Ken Masters
Banned
But if you lose the receipt you're screwed. I can't remember the last time I kept a paper receipt
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No wonder Best Buy is going under
- Thread starter Square Triangle
- Start date
But if you lose the receipt you're screwed. I can't remember the last time I kept a paper receipt
I think there are a fair number of viral marketing / sock puppet accounts on here, tbh.
Ken Masters
Banned
I remember threads were people would defending Microsoft for having ads plastered all over the dashboard for Xbox live gold
HueyFreeman
Banned
It might be even more disappointing than that - people just have extremely low expectations as a consumer now, to the point where they're not even consciously aware of or interested in their consumer rights. In fact, as a digital media further erodes the concept of true ownership, I'd imagine this is only going to progress.
Well, really, I think thats how it should be for the most part. You dont need to learn to like it, but return policies aren't meant to be 'try before you commit' services. Thats just how a lot of people treat it, and that is probably a large reason why you get some fairly strict policies, cuz people abuse the system and these companies need to protect themselves.
So yea, I dont blame companies, I blame the people that misuse it.
Hell, I'm even embarrassed when I'm out at a restaurant with somebody and they order something new, dont like it, and then ask for something else. Thats kind of messed up. Its not a taste-testing. If you dont like it, then thats a shame, but its what you ordered. I know restaurants will still fulfill your request, but its only because they want to keep you coming back cuz they know people act like entitled fucks when they dont get their way.
I would guess it has more to do with people who work or have worked in retail having dealt with scummy customers in the past. Combine that with GAF often having backfire threads from OPs fudging the truth; it doesn't surprise that many are/were skeptical.
What in the universe?
The solution is simple; do not buy anything in best buy for the next 90 days, since if something goes wrong with your purchase, you won't be allowed to return anything.
And once the 90 days are past, never buy anything from best buy again anyway since they are stupid.
Who the fuck remembers how long have they been shopping at a certain store.
What is wrong with you.
And once the 90 days are past, never buy anything from best buy again anyway since they are stupid.
Who the fuck remembers how long have they been shopping at a certain store.
What is wrong with you.
Square Triangle
Member
What? Huh? Did you read anything? It was returned the day after I bought it.
Wow! That's beyond ridiculous.
This is starting to sound like tin foil hat territory.
I went back and forth on this but I came down on the side of Best Buy in this case. First things first, if I bought a $1200+ item (which most Asus gaming laptops are) and then realized that I made a mistake and it lacked something I 1) thought it had and 2) can't do without, then I'd be grateful to be able to return it for all of my money back, especially if I had opened it and used it. (Yes, even for a day.)
To me, just deciding that OK, I don't shop at Best Buy again for 3 months is preferable to being told I have to pay a 15% restocking fee (which is something like $150-$200 on most Asus gaming laptops) or that I can't return it. And hey, even if corporate's return policy says you can return things, you never know when a store manager who's losing money on a return could say "I don't care what the policy is, this is my policy right now and you're not allowed to return it" and the only recourse you'd have is complaining to corporate - i.e. the bitbucket or /dev/null - or suing, which will cost you more than the laptop costs.
OP, you failed to do your research and almost got burned on it. Maybe you don't buy things at Best Buy or whatever anymore, but it could have been worse.
To me, just deciding that OK, I don't shop at Best Buy again for 3 months is preferable to being told I have to pay a 15% restocking fee (which is something like $150-$200 on most Asus gaming laptops) or that I can't return it. And hey, even if corporate's return policy says you can return things, you never know when a store manager who's losing money on a return could say "I don't care what the policy is, this is my policy right now and you're not allowed to return it" and the only recourse you'd have is complaining to corporate - i.e. the bitbucket or /dev/null - or suing, which will cost you more than the laptop costs.
OP, you failed to do your research and almost got burned on it. Maybe you don't buy things at Best Buy or whatever anymore, but it could have been worse.
Square Triangle
Member
↑ lol, it never ends.
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
Driving while posting? That is a serious offense. I've alerted the Best Buy security team.
You are about to be double blacklisted.
That's what this is. They're doing this to prevent the return system from getting abused.
Pretty sure Amazon would have charged you a restocking fee. Maybe you would have been able to plead your way out of it, but they wouldn't have been any happier about it than BB.
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
The Abominable Snowman
Member
I've returned two things at Best Buy in the last week or so. I had to take a look back at my receipts.
No special ban writing for me.
What did the OP do to have them so pissed at him?
No special ban writing for me.
What did the OP do to have them so pissed at him?
Searching on "banned from Amazon" will turn up plenty of instances, with some covered by reputable sites (aka it's not all no name forum posters whining). It seems to happen when Amazon decides you as a customer are costing them more in services (returns, shipping, price matching/credit, time on the phone with CS, etc.) than you are making for them in profit. Once a threshold is passed, Amazon decides it is no longer interested in having you as a customer and cuts you off. Not only from returns, but also from purchases.
