Controlled Chaos Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 This is not about me...I just read it on a board my friend sent me, but this would totally suck. Details: On August 4th, after a haircut, at about 7:15 I went to the Best Buy store in the city of West Covina, CA—in the Lakes Avenue--mainly to buy a Wireless PrinterServer. After picking up the Wireless PrintServer, my interest in purchasing a big flat screen monitor awakened. I had seen the 21.3" LCD Samsung monitor previously and had always got my attention. Before I couldn't buy it because it was a big spending… so after working hard and staying up long nights I felt safe to finally buy it. I talked briefly to one of the sales representatives and decided to take the monitor. I was eventually asked if I needed to buy it with cash or credit card. Given that I am one of those who get point on credit cards for each dollar spent; I decided to pay with my credit card. The cashier by the laptop section apparently doesn't take credit cards, so I was redirected to another cashier. I was also offered to buy a three year warranty once I was in the line. I didn't take the warranty because that would be about $250.00 more. All this time I was carrying the box of the monitor. When I was up next to the line, I asked the cashier to put each item my reward zones membership. She first scanned in the PrintServer, and then she scanned in the monitor. To scan the monitor, she "pulled" it towards the scanner. This transaction was completed at 7:49pm as noted in the receipt. I got home at about 8:10pm…and decided to open the box and install the monitor. I was very anxious see what had cost me so much money. When I opened the box up, to my surprise, I found that the box contained instead of containing the expensive 21.3" flat monitor, it contained a brick taped to a piece of wood. (see picture: http://www.eguate.com/misc/Monitor2.jpg I was of course shocked and immediately started to panic; thus, I put the item back into the box. I went back to Best Buy as fast as I could and got there at about 8:30 and told the person at the entrance of what had happened. At this point, Best Buy also looked confused. I asked some of Best Buy's employees who were around if this had happened before; some of them confirmed that they had seen it happened before—with VCRs. For the next 30 minutes or so, Best Buy store manager was eventually deciding what they would do. During this time I was left standing at the entrance with the brick taped to the wood. Best Buy would open the box and eventually took the item out…and then force it back in the box to the point that the box eventually got damaged (see picture: http://www.eguate.com/misc/Monitor1.jpg. There were at least six staff member that were examining the box. Best Buy said that it would go down to the cashier because she was the only person that lifted the box, aside from me. So the worst thing happened at this point—the cashier claimed that the box she had lifted was heavier than that one I had brought back!!! This was such a humiliation. The store accussed me of having replaced the content of the box. Moreover, this was a box that she didn't even lifted and that she only pulled towards herself with ONE HAND to scan. Eventually Best Buy took the cashier's words and then decided that I must have replaced the real monitor with the brick taped to the wood. At the end, Best Buy decided not to take the monitor back. By this time, I was alaredy stressed for the mal-theratment I was getting. I was being accused of having replaced the content of the box. Best Buy DOES NOT CARE IF ONE IS A FREQUENT CLIENT. Best Buy for example didn't take into consideration my history as a customer for them. I had bought so many items at this store—each year. I have bought several laptops, even bought a washer and countless electronics and software. I am a software developer—computer hardware and software is something that it is a necessity for me. FURTHERMORE, I spent so much money at Best Buy that I decided it was worth buying membership in their reward zone. But, to Best Buy--all these meant nothing…and they instead went with what the cashier told them—that the box she ‘lifted' was heavier that the one I was returning. The store manager gave me the number of the corporate office and said to call them the following day (Thursday). That night, I came back home—so humiliated. The following day I called the corporate office and talked with Leanda, the consumer relation. At least it didn't take her almost an hour, as they did in the store, that Best Buy couldn't take the merchandise back. She told me that it was not their problem and that I had to call Samsung for shipping me a defective item. Keep in mind, I bought the monitor in Best Buy and not from Samsung. Eventually event if Best Buy was the direct sales for Samsung, Best Buy didn't want to do anything to help. So, here I am stuck with a $1,244.86 piece of brick taped to a wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 #1. Tell that guy to call his CC company and tell them not to pay the charge. #2. Tell him to call the police. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Controlled Chaos Posted December 9, 2004 Author Share Posted December 9, 2004 Yeah tons of people have made all kinds of suggestions in that thread. If that happened to me...I don't think I would have left best buy....they would have had to arrest me....cause I would've been raising hell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Yeah tons of people have made all kinds of suggestions in that thread. If that happened to me...I don't think I would have left best buy....they would have had to arrest me....cause I would've been raising hell Uhhh.. duh! I didn't even see the link to the thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiff Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Best Buy is not supposed to repackage returned stuff and sell it as new. So if they did, there could be trouble there. If it was something that happened in the warehouse, then I guess there is nothing really that the guy can do but ask Samsung about it. Overall, though, there should be some kind of history in the Best Buy database for an item like this, no? But yeah, like CC said, I wouldn't have been so understanding. The cashier probably said the box was heavier before so she didn't get in any trouble. Overall it is better for Best Buy to replace this monitor for the guy if he really does buy a lot of stuff from them, rather than deal with the kind of PR nightmare this could become. I know that something stupid like this happened to be at Best Buy before, though not as bad. I bought a cd there once, and the "trainee" cashier forgot to give me a receipt. Well I didn't think anything of it when I left and walked around the mall but when I went through the store again to leave, the guy at the door stopped me and asked to look at my receipt, which I didn't have. I had the bag, and the one item in it. I said the cashier didn't give me a receipt, and he asked which register I was at. I told him and he said, "There's nobody working at that register." (Because if I really was trying to steal it, I would pick an empty register and all.) Well I explained to him that someone had been working there before, when I bought it. They went through the receipts in the office and finally found it after about 20 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Wow. The worst problem with Best Buy that I've ever had is when I bought an entertainment center that had two top pieces instead of a top and a bottom. Of course I figured this out AFTER I had the thing 90% put together. I was told it would take a week or more to order the piece. Since it