Dirty deed? You tell me.

[OCNewbie]

Ok, I'm just interested in hearing some opinions about something I've done before at hardware retailers to convenience myself and wondering if others have done the same and how they feel about it.

You buy a product from one of the big retail chains (Best Buy, Fry's, CompUSA, Circuit City, etc.), the item breaks within a few months, or well within it's warranty period, but is AFTER their return policy period. You can either:

A) box it up, and pay to ship it to the manufacturer, wait a while for them to determine it's busted, etc., then for them to ship it back to you.

or

B) buy the identical product from the same retail chain, bring it home, put your broken unit back into the new box, return it to the store and tell them it was DOA and get your money back.

Basically option B would save you the money to ship it back to the manufacturer and also the week or two (however long it takes) to wait for the manufacturer to process your claim and mail you back a working product.

When things are genuinely defective within the return policy, the retail store has a process that allows them to RMA the item back to the manufacturer at little cost to the retail chain I'm assuming? IF that is the case, then this practice isn't that bad as long as you're not upgrading to a more expensive item and are genuinely just using a loophole (maybe it's fraud) to expedite the warranty process?

Edit - As this isn't some fantastic new idea, I don't think leaving this thread up simply for informational purposes would be terribly detrimental or influence others to do something similar.

 

[OCNewbie]

Also, how does this hurt the retail store if they will just return it to the manufacturer as a DOA item? Maybe I won't consider this as an option in the future if there are actual significant costs to the retail store for this method.

 

[pcgeek11]

This is still dishonest and just short of theft, but not by much.

pcgeek11

 

[Baked]

Originally posted by: OCNewbie
Ok, I'm just interested in hearing some opinions about something I've done before at hardware retailers to convenience myself and wondering if others have done the same and how they feel about it.

You buy a product from one of the big retail chains (Best Buy, Fry's, CompUSA, Circuit City, etc.), the item breaks within a few months, or well within it's warranty period, but is AFTER their return policy period. You can either:

A) box it up, and pay to ship it to the manufacturer, wait a while for them to determine it's busted, etc., then for them to ship it back to you.

or

B) buy the identical product from the same retail chain, bring it home, put your broken unit back into the new box, return it to the store and tell them it was DOA and get your money back.

Basically option B would save you the money to ship it back to the manufacturer and also the week or two (however long it takes) to wait for the manufacturer to process your claim and mail you back a working product.

When things are genuinely defective within the return policy, the retail store has a process that allows them to RMA the item back to the manufacturer at little cost to the retail chain I'm assuming? IF that is the case, then this practice isn't that bad as long as you're not upgrading to a more expensive item and are genuinely just using a loophole (maybe it's fraud) to expedite the warranty process?

Edit - As this isn't some fantastic new idea, I don't think leaving this thread up simply for informational purposes would be terribly detrimental or influence others to do something similar.

You can't do that, the serial # on the product and the box don't match. And option B is no different from stealing something from a store.

 

[n7]

That is f*cking theft :frown::|

I hope you get the ban you deserve; it's just too bad we can't ban you from real life.

 

[OCNewbie]

How is it stealing? I'm not taking anything more than I originally paid for. Yes, it is dishonest, but I'm honestly curious how the retailer suffers from this. Other than putting the burden on them to re-stock their shelves that one item, I guess there's a cost associated with that. To order another one that is.

And yes, bringing up a subject like this is obvious ban material to a board I've been a part of for the better part of 6+ years. Yes, perhaps it's a tad shady, but I'm not saying "look what I did, aren't I cool!", I'm trying to get the ins and outs of what detrimental effect such an action would have on a retailer, like what costs they would be responsible for, etc.

Again, I'm presuming that the retailer is a customer to the manufacturer/vendor, much the same as we are the customer to the retailer, so if the retailer gets an item that is DOA then the manufacturer will replace it without question? Also, I used to work in customer service in one of the above mentioned stores, and there were many times the managers would allow customers to bring in items we still carried WITHOUT a receipt and we'd open a new box, give them a working product, take their defective product and RTV (return to vendor) the item. I guess if management did it it's not a big deal, but if a customer does it it's somehow different?

 

[networkman]

Originally posted by: n7
That is f*cking theft :frown::| I hope you get the ban you deserve...

Completely agree!

:|

 

[dBTelos]

No, you can't do that. It's illegal and as others mentioned, they will probably check the serial numbers.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: OCNewbie
How is it stealing? I'm not taking anything more than I originally paid for. Yes, it is dishonest, but I'm honestly curious how the retailer suffers from this. Other than putting the burden on them to re-stock their shelves that one item, I guess there's a cost associated with that. To order another one that is.

And yes, bringing up a subject like this is obvious ban material to a board I've been a part of for the better part of 6+ years. Yes, perhaps it's a tad shady, but I'm not saying "look what I did, aren't I cool!", I'm trying to get the ins and outs of what detrimental effect such an action would have on a retailer, like what costs they would be responsible for, etc.

Again, I'm presuming that the retailer is a customer to the manufacturer/vendor, much the same as we are the customer to the retailer, so if the retailer gets an item that is DOA then the manufacturer will replace it without question? Also, I used to work in customer service in one of the above mentioned stores, and there were many times the managers would allow customers to bring in items we still carried WITHOUT a receipt and we'd open a new box, give them a working product, take their defective product and RTV (return to vendor) the item. I guess if management did it it's not a big deal, but if a customer does it it's somehow different?

It is fraud. You don't have to ask to be convinced it is stealing, you already have an inling that this is wrong as evidenced by the mere fact that you are clearly seeking other's input on the matter.

And guess what, just because your management committed fraud doesn't mean it is acceptable behaviour to model yourself after. What other law works that way? "I shouldn't go to jail judge, I worked with people who did it too..."

Return policies exist so the system makes enough money to pay for hiring people. If you don't agree with the system then don't buy from it, but don't steal from it. What you are doing ultimately contributes to people's getting lower raises for their hard work, or worse their being laid off and losing their job. That is who you are stealing from, not to mention every other customer of that store who gets to pay higher prices to subsidize your desire to cheat the system.

Major Lame IMO.