How best to handle this situation?

[nealh]

About 1 mo ago I bought a Pacific Digital 16x DVDRW(they were Benq) at Staples..it was a bad drive..so I went back and returned...walked out the door ...not sure why I opened in my car but I did

Inside was a HP 2x dvdrw dated 1999(hmm maybe it was cdrw not dvdrw???)...it was shrinkwrapped(looked fine nothing unusually IMHO)...I was freaked....I just returned a defective unit and now I am walking claiming this 6 yr old dvdrw was in a new box. Fortunately the manager was still at CS and was apart of my return...she was speechless and quickly fixed the whole...very nice

I wonder what would have happened if I got home like that....from now on small things I open right away

Clearly..someone bought the unit and put there old drive in and resealed it...returned it "unused/opened for a refund"..staples thinking they just changed there mind put back for sale(though they claim they can not do this with any return)

 

[lemongrass]

Originally posted by: thedealmaker
most likely, someone scammed BB and returned their old hard drive as new. And BB didn't bother to double check during the return. Well, you are screwed. Chargeback if you used CC. Otherwise, file complaint to BBB. Expect some effort to get your money back, but you will get your refund. Worst case is store credit.

just happened to him last weekend...

 

[Mucker]

At BB it's a good idea to open up the package before you leave the store anymore, especially on a high dollar item. It's unfortunate and a large PITA but that is what it has come to. Or you could be like me and not shop there anymore. I bought a Super Lanboy case from one of their stores with a missing fan. I brought it back and the manager was giving me a bad time (so much for the non harrassment return policy). I started to blow a gasket (yes I am a good actor), his face turned red, and the matter was solved immediately. Take ZERO poop from those numbskulls and demand a refund. Turn them in for fraud at the FBI local office otherwise. It's totally unacceptable any way you look at it....

m

 

[herkulease]

this is why frys started opening EVERYTHING except the Western digital packaging cuz its that hard plastic stuff that you have to chop it apart to get the hard drive.

though some are too stupid to check to make sure atleast it helps to cut it things like this down.

 

[JonathanYoung]

Originally posted by: lemongrass
my dad bought a computer for BB...and they clamed that the computer he wanted was out of stock...and that he had to get the one on display...he had to get it becuase he returned his lab top and already payed like 200 something for the warentee for the lab top...and if he didn't buy a computer form BB, he would lost that 200...so he had to buy the one on display...for full price...i thought that items on display could not be sold for full price since it is not new, but used...at least thats what i learned from class...and also, he did not get any box or anything...just gave it to him and he payed...took it home...and i got home and asked him for all the cd's that was suppose to come with the computer...there were no cd's to be found...we called BB and they said they will send the cd's out, but never did...can't my dad sew them for not giving him a os cd???

That's another new one... "sew" instead of "sue".

Edit: Okay, okay, something that is somewhat relevant to the topic: Text

Can you believe they pull this sh|t with 200 pound TVs too? One time, I was trying to do a pricematch and they made me feel like I was trying to rob them or something. Best Buy sucks balls.

 

[woodscomp]

Originally posted by: cRazYdood

Originally posted by: mzkhadir

Originally posted by: Anonemous

Originally posted by: woodscomp
Ok so I am going to play Devil's advocate here to the OP.

When was the last time any manufacture even made a 6GB drive? I have been building PC's as a profession for 9 years. I remember 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB drives. I don't remember ever using a 6GB drive, and if so it would have been around the time of the 166MHZ PC's.

Another point it is, all hard drives that come in a retail package have the serial number and model number of the drive on the outside of the box, if these match the drive then it is a manufacturing problem or maybe your BIOS will not accept the larger drive.

And finally maybe you are mistaking the model number of the drive by reading the label and thinking that is what the size is?

Just some things to consider. All in all though if this is an old drive returned by a customer they did pretty well to have a 6GB drive last them that long, and secondly they are some of the cheapest people I have ever heard of to not just outright pay for the drive after owning a PC for that long with most likely no maintenece costs.

