It’s clear why they want to do this; they want to ban customers who return too much stuff. However, there is a secondary motive; they want to track customer data with a serial number: your personal serial number.

What is unreasonable, is turning state-issued forms of identification into a customer tracking tool. Presently, we use state IDs to track credit data, for pre-sale long-term commitments. Your driver’s license or state ID is usually run when you buy a cell phone (or your social security number, same idea).

However, to use this for returns makes me much more unsettled. Nobody would want to have their driver’s license swiped when purchasing something sans long term commitment, so why be okay with that at the point of a return?

I have a Reward Zone Card (Premier Silver VIP standing, no less). Best Buy already tracks my every purchase, coupon, redemption, and yes, return. I do this in exchange for a 1.25% discount on purchases (in the form of gift card rebates). It’s a fair exchange, in my opinion. It also gives me convenience; if I forget a receipt, I don’t have to remember how I paid for the item, I just have to pull out my Reward Zone card. Why? Because Best Buy is keeping tabs on me, and I’m letting them do that.

Here, Best Buy is offering me nothing for handing over my private information, other than to tell me that if I don’t, I won’t be allowed to return the item. Now Best Buy is keeping tabs on me, or I don’t get to return items. Big Best Buy Brother is watching, and if you don’t like that it’s mandatory, you don’t have to shop there. Well, I don’t like it one bit.

Returning an item that was purchased before this policy was, needless to say, unpleasant. It took a manager, and two re-runs of the policy, to remind them that I was grandfathered into not having to show my ID. I was told twice that this was a one-time exception.

My advice: If you have to buy something at Best Buy, use your passport upon returning the item. Best Buy will not be able to track Passport ID numbers the same way they track driver’s licenses or social security cards.

I know one thing’s for sure… I’m a lot less likely to hit Premier Silver status on my Reward Zone card next year. I may lose 45 day return periods, I may pay a little bit more buying from Fry’s or Micro Center… or even Wal-mart, but I will keep my identity a lot more secure, and a lot less tracked.

If someone wants your ID, you should make sure there’s a darn good reason, or else you’re helping to contribute to the downfall of privacy, and the rise of National ID and National Serial Numbers for us all.

Awhile back, folks from Nokia’s social networking division invited me to dinner. They asked me “Christopher, what’s the one big thing that we could do to make N-Series phones sell well in the United States?”

I gave them two answers. One, get the cost down. It doesn’t matter that the N95-4 has all these bells and whistles that set it apart from iPhone. iPhone 3G is $199 with contract, the N95-4 can only be bought for $599 with no chance for a contract discount. Two, promote them! This isn’t Europe, you can’t just put the phones on Brightpoint and have them sell themselves. If you don’t have partnerships, retailers won’t push the phones…

I’m glad they listened. Unfortunately, they partnered the deal with T-Mobile, and not AT&T. I think this will be a miss for most, since N-Series phones don’t have 1700 MHz UMTS. That means they won’t be able to access most of T-Mobile’s 3G network. As such, I hope they tie the knot with AT&T on this partnership… those N-Series phones will sell like crazy if they can slash $200 off of them, and have them work on 3G non-stop.

Longer term… if Nokia wants to sell N-Series phones on T-Mobile via this partnership, they’ll have to add 1700 MHz support to their NAM (North American Market) phones.

But, Best Buy is at least working to reduce the need to store mountains of receipts. Oh, and know where the single receipt that matters is located, when your device fails. So, they’ve made a new site, productassist.com/bestbuy.

The site does a bit more than just letting you register your performance and replacement plans that you’ve bought at Best Buy, it lets you fix errors. So, if the model number or serial number isn’t listed properly… you can change it. It’s not clear if the store will actually see these changes on their end, but at least you can show that you got it right when you registered the product online with Best Buy.

Oh, and by the way, the service is not automatic. You have to go to the site each time you buy a replacement plan.

In case you didn’t hear, Reward Zone Premier Silver is an add-on to Best Buy’s existing free club card program. If you spend $2,500+ per year at Best Buy, they automatically extend your return period to 45 days, get rid of restocking fees, and give you top-tier customer service. Most pertinent here, is the fact that you can now price match for 45 days instead of 15 days.

The feature is not documented as of yet, but you can turn it on by going to Account Settings after logging in. The option is in the middle. Check it, save settings, and your return period is bumped up to 45 days on anything you price protect from Best Buy. Enjoy!

Starting today, you can get a 500 GB 2.5-inch SATA drive from Best Buy for only $199.99.

