Best Buy Columbus Circle 62nd St NYC Incompetent staff have no way to trace the inventory they sell. New York, New York

 ""'Well let's see, you attempted to decieve best buy by returning a broken modem in a box belonging to a new modem you purchased. I would say that falls very neatly under the definition of fraud.'

That same modem was purchased from best buy 4 days earlier. I had the original receipt, and I explained about the box. Its not fraud at all. Had I not brought the extra box, they would have said the exact same thing because best buy recorded the wrong part number on the receipt. In fact if I had the original box, with the all important original sticker, they still would have said it was a different modem because the part number on the receipt and the box did not match that on the sticker at the base of the modem. By your dictionary definition I could easily accuse Best Buy of fraud. After all they sold me a broken modem and fixed the receipt so I couldn't return it. No ? Oh right they are not accountable. Best Buy employees only have to list their first name on their uniforms. ""

You say yourself that you bought an extra box. The box may look identical, but they were physically two separate boxes. You were trying to pull one of the oldest electronic scams in the book and got caught. Its incredibly common for someone to purchase an electronic device, put their broken one in the new box, and try to return the broken one passing it off as the new one. This is a VERY common scam and you got caught. If they had given your money back, I want to go to that best buy. I could break a bunch of things at my house and return them for brand-new versions of them. I'll never replace anything again!
 
""'As for the rest of your long speeches, TLDR.  Really ? ""  Yes. Really.
 
""'You weren't ripped off by best buy at all.'  Sure I was. Sold a defective product, couldn't return it because the receipt had the wrong info printed on it. Might as well have burned my money. Its a rip off, go grab your magic dictionary. ""

Best buy is not responsible for you getting a defective product, that's why you have a manufacturer's warranty.In order to prove any sort of rip off from best buy, you need to prove that they willingly and knowingly sold you a defective product. You haven't even been ripped off yet, as I said last time you need to contact the manufacturer and get the modem fixed and replaced through them. If they refuse, then you have been ripped off.
 
""'They are protecting their honest consumers by denying your return.'
No they are not. They are just losing one more customer to online merchants like newegg and amazon who are almost always 40% cheaper.   http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/09/15/why-best-buy-will-never-be-great-again/""  Which you said you will not frequent either. I personally shop at best buy so I can have the convienence of having what I want now, vs waiting for shipping.
 

" 'Just because you think that "Its the same cardboard box" doesn't make it so.'  So two boxes, that were made on the same production line, same graphics printed on them, and held the exact same model of product are different why ? The problem with what you are saying is that it is simply not true."

They are physically two separate items. If they were side by side, they would look identical but they are clearly two separate objects.

""'If you had just taken the modem and your receipt to best buy without the box, they may have worked with you.'
No, I was refused based on the mismatch of the modem part number. They would have said the exact same thing, because they recorded the wrong part number. ""

This is something you will never know. You attempted to decieve best buy and got caught. You can only speculate on what they would have done had you been honest. 
 
"" 'I"ve been in best buy all the time and seen open box merchandise for sale at a reduced price. So they obviously have some sort of internal policy for returns without a box.'  Evidently. "  Then explain what open box returned merchandise is that they sell?
 
""'Good luck living in the stone age! Your 2001 computer works just fine? I bet it works great these days.
You couldn't pay me enough to attempt to browse the internet on a computer that old, the limited ram and processor would make any sort of streaming video horrendously slow.' So you read that far I take it, Well I have a 2001 thinkpad t40p and I put it side by side with my 2011 macbook pro. For youtube and streaming video, the picture is e x a c t l y the same. Just as smooth, equally fast. In fact for pretty much any task save gaming, the t40p performs identically. Because processing power and ram were at a point in 2001 that was enough for pretty much any web based media. And it runs fine. Good as new, the design is flawless.

Comparing my Ericsson t39m to my iphone 4 I was surprised to find that the Erricsson can go 10 days without a recharge where the iphone has all of 48 hours of use. You are ill informed here. ""

Sure, if all you wnat to do is watch you tube you're fine. But if you actually want to run any modern programs you are hosed. You can't even run a modern operating system on that computer. Support for software is rapidly vanishing for computers made in that era.
 