Let's see 6.4 gb drives were common around 1997-98. I got one when I built my system, it was a mid size drive. Highest at the time were 8.4 or 10 gig drives.

When I first bought my computer, it had a 6.4Gb drive.

Ditto
I'm not quite sure what woodscomp is trying to get to. How is it his fault that best buy sold him the wrong item?

This is not really a counter to everyone but why in the world would anyone go out and try to replace a 6GB drive with a 250GB drive and then return the 6GB? Think about it, if the person was that cheap why not try to find that would actually work in there OLD system? Lets say a 80GB might be recognized properly, and that is a big might.

BTW I do not support BB nor do I work for them, but I just find this story hard to believe.

 

[imported_Phil]

Originally posted by: woodscomp
This is not really a counter to everyone but why in the world would anyone go out and try to replace a 6GB drive with a 250GB drive and then return the 6GB? Think about it, if the person was that cheap why not try to find that would actually work in there OLD system? Lets say a 80GB might be recognized properly, and that is a big might.

So what happens with someone that is out to steal a drive in the first place, and has old hard disks lying around?

 

[mindless1]

6GB drives were sold new from about Q4 '97 through Q1 '99 (small by that point).

That makes the old system theorized previously as very late socket 7, LX, early BX or super7 era. Such systems typically did not support over 32GB natively, BUT with the Ontrack DDO (Dynamic Drive Overlay) software almost every manufacturer provides, any really old system can still use the new drive even if such a DDO isn't a good idea.

Basically what we'd have is someone who wanted it to at least look like the drive was in the package without close inspection, so they'd use the least valuable drive they had available, or perhaps one that had failed already. Use of the new drive isn't really an issue, even at worst all they'd have to do is buy a ~$15 PCI IDE card for best drive support on an older system.

and secondly they are some of the cheapest people I have ever heard of to not just outright pay for the drive after owning a PC for that long with most likely no maintenece costs.

Well if we're going to leap to speculations, for all we know it could've been someone that visits Anandtech, spends hundred$ per year and has a dozen systems, this drive they stole being put in their old beater bittorrent server, TIVO or who-knows-what. Kinda pointless to guess about though, doesn't really matter, theft is still theft.

 

[Eli]

This is why it is bad to cheat the stores and return things with the improper item inside.

 

[GoatHerderEd]

Originally posted by: lemongrass
my dad bought a computer for BB...and they clamed that the computer he wanted was out of stock...and that he had to get the one on display...he had to get it becuase he returned his lab top and already payed like 200 something for the warentee for the lab top...and if he didn't buy a computer form BB, he would lost that 200...so he had to buy the one on display...for full price...i thought that items on display could not be sold for full price since it is not new, but used...at least thats what i learned from class...and also, he did not get any box or anything...just gave it to him and he payed...took it home...and i got home and asked him for all the cd's that was suppose to come with the computer...there were no cd's to be found...we called BB and they said they will send the cd's out, but never did...can't my dad sew them for not giving him a os cd???

First, its a laptop, not a labtop.

Second, you can return the service plan within at least 30 days. and after that i think you can get a pro rated refund.

How long did you have the laptop? why did you return it?

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: Phil

Originally posted by: woodscomp
This is not really a counter to everyone but why in the world would anyone go out and try to replace a 6GB drive with a 250GB drive and then return the 6GB? Think about it, if the person was that cheap why not try to find that would actually work in there OLD system? Lets say a 80GB might be recognized properly, and that is a big might.

So what happens with someone that is out to steal a drive in the first place, and has old hard disks lying around?

I think that woodscomp is confused. The OP bought a large capacity hard drive, and received, in a shrink-wrapped box, a 6GB HD (which do exist, and no they were well after 166mhz PCs). What probably happened is someone had bought the large capacity drive, switched it with a 6GB drive they had laying around, returned it to BB. Then BB reshrinked it, or the customer had already done this. So the OP got screwed. Nobody tried returning a 6GB drive in its original packaging.

 

[JonathanYoung]

woodscomp made an incredible assumption, i.e. pulled that sh!t out of his ass.