anyone brought a dell from best buy?

i'm curious about the warranty/return policies on dells brought from best buys. someone told me that it comes with a typical 1 year Dell mail-in warranty, but if the laptop is broken or is unsatisfactory, who am i suppose to bug? dell or bestbuy?

i'm about to jump on a inspirion 1525, but i'm afraid that that i might get a grainy screen or the speaker/headphone whine thing. personally i'd prefer to deal with dell, if i have to deal with best buy for things like that, its going to be a pain in the ass.

this is the laptop thats on sale right now, normally i would wait for a good deal from dell, but i need a laptop now for school since my old one broke.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...=product&tab=1&id=1202650401237#productdetail

 

This is just a supposition, but in general when you buy from Best Buy they have a manufacturer's warranty (Dell) and they try to sell you extended coverage (theirs) on top of it. You'd contact Dell for problems, I believe. But the Best Buy screens are no problem because they have a stash right on site because they're generic configurations. Just return it and exchange it right on site.

 

The answer is quite simple. If you elect not to buy an extended warranty from Best Buy then any service related issues are between you an the manufacturer in this case DeLL Computers.

I would rather buy a laptop from Best Buy in case there are grainy screen or CPU whine noises. In those cases you can probably get a swapped unit or your money back.

Make sure about their return policy. Some retailers like Circuit City charge a 15% restocking fee if there isn't anything wrong with the computer.

Staples does not charge a restocking fee and as i'm aware neither does Walmart. I'm not sure about Best Buy so you'll need to ask just to be sure.

 

I agree that you should check the return policy, but it generally applies only to complete returns, rather than exchanges, right? Meaning, if he says "this laptop stinks, take it back," that would lead to a restocking fee. Whereas if he says, "this monitor stinks, I want another one," there usually is no restocking fee.

 

Correct but I wouldn't suggest using the word "stinks" lol because then they think it's him being picky and nothing would please him. I would suggest saying this laptop screen has a problem, look at it, it's not as clear as the display model or the one I have at home. The same would apply with the CPU whine as an irritating noise his other laptops are not doing and he can't work with something that annoys him.

For the most part Best Buy is pretty cool about returns but he does need to have the return policy of laptops and computers fully explained before he opens it.

Quick story about Staples. I asked about their return policy and they said no restocking fee whatsoever. If you don't like it bring it back. I bout an HP 6000 something, can't remember the model number. It came with Vista and 1 meg of memory and a AMD mobile CPU. It was slow and annoying. I took it back and said I hated Vista and I wanted my money back. The cashier said yeah I know I hear that a lot. Let me get you a manager. He took it back no fuss and gave me a full refund.

 

The return policy at Best Buy is 15% restocking fee unless the problem in the laptop is big enough for them to deem it defective. In my past experience, Best Buy warranties seem good on paper, but their service is bad when it comes to computers and laptops. Their repairs have ranged from a week at a minimum to a couple months and sometimes they tack on extra fees on services. Usually my computer would come back with some new imperfection as well which Best Buy never did anything to compensate for. My experiences with Best Buy and computers started in 1994 and ended in 2006.

You can buy a warranty from Dell after you buy the computer, but you might as well buy directly from Dell if you want their warranty because they give you longer-term warranties and higher-spec systems for the same price you would buy a lower-spec system from Best Buy like in the case of the m1330. Dell's warranties are great because if you get the in-home care option, they will send someone to your home to fix your computer on the spot for free if you have a problem. This came standard with my m1330 I had a few problems with my Inspiron 6000 which I bought directly from Dell, but I never had more than a couple day's down-time due to in-home care and quick shipping of a replacement dvd drive whose installation only took a few minutes.

Save yourself some money, get a better warranty, and avoid a lot of stress and computer-less weeks and just buy from Dell. Best Buy does have a lot of complaints with the Better Business Bureau and other like agencies especially when it comes to computer repair/warranty service, so I really suggest that you check that out before you give them your cash for a warranty.

 

Having worked at Best Buy for a few years now.. I can tell you everything you need to know.

Yes there is a 15% restocking fee if the laptop is not defective. Things like a grainy screen are really a supervisor/geek squad/manager discretionary issue. I personally will return anything that does not look right.. but other employees might not.. Again it is a discretionary thing.

As far as the warranty goes, I think it is nice to be able to bring the unit to the store if there is anything wrong with it. If they can repair it in store, they will. If it needs to be sent out for repairs, Geek Squad takes care of it and you don't have to worry about shipping it out on your own. I also like the accidental warranties that Best Buy as a company offers, due to the fact that you can kick the living $hit out of the thing and practically get a new one for nothing.

If I were you I would go with the Best Buy warranty.. Overall it just saves you time, especially if the problem can be fixed in store.

 

The utility of extended warranties is debatable and depends on what is being purchased. In some cases it is worth it and in other cases it's a rip-off. I'm not sure where laptops fit into that, but I'd research it.

 

I would not buy a Dell from my local best buy all the cpu's seem to be the underpowered t5550 and I won't pay that much at best buy when its cheaper on the dell site on any given day.

 

worstbuy is the worst place to buy anything. Dealing with them is a PITA. I would highly discourage buying from bestbuy. You are better off waiting for a dell coupon and buying directly from Dell Or buying a much better configured dell for the same price from Dell outlet. I have bought many notebooks from dell outlet and never had any issues.

 

well right now i'm at school and chances are i am going to have to order this online because they dont have a best buy around my school.

If the screen is "grainy" or if i have other problems, i guess i have to complain to dell, but its still going to be a pain/annoying to replace the screen myself. i doubt i'm going to purchase the best buy warranty as i don't think i have enough money.

My last laptop was a dell that died within a 1-3/4 year (argh i had a 1 year warranty). it was a e1705 and i think the 7900gs video card pretty much overheated/burned itself out. a friend of mine who brought nearly the same laptop (but with a faster processor) at the exact same time (we brought ours during the same deal) is nearly dead as well. i'm just starting to think that sticking hot video cards into such a small chasis isn't such a good idea lol.

duno i guess i just need the laptop to last me at least 1-2 years, long enough to get me through school.

 

Being a current BB employee this really frustrates me as well, even the new Sonys that we just got have those damn 5000 series intels...wtf?

 

Agreed, but in an attempt to try to keep costs lower, they sacrifice processors mainly over any other component to cut costs. Keep in mind that BBY generally LOSES money on every laptop they sell.

 

Keep in mind that the laptops at best buy costs more than a better equipped one on the dell website. why would you pay more for a lesser equipped machine is beyond comprehension. Just not a good idea.

 

Because 95% of the people who shop at Best Buy don't come to notebookreview.com, they don't do any research. They just casually look at the cool computers in the store and get tempted to buy it if it's a stylish computer or laptop. I do as much research as I can and I frequent this site many times a day and on more than one occasion I was tempted to buy a laptop from Best Buy but decided against it at the last minute.

The 95% of the people who don't do their homework are the buyers DeLL is targeting when they come thru the doors at Best Buy and look at their notebooks.