Would this burn your bacon

[hey_moe]

Pat and I was out shopping last week and while we were at Best Buys he was looking at replacing his tower.Anyway we ended up at the Apple area and after playing with a 27inch all in one monitor/computer he decided to buy it.He asked the sale man what if he got it home and decided he didn't want it. The salesman said he has 14 days to return it for a full refund. Pat said that was fair enough. The salesman also said if he wants Windows7 to work right he needed this other program, 70 bucks. One of the things Pat started to notice was it kept dropping out his external hard drive and his USB thumb drive. Matter of and he lost all his passwords and it finally disabled his thumb drive to where it wouldn't work any more. He called the geek squad and they said it might be a hardware problem or software. Pat played with it a few more day and decide to just return it. Here is the bacon part...they charged him 250.00 for a restocking fee and they were unable to find any problems with it. Pat pointed to the sign that the restocking fee only applied to laptops. It didn't say anything about a full tower computer. She said laptops means all computers. I know I is old and a bit on the slow side but to me a tower and a laptop aren't the same. Do ya think he got screwed over here. Pat said if they had told him their would be a 250.00 return fee he would have never brought the computer.

[Willy]

Typical Best Buy behavior. One reason I don't shop there unless I can't get what I'm needing anywhere else.

[Skittles]

He should never have paid the fee. The item was faulty, no restocking fee should have been paid. Most states have laws regarding signage and restocking fees. If there wasn't adequate signs to indicate there would be a fee (which there blatantly wasn't) thhen chargin you may well be illegal. Go to upper management and kick up a fuss.

[gigabyte]

Skitttles is right on the money, if the signage says Laptops it does not apply to a desktop they are DIFFERENT. The other point Pat needs to discuss with Management is the statement made by the Best Buy Sales Rep, if the Rep in fact said "return in 14 days for a FULL refund" (Full Refund does NOT mean Refund less restocking fee), Best Buy is very likely required to honor that statement, (I am not up on every state consumer protection law, but that is common in most states and provinces in Canada, the wording varies but the principal is the same the Company is responsible for commitments made by associates used to entice consumers to make a purchase).

I had a dispute with a Canadian Big Box store (this store is owned by "Best Buy") a few years ago, along the same line, I purchased several items as Xmas gifts for the Family - doing the guy thing shopping on Xmas eve. The problem for me was the Boxing Day Sale, 3 of the items went on sale 4 days later, at 20% of what I paid, you know I was please to see that. The store policy was if the item went on sale within 7 days you got a refund - that seemed reasonable, I go to the counter and show my receipt asking about the "Price Protection" and was told "no returns or refunds are allowed until after Jan 2nd due to the madness of the post Xmas sale, however I could simply buy the items again at the new price and return the first purchases for a full refund, or come back for the "Price Protection" after Jan 2nd, seemed reasonable! I decided I did not want to buy over again so I made a couple of other purchases, went home happy, and returned after Jan 2nd, Oops sorry sir you are past the 7 day limit... now I am NOT happy, I asked how I could have received the refund when they would not allow it during the sale and was told sorry that is the policy, I asked to speak to a manager and was told to wait, after 20 minutes I asked again and was told the Manager was on break and would not be back for another half hour (nice break). I left a very UNsatsified customer! I decided not to give up, and went to the Contact Us link on the company site, after several messages back and forth I was getting no where, finally a message to the BBB, and the "Manager on Break" appears via eMail and asks me to come see him in the store, the BBB pointed out the conflict and the consumer protection laws, I expect he knew he had little choice but to satsify my complaint. I do give him credit, he not only took care of me, he turned my opinion around about his employer. He fully agreed the policy around Xmas returns caused problems with time limits and he also agreed he as a manager had to take responsibility for the commitments made by his staff, if they were mistaken he needed to provide better education of policy and how it is applied, and if they were saying things that were wrong (as in lieing to make a sale) there was a larger problem to deal with.

