I purchased an Ipod for my 13 year old daughter for christmas. At the time of the sale, i was encouraged to buy the warranty, "you really need to get this considering that this is for a teenager, you never know what they can do to something. It covers EVERYTHING." We purchased the warranty along with other electronic items totaling $350.00 (including another warranty for an item for my 7 yr old). Anyway the ipod lasted a month and she got water on it from washing her hands and not drying them off good enough. It would not work, so i took it to Radio Shack. A month later i was informed that it was NOT covered under the warranty and it would cost ME over $200.00 to repair. It only cost me $149.00 for ipod and $40.00 for warranty. I argued my point and spoke with several managers. I got nothing , I WILL NEVER BUY anything from Radio Shack again. I have TOLD this story to everyone that i know and have spread the word and WILL continue to do so. That is NOT customer service, but customer FRAUD.


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1. Written by RS Employee, on 13-10-2009 23:57

I'm going to give an objective reply to this, both as an RS employee and as a consumer: 

 

A) No, the RS service plan does not cover water damage. It also doesn't cover damage, such as drops, obvious cuts, etc. What it DOES cover is normal wear-and-tear, the replacement of factory-installed rechargeable batteries, and power surges. They also offer tech support and if you decide to sell your item, they'll transfer the service plan, as long as you let them know. This is stated very clearly in the pamphlet that RS employees are required to give when they sell a service plan. However, 

 

B) If they truly did say "EVERYTHING", then they are not doing their job properly. I can assure you that I have been trained to explain what the benefits are with purchasing a service plan; I have also, in fact, been instructed to never stretch the truth in order to sell one. If the employee said otherwise, I'd take that up with the manager (and if it's the manager, take it up with the district manager; stores have their number listed). 

 

In regards to the comment about the store earning "big bucks" off of service plans, it's actually not a huge margin at all, especially for the sales reps.

2. Written by Nick De Fiori, on 31-08-2009 04:33

Dear Jason ... you are DEAD wrong. And Andrei, you are a demeaning uptight anal ***! 

 

I too purchased a product from Radio Shack (a Sirius Starmate 5) and the sales clerk STRONGLY recommended I purchase the Protection Plan ("PP"). However, having been duped by another minimum waged sales clerk at Best Buy into purchasing a PP ALSO having been told by the clerk that damage was covered, I tried to return the product after it got damaged only to find out that damage was in fact NOT covered. The sales clerk flat out LIED to me! I complained to the store manager also and got nowhere. He could care less about Best Buy’s unethical sales practices! 

 

As such, before buy the PP the Radio Shack sales clerk STRONGLY recommended I buy, I asked if damage was covered and he said "all you need to do it bring the thing back to us" and pointed at the PP pamphlet for me to read. 

 

FORTUNATELY, my wife and kids were waiting in the care so I didn't have time to go through the pamphlet and didn't buy the PP and thankful I didn't the PP. 

 

After less than a week my some got a hold of the Starmate and broker it and I kicked myself for not buying the PP only to find after doing some research that damage is NOT covered as the UNETHICAL Radio Shack sales clerk told me! 

 

My take is these people and the store back big bucks off lying to people about what their PP covers are told it's okay to lie because no one will read the fine print and if someone complains all they have to do is say was you should have read the PP. 

 

I say *** all these big change stores and buy your stuff from small mom & pop stores who actually care if a customer ever comes back!

3. Written by Jason, on 26-07-2009 11:30

the sales person said "everything?" I am sure you have altered his/her words a bit. Everything except damage. Plus there are always terms and conditions that you can research first. Pay attention moron.

4. Written by andrei, on 08-09-2008 18:44

read fine print ***. You stupid - thats why u pissed. 

*** off.

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