"'As for your phone, again good luck! I had an old style cell phone for 7 years, until AT+T said I had to upgrade, as they were making those phones obsolete on their networks.'  They were just trying to sell you another phone I suspect. AT&T runs with any GSM phone. "No, my phone was so old it did not have a sim card. AT&T (cingular at the time) required all their phones to have a sim card to access their network, I was forced to upgrade.

"" 'You really think that your electronics are going to last you another 30 years? Hilarious.'Not at all. I have equipment from 1990 I am only just decommissioning. Unlike the fashionable toys of today, yesterdays electronics lacked planned obsolescence, because they were built in an era of a booming economy with real growth, where as today we are re manufacturing the same products over and over, because our innovation has run dry. And before you scream multi touch, it was developed in the 80's.  Pyramids of Waste (2010) http://vimeo.com/17750184 ""

I have equpiment from the 90s too. Its all garbage. Both TVs I have from that era have died, the VCRs are useless, the computers are paperweights, and the videogame systems useless in an era where you can get all the old games as downloads.

"" 'I personally don't care what a business does with recording me. They can run facial recognition software on me all day long. Why? Because I have nothing to hide. The only people that should be worried is criminals who are trying to hide. I don't care if someone run a credit check on me. Its doesn't hurt anything I do in my life to have someone run a credit check.'
You have no clue.  http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Privacy-Matters-Even-if/127461/ ""

I do have a clue, and I still do not care. I don't care what the government does with the information they collect on me. I don't care what stores do with the information they collect on me. Hell, my life is an open book on the internet, I don't particularly care.

" 'Oh, and if you haven't had a credit card since 2002 your credit must be shot anyways. If you don't ever use credit, you never have credit, that's a more likely reason you don't want to have someone run your credit.'  GOOD ! I don't want credit ! Why would I want credit ? They are trying to lend me one sum of money in exchange for a larger sum of money. Are you stupid ? Its a racket. "

Why would you want credit? I don't know, maybe to get a mortgage or purchase a car. Mayeb so you can get a job, many jobs won't hire you with bad credit these days. There's a million reasons to have credit beyond simply getting a credit card.
 
"" 'As for the landlord that wanted to run your credit check, I bet they don't care they lost your business.'
They do care. I know this because they keep calling. ""

I'm sure they are moaning becuase you are the only person taht would ever rent your property. You think rather highly of yourself don't you?

 " 'I'm sure you can write 9 or 10 more pages trying to justify your actions about what you did.'
Yes, and I intend to ."

And it will just add more to how insane you actually are. As the poster said above, you are clearly in the wrong here and will say anything to justify your position. I still appluad best buy for stopping a scammer.

Start using fake ids.

To Mister KFC himself, Jumpin' Joseph Junior of Walnut Creek. Save for this guy not resorting to toilet tantrums, and being in NY, I'd think they were one in the same.

Ashley -

'Well let's see, you attempted to decieve best buy by returning a broken modem in a box belonging to a new modem you purchased. I would say that falls very neatly under the definition of fraud.'

That same modem was purchased from best buy 4 days earlier. I had the original receipt, and I explained about the box. Its not fraud at all. Had I not brought the extra box, they would have said the exact same
thing because best buy recorded the wrong part number on the receipt. In fact if I had the original box, with the all important original sticker, they still would have said it was a different modem because the
part number on the receipt and the box did not match that on the sticker at the base of the modem. By your dictionary definition I could easily accuse Best Buy of fraud. After all they sold me a broken modem
and fixed the receipt so I couldn't return it. No ? Oh right they are not accountable. Best Buy employees only have to list their first name on their uniforms.

'As for the rest of your long speeches, TLDR.'

Really ?

'You weren't ripped off by best buy at all.'

Sure I was. Sold a defective product, couldn't return it because the receipt had the wrong info printed on it. Might as well have burned my money. Its a rip off, go grab your magic dictionary.

'They are protecting their honest consumers by denying your return.'

No they are not. They are just losing one more customer to online merchants like newegg and amazon who are almost always 40% cheaper.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/09/15/why-best-buy-will-never-be-great-again/

 'Just because you think that "Its the same cardboard box" doesn't make it so.'

So two boxes, that were made on the same production line, same graphics printed on them, and held the exact same model of product are different why ? The problem with what you are saying is that it is simply not true.

