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Best Buy Scans Drivers License For Returns — No More Allowed For 90 Days
rullywowr writes "A customer with a defective Blu-Ray disc returns to the Best Buy store where he purchased it. After having his driver's license scanned into the system, he is now banned from returning/exchanging goods for 90 days. This is becoming one of the latest practices big-box stores are using to limit fraud and abuse of the return system — for example, the people who buy a giant TV before the big game and then return it on Monday. Opponents feel this return-limiting concept has this gone too far, including the harvesting of your personal data."
It's quite obvious that people are abusing the system and that results in increased prices for everyone. As someone who doesn't abuse that, I welcome the move so we honest people get things cheaper. Screw those who ruin things for everyone else.
I remember buying things are stores before I could drive, sometimes without my parents even being there.
It was just a matter of time before this happened. Target does the same thing.
..just another reason to go to Frys. Until they cross the line .
Progress defines me
As if BB will still be around in 90 days.
And, simplest response: shop their store and then buy on-line (or wait 90 days before encouraging the trolls...)
Why doesn't Best Buy simply charge a restocking fee for abused items? If the customer knows before the purchase, he cannot be angry or surprised.
License scan?
Listen, man:
Call Holder, and
Say it's voting, man.
Burma Shave
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
This kind of anti-customer behavior couldn't possibly have anything to do with Best Buy crashing and burning, could it?
Nah. I'm sure the MBAs must have thought the policy through carefully.
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
If something is broken how can it be legal to "ban" someone from returning it? Or do they just mean discretionary returns?
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
should refrain from buying anything from Best Buy for next 90 days or more.
What's wrong with the concept you buy it, you keep it especially for items that cost hundreds of dollars. Since you assume that when you spend that kind of money you know what you're buying in the first place.
This whole 90 days return window is simply bullshit.
The service at Best Buy wasn't shitty enough already that they're actively making it shittier?
Way to encourage everyone to only make one purchase every 90 days at your store. How stupid can they be?
It's not like they scan your driver's license at time of purchase, so would-be abusers I'm sure could easily to find a friend or family member to return their product (still using the same receipt of course).
A customer who knows they can't return a defective item at Best Buy will simply go shopping somewhere else like Walmart, Target, or Amazon, who have more lenient return policies and/or are just more customer-friendly altogether.
I don't expect this particular decision will hurt too much, but with these kinds of stupid decisions Best Buy will be out of business within 5 years.
My userid is prime!
Some products should be subjected to full 100% money back returns, some should have a partial money back return depending on the amount of ownership time, and some should just not have any returns at all (like food for example). Why is it so hard for retailers to come up with better ways of preventing this type of abuse? It's not so hard, you just have to think a little.
If a sales clerk scans your original sales receipt or swipes your driver's license (a government-issued ID, like a passport, is also accepted) then you're probably shopping at an affiliate of The Retail Equation.
(Emphasis mine)
Uhhh, I would have thought that scanning the original receipt was standard practice at every retail store (ok granted I've only worked at one). Why would a large retail store not do that to verify the receipt is valid?
Anyways, yet another reason to shop online, and yet another nail in Best Buy's coffin. Hint to Best Buy: the way to get business back isn't to make customer's experiences worse.
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
Stop buying and market will fix itself.
I totally disagree with it, and will be taking my business elsewhere.
If you have a receipt they should take their crap back, no questions asked ( within a reasonable amount of time )
Just wait until this next Christmas return season. This will spell the end of bestbuy.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
for example, the people who buy a giant TV before the big game and then return it on Monday.
How does this system eliminate that example? The customer was still able to return the Blu-Ray.
Won't be long before Best Buy joins Circuit City.
This will surely turn things around for them!
I really hope the folks at Best Buy don't wonder why sales may be flagging...
crazy dynamite monkey
That's not what it says. With a receipt they will still scan your drivers license.
First they let anybody return anything and don't even look in the box before re-shrinkwrapping it and putting it back on the shelf as new, then blame YOU when you get a box full of bricks, and people complained! Now they scan your ID and only let you return one thing every 3 months and that's ALSO wrong? People are so mercurial!
ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
I understand the policy, because I know people who treat big-box stores as electronics lending libraries.
Oh, and because this is slashdot, blah blah blah something about "those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither." I don't think there's any ethical problem with the idea, as long as the return policy was clear when you purchased the product. 98% of people already use credit cards to buy larger items, so concerns over harvesting personal data are misplaced.
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
If you read the article it says that only people who have a history that indicates possible return abuse are given this type of ban. The service works across multiple stores to find people who use retail stores like free rental places. The article fails to mention what else the guy had been doing. If he has a history of buying and returning items then I see no problem with them cutting him off from abusing their store.
Everyone that disagrees with me is a paid shill
"We have looked at the numbers and our problem is we aren't harassing our customers enough should they need to return something."
I believe a more reasonable solution would be to reduce the amount returned to you by a percentage until Proven broken by a manufacturing error. Simply banning someone from returning something is bad solution and just adds insult to injury.
If it's defective or was misrepresented on the package or by the store, then yes. If you decided you just didn't want it after all then they should have no obligation to take it back.
what a POS chain!
Customer: Look! I came here to make a return.