(The product pages haven’t fully updated. To find it online, go to the Best Buy Homepage and type 8906428 into the search bar on their site).

Now, it is inside of a USB 2.0 enclosure, so you do have to take the enclosure apart. And, this does run the risk of breaking the warranty (since whoever made that drive probably won’t support it directly). What drive is on the inside? I suspect a Travelstar 5K500 from Hitachi. SimpleTech normally uses Western Digital drives, but WD doesn’t yet have a 500 GB 2.5-inch drive in production.

Is this a good deal? Considering that 320 GB drives (also in USB 2.0 enclosures) are still hovering around the $100 to $120 range, I’d say so. Also, considering 500 GB 2.5-inch drives start at over $265, yeah, it’s a good deal.

Note for novices: Hard drive makers routinely sell drives inside of a USB 2.0 enclosure for less money than the drive normally costs for use inside of a laptop. It’s a sneaky supply-and-demand tactic that the hard drive makers engage in. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from taking the hard drive out of the enclosure, and installing it inside of your notebook.

Remember how I noted in Part 1 of my saga that comparable replacements aren’t all created equal. So, I went on to BestBuy.com and plugged in the specs, and added in the requirement of S-Video. The closest TV that matched the specs was the Sony Bravia KDL-32L4000.

I called the manager at Best Buy’s corporate office, and explained the situation. Not a problem he said, and come Thursday, I’ll have the TV exchanged at no cost to me. Now, that’s good customer service.

Oh, and Best Buy is mailing me a $75 gift card “for all my troubles”. That should cover the cost of the replacement Performance Service Plan (PSP). I will say though that this was in response to my blog post, which has been spread far and wide since being posted.

I should also note that Best Buy just launched (today) the Reward Zone Premier Silver program. Essentially, if you spend $2,500 in a year at Best Buy with your Reward Zone card (which is free), you get upgraded to Premier Silver status. All you need to do is log in to MyRewardZone.com and you’ll be auto-upgraded.

What does Premier Silver status give you? First, you get a special customer service phone number (gee, wouldn’t that have been nice to have a couple of weeks ago). But, you also get 45-day returns on all items… and, no restocking fees ever! Plus, as you might expect, price matches are also extended to 45 days.

As to points, Premier Silver members get more too. You get 1.25 points-per-dollar, or 1.5 points-per-dollar if you have a Best Buy MasterCard.

As the title indicates, Best Buy is coming full circle… I was hoping rival Circuit City would have implemented some form of reward program by now (since they’ve matched Best Buy on Firedog, aka Geek Squad at Circuit City), and now Best Buy has just added a top-tier for big spenders.

To make a long story short, I called the store, they called corporate as I was instructed by corporate yesterday.

Corporate then called the repair center and basically told them to “put up or shut up”. The repair center then called me, asking if I new if a replacement had been approved yet. After nailing every last mistake the repair center had made… they promised me a callback within 10 minutes.

That callback came from Best Buy Corporate. And, I received a personal apology on behalf of the company for all the trouble I’ve been put through. That kind of admission is one that is crucial for companies to put forth. Don’t just say sorry for the inconvenice, customers hate that. Know what was screwed up, and own it. That shows you want to make things right.

Anyways, the corporate supervisor I spoke with found out that basically, if you have a Westinghouse HDTV, there aren’t any parts… anywhere. Westinghouse is not working with repair centers to vend parts for their units to third-parties.

Of course, Best Buy acknowledged that it was the Chino, CA Repair Center’s fault… they knew about the lack of parts and didn’t tell anyone, hoping they could get the parts in late June instead of losing credit for the repair.

So, my 18-month-old Westinghouse 32-inch W3213 was replaced with a Westhinghouse 32-inch SK-32H540S. That was exactly the comparable replacement that I had in mind, and I didn’t even have to ask for it. Corporate approved the price difference.

Now, getting the TV wasn’t as easy as I was promised. I had to wait for over 20 minutes just for one guy to key in my service order number, say “oh… it’s you“, and hand me back to the desk I was at before, for them to finish the transaction.

And yeah, I bought the PSP for the new TV. $60 for a new one every 18 months isn’t that bad a deal. Hopefully I won’t have to tack on the cost of a crusade the next time.

In this post, I’ll show you the details of the program, and how to properly fulfill a claim when your technology wears out.

Yes, this is only Part I. It has become so long, we’re going to break this up… just because it now spans multiple pages.