'If you had just taken the modem and your receipt to best buy without the box, they may have worked with you.'

No, I was refused based on the mismatch of the modem part number. They would have said the exact same thing, because they recorded the wrong part number.

 'I"ve been in best buy all the time and seen open box merchandise for sale at a reduced price. So they obviously have some sort of internal policy for returns without a box.'

Evidently.

'Good luck living in the stone age! Your 2001 computer works just fine? I bet it works great these days.
You couldn't pay me enough to attempt to browse the internet on a computer that old, the limited ram and processor would make any sort of streaming video horrendously slow.'

So you read that far I take it, Well I have a 2001 thinkpad t40p and I put it side by side with my 2011
macbook pro. For youtube and streaming video, the picture is e x a c t l y the same. Just as smooth, equally fast. In fact for pretty much any task save gaming, the t40p performs identically. Because processing power and ram were at a point in 2001 that was enough for pretty much any web based media. And it runs fine. Good as new, the design is flawless.

Comparing my Ericsson t39m to my iphone 4 I was surprised to find that the Erricsson can go 10 days without a recharge where the iphone has all of 48 hours of use. You are ill informed here.

'As for your phone, again good luck! I had an old style cell phone for 7 years, until AT+T said I had to upgrade, as they were making those phones obsolete on their networks.'

They were just trying to sell you another phone I suspect. AT&T runs with any GSM phone.

'You really think that your electronics are going to last you another 30 years? Hilarious.'

Not at all. I have equipment from 1990 I am only just decommissioning. Unlike the fashionable toys of today, yesterdays electronics lacked planned obsolescence, because they were built in an era of a booming economy with real growth, where as today we are re manufacturing the same products over and over, because our innovation has run dry. And before you scream multi touch, it was developed in the 80's.

Pyramids of Waste (2010)

http://vimeo.com/17750184

'I personally don't care what a business does with recording me. They can run facial recognition software on me all day long. Why? Because I have nothing to hide. The only people that should be worried is criminals who are trying to hide. I don't care if someone run a credit check on me. Its doesn't hurt anything I do in my life to have someone run a credit check.'

You have no clue.

http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Privacy-Matters-Even-if/127461/

'Oh, and if you haven't had a credit card since 2002 your credit must be shot anyways. If you don't ever use credit, you never have credit, that's a more likely reason you don't want to have someone run your credit.'

GOOD ! I don't want credit ! Why would I want credit ? They are trying to lend me one sum of money in exchange for a larger sum of money. Are you stupid ? Its a racket.

'As for the landlord that wanted to run your credit check, I bet they don't care they lost your business.'
They do care. I know this because they keep calling.

'I'm sure you can write 9 or 10 more pages trying to justify your actions about what you did.'

Yes, and I intend to.

You are still out your $100, at least in part, as we all view it, because you DIDN'T handle the return/exchange properly. End of story. Nobody here has bought the Kool Aid that Best Buy ripped you off. Whether they're a good store or not, better or worse than online competitors, is beside the point. You argued your case in this court and we're found guilty. No further appeals will be heard (or read).

Okay, so you say you aren't trying to defraud anyone. Let me grab my trusty dictionary and see what the definition of Fraud is:

1. deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage.
2. a particular instance of such deceit or trickery: mail fraud; election frauds.
3. any deception, trickery, or humbug: That diet book is a fraud and a waste of time.
4. a person who makes deceitful pretenses; sham; poseur.

Well let's see, you attempted to decieve best buy by returning a broken modem in a box belonging to a new modem you purchased. I would say that falls very neatly under the definition of fraud. As for the rest of your long speeches, TLDR. You weren't ripped off by best buy at all. In fact, I'm happy that best buy denied your return. They are protecting their honest consumers by denying your return. Just because you think that "Its the same cardboard box" doesn't make it so. It may LOOK the same, but its not the same. If you had just taken the modem and your reciept to best buy without the box, they may have worked with you. I"ve been in best buy all the time and seen open box merchandise for sale at a reduced price. So they obviously have some sort of internal policy for returns without a box. Good luck living in the stone age! Your 2001 computer works just fine? I bet it works great these days. You couldn't pay me enough to attempt to browse the internet on a computer that old, the limited ram and processor would make any sort of streaming video horrendously slow. As for your phone, again good luck! I had an old style cell phone for 7 years, until AT+T said I had to upgrade, as they were making those phones obsolete on their networks. You really think that your electronics are going to last you another 30 years? Hilarious.

