Best Buy now issuing return warnings?

[tboo]

From the AVS forum. Not sure if non-forum members can access this link:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1420497/best-buys-return-warning-it-could-happen-to-you

 

[RossMAN]

http://consumerist.com/2011/02/why-does-best-buy-need-my-id-to-return-a-purchase.html

 

[DesiPower]

Good, I hope walmart starts doing the same... bunch of freebies playing the system, screw them, shame on you

 

[lxskllr]

Good, I hope walmart starts doing the same... bunch of freebies playing the system, screw them, shame on you

What's the scam?

 

[Anubis]

and this is another reason why amazon gets 99% of my business

 

[DesiPower]

and this is another reason why amazon gets 99% of my business

Its not free, 15% restocking fee or Prime membership required. Fail

 

[DesiPower]

What's the scam?

Returning something that you broke by mistake, got bored of or newer model came released, I have even seen people return printers after printing their vacation pictures, these are just a few examples. I am sure if you are reasonable honorable guy, you will never have a problem with genuine returns even with their new system

 

[RossMAN]

CostCo > Target > Walmart > Best Buy

 

[Anubis]

i order enough stuff that prime is worth it for me

 

[DesiPower]

i order enough stuff that prime is worth it for me

So do I, just renewed mine for the second time, all the free 2 day shipping and all series and season of star trek makes it totally worth your the money. But you cannot compare apples and oranges.

 

[mmntech]

What's the scam?

Say you need a camcorder to film your niece's wedding. What people do is buy it the day before, use it for what they need, and then return it when they're done. So basically they get to rent it free of charge. Stores lose money every time this happens as they can no longer see the item as new. Best Buy is full of these items. When I bought my first iPad, it was an open box. It was obvious the thing had never been touched. Got a good deal on it that way.

Another thing people do is take an item home to try it before they buy it someplace else. That's how they got their reputation as Amazon's showroom.

Long story short, this is why stores started charging restocking fees. With Best Buy bleeding money, I'm not surprised they took it to this extreme. Though it's unfair to do it for exchanges.

 

[SKORPI0]

What's the scam?

Maybe to deter people purchasing item to use for a short time and returning "non-defective" item explaining its not the product they thought they wanted.

Big screen TV - Super Bowl
Camera/Videocamera - vacation
Grill - 4th of July, Labor day, etc.
Lawn Mower/Snow Plow - cut grass/plow snow during the season and return end of season.
Clothes/shoes - use it for a special occasion/wedding once leaving price tag on item.

Probably Best Buy is making a list of people who do this to be "blacklisted" later on. :\

 

[lxskllr]

Say you need a camcorder to film your niece's wedding. What people do is buy it the day before, use it for what they need, and then return it when they're done. So basically they get to rent it free of charge. Stores lose money every time this happens as they can no longer see the item as new. Best Buy is full of these items. When I bought my first iPad, it was an open box. It was obvious the thing had never been touched. Got a good deal on it that way.

Another thing people do is take an item home to try it before they buy it someplace else. That's how they got their reputation as Amazon's showroom.

Long story short, this is why stores started charging restocking fees. With Best Buy bleeding money, I'm not surprised they took it to this extreme. Though it's unfair to do it for exchanges.

I'm surprised people do that serially, where a check would catch it. I got burned on BestBuy open boxes a couple times. I don't care about scuffs, and missing manuals, but a couple of the things I got, it was obvious they didn't check them at all. The most basic functionality check would have shown they were broken. I got my money back, but it was a PITA driving back to the store.

 

[Anubis]

guess im not a crook as doing what mmntech described would have never crossed my mind

 

[bbhaag]

nvm that didn't make sense...I'm tired tonight.

 

[SKORPI0]

Forgot to mention when I worked at Best Buy ('92-'99) a guy bought a Sony video camcorder and paid about $999 IIRC. He returned a few hours later and told customers service that when he opened box that bricks were inside. You could hear him yelling and being upset. Hard to tell if he was scamming/telling the truth since item was shrink wrapped when sold. Not sure how it was resolved since I was doing my Shipping/receiving job. And to think that BB actually accepted returns without checking/opening the box if it was still shrink wrapped. How hard is it not to have a shrink wrapping machine outside the retail store, they were and still are widely available if you wanted one that time. :\

 

[mmntech]

I'm surprised people do that serially, where a check would catch it. I got burned on BestBuy open boxes a couple times. I don't care about scuffs, and missing manuals, but a couple of the things I got, it was obvious they didn't check them at all. The most basic functionality check would have shown they were broken. I got my money back, but it was a PITA driving back to the store.

The minimum wage sales clerks don't check because they're not paid enough to care. The only way to monitor it is to track it in the system. If people are paying cash, it's especially difficult. That's why they always want to see photo ID. Pawn shops do the same thing, though in their case they're tracking people trying to hock stolen items.