Lesson 1 of Best Buy PSP: Keep your paperwork, know your rights. Read your plan brochure and keep a copy. If you lose it (don’t), call Best Buy and have them mail you a new one. You don’t want to have to do this after having a problem.

When my TV died, I already knew that there were several ways to file a claim. You can call Best Buy, take it to the store, and do it online. Seeing as I knew that I would have to take the TV to the store for shipment anyways, I went to the store to file the claim.

The initial service was quick and professional. They tested the TV on-site (you do need to bring your power cord, a remote helps too). Geek Squad then wrote up an order, and the system printed out a receipt with an estimate of May 24th (10 days later) for the TV to be back to the store. Good so far.

The following Wednesday (a week later), I get a call from the repair center in Chino, CA. I was informed that they had to order a part, and that would delay repair of the TV to May 28. Shipping would then take another week. A letdown, but well within Best Buy’s authority.

May 28th came and went. No call from the repair center, and checking the status online yielded the same “on hold for parts” delay message. So, the next day (the 29th) I called the center.

Lesson 2 of Best Buy PSP: Stay on the repair center. Don’t let them forget about your repair. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. Also, write down the Caller ID of the repair center when they call you… getting their phone number is like pulling teeth. Best Buy wants you to use your local store as a liaison, which means you can’t put the tough questions to the repair center unless you demand to.

The repair center told me that the system was now quoting a part arrival date of June 12! At this point it became pretty clear to me what was happening; the system was just spitting out longer and longer estimate dates. I told the repair center this, and to my surprise, the person I was speaking with agreed. I was promised a call back, later in the day, from the technician after they touched base with the vendor (I had to suggest that though, but I was feeling good at this point).

I called at 9 AM. I called back at 4 PM (after no call back). The phone rang and rang. I called back after a few minutes, same result.

They were ignoring me. As I will prove in a second…

I called my local Best Buy store, and let Geek Squad know what was up. They told me they would call the repair center and call me back. I didn’t let them know I couldn’t get the repair center on the phone.

The local store called me back. They told me they got the same June 12 date. I clued them in… that was where I was at 9 AM. They told me the repair center didn’t say anything about calling the vendor.

5/30/2008: So, I asked them what to do next, as waiting five weeks for my TV to get back to me was unreasonable. The technician said she was going to file a Junk Out order. The corporate office then looks at the case, and decides if issuing a comparable replacement is warranted.

Lesson 3 of Best Buy PSP: Don’t take the wait. Anything beyond three week turnarounds is unreasonable unless they can clearly justify it. Following Lesson 2 of this guide is a big help in that regard.

Now, at this point, I’m worried. See, I bought my HDTV on Black Friday, paying only $489. I camped out for several hours to lock in that price. When I bought the PSP, I was assured (by both the sales representative, and in the writing of the PSP) that I would be promised a comparable replacement… not just a gift card for $489. I knew that $489 wouldn’t buy me a 32-inch HDTV for years to come (unless I waited X number of months for a Black Friday to roll around again).

Unfortunately, others in similar situations have been pushed into the gift card route (by store managers), and have had to eat the difference. I wasn’t going to go that route… I know I’m in the right. So, I printed out Westinghouse’s model, and Toshiba’s model one step up. To add to the confusion, my local Best Buy was sold out of the replacement Westinghouse… it happens to be on clearance nationwide.

Also, because I like being technical on these things… Best Buy has two service plans, and unfortunately, not everyone understands the difference between the two.

First, is the Best Buy PSP (Product Service Plan), which is what I have. The other is the Best Buy PRP (Product Replacement Plan), which is their other option.

The PSP is offered on pretty much everything. It promises a Comparable Replacement, if Best Buy can’t fix it (or, if you have to send it off to repair three or more times).

The PRP is offered on a few, low-cost gadgets; things like iPod and other music players. Essentially, if your machine dies out of warranty… they give you a gift card for the purchase price.

See how this can be confusing for a Best Buy manager? On the PSP, you get matched by specifications. On the PRP you get a gift card. Yeah, me neither.

In reality, I suspect some less-than-honest Best Buy managers take the better of the two, depending on their situation. That three year old laptop gets a comparable-specification unit. While if you have an HDTV that went up in price… they’re going to tell you to take the gift card.

6/2/2008: Monday rolls around, and I call the store. I get the same Geek Squad “agent” that helped me over the weekend. She says that nobody will respond to her escalations, and that all she can do is send the escalation off again. So, I have to sit for another day.

