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Rocky D
06-20-2008, 10:00 PM
Just got this email...thought it was worth sharing:


Subject: Best Buy Policies

PER SNOPES, THIS IS TRUE


Be advised.
Always pay with credit card at Best Buy. { From a friend }


I found this interesting, so am passing it along... 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, Sam's Club, JC Penny, Sears etc. If 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 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 self! 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 cant 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 of 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, when ever 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 of been smart, I would of charged the whole thing on my credit card! Then I would of canceled the transaction.
I would of gotten all my 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 there little caveats
So please pass this on. It may save your friends from having a bad experience of shopping at Best Buy.

BTW, I do know that Sears has a 15% restocking fee as well. :mad:

__________________________________________________ __________

Jim-Tx
06-20-2008, 11:06 PM
Rocky, I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I'm not aware of the restocking fee just like you weren't. I'm going to ask about it the next time I'm in Best Buy. I'm not taking sides here, but I wonder if it applies to stuff like GPS units so that people don't buy them, take a trip, then return them? I know that wasn't your intent, but it might be the reason the store has the policy it has. I don't blame you for being upset. I know pretty much how you feel since I tore up my Sam's card in their parking lot one day. BAS T ARD S! I won't detail that little experience since it has nothing to do with you.

runningjalapeno
06-21-2008, 01:09 AM
Conn's appliances has a restocking fee of 15% also.

down19992000
06-21-2008, 06:56 AM
i know what you mean a few years ago i bought a computer from best buy. i got it home and hooked it up everything seemed to be going alright then i kept getting the error windows has detected an unrecoverable error and it would shut down. i called the tech line they told me to return it to the store that there must have been something wrong with the hard drive. i took it back the same day i bought it and their tech guy checked it out and comfirmed the hard drive was bad. i was gonna get another one but they were out of stock. so i said just refund my money and thats where the 15% restocking fee came in and the wait 7-10 days for a check to be mailed. i told the manager hey its not my fault your product is faulty and you are out of stock of other ones. she said (very hatefully) it is company policy now either take the computer back home or you can wait on a check like everyone else. i have not been inside a best buy since.

BamaBob
06-21-2008, 09:30 AM
I know what you mean. I stopped shopping there a few years ago over a similar incident.

Roger
06-21-2008, 09:57 AM
A friend took Sony laptop back to them for repair of broken registry. It had 6 months left on warranty but didn't have their extended warranty.They wanted $58. to trouble shoot, $99. to backup hard drive, and $89. to restore operating system.

Sony computer shipped without system restore CD but has it on hard drive partition. Holding down F10 during computer boot loads restore CD. Select restore system from menu fixed computer in 10 minutes. $58. should have covered repair while you wait in 15 minutes.

Rocky D
06-21-2008, 12:24 PM
I didn't mean to imply this happened to me...I got it in an email, so thought is was worth sharing to my brothers, here. I don't who it happened to, but from the looks of things, it has happened many times over. :mad: Shop wisely.

calweld
06-21-2008, 03:54 PM
Just be aware, most manufacturers, of "complicated" items , have a policy, once it leaves the store, it CANNOT be returned to the shelf ..... quality control. Where do you think all those "refurbished" welders come from????? So yes, somewhere, somehow, somebody's taking a hit ....

Myself, as a buyer, I always do the research first, as much as possible. IF it will meet my needs, based on publicity, advertisements, independant reviews, personal reviews from people I know, I buy. I ONLY return if defective, or there was some bad or misleading information, and it came from the manufacturer or dealer. Otherwise, I feel I made the mistake, and noway nohow am I gonna pass that on to anybody else, I'll just have to learn to like it.

Monte55
06-22-2008, 09:00 AM
I also dislike some of the store return policies.....but

When the GPS was taken out of the store and the package opened and then returned........it can only be sold as an open package item at a reduced price.
Why should the store loose because the buyer didn't do his homework on the item prior to purchase. With the internet you can find out everything about everything these days.
My brother is a good one for this. He gets a bug to buy a particular item,
buys it, takes it home and plays with it, gets bored and then returns it and wants all his money back. Buyers remorse.
This kind of crap makes things cost more for me in the long run.
The person at the return desk has no idea if the returned item has been damaged, abused, or robbed of parts.

If a person decides to buy an item without researching its value to their need,
too bad. If you don't want it anymore.......sell it yourself and leave the store
out of it. If it is defective...by all means return it for exchange or refund.

People buy generators for the upcoming icestorm or whatever. Storm passes
then they want to return the generator even though the box was not opened.
These people think the store loans generators for "just in case".
When one buys something ........that's it. Just because you change your mind is not a reason to return if the product is not defective.
If the store will accept the unused item toward another or upgrade...great.
Some items have to be returned....misfitting gifts, defective items, bad recommendations from the store clerk. Every store has return policies. You just have to ask. I buy quite a bit of electronics from Best Buy. Although I don't care for all their policies on returns, I know what they are. The big poster on the wall is for that reason.....to inform you.

Look at the return lines at Best Buy and WalMart. How is the store supposed to absorb needless returns without someone paying for it.
I know a guy that will buy a power tool. Five minutes after opening the package, the manual, box, receipt in the dumpster. Trying to figure out how to use said item(without the manual)he breaks it. Now it's back to the store
for a return..refund or exchange. He returns with no papers...no receipt...no packaging and gets mad, yells a lot, wonders why the store singled him out to pick on and abuse. Give me a break. This happens thousands of times a day and cost all of us.
I'm not on the retailers side although it sounds like it. Just explaining.
I'm tired of paying for the people that are too lazy to use their own brain.
Vent over....for now:rolleyes:
Nick

scapegoat
06-26-2008, 07:09 PM
Thats why I call it "worste buy". I will buy my electronics products anywhere else but "worste buy". I had the same experience. I bought a car cd player and returned it 15 minutes later and they pulle that crap. Then I called thier district manager right there in line and gave him an earfull. I told him if you wont give me my full purchase price back I will never shop here again and I will get the rest of my family to do the same. Some businesses could learn a thing or two from walmart.

Monte55
06-26-2008, 08:12 PM
Why would you buy a cd player and try to return it 15 min later. And what "crap" did they try to pull?

scapegoat
06-30-2008, 12:03 AM
Because I found it for $50 cheaper somewhere else. They gave me the "you are going to be charged a restocking fee. And...you will get a check in the mail for the returned amount in two weeks. Thats pretty funny since I bought it 15 minutes ago I said.

Jim-Tx
06-30-2008, 12:33 PM
How did you pay for it? Check, CC, cash?

Monte55
06-30-2008, 01:08 PM
I have purchased items at Best Buy and then found them cheaper somewhere else a couple of times. I believe if within thirty days of purchase they will match the price. In my case they credited my card. Wasn't a real problem other than I hate standing in line at the return desk. Again I say "do your homework before the purchase". It's not their fault you didn't.

scapegoat
07-01-2008, 10:32 AM
How did you pay for it? Check, CC, cash?

I paid cash for it.