As for open box items, I'd never buy sight unseen. I ask them to open the box and turn it on so I can check it. If it's an expensive item, they'll do it. Though BB employees aren't commissioned, they're still judged on their sales performance. It's why they're always pushing the extended warranties. They probably get bonuses based on how much they sell.

guess im not a crook as doing what mmntech described would have never crossed my mind

I thought it was common knowledge that people did this. I've never done it myself, but I know of people who have.

 

[Imp]

Forgot to mention when I worked at Best Buy ('92-'99) a guy bought a Sony video camcorder and paid about $999 IIRC. He returned a few hours later and told customers service that when he opened box that bricks were inside. You could hear him yelling and being upset. Hard to tell if he was scamming/telling the truth since item was shrink wrapped when sold. Not sure how it was resolved since I was doing my Shipping/receiving job. And to think that BB actually accepted returns without checking/opening the box if it was still shrink wrapped. How hard is it not to have a shrink wrapping machine outside the retail store, they were and still are widely available if you wanted one that time. :\

How could you not tell that it was way too heavy for a camcorder?

My memory might be going, but camcorders weren't cinder blocks in the 90s anymore.

 

[SKORPI0]

How could you not tell that it was way too heavy for a camcorder? My memory might be going, but camcorders weren't cinder blocks in the 90s anymore.

Probably just 1 brick to approximate the weight of the camcorder. I only heard what the fuss was about the next day. After that, I made it a point to open anything expensive electronics to verify that I got what I paid for.

Oh those Monster cables sure had huge markups, I bought those about 10% for what customers were paying them for. CarFi dept. had the largest profit margins, beside those PSPs sales associates were forced to push on customers.

 

[QueBert]

What's the scam?

1 scam I know a few people who personally have done, return a laptop and re-buy it 2 days later at a lower price, my local BB use to not charge a restocking fee on laptops if you claimed it was broken. So said laptop is returned, only to be tested and BB finds out out it's totally functional. They sell it as an open box, dude rebuys it and pockets a few hundred bucks. Another one I know a few people who have have done, buy an item that they have a broken one of at home, and return the broken one for a refund. Then they head back home to play with the new one. I'm sure there are other scams I don't know about. I watched a guy in his garage removing a serial number sticker from a laptop with a heatgun so he could swap it out with one on a broke laptop. I felt like reporting him but I thought about how hundreds of people do shit like this every day so I said forget it and just went home. I also know a guy who has bought multiple printers and returned them after using up all the ink, I felt like telling BB about this, but again with so many people doing it, it would have been a waste of my time. Just last month a neighbor was telling me he was going to buy an item listed on Craigslist as broken for stupid cheap and buy a new one from BB and return the broken one for a $400 profit. He actually seemed proud to tell me this.

A lot of people talk about how shitty BB is, but some of the customers go to retarded lengths to get over on them. So policies like this are absolutely needed.

 

[mmntech]

Probably just 1 brick to approximate the weight of the camcorder. I only heard what the fuss was about the next day. After that, I made it a point to open anything expensive electronics to verify that I got what I paid for.

Oh those Monster cables sure had huge markups, I bought those about 10% for what customers were paying them for. CarFi dept. had the largest profit margins, beside those PSPs sales associates were forced to push on customers.

The old brick in the box is a classic grift. That one was probably old when my grandpa was my age. I'm surprised anyone still falls for it.

However, I'm not surprised that the cables and car stereos had that much markup. Especially the car stereos. Plenty of kids with a big enough allowance to buy 15'' subs for their scratched to shit 1996 Honda Civic.

 

[mafia]

Another one I know a few people who have have done, buy an item that they have a broken one of at home, and return the broken one for a refund. Then they head back home to play with the new one. I

Thats why they have unique serial numbers. I work at Wal-Mart part-time(full time student) and when I check for electronics return, ex. expensive TV, the tv has a serial number sticker which should match the one on the receipt. If the customer puts his identical broken TV in there, it will have a different serial number so we won't accept the return. Unless the associate forgets to check

 

[QueBert]

Thats why they have unique serial numbers. I work at Wal-Mart part-time(full time student) and when I check for electronics return, ex. expensive TV, the tv has a serial number sticker which should match the one on the receipt. If the customer puts his identical broken TV in there, it will have a different serial number so we won't accept the return. Unless the associate forgets to check

unless it's etched in or attached on a metal plate it's not hard to swap stickers. And even the metal plate ones can be swapped by a person with enough skill and time on their hands.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

What happened to the good ole days of customer service? Quote from Seinfeld.




Jerry: I'd like to return this jacket.
Clerk: Certainly. May I ask why?
Jerry: For spite.

 

[thescreensavers]

So this just applies to stuff I want to return becuse I do not want it anymore?

or if I get two defective items I cannot return the other for 90days?