Best Buy: Oh! I'm sorry, this is abuse.
Customer: Oh I see, that explains it.
Best Buy: No, you want room 12A next door.
Customer: I see - sorry.
Best Buy: Not at all. Stupid git.
Who provides one of the best return policies and replacement warranties I have ever seen. It is literally no questions asked, on-the-spot replacement or return - and since the warranty can be purchased for up to 4 years, you're likely to get a free hardware upgrade if it dies at the end. Through their warranty and all-around high level of customer service, they have single-handled eradicated most of the competition and expanded monstrously over the past decade, from hole-in-the-wall to national retailer.
Point being, there will always be abusers of the system, but Best Buy only need to ask themselves one thing - how little satisfaction are they instilling in their customers to warrant such a high volume of returns? Satisfied customers don't return products, nor do they treat your business like garbage - and if our tiny retailer could survive the onslaught of abusers, especially when their margins were so low and policies so unrestrictive, there is no reason why Best Buy can't either.
for example, the people who buy a giant TV before the big game and then return it on Monday.
I used to have a roommate that would pull shit like that all the time. He treated stores like his free rental services. It really pissed me off, not just because it was dishonest (and that was bad enough), but also because I always knew it would come back on the rest of us who DIDN'T do that--either with higher prices or stricter return policies. It sucks that the decent always end up paying the price for the pricks out there. But it seems almost a given that there are always bad apples looking to spoil the barrel for everyone.
BTW, my roomate's favorite target was Walmart. They had a very liberal return policy. But eventually they caught on to him. One day he went to return something and they called the manager out, who told him that this would not only be his last return, but also his last visit to the store. He then had the audacity to come back home bitching about how it was this grave injustice (as if I hadn't noticed him repeatedly scamming them). What a guy.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
I do all my pre-purchase research on the net then order from Newegg etc.
No problem, no waste of gas money and time driving to the store, no problem.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Yep, never shopping at best buy again.
I do a lot of value added resale and custom installation of network, computer and media equipment and routinely over purchase things since customers don't always know what they want. If I don't use everything or can't use a particular item and can't really shoulder the cost of keeping the part in my stock, I return it.
For instance, say you wanted a new router, and I have to drive out 30 miles to your house. Well, I may bring 2 different types depending on your needs but if I only use 1, the other goes back.
What's wrong with the concept you buy it, you keep it especially for items that cost hundreds of dollars. Since you assume that when you spend that kind of money you know what you're buying in the first place. This whole 90 days return window is simply bullshit.
The policy is designed to get you to buy if you are on the fence. You think " if I don't like it I can return it" and buy stuff you might not if you couldn't return it. Since most stuff doesn't come back the store comes out ahead.
It's a pretty straightforward application of psychology and behavioral economics. A side benefit is people think your store is consumer friendly.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
Hmmmm... is this the same Best Buy whose CEO just resigned and which reported a 1.7 billion-with-a-B dollar loss? Is this the same Best Buy that years ago sought to identify "demon customers" and bar them from stores? It is the same? I wonder if these events are all somehow connected....
I get people after storms having their isp telling them its the modem...
after they buy a modem from me they go and find it isnt the modem and return it.
the box is often ripped open and one person scribbled all over the quick start guide
our immediate reaction to returns is if it works you cant return it. If they insist we will be adopting a
restocking fee.. on a user setup networking gear like wifi and routers that could be 60-80%
because pulling it apart. resetting the thing to defaults and getting all the bits in the box to look nice
takes 20minutes or longer if they have made a mess / thrown out all the plastic wrapping.
Easy solution - don't buy product from there for 90 days.
In all seriousness - how is this even legal? I know in Canada any goods sold must be of merchantable quality - which means they must work. If they are defective than the sale is void and the merchant must take them back. Even if I've returned another product within the last 90 days. Is there some kind of American consumer protection loophole they're exploiting here or do the laws not protect consumers at all south of the border?
Tell them you don't have a license. One store asked me for my email address, I told the girl I didn't have one. Then she asked for my zip code, I told her I was homeless and she was not amused. Unless they need your zip code for your credit card mine is always 90210.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
I worked at BBY for awhile and it was apparent which customers purchased "defective" merchandise versus something they damaged or improperly installed and broke themselves. The amount of defective merchandise sold was very small in comparison to items that the customer either couldn't figure out how to use or they damaged in the process of trying to install.
Scanning drivers licenses is one thing that will help reduce the fraud or identify which customers are the loss leaders, and with their huge $1.7 billion quarterly losses they need to do everything in their power to stay afloat.
Simple: don't shop at Best Buy.
I just recently bought a monitor and SSD for around $800 from Amazon vs Newegg because the former's return policy is so much better. Bestbuy is really shooting themselves in the foot here..
If they did that to me I'd tell them point blank, then I won't buy anything else from this chain for 90 days ether. Also I always pay with a credit card (amex). If I had a valid reason to return something (aka defective crap) and they refused I'd just have Amex bounce the charges on them. They've never refused to do that for a claim of defective product or other retailer bull shit.
