No particular one at this time
Rip-off the consumer. It seems to be a theme for electronics stores

I have worked at a couple of different chain type audio and electronic retail stores.in one store, which is now defunct, I was asked to "rig" a low-end VCR so that the more expensive models would appear much better. I simply told the manager that I had done it and let the products stand on thier own merit. We were frequently required to inspect returned merchandise and, if we found a problem, send it back to the manufacturer. If we did not find a problem, we were to pack it back as original as possible to be sold for full price. If a sharp customer noticed that the product had been opened before, we would negotiate a fair price... IF! The problem here is that some customers returned merchandise because they had simply changed their minds, or had regrets about the money they had spent, and so lied about a defect. Others simply didn't really know how to express the nature of the defect and so our testing team might not be able to recreate the problem and set it back out on the floor.

In another store, however, I saw first-hand how refurbished TV/VCR combos were brought into a store and labled as "Refurbished". The problem was when I saw employees taking these labels with a heat gun. This happened quite a lot there.

On another note, I purchased a PC from Best Buy. Later, I purchased some software from them. It was shrinkwrapped as new, but, inside the box, the envelope that held all of the floppies appeared to have been opened before. I denied this to myself because the box was sealed. After that, I had a multitude of problems with the PC. I called Best Buy service many times for support; and they were helpful. But after the second time I needed to have my CD driver installed and they wanted $50, I did a little digging.

I almost lived at Best Buy for a while, pestering them about the problem I had. It was during one of these trips that I followed a salesman back into the stockroom area and discovered their shrinkwrap machine. It all made sense now. It was possible that someone had corrupted the software and then returned it.

I confronted the store manager about this and, after dealing with this problematic PC for 9 months, they allowed an even exchange for a new PC. I had a similar and less expensive incident with a Best Buy product later, but it was a different manager then and his attitude was a complete 180! The toll-free customer service was not nearly as cooperative either.

The morale: It seems that there is a delicate balance for chain stores. On the one hand, they want to please the customers, but the word gets out and people take advantage of it, so the company toughens their attitude. The word gets out again and people shop elsewhere.in an effort to keep their remaining customers and attract others back, they soften their attitude again. What may be policy at a store this week may be history 6 weeks from now. All you can do, if you feel that this type of business or any other has wronged you, is to boycott them and maybe encourage friends and family to do the same.

Company: No particular one at this time
Country: USA
State: Nationwide

  <     >