- Report: #457168
Complaint Review: Costco - Issaquah Washington
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Costco
999 Lake Drive Issaquah, 98027 Washington, U.S.A.
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Costco uses the sam warrany repair shops as Sam's Club and Office Max Issaquah Washington
I am an Executive Member at Costco and for those who don't belong that means we pay $100 annually for the privilege of walking in their doors. I have been a Costco advocate for many years, in fact, I used to love them. But the bloom is definitely off the rose.
I received a HP tx1000z on 2/24/2008 as a gift. Almost a year to the day, my beloved and extremely necessary for my business, laptop stopped booting. It also stopped charging and got so hot I could have used it to fry eggs. HP was absolutely no help because my laptop was out of warranty.
Costco, however, provides their members with a "free" second year of coverage. I put the free in quotes because the shop that Costco wanted me to send my laptop to is Cybertest. Yes, THAT Cybertest. I naturally refused and asked for a secondary choice. The second shop, MicroMedics, yes, THAT Micomedics was also nixed with an unsatisfactory. I am getting it repaired myself, out of my own pocket, at a local shop with a "B" rating from the Better Business Bureau. Costco also refused to reimburse me for the out of network repair; but I would rather my laptop be safe.
This episode led to some very important information. Apparently, Costco has never received a negative report from a Costco member about Cybertest. I understand this to mean that Cybertest is specifically choosing to be less than careful with PCs from other stores. So, for Costco members, be warned: That "free" second year is absolutely worthless unless you are willing to risk sending your valuable gear to the Cybertests of this world. And for everyone else, maybe you should try and claim you bought your laptop or what have you from Costco.
The main thing I got out of this was an extreme amount of disappointment with Costco, but also surprise that they don't vet their business partners. Usually companies with good reputations want to make sure that their business partners are also good to their customers. In this regard, I feel that Costco has seriously dropped the ball.
Irongirl
Front Royal, Virginia
U.S.A.
I received a HP tx1000z on 2/24/2008 as a gift. Almost a year to the day, my beloved and extremely necessary for my business, laptop stopped booting. It also stopped charging and got so hot I could have used it to fry eggs. HP was absolutely no help because my laptop was out of warranty.
Costco, however, provides their members with a "free" second year of coverage. I put the free in quotes because the shop that Costco wanted me to send my laptop to is Cybertest. Yes, THAT Cybertest. I naturally refused and asked for a secondary choice. The second shop, MicroMedics, yes, THAT Micomedics was also nixed with an unsatisfactory. I am getting it repaired myself, out of my own pocket, at a local shop with a "B" rating from the Better Business Bureau. Costco also refused to reimburse me for the out of network repair; but I would rather my laptop be safe.
This episode led to some very important information. Apparently, Costco has never received a negative report from a Costco member about Cybertest. I understand this to mean that Cybertest is specifically choosing to be less than careful with PCs from other stores. So, for Costco members, be warned: That "free" second year is absolutely worthless unless you are willing to risk sending your valuable gear to the Cybertests of this world. And for everyone else, maybe you should try and claim you bought your laptop or what have you from Costco.
The main thing I got out of this was an extreme amount of disappointment with Costco, but also surprise that they don't vet their business partners. Usually companies with good reputations want to make sure that their business partners are also good to their customers. In this regard, I feel that Costco has seriously dropped the ball.
Irongirl
Front Royal, Virginia
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Bigdave
Peoria,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Confused and Dazed...
#2UPDATE Employee
Sat, June 20, 2009
Your report is entirely a farse of understanding. Simply put, Do you blame Circle-K because the gas you purchased gives you piss poor mileage? Plainly, you have to remember that Costco is a wholesaler aka retailer with wholesale pricing. They purchase items from a vendor which either has direct 1st party relations with a manufacturer, or the vender is the manufacturer. Costco then brokers a deal for this "2nd year", the manufacturer agrees simply extends their originating warranty to be 2 years. Its not a COSTCO WARRANTY.. there is no such thing. Now.. John Q public buys a laptop from Costco. The laptop acts up 5 months into owning it. John Q, of course, firstly blames costco for his plight. He then calls Costco and recieves the 1-866 # for the concierge service costco provides. The concierge service, using John Q's warranty, contacts the manufacturer and gets approval for a service. The manufacturer then has a choice, pay for shipping costs and fix your problem, or send you to a 3rd party contractor who does the work at a contracted price. Sounds like Health care doesnt it? Your the reason this exists.. If you think this is a GO COSTCO! plug, your wrong. Your simply blaming costco for the run around the manufacturer gave you, tant amount to blaming Fry's Foods, because your Kraft cheese was spoiled 3 months after you purchased it. The fact is, Costco has the most liberal refund policy in the industry, and they offer the most amount of Domestic (this means its based in the USA) tech support. The concierge program was born of members complaining about getting the run around from the manufacturer directly, At least with this program costco can Buffer the moron-osities that these manufacturers expect the basic consumer to deal with. As for your specific complaint, perhaps you should have taken better care of your item and been responsible with it.
Irongirl
Front Royal,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Another Suggestion
#3Author of original report
Mon, June 01, 2009
If you do buy electronics, computers etcetera from Costco and you do not want to run the risk of having to use their "free" second warranty as your back-up, then do what I should have done and buy a second warranty direct from the manufacturer.
