Total tech membership: Totaltech Is Best Buy’s Hidden Gem Membership That Everyone Should Know About

Totaltech Is Best Buy’s Hidden Gem Membership That Everyone Should Know About

Best Buy

Technology is a big part of our daily lives, and a lot of the things we use can be pretty expensive. The last thing you want to do when buying a new laptop or TV is worry about the problems that could appear after the purchase. Wouldn’t it be nice to have peace of mind for everything you’re buying this year?

When you’re shopping at Best Buy, or browsing online, you have the option to sign up for a Totaltech membership for $200 a year. And there are several reasons why you should consider it. Beyond just tech support, there are plenty of other features to this membership, and we’re here to walk you through everything you need to know about these features, which have the potential to save you money and time on tech in the long run.

While you’re here, if you want more shopping tips to help you save money or make shopping a bit easier, check out these tips about hidden Amazon service offers, Costco perks and buying from Best Buy Outlet.

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All of the Totaltech benefits

You get all these benefits just by signing up for a membership.

Best Buy

Before jumping into everything you get with Totaltech, you should know that Totaltech and Geek Squad protection are different. You can have both, but the difference is that Geek Squad protection is for a single item, whereas Totaltech supports a wide variety of tech needs. If you sign up for Totaltech, free Geek Squad support is included.

From the start of your membership, you’ll get service on all the tech in your home, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — even if you didn’t buy it at Best Buy.

The support you receive is for both remote, in-store and in-home support and troubleshooting. And, if you need it, you can chat with an agent online or call 888-237-8289 for help as well. Here are just a few things your membership entitles you to:

Device help and simple repair
Tablet setup and troubleshooting
Memory install and troubleshooting
Password reset
PC tune-up
PC virus removal
Level 1 data recovery (and more)
Up to 24 months of AppleCare Plus (only while subscription is active)

Delivery and install options are worth looking at

Appliances are supported under this membership too.

Best Buy

While most memberships would end at troubleshooting tech, this membership has additional benefits.

When you buy any new gadget or appliance at Best Buy, two-day delivery and installation is included. Keep in mind that in order to get this benefit, you need to choose “delivery and installation” at the time you buy your products. This membership benefit offers a large variety of installation services, for products from TVs to computers to sound systems.

TV and home theater services

TV mounting
TV connect and setup
Projector screen mounting
Harmony remote control programming

Computing services

Home Wi-Fi setup
New PC or tablet setup
Data backup or transfer
Operating system install (in-home)
Software install (in-home)
Hardware install (in-home)
Automated data backup setup (in-home)
Memory install (in-home)

In-dash service

In-dash receiver install
Steering wheel control install

Speaker services

Standard or component speaker install
Mount single or dual subwoofer in a box

Amp services

Mono or 2-channel amp install
4/5 channel amp install
Signal processor install (and more)

Options to cover even the most advanced systems

The membership gives you support when appliances break down.

Best Buy

The last benefit you get with this membership is a discount on custom installations that you wouldn’t want to do unless you’re a trained professional. With this benefit you get 20% off labor for advanced services and 10% off labor for custom installations. But keep in mind, this discount is only applied to labor, not parts and accessories that don’t come as standard.

So what kinds of installations can you get? And what other advanced services are offered?

Computer and tablet services

Level 2 or 3 data recovery

Home theater, audio and smart home services

Advanced wire run
Wall and ceiling speaker installation
Speaker installation
Outdoor audio landscape systems
Smart home services
Basic water monitoring install
Camera services
Wired camera install (and more)

Now that you know what Best Buy’s Totaltech can provide you when you sign up for a membership. For more shopping tips, check out our articles on making an Amazon return on Kohl’s and improving your shopping experience with four tips.

Best Buy doubles down on membership program as sales cool

Best Buy is rolling out a new version of its membership program called My Best Buy in late June.
The retailer is renaming the program and offering lower-priced options.
It wants to grow the program as it braces for a slower year of sales.

A shopper exits a Best Buy store during Black Friday sales in Brooklyn, New York, November 26, 2021.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Best Buy said Thursday that it will double down on its membership program as consumers buy fewer discretionary items.

