I purchased a brand new Pioneer Elite Plasma Television for $2,939.99. It was being held at a Boston, MA store location until I was ready to receive shipment. I came to pick up the television to find the box had been opened and television was removed from the packaging. The sales associate assured me that it was "brand new" and was removed by mistake and was safely put back in the box, which was completely false. Upon further inspection, I noticed the unit was covered in layers of dust and looked to have been handled extensively. I then noticed that the serial number of the Pioneer television did not match the serial number on the box that it was said to come in. The product had been switched! At this point the associates tried to discount the TV as an open item and offered me free screen cleaner to make it look “like new”, which was a direct insult to me given the amount of money I had spent on this item. I refused the offer and clearly & simply stated that I wanted an unopened, brand new Pioneer Elite Plasma television (same make and model or better) that I had originally purchased on 4/10/08. Best Buy/Magnolia Home Theatre relentlessly denied me my right to a new unopened television and flatly refused to ship a new one to me and continued to coerce me into a situation to accept the model that had been opened and switched as my only alternative. After several more failed attempts the next day to get what I paid for, I turned to Attorney General’s office for help. It was only after the threat of Consumer Protection that the Best Buy Manager finally complied and said they were able to locate a brand new, unopened television.
I gave Best Buy every opportunity to solve this issue on site and they chose to use a tactic of trying to wear the consumer (me) down over time to get me to agree to their terms to absorb costs associated with their mix-up.
I am seeking damages associated with the store's questionable activity.
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