I personally don't care what a business does with recording me. They can run facial recognition software on me all day long. Why? Because I have nothing to hide. The only people that should be worried is criminals who are trying to hide. I don't care if someone run a credit check on me. Its doesn't hurt anything I do in my life to have someone run a credit check. Oh, and if you haven't had a credit card since 2002 your credit must be shot anyways. If you don't ever use credit, you never have credit, that's a more likely reason you don't want to have someone run your credit. As for the landlord that wanted to run your credit check, I bet they don't care they lost your business. If I owned an expensive piece of real estate and I wanted to rent it to someone I would definately require a credit check and background check on the tenant. You'd be insane in this day and age to not ask for that information.

Good luck trying to make yourself feel better about your attempted fraud! I'm sure you can write 9 or 10 more pages trying to justify your actions about what you did.

Ken - 'You also state the original store you purchased at had no stock of your modem....and you knew this how? '

As I said I got the last one. Because I knew that I called ahead they and they said they were out.

voiceofreason - 'Your approach towards returning the item was just flat out wrong, and if
Best Buy wouldn't play by your rules, no store would, so what are you going to do? Never buy anything again anywhere?'

There is no correct approach to such a basic interaction. I brought the item back, with the only box I could get in case that was an issue. It was because they didn't have an accurate record of what they had sold, because they didn't have basic inventory control, that they couldn't verify I was returning the same product. Had I not taken the box, the part number would still not have matched the receipt, and they would have said exactly the same thing. I didn't buy a cardboard box, I bought a modem.

You know best buy puts a fat premium on everything they sell. The only reason I would ever shop there is their return policy that is supposed to be casual and simple. And the few times I have returned products to them in the past it couldn't have been more straightforward. Electronic products fail, thats just a fact of life. The failure rate is somewhere from 10% -20% depending on the complexity of the product. So that assurance was the only thing Best Buy had going for it. With interrogation and ID databases, I fully expect to be seeing them go the way of Borders.

As far as choosing not to purchase electronic equipment in the future, I don't see it first as a choice. Because my name is in this database, I can not.

I wont buy items I cannot return and take a risk on every purchase, and since I don't know who is using this database, I can not buy products online because they may send me a lesser grade product after looking me up.

Of course I will never shop at Best Buy again, and I advise everyone to steer clear. But to me this applies to every store using the TRE database. So yes, I'm not buying anymore.

'You tried to sneak it in with another serial number sticker and got caught. '

No, I didn't. Thats why I took the sticker off. So there was only one serial number to reference, on the modem. I removed the sticker to prevent exactly that assumption.

sillyrob - 'Why didn't you just RETURN THE MODEM TO BEGIN WITH? First of all, they
ask for your ID generally so they can keep track and make sure you're not returning stuff a lot.'

One of the main reasons is time warner takes about 72 hours to process a new modem. You call them, give them the info on the modem and for some reason you have to wait for the old modem to be disconnected and the new modem to be activated. Before you call them, you have to have the new modem. So if I had disconnected my roommates it would have been a couple of days off line for them. One works on wall st, so I couldn't do that. Also I knew I couldn't just get an exchange because that store was out of stock, and I knew I couldn't get a refund without the box.

The reason they take your ID is explained here,

http://consumerist.com/2011/02/why-does-best-buy-need-my-id-to-return-a-purchase.html

"So at this point the manager is convinced I am a scammer of some kind."

He was correct, you are. You attempted to deceive. You were not ripped off.

Why didn't you just RETURN THE MODEM TO BEGIN WITH? First of all, they ask for your ID generally so they can keep track and make sure you're not returning stuff a lot. You know, to protect themselves from idiots like you. Second of all, you're right, the modem isn't supposed to fail within three days. That isn't Best Buy's fault. That is the manufacturer's. I'm sure Best Buy would have been willing to work something out with you. However, you decided to buy a new one and return the broken one in a box that wasn't for the broken one. You're not upset that you got ripped off, you're upset that they didn't deal with your s**t, and did exactly what they were supposed to.