Starting June 27, the program will have three tiers, including a lower-priced option that offers perks like exclusive discounts and access to hot products, the consumer electronics retailer said. The program will also have a new name: My Best Buy memberships.

Best Buy is looking for ways to make money and drive customer loyalty as it deals with a drop in demand. Consumers are buying fewer electronics as they cope with higher prices of food and essentials, and some prioritize spending on travel, restaurants and other services. Plus, during the early years of the pandemic, many shoppers sprang for new laptops, home-theater systems and kitchen appliances — the kinds of purchases that people don’t often repeat in the near term.

The company said in March that it expects revenue to range between $43.8 billion and $45.2 billion this fiscal year. The total would represent a drop from $46.3 billion from the year-earlier period, and from $51.8 billion the year before that — but a revenue increase from before the pandemic.

CEO Corie Barry told investors on a March earnings call that Best Buy expects this calendar year to “be the bottom for the decline in tech demand.” She said spending will bounce back because U.S. households have a record number of tech devices and will want to upgrade or replace them, especially as vendors debut innovative products.

In the meantime, Best Buy also has taken steps to cut costs. It has had at least two rounds of layoffs, one in August and one in April. The company confirmed the job cuts, but declined to share any numbers.

Best Buy debuted its membership program, TotalTech, nationwide two years ago. The program grew to 5.8 million members by late January — adding up to nearly $1.2 billion in annual revenue. That’s up from 4.6 million members the prior year.

The paying members are a fraction of the about 100 million people in the retailer’s loyalty program, of which 40 million to 45 million are active.

As part of its relaunch, Best Buy’s TotalTech will become the top tier of the membership program, but with a different name: My Best Buy Total. Its price will also drop from $199.99 per year to $179.99. That top tier includes round-the-clock tech support, up to two years of product protection and 20% off repairs, among other benefits.

The other two tiers are the retailer’s free loyalty program, which includes free shipping with no minimum purchase, or an option in the middle: My Best Buy Plus. The new $49.99 per year subscription includes members-only prices, free two-day shipping with no minimum purchase and an extended return policy.

Best Buy found that its varied customers wanted different perks, said Patrick McGinnis, senior vice president of memberships. Older customers tended to use the 24/7 tech support, while younger ones signed up for the members-only discounts and extended product protection.

McGinnis said the revamped program better fits those different budgets and needs. He declined to share an updated membership total and the program’s renewal rate.

On an earnings call in March, Barry said Best Buy is pleased with the program’s results. She said members shop more with the company, buy more across categories and rate their experience higher than nonmembers.

But she added the retailer is still tinkering to reduce costs. For instance, it added restocking fees for some product returns and removed same-day delivery as a benefit, the CEO said.

Joe Feldman, a retail analyst for the Telsey Advisory Group, recently downgraded the company’s stock from outperform to market perform and cut the price target to $81. He said Best Buy is a well-run company with a good strategy, but “they’re in a tough market right now.”

“People just aren’t buying electronics these days and you’re seeing it across the spectrum, whether it’s Walmart, Target, Costco, Amazon,” Feldman said. “Electronics just aren’t selling — especially big ticket electronics — and that’s been a pressure point for the past half a year or so.”

So far, he said the membership program “has not been a gangbusters success” when you consider how many customers Best Buy has.

Paying for a service that touts tech support and extended protection is a tougher sell if shoppers aren’t buying new devices, he added.

The program “often gets associated with a purchase, so some of it is chicken and egg,” Feldman said. “It makes it a challenge.”

Best Buy’s shares have fallen about 10% so far this year. Shares closed Wednesday at $72.22, down about 23% from its 52-week high.

Best Buy will report its fiscal first-quarter earnings later this month.

Response of the Ministry of Construction to the request of SRO “IOS” about the need for membership in SRO

20.02.2017

The self-regulatory organization “Ivanovo Association of Builders” received an official response from the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation to its request for clarification of the issue of the list of persons for whom membership in a self-regulatory organization is mandatory. Below is the text of the request and the response of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation.

