'I got a box of beans instead of a hard drive!'
Question: My husband and I bought a $300 hard drive from Best Buy, but when we opened the box, it was empty except for three bags of dried beans! We immediately called Best Buy, but the manager said the store wasn't responsible and I should call the manufacturer. When I did, the manufacturer pointed blame back at Best Buy. Finally, I called Best Buy's corporate office; the customer service manager said there was nothing he could do. Ugh! Can you help? – Maja Chiesi, New York City
Answer: A box of beans, huh? Sounds like a booby prize from Let's Make a Deal – only less funny, since you're out $300. You'll probably never know what happened here; perhaps an employee stole the hard drive or maybe someone else bought it, kept it, returned the box and got his money back. Best Buy likely took a hard line because it had no way of knowing if you were the responsible party. Not that that excuses the retailer's behavior: As an innocent victim and a good customer, you shouldn't have been left holding the beans, so to speak.
In a rare case like this or the more common scenario of realizing an item is defective or is missing parts, you want to deal with the store, not the manufacturer. (Legally, you entered into an implicit contract with Best Buy that it would sell you a functioning hard drive.) You were right to start with the manager, then move up to a customer service supervisor. In such interactions, it's crucial to be polite but firm: "I'm prepared to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and I may be forced to consider legal action."
Next step: Send a written complaint by certified mail to the customer service manager, with copies to the CEO, the BBB and the state attorney general. Meanwhile, dispute the charge with your credit-card issuer, which will investigate. Generally, cards side with consumers.
Understandably frustrated, you came to us after being batted back and forth. When we called Best Buy on your behalf, it wouldn't cop to responsibility or refund your money. But it did offer a $300 gift card to cover a new hard drive. (You can keep the beans.) Fingers crossed, this time you'll get what you paid for.
Tip: Many merchants require electronics to be returned in the original packaging. So don't chuck the box till you're sure the item works.
So far Money Helps has saved readers $190,729.03
Having a financial nightmare? E-mail Donna Rosato at money_helps@moneymail.com.
- Reporting By Kathleen Knight
confession time. years ago i owened a sears craftsman hammer. guarnteed to be replaced for any reason. on a roofing job it got covered with tar. on a bet with fellow worker, i brought it back to sears. they draged their foot a little, i won the bet. since then ive been a loyal sears shopper.
I bought a returned video card from Best Buy at a nice discount. Got home, opened the box, and there was an old, old inferior card in there. Furious at Best Buy and myself, I drove back and showed the manager. He tried to blow me off by insinuating that I might have made the swap, but I held firm. I told him I didn't want money, just the card. I think having my young son with me helped, but the guy agreed to sell me a new card at the same price.
Moral: ALWAYS inspect any suspicious product packaging, especially returns, at the service counter.
I bought a microwave oven from Best Buy with a $25 rebate. The rebate didn't come, so I called and called and called and was told over and over again that it is being processed.
After a year, they told me that now it was too late to get the rebate.
I filed a complaint with Attorney General who forwarded it to the Minnesota Attorney General where the Best Buy headquarters is located.
Best buy still refused to pay me the rebate even after the Attorney General got after them.
I got a call from some moron at Best Buy headquarters who cussed me out on the phone. I told him that I spend $10,000 per year on electronics and they will never see another dime from me. Plus, I will tell all my friends not to shop there anymore.
I won't even go in there to use the bathroom and I throw away all their sale ads without even looking at them.
They also didn't pay me on 3 other rebates.
All of you should go into Best Buy regularly and destroy as much of their merchandise as possible without getting caught. My favorite way is to pour liquid, preferable mineral oil, into any electronics you can, like tv's, stereos and computers. Make sure they are not plugged in when you do this.
When it is turned on, poof!
Go to Hell Worst Buy.
I had a similar problem with a Motorola cable modem that I purchased at Best Buy awhile back. Someone had switched the model I thought I had purchased with an older model. When I went to return it they gave me the same runaround telling me that I should contact Motorola. They also treated me like I was trying to pull a fast one. After going back and forth a few times, I told the store manager that I would be registering a complaint with the BBB. They finally exchanged it for the right model. Never leave Best Buy without opening the package in the store.