I remember as part of the common law that forms our legal system that there is a law of merchantability. If they sell you a dvd player and it turns out not to work they could get into a lot of civil suites by refusing to refund the item when the item they sold you did not perform as advertized (ie play dvd's)
From TFA, "Peel said he had several returns after Christmas, then a few other returns and exchanges — all with a receipt." This implies he had a fair number of returns/exchanges before he was flagged by the system as a possible fraudster (~5+ in less than 4 months). Even if they were all legitimate, that's still a fair amount of expenses incurred by BB for dealing with just one customer. I despise Best Buy as much as the next ./'er, but for a failing company that claims to lose billions a year to fraudulent returns, this seems like a fair policy. If a single return prevented future returns for 90 days, things would be different, but that's not how this appears to be applied.
. . . and he won't be coming back to Best Buy for 90 days either. Or for that matter, ever at all:
http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/10/markets/best-buy/?hpt=hp_t3
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
In Texas, and probably other states, there are laws restricting reading the magnetic data off a driver's license. http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/78R/billtext/html/SB01445F.htm
I'm pretty sure Best Buy is not a law enforcement officer, nor selling alcohol, so that leaves a restricted set of exemptions for financial institutions which seems like a long shot.
I am not a lawyer, etc, etc. That's a bill, not a law, but I think something extremely similar is on the books.
------- Driver carries less than 64K of cache.
When companies start getting in financial trouble they cast desperately about for ways to improve the "bottom line". Usually they light on access, inventory and returns as places to cut losses, presumably without changing volume. Also "building the ticket" and pushing customers to higher margin products.
You saw this at Blockbuster when they implemented sally ports on entry and employee gauntlets on exit. Future Shop, CompUSA and others all went the same way.
But there is no limit to these measures and they drive customers away. In that their end is writ.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Do you have statutory rights in the US? Use them...
If not vote with your feet (I concur your personal contribution will have very little effect on 'BEST-BUY' - but you wont have to deal with them again ;) )
Amazon will stop taking returns too if you abuse the system. They are normally extremely nice. If you have something you can send it back for any reason, including not wanting it, within 30 days and they are ok with that, no restocking fee or anything.
However if they notice that you are trying to use that as a rental service, they'll cut you off.
Here's the returns policy found on their website:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Help-Topics/Returning-Online-Purchases/pcmcat260800050014.c?id=pcmcat260800050014
Returns Tracking
When you return or exchange an item in store, we require a valid photo ID. Some of the information from your ID may be stored in a secure database used to track returns and exchanges. Based on return/exchange patterns, some customers will be warned that subsequent purchases will not be eligible for returns or exchanges for 90 days. Customers who are warned or have been denied an exchange/return may request a copy of their Return Activity Report by calling 1-800-652-2331 or by mail at P.O. Box 51373, Irvine, CA 92619-1373. Please be prepared to provide your transaction ID, ID number, full name, address and phone number.
Valid forms of ID accepted are: US, Canadian or Mexican Driver's License, US State ID, Canadian Province ID, Matricula Consular, US Military ID, Passport, US Laser Visa, or US Permanent Resident Card.
It sounds like only certain customers will be subject to the 90 day policy, depending on their return history.
Incorrect. The policy obviously does not apply to genuinely defective items, so customer's won't get concerned about that. The policy applies to those who expect to be able to return their items without any reason, i.e. those who consider retail stores their personal "free loaner" service, at everyone else's expense. Amazon will not work for that purpose, for obvious reasons. And if these people try going to Target or Walmart with their abusive practices, the stores will either be forced to implement similar policies or be kicked off the market. Kudos to BestBuy for doing at least something right. Honest people now have at least one store that stands for our principles.
TFA didn't mention the fact that the restricted person had a fairly active history of returning items. Many retailers, not just BB will clamp down on serial returners.
That probably means the vast majority of Best Buy customers are unlikely to run into this issue.
Not that I would be a Best Buy customer. I'm just not a B&M kind of guy. And the few times I shopped there I didn't get a feeling that I wanted to be one of their customers. Salesmen trying to push cables that cost 25 times what I could get online are a real turn off.
Which is probably why they are heading for the .BK list.
..I recommend using the Postal Code of H0H 0H0 (that's the North Pole fyi, and a valid Canadian Postal Code). The girls at Ikea and Walmart give me dirty looks when I use it but since they're asking for information I believe they have no right to ask for, the least I can do is cause ripples in their db.... please help!
I thought scanning and keeping any information from a Florida driver's license was illegal. Can't seem to find any information on that now.
How about bringing your concealed carry permit instead? It doesn't have a mag stripe, but is a government issue document with picture. Should be fun to watch them try and figure that one out.
The personal-info issues with the DL scan aside, I'd imagine that credit-card companies might have something to say about merchants not accepting returns if a product was actually defective.
For the "oh I don't really want/like it" type of returns - unless the item has some major flaw that was not readily apparent - then if they reject the return it's GOOD. Big-box stores aren't rental chains.
In the US maybe but in Europe no. Essentially the European position is that when you are sold something as a consumer the default legal contract kicks in, this is between you and the retailer not you and the manufacturer. This includes an implicit term that the good are free of defects (except those explicitly disclosed to you) and fit for the purpose sold. You wish to return? It goes to the retailer who may then deal with their suppliers to handle returns themselves.