Bottom line, don't stop at a refusal or decision of a Sales Associate, go to a manager, and point out (in a reasonable way) your concern, they are not always easy to deal with, but most Managers understand customer complaints are an opportunity to build a stronger customer relationship, and they will do their best to help.

In my case, I was more than satsified, and since that time I have spent several thousand dollars at that very store, and I get a smile and a nod from the manager every time we see each other, he knows he did right by me and his store is benifiting from that decision.

Best of luck to Pat on this one!

[jmig]

Yep, I don't like to buy there either. Only if it is absolutely necessary.

[lifejogger]

Yes, he got screwed and he should have went to a manager. I have never had any probems at Best Buy but I don't buy much there because they are too expensive and you can usually et what you want cheaper of the internet.

[txnetcop]

Mike he was shafted. He should have involved management and fired off a letter to corporate. However, I hope Best Buy stays around for a long time, their bad business has been good for me!
Ted
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[brad kaste]

....I wouldn't let this rest until he got back his $250.00. Then,...it'd be goodbye forever to Best Buy.

[MaddogK]

The salesman also said if he wants Windows7 to work right he needed this other program, 70 bucks

FAIL !

Your friend altered the software, so the restocking fee applies as it has to be setup from scratch in order to resell it.

[Dain Arns]

I won't do business with them. Period.
They are an extremely deceptive company.
You think that's bad Mike, here's another scam they are famous for:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/investigation_shows_what_we_already_know_best_buys _optimization_scam

Now, I know all about this one, they pulled this crap on my friend Kathy with me standing there.

Kathy saw a laptop advertised that she absolutely wanted.
We both go to the store, and lo and behold they don't have anymore of the one advertised, which unfortunately was in very limited numbers at this store, but just by chance they have it's "bigger, better, brother" which of course is higher priced.
Hmmm.

Then she gets to the cash register, where they rip open the box in front of her and remove the recovery disks.
They advise her at this point that she will have to wait in-store 45 minutes to an hour while they "restore" the laptop to it's original settings, because the "Geek Squad" optimized it.
Otherwise she will have to pay $60 to get the disks back and she can leave with her new laptop.
When that involves a live person, I believe the term is called "kidnapping". I could be wrong. :icon_lol:

Eventually Kathy agreed to pay $20 for the disks.
I think her and the store manager were both getting tired of me very loudly repeating the words "deceptive practices" over and over. :icon_lol:

[Snuffy]

Something to be said for buying kits and building your own. :jump:

[GT182]

Remember the problem someone else here had with Worst Buy? ;)

ComUSA all the way. Build it on your own, don't buy it. :d

[Lionheart]

Man... That is a grim story. Sorry it happened to your friend Mike.

I would have asked to speak to the manager right then, and get a tech over from Electronics who can answer 'what is a laptop', and tell them, you are going to the BBB to report this. Very simple, politely, and with a smile.

I know the Mac store near me charge a restocking fee, but man, $250.00??? Thats pretty steep. Was it a $2,500.00 computer???


I think an Apple shop may have worked with him on it and got things working right for him. They bend over backwards for you here in Phoenix. Like going to a BMW dealership.



Bill

[hey_moe]

We did get the manager...he was a total joke. He took the CS employee in the back office and she came back and said their was nothing he can do. And yes the Apple guy that told us we have 14 days to make up our mind if you wanted it or not, came up and looked around and said all he does is sell them...it's up to CS if they want to refund the money. On the software issue, Pat formatted the system and set it back up like he received it. We plan on writing the BBB and let them take it from their. Pat ask me if I would file the complaint because he isn't very good at it. I told him if I have to I will file one everyday and if that doesn't work I go to two a day...lol. Pat has spent well over twenty grand with them....you know how much money they are going to get from him now...Mike

[GT182]

FAIL !

Your friend altered the software, so the restocking fee applies as it has to be setup from scratch in order to resell it.