Question of SRO “Ivanovo Association of Builders”:

Association Self-Regulatory Organization “Ivanovo Association of Builders” (hereinafter referred to as the Association SRO “IOS”) asks you to clarify the implementation in practice of the norms of the Federal Law “On Amendments to the Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” dated 03. 07.2016 No. 372 -FZ concerning the issue of the list of persons for whom membership in a self-regulatory organization is mandatory.

Thus, in accordance with paragraph 17 of Article 1 of this Federal Law, “a self-regulatory organization in the field of engineering surveys, architectural and construction design, construction, reconstruction, overhaul of capital construction projects is a non-profit organization created in the form of an association (union) and based on membership individual entrepreneurs and (or) legal entities performing engineering surveys or preparing project documentation or construction, …., concluded with the developer, technical customer, the person responsible for the operation of the building, structure, or with a specialized non-profit organization that carries out activities aimed at to ensure the overhaul of common property in apartment buildings.

This raises a number of questions that require your clarification:

1. According to paragraph 16 of Article 1 of this law, “The developer has the right to transfer its functions, provided for by the legislation on urban planning, to the technical customer. ” In this case, the question arises as to whether the developer has not exercised his right to transfer this function to the technical customer, does he have an obligation under the law to acquire membership in a self-regulatory organization?

2. On the basis of the norm given earlier in paragraph 17 of Article 1, persons responsible for the operation of buildings and structures are also included in the list of persons for whom membership in a self-regulatory organization is mandatory. But, in this law there is no detailed description of which persons are classified as this type of activity. Association SRO “IOS” asks you to clarify whether they include management companies of apartment buildings (MC), associations of property owners (TSN) and resource supply organizations (RSO).

3. Does the Federal Law No. 372-FZ impose an obligation on the owners of buildings and structures to conclude contracts with organizations operating the buildings and structures specified in paragraph 2 of our appeal? In the absence of such a contractual obligation, does such owners of buildings and structures have a legally fixed obligation to become a member of a self-regulatory organization?

4. Based on the foregoing, the following question arises about the legally prescribed list of persons and authorities exercising control in the field of self-regulation, in particular, the mandatory membership of persons carrying out the above activities.

Answer of the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation:

The Legal Department of the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation, within its competence, considered the appeal of the Association of the Self-Regulatory Organization “Ivanovo Association of Builders” dated December 30, 2016 No. 270 and in connection with the questions raised in it reports the following.

On question 1.

In accordance with paragraph 16 of Article 1 of the Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Code), a developer is an individual or legal entity that provides on the land plot owned by him or on the land plot of another right holder (who, when making budget investments in capital construction projects of the state (municipal) state authorities (state bodies), the state atomic energy corporation “Rosatom”, the state corporation for space activities “Roskosmos”, management bodies of state non-budgetary funds or local governments transferred their powers of the state (municipal) customer) construction, reconstruction, overhaul of capital construction facilities, as well as engineering surveys, preparation of project documentation for their construction, reconstruction, overhaul.

Paragraph 22 of Article 1 of the Code, as amended by Federal Law No. 372-FZ of July 3, 2016 “On Amendments to the Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation” (hereinafter referred to as Federal Law No. 372-FZ), determines that a technical customer is a legal entity that is authorized the developer and on behalf of the developer concludes agreements on the performance of engineering surveys, on the preparation of project documentation, on the construction, reconstruction, overhaul of capital construction facilities, prepares assignments for the performance of these types of work, provides persons performing engineering surveys and (or) preparing project documentation , construction, reconstruction, overhaul of capital construction facilities, materials and documents necessary to perform these types of work, approves project documentation, signs the documents necessary to obtain permission to put a capital construction facility into operation, performs other functions provided for by the legislation on urban planning activities (hereinafter also referred to as technical customer functions).

The developer has the right to perform the functions of a technical customer independently.