I bought an assortment of items for business purposes the other day, as I didn't have time to wait for stuff to arrive via Amazon.
I returned a laptop I had purchased but never opened earlier today. They copied the info from my drivers license down. A few hours ago, I found out that a Blu-ray player I had bought wasn't working. I wanted a refund because I decided to go with another model. Wouldn't you know it? Two items, same receipt, denying me my right to a refund.
I'm on hold with corporate right now. "We are experiencing an abnormally large call volume." Yeah, I wonder why.
My kingdom for a donkey!
Yep. But in my experience its been 14 days, sometimes 30 if its a "I changed my mind, I want to return it". I don't live in the USA though.
I like being able to pay cash for an item and stay anonymous. If i need to return, I bring the receipt. I am very good about keeping receipts.
With this new policy in place, in order to return an item, they must scan my driver's license in order to figure out whether or not I am a policy abuser. That means that they have a lot more of my personally-identifiable-information in their database than I want them to.
I don't care if privacy has been declared dead. I can buy stuff and return it anonymously at Microcenter, so I will shop there instead.
Good riddance, Best Buy.
1. Open browser
2. Enter "http://www.amazon.com" (without quotes)
Years ago, BestBuy wouldn't accept an exchange or return on a defective graphics card, instead requiring me to mail it to some repair center and wait 6 weeks for a check to be mailed. They used the rationale that I had opened it because it was a "computer product" which I still don't understand to this day. This coupled with later bait and switch advertising for specials and their CEO telling the press there were customers he just didn't want in response to questions about a controversial return policy led me to long ago treat BestBuy as an emergency source of things I need in less than a day. Everything else gets bought online because if BestBuy is going to have crappy customer service then why should I pay more for a local store. In typical BestBuy fashion they're making matters worse not better, this sort of behavior will just drive me further and further away to the point that I buy unique custom products in small local shops and mass produced products from online retailers where they are cheap and convenient.
This will only limit how often I buy something at Best Buy (or perhaps go elsewhere online or offline). A bad move, even if its the best of worst options..
What happens if you buy two things that are actually broken in less than 90 days?
Sounds to me like a valid reason to not bother shopping at these stores...
About a year ago my son purchased an on-sale high -end refrigerator for his new house at BB, they agreed to deliver 2 weeks later when he took possession of the house. When the time came and no fridge arrived, he called and they said they were out of stock but would credit his CC in "a couple of weeks". (I suggested he make a charge back to the CC company.) Badly needing a fridge, he tried to get BB to supply a substitute at an equivalent price. Despite going up the "manager" food chain as far as possible, they only offered other fridges at above market prices. He ended up buying one of the substitutions BB offered from a competitor, but for almost $500 less than BB wanted.
Lesson: if you can't carry it out under your arm when you buy it, you haven't bought it at BB.
You aren't allowed to require photo ID to vote, but you can require someone to show ID for exchanging some crappy $80 camera?
Are you kidding me? haha. No wonder they're losing money hand over fist. This kind of hostility to its customers is NOT going to help.
All the reward points aside, I might start purchasing my games at Game Stop now...
How does this stop someone from buying a TV for "the big game" and returning it after they're done? So they can only do this once every 90 days? Wouldn't a store get wise to this early on if the same guy was buying a TV every week and returning it the next day and simply deny doing business with him? Couldn't they just have a friend buy it anyway?
This policy doesn't seem to solve the problems it's publicly stating it will solve. I wonder if there's an alternative motive here that Best Buy isn't letting on.
If even HALF the people who yelled "I'M NEVER SHOPPING AT BEST BUY AGAIN!" actually DID shot at best buy then Best Buy would not be in such finical state.
Take your fake outrage and STFU.
I got a good deal on an ASUS G74SX at Best Buy. After I returned a defective HP laptop.
For more menial tech purchases I go to Staples or Office Max.. they have a much wider selection and a somewhat better price.
A place that treats its customers as enemies at best is generally to be avoided...
If you're afraid of a draconian return policy just insist that you see it working before you pay for it. I usually ask if I can open a box and check that everything is there if it looks like it could be opened and resealed.
And if you think buying something means "take it home and decide", then I don't care if they refuse to take it back. Once you leave the store with what they promised to sell you, it's yours.
There's laws in California governing returns, and BB's policies likely violate them. But rather than fighting it out in small-claims court, it's easier to avoid the whole problem. I pay for stuff like that using my American Express card. If the item's defective and BB won't accept a return, I just call up Amex and dispute the charge, explaining that I've attempted to return the defective item to the merchant and they've refused to accept the defective item even though they're legally required to (law trumps return policy, the idea here is to cut off the merchant's "Our documented policy doesn't allow that return and the cardholder knew that." argument before they can make it). If I'm legitimately entitled to return the item, Amex will simply take the money out of BB's merchant account and put it back in mine, and then it's up to BB to fight it out with Amex.
Caveat: have the item packed and ready to return to the merchant. Amex will cut you off at the knees if you're trying to get your money back but keep the item. Also, I use this only for defective or not-as-advertised items, not cases where the item's in good working order and as advertised and I just don't like it now that I've got it.
One more reason not to ever buy from best buy.
