So, I bought my current main monitor \u2013 a Samsung 204B three years ago \u2013 just over 3 years ago. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve already guessed that the manufacturer\u2019s warranty period for the particular item is yes \u2013 3 yrs. For a little while, starting before the 3 yr mark, it started acting a little flaky \u2013 nothing too outrageous, but little \u201cI wonder what\u2019s up with that\u201d kinds of things that I was able to get past with a power off\/on, etc\u2026 Literally a week after the 3 yr warrantee expires, it has a much more significant issue, that takes a number of unplug\/plug-in cycles before it finally starts working again. At this point I\u2019m thinking \u2013 great timing \u2013 I\u2019m probably out of luck because of the warranty and purchase date. I at least want to check with Samsung and see what my repair, replace, whatever options are, so I send them an e-mail looking for assistance rather than sitting in support call hell. <\/p>\n
So, in addition to a little background information in my message to Samsung, I ask: What options do I have for repair, replacement, credit\u2026 anything\u201d. The response I get back, in addition to the normal canned response is: \u201cWe are sorry to inform you that Samsung does not provide free service for the warranty expired products\u201d<\/p>\n
No s\u2026 kidding Sherlock. Now answer my question and tell me WHAT MY OPTIONS ARE. I resubmit my question \u2013 still haven\u2019t received an answer. *sigh* <\/p>\n
What\u2019s next\u2026 I\u2019ve got two reasons to swing by Best Buy. One, to see what\u2019s new with monitors since I\u2019m likely going to need another one anyhow between this one and getting rid of the rest of the CRTs in the house. Two – since I\u2019m heading over I might as well see what, if anything they can do about my busted one \u2013 which I originally purchased there. <\/p>\n
So we swing into Best Buy and are looking at monitors. One of the folks working there stops by before too long and I explain my current situation. She informs me that they have a 30 day grace period on warranties and that I should bring it in before that expires \u2013 which is the next day. Sweet. I\u2019m thinking I\u2019m not totally out of luck. <\/p>\n
The next morning I pack the monitor up, grab the receipt and head to Best Buy. I head to Customer Service and explain my situation again. The low-level CS guy enters my receipt and information and tells me the warranty period has expired. I explain that I am aware of this, but that another person at the store informed me of a grace period under which I have some options \u2013 which I\u2019m trying to figure out. Let me check with the manager. Super. Nope sorry \u2013 but I can call and check with Samsung for you. Ok \u2013 let\u2019s do that\u2026 I\u2019ll talk to your manager after we\u2019re done with Samsung. He calls the retailer super-special number and they\u2019re closed. So he calls the consumer number and hands me the phone. Gee, thanks. I could do this at home while sitting down without having to pack up my monitor\u2026 After talking to the wrong person, they transfer me to the correct department with plenty of hold time in between. He takes my information and explains that my warranty has expired. *sigh* So, Mr. Helpful, WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS. Well, you could check the web site for authorized repair services. Fine, I\u2019ll do that once I get home and have my monitor back up and running \u2013 I can\u2019t check that from the desk at Best Buy. Thanks for nothing. OK Best Buy level 1 CS guy, since I\u2019m here already let me talk to the manager just to make sure your story is correct and the person last night is wrong. I talk to the manager and she informs me that yes indeed, they can\u2019t do anything. Lovely. <\/p>\n
So \u2013 with the help of the folks at Samsung and Best Buy I\u2019ve gone from generally bummed that my monitor is busted and bummed at the timing of my monitor failing to:<\/p>\n
Now, you don\u2019t get the last few minutes you spent reading this back, but I feel better having written it. \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n
Have a wonderful day everyone. In other news on this day in history, a good friend of mine had a baby (late yesterday actually) and the East coast is getting slammed with 30\u201d or so of snow. So much more important things going on than my dealings with aging computer hardware and poor customer service. <\/p>\n
Oh hey \u2013 I just checked where the nearest service location is for my monitor\u2026 it\u2019s in NEW JERSEY. I\u2019ll wait until they dig out of the blizzard to give them a call. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So, I bought my current main monitor \u2013 a Samsung 204B three years ago \u2013 just over 3 years ago. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve already guessed that the manufacturer\u2019s warranty period […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-tech-journal"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgWQ1-3A","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idubbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idubbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idubbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idubbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idubbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.idubbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idubbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idubbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idubbs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}