The equivalent response from B&M would be to completely ban someone from a chain of stores.
What you're talking about are eBay/CL scalpers. They'll buy product en masse with the hopes of flipping it. When it doesn't sell, they just return it to retail, leaving retail with extra stock that is now stale (because retail has already replaced that "sold" stock).
Hello Wii U, talking about you!
Called it. If you do a price adjustment at the time of purchase, it'll be a single sale. But a return/rebuy at a later date would show as a return.
This may be tracked as such because stores have an incentive to prevent people from buying popular items in advance of a sale (to guarantee themselves a unit) and then doing a return/rebuy once the sale is active. You'll see this sort of strategy promoted on deal sites all the time.
Not saying this is what you were doing, but that's what the policy is there to prevent.
Not when you buy, but when you return. If you return an item, you must show an ID.
As an option, many stores (like Best Buy) have rewards programs. Generally the rewards are shit, but to get them you have to participate and have all your purchases tracked. Essentially, Best Buy (and any other store that does this) is buying consumer data stupid cheap (and consumers happily give it to them). Even grocery stores so it.
GraveRobberX
Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
[] /\
Do you have a Reward Zone Card?
Do you have a membership to Gamer's Unlocked?
That right there might/would be your undoing, because all those points you accumulate that are added as reward zone points, can set of alarms @ Best Buy
You say you Pre-Order games @ BB, most have the promotion yearly of Pre-Order & Buy game get $20 in Reward Zone points aka 1000 Points into your RZ account
So if you buy games then keep getting it priced match over and over or returned, it's almost taxing the system
Not saying your at fault
There has to be something here in your purchases/returns that has sent signals to the system to hit you back with the 90 day no return policy
People on CAG have been banned from BB due to being resellers/flippers/returners/even PM (Price Match guarantees)
They buy cheap games somewhere else, and try to flood stock into BB due to a promotion or something
Say Ass Creed III you Pre-Order and Bought from Best Buy with-in the first 5 days on release
Then 30 days later you would be rewarded with a 1000 point ($20) Reward Zone Certificate or Points added into account
Now Ass Creed III drops in price due to sales with-in the month, say to $30
Most will run out to get PM, and get refunded the $30
Then super sale happens and it gets dropped to $20 again
Most go and get it PM, and get refunded the $10
Most think they are cheating the system and taking better of the retailer, forgetting every time they do this, that transaction is getting put into the system
Sooner or later, shit catches up with them, then they get pissed on why they got banned/not able to do this
In my Reward Zone account history, I can see all my Transactions that have taken place
How many points I have gained and if something is returned how they subtract that amount from my account
The system reads this, too many -####, system flags
I've been Silver Member for Best Buy since 2008 (Spend $2,500 every Calendar Year)
You just have to know what you are getting into
Do you have a Reward Zone Card?
Do you have a membership to Gamer's Unlocked?
That right there might/would be your undoing, because all those points you accumulate that are added as reward zone points, can set of alarms @ Best Buy
You say you Pre-Order games @ BB, most have the promotion yearly of Pre-Order & Buy game get $20 in Reward Zone points aka 1000 Points into your RZ account
So if you buy games then keep getting it priced match over and over or returned, it's almost taxing the system
Not saying your at fault
There has to be something here in your purchases/returns that has sent signals to the system to hit you back with the 90 day no return policy
People on CAG have been banned from BB due to being resellers/flippers/returners/even PM (Price Match guarantees)
They buy cheap games somewhere else, and try to flood stock into BB due to a promotion or something
Say Ass Creed III you Pre-Order and Bought from Best Buy with-in the first 5 days on release
Then 30 days later you would be rewarded with a 1000 point ($20) Reward Zone Certificate or Points added into account
Now Ass Creed III drops in price due to sales with-in the month, say to $30
Most will run out to get PM, and get refunded the $30
Then super sale happens and it gets dropped to $20 again
Most go and get it PM, and get refunded the $10
Most think they are cheating the system and taking better of the retailer, forgetting every time they do this, that transaction is getting put into the system
Sooner or later, shit catches up with them, then they get pissed on why they got banned/not able to do this
In my Reward Zone account history, I can see all my Transactions that have taken place
How many points I have gained and if something is returned how they subtract that amount from my account
The system reads this, too many -####, system flags
I've been Silver Member for Best Buy since 2008 (Spend $2,500 every Calendar Year)
You just have to know what you are getting into
SlipperyFishes
Banned
Best Buy were pretty damn good at doing this in England in 2010-2011. Shame they closed and we went back to the PC World status quo of ripping off the customer.