But Maddog, should it still apply if Best Buy says you need such and such to make it work right? I wouldn't think so, and I'd fight tooth and nail to get my money back.

Moe, I bet it's the same amount I spend there..... ZIP. I wouldn't give BestBuy a drink of water if it was dieing of thurst in the middle of Sahara Desert. No joke!

[Ken Stallings]

Contact the Attorney General's office for Virginia. Since you can provide a witness statement, there are two voices saying:

1. The salesperson suggested the software.

2. The salesperson said return within 14 days for full refund.

3. The restocking fee sign said laptops, and laptops are not PC's.

What happened is a case of consumer fraud. Your state's AG should be able to write a letter to the Best Buy store and ask for an explanation to refute your allegations. I will guarantee that within a few days of receiving that letter, the store will refund the stocking fee they took.

Ken

[Henry]

i went for an interview at best buy last week for the geek squad
they are morons they asked me what i would do for customer service
i failed, the customer is allways right and i will do whatever
wrong answer
i hare corporations
H

[hey_moe]

One of the reasons they told Pat he was being charged 250.00 is because the box was open and now they had to sell it as a open box computer. To me the way they acted and what they did is total BS. Here we go again with this punishing Pat for opening the boz...lol. I asked the CS how would we know if something was wrong if we didn't open the box....dddduh.

[Trans_23]

I think my last computer component purchase at BB was a 56k modem. Went to a computer show shortly after and saw how much I was gouged. I restrict my spending there when I get a gift card and then I spend it on a movie or music CD.
Moe, I am surprised with your puter knowledge you allowed Pat to buy there. Bad, bad Moe. ;)

[hey_moe]

I told PAT I could build him a smoking system but he wanted to go in this direction. It was his money not mine.QUOTE=Trans_23;381311]I think my last computer component purchase at BB was a 56k modem. Went to a computer show shortly after and saw how much I was gouged. I restrict my spending there when I get a gift card and then I spend it on a movie or music CD.
Moe, I am surprised with your puter knowledge you allowed Pat to buy there. Bad, bad Moe. ;)[/QUOTE]

[Ken Stallings]

One of the reasons they told Pat he was being charged 250.00 is because the box was open and now they had to sell it as a open box computer. To me the way they acted and what they did is total BS. Here we go again with this punishing Pat for opening the boz...lol. I asked the CS how would we know if something was wrong if we didn't open the box....dddduh.

Add this to your list of issues in your contact with the Virginia AG. I'm serious, Moe, you've got a strong case for consumer fraud here.

Ken

[Dain Arns]

Add this to your list of issues in your contact with the Virginia AG. I'm serious, Moe, you've got a strong case for consumer fraud here.

Ken


Always good to check.
They may already be preparing a suit, or have one going, or know of someone who has a class action suit against them.

[gigabyte]

Moe, I agree with Ken, on the AG's office, although you might get lucky with the BBB approach, I did in my problem but it does depend on the manager that gets the compaint. Most managers with any experience understand Customer Service, and those that don't need a 3rd party to "enlighten" them, sometimes the BBB can work wonders, and sometimes as Ken suggests a bigger stick is needed. But by all means in any corespondance keep repeating what was said by the Sales associate, "14 Days Full Refund" - make the Manager accept the responsibility for what his or her sales people committed to!

[hey_moe]

To me I would better understand what happen here if it had be six months or so. Or Pat had damaged the computer. All they did was take it to the shop and boot it up and said they found nothing wrong with it. Pat is pretty computer savy and fully understands how to operate one. At first he really liked it. But as problems kept coming up, he started to get discourage. One thing Pat can't stand to do is take something back. So he really thought about it and later one decided to do it.

[harleyman]

He can also take this further up the BB Chain..Its a long corperate chain..but maybe the regoinal manager can get involved..They HATE their district under attach.



I did this once there ..

i told them..here is the item..i want a reciet that it was paid..Now I am going to my lawyers and filing suit...

see ya..bye

They refunded me there on the sopt