Best Buy ripoff repackage used items and resell as new. Roseville Michigan

I read all the threads about how mean and terrible companies are because they won't give refunds or take back return items. Everyone who doesn't understand business thinks the store should bend over for the customer, even though it may be a scam.

You got the other end of that bargain. If everything happened excactly as you stated, the store did accept the "product" back and you got the returned item. Everone out there thinks the stores should just resell the products, no questions asked when the return is attempted, and everything will be okay. It just doesn't work that way. You got taken, not by Best Buy, but by the thief who swapped contents.

It may have even happened in the store itself. Always open the package before you leave the store. I do it after I make my choice and I am ready to purchase. If anything is missing, I go straight to the nearest employee and hand it to them. Then, I go get another package and open it. I don't go tearing every box open on the shelf, just the one I am buying.

I never have to wait for parts that are missing or a product that isn't there. I do it when I order parts for my shop before i sign the reciept. One store tried to sell me used brake pads 3 times before I finally just threw them out in the trash in front of them. The girl went back and brought me new pads. This system works every time I use it.

Thanks for the new information, Dan. In this case then, the store did re-package it. I'd be very upset too. If I had been the manager there, I would have seen the post-it and and everything else and agreed with you. You would have had a new DVD player (or your money back)immediately along with my apologies as well.

I suggest you call the store manager and explain what's happened and see what he says, and if he doesn't give you any help, explain to him that you'll have to contact their district manager, file a complaint with the Attorney General's Office and make sure he understands you aren't just going to give up on this. Hopefully he will see that it is going to be easier for him to replace it or refund it than it is to have this thorn in his side.

this box was sealed(taped bottom and top) and the cardboard post-it from the display model (the newer model one) was on the unit itself(the old model). where the color discription on the box it said "B-BLACK" , the first B was colored in with pen ( the unit i recieved was silver).

and i am not the first to say this, i been reading all over the net about people getting ripped-off by this P.O.S. company.

example 1:
http://cerebraldump.com/archives/000405.html

example 2:
http://www.geek.com/newsletter/nl04202005.htm

corprate america is out for your money, no matter if they have to steal it or kill you for it, its all profit to them. they arent here to please you, they are here to please the stockholders.

I have been a manager in retail for many years. The following event happened to me once and could explain why you opened the box to find a completely different model inside than the one shown on the outside:

A customer goes into Best Buy and selects a DVD player and checks the box thoroughly. He/she is looking for a box with a "fold in" bottom. You know the ones...where the bottom flaps are folded together to create the box bottom. It does not matter whether the box has a seal on the top flap or not. They purchase it, take it home, open the folded in bottom and remove the new player. Then, they put their old, broken player in the box and the next day, take it back to Best Buy to return it. The returns desk clerk sees the seal unbroken and processes the return without a second thought. Now, the thieving customer has a brand new DVD player for free.

Since the box appears unopened and factory sealed, back to the shelf it goes. Now, here you come. You select the same player, pick up the box, make the purchase and out the door you go. When you get home and open the box, guess what? You have the old broken model the thief just returned! Back to Best Buy you go. And of course, since you broke the seal, they open and inspect the player. Totally different model, different color. Now they think you're trying to pull a fast one and of course deny the return.

Now then...what do you do next? Really...nothing you can do. You can't prove that's what was in the box when you left the store. The only thing you have is your word that that's the case. I'm sorry to say, retailers are not inclined to take someone's word for something like that.

My suggestion to you? I wish I could tell you more. Next time, inspect the box you're about to purchase minutely! If you see it is a fold in bottom, inspect that fold closely. If you see anything that looks like that fold has been compromised, get another box. It would be nice to show that box to the staff on duty also so they can make sure it is what the box says it is.

What's really happened here is YOU'VE now been taken by a thief instead of the store. This is the reason stores have very stringent return policies and loss prevention personell on staff to try to prevent theft in their stores. I know this doesn't make you feel any better and I'm sorry.

Next time, just look at the box and make sure it isn't showing signs of being opened before you even go to the registers to get rung up.