MacBook Pro Warranty

[banclimber]

Hey guys, new to the forums... Can you help me out?

I have a MBP, the older one, purchased in January '08 from a Best Buy. When I bought the MBP, I got a warranty on it that supposedly was supposed to replace my MBP if it was broken completely in any way; even accidental, not just hardware malfunction. So what I am asking is if I were to accidentally drop the computer and completely brake it beyond use, requiring Best Buy to give me a brand new one, would they give me the MBP that just came out today? Or would they give me the new model?
I'm sure most don't know this, but if you do, could you help me out?
Also, do you know if the old MacBook Pros are still in production? Thanks a lot!


Matt

 

[emt1]

Fraud isn't cool. It's also illegal.

 

[banclimber]

No i wasn't planning on doing this on purpose at all, I was just wondering what the circumstances were... please don't take it that way... Sorry if you are misinformed.

 

[martinmartin]

best to read the fine print of the warranty.

i dont think anyone can say for sure what best buy would do in the case you mentioned. maybe someone has some experience with this but i bet the outcome can change case by case.

 

[CoolMacDude]

As a former geek squad manager and district service manager for Best Buy, I can tell you that they replace these things as a last resort. It ends up being at the discretion of the service center with the last call being made by the district manager. These guys get put in horrible positions by corporate. I am not trying to justify what they do. Its the reason I left the company.

Basically the replacement if the store manager replaces the thing comes out of the stores budget so the store managers are reluctant because it damages their sales which are required to stay at a certain level to maintain their employment.

At the district office we were given forecast and budgets for our stores that we had to meet.

I got put in situations where the service center actually dropped someones computer and didn't want to fix it. I ultimately always made the call to do the right thing but you never go directly to a district manager. You usually get the run around and lies from a geek squad agent. Maybe even from a senior level store manager.

I would recommend never buying a BBY warranty again. And I would not take chances as they will likely try to repair it and you will be without it for a substantial amount of time.

 

[martinmartin]

i have heard similar horror stories from best buy warranties...

best bet, if you can, is to get a solid warranty direct from the manufacturer. unfortunately applecare doesnt cover accidental damage like dell used to (not sure if they still do).

 

[banclimber]

But what if it was broken beyond repair? like the case and the screen were completely broken? I am starting to feel very unsafe... The reason I bought the accidental damage plan was because I move around A LOT and am generally not to careful when tossing it on my bed and jogging up the stairs with it.

But CoolMacDude, do you know if they replace the model with the current one, or if it was older, they replaced it with the current model, since I think the my model is out of production, because the ones with the newer chip or whatever came out in march I think, and now you have these...
Thanks again,

Matt

 

[CoolMacDude]

The policy when I was there (Feb. 2007) was that they replace it for like technology not to exceed the value of the original purchase price. This was usually a store level decision. I saw some stores allow them the purchase price and I saw other stores offer the price of a comparable product, which would probably be the lowest version of the new MBP in your case. Then you have the option of taking it or paying the difference to upgrade.

I however after leaving had a top tier branded plasma die under a PSP (Performance Service Plan or PRP Product Replacement Plan) and even being a prior employment go the run around and got a manager that said you will take this product. In my case it wasn't even the same brand. So I walked up to the customer service counter with the receipt for the exchange and said I changed my mind can I get a gift card and they swapped the price onto a gift card and I bought what I wanted.

Honestly its a crap shoot and many of the store level managers are retards that thing they are on top of the world because they made it into retail management.

Sorry if any of you guys are still at BBY. I have a family member who is in the district office now after I left. I have a lot of friends left there but a majority of store level management and many at the district level and above are real idiots.

 

[banclimber]

Well, ok, considering that, since the MBP I purchased was the $1999 base model, and the new ones are exactly the same price, I should be somewhere within the "good" circle... But what if I wanted just the MacBook model instead? Say, the $1299 version. Would I be able to get a gift card for $2k and then buy that one, or just swap it for that and call it even, cause that would be fine with me, and I think the managers would be happy with that because they would actually be making about $700+. Of course, this is all hypothetical... I just want to feel safe since I am going on a trip to Europe and Australia soon.
Thanks,

Matt

 

[alphaod]

But what if it was broken beyond repair? like the case and the screen were completely broken? I am starting to feel very unsafe... The reason I bought the accidental damage plan was because I move around A LOT and am generally not to careful when tossing it on my bed and jogging up the stairs with it.

But CoolMacDude, do you know if they replace the model with the current one, or if it was older, they replaced it with the current model, since I think the my model is out of production, because the ones with the newer chip or whatever came out in march I think, and now you have these...
Thanks again,

Matt

Dude you chances of a replacement is really slim. Geek Squad procrastinates a lot. You are better off buying insurance.

 

[CoolMacDude]

No, if you took a cheaper model or were offerred a cheaper model you would not get the difference in the price. I can state that with 99.9% certainty. If you get a department supervisor acting as a manager one night when they are short handed you might pull it off but never with a seasoned BBY employee.

 

[banclimber]

I have a friend at the Apple part of the store who helped me purchase everything and set it up and fix all of my problems I had, and I figure the new MacBooks are better than my current system, and since they would be getting 700$, I could say, "Take this $2000 laptop, and I'll settle for the $1299 one." If I were them, I'd be happy. I don't know doesn't really matter anyway, hopefully if something like that happens, I can get it figured out. Thank you to all who helped me, especially CoolMacDude.


Matt