younger5th
Junior Member
(I'm in CT.)
Hey there.
I have a complicated situation so I'll try to lay it out simply. I'm 21, a college student, and have very limited funds. 3-4 years ago I bought a laptop from Best Buy, and a few months ago I had it repaired (minor cosmetic damage from a drop) just because the warranty of 3 years was almost up. I get the computer back after a month and it a few days after, I realize a couple things are wrong with it - a couple broken panels, lights flickered etc. They had taken it apart completely and screwed around with it and essentially giving it back to me in worse condition than I left it with. My warranty was over and I highly doubt that (now after a week) Best Buy would take any responsibility - so I take it to my local PC store and ask for a quote.
- At this point the non working parts included the power button (so it wouldn't turn on) and the media panel - that's it.
So I leave my computer with them and then comes Hurricane Irene - it floods the store and destroys anything left of my laptop that was working fine like: the screen, the body, the 2 hard drives (and all the info on them), the processor, the battery, and some others. I go in the shop after the hurricane and saw my machine covered in mud. I asked why they didn't think to take precaution and move everything to a shelf and the owner points to a 1ft high shelf under a bench "it was on a shelf, did you except 2ft of rain?" I asked if they had flood insurance and he said it wasn't offered in the area.
So I go to check out my laptop and he tells me to not touch it because he's taking pictures to document the damages (50k for all the lost equipment) for when FEMA comes around. I say okay I'll come back after I take some pictures myself to prove they had it. So I come back a few weeks from then, which was earlier today and I ask about the status of FEMA. The guy tells me that FEMA told him they didn't help businesses and essentially waved him away.
I talked with him more and asked if compensation was possible. He said because the computer was broken when I brought it in, that I couldn't get anything for it. I told him that there were perfectly fine working parts that were worth money - at LEAST $300, and that it wasn't right for me to get nothing. He said that when they receive a broken computer, they pay $25 dollars and throw it away - so if i wanted to, i could do that. I didn't even know what to argue at this point. I tried several times to make it clear that the computer's value was FAR more than $25 dollars BEFORE the flood. I asked if they had any comparable computers available and he tried to BS some Asus Aspire would be as good if i wanted to buy it for $600 (later found out it was $400 online). I asked if I bought it (which I would never have because it didn't suit my needs) if he would have knocked it down a couple hundred to compensate for my loss and he said no.
I took my reliable $1400 laptop from 3 years ago, covered in mud, in pieces, and walked out. He claims it's not his fault and that my computer was worth near nothing even BEFORE the flood. I claim that the parts inside the computers were still worth money and I should be reimbursed for was WASNT broken.
I apologize for the long story. It's really hard for me to be screwed over twice and having to swallow my loses when to think only a few months ago I had a perfectly fine working computer with a few blemishes.
Any advice as to what course of action I should take? I appreciate the help..
(if it makes a difference - computer is a Gateway P-6860fx with an extra 320GB WD Scorpio Blue HDD and an Intel t9300 processor.)
Hey there.
I have a complicated situation so I'll try to lay it out simply. I'm 21, a college student, and have very limited funds. 3-4 years ago I bought a laptop from Best Buy, and a few months ago I had it repaired (minor cosmetic damage from a drop) just because the warranty of 3 years was almost up. I get the computer back after a month and it a few days after, I realize a couple things are wrong with it - a couple broken panels, lights flickered etc. They had taken it apart completely and screwed around with it and essentially giving it back to me in worse condition than I left it with. My warranty was over and I highly doubt that (now after a week) Best Buy would take any responsibility - so I take it to my local PC store and ask for a quote.
- At this point the non working parts included the power button (so it wouldn't turn on) and the media panel - that's it.
So I leave my computer with them and then comes Hurricane Irene - it floods the store and destroys anything left of my laptop that was working fine like: the screen, the body, the 2 hard drives (and all the info on them), the processor, the battery, and some others. I go in the shop after the hurricane and saw my machine covered in mud. I asked why they didn't think to take precaution and move everything to a shelf and the owner points to a 1ft high shelf under a bench "it was on a shelf, did you except 2ft of rain?" I asked if they had flood insurance and he said it wasn't offered in the area.
So I go to check out my laptop and he tells me to not touch it because he's taking pictures to document the damages (50k for all the lost equipment) for when FEMA comes around. I say okay I'll come back after I take some pictures myself to prove they had it. So I come back a few weeks from then, which was earlier today and I ask about the status of FEMA. The guy tells me that FEMA told him they didn't help businesses and essentially waved him away.
I talked with him more and asked if compensation was possible. He said because the computer was broken when I brought it in, that I couldn't get anything for it. I told him that there were perfectly fine working parts that were worth money - at LEAST $300, and that it wasn't right for me to get nothing. He said that when they receive a broken computer, they pay $25 dollars and throw it away - so if i wanted to, i could do that. I didn't even know what to argue at this point. I tried several times to make it clear that the computer's value was FAR more than $25 dollars BEFORE the flood. I asked if they had any comparable computers available and he tried to BS some Asus Aspire would be as good if i wanted to buy it for $600 (later found out it was $400 online). I asked if I bought it (which I would never have because it didn't suit my needs) if he would have knocked it down a couple hundred to compensate for my loss and he said no.
I took my reliable $1400 laptop from 3 years ago, covered in mud, in pieces, and walked out. He claims it's not his fault and that my computer was worth near nothing even BEFORE the flood. I claim that the parts inside the computers were still worth money and I should be reimbursed for was WASNT broken.
I apologize for the long story. It's really hard for me to be screwed over twice and having to swallow my loses when to think only a few months ago I had a perfectly fine working computer with a few blemishes.
Any advice as to what course of action I should take? I appreciate the help..
(if it makes a difference - computer is a Gateway P-6860fx with an extra 320GB WD Scorpio Blue HDD and an Intel t9300 processor.)