Clause 22 of Article 1 of the Code, as amended by Federal Law No. 372-FZ, also establishes that the functions of a technical customer can only be performed by a member of a correspondingly self-regulatory organization in the field of engineering surveys, architectural and construction design, construction, reconstruction, overhaul of capital construction facilities, except for cases provided for by Part 2.1 of Article 47, Part 4.1 of Article 48, Part 2.2 of Article 52 of the Code as amended by Federal Law No. 372-FZ.

Thus, when the developer performs the functions of a technical customer listed in paragraph 22 of Article 1 of the Code as amended by Federal Law No. 372-FZ, the developer independently requires membership in a self-regulatory organization of the appropriate type.

The above provisions of the Code, as amended by Federal Law No. 372-FZ, come into force on July 1, 2017.

On question 2.

Part 1 of Article 55.25 of the Code determines that the person responsible for the operation of a building, structure is the owner of the building, structure or a person who owns the building, structure on another legal basis (on the right of lease, economic management, operational management, etc.) in the event that if the relevant agreement, decision of the state authority or local self-government body establishes the responsibility of such a person for the operation of a building, structure, or an individual or legal entity involved by the owner or such person in order to ensure the safe operation of the building, structure on the basis of an agreement.

If the number of owners of a building, structure is two or more, decisions on the operation of the building, structure in order to ensure the safe operation of the building, structure are made by agreement of all such owners. If the number of owners of a building, structure exceeds five, decisions on the operation of the building, structure in order to ensure the safe operation of the building, structure, including on the involvement of an individual or legal entity on the basis of an agreement in order to ensure the safe operation of the building of the structure, are taken on a general basis. meeting of such owners.

Part 2 of Article 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation provides for the obligation of owners of premises in an apartment building to choose one of the ways to manage an apartment building:

1) Direct management of the owners of premises in an apartment building, the number of apartments in which is not more than thirty;

2) Management of an association of homeowners or a housing cooperative or other specialized consumer cooperative;

3) Management of the managing organization.

Thus, in relation to multi-apartment residential buildings, the persons responsible for its operation can be either the owners of the premises in the multi-apartment building themselves, provided that the number of apartments in such a building does not exceed thirty and they have made an appropriate decision, or persons exercising legal management such an apartment building – a homeowners association, housing cooperative, other specialized consumer cooperative or management company.

For questions 3 and 4.

In accordance with the above paragraph 1 of Article 55.25 of the Code, the involvement of an individual or legal entity on the basis of an agreement in order to ensure the safe operation of a building or structure is a right, and not an obligation, of the owner of such a building or structure.

The person responsible for the operation of a building, structure, for carrying out work on the reconstruction or major repairs of such a building or structure independently in accordance with the norms of the Code, requires membership in a self-regulatory organization of the appropriate type. In this case, the person responsible for the operation of the building, structure will act as a developer, and when performing the functions of a technical customer, he must independently be a member of a self-regulatory organization.

Compliance control of persons performing engineering surveys, preparing project documentation, construction, reconstruction, overhaul of capital construction facilities with the requirements established by the Code for mandatory membership in a self-regulatory organization of the corresponding type is carried out by authorized persons at various stages of the construction process. In particular, in accordance with the Procedure for organizing and conducting state examination of project documentation and engineering survey results, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated March 5, 2007 No. 145, when conducting an examination of project documentation and engineering survey results to the body for conducting such an examination, among other documents the applicant must provide certificates issued by a self-regulatory organization on the admission of the work contractor to the appropriate type of work on the preparation of project documentation and (or) engineering surveys, valid on the date of transfer of project documentation and (or) results of engineering surveys to the developer (technical customer) in the event that in in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, obtaining a permit for such work is mandatory.

In addition, in accordance with part 2 of article 53 of the Code, the subject of state construction supervision includes verification of compliance with the requirements of parts 2 and 3 of article 52 of the Code (and from July 1, 2017 – parts 2, 3 and 3. 1 of article 52 of the Code), which determine the requirements for obligatory membership of certain categories of individual entrepreneurs and legal entities in a self-regulatory organization based on the membership of persons engaged in construction.

It should be noted that in accordance with paragraph 2 of the Rules for the preparation of regulatory legal acts of federal executive bodies and their state registration, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 13, 1997, No. 1009, letters from federal executive authorities are not regulatory legal acts.

