I could purchase the 5 year lamp replacement warranty, I have never purchased an extended warranty before as I had always view them as a rip off, however, I thought that it would be a good idea in this case as I had read and was told that the lamps in projectors could burn out before their projected lamp life. Well I installed my nhew projector in my holiday home and enjoyed it while I was there but then had to return home. a few weeks later we had a family stay in our home, while they were there, they reported that the lamp was blown, I called and was toild that the warranty would not cut in until after the first year by the first person that I spoke to, when I told them that was not good enough they put me in contact with the store, they told me that I would have to call this company NEW, I did and was told that as I had reported a problem within 30 days of purchase, I would have to return it to the store and have the whole unit exchanged, when I explaned that I was out of the country and not able to do that she suggested that HHGREG would have someone come to the house and exchange the unit. I must confess that at this point I was feeling better as things looked like they were going in the right direction, however, while on a threeway call with the lady from NEW and the lady from HHGREG, the lady from HHGREG put us on hold and then came back and said, I would have had to come back within a 15 day period as that was that stores policy, therefore, I would now need to call the manufacturer, well my blod started to boil at this point, however, the lady at NEW said, not to worry she would have it sorted, and put me on hold while trying to contact the manufacturer - tyhen we got cut off!!! So I called back and thinking that as I had her name, we could resume and have the problem sorted - but NO!! I got a mans voice, he informed me that he could not transfer me and as he could see my account he would have a read and get back to me in a minute. As I waited, I explained to my wife what was happening, she was amazed that I had by this time been on the phone for 45 minuts and still did not have the problem resolved. Well after the very long minute the man came on the phone and said that his notes shoed that I purchased the warranty that covers only the major parts and not the lamp! Well well well, needless to say, I was amazed at what I was hearing as the sales man that had sold me the warranty took his time to explain the warranty and I was very clear on asking him all about it. I will be visiting the store with all of my papar work and sincerly hope that HHGREG will do the right thing, however by to looks of things, I would tell anyone - do not bother to purchase the extended warranty as it is clear that this is a way for HHGRER to make extra cash while they rip off their customers.
  • kk10
    I totally agreee hhgregg warrenty is such a scam i found out that after i purchase my extended warrenty for 100 bucks per appliance (washer/dryer) someone went in the system canceled my extended warrenty and pocketed the money. Four years later when i needed to use my extended 5 year warrenty plan when my wahser broke i was accused of calling and canceling it myself why the Fuck would i pay $200 bucks and cancel a few days later. I even had the proof that i paid the money in my account and it was never refunded. I was dicked around for weeks back and forth many phone calls later and a ton a aggrivation and my 4 year old washer is still broken. Hhgregg is a scam do not shop there.
  • Name
    James,

    Scott Parry in his comment is totally wrong. NEW will blow you off because you bought your TV BEFORE May 2008. NEW will only help customer out of mfg warranty who bought one of their policies (sold only after May 2008). Before that, all the policies were GE. Scott Parry, you mean well, but are not suited to give this customer advice.

    I'm sorry you had such a problem. It originated when your exchange was typed and the cashier must not have included the warranty. The point of sale (POS) system used to require this be done manually...it is smarter now that we have proven ourselves dumb. It should not have taken sooooooo long to repair the record of your warranty. I see this weekly...and get warranties "reestablished" in 2 business days.

    I have been and hhgregg manager in Cleveland for 7+ years. You were victimized by store managers not knowing about the evolution of the systems and their shortcomings along the way (i.e., lack of experience), thus not knowing the quick fix.

    Now, GE Warranty is another story. For what it's worth, we have switched to a different warranty company and they are better. Please remember that an extended warranty is nothing more than insurance...they write the check to the repair man...that's about it. The quality and timliness of repair are solely in the hands of the person making the repair. If you car gets in an accident, State Farm can't make the body shop perform better or worse...they just write the check. Same situation.

    Thankfully your TV was eventually repaired and I hope despite that you will stick with us.

    Larry
  • Mario W
    Well Mr. HHGREG Manager, I pity you for having to work for such a dishonest establishment, my recent experience will send me back to BEST BUY!!!!
  • scott parry
    HH Gregg doesn't sell extended warranties, they have a Protective service plan that we sell and it's offered protection buy a company called NEW, they are who you should have called and would have resolved this much quicker. Once you leave the store HH Gregg has nothing to do with the service plan, it's all NEW, which has 24/7 support, so good luck and I hope in the future this isn't an issue. Also make sure the Service plan is still valid after your repairs, call NEW to check it out as it's only at their discretion if they decide to renew you plan and for how long. Take care
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