I have worked in a Best Buy store before and have to tell you that there are people out there that try to take advantage of retailers. I have had people try to return and X box that they claimed did not work, but they did not want us to open it. Got so angry that they snatched the box away and walked around the store and waited for me to leave the desk. When another clerk showed up they came back and told her that the X box had already been checked and that it did not need to be rechecked that they were deciding if they were going to get another X box or switch to playstation. Then stated they just wanted money back. The other clerk said ok and took the box as though they were going to just return it but half way through the exchange opened the box because we can not retun them with out the serial number and found two rocks and a shoe. One other thing to consider is that where these things are packaged there are some people who take the opportunity to make money outside of work and steal the product knowing they will not get caught and that the retailer will have to bare the cost of the refund.
Looking at these posts it seems like some people have been victims of incompetent return policies allowing other customers to switch your items, but other have had problems with being given defective returned items. I don't feel comfortable with giving the source, so take or leave the following anecdote: A major cell phone manufacturer sells a number of faulty phones which do not work from the start. Customers call their customer service line, and they attempt to get them to go to the retailer and leave them alone. Failing this, their policy for dealing with faulty products is to have a new cell phone delivered to you, at an extra cost if you haven't paid for the full service warrantee, and the phone they give you is another faulty phone which was returned by another customer. Some clients have even sent in their faulty phones and received the same phone back which was supposedly new.
The buck-passing method is actually quite common in customer service. Don't think it's some kind of confusion or mistake, it is company policy. Blaming the manufacturer and then the manufacturer blaming the store and both parties refusing to help is a deliberate method of reducing returns on faulty or, in this case, nonexistent products. I'm not talking specifically about Best Buy, it's a common trend. If you ever meet a customer service call center worker outside of work just ask, they'll tell you. Asking for the manager doesn't help, negative reports to the Better Business Bureau don't seem to help either, and if there's a major retailer that does not behave this way, I wouldn't know which one it is.
Those had better be some good beans, for the price!
Disclaimer: Above comment is a joke. I do not actually recommend eating the beans.
wait did you already have a recipt for it???
couldint you just bring it back with the box and evreything and theyll give you back the money
Best Buy has the worst customer service I have ever seen. They are well known for their poor customer service. I once received an empty mp3 player box from them. I tell everyone I know not to buy from Best Buy. Their attitude is " too bad for you."
Thought I'd add my Best Buy story as well…
About 12 years ago (yes, I still I haven't forgotten this bitter memory) I was a broke college student eagerly saving up for a 56k modem to use with UCLA's brand spanking new (and free for students) Bruin Online Dial-up Internet Service.
I bought the modem at my local Best Buy and hurried home to install it in my computer… to my dismay the modem in the box was a used, and much slower 14k modem!
When I took it back to the store the clerk, his supervisor, and the store manager all made me feel like a crook and insisted that I was the one that switched out the modem and I should call the manufacturer. Of course the manufacturer said I should talk to Best Buy, and you know the rest… I was out $150… and had to save up again…
We'll never forget mistreatment like this Best Buy!
A credit card charge back is always an option.
For what it's worth, I always open any item that is very pricey before I leave the store. I get some weird looks however on ocasion I have discovered that I just bought an item that had been already been opened and presumably returned.
This happens constantly. At our Best Buy, we had a laptop bought and returned, full of construction paper, soap and a bag of sand. Open your purchases at the LP stand before you leave, because you will get the shaft.
How Would opening it in the store violate a return policy? If anything it's back it up that much more…please explain. Doesn't make sense. Because you open it in front of a "witness" ie: Store Employee…it can screw with your return policy..? How much sens does that make? Really…?
When shopping at a retail store, keep in mind that they sometimes do take these types of electronics back and resell them. Some of the customer service reps may have had a bad day, and just returned the product with out even checking to see if it was truly what was orignally purchased. The store will then "reshrink wrap" the box, and try and pass it off as "new in box", fresh off the truck.
Internal theft is again possible. Buyer beware, and if do purchase from a retailer like Best Buy, that you check for like items in the store. Match the wrapping with another exact/like item. If you think or see a different in texture on the wrapping, chances are it was tampered with or previously opened!