Minor point to consider, if the blue ray had been OPENED then they would not have taken it back, only exchanged it for the same title.
How returning an unopened unwanted product can be considered "abuse of the return system" is beyond me.
It's not like they scan your driver's license at time of purchase, so would-be abusers I'm sure could easily to find a friend or family member to return their product (still using the same receipt of course).
They are making an assumption... That people that generally abuse return policies will soon run out of friend and family members that want to take the fall for them. Me thinks that might be a good enough assumption to bound the problem to a constant factor that is something reasonable (and write-off-able which is the only goal)...
and utilize the warranty/return protections of the card
chargebacks are designed to favor the consumer
Yes they should be obligated if i didn't want it and its not been opened, and you can be damned sure they will take it back if i tell them to or ill physically shove it down their throats and tell my cc company to refuse payment.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
This is stupidity. For every customer-unfriendly way of doing something, there is a customer-friendly dual.
For example:
1. Additional fee on fat people.
2. Raise all prices and offer a discount for healthy weight.
In Best Buy's situation:
1. Scan driver's license of returned goods and prevent hostile returns.
2. Raise all prices and offer a discount to people purchasing with Valued Customer Cards. (If you make a hostile return, such as a big screen TV after the Super Bowl, or too many DVDs after the next day, you lose your Valued Customer Card.)
When it comes to customers, you always choose the carrot, never the stick. Financially, it's all the same anyway.
You know, the only part of this I like is when I think of adversiting companies like one I worked at that did promotions for things like Microsoft's Xbox or HP's tablets and notebooks. I was surprised to see the reps purchasing a douzen units from the local BestBuy or Future Shop (owned by Best Buy in Canada) to use them as promotional equipment for events of a few days or weeks and then return them to the store within the 30 day window for a full refund.
It's one thing to stop individuals from returning a product, I'm against that pratice. But I would love to see those marketing companies stop doing that sort of stuff. I'm sure BestBuy would save money on one hand and not get valid customers ticked off at them on the other hand.
I'm certain an individual coming back to a store with some 10+ computers for a return is easy to spot as someone that is abusing the store. At least they should loose 10% of the value for having used and worn them during that time.
Besides, if these companies want to pay for event type advertising, they should supply said equipment or money to pay for purchases.
People are so mercurial!
What's the difference between being mercurial and being a git?
But seriously, perhaps it's not being fickle as much as looking for a happy medium. A merchant obviously ought to check for fraudulent returns. But it should also allow at least exchange of a defective product or, should a defect be discovered in the product given as exchange, a return for store credit.
My sincere thanks to the author of this report.
I will be boycotting Best Buy as a result, and encourage others who care about personal privacy and security (note the numerous security breaches of government departments and big businesses) to do the same.
On their return policy it clearly states "Best Buy reserves the right to deny any return or exchange."
There are cases where reserving the right to refuse service isn't enforceable.
I always though it was too easy to take advantage of the return system, but collecting personal info is another extreme. When will people understand there's a middle ground in life?
They don't want to take a return? They can duke it out with Visa/Mastercard/Amex as I'll just call by credit card company and reverse the charge on the grounds that they wouldn't accept a return. I normally hate to pull that card especially on small mom and pop stores but I'll make an exception for corporate douche bags.
I don't buy anything from Best Buy any longer. Last month, I bought a tube of heat sink paste on the way home from work, only to find I had some at home. I went to return the un-opend heat sink paste the next day and had to give my drivers license and 1st born to return an $8 item. I told them I was done and haven't returned since. I stopped looking at the Sunday ads, stopped browsing their website, and any "deals" that come through with Best Buy as the vendor are ignored. I'd rather deal with Wal-mart or Amazon.com (and the US Postal Service) than "Worst Buy". I suspect this is just another nail in their coffin as a big-box store.
Have gnu, will travel.
Salesmen trying to push cables that cost 25 times what I could get online
What? There are salesmen at Best Buy?
Pics or it didn't happen.
Have gnu, will travel.
Walmart used to do something similar. Returns were tracked and limited to four per person per year. Even if you bought something was recalled, and returned it, that counted too.
Walmart no longer has this policy. Even they realized how draconian it was. Good to know Best Buy is going back to the past when they can't see a way into the future.
Honestly, why shop there? Shop at Costco where they never hassle you about returns. If that's your worry.
Sig for hire.
This "customer" information on returns will be farmed out to other companies, eventually giving people with multiple returns a bad buyer profile.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Honesty is the best policy.
The customer service goal for world-class organizations is to not only satisfy customers, but to delight them.
That isn't rocket science, that's just Retail 101 and it has been for the last century.
There's a perfectly ordinary chain drugstore in my town, but I'm their customer for life, because they just do everything right. It's nothing that grabs you in particular. But the advertised specials are always there. They put more people on the cash registers the lines build, nobody greets you obtrusively when you walk in the store but when you want help you get it. All the silly little retail things you take for granted. Nothing special, nothing they shouldn't be doing, it's just that they do it all the time, every time.
And they always do the right thing on returns. Whether the package is opened or not. Whether you have the receipt or not. Just because you say you want to return it.