Thus, the letters of the Ministry of Construction of Russia and its structural subdivisions, which explain the issues of application of regulatory legal acts, do not contain legal norms, are not aimed at establishing, changing or repealing legal norms, and the explanations contained in them cannot be considered as generally binding state directives of a permanent or temporary.

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Civil Code of the Russian Federation Article 47.

Engineering surveys for the preparation of design documentation, construction, reconstruction of capital construction projects \ ConsultantPlus

Civil Code of the Russian Federation Article 47. Engineering surveys for the preparation of design documentation, construction, reconstruction of capital construction projects

Prospects and risks of arbitration disputes. Situations related to Art. 47 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation

– An organization (IP) disputes liability for engineering surveys, preparation of project documentation, construction, reconstruction, overhaul without membership in SRO

1. Engineering surveys are carried out for the preparation of project documentation, construction, reconstruction of capital construction projects. Preparation of design documentation, as well as construction, reconstruction of capital construction facilities in accordance with such design documentation are not allowed without the performance of appropriate engineering surveys.

(Part 1 as amended by Federal Law No. 373-FZ of 03.07.2016)

(see the text in the previous edition)

2. Work under contracts for the performance of engineering surveys concluded with a developer, technical customer or a person who, in accordance with the Land Code of the Russian Federation, has received permission to use land or a land plot owned by state or municipal property to perform engineering surveys (hereinafter also – contracts for engineering surveys) should be performed only by individual entrepreneurs or legal entities that are members of self-regulatory organizations in the field of engineering surveys, unless otherwise provided by this article. The performance of engineering surveys under such contracts is provided by specialists in the organization of engineering surveys (chief project engineers). Work under contracts for the performance of engineering surveys concluded with other persons may be performed by individual entrepreneurs or legal entities that are not members of such self-regulatory organizations. 92.1. Membership in self-regulatory organizations in the field of engineering surveys is not required:

1) state and municipal unitary enterprises, including state and municipal state-owned enterprises, state and municipal institutions in case they conclude contracts for engineering surveys with federal executive authorities, state corporations exercising regulatory and legal regulation in the relevant area, state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local governments in charge of such enterprises, institutions, or if such enterprises, institutions perform the functions of a technical customer on behalf of the indicated federal executive authorities , state corporations, public authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local governments;

2) commercial organizations, in the authorized (share) capitals of which the share of state and municipal unitary enterprises, state and municipal autonomous institutions is more than fifty percent, in the event that such commercial organizations conclude contracts for engineering surveys with the specified enterprises, institutions, and also with federal executive bodies, state corporations, state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local governments, which are provided for in paragraph 1 of this part and which are in charge of the indicated enterprises, institutions, or if such commercial organizations perform the functions of a technical customer on behalf of the indicated enterprises, institutions, federal executive bodies, state corporations, state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local governments;

3) legal entities established by public law entities (with the exception of legal entities provided for in paragraph 1 of this part), in the event that these legal entities conclude contracts for engineering surveys in established areas of activity (in areas, for the purpose of carrying out activities in of which such legal entities have been established), as well as commercial organizations, in the authorized (reserve) capitals of which the share of these legal entities is more than fifty percent, in the event that such commercial organizations conclude contracts for the performance of engineering surveys with the specified legal entities or in the event that such commercial organizations organizations of technical customer functions on behalf of the specified legal entities;

4) legal entities, in the authorized (share) capitals of which the share of public legal entities is more than fifty percent, in the event that these legal entities conclude contracts for engineering surveys with federal executive authorities, state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, bodies local self-government, in the established areas of activity of which these legal entities carry out statutory activities, or in the event that these legal entities perform the functions of a technical customer on behalf of these federal executive authorities, state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local authorities, as well as commercial organizations, in authorized (share) capitals of which the share of the said legal entities is more than fifty percent, in the event that such commercial organizations enter into work contracts for the performance of engineering surveys with the specified federal executive authorities, state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local authorities, legal entities, or in the event performance by such commercial organizations of the functions of a technical customer on behalf of the indicated federal executive authorities, state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local governments, legal entities.

