Originally posted by: Garth
Quite some time ago I purchased an ATI Radeon 9200 from Best Buy. Once I got it home and opened the box, inside I found a fried nVidia FX5700. There was nothing on the exterior of the box that would've tipped me off -- the cellophane was still (or apparently, re-) sealed.
When I went to return it, the customer service department refused my return. I was pretty furious. It took me a week of phone calls up the chain until I eventually called their headquarters and nagged somebody into sending me out a gift card in the amount of my purchase.
I eventually sold that gift card to a friend of mine because there was no way in hell I was gonna buy anything of significance from BB again. I went over to Circuit City and bought the ATI video card that I wanted, and after I bought it I took it over to the CC customer service department there and made them watch me open it in the store.
Originally posted by: TeeJay1952
Just came from a client's house. She had purchased a $599 Compaq Vista machine with a $200 rebate. She told me it was $1500 out the door including:
Copy of Norton Anti Virus
Copy of Norton Internet Security
$300 set up fee (Home call 15 minutes out of box to table setup.)
This was from Circuit City but BB is the same.
All I had to do was show her how the dang thing worked.
Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: Garth
Quite some time ago I purchased an ATI Radeon 9200 from Best Buy. Once I got it home and opened the box, inside I found a fried nVidia FX5700. There was nothing on the exterior of the box that would've tipped me off -- the cellophane was still (or apparently, re-) sealed.
When I went to return it, the customer service department refused my return. I was pretty furious. It took me a week of phone calls up the chain until I eventually called their headquarters and nagged somebody into sending me out a gift card in the amount of my purchase.
I eventually sold that gift card to a friend of mine because there was no way in hell I was gonna buy anything of significance from BB again. I went over to Circuit City and bought the ATI video card that I wanted, and after I bought it I took it over to the CC customer service department there and made them watch me open it in the store.
This isn't really all Best Buy's fault. It's a breakdown in a number of steps along the way. It's also the reason why many manufacturers now make the product visible inside the box or use that terrible plastic packaging.
Best Buy was protecting itself. Look at it from their POV and would you believe your story? Or would you think you were trying to scam the store?
Granted, if it was a return item, even "unopened," BB would have a larger fault here. But it could just as well have been a case of employee theft and all took place in the back room.
Yes, it's aggravating when someone doesn't believe you. But ask yourself why they don't and try putting yourself in their shoes.
Wait, they sold her Norton Anti Virus AND Norton Internet Security? Wow, talk about robbing the unwary consumer. The Int Sec has the AV built into it, you can't even install both on the same system.Originally posted by: TeeJay1952
Just came from a client's house. She had purchased a $599 Compaq Vista machine with a $200 rebate. She told me it was $1500 out the door including:
Copy of Norton Anti Virus
Copy of Norton Internet Security
$300 set up fee (Home call 15 minutes out of box to table setup.)
This was from Circuit City but BB is the same.
Originally posted by: Linflas
Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: Garth
Quite some time ago I purchased an ATI Radeon 9200 from Best Buy. Once I got it home and opened the box, inside I found a fried nVidia FX5700. There was nothing on the exterior of the box that would've tipped me off -- the cellophane was still (or apparently, re-) sealed.
When I went to return it, the customer service department refused my return. I was pretty furious. It took me a week of phone calls up the chain until I eventually called their headquarters and nagged somebody into sending me out a gift card in the amount of my purchase.
I eventually sold that gift card to a friend of mine because there was no way in hell I was gonna buy anything of significance from BB again. I went over to Circuit City and bought the ATI video card that I wanted, and after I bought it I took it over to the CC customer service department there and made them watch me open it in the store.
This isn't really all Best Buy's fault. It's a breakdown in a number of steps along the way. It's also the reason why many manufacturers now make the product visible inside the box or use that terrible plastic packaging.
Best Buy was protecting itself. Look at it from their POV and would you believe your story? Or would you think you were trying to scam the store?
Granted, if it was a return item, even "unopened," BB would have a larger fault here. But it could just as well have been a case of employee theft and all took place in the back room.
Yes, it's aggravating when someone doesn't believe you. But ask yourself why they don't and try putting yourself in their shoes.
There is a right way and a wrong way to approach it though and if I owned a business the last thing I would want to do in that situation is to make the customer feel accused of being dishonest absent any clear indications that the customer is trying to pull a scam. Oddly enough when I had a similar thing happen to me at Best Buy they were polite to me while they went up through the chain to someone that could listen to my story and make the decision to replace my item. I bought a game and when I got home and opened it up there was an AOL CD in the jewel case rather than the game CD.
Contrast this to Home Depot who made me feel like a criminal when I returned a brand new Honda lawn mower with a seized engine. The manager was a complete idiot and accused me of running the mower without any oil in it. He based this on his highly accurate test of sticking his finger in the oil filler and coming out with clean oil. Since the mower ran for less than 2 minutes I was not a bit surprised that the brand new oil was clean. He made me wait around the store for 40 minutes while an employee to the replacement mower outside and let it run for that amount of time before giving it to me.
Originally posted by: ELopes580
My worst experience at BBY I would have to say was working there.
I went to bestbuy today for some photo software that was on sale at bestbuy.com. and NO it wasn't an online only deal. Well I go to bestbuy and it isn't on sale on thier shelves, and when I look online from the stores computer it isn't on sale. At this point I start talking to my wife in a loud voice about bestbuy's private website that doesn't show on sale items so that they can screw the customer. A sales rep shows up to help and I explain the issue, he tries to say that maybe it is an online only thing or that maybe it was on sale yesterday, blah blah blah. So he calls a manager over, while we are waiting my wife is getting pissed, but I am just standing in the background with my cell phone. I went on the internet to bestbuy.com and pulled up the web page that showed the sale price and that it wasn't an online special. When the manager shows up the rep explains that the software doesn't come up in thier system on sale, I but in and just show the manager my cell phone with the bestbuy web page......he was surprised to see that I had the internet pulled up on my phone and he just told the rep to mark the price down.
Originally posted by: TeeJay1952
Just came from a client's house. She had purchased a $599 Compaq Vista machine with a $200 rebate. She told me it was $1500 out the door including:
Copy of Norton Anti Virus
Copy of Norton Internet Security
$300 set up fee (Home call 15 minutes out of box to table setup.)
This was from Circuit City but BB is the same.
All I had to do was show her how the dang thing worked.
Originally posted by: moshquerade
BestBuy's "15% restocking fee" on returned items bites. So I bought the wrong router. I repacked it good as new and they will sell it again as new PLUS make 15% off me.
Ratbastards.
if they apply it to a router you bought, i'd go to another best buy, cause that one is must have a nazi return counter.Restocking fee
A restocking fee of 15% will be charged on opened notebook computers, projectors, camcorders, digital cameras, radar detectors, GPS/navigation and in-car video systems unless defective or prohibited by law. A restocking fee of 25% will be charged on Special Order Products, including appliances unless defective or prohibited by law.