Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[zuneee]

I went to BestBuy yesterday and wanted to buy a new black zune. The bestbuy employee unlocked a cabinet and pulled a big yellow box that had a label on the side that said "Returned Merchandise". None of the zunes in this box had a "plastic" cover.

The zunes on the shelves ALL had "plastic" covers. Obviously best buy was trying to sell me a used zune as new.

My mom went to buy a zune a couple of weeks back. Guess what? Her zune did not have a plastic cover either which means it was probably returned merchanise and the zune packaging "seal" was slightly removed.

I thought the company policy was to send all returned merchandise back to the manufacturer???

[Nokia]

Most products are sold as open items, and just discounted. However, the employee should not have been trying to pass it off as new.

Did the employee ever say that it was new?

[zuneee]

I asked him for a NEW black zune. The first thing he did was to look in the "return merchandise" box that was full of returned zunes. He didn't find any black zunes in the box so he looked on the shelves next and found one.  All the zunes in the shelves have plastic covers which means it's new. 

My mom went to a different best buy a couple of weeks back and asked for a BRAND NEW black zune, they sold a "returned" zune because there was no plastic cover and claimed it as a "brand new unit". That was also the last black unit at that location.

The fact is that both Best Buy locations tried to sell the returned items as brand new when the customer specifically asked for a new unit.

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Hi zuneee,

I've asked Aaron, one of our Geek Squad Community Connectors, to review and respond to your concerns.  You should hear from him within the next few business days at the most.

Thanks for posting!

[Aaron-GS Community Connector]

Hey zuneee,

While a good portion of the factory-sealed products sold within our retail stores will feature some kind of shrink wrap, there are a number of reasons why you might find a box that does not come sealed in an additional plastic casing:

• The manufacturer changed how the product is packaged
• The package was opened by a store associate to verify the contents of the box
• The product was previously on display within the store
• The product was returned by another customer because it did not meet their needs

If the product was previously on display or was returned by another customer, however, it would be identified as such by special markings (such as stickers) so that customers are aware that the product was opened before they make their purchase. Like Nokia pointed out, they would also be discounted accordingly. Make no mistake though – “open box” does not necessarily mean “used” or “refurbished.” Also, to answer your question, only returned merchandise that is verified to be defective would be returned to the vendor.

It’s regrettable if your recent experience does not meet your expectations, but rest assured that management will have the opportunity to review this situation and make sure all proper procedures are being followed. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions. You can send me a private message by clicking on the letter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page and composing a new message to my user name “Aaron-GS.”

[mcongiu]

BRAND NEW zunes are sold in the box form (The type your mom got) AND in the plastic casing form (The type you got).

[Sarge0568]

You would think that the "Returned Merch" sticker is a big flag that it was returned by a customer.  Also, if a customer says they want "new in box", I would assume that they want a NEW Zune from the box from MS.......