If they are building a fraud database and feeding names into it, without the customers consent, then they need to have solid evidence.

The serial numbers should have been on file for reference. Thats the whole purpose of serial numbers - to be recorded for later reference. They were lazy and tried to use part numbers. And they failed to record the correct one (!). I bought two of these modems from two different stores and both stores had the wrong part number recorded on the receipt. I suspect this will effect others.

The video above is proof I was returning the same product. So continuing to try and label me dishonest shows you have an agenda. I removed a sticker to prevent confusion. Where did you pull dishonest from ? If I had left the sticker on the box you would be saying the exact same thing. Or is it because you think there is some difference between two identical cardboard boxes ?

Why can't you see how disconnected what you are saying is ?

I had an agreement with Best Buy.

Suppose you were dealing with an individual, who sells you a product that breaks in three days. What would your reaction be to the suspicious sticker excuse ? Oh a you removed a sticker so now I'm keeping your money and telling everyone you are a criminal ?

I trusted these people with my money and, a far greater mistake, with my name. I strongly advise people not risk shopping there anymore. Here are some great alternatives, and generally the same goods are a lot cheaper,

www.newegg.com
www.amazon.com

Your actions were suspicious enough to get Best Buy's attention and their conclusion, right or wrong, was you were trying to defraud them.

A straightforward, honest approach usually works best....learn from this and stop blaming everyone else for the outcome.

Your constant blame shifting and excuse making is getting tiresome.

Take a look at this video. You can see that although the part number recorded on the receipt does not match the part number recorded on the base of the modem, there is a sticker inside the modem that does have that number on it. It is viewable through the vents, look on the middle line.

(((Redacted)))

So for those who are trying to claim I was returning a different product to the one I received, there is proof you are wrong.

 CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Original product INCLUDES its packaging, UNLESS you get prior approval, an RMA etc. You did not seek that approval. You tried to sneak it in with another serial number sticker and got caught. HA HA! And I don't own Best Buy stock so I couldn't give 2 craps if you want to go on a bloody crusade against them. Have a nice life earning back your lost $100. LORD!

There is no 'right way' to approach returning an item. There is no standard procedure. What happened to me could have happened to anyone. I think you have an agenda, frankly. People who read long 'theses posts' and can only comment WISE GUY IS GUILTY are IMO likely on the payroll of a PR firm. You are just trying to tell others what to think and shut me up. I will reposting this story in every forum I can find.

Bottom line, if Best Buy had kept a record of the serial numbers of the inventory they sell, there would have been no issue at all. Instead, because they put more effort into recording customers driver license numbers, I am out $100 and probably in some fraud database for returning a product that failed three days after it was bought. What I did was totally legitimate when you look in real terms. I returned the original product, with the original receipt to the store three days after I bought it.

This could have happened to any best buy customer, with just a slight misunderstanding. Its so wrong. It is so creepy.

Are generally in the wrong and hoping that somehow their own guilt in the matter will be lost among the many lines of text they've written. You did a sneaky thing that if really played to the hilt could result in warranty being voided, let alone return or exchange being refused. Your approach towards returning the item was just flat out wrong, and if Best Buy wouldn't play by your rules, no store would, so what are you going to do? Never buy anything again anywhere?
Learn for the next time. They probably would have allowed you to exchange it at another store without the box. You tried doing it the wiseguy way, and lost.

1. I bought the first modem and it failed within 3 days.
2. I bought the second modem the day the first failed, again from best buy.
3. I returned the first modem, on the 4th day, with the cardboard box from the second modem. And I explained this.

You don't really think I would be so stupid as to walk into a store expecting a refund after pulling the UPC off without giving an explanation. Of course not ! Nobody is that stupid.

There are a lot of posts defending best buy and trying to discredit and label me. I have a feeling they are not genuine.

Your post makes no secret that you attempted to pull a fast one, but were not quite smart enough to outsmart Best Buy's computer.    So that's why you'll never shop there again?  I don't work for BB, but I'm sure that they will be very glad to hear that.

"2. I won't be buying any more electronic products."

Great.  Then we won't have to worry about encountering your ridiculous posts in the future.   Have fun in the stone age, Mr. Flintstone!

