Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This review is from a person processing a claim, and that person is me. I have read many reviews on this company, but very, very few are from people who have actually processed a claim. That is telling in itself. I wonder how many bad experiences go unnoticed with this company. SquareTrade has a good website interface with clear language. However, today I was told I would receive a call back by a supervisor, "...in 24 business hours." That was a first for me. I have an extensive past career as a technical support person and having been a manager at a phone support center for a major company as well as a trainer and quality assurance officer, I was more than a little annoyed, surprised and drawn into action. Suffice it to say, you may stop reading at the end of this paragraph and know that the rest of the story fills the details in for your amusement and perhaps the management at SquareTrade. This company failed in providing the service and communications to this end user at many points in the warranty claim cycle and the tipping point was the courteous, apparently hard working, phone support person who read scripts to great annoyance. Quite simply, SquareTrade talks the talk, but does not walk the walk. From 24 business hours to business days to business weeks, it makes little difference how much time SquareTrade says it needs to repair and ship something back if no business actually happens. In my case, the repair of my laptop. My laptop was in receipt for 9 business days with no update other than it was to be fixed. This is my first encounter with this company and they have very clear milestones denoted in the claim process. Unfortunately, no one individual really handles your claim, follows up with the repair depot or updates the customer with delays. All seem to fall through the proverbial crack. Today, I gave them a call and spoke with Tracy in customer service. She authenticated me five different ways and then proceeded to finish her script stating she would put me on hold and check on the laptop. She came back after a few minutes and alerted me that the repair depot had to order parts and that repairs were being made and it would ship out in 2-3 business days. Wow. You have had the laptop for 9 business days, not made any update even though you said you would if there were delays, and now you have the parts in hand and still won't be able to ship it for 2-3 business days? The website indicates five business days for repair and up to 2 business days for shipping. Shame on me for not following up at 7 business days! It would seem this should be a priority for a company to repair, but perhaps not. I was going to accept that the laptop would ship out in a few days and then take unknown amount of days (up to 2) to be delivered. Then, I realized the repair takes less than a couple of hours, probably a lot less as it was just a bezel, but certainly not 2-3 business days. Why am I not getting the laptop shipped today? I asked to speak to a supervisor. Mind you, very politely and acknowledging that I was not angry at Tracy. I was told by Tracy that I would be contacted by a supervisor, "...in 24 business hours." Huh? What does that mean? Is that a fancy or sneaky way of saying 3 business days? I told her I was not happy and would take the matter up with the seller of the warranty and make it known to the world. Then, all of a sudden, Tracy says I can talk to a more senior representative. Huh? Is that a fancy way of disguising supervisors as "senior customer service reps?" I said, "Ok, please let me talk to this person." She put me on hold and then one minute later the line gets disconnected. Sound familiar? To her credit she called me back, but I had already called them back and asked to talk to Tracy and was informed there were many call centers. Not surprising to me. No authentication this time and I moved right into checking if there were any updates to the account with the new representative. He checked and nothing there. He indicated maybe Tracy had not yet posted anything to the account. Tracy was on hold while we figured this out, perhaps a bit of payback. I gave her my work number and asked if they could call me back in half an hour at that number. It must take some number of business minutes to get the call back as I have yet not heard back and it has been several regular hours. And so the dance continues. I did not pay $99 to go dancing and spend hours on the phone. Save your hundred bucks, buy a good case, and be careful. Do this and most of the time you will get your three years and then some out of your tech. If it breaks and is not related to your handling, then it probably will do so within the manufacturers warranty period. Are extended warranties a bad idea? For laptops, I say yes. Probably for most all electronics. Updates to follow as my claim unfolds. UPDATE: 1/23/2014 The representative indicated they would send me an email, ask a senior representative to contact me, and nothing happened. This was yesterday. Talking to Ashley now to ask what's up. Ashley says they have no leverage with the repair depot as they are contracted out and would I like to call them. Huh? One person calling a big company to spend more time on the phone with a company that could care less. The failure, is with communication to me from SquareTrade, the failure of the repair depot to communicate up to SquareTrade (which I could never know if that happened or not), and the failure of the systems used to process a claim. Yes, I am talking to you web communications person. All that is needed is a fair assessment of how long things take and the reality is that it takes 2-3 times longer than they say. If it is going to take longer update the claim! Of course, it could be longer as I am still without a laptop and the repair depot approved the claim of repair on 1/8/2014.