Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[cdmoore74]

I was not fully aware of this policy until yesterday.  I thought they were collecting ID numbers to track people who steal or abuse returned product.  But I will no longer shop at Bestbuy for anything with the fear of getting rejected.  I have been shopping for tablets over a 2 month span for various reasons.  I took one tablet back because my wife wanted a ipad instead for her birthday.  I then got another tablet for myself when the priced dropped but because it had dead pixels and the battery life was bad I took that back. I then bought a kindle fire for my daughter on release day but because there was no display model I decided to try it out but my daughter did not like it and wanted a smaller device instead.  I then wanted to try out the new Samsung 7 plus because of the IR port to control my electric gear.  But when I got it home it was not the universal remote type and did not have my projector listed so I took that back.  And finally I bought a black Friday Acer A100 but due to a defective wifi chip I wanted it exchanged.  

So to sum it up I either exchanged the tablets out due to family member perferences or for real defects.  I was truthful when I returned the items and it came back with all accessories.  If Bestbuy wants to treat their customers like thieves over perference they will not get one cent from me and I will tell my friends about this practice.  God forbid I buy a TV set and have to exchange it out because it has dead pixels.  Or if the TV is too big or too small for a room.   Luckily for me all my previous buys are past 30 days.  And the worst part is the the store employees will recommend that you buy another device without telling you the consequences.  

I'm a picky customer, not a thieve looking to rob bestbuy blind.  If something does not work or if you don't like the size, performance or features tell us up front that "sales are final".  I had no problems with bestbuy before this.  

[Nursepampam]

cdmoore74,

My situation was similiar I returned 4 ipad2s on their launch because of bad screeens. I personally spoke to someone that works at Bestbuy and their current POS  system, requires every price match be rung in as a return, as well as exchanges.t

I recently bought a canon 7d, which went down in price four times including the memory card, hence more POS returns. the sensor died in the 7d, twenty five days after purchase, and was exchanged. 

What would have happened had I been in the 90 day no return (even with a receipt) policy?

Bestbuy fix your system, and stop punishing consumers. You are in the ELECTRONICS business, you know their fail rate.

Love the people at Bestbuy but hate your system and what you are doing to loyal customers.

Not buying from you again until you value us again.

Nursepampam

[UnnervedConsume]

The excuse of "TRE decides it, so we can control nothing about it. Sorry." is bogus. This is another reason to shop Newegg, Amazon, Microcenter, Fry's, places with sane return policies and better pricing. BB is not doing too well, and screwing customers over in an attempt to save money is only going to contribute to long term slides in sales.

[CheapestGamer]

The only thing I'm afraid of is if Best Buy were to join other retail chains in bankruptcy/oblivion, then in the Northeast all we'd be left with is places like HHGregg and their gaming selection is crap at best. Not to mention they charge OVER MSRP for some gaming accessories($60 for a PS3 controller, for example).

[dakota_96]

Wait until the Christmas returns start happening, I'm sure there are a lot of customers who are on the cusp of triggering the return warning. These customers will have a rude awakening and will be angry. BBY will have some damage control to do. This just isn't a consumer friendly policy and it will alienate many of their loyal regular customers such as myself, a Premier Silver member who has spent over $5000 over the past two years at BBY.

I have not had one person, whether a BBY representatives or TRE, be able to tell me what criteria is being used to trigger this warning. Although I was told in this forum that "Melissa" of their social networking team would contact me, I have not been contacted.

This is an excerpt taken from their TRE policy, "Based on return/exchange patterns, some customers will be warned that subsequent purchases will not be eligible for returns or exchanges for 90 days." You do not get this warning at the time of purchase. Only when you make that one return that puts you in the "excessive" group. Therefore, I feel I have been victimized by false and deceptive polices and contemplating disputing with my CC company the purchases I'm not allowed to return.

[Nursepampam]

And the kicker is..... the warning is not a warning it's the actual "You can not return anything for the next 90 days", so if you make a mistake and return that Christmas present DVD, then the DVD player breaks (you bought on black friday) you are just SOL.

[Nursepampam]

B&H online does not have great prices, but if you use Paypal online to pay for BB purchases in the store, or have a customer friendly credit card, Best buy will have things charged back (in cases of defective items that they are not allowing folks to return. So this is a lose lose for BB. I love the store otherwise but this is a no brainer, I'm not buying anything I can't return for any reason for a period of 90 days.

[Nursepampam]

Sorry they have great prices, but in order to keep prices low, they have a short return period.

[UnnervedConsume]

They actually do not have great prices. Check anything you are thinking of buying to even Amazon, Newegg, Walmart, Microcenter, even the manufactueres themselves. Example: 2x4GB Corsair DDR3 1333 RAM, $54 at BB. Same RAM, $37 at Microcenter, Amazon, Newegg, etc.

Even look at cables. Paying anything over $5 for a HDMI cable is insanity.

[dakota_96]

They don't have good prices. I can get most of what they sell at Amazon for cheaper. However, on many occasions, I was willing pay the higher price for conveince. If I had something I needed immediately, I would go to BBY. Also, if something were to break, at BBY I didn't have to go through the process of shipping it back, waiting for them to receive it, and then ship me back a replacement. With their decision to strictly enforce this policy, I won't be able to return so why shop at BBY? Terrible how you can spend over $5,000 in a store over the past two years and they stab you in the back this way.