I bought a modem and a few days later it fails. I take it back, and because they a/ failed to record the serial number and b/ recorded a part number that was not associated with the product in the box, I was denied. In the real world nobody cares between two identical cardboard boxes. I'm down $100. Look at the outcome.

I will send it to Motorola but he ordeal has cost me in real terms far more than $100. Had I known how it would play out I would have thrown the modem straight in the trash.

I never attempted to defraud or deceive. You need to clarify that statement. I remind you that you were not there. I bought a product, it failed, I tried to return it. Where is the fraud ? I had the original product and the receipt. Removing a sticker is not fraud. Switching one cardboard box for another identical box is also not fraud in any meaningful way. Not to real people in the real world. Only to these types obsessed with meaningless arbitrary procedures. You know those people who are so small they insist you walk through the rat maze in front of the register even though nobody is in line.

If I had been defrauding do you think I would be here in a public forum ?

"So basically, you are never buying anything ever again because of your attempt to defraud best buy? Great decision."

I did not attempt to defraud. I will be spending only a small fraction of what I previously spent in the future as a direct consequence of this experience, guaranteed. I am reeling from this. It was degrading to me. My good name is huge source of pride.

"Really? No electronic products for the rest of your life? i seriously doubt that. You're going to give up your cell phone, television, computers, etc because you got put in a database of people that have attempted fraud? "

Once again you are labeling me as a criminal when I have done nothing out of line. People return items that fail night and day, they have a whole section dedicated to it in Best Buy. You are >>assuming<< Thats the problem, people assume. When you have profiling systems like this you are at the mercy of any yahoo with a gut feeling and a few circumstantial facts. Had they kept the serial number on file there would have been no issue. But instead I am now likely in some criminal database searchable nationwide. Not because the facts say so, but because the people in charge were too lazy to keep accurate records. No way, thats Orwellian.

I won't be buying any more electronic products. Believe it. I have enough to last me 20 years. As far as I can see computers have not changed at all in the last decade. My 2001 Thinkpad plays youtube as well as my 2011 MacBook Pro. Same resolution. Web is the same. In fact its the same product essentially, with a little better battery life. And who dares take a $3000 laptop out on the town ? The thinkpad is more portable because it is expendable. There are outlets everywhere.

As far as TV I have not owned one since '03. And my ($30 ebay) erricsson t39m cell phone makes calls just as well as my $3000 iphone 4. There is no new FUNCTION. I don't NEED these products. And I won't face organized humiliation to get them.

"Then I guess you never want to pay by credit card or check. Legally they can ask you for your ID on credit card transactions. Better start liking paying for everything by cash!"

I have not paid for anything with a check or credit card since 2002. I ALWAYS use cash. What idiot hands over a key to their bank account in every transaction ?

"I guess you won't be going to ANY business now. Even gas stations have cameras on customers to catch shop lifting and drive offs. I can't think of any buisness that doesn't have closed circuit cameras recording
their customers. As for the rest, refusing to grant a credit check to a landlord? Good luck finding anywhere to live. That's common practice now, and I would EXPECT a landlord to run a background check and credit
check on their tenants before renting them properly. They are entrusting you with a very expensive piece of real estate. Your trust in people is broken?

Guess you should have thought of that before lying and trying to defraud a company. Lesson to be learned? Be honest. Lying never gets youanywhere."

I can understand CCTV in a gas station, thats reasonable. But there are new more advanced systems being deployed that cross the line. Some places are implementing facial recognition, tracking customers walking through the isles, even watching what products their eyes focus on. Other stores such as home depot have surveillance cameras that have LCD screens showing you that you are being recorded. They even beep as you walk in front of them to make sure you know. It is traumatizing. I absolutely will not shop there anymore.

Your missing the point. Facial recognition, a LCD in your face beeping to let you know you are being recorded, IDs for every transaction and databases of naughty customers and credit scoring are forms of intimidation. They are assuming you are a criminal and are threatening your wellbeing if you don't play by their rules. This is no longer a society I want to be a part of. I wanted to live somewhere where people don't need to be threatened. Where people are honest because they have honor and respect for one another.

You can label me a fraudster all you want, but I know the facts, and I know I never intended any type of deception. The manager kept repeating that they were not accusing me of anything. But there is an agreement here that they have not honored, not based IMO in evidence.