Returns matter. Customers worry about buying the right thing or getting a lemon, knowing you can return something makes you more likely to purchase. Returns are unpleasant; you always fear rejection. Returns are especially important with gifts. The best way you can convince someone to buy that gift is to convince them that it's easy for the recipient to return it.
Best Buy? I don't think they're such an awful company really, but the time I tried to return a cheap DVD player that just plain didn't work and they hit me with a restocking fee, I got a cold prickly. I wasn't going to fight them about ten bucks or whatever it was, but it was just plain wrong, they shouldn't a done it, and I remember it. Do I still shop at Best Buy? Sure. But do I love the store? No.
Accepting returns graciously, quickly, and efficiently is one of the best ways a store can build loyalty. Best Buy is screwing themselves by getting a reputation for being difficult on returns. It's the kind of thing that spreads by word-of-mouth. "Don't buy stuff there, it's a hassle if you need to return it."
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
But now I have one!
I'm not good with anyone scanning my drivers license for a purchase. Target started doing that with liquor and I'm simply not going to dig my license out every time I shop. So I dont shop there at all.
Is it abuse? Its up to the store to manage the policy. When you have a customer with excessive returns, then ban THAT customer. But this is what happened with Costco. People started using their return policy for a free upgrade path, returning 2 year old computers and tv's. So now they only offer 90 days, and they WILL take your card and swoosh you out the door if you return too many things for no reason.
But BB sucks. Except for rare sales their prices are too high and their 'service' isnt anything I can use. Last time I went in I had a hard time getting one of the dozens of employees walking around doing nothing to help me, and when I did I was sorry.
From reading the article summary I thought that I could now only return something once every 90 days at Best Buy. Reading the actual article reveals that this is only true for habitual returners who meet whatever patterns are used by the software used by Best Buy and others now. Some unlucky few fall between the cracks, but for the majority of shoppers, this is a non-issue.
We should be able to mod submitters down as incompetent or deceptive.
2. I think the policy is stupid because it shows that people aren't even smart enough to fuck the thing up before they return it. These gizmos have air slots in them. Take a lamp plug/wire. Cut it off the lamp, and strip the rubber off an inch of the wire. Plug the plug in and stick the wire in the back. Fish around until you hear things go ZAP SNAP ZIBBER SCUBBLE ZAT! and some smoke emits and you smell ozone. Then unplug the wire from the wall. Plug appliance in to see if it works. It probably won't. Return item. Tell them, "hey - I was watching Wheel of Fortune when it suddenly went ZAP SNAP ZIBBER SCUBBLE ZAT! Then it died. I want my money back. You people suck." You never broke the seal, it's not been visibly tampered with from the outside, but it clearly doesn't work, so as far as they know, it "just fried up".
Seriously people, if you're gonna fuck with these corporations, you gotta put at least a LITTLE effort into your fuckery. Fuckerators.
Next week, gluing bricks to free return postage from junk mail. Papa was a running dog lackey for the bourgeoisie! The bourgeoisie's a buncha jive suckaz!
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Pay cash, have a friend return. So... how does this stop the "rental" scam?
you never bought something that didn't work, returned it, only to have the replacement fail as well? all within 90 days? it happens.
this is basically an incentive to sell products of even less quality than they already are. i cannot justify buying from a place that has a "sell crap and get away with it" policy.
If you return something at BB, insist that they credit you the inflated in-store web price.
Big corporations should have seen this coming. After decades of pushing for relaxation of laws and regulations on fraud and deceptive trade practices, the retailers are getting what they wanted. What they should have seen was that the agencies and organizations protecting the consumer also had a role in enforcing the law to protect the retailers, from each other and dishonest consumers.
Used to be that if someone tried to defraud a retailer by falsifying a return, there was a pretty good chance they'd face criminal charges. Now, thanks to policies that have benefited the most aggressive capitalist businesses, enforcement of that kind of law is way down. Things like that tend to become civil actions now, which is fine for companies with deep pockets going after big amounts, but too expensive to apply to every individual purchase transaction.
Now that big box retailers don't have the help of law enforcement to reduce their exposure to fraud, they have to deal with on their own dime.
I believe Ayn Rand would approve of this development.
This is pretty common in the retail industry at least for large national chains with a fully integrated POS system. I know homedepot requires ID for returns and they link your returns across multiple store this is directly tied to increased theft of high value times where they steal form store A and and return to store B and then sell the gift card. This also means gift/store credit cards for returns are directly tied to your id/account and tracked across all 2000+ stores this is a direct result of the massive spike in theft and receipt less returns since 2008ish they now require ID for all returns now when before you could just get store credit with no ID let alone a receipt. Most people are subject to a number of returns in a 90days period before they get flagged for a abuse and are restricted. Contractors and people with special projects on file have far higher limits
... scans Amazon.com, no more Best Buy!
This sig is not paradoxical or ironic.
Yeah, they asked for my license when I wanted to exchange some cables. Since my license had expired (I didn't know it had expired), their system wouldn't let me do it without a manager's approval. I didn't know I was banned for 90 days though.
As you may know, Brian Dunn has resigned as CEO of Best Buy. What you may not know is that I am the new CEO and have come up with a new profit-enhancing concept. Effective May 1, 2012, all products sold by Best Buy are sold as-is, there will be no refunds or exchanges for any reason. Thanks for your continued support.
