On Christmas my girlfriend gave me an iPhone – my first – and imagine my excitement. Until two days later when I dropped it on the carpet in an art gallery and the screen cracked. I was pissed, naturally, but not devastated, because the phone had been purchased with Best Buy’s Black Tie Protection Plan.

It was the second iPhone my girlfriend purchased in a month, and like she did the first time, she expressed an interest in the protection plan, because she had enrolled in it for multiple items in the past (such as the two flat screens we bought from BB in August). The BB representative gave her all of the documentation and went through the “recommendation” checklist, also writing down that she would be getting the Black Tie protection. At no time was it mentioned that there were different levels of coverage – particularly that accidental damage – the one we’d be most interested in since the standard warranty covers most other things – wasn’t included in the standard plan.

This is only where the problem began. The employee bumbled a number of things, starting with charging us $30 for a new SIM card which was supposed to come with the iPhone – we knew this because she had just purchased one a month earlier. But the bigger blunder came when he failed to even ring her up for the Black Tie plan, after she mentioned it several times. Of course it would be just our luck that the phone would fall and the screen would crack a few days later. Only upon bringing the phone back to Best Buy to take advantage of the protection plan do we realize his mistake.

After talking with the manager, she said there was nothing she could do, even after being shown clear evidence that there was every intention on my girlfriend’s part to purchase the plan. She did, however, refund us for the SIM card that we weren’t supposed to be charged for in the first place.

I called Best Buy national and explained the situation, at which time I was informed that the Black Tie protection plan – at least the standard version – does not even cover accidental damage. Yet I know for a fact that when sales associates are pushing for the plan, they emphasize how it covers products well outside the standard warranty, up to and including accidental damage. Why else would anyone bother, anyway, given BB’s own return policy, and Apple’s year long warranty? So the associate on the phone’s “consolation” was that even if the employee had done his job correctly, I still would not have been covered for accidental damage. She then proceeded to read me all of the fine print from the agreement, on how accidental damage is not covered.

I was left with an iPhone with a cracked screen, and no way of fixing it short of purchasing a new screen from Apple for $200, or trying to fix it myself with spare parts and voiding my warranty. While I understand how on a strictly technical level Best Buy is not liable for the damage to my phone, as a measure of good faith and good customer service, I thought that they would do more to help me. Had I bought the proper plan – that is, had the employee done his job correctly and explained the different levels of service, then actually rang my girlfriend up for that service, then whatever losses Best Buy received for repairing/replacing the phone would have been incurred at that time. So I was not at all certain why some compromise couldn’t be made.

Enter the little bird.

On December 30th, I tweeted about my discontent with Best Buy, to warn others who may have considered purchasing the Black Tie Protection Plan. Within 15 minutes, I received a reply from a Best Buy employee, and after a series of backs and forths, I was advised to email the company’s “Twelpforce” with my situation, to see what they could do for me.

I did so, and today – only 5 days later – I received a reply from the “community connector” department of Best Buy corporate, who contacted the manager at the Best Buy where I made my purchase. Within an hour or so, she told me that the manager agreed to replace my iPhone.

Ordinarily, when you have a phone replaced through Best Buy’s protection plan, they use what they call the “Rapid Exchange”, having a new unit shipped to their store, and providing you with a loaner phone in the meantime. The loaner phone is never the same as the phone you’re replacing – and you have to put down a $150 deposit, which is refunded to you after the loaner phone is returned in tact. So in my case, I’d be temporarily out $150 to use an inferior phone.

And that’s what makes this story all the more incredible, because upon returning the phone to the store tonight, it was replaced with a new iPhone on the spot.  One short transaction later, involving a call to AT&T for a hardware swap, and switching my SIM card to the new phone, and I’m back in business.

All because I made a fuss through Twitter and the right people took notice.  While I cannot say that Best Buy will again be my first choice for electronics purchases, I am very grateful for those employees who went beyond the call and provided awesome customer service.  I find it terribly frustrating that only those consumers who are willing to – and have to know how – to raise a fuss, or to resist corporate “handling” are able to receive such a level of service, but it has also shown me just how powerful the internet can be – and how useful Twitter can be.

So keep on tweeting, everyone.  Because as it turns out, people really are listening…