Yesterday I did refuse to take a place because a landlord asked for a credit check. Had she not insisted on it she would have my money. I won't give companies like Experian any type of leverage or validity in my transactions. Hell no. Had Best Buy not pulled this they would have had me as a very frequent customer. And if it wasn't for the TRE database, I may have continued buying my toys from Newegg.

Aside from food, electronics and rent are my two greatest expenses. Now my money is free to sit in my bank account and make interest. Or perhaps I will buy a foreclosed home. I can call it an expensive piece of real estate when everyone forgets about all this in a few years and some student living on noodles needs a corner out of the rain.

The way to deal with stores that treat customers like cattle is to not do business with them. If you encourage them by playing along then you will see more and more of these types of schemes until everyone is stripped of their dignity. Recorded everywhere, fingerprinted, profiled, interrogated when trying to return a cheap product, assumed guilty and underhanded in any circumstance where it is favorable to the big guys. Intimidated, threatened, harassed, reduced to living in fear. I have seen this happen. This is how it starts.

NOT Best Buy.

You got caught at your own game....glad they got you.

You also made some assumptions, one being, they wouldn't let you exchange a bad unit for a good one without a box.

You also state the original store you purchased at had no stock of your modem....and you knew this how?  And if true, the may well have arranged for a replacement from a nearby store with stock.

Most stores, do NOT record serial numbers on non major products.  The manufacturer uses those numbers for warranty and tracking purposes.  The stores don't deem it to be of benefit to them.

I think you outsmarted yourself.....NO RIPOFF here.

Perhaps, you've learned and will be more honest in the future.

I hate to say it, but you WERE trying to defraud best Buy by swapping a broken item for a new item that was exactly the same. That is one of the oldest scams in the book. Of course best buy is going to deny your refund, people try this scam all the time. Your playstation broke? No problem, buy a new one swap out the old one and return it saying its broke. What you should have done:

BE HONEST. You should have taken the modem, sans box, with your reciept back to the best buy you purchased it from. Explain to the manager that you threw away the box thinking you wouldn't need it and see if they would do an even exchange for you. Honesty may have gotten you a working modem with all this lying. SECOND: If best but didn't want to exchaneg it because of the box missing, why didn't you contact the manufacturer? Electronic items have warranties, and if it was only a few days old there is no way the manufacturer's warranty had expired yet. The manufacturer could fix and/or replace the modem with a working one. Instead, you decided to try and pull a fast one on best buy and got caught doing it.

As for your last few points:
"As someone who sits now squeezed between what has to be $35,000 of electronic equipment, this humiliating experience has made me take a few resolutions.

1. I will never walk into another Best Buy for the rest of my life. Newegg is 1000% better people ! But because of this database, I won't shop even at Newegg. "

So basically, you are never buying anything ever again because of your attempt to defraud best buy? Great decision.

"2. I won't be buying any more electronic products. A percentage of products fail and I will have trouble if I ever want to return anything again. Also I have no assurance I will be treated like any other customer in the future because of this database. Any company using it may be able to look me up in before sending me the products, and give me a lesser grade."

Really? No electronic products for the rest of your life? i seriously doubt that. You're going to give up your cell phone, television, computers, etc because you got put in a database of people that have attempted fraud?

"3. I will never hand my ID out to anyone in retail. The answer is NO. "

Then I guess you never want to pay by credit card or check. Legally they can ask you for your ID on credit card transactions. Better start liking paying for everything by cash!


" 4. I will not do any kind of business with the types who assume criminal. You want to shove a camera in my face to make sure I won't steal (home depot), I won't shop there. You want my ID on returns, I won't shop there. Landlady wants a credit check, I'll find somewhere else. My trust in people is broken, this experience has marked me.  "

I guess you won't be going to ANY business now. Even gas stations have cameras on customers to catch shop lifting and drive offs. I can't think of any buisness that doesn't have closed circuit cameras recording their customers. As for the rest, refusing to grant a credit check to a landlord? Good luck finding anywhere to live. That's common practice now, and I would EXPECT a landlord to run a background check and credit check on their tenants before renting them properly. They are entrusting you with a very expensive piece of real estate. Your trust in people is broken? Guess you should have thought of that before lying and trying to defraud a company. Lesson to be learned? Be honest. Lying never gets you anywhere.