Stay out of Best Buy stores for the next 90 days. If they won't stand behind their products, they're no good to you.
This policy has been around for about 8 months now. It was a trade off: they will waive the restocking fee but keep track of your purchases.
Which would you rather have?
And as other people have noted, call your credit card company if you have any issues and dispute the charges.
Jeez, you guys in the states get screwed every way possible. Maybe Best Buy customers should have a new policy "buy only 1 item every 90 Days."
In Australia ALL defective goods must be refunded / replaced (not with Store credit but REAL money or Credit Card Chargeback)
All Private and Domestic Use Goods sold as new MUST have Minimum of 12 MONTHS Warranty including repair/replacement/refund if defective.
Any store trying a SCAM like BestBuy 90 day refund policy would be FINED Massive amounts.
3. you can ask a knowledgeable staff member about the products
a) If you know enough about computers to be knowledgeable, you sure as hell will have a job making more money than Best Buy would pay.
b) The guys selling the TVs don't know the first thing about them. For example... do they actually know what makes LCD better than plasma or the other way around? Do they even have the slightest clue how either technology works? Do they know anything at all about what the contrast ratio actually means? Do they even know enough about Ohm's law to understand cost savings on power? Do they have the slightest clue why top and bottom isn't as good as side by side for 3D? Absolutely not. All they know is what is written on the sheets next to the TVs and from what they watch while at work.
c) Geek squad? Really? Personally, I want a nerd to fix problems... geeks are just outcasts posing as nerds in order to fit into some community where they could get some respect instead of just being geeks. This is one of the best names ever. When they named it, I don't think they had any idea how accurate it was to call them that. Can they fix some computer problems? Sure... anyone can change parts until it works and reinstall Windows. But frankly, their drivers license is more impressive than their computer skills. Rule #1... never ever trust a computer guy desperate enough to wear a stupid looking uniform to work. It's like asking the guy at the drive through window at McDonalds to fix your PC. And in that case, you might have more success.
When a company buys network equipment, if they need help from someone knowledgeable, they bring in someone from Cisco or Juniper who have actual certifications which require you to have at least a decent understanding of networking design and architecture to get. And by decent, I mean, they actually know what each component does and more or less how it works. Hell, you have to even understand TCP windowing to get the entry level certification.
When a consumer buys a TV which costs them more proportionately to their income than a few Ciscos costs a company, they trust a guy who's only qualification is a blue shirt tell them what they need or want.
So how would Best Buy actually fix this problem? Teach the guys selling TV how scaling engines work so they can better understand why the scaling engine of one model of TV is better than another? Make the guy at the front desk of the Geek Squad wear the shirt and in the back find "qualified" bench techs who actually are willing to fix PCs for a living and pay them appropriately? Hire former appliance repairmen to sell the white ware? It would be a start, but it would almost certainly bankrupt them faster.
This is obviously part of the reported 1.7 billion in losses.. People buying electronics to try out then returning them claiming they were faulty. Which would be why the douche in this story is banned for 90 days, or he just has bad luck buying items that were in fact faulty out of the box. These people should know of thing called the internet, you can read reviews from multiple web sites, blogs, or forums over which electronic gadgets perform the best. Most of the people click the first 2 results which more then likely support a name brand or they are getting incentives to (IE) claiming Sony is better than AOPEN.
Working in Dell tech support I got some experience with such folks.
I got a call from a guy who wanted a replacement for his keyboard and mouse. I read his previous history. He owned a Dell dimension 8400(P4, 512 mb ram) which at the time he bought it was top of the line. After 4-5 years(no warranty) he called in and said there was smoke coming out of his PC. Now I have no idea how a PC that worked fine for 4 years would suddenly catch fire but it was replaced with an XPS 360(Quad core, 2 gigs RAM, 512M graphics card and other modern hardware). Now he tells me he needs his keyboard and mouse replaced too since his new computer didn't have a PS/2 port. And I had to send those.
I got a call from this guy who claimed his monitor wasn't working. Looking into the history I found it had been replaced 6 times in the past 2 weeks(I figured he had been getting the replacement monitors but never returned the old one). I told him I would need to send a technician to look at it as the problem seemed to be elsewhere that's when he hung up.
The best refund calls I got were people who bought computers loaded with Vista wanting to go back to XP which was not available. Dell had to create a special exchange policy just for these cases.
In my opinion 99% of people do not try to abuse the system. The question is whether it's worth inconveniencing them to keep a check on the free loaders.
Best
I mean, if somebody tells me "we will give you limited service for the next months for reason X,Y,Z" then that means essentially "we don't want you as client". Fine. There is always internet/other shops. Goodbye, best buy.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
Yes they should be obligated if i didn't want it and its not been opened, and you can be damned sure they will take it back if i tell them to or ill physically shove it down their throats and tell my cc company to refuse payment.
No. If the product is as properly described and unfaulted, you don't have a moral right to get them to take it back. They've fairly done their side of the deal; you should have carefully considered whether you wanted the item before purchase. Certain products in certain jurisdictions are subject to additional constraints (especially where those products are actually contracts for ongoing service where the selling is done when the customer isn't "in the store") but those are very much the exceptions.
