Micro Center — Local services in Duluth

Be very careful with Micro Center’s protection plans. They are not what they claim.

I purchased a Lenovo laptop and a 1-Year "Accidental Damage from Handling" (ADH) protection plan at Micro Center. The plan was sold to me as a no-questions-asked replacement. If anything happened to the laptop, I was told I would get store credit to buy a new one. No repairs, no hassle. That was the only reason I paid extra for the protection.

Later on, I accidentally dropped the laptop. This was a normal accident, exactly the type of unintentional damage this plan is supposed to cover. I explained what happened, and the staff said they needed to take the laptop in for repair. I told them that’s not the plan I was sold. I was promised a replacement or store credit, not a repair. But since I needed the laptop working, I left it with them. A few days later, they sent an email denying my coverage, stating:

"As the damage resulted from negligent handling, it falls outside the scope of the accidental warranty coverage."

There was no abuse, no recklessness, and no intentional damage. Accidents by nature are unplanned. If an unintentional drop is considered "negligent," then this plan is effectively useless. The Accidental Damage from Handling (ADH) plan is supposed to cover this scenario under Section 4, which clearly states:

"Your product is protected against accidental damage from handling. This includes unintentional damage resulting from drops and falls..."

This does not qualify as "negligent handling" unless Micro Center’s definition of negligence includes all drops, which would render the plan meaningless.

I spoke with the service manager, explained everything, and got nowhere. The plan was voided and the claim denied despite my honest account and the fact that the accident clearly falls within the plan’s own terms.

I then escalated the issue to Micro Center corporate, hoping they would stand by the product they sold me. Their response was the exact same boilerplate reply:

"As the damage resulted from negligent handling, it falls outside the scope of the accidental warranty coverage."

To make it worse, this wasn’t an isolated sales tactic. Before the laptop accident, I bought new components for a PC build, and once again at checkout the salesperson encouraged me to buy the ADH plan for the video card, saying: "If anything happens to it, you get a replacement. You can even bring it in after a year and upgrade to a new one." That’s exactly how it was pitched with the laptop too.

I told the manager all of this, and his response was, "I wasn’t there, so I don’t know what was said." Yet they know how their employees are selling these plans, and they choose not to stop it.

This is no longer just about a laptop. It is about principles. Micro Center is misleading customers to sell these protection plans, and when people try to use them, they deny coverage and walk away. It is wrong, and they don’t seem to care.

In reality, it’s not how the plan works at all. The fine print gives them full discretion to deny your claim, and when they do, you’re left with nothing.

Warning to other customers: The protection plan may be advertised as "no questions asked" coverage, but that’s not how it actually works. Micro Center can deny your claim at their discretion based on their internal interpretation of events, even when there's no real proof of wrongdoing. Instead of the promised store credit or replacement, you could be left with a broken device, no refund, and no recourse. Be very cautious. They do not stand behind...

I built my PC with parts I bought from Micro Center last Saturday, but it was having an issue shutting off after exactly 120 seconds after being powered on. Their automated phone support while waiting for a tech says that a 60-day warranty comes when you buy a part from them. The tech told me to bring my PC in so they could diagnose the issue. I made the hour drive to the store only to be told that this wasn't a free service, and I'd have to pay them $50 to run their diagnostics. I was pretty put out about that, but I agreed to pay it since I had already driven an hour to bring the PC there. The tech messaged me about 45 minutes later saying he took a "quick look" at my PC and it looked like the screws I used to secure the motherboard were "shorting out the case".

I went home and replaced the screws, but the same problem still existed! I swapped out the power supply and the problem finally went away! Then, I tested the power supply in a different computer, and the same issue showed up where it powered off after 120 seconds.

I was able to get a hold of a manager (Dylan) and ask for a refund for their supposed diagnostics since they didn't actually find the problem. I highly doubt they even tested the PSU at all. This manager told me that while it was possible the PSU developed a problem afterword I left (what?!), they verified the PSU worked as part of their testing. I asked if they "tested" it for more than 120 seconds, since the problem didn't show up before then. He said that they tested the PSU for "several hours" to ensure they had accurate results... even though the tech had messaged me 45 mins after I dropped it off, telling me the diagnostic was done and he had taken a "quick look" at it.

The same manager then told me that they successfully replicated the issue after testing a different PSU in my case (once again, what?! There's no way that's true). He informed me that I would not be getting any kind of refund for the service or the PSU, but that I could choose to swap the PSU for a replacement if I wanted.

So, I once again made the hour-long drive to the store, this time to appeal to the store manager (Charles) about the poor service. He told me that even though I had received poor service, I had still received the diagnostic services that I paid for and I wouldn't be getting a refund.

So, I accepted their offer to swap out the PSU for a new one and my PC has been working perfectly fine ever since. I had left the store feeling completely cheated out of the $50 that paid for the very poor diagnostics service, which I wouldn't have paid for in the first place if I would've known they were going to charge me for the service before I drove all the way out there.

Update: Charles personally called me to apologize and say that he had intended for the cashier to refund my $50 I had paid for the service fee when I swapped out my PSU for the replacement. He allowed me to come back to the store so that he could refund me the $50, and he apologized again for the poor service. That meant a lot to me, which is why I'm changing the stars I had given in my review...

My experience with Micro Center was a rollercoaster, but after multiple visits and some frustrating moments, I now have a perfectly functioning gaming system. I had to come back to the store four times because of non-functioning motherboards that weren’t properly flashed to support Ryzen 5000 series CPUs, despite being advertised as ready for them.

But here’s the thing: once I finally received a truly 5000-series ready motherboard, the system booted up immediately without any issues. That proves that the previous motherboards were not doing what they were advertised to do—supporting 5000 series CPUs out of the box.

Despite the frustrating back-and-forth, I do appreciate that the service manager eventually worked with me, and I was given a significant discount. In the end, I left with a board that worked perfectly, and I’m now thrilled to have a functioning system.

While the process took time and several trips, I’m happy that I now have a solid build, and I’m grateful that Micro Center worked with me to reach a solution. I’ll definitely be back for future projects and would recommend them to anyone building a PC, with the caveat that you double-check motherboard compatibility!

Every single person in my life, from a master PC builder to my cousin who helped me build my first PC to my father and my girlfriend (both of whom love Micro Center as well), told me to give up, return the board, and buy one from somewhere else. But I’ve always trusted Micro Center to do right by me and fix the problem in the end. Despite me having to drive eight hours to find the solution, they did everything in their power, gave me multiple new boards, and even had their service manager test the one to prove the 5000 issue. I really can’t ask for much more than that. Thank you to Dylan, the store manager (whose name I sadly did not catch), and the other associated parties. Even though it really did suck having to wait for so long to get a resolution, three days later, I’m listening to the game playing in the other room. I’m so happy.

I’ll be back next week to get my girlfriend’s sister some new parts for her computer, and I’ll be back in December to build a mini ITX build for my best friend. Thank you guys for the consistent, great service. Even though this isn’t the first time I’ve had an issue with Micro Center, it’s definitely been the biggest. In this issue and others, they’ve always been willing to step it up to make sure that I’m happy.

EDIT TO REVIEW 11/17/2024:

Not only was the purchase experience for my girlfriend’s sister great, but today I also needed to warranty a drive that had broken. Micro Center provided a no-questions-asked return, and that speaks volumes about their commitment to customer service.

In my previous review, I said I wanted to make sure things went right, and this time they did. Because of that, I’m happy to update this review to 5 stars. The warranty process, the help I received from the team, and the overall experience show why I keep...