The Center for Constitutional Litigation, working with Paul A. Rothstein, P.A., told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that Best Buy's Geek Squad Protection Plan is a warranty under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and that it should reverse dismissal of this action by the district court in an opening brief filed today.

      Tawanna and Anthony Ware purchased a $3,000 Samsung plasma television from Best Buy after its sales people and store manager advised them that the warranty that comes with the television is generally worthless because the electronic will work fine for the warranty period. They advised purchasing the protection plan to extend the warranty, protect themselves from failures of materials and workmanship for a five-year period. They made the sale more attractive by giving the couple a $300 discount if the extended warranty was purchased. 

      When the television failed after Samsung stopped manufacturing plasma televisions and could not be fixed, Best Buy reneged on the promised to replace or refund the full purchase price, claiming that the plan was actually a service plan, not a warranty. The Wares brought suit in a putative class action under Magnuson-Moss, but the case was dismissed because the Court credited an Federal Trade Commission regulation that distinguished warranties from service contracts if extra consideration was paid. The fact that Best Buy called and promoted the plan as a warranty and treated the television and plan as a single transaction in a bundle did not move the district court. Meanwhile, Magnuson-Moss itself defines a warranty as part of the same transaction if it was part of the basis for the bargain. The conflict between the statutory language and the regulation is at the heart of this consumer action. Today's filing is the start of the briefing process.