Anyone ever received a used item at Best Buy?

[Tristicus]

Doesnt matter how he acts. Its Best Buys fault and they need to fix it regardless of how the customer acts. Its the law. Used item for a new price means false advertising.

"YOU TAKE THIS GODDAMN THING BACK RIGHT NOW OR I'LL CALL CORPORATE AND HAVE YOU ALL FIRED."

I laugh in your face and tell you go ahead.

"Hey, I just bought this, and when I opened it up, there was the wrong brand of card in here and it was broken. Can we do something to return this and get another please?"

I work with you and hopefully get it straightened out.

 

[coxmaster]

"YOU TAKE THIS GODDAMN THING BACK RIGHT NOW OR I'LL CALL CORPORATE AND HAVE YOU ALL FIRED."

I laugh in your face and tell you go ahead.

"Hey, I just bought this, and when I opened it up, there was the wrong brand of card in here and it was broken. Can we do something to return this and get another please?"

I work with you and hopefully get it straightened out.

My point exactly. I've had dozens of customers come in yelling and screaming and when that happens I will absolutely not go out of my way to do anything special for them (nor will the management team). But those that explain the situation, ask kindly, and are civil are always going to get extra help to fix any problem.

 

[CPA]

When I was 16, I bought what I thought was a new digital camera (it was not marked used or returned) and found a block of wood inside the box instead of a camera. Best Buy refused to give me a refund, accused me of trying to scam them, and threatened the call the police on me.

My dad went back in a few hours later and got things sorted out for me. Apparently people don't trust a long haired 16 year old kid, but they do trust a well-dresssed 50 year old man. Go figure.

Cut your hair and dress nicer.

 

[Crusty]

Yes. It was a large DLP, forget the size. It was obviously used and they generally had no issues with us returning it. It was a giant pain in the ass though.

 

[Leros]

Cut your hair and dress nicer.

I cut my hair reasonably short now. I refuse to dress nice. I'm a software developer. I have to look the role. 😛

I just got my hair trimmed last week. It was starting to get a bit shaggy. Now the people at the local coffee shop treat me weird, like I'm some kind of outsider. It really amazes me how much looks matter.

Its amazing what you can get away with when you look nice. I've gotten away with some crazy stuff while wearing a suit.

 

[HeXen]

when you return something and unless you say its broken, they just fix up the package and restock it.

 

[CZroe]

"YOU TAKE THIS GODDAMN THING BACK RIGHT NOW OR I'LL CALL CORPORATE AND HAVE YOU ALL FIRED."

I laugh in your face and tell you go ahead.

"Hey, I just bought this, and when I opened it up, there was the wrong brand of card in here and it was broken. Can we do something to return this and get another please?"

I work with you and hopefully get it straightened out.

My point exactly. I've had dozens of customers come in yelling and screaming and when that happens I will absolutely not go out of my way to do anything special for them (nor will the management team). But those that explain the situation, ask kindly, and are civil are always going to get extra help to fix any problem.

Stick to policy. If I were your boss and I saw you making irate customers more irate instead of simply enforcing policy equally I would fire you immediately.

That said, I knew two people burned by expensive repackaged goods. One purchased an expensive digital camera in the '90s and found the screen shattered when she opened the box. Best Buy didn't believe her and she refused to shop at Best Buy ever again. Another purchased a nVidia GeForce 6600GT at Circuit City for $300 so that he could play Final Fantasy XI. He had problems and came to me. I quickly identified that the card was a GeForce 2 MX200 with the eVGA sticker removed from a 6600 and placed on the back to show through the package window before the card was packaged back up, re-sealed, and returned. Luckily, CC believed him even though it had been days before he determined it. He remained a loyal customer until they went out of business.

when you return something and unless you say its broken, they just fix up the package and restock it.

At some places. Best Buy clearly labels it as "Open Box" and gives a bit of a discount. Anything else is likely customer fraud (resealed and returned as new).

 

[coxmaster]

Stick to policy. If I were your boss and I saw you making irate customers more irate instead of simply enforcing policy equally I would fire you immediately.

Oh dont worry, I always stick to policy. I (and others) were just pointing out that going about your complaint in a courteous or more civil way will get you extra help. I do what is required no matter what, and if you are an ass that is all you will get.

 

[Ichinisan]

That wouldn't have helped with my open box issues.One time I got a VCR that wouldn't accept tapes, but otherwise looked fine, and the other time it was a 5.1 speaker system that looked great, but the .1 didn't work.

That's not the scam he's trying to avoid. He's talking about the situation where you buy a SEALED, NEW, product and find out it was RE-SEALED with SOMETHING ELSE inside.

It has happened to my friends, too. Specifically, I remember when one tried to buy a 6600GT and got an ancient PCI Vanta instead. The worst part was, he didn't immediately know something was wrong, so he installed it and tried to use it!

 

[Ichinisan]

... Another purchased a nVidia GeForce 6600GT at Circuit City for $300 so that he could play Final Fantasy XI. He had problems and came to me. I quickly identified that the card was a GeForce 2 MX200 with the eVGA sticker removed from a 6600 and placed on the back to show through the package window before the card was packaged back up, re-sealed, and returned. Luckily, CC believed him even though it had been days before he determined it. He remained a loyal customer until they went out of business.

...

No...worse. It was a PCI card with no 3D acceleration whatsoever. This was from the days when a video card was basically just a framebuffer and a DAC.

 

[tokie]

The proper way to solve this is to yell at the 16-year old kid working there until he returns it and ensures you get a new unused item.

 

[amdhunter]

Did you buy it new and find a used item inside or did you knowingly buy Open-Box?