6/3/2008: Tuesday. Not a good day. I call the repair center, to try and shake some sense in them. After all, they have promised me two callbacks (they were supposed to call the vendor, and confirm the part actually exists). Plus, they owed the store at least two callbacks as well…

Phone rings forever. I call back and back and back until someone answers out of pure frustration.

The “techncial manager” panicked when I mentioned the words “junk out”. He insisted that it was impossible that someone would file a junk out order, as my TV is still being repaired. When I explained how many call backs the repair center had promised… he promised to call me back.

And, to my surprise, he did. Unfortunately, he admitted that he could not get to the bottom of it. Basically, he claimed the center was taking a “training day” and that he wouldn’t get to the bottom of it until tomorrow. I pressured him with the threat of the junk out, and he began to idlely bicker.

The real killer was when he asked if I was a Best Buy employee. Now I knew I was in neck deep in it. Worse, the guy didn’t understand English, and actually now thinks I am a Best Buy employee. Sigh.

So, on to the store. I’ve now given yet another 24 hours… this time to a new junk out order. The Geek Squad “Agent” that was helping me through all this wasn’t in today. The other agents said that they saw my other junk out request, and that it was stuck in a queue. They too, were shocked to hear it was pending since Friday. So, now they are telling me to call the corporate office (1-800-BEST-BUY). I cautioned the store, that I would probably have to call them right back, and the runaround would continue. They gave the verbal equivalent of a shrug, and the call was over.

So, on to 1-800-BEST-BUY. Another unpleasant experience. The Home Service for TVs department has no record of my Service Order. They aparrently have a differnent numbering scheme. Worse, they can’t locate my Junk Out orders. After much idle bickering, they tell me that there is a special Replacement Department that handles junk out orders.

And, I’m not allowed to have the number. I have to call the store, direct them to call 1-800-BEST-BUY, and then have them call the Replacement Department. Fun. It seems every time I reach one department, I’m told their not the one to fix it. Then, when I call the department they point me to, I’m told there’s some secret password I have to say to the first department to make progress.

Lesson 4 of Best Buy: Have some stress management skills. And, be persistent. They will hate you. Unfortunately, their system is so broken, you want them to be as frustrated at you as possible… if you want a resolution.

Because Best Buy is in Texas, I know the “replacement department” is closed. So, I will be calling back to the store tomorrow, and make them call to get the number, and then call the right department.

Will I ever buy a Best Buy PSP again? Only if the item is exclusive to Best Buy, and I feel it is warranted. I can’t definitively say no, as I bought it for a TV that died 18 months after purchase. I may switch to SquareTrade if conditions warrant however.

Work at Best Buy? Drop me a note with the Replacement Department’s phone number… I’ll be sure to share it with the world.

Christopher Price will return in: PSP Wars Episode IX: Best Buy Strikes Back… With More Runarounds!

Update: You can read the conclusion to the saga here.

But, Best Buy markets are a bit deceptive. For example, the San Francisco region includes Sacramento… a good 90 minutes away.

Thankfully, Best Buy just let me know they’ve put up a second article that lists all the stores participating in the program. I know I for one am thrilled with this program, getting rid of e-waste is especially hard on enthusiasts.

But, enough about me bragging, the TV is dead after all. But, wait! I had the foresight to get a Best Buy Product Service Plan (PSP). I’ll let you know how it goes on getting that resolved. Best Buy has my TV, and they’re currently expecting to have it back to me in about 10 days (not unreasonable really).

So, now I’m TV-less, TiVo-less, right? Wrong. Sure, I have Windows Media Center, but I can’t get all my channels on that without CableCARD.

In comes Slingbox. With Slingbox, all my PCs, Macs, and my WIndows Mobile phone just shifted the TV onto my screen, all via Wi-Fi. I have full control of my TiVo HD, just as if I was sitting in front of the (now absent) TV.

Which reminds me, I haven’t yet poked and prodded TiVo over why they haven’t added Slingbox functionality to the TiVo software stack. I shouldn’t need to own a Slingbox to do all this… but hey, that’s a familiar mantra here, I only have a TiVo because Microsoft won’t fix CableCARD DRM.

Even though I only have the low-end Slingbox AV, it works great for handling the different HD and non-HD content feeds. The Aspect Ratio menu lets me break through common headaches, like DTV video that is 480i… but got recorded in 720p. If that sounds like greek to you, don’t worry, it just means that you don’t have to look at a bunch of black bars (letterboxing and pillarboxing). You just see the TV, and it can sit on top of other windows at all times if you chose.