BestBuy.Com

[googlewave]

Hello,

This just happened to me today and I already called customer relations about this situation.  They are in the process of figuring out what to do.

Background:

I purchased an item on the BestBuy.com website.  I also clicked the "gift receipt" option during my online purchase.  I picked this item up in store and I was given the gift receipt from online purchase.

What Happened:

This gift receipt was used to try to exchange for another item in store.  Apparently what happens if you ask to exchange something using a gift receipt from an online purchase is that the item gets refunded on the original purchaser's credit card.  This also causes the individual to lose their item and they can't reverse any of this action.

Why:

This makes absolutely no sense at all.  What is the point of a gift receipt if you use it and it gets refunded on the original purchaser's credit card??  Why can't you exchange for an item with an online gift receipt??

Conclusion:

1. Best Buy needs to figure out a solution to this problem

2. I believe I should be compensated for trying to help out Best Buy improve their customer experience and dealing with all the employees blaming me for this situation.  I probably won't be though.. it's fine, doing it for the good of society.

3. I think this is partly the fault of the employees at store 1480, especially the store manager.  He was not helpful at all.

[DanK Best Buy Employee]

This is strange for two reasons.

1. When a normal exchange happens, there is no charge/credit until the transaction is completed, so you should be able to make the exchange without involving the credit card at all if there was no difference in price between the original and what you wanted to exchange it for.

2. If this is true, it defeats the entire purpose of a gift receipt, whether you are making a return or an exchange.

Someone more knowledgable than I in this area will be along soon to clarify your situation.

[DanK Best Buy Employee]

Apologies for the double post, but I thought I should issue a disclaimer; regarding my #1 thought, I don't deal with online orders and I do know that the online ordering system and BBY retail stores don't always work together as well as they should. Whether or not this is what happened in your situation, I do not know.

[googlewave]

Yes, I think it would be extremely frustrating from the customer's standpoint if they have a gift receipt from an online order and then they go to a store and they take away your product because they do a return. Apparently there is no other option like an exchange... this should really be escalated further regarding the system.

[DanK Best Buy Employee]

Even if you really did want to return the item, the person in possession of the gift receipt should still be the one receiving the money back, I assume in the form of a Store Credit. Once again, I'm not clear of this policy though.

[googlewave]

You would think that it should be in the form of store credit, but it appears that this is not an option as well. I am really curious how this is going to affect the policy going forward for exchanges from online purchases.

[googlewave]

Can I get someone to take a look into this issue?

[Justin-BBY Community Connector]

Hi googlewave,

Thank you for posting your inquiry with us about our gift receipt return policy.  I understand that this may be irritating and I'll do my best at giving answers to your expressed concerns. 

As you may know, if you try and return an item originally purchased online; merchandise exchanges are NOT offered.  Also, returns for online orders can ONLY be credited to the original form of payment.  The store cannot issue an in-store credit to a BestBuy.com return. 

With that said, I would like to see how I can personally assist and hopefully give you some additional insight.  I'm relaying a private message to you so that I can get the details I need to research your experience.  You may check your private messages by logging into your account and clicking on the envelope icon in the upper right corner.

Sincerely,

[googlewave]

This is from your online returns policy...

Friends & Family Pickup
If you use the Friends & Family Pickup option (i.e., you place an online order and someone else picks it up at the store), please note the following regarding returns and cancellations:

If the order is returned to a Best Buy store by someone other than the person who placed the order, the person returning the item will receive an in-store credit.

[Justin-BBY Community Connector]

Hello googlewave,

I appreciate your insight and thank you for keeping us updated.  I'm sorry that this happened but am glad that it was resolved.  I'll certainly pass your experiences to the upper levels of store management, so they may properly address the issue.

Regards,