Report: Best Buy
Category: Computer Service & Repair
Best Buy Would not exchange defective computer and printer without a fight Braintree Massachusetts
*UPDATE Ex-Employee responds ..DELL
Best Buy
Fax:
Braintree, Massachusetts, 02760
U.S.A.
Submitted: 8/21/2002 11:30:02 AM
Modified: 5/21/2006 11:37:54 PM
Cliff
Milton, MAI purchased a Hewlett Packard Computer, monitor and printer for my daughter. After having the computer for only 6 days the computer would not turn off. It would turn itself back on.
I took it back to Best Buy. It took me an hour of arguing with the staff before they would exhange it even though it was still covered under their 15 day exhange policy.
Now the second time I tried to use my printer it wouldn't turn on. The power supply was shot. I took it back to Best Buy who told me that they wouldn't exchange it because the bar code was missing from the box.
We had taken the bar code off in order to mail it in for the rebate. It was the instructions on the rebate that we needed to send the original bar code. The Best Buy manager then insisted that we pay the amount of the rebate to Best Buy before they would exchange the printer.
We had to argue with the store manager for 30 to 40 minutes and threaten to call the corporate office and report the manager (who wouldn't give her name) before they finally exchanged it.
We ended up calling the corporate office and complaining. Best Buy Braintree does not honor their exchange policies without a fight. I would recommend never to buy a major appliance from this company for your own protection.
Cliff
Milton, Massachusetts
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Updates & Rebuttals:
- HP Jay [12/22/2002 12:51:23 PM]
- Not BestBuy's Fault Yao [8/8/2004 3:02:38 AM]
- Understandable, but who knows with rebates. Darren [8/9/2004 1:57:20 PM]
- True Point , well-made. Yao [8/11/2004 9:38:05 PM]
- Rebate exchanges.... Jessica [8/11/2004 10:28:55 PM]
- DELL Jeremy [5/21/2006 7:55:33 PM]
HP
Never but an HP computer.
This Company is only good for printers!
Submitted: 8/8/2004 3:02:38 AM
Modified: 8/10/2004 2:12:46 AM
Yao
Vancouver, British ColumbiaCanada
Not BestBuy's Fault
If they just exchange a new unit to you, without asking you to pay for the mail-in rebate; wouldn't that mean you can send in your mail-in rebate twice? It is only logical that they ask you to pay for the mail-in rebate, then you can mail-in the rebate again. What they do is understandable.
Understandable, but who knows with rebates.
Yao,
I can understand the concern of Best Buy about the rebate. However, the rebate system is so convulted that consumers really should avoid them to the point where companies come up with a better system. Unless there is an instand rebate that is paid to me at the cash register then I either don't buy it or go somewhere else.
If you want to see what I mean, do a seach through this site or the internet concerning rebate problems. It is a holy mess and setup to frustrate the consumer to the point where they give up and the company pockets the money. They do it enough and they can actually make the rebate department a profit center.
A customer fills out the registration, mails in the rebate information and then a few days later the product stops working. The customer doesn't even know if the rebate is going to be honored! It is quite possible that HP will deny the rebate... then the customer is left with not getting the money, plus paying for a rebate on a product which they didn't get?
Additionally, if HP is covering the rebate then I am not sure if Circuit City is the one that should be collecting the money. Are the authorized to do that? Do they have a system set up with HP to refund them? See what I mean?
If they have a system like that, then it seems that they should also be able to scan in and invalidate the UPC code, or to simply slash through it with a permanent marker.
The customer sent in for a rebate of say $20. Circuit City wants the customer to pay then $20. Now, if the customer does not send in the second rebate then the net profit is $0.00. Now, the only way that the person is going to come out ahead and get the $20 rebate that they are entitled to is to send in the second products UPC...
What a mess!
Submitted: 8/11/2004 9:38:05 PM
Modified: 8/12/2004 12:30:24 AM
Yao
Vancouver, British ColumbiaCanada
True Point , well-made.
The mail-in rebate is not to be trusted. People should aviod any mail-in rebates since the companies have the right to cancel, or not to honor a rebate, at any time.
There are many other ways to save money. If you are buying computers, check with your local computer shops. Often you will find better deals on parts, and the freedom to reconfigure the system.
A lot of time a deal just seems to good to be true. However, look again. How many of you would like to run Windows XP with 128 MB of RAM?
It seems to me that a lot of mail-in rebates just never come back. Whoever offers mail-in rebates just wish consumers forgetting about them. If the consumer does remember them, these companies can always come up with excuses to avoid paying back. Common ones are: never received any, rebate expired... etc.
Submitted: 8/11/2004 10:28:55 PM
Modified: 8/12/2004 12:34:21 AM
Jessica
Woodland Hills, CaliforniaU.S.A.
Rebate exchanges....
My husband works for Best Buy. The PROPER way to go about a return like that would have been to give you the PRODUCT ONLY, without the box; or, for them to remove the barcode from the box themselves.
The BEST way to cover yourself in these situations is to always purchase the extended warranty that Best Buy offers.
And the bestest way to avoid any of those problems is not to buy computers from Best Buy at all. You'll be much better off in the end with a Dell than you ever would with anything you could buy at Best Buy.
Submitted: 5/21/2006 7:55:33 PM
Modified: 5/21/2006 7:55:33 PM
Jeremy
Worcester, MassachusettsU.S.A.
DELL
You know somebody that works at Best Buy and you are actually RECOMMENDING Dell?
I worked Geek Squad for over a year and I can tell you that I really like customers that buy Dell computers, because we make a TON of money off of them. Dell computers are poorly constructed and use inferior parts, leading to a myriad of problems with all sorts of components.
I don't really see how buying an HP computer is any worse than any other computer. Unless you are going to build your own computer, once in awhile you are going to get a computer that is a dud. HP is no different.
Like I said, I worked for Geek Squad for over a year when I used to live in New England. I didn't work for the store in Braintree but have shopped there from time to time. The managers in this store are awful. If you think they are treating you poorly as a customer, try being an employee there. I know (or used to when I lived up there) over half of the Geek Squad employees there and every one of them hates working for the people in charge at this store.
If I were you, I'd drive a little farther to try the Dedham store if you wanted to make returns. The management there is better. (Of course, retail management has such a high turnover rate this may not be valid advice anymore.)
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