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Thread: Another Best Buy Experience

  1. #1
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    Another Best Buy Experience

    A friend sent this to me. He said that it was checked out on Snopes dot com. Thought I would pass it on.

    Best Buy has some bad policies....
    Normally, I would not share this with others, however, since this could happen to you or your friends , I decided to share it. If you purchase something from, Wal-Mart,Sears etc. and you return the item with the receipt they will give you your money back if you paid cash, or credit your account if paid by plastic.
    Well, I purchased a GPS for my car, a Tom Tom XL.S from 'Best Buy'. They have a policy that it must be returned within 14 days for a refund!
    So after 4 days I returned it in the original box with all the items in the box, with paper work and cords all wrapped in the plastic. Just as I received it, including the receipt.
    I explained to the lady at the return desk I did not like the way it could not find store names. The lady at the refund desk said, there is a 15% restock fee, for items returned. I said no one told me that. I said how much would that be. She said it goes by the price of the item. It will be $45.00 Dollars for you. I said, all your going to do is walk over and place it back on the shelf then charge me $45.00 of my money for restocking? She said that's the store policy. I said if more people were aware of it they would not buy anything here! If I bought a $2000.00 computer or TV and returned it I would be charged $300.00 dollars restock fee? She said yes, 15%.
    I said OK, just give me my money minus the restock fee.
    She said, since the item is over $200.00 dollars, she can't give me my money back!!!
    Corporate has to and they will mail you a check in 7 to ten days.!! I said 'WHAT?!'
    It's my money!! I paid in cash! I want to buy a different brand..Now I have to wait 7 to 10 days. She said well, our policy is on the back of your receipt.
    I said, do you read the front or back of your receipt? She said well, the front! I said so do I, I want to talk to the Manager!.
    So the manager comes over, I explained everything to him, and he said, well, sir they should have told you about the policy when you got the item. I said, No one, has ever told me about the check refund or restock fee, whenever I bought items from computers to TVs from Best Buy. The only thing they ever discussed was the worthless extended warranty program. He said Well, I can give you corporate phone number.
    I called corporate. The guy said, well, I'm not supposed to do this but I can give you a 45.00 dollar gift card and you can use it at Best Buy. I told him if I bought something and returned it, you would charge me a restock fee on the item and then send me a check for the remaining 3 dollars. You can keep your gift card, I'm never shopping in Best Buy ever again, and if I would have been smart, I would have charged the whole thing on my credit card! Then I would of canceled the transaction.
    I would have gotten all m y money back including your stupid fees! He didn't say a word!
    I informed him that I was going to e-mail my friends and give them a heads up on this stores policy, as they don't tell you about all the little caveats.
    David B

  2. #2
    I had almost that exact experience, so I don't doubt it's true, except mine was with a camera and detailed in a previous post.

    The thing that came up in that last thread was that someone told me it was my fault because all the info was on the back of the receipt. Well, last time I checked, they didn't give you the receipt until the item was bought. So how am I supposed to read the policy on the back of the receipt before I buy it if you don't give me the receipt until after I buy it, at which time, it's too late.

    I'd like to meet the moron in a suit at corporate that thinks this is a great policy.

    I had the same thing, the guy wanted to send me a gift card. That was after they threw me out of the store. He wanted me to go back to the store they threw me out of and shop some more. Yeah........don't think that's going to happen.

    All I ever wanted was a decent discussion about it.
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  3. #3
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    I agree that it is a punitive policy and should be clearly stated up front (which I am sure is rarely done). Apparently, BB instituted this policy because some customers were abusing an open return policy where they would take back any item within 30 days without question -- people use an item like a big screen TV for a specific event (like the Super Bowl) and then return it for a full refund. I'd hate to be an individual that received a gift that was purchased from Best Buy and wanted to return it!

    I don't shop there any more because of this policy, because it penalizes good customers like you, too. Lowes has an open return policy -- if one uses it, do it honestly and don't abuse it!
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  4. #4
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    The basic policy is that if you open up the item and use it it is not new anymore. Have you ever seen the open box table which is 15% off. If you do buy something as long as the box is not opened or the item used you will get 100% of your money back it is only if you use it you have to pay a 15% fee. You can correct me if I am wrong here. If you want to play with something they have floor models for that and you can play with them. If the floor models don't work ask them to make one work for you or you won't buy it.

    I don't really like BB at all and do not normally shop there. It is very reasonable though that if you open something up and use it it is not new anymore and can not be sold as new. If you were looking on a shelf of items, and were spending hundreds of dollars on the item, would you pick any box or would you pick the box which looked to be in the best condition. Would you overlook a box which was ripped open? How would you feel if you got home and all the cables were not factory packaged?

    I dont' agree with the whole 7-10 day thing. It is your money and you shoudl get it back immediately. No reason to not pay with a card for big purchases...not only for the protection but also because it will be credited immediately back to you if you do return something.

  5. #5
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    The Best Buy store closest to me has fairly prominent signs posted that detail the return/restocking fee policy and the category of items covered by the policy. Everyone entering the store has ample opportunity to become aware of the policy prior to making any purchases.

    And as was suggested, almost every purchase I make over a couple of dollars or so is made with a credit card - at Best Buy, and elsewhere.
    Tom Veatch
    Wichita, KS
    USA

  6. #6
    AMEX Don't leave home without it.

