SquareTrade, Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:Their lack of a timely response is what delayed my repairs, actually lack of repair. They did not fix my device. Both times I sent in my device they returned it not repaired. Then it went out of warranty and now they ignore there responsibility.  Sincerely,[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/07) */
We apologize that the consumer experienced issues with their device. The consumer has been in correspondence with a resolution specialist and we are currently awaiting a response to move forward.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /*...

(3000, 7, 2015/12/14) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
UNSATISFACTORY: The business apologized for the issue via a recorded voicemail message and has promised a check will be issued to me without additional unnecessary delays. It has been a week since they claim the payment was processed; yet, I've received nothing. I continue to await repair, despite many, many emails, promises, and web notifications of a payout. This is the final straw. The only way to make an impact on this company is to make it painful for them-- and I intend to do just that.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/12/17) */
The consumer's payout was processed on 12/16/2015, the funds should be received in 7-10 business days.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 11, 2016/01/10) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
The company provided false notifications of payout three times. The payment was received however I recommend that you avoid this company in the future.

For Christmas I purchased my niece a laptop with a protection plan from Square Trade. Six months later a port on her motherboard burned out as a result the hard drive could not boot.
I contacted Square trade about the issue on 07/06/2016. I received a reply asking my to submit a copy of my receipt. I did this and the next day received a reply that my receipt was incorrect. I went back to the store and got a new copy of the receipt and sent it to them. No response from Square trade. I got the store manager to send a copy of my receipt to Square Trade. No response from them.
10 days later and I have now sent so many receipts that their web site tells me I can not send anymore. And still my claim with them says they are waiting on my receipt.
Do yourself a favor and do not do business with this company.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/07) */
We are sorry the consumer had issues with their device.
In terms of the blacklisted phones being shipped to the consumer we are addressing the issue with our supplier so that we don't have useless phones shipped to our customers. We do...

not have access to the carrier database so we cannot access the information the carrier has. Although the consumer was told the phone was "stolen" it could have been a number of circumstances that would put the phone on a blacklist. We are working with our provider and the carrier to see is we can find out if the carrier has blacklisted a phone before we send it to our customers.
There was a delay in our accounting department and we are processing the payment by sending it overnight. The consumer should receive the check by 7/10.
We have spoken to the consumer to let them know how we are sending these funds.
We have refunded the deductible to the customer and as a courtesy for the delays they experienced we also refunded the warranty.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/04/27) */
We are sorry the consumer had issues with his device.
Due to the delay in repair we are paying the consumer the price he paid for the device.
We have contacted the consumer and let him know the status of this claim.
Initial...

Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/04/28) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Squaretrade refunded me the purchase price. Everythign is resolved. Thanks.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/10/01) */
Since the customer has stated that he will not purchase our product it is outside of our scope to be able to respond to this issue. That being said we would honor warranties purchased through our partners.
Initial Consumer...

Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/10/02) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I stated in the desired result that I would like to be able to purchase a plan at the price that is advertised on Amazon and I would lile for future listings with Amazon to be amended.
If the company's response is that I may go to Amazon and purchase their product and that it will afford me full coverage for the tablet I bought from Best Buy, I will do so! Or they may contact me and I will purchase over the phone as long as it is the same price!
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2014/10/07) */
We are sorry the customer feels we are using this tactic to sell warranties. The warranties sold through this vendor are meant to protect items sold through this vendor. We offer the prices based on an agreement we have with them. We are willing to work with this customer so that he can get the warranty he needs at the price he wants and have reached out to him for that purpose.
Business Response /* (4000, 18, 2014/10/27) */
We have worked with the consumer so that they are able to receive a warranty in the price range offered by our reseller. This is an exception as the products offered from our reseller are meant to be for the items purchased through the reseller and not another retailers (even though the retailer offers those products independent of the purchase of the item being protected). In cases like the one we are responding to we are willing to work with the consumer so they get our product at a proper price.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/11/19) */
We are sorry the consumer has had these problems. We realize that the unit is unrepairable and are processing a payout in the amount of the purchase price of the unit.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/11/24) */
(The...

consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I was told I would be reimbursed for the purchase price in two payments. I would received $589.05 and then $140.94, in that order. I have received the $140.94 but have not received the $589.05 which I was told would be sent first. Thus, I am still awaiting reimbursement.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2014/12/02) */
The payment was processed on November 20 and it usually takes 7 - 10 business days for a check to be processed, sent and delivered. Sometimes a check does get lost or delayed and we always work with our customers to make sure the check is resent if necessary.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 11, 2014/12/09) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I have received payment and shipped computer back.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/16) */
We are sorry the consumer had issues with their device.
Although the consumer was told the phone was "stolen" it could have been a number of circumstances that would put the phone on a carrier's "blacklist". We do not have access to any...

carrier's database so we cannot access the information regarding the status of a phone. We are addressing the issue with our supplier so that we don't have useless phones shipped to our customers.
We have paid out the consumer so they can purchase a replacement phone.
We are going to refund the deductible paid for this claim and the price of the warranty as a courtesy for the delays the consumer experienced.
We have contacted the consumer so they are aware of what we are offering.