GraveRobberX
Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
Read my post, hopefully it makes some sense
If the OP is buying with Best Buy and is part of their membership program
Things purchased/returned have a paper trail
This is how my Reward Zone Account Purchases look:
You see those red, I triggered those, they don't count against me, but if I returned merchandise or items they would get flagged by the system, because you can't get points, return items, and keep the points
GraveRobberX
Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
From my last post with that RZ picture I posted
You see the March 2nd, 2013 entry
"Bonus Reward Certificate"
That is the system readying up my $20 (1000 points) Certificate, for Pre-Ordering and Purchasing BioShock Infinite
If I pass on not purchasing it, the system will not reward me it, but the system damn well sure remember it
You see the March 2nd, 2013 entry
"Bonus Reward Certificate"
That is the system readying up my $20 (1000 points) Certificate, for Pre-Ordering and Purchasing BioShock Infinite
If I pass on not purchasing it, the system will not reward me it, but the system damn well sure remember it
I've not had a chance to read the full thread so this might have already been said.
One of the first thing that goes when a retailer's performance starts to get really shaky is flexible return policies. While not in the US I understand that BB is in hot water.
In the UK it really is no different. If a consumer buys the incorrect good, and opens it then the retailer has no legal obligation to offer a return unless it was misrepresented i.e. the retailer states the item has a function when it doesn't.
The only difference here is the Distance Sales act when we have the right to return anything for a full refund when purchased online. Obviously the item must remain sealed, and the retailer must be informed within 7 days of delivery.
While I've been in the US several times and made purchases I've never hard to return something so I'm not sure how different it is for you guys.
One of the first thing that goes when a retailer's performance starts to get really shaky is flexible return policies. While not in the US I understand that BB is in hot water.
In the UK it really is no different. If a consumer buys the incorrect good, and opens it then the retailer has no legal obligation to offer a return unless it was misrepresented i.e. the retailer states the item has a function when it doesn't.
The only difference here is the Distance Sales act when we have the right to return anything for a full refund when purchased online. Obviously the item must remain sealed, and the retailer must be informed within 7 days of delivery.
While I've been in the US several times and made purchases I've never hard to return something so I'm not sure how different it is for you guys.
Great, the retail equivalent of a credit report.
Maybe you can start a new record using your passport instead.
yeah, I was completely unaware of this TRE business, so the thread had educated me, thanks Square.
zero shift
Banned
Well yeah. That's why we have so many pro-white liberal posters (they like Obama but don't like affirmative action) from America and neoconservative posters (they hate all leftist leaders but Lula, and think Chavez is Joseph Stalin) from Latin America. Poor people don't have the time and money to play games all day and post on the internet.
Or are interested in $1,000 laptops.
i read your second post wrong, read it as you saying you brought it back after the return window
I recently purchased a chair and some PC hardware at various stores, and on each occasion I voiced my concerns about each item to the salesmen and was still urged to purchase, and return if I was dissatisfied later. For instance, the glossy surface on this monitor wound up not being a huge deal for me, so it looks like I'll be keeping it. But this keyboard wrist rest is too thick for my keyboard, and this chair was fine the first week but now my back isn't liking it. I'll just return them and they can resell them for like $20 less.
But I thank you for not returning much stuff. It's determined people like yourself who make the return policy worthwhile for businesses to stand behind in the long run.
Darkmakaimura
Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
Best buy isn't going under because of them implementing restrictions on returns. It is going going under because they are losing a lot of money to people who are using their store as a "show room" to test out products. There was an article (wall street journal? Forbes? cant remember) written about a year (or 2?) ago about the ways in which BB was losing lots of money to consumers who were using the store to test out products and then return them so they can get it from Amazon cheaper. This was around when BB shut down a few hundred stores nationwide.
"TREs Verify Return Authorization System is designed to identify the 1 percent of consumers whose behaviors mimic return fraud or abuse a $14.3 billion to 18.4 billion per year problem in the United States."
I'm sure your not a fraud or abuse returns, and it's unfortunate that you were the 1% of peeps that get flagged for this. You have to be careful, because TRE seems like they are associated with a lot of retailers, not just BB, and you could have problems with Amazon as well if they use TRE's return monitoring system.
"TREs Verify Return Authorization System is designed to identify the 1 percent of consumers whose behaviors mimic return fraud or abuse a $14.3 billion to 18.4 billion per year problem in the United States."
I'm sure your not a fraud or abuse returns, and it's unfortunate that you were the 1% of peeps that get flagged for this. You have to be careful, because TRE seems like they are associated with a lot of retailers, not just BB, and you could have problems with Amazon as well if they use TRE's return monitoring system.
Yeah I did a head fake when I read the OP thinking Amazon was better in this regard. Zappos is owned by Amazon and they have the same banning return policy inspite of the fact they have a very generous 1 year to return anything policy. You have to be pretty abusive of either Zappos or Amazon to get the lifetime ban.