Best Buy, Bad Economics?

I know I’ve been pretty critical of Best Buy and Geek Squad lately (and for good reason), but I did feel the need to share this mostly positive story about the electronic megastore. Over the summer I purchased a digital camera from Best Buy, and remembering that I seem to have the worst luck with my cameras getting damaged, I decided to splurge and pay for the damage protection plan.

Well, within a week or so of having the camera, something happened to it, which resulted in a blotch appearing on the lens (meaning that every picture I took which have a black blotch at the bottom of the image). A week or so ago, I finally got around to taking it to Best Buy to get it fixed or replaced. I brought in the whole box, but was told they just needed the camera (meaning I held onto the charger, adapter, and all other wires). Earlier this week I was told to come by the store, where I was told that they would replace the camera because they were unable to fix it. Not too shabby. So they gave me a brand new camera, which was the same model that I had sent in. However, the camera was on sale. So not only did I get to keep the accessories to my original camera, but I also got a brand new camera (including accessories) AND a $20 store credit, because the camera was on sale and thus less than what I had originally paid. On top of that, the original warranty is still valid!

But yeah, still not a huge fan of the place. Or Geek Squad.