CompUSA exchange policy

[RyanM]

A friend of mine had an interesting experience. She was in a CompUSA tonite, and the story she told me floored me. It threw a wrench into everything I thought I knew about retail consumer electronics sales based on 3+ years of working for or in Best Buys.

Let me present you this scenario:

You are a manager at CompUSA. A customer service rep calls you over to deal with a customer situation that is a little out of the ordinary.

The customer bought "Widget A" 9 days ago, while it was on sale. Widget A, unfortunately, no longer functions as it should, IE, it is defective. The customer would like to exchange it for another Widget A, which they're perfectly entitled to - Unfortunately, Widget A is out of stock and may very well be closeout.

There is another product, with the exact same featureset, down to the letter, as Widget A, which we'll call Widget B. Unfortunately, the price on Widget B is 20% higher than the price the customer paid for Widget A.

So do you:

A. Give Widget B to customer to replace the defective Widget A.
B. Give Widget B to customer to replace the defective Widget A, but charge them the difference.
C. Give Widget B to customer to replace the defective Widget A, but charge them the difference, and keep the only copy of the receipt for Widget A so the customer, upon realizing they just got hosed, cannot make things right.

As long as I've known how to sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman wearing white gloves, solution A is the only possible one to this problem - Although it eats into the bottom line, it ensures customer satisfaction, and ensures they'll return to the store in the future to buy items that they'll be raped on, such as accessories.

However, CompUSA went route C - After making my friend wait for over an hour while she dealt with a grand total of 2 customer service reps, 1 technician, 2 of the sales staff, and one manager.

At one point, the manager told her he'd have to keep it overnight in order to verify the defect - Something which made me "Shaaaaaaaaa!" in suprise, because a place like Best Buy would slap a DEVO sticker on the product and send it right to the manufacturer if it's within the 14/30 day return period.

I don't shop at CompUSA often, since they're pretty far from where I live, but this story has definitely made me hesitant to purchase anything there.

Anyone know about the legality of the situation such as this? Is the store obligated to offer the customer an equal, or in its absense, better product, for the same price paid for the defective item, WHEN the item is within the return-exchange period? Or is that something I'm used to because of the high level of service in the local Best Buy stores?

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Unless specified otherwise in their policy, no the store is not obligated to offer a better product for the same price. Good CS, yes. Obligated? No. That's why I don't shop at CUSA anymore. BB has better prices and a no hassle (to me) return policy. That or get it off the net.

Hey question for you - if someone returns stuff to BB thats not defective does it automatically become an open box item? I bought a Netgear USB Wireless Card for my computer - Open Box - it got horrible horrible reception - I don't know if it's defective or it just sucks. (I'm returning it either way tomorrow though)

 

[RyanM]

Originally posted by: Angrymarshmello
Unless specified otherwise in their policy, no the store is not obligated to offer a better product for the same price. Good CS, yes. Obligated? No. That's why I don't shop at CUSA anymore. BB has better prices and a no hassle (to me) return policy. That or get it off the net.

Hey question for you - if someone returns stuff to BB thats not defective does it automatically become an open box item? I bought a Netgear USB Wireless Card for my computer - Open Box - it got horrible horrible reception - I don't know if it's defective or it just sucks. (I'm returning it either way tomorrow though)

Typically, 99% of computer components are considered "DEVO," which means that if returned defective, they get shipped straight to the manufacturer who refunds the money to Best Buy.

Which is why you NEVER see open box video cards and NICs.

Now, a hub or switch MIGHT not be DEVO; it varies between vendors and products. I'd guess that it ISN'T, but regardless, you can return it for any reason you feel like within 14 or 30 days.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Hey MF,

Ahh ok thanks for the info. I saw quite a few O.B. networking devices there (routers and such) so I was just curious

 

[Gunther]

I think what the manager did was morally wrong, but at the same time I have to agree with Angrymarshmello that the store did not have to offer a better product. Personally I refuse to shop at Compusa because their managers suck (personal experience) and their return policy sucks compared to their competitors.

 

[ddjkdg]

Your friend got gipped. Tell her to take the product back and demand a refund. Try and remember the names of the people she dealt with. Whether or not she gets her money back have her tell the manager she will never be setting foot in a CompUSA store in the future and she'll be talking to his superior about what happened.

 

[CanOWorms]

I know someone that bought an open-box laptop from BestBuy (it was actually just the laptop - no box, no manuals, etc.). The salesperson told him that he could return it without paying a restocking fee since it was open-box. It was defective so he went to return it 2 days later. They told him that he would have to pay the restocking fee even though if it was defective and they had nothing else to exchange it for. He had to go out and drag the salesperson who originally sold it to him to tell the manager that there should be no restocking fee. The manager actually accused my friend of trying to "rent" the laptop.

So, bad customer service happens at BestBuy, too

 

[sciencewhiz]

what about option d) since the item in question isn't in stock, refund the money?

 

[fr]

Originally posted by: sciencewhiz
what about option d) since the item in question isn't in stock, refund the money?

Yeah, I would go with that one. If they want widget B instead, I would allow them to pay the difference for it.

 

[KeyserSoze]

I HATE CompUSA with a passion. I once bought a Hard Drive from them. I had it UNOPENED, the box was still in perfect shape. And they wanted to charge me a 15% restocking fee. I've heard of places doing that for OPENED items, but it had only been three days, and I found a better/cheaper drive online, and those bastages wanted to charge me. I was soo angry, so I ended up keeping the drive. (haha, sold it to a friend for the exact same amount I paid for it.)


Screw you CompUSA.





KeyserSoze

 

[Turkish]

yeah a similar thing happened to me too while i was visiting my cousin, he asked me to do him a favor and buy him a couple of things from compusa, so i went out and bought them, later on we found out i bought a couple of wrong items. so we didn't open the boxes, and with our original receipt, we went to return them. they tried to not accept it, so my cousin went home that night, wrote a letter to the manager, threatening about writing to corporate offices, guess who called the next day at 8:01 AM

 

[RyanM]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms
I know someone that bought an open-box laptop from BestBuy (it was actually just the laptop - no box, no manuals, etc.). The salesperson told him that he could return it without paying a restocking fee since it was open-box. It was defective so he went to return it 2 days later. They told him that he would have to pay the restocking fee even though if it was defective and they had nothing else to exchange it for. He had to go out and drag the salesperson who originally sold it to him to tell the manager that there should be no restocking fee. The manager actually accused my friend of trying to "rent" the laptop.

So, bad customer service happens at BestBuy, too

There is NO restocking fee on defective items. As long as the notebook was defective, he shouldn't have been screwed like that.

 

[C'DaleRider]

So, using your scenario, the 36" Toshiba flat screen TV that was blurry from the beginning, and the last in stock at your BB, when returned should be exchanged for that nice Sony Wega sitting there? It's only $200 more and surely you can see your way to giving it to me for the Toshiba price. (This is the exact same scenario I had and I DID NOT get the Sony for the Toshiba price, despite your assurances that I should have.....I *gasp* HAD TO PAY THE DIFFERENCE to walk out with the Sony.

What, in essence happened, is they refunded her money and then put that $$ toward a new sale of the new porduct, hence no receipt for the defective return and the upcharge on the new sale. Nothing untoward, nothing immoral. The store is not obligated to anything other than refund her $$ on a defective product.