fr_defenestrato | Shop not thou at Best Buy

i just had an utterly exasperating, blood pressure-flogging conversation with a customer service rep from Best Buy in which he emphatically did NOT say "Best Buy can keep your laptop as long as we see fit in the process of repairing it under the terms of your Performance Plan" (that $300 insurance-extortion thing they sell you at the time of purchase, supposedly so you'll never thereafter have to pay for repairs)—but it is still clearly the case that there's no outer limit to how long they can keep my computer away from me. the ONLY limitation on the plan is that IF they work on it four times and it's still no good, they'll give me a new machine. the estimated time to repair was given by the in-store rep on Sunday, October 15 as "about a week, usually." today, Robert told me the estimated time to repair is 4 weeks from receipt (on Tuesday, October 17). I asked what would happen if it is not successfully repaired 4 weeks from 10/17; he replied that they would then "escalate the repair." as that means nothing, i pressed further for some outer limit on the length of time they could have the computer. he neglected to answer, repeating instead, "Sir, I've already told you the estimated time to repair is 4 weeks."

Robert refused to transfer me to a supervisor, or to give me his position title, or the name, position title, or phone number of a supervisor. he pretty much said, "I'm customer service, so fuck you" to me.

so i am thinking that i will buy another computer in the meantime—an expense i absolutely do NOT need right now—wait until Worst Buy returns my Toshiba laptop, apply for a pro-rated refund on the rest of my Performance Plan (the one useful bit of info Robert DID give me), and maybe resell the newly refurbished Toshiba. whatever i decide to do, you know (and so does Robert, since I informed him quite precisely and with generous resort to the linguistic gutter) that it will NOT entail spending any money, ever again, in a Best Buy store.