I bought a SquareTrade warranty on my $4,995 Sony video camera from B&H Photo at time of purchase. They advertise a guarantee of a 5 day turnaround to repair or replace products. I accidentally ran over my video camera during a production shoot, destroyed it, and sent it in the SquareTrade. We got an auto-email notice that it was received. After that we didn't hear a thing for a long while. Finally we tried calling, got a runaround and were told they would email us right away and give a status update. That never happened. A few days later I had to call again. And then again. They never contact us, they don't respond, they can't give information about my camera, and this is after 2 full weeks of having my camera! I use this camera to make my living. I asked repeatedly to talk to a manager and couldn't get one. Finally after a [redacted] complaint (funny how that works) I get contacted by a manager who then tells me it's going to be MORE THAN A MONTH before I'll even see my camera! What? What kind of warranty is this, I bought it based on a guaranteed 5 day turnaround otherwise I would've just gone through my insurance company. Communication is bad, they just want you off the phone and go away, and that's after YOU call them. This is a bad experience and I just want to warn others, especially professionals who need their equipment for business, that I do not recommend this company in any way. I'm just an honest videographer trying to do the right thing and cover my camera, I paid $559 for my warranty, quite high, for the peace of mind of something happening to it. Well, something did and SquareTrade has been a nightmare to work with and I'm without a camera for at least 6 weeks.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/16) */
We are sorry the consumer had issues with their device.
As per the repair depot the camera will be returned to the consumer unrepaired. Since the consumer was going to try to get the camera repaired locally I informed them that we would...

reimburse them for the repair costs.
We have spoken to the consumer and they understand what we will do to have this issue resolved.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/09/21) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Camera was returned to me in the same condition that it was sent.Filing the complaint got me a timely response

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/02/10) */
We are sorry the consumer was misinformed by our specialist.
Due to the fact that the issue was on our side we have made arrangements to have the consumer reimbursed the purchase price of the unit.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal...

/* (2000, 7, 2015/02/13) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
If Squaretrade can fullfill the warranty service, then I will not have anymore concern.
Thank you Revdex.com for your help.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/18) */
We are sorry the consumer had issues with our warranty.
The consumer was misinformed by our specialist. They were told that if an item was purchased from a certain retailer the consumer cannot purchase a warranty directly from us. The...

warranty has to be purchased from the retailer. That is not true. We will honor a warranty purchased on our website if the item was new and purchased at a major retailer, which is what happened in this case.
The warranty is not valid is when warranty is purchased from a retailer and the item is purchased from another retailer. Warranties sold by retailers (not directly from SquareTrade) only cover items purchased from the same retailers.
We have offered the consumer a full refund of the second warranty that is not needed and as a courtesy we will also refund the actual warranty. The actual warranty is still active.
We have contacted the consumer with our offer and are awaiting their approval.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/05/26) */
We are sorry the consumer had issues with their device.
What we can offer for repairs is based on the availability of the phone in our inventory. When the claim is filed we do not know what we have available in inventory. We can only...

find out after the claim has been approved, as in this case.
We were able to find a different source for the replacement phone and had it sent to the consumer. According to the tracking number of the shipper the phone was delivered on May 22.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/05/29) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
They were able to find a phone and I am pleased with that. However, I feel they should not have charged my card until they knew they had a replacement, and replacements should always be available.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/04/06) */
We are sorry the consumer had issues with this issue.
When working with a third party provider, Mcafee in this case, sometimes the data does not get to us properly. It is our responsibility, however, to respond to the consumer with...

correct information or at least an update of the status of the request.
We have spoken with this consumer and have scheduled time to work together to get them an activation code that works.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/04/08) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I received a call from [redacted] C. and he made sure that I the issue was dealt with. He even made a follow up call just to make sure that the activation went through.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/07/02) */
We are sorry the consumer did not get the responses they should have had.
If a device is still under the manufacturer's warranty we direct the consumer to the manufacturer for repair. If the manufacturer does not help the consumer we...