Bought it new. It had fingerprints on it though, and it ticked me off. After wiping it down it looks flawless, and works perfectly.

 

[Bignate603]

That sounds like a typical Fry's trick...and is why I stopped buying components at Fry's.

I was about to say that this all sounded like something at Fry's. They have no problems trying to resell used stuff as new, some of the butchered packaging on the shelf with their attempts to seal it back up is laughable.

 

[gorcorps]

Yes, but only by knowingly buying the opened floor model.

 

[Tristicus]

Stick to policy. If I were your boss and I saw you making irate customers more irate instead of simply enforcing policy equally I would fire you immediately.

Then you obviously have no idea how retail works. My managers won't give a damn about someone who yells at them, as long as they're calm and cool, we do what we can. Why the hell would we just believe some bum who walked off the street, bought a camera, and returned it the next day saying there was a block of wood in there? Think they haven't heard it before? Policy would be to tell them they're lying and are SOL. If you're calm and just want a replacement, then sure, as long as someone hasn't recognized you as doing it multiple times, you'll get it more than likely. If you're acting stupid as fuck and demanding stuff, we'll probably tell you to take it up with a higher power or maybe, if someone is feeling nice, offer a percentage off a replacement.

 

[Tiamat]

You need to act extremely nice and courteous otherwise they will blame you for trying to scam them. Also try to take care of it same day as purchase.

 

[Leros]

This thread reminds me... has anybody else noticed all the scamming at Home Depot?

I've seen people buy something, then walk right back inside, and return it. I'm guessing they do it because Home Depot always gives you cash no matter how you paid originally.

 

[CZroe]

Then you obviously have no idea how retail works. My managers won't give a damn about someone who yells at them, as long as they're calm and cool, we do what we can.

Refusing service that you would refuse to someone who speaks differently *IS* "giving a damn" because it changed your response.

Why the hell would we just believe some bum who walked off the street, bought a camera, and returned it the next day saying there was a block of wood in there? Think they haven't heard it before? Policy would be to tell them they're lying and are SOL.

Damn. I'm having a brain fart. There is some thing someone said about the customer always being something...-damn!

There is a VERY high chance that you are both the victims of fraud and that such a policy is wrong. That's rarely "policy" and, if it were, then you have no excuse for letting a sweet-talker get away with it and not an *understandably* upset individual/customer.

If you're calm and just want a replacement, then sure, as long as someone hasn't recognized you as doing it multiple times, you'll get it more than likely. If you're acting stupid as fuck and demanding stuff, we'll probably tell you to take it up with a higher power or maybe, if someone is feeling nice, offer a percentage off a replacement.

In other words, people who are understandably upset deserve to be made more upset and deserve to be driven to a competitor in the future?

I've seen managers with the exact same mind set as you. If I were THEIR boss, I'd fire them too. They are the ones that argued with me on the phone for hours refusing to honor Cicuit City's 110% price match because they couldn't do math or read/understand their own policy and thought I was trying to scam them over $2. They are the ones responsible for the "Verizon math" dabacle. Do you want to be scorned like the numerous people involved in "Verizon math?" Do you want YOUR company to be the subject of such ridicule?

 

[coxmaster]

Damn. I'm having a brain fart. There is some thing someone said about the customer always being something...-damn!

Customers are almost always wrong.. If my store has a special that says "limit 2 per customer" then the limit is 2. No matter what customers seem to think that limit is not going to change (just an example of what nearly all customers demanded from me last week)

 

[Ichinisan]

Customers are almost always wrong.. If my store has a special that says "limit 2 per customer" then the limit is 2. No matter what customers seem to think that limit is not going to change (just an example of what nearly all customers demanded from me last week)

I laugh when I see "Limit [x]" in a Fry's flyer.

...so, if I need 5 of some particular thing for a project, and I go to Fry's, I can't get 5 just because they decided to put them on sale.

 

[foghorn67]

I laugh when I see "Limit [x]" in a Fry's flyer.

...so, if I need 5 of some particular thing for a project, and I go to Fry's, I can't get 5 just because they decided to put them on sale.

Just go in buy one, threw it in your car, walk back in and buy more.
I saw this guy arguing with one of the sales floor ladies about one per customer. Her suggestion was the same, but the guy was hellbent about it. Honestly, people are lazy.

 

[Paladin3]

Customers are almost always wrong.. If my store has a special that says "limit 2 per customer" then the limit is 2. No matter what customers seem to think that limit is not going to change (just an example of what nearly all customers demanded from me last week)

Working retail really brings out the dick in some people. (EDIT: Granted, buying retail can bring out the dick in some people, too, lol!)

There is a HUGE difference between unreasonable customers expecting you to violate clearly posted policy, and you deciding a customer who received a damaged item doesn't get a replacement because he didn't ask nicely enough.

What you can and can't do for a customer should be based 100% on established store policy alone. If they deserve an exchange or refund then you are obligated to give it to them, even if they don't come in on bending knee with hat in hand.

 

[Meghan54]

What you can and can't do for a customer should be based 100% on established store policy alone. If they deserve an exchange or refund then you are obligated to give it to them, even if they don't come in on bending knee with hat in hand.

No one is saying go in begging to be helped. On the other hand, going in and acting like an asshole from the start doesn't exactly get you any favors, either. Instead, that behavior will get you a CSR who will enforce in the strictest manner possible the policy in question. And as we all know, almost every policy can be overridden by the manager.....but pissing everyone off by acting like a pissed off 12 year old won't get that done for you.

Remember, that CSR you're talking will more than likely react to your antics in kind. Go in and act like an adult, you'll get treated like an adult. Act like a spoiled, self-entitled child and that's how you'll be treated.