I had a similar situation – I bought an iPod using the 'Pick Up at Store' option – when I got to the store, they said they were out of stock, even though I got an email telling me pickup was ready. A manager got in a shipment and brought me the iPod, but they couldn't complete the transaction because it hadn't been 'posted in inventory.' After 20 minutes at the customer service desk (looking at the iPod), they said I had to go to a store 20 miles away to pick it up!
I was leaving the next day, so I went to the other store, and they re-charged my credit card!
Finally, after a BBB complaint, they refunded me the initial purchase. Of course, after such ridiculousness, I'll never shop there again.
THIS IS AN ENDEMIC PROBLEM AT BEST BUY!
I got a HDD from BB, but when I opened it up, it didn't work. Upon closer inspection…
SOME PERSON (IE CUSTOMER) SWITCHED THE DRIVE WITH A DUD AND RETURNED IT TO BB! THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED! BB DOES NOT DO A THOROUGH CHECK ON HARDWARE BECAUSE THE RETURN PEOPLE ARE NOT TRAINED TO EVALUATE EQ LIKE THAT!
Go back and tell BB that's what happened. It wasn't a manufacturer fault, some unscrupulous patron did that.
Most likely, someone "returned" the item for a refund. I’ve been doing this myself since the days when 14.4 modems were blazingly fast. In fact, I got the idea from an article on a BBS entitled, “How to get a 14.4 modem free!”. Works like a charm. Buy item, replace with useless junk, return to store for refund.
Of course, back then it was much simpler. Now a days I have to buy cheaper items so I can get cash back immediately, and I had to invest in a shrink wrap machine. But that’s just the cost of the business.
Frankly, it’s easy to do. If the item is still “unopened” of course it is returned no problem. But most of the time, even for opened items, the staff is too incompetent to tell if an item isn’t the original. I never once, in all these years, have had a problem.
So, sorry this person got a bag of beans. But frankly, I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often!
I have lived long enough to learn this trick. Always open the box and look at the contents before you buy it. If it isn't correct you haven't even left the store yet. If the store complains about the "open box", just leave it on the floor and leave the store.
It's called "Best Buy", not "Best Return" or "Best Service". They're cheaper for a reason, and I think you're now seeing why.
My brother in law had the same problem. He bought books for school. When they showed up there was nothing but packing peanuts inside. He filed a complaint with the company he bought the books from. They did a review and ended up sending him another package, this time including the books. Sometimes you get screwed, sometimes it works out for the best.
I have had similar experiences with Circuit City, too. They tried a "bait and switch" on our TV. Didn't work with me!
Ian, you have a hard drive that failed after 6 years, and you're complaining about it? That's like running down Ford because your car only lasted 200,000 miles. I've generally had good experiences with Best Buy myself.
Yes, this seems to be a consistent story with Best Buy. I purchased a computer 6 years ago, and when the hard drive failed I was stuck in the same twilight zone.
Beware when dealing with Best Buy. They are your friend when you make the purchase but don't know you when you need to return or exchange an item. I have had problems with them in the past. Buyer beware is my best advice when shopping at Best Buy.
The consumer should also be careful. Carefully inspect the packaging before making purchases at retail establishments. If there is any sign of tampering (computer hardware is usually clearly sealed and packaged), you should purchase another sealed item or open the box in front of a sales-person before paying for it and leaving the store.
Unfortunately, if this was an inside job, then the criminal who performed it also probably had access to shrink wrapping.
Discover card doesn't side with their customers. I ended my 12-year relationship with them when they didn't side with me over a $120 purchase. Bought a product online, never received it, and no tracking number. Discover closed the dispute claim. Luckily it was only $120, and not $1200.
Unfortunately, this does happen. Years ago I worked at a major electronics retailer customer service desk. I've seen sealed boxes that were stuffed with paper and even an Intel processor box that had a dried cake of dirt (complete with grass and part of a leaf) where the processor should have been inside of the sealed packaging. The stores can't/don't unseal or check every single package, but there should be a secure process from the manufacturer. It's a shame that this happens, but know that it does. The best bet is to open the package in the store when you purchase it. This violates some return policies, but it is one way to make sure that you are getting what you pay for.
Charge you BB purchase on a CitiCard credit card; if BB doesn't take the return simply stop payment on the credit card by telling CitiCard, it works for me.