will take the claim. In this case the consumer contacted the manufacturer and the manufacturer was not able to have the phone overnight. The consumer called SquareTrade and was redirected to the carrier without an alternative to call back. We should have taken the claim. They were given a phone number but they were unable to contact the specialist that gave them the number. This is really not acceptable.
The way we handle claims in the case of certain models of cell phones is to send a replacement overnight (delivered on Monday through Friday) and then ask the consumer return the broken phone. The replacement phone is a re-manufactured phone and is thoroughly tested. Even then the replacement phones sometime fail and we would send an overnight replacement phone in that case.
Due to the delay and poor service we have waved the deductible and processed a new (not re-manufactured) phone to be shipped to the consumer. The consumer has been emailed this information.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 9, 2015/07/08) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/05/14) */
We are sorry the consumer had issues with their claim.
We have reviewed the claim and have spoken with the consumer to resolve their issues. We are doing a full payout on the warranty and are processing the payment. The consumer agreed...

and these issues have been resolved.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 9, 2015/05/15) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2014/10/01) */
We are sorry the customer had a bad experience however the issues that the customer has noted are issues that are spelled out in the terms and conditions of the contract. - Coverage amount is the purchase price of the item.
The repair...

depot creates the repair invoice. We have no control over what information they include. We are not informed of the repair cost until well after the repair is done.
Although the warranty purchase has a coverage range of $829 as is stated in the terms and conditions we can only cover up to the purchase price of the item.
We have made an exception in this case and are allowing one more additional claim on this warranty.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 10, 2014/10/02) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Thank you, I have sent in the device for repair and now awaiting reimbursement after submitting the invoice repair receipt back to square trade.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/09/10) */
Hi [redacted],
I am [redacted], the Resolution Manager at SquareTrade.
I am sorry for the hassle, but we were waiting on you sending in your invoice before we can process the claim.
So far, we do not have the invoice yet. You can...

certainly send it directly to me at [redacted]@squaretrade.com and I'll forward it to our claims team.
I apologize that this hasn't gone smoothly, but the invoice requirement is something we need for verification purposes.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
[redacted]
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/09/11) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I don't get why you're lying about not getting my invoice, I have faxed and emailed the receipt and Square trade sent me a confirmation email on Aug 23, 2014 that they have received it. It also took you 2 weeks to respond, just shows how bad your company's service is.
Here's a copy of the email I received:
Don't miss out on important warranty emails. Add [redacted]@squaretrade.com to your address book.
SquareTrade ITEM: Other Electronic
PLAN ID: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Dear [redacted],
Congrats! You've successfully submitted your receipt. We'll keep track of it from now on, which means you'll never have to worry about digging through shoeboxes to find it.
If you have questions, give us a call anytime at 1-877-WARRANTY (XXX-XXX-XXXX).
Thanks so much,
The SquareTrade Team

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/03) */
We are sorry the consumer had issues with their device.
When an item is repaired we have a 30-day guarantee of the work done. If the issue returns after 30 days we would file a new claim. It is unclear when the issue started based on the...

complaint but according to our records the warranty expired after 30 from the time of the last repair and would fall outside of the repair's warranty.
After speaking to the consumer it seems the issues started happening before the end of the warranty period. Due to the lack of response the consumer experienced we will make an exception and reimburse the consumer the price he paid for the device.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/06/04) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
One thing to clear up square trade was told of same issue mulitple times-- never was fixed,, always went back to doing same issue- same issue each time. They were are of this when called multiple times over 2 years. They were asked me to take to repair place in town, also sent in to them twice - so three times it was never ever fixed properly over teo years- not to mention the calls I made to them in additiuon to those sending in for repair.. ITEM NEVER WAS FIXED from this issue from the first time I addressed with them and had 3 repair attempts over 2 years.!!

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/02/19) */
We are sorry the consumer had an issue with their device.
We are willing to work with the consumer to resolve the issue however based on the consumer information provided on this complaint we are unable to find the account the consumer....

We will email the consumer at the email given and will follow up with the consumer.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/02/23) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
No email has been received to provide the account number to the company
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/02/26) */
We have tried to email the consumer again.
There is a possibility that our email has been filed under "junk" or "spam" mail. Other wise if the consumer gives us an other email or phone number, even a number listed on any correspondence from us, we will be able to contact them. We are more than willing to work with them to resolve any issues.