was already most of the way together and taking up a lot of space in my living room I asked them if they could just pull the piece I needed out of another box (on the shelf) and when the new piece came in, put it back and sell it with no problem. Nope, they couldn't do that. I had to return the entire thing and exchange it for a new one. I asked them if I could buy a new one, take it out to the parking lot, pull out the piece I need and then come right back in and tell them that a piece is missing? Sure, I could do that. Luckily my brother-in-laws works there and he just went in the stockroom and got the piece for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Am I the only one who thinks this reeks of Urban Legend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 IWC.. I remember you telling that story before.. was it at SF last year..? I only buy CD's and DVD's at BB. Hate that place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Am I the only one who thinks this reeks of Urban Legend? Regardless if it is or not, it's still good advice to check the boxes before you leave the store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 IWC.. I remember you telling that story before.. was it at SF last year..? I only buy CD's and DVD's at BB. Hate that place. Either there or on one of the MB's... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Regardless if it is or not, it's still good advice to check the boxes before you leave the store. It's a possible urban legend. Unless it happened at the warehouse, somebody had to open the box, put the brick and wood in it and then tape it back up so that it looked like it was never open. The employees are supposed to check the merchandise when something has been returned and it has been opened. I did buy a carpet shampooer at Target one time that had obviously been used before and returned. It still had water in it... So I guess it's possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Regardless if it is or not, it's still good advice to check the boxes before you leave the store. No doubt about that... I did post the rumor at Snopes to see what they had to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapkomet Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 (edited) Having worked at an air cargo hub facility - it could have happened during distribution too. Seen it happen a LOT... Edited December 9, 2004 by kapkomet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Having worked at an air cargo hub facility - it could have happened during distribution too. Seen it happen a LOT... Oh it definitely happens in distribution. Every year about this time the firings at our Columbus Crossdock start happening... a tv here.. a couch there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Oh it definitely happens in distribution. Every year about this time the firings at our Columbus Crossdock start happening... a tv here.. a couch there. [sends resume to Columbus Crossdock] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 God, I couldn't imagine, but I'd of flipped out. I'm a patient person, but when someone calls me a liar, thats it, I flip. Jesus, these morons learned nothing about business cause if they did they would of realized his lifetime value and considering his history with best buy they would of immediately replaced the item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 I only buy CD's and DVD's at BB. Hate that place. Wow... it’s the opposite with me. I love Best Buy. Though the only things I usually buy from there is CD’s DVD’s and Video games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 I did found out that if you stand in there and complain long enough that they will eventually take back a boombox that they had sent out and “fixed” three times and give you a complete refund. I haven’t trusted anything made by Sony since… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
False Alarm Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 the story sounds like bulls*** to me. i mean, it's possible, but i used to work loss prevention for best buy, and i can't see it happening that way at any of the stores i ever worked at. first, there's no mention of the loss-prevention rep, who would've been closely invloved in any flap this big. second, they would've looked at the tapes of the purchase (all registers are recorded on closed-circuit TV) and seen that the cashier hadn't in fact lifted the thing at all and thus not put much stock in what she said. third, they'd've talked with the store warehouse guys, since if it was in-store tampering they usually are in the best position to do it with items like that. (granted that this might've happened outside the writer/victim's presence.) fourth, it seems unlikely they'd've accused the customer of stealing the item, even if that's what they thought. the only peeps i ever accused of a scam or shoplifting were always arrested a short time later cuz BB's policy on apprehension was so strict to protect them from lawsuits. finally, as others have mentioned, even the biggest assholes of the managers i encountered would've given the customer the benefit of the doubt and made some kinda concession, especially if he were as loyal and frequent as the writer describes. so again, while anything's possible, and it's been several years since i worked there, sounds fishy to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YASNY Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Calling the police as soon as the store turned down the exchange would have been the thing to do. Would you call the cops if you were trying to perpetrate a fraud? Then, follow up a call to the CC compnay, a lawyer and a spoken threat to store management of media notification and numerous internet postings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreye Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Am I the only one who thinks this reeks of Urban Legend? I do as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Am I the only one who thinks this reeks of Urban Legend? I'm with you there. Plus, seriously who are you going to believe, Best Buy or a guy who sold the monitor to a friend, taped a brick to a board, and tried to scam Best Buy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreye Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Does Best Buy even have a Rewards Zone membership? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelasDaddy0427 Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 This isn't the same thing but I did once open a CD brand new in the wrapping. When I got home and opened it up it had a huge crack in it and was unplayable. Of course when I got to the store they refused to exchange it for a new copy because of course that doesn't happen. So now I never buy a cd, dvd, or videogame without opening it in the store. But in relation to the main topic, it sounds like total BS to me. I mean a brick... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreye Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 This isn't the same thing but I did once open a CD brand new in the wrapping. When I got home and opened it up it had a huge crack in it and was unplayable. Of course when I got to the store they refused to exchange it for a new copy because of course that doesn't happen. So now I never buy a cd, dvd, or videogame without opening it in the store. But in relation to the main topic, it sounds like total BS to me. I mean a brick... I bought a CD that had no music on it. It didn't even have the shiny, rainbowish stuff on the other side, only the picture on the top side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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