    If they charge you the restocking fee you can let them take it out of the cost and then challenge that with AMEX.

    If 15% fee is not in the original documentation (receipt or other document of the transaction) you win.

  7. #7
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    I never understood this kind of a policy but it's more common than most folks realize.

    Then one day as I was shopping at HD for a new carpet cleaner, another customer recommended that I buy it.....use it and return it and it would not cost me anything but the detergents and anti-sudsing agent.

    Then I understood why stores do that!
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  8. #8
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    Costco changed their return policy to 90 days on electronics for a different reason. People were returning items like big-screen Plasma/LCD TVs when
    they saw newer, better models come out, often cheaper too as the competition increased.



    Sammamish, WA

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  9. #9
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    Their return policies are one of the reasons I quite shopping there years ago. The only time I go in their store is if it is for something small and stuip and if I need it ASAP, like a mouse quites or something. You can but everything they sell much cheaper online. Normally I will buy locally even if it costs a few bucks more because you cant be local service. However in Best Buy's case the service is horse manure to start with an only gets worse from there. My adivce only buy from best buy if you have to have it right now and they are the only place that sell it. Otherwise STAY CLEAR, they are a horible horible business.

  10. #10
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    The restocking fee is nothing new.

    Grizzly has a 10% restocking fee on any returns.
    http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2009/Main/659

    Sears has a restocking fee if used.
    http://www.sears.com/shc/s/nb_10153_...urns?adCell=W4

    This is Target.
    Restocking Fees: Some items are subject to a 15% restocking fee, including camcorders, digital cameras, portable DVD players and portable electronics.

    This is just the ones I can think of right now.

    This was a survey taken in New York.
    "found that 44 percent of stores surveyed by her office charge restocking fees on returns."

    I work in retail and can tell you returns are horrible right now. We do not have a restocking fee.
    About a month ago people started returning portable heaters. I bet we got 100 or more returned.
    I can list many items we would take back in returns with no receipt. We would take 50 back in returns for a year but only sold 20-30.
    Right now you need a receipt or your out of luck.
    Last edited by Dave Lehnert; 05-04-2009 at 9:29 PM.
    "Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
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  11. #11
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    My $0.02...If it is not posted prominently within the store where you would see it, it doesn't matter if they print it on the front or back of the receipt. You had no knowledge of their policy BEFORE the transaction so the "contract" is void! For it to be an enforceable contract, both parties must be privy the the T&Cs at the time of the transaction.

  12. #12
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    A lot of places can now look stuff up if you paid by CC and get a duplicate reciept for you. Menards even has a kiosk so you can find your own. Its really nice at places like that where odds are something you buy in the course of a project (or at least in the course of my home projects) will need to be exchanged or returned. Though it does concern me what data from my card they are storing in their database. And its a pain remembering whether we used my card or my wife's card, credit or debit.

    I knew about Best Buy's 15% policy. Its why they wouldn't sell me a camera and a camera case in one transaction--they couldn't dismount the display from the security thing because it was against policy. And they woudn't open the camera we were buying because it would break the magic seal. I had to open it myself. But not until I paid and I wasn't allowed to do it in the store. Also why we bought the same camera at Costco.com. And a TV at Costco. And my daughter's DS at Toys R Us. But hey, its policy...

    Dick, I bet if someone really fought it they could win in court, because you are right that they never inform people of that policy. It is displayed on a giant poster, but at the return desk where you would be very unlikely to see it. And I bet if someone did win, they'd start making you sign something on the electronic tablet acknowledging the policy.
    Last edited by Matt Meiser; 05-04-2009 at 9:38 PM.


  13. #13
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    I did some reserach and found this statement straight from the man in charge... Richard Cordray (Ohio Attorney General) stated...

    "Under Ohio Law, it is illegal to advertise a sale without listing any specific limitations, if they exist....Delivery charges, restocking fees, or handling fees must also be disclosed. Additonal charges, terms and conditions, or limited times of the sale must be disclosed....All disclosures must be clear and conspicuous....It is not acceptable for it to only be printed on the receipt since the purchase has already been made."
    Last edited by Dick Strauss; 05-04-2009 at 10:24 PM.

  14. #14
    Dave, I have zero issues with a company charging a restocking charge. I completely understand that. When it's my fault. However, if YOUR sales rep tells me this new nifty camera will shoot 5 frames per second and I get it home, open the box and the directions say "2 frames per second", then it's their fault.

    If I ask for help in getting a cable for my printer, and you tell me which one I should buy, I get it home and it's the wrong one, then it's their fault.

    If I open a box and the item doesn't work out of the box and I want to bring it back any get a different model, that's not my fault.

    If they would modify their policy to have a tiny bit of flexibility in it for instances like I mentioned, then they would be in excellent shape. But they won't budge even when they are in the wrong.
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  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Payne View Post
    Lowes has an open return policy -- if one uses it, do it honestly and don't abuse it!
    Boy, you have that right. I bought an electric lawn mower from Lowes. Used it for about two months and decided I was killing myself trying to mow with it and bought a gas powered one. My wife packed up the electric, headed to Lowes, and gave them an earful about the product's short comings. They gave her a full refund!

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