(Part 2.1 was introduced by Federal Law No. 372-FZ of July 3, 2016)

in state or municipal ownership, to perform engineering surveys, or an individual entrepreneur or legal entity that has entered into a contract for engineering surveys. The person performing engineering surveys is responsible for the completeness and quality of engineering surveys and their compliance with the requirements of technical regulations. The developer or a person who, in accordance with the Land Code of the Russian Federation, has received permission to use land or a land plot owned by the state or municipal authorities for engineering surveys, has the right to carry out engineering surveys independently, provided that such persons are members of a self-regulatory organization in the field of engineering surveys, or with the involvement of other persons under a contract for the performance of engineering surveys.

(Part 3 as amended by Federal Law No. 372-FZ of July 3, 2016)

(see the text in the previous edition)

(as amended by Federal Laws No. 247-FZ of July 23, 2013, No. 373-FZ of July 3, 2016)

(see the text in the previous edition)

1) materials on the natural conditions of the territory where carry out construction, reconstruction of capital construction facilities, and factors of man-made impact on the environment, on the forecast of their changes necessary to develop decisions regarding such a territory;

2) materials necessary to justify the layout of buildings, structures, structures, making design and space-planning decisions in relation to these buildings, structures, structures, designing the engineering protection of such objects, developing environmental protection measures, a project for organizing construction, reconstruction capital construction objects;

3) materials necessary for carrying out calculations of foundations, foundations and structures of buildings, structures, structures, their engineering protection, developing decisions on the implementation of preventive and other necessary measures, excavation, as well as for preparing decisions on issues that arose during the preparation project documentation, its coordination or approval.

4.1. The results of engineering surveys are a document on the completed engineering surveys, containing materials in textual and graphical forms and reflecting information about the tasks of engineering surveys, the location of the territory on which it is planned to carry out construction, reconstruction of a capital construction facility, types, volume, methods and on the timing of work on the implementation of engineering surveys in accordance with the engineering survey program, on the quality of the engineering surveys performed, on the results of a comprehensive study of the natural and man-made conditions of the specified territory, including the results of the study, assessment and forecast of possible changes in the natural and man-made conditions of the specified territory in relation to a capital construction object during construction, reconstruction of such an object and after their completion, and on the results of assessing the impact of construction, reconstruction of such an object on other capital construction objects.

(Part 4.1 was introduced by Federal Law No. 210-FZ of December 31, 2005; as amended by Federal Law No. 342-FZ of August 3, 2018)

(see the text in the previous edition)

4.2. If the design documentation of a capital construction facility is subject to examination in accordance with Article 49 of this Code, the preparation of the results of engineering surveys is carried out in the form of electronic documents, the requirements for the format of which are established by the federal executive body responsible for the development and implementation of state policy and regulatory legal regulation in the field of construction, architecture, urban planning, except for cases in which the results of engineering surveys contain information constituting a state secret. In cases where the developer or technical customer ensures the formation and maintenance of the information model, the results of engineering surveys are prepared in a form that allows them to be used in the formation and maintenance of the information model.

(Part 4.2 was introduced by Federal Law No. 151-FZ of June 27, 2019)

or a technical customer, depending on the type and purpose of capital construction facilities, their design features, technical complexity and potential danger, the stage of architectural and construction design, as well as the complexity of topographic, engineering-geological, environmental, hydrological, meteorological and climatic conditions of the territory, where construction, reconstruction of capital construction facilities will be carried out, the degree of knowledge of these conditions.

(as amended by Federal Law No. 337-FZ of November 28, 2011)

(see the text in the previous edition)

ConsultantPlus: note.

From 09/01/2023 in Part 6 of Art. 47 are amended (FZ of December 19, 2022 N 541-FZ). See future edition.

6. Types of engineering surveys, the procedure for their implementation for the preparation of design documentation, construction, reconstruction of capital construction projects, the composition, form of materials and results of engineering surveys, the procedure for their submission for placement in state information systems for urban planning activities are established by the Government of the Russian Federation.