Yes, many retailers let you return unwanted goods — often provided they're unopened, but not always — yet that's not a statute-induced legal obligation upon them; it's not a right, they didn't have to do it. It's an additional feature of the contract between you and them, added to increase the likelihood that you will purchase from them in the first place; it's a kind of advertising, if you will.
For a Bluray disk, which is pretty cheap and where you can get the whole benefit of it very shortly after opening the packaging, I'd expect the returns policy to be pretty constrained. For something expensive and enduring, I'd expect rather better terms on the returns policy.
"Little does he know, but there is no 'I' in 'Idiot'!"
Wanna bet that they don't have to accept it? And i will force them.
Also, i did say unopened, so your example of the bluray disk doesn't apply here. If its opened, then ya, they can refuse.
You might want to avoid using the terms 'moral' as morals are relative. Your morals are not the same as mine, or the guy down the street.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Good thing it's required to prevent fraud in important stuff like electronics returns, and not trivial stuff like voting for president.
-Styopa
How does "pre-purchase research on the net" help you figure out that a particular laptop's keyboard or smartphone's QWERTY keypad is comfortable to you? Do you also buy TVs sight unseen?
Tell them you don't have a license.
"I took the bus" is likely to be met with "Then may I see your non-driver identification card to verify that you are 18?"
Who cares? Best Buy will be gone by next year anyway.
I'm pretty sure Best Buy is not a law enforcement officer, nor selling alcohol
But they are selling^W licensing computer programs, and cashiers need to verify the licensee's age and other factors that affect competency to enter into such a contract.
Before this week's layoffs, Forbes did an analysis http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrydownes/2012/01/02/why-best-buy-is-going-out-of-business-gradually/ back in January on why Best Buy was in a slow, horrible death spiral. This panic over demanding a driver's license is just part of the apocalyptic horror. And it's a demonstration of the short-sighted, reactive, anti-consumer leadership that painted them into this corner. Clearly, they've decided morons are their target demographics because who else will now buy more than one big ticket item at Best Buy more than once every 90 days? Guess it takes one to know one.
This doesn't really affect me at all because I refuse to set foot in a Best Buy, and have for the last 10 or so years, since their receipt-checker assaulted me, then called the cops when I refused to allow him to search me on my way out. (FWIW, he served 30 days for the assault and 2 years for the attempted kidnapping).
Back in 1987 with my C64 they did the same thing at Kmart without having to scan anything they just recorded my Name and information and then black listed me after my 5th return of games I purchased.
Since when is it news that stores record your information and data? and god forbid use it!
Why do this now with a drivers license? I'm sure the guy returning the tv after the big game didn't drop cash for it? Why not ban the card he used to make the purchase instead?
I'm sure BB will use this practice until someone sues them for it citing privacy issues.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
Sorry sir, you must have driver's license to return this.
I though I should share this. My daughter wanted to recycle an old ipod, and didn't have a receipt. They insisted on her giving them a fingerprint. She felt pressured, and complied. When she told me about this, I told her that this was a violation of her rights. We ended up writing a letter to Best Buy, detailing what happened; that it was a violation of her privacy, asked them to purge the fingerprint, and returned the gift card she received for recycling. As a result, we got a pathetic letter back, stating that the State of Minnesota requires them to do this, and with the gift card enclosed. so much for trying to do the right thing. She should have just pitched it in the garbage. My daughter has vowed to never do business with Best Buy again.
So, they scan your driver's license, huh? Well, that wouldn't work too well in NYC. A lot of people don't drive, and don't bother getting a license. And many of those don't bother getting the available 'non-driver's license' either, which some choose to get for photo id. My husband doesn't have a driver's license, and at 54, sees no reason to bother getting one now. I wonder what they'd do with him. Best Buy has NO business asking anyone for a driver's license. Personally, I wouldn't provide it, and if they wouldn't accept a return, I'd just tell them - backed up with a letter - that I would no longer be doing business with them, and then I would explain that I normally spend several thousand dollars annually on electronics, music, movies, etc. There are plenty of places to buy stuff. No one needs to deal with a place with an objectionable policy.
Who would ever buy anything from Best Buy..... Do you think they even will be in busines in 90 days!
"Here, you can return this tv, but you can't return anything for 90 days"
That's ok it's 365 days to the next super bowl before I need another tv. Ooooor, sure, I just won't buy anything from you for another 90 days, clearly you don't want me to buy things from you with a limited return policy.
This one won't stick, especially once it gets to government and they start asking why they're tracking personal information again.
No lines, less fuss.
No tax paid either which is how Amazon get to offer such great extra services over my honest companies by passing on their billions in tax avoidance savings to customers !!!
After reading this story, I will assiduously avoid Best Buy. I've heard other unpleasant things about this corporation over the years. Fortunately I live in a place where there is a lot of competition. I'll pay 10% more to work with an honest retailer.
The reason I purchase from a large store instead of saving money by purchasing online is because of their return policy. If they limit their return policy, then there is little value in paying extra for the device. I do purchase from Best Buy because I know I have the option to return without a big shipping fee.