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Very unhappy with the Bestbuy Return Nazis :-(

mitchellvii

Well-Known Member
Bestbuy is on my s*** list.

I shop at Bestbuy A LOT. I went in today to return a $35 item because I just decided I really didn't need it. As they rang up the return, the cash register generated this 90 DAY RETURN MORATORIUM NOTICE which I had to sign and basically said they would honor this return but all future returns for whatever reason (even obviously defective merchandise) would be declined for 90 days. Now mind you, they would not accept this return unless I signed this thing despite the fact that there is nothing on the receipt mentioning any such policy. As a matter of fact, as a Bestbuy Rewards "Elite" Member I am supposed to get 30 days to return anything.

So here I am at the register being treated like some sort of common criminal. I told them I didn't understand what was happening here because my last exchange (not even a return, I exchanged one laptop for a more expensive one) was an entire year ago. During the last year I have made over $2800 in purchases without a single return. The Manager called Corporate and inquired as to why this was happening and Corporate agreed this made no sense. But then Corporate said that despite the fact it made no sense, the 90 day moratorium would be enforced.

I was like are you freaking kidding me?! I am an Elite Club Member and one exchange for a more expensive item a year ago subjects me to this harassment? It took over 45 minutes of phone calls just to get this return done. A $35 item.

I was about to purchase a $1000 Yoga 2 Pro but I informed them I was putting it back on the shelf and would never be shopping at Bestbuy again.

Wow Bestbuy, really? I'm glad you can afford to piss off and humiliate your good customers. Brilliant.

** The moral of the story? If you shop at Bestbuy and have returned ANYTHING within the last year, prepare for Gestapo tactics if you need to return even a small item.
 
Thank you for the heads up. I think they have recently messed me over too but I need to do more research before I figure that out (missing payment since they moved my account to a new "creditor"). Just based on your experience alone, I will never purchase anything there again. Again, thanks.
 
And believe me, I am going to be on the phone with Bestbuy Corporate tomorrow raising some serious hell.

I could understand if I had bought a $10,000 QHD TV Super Bowl weekend and tried to return it on Monday morning after the game, but this was a $35 item when I hadn't had a single return in a year! Complete Nazis.

God help you if you try to return any gifts this Christmas. For instance, if you have 5 gifts to return and they issue the warning on the first gift, guess what YOU CANNOT RETURN THE OTHER 4!!!!

I do not understand how this is even legal.

P.S., The Manager who was helping me asked me if the item I was returning was damaged. I said no and he said he was just checking to see if he could put it back on the floor as new. WTF? Bestbuy is reshelving returned items and selling them at full price as NEW???!!! Now I KNOW that has to be illegal.
 
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I have to say, my experience has been quite the opposite... I've returned 3 TVs in process of settling on the one I really wanted, XPS 12 and my wife's tablets four times (she settled on on the new Surface 2, after Kindle, Nook HD+, iPad Mini and iPad 4)... All within this year, and we've never had an issue. Of course I spent waaay too much there as we just moved into a new house and basically redid all the electronics, but still. I was expecting some kind of warning.

I think you really need to pursue it with Corporate, that usually works wonders.
 
I have to say, my experience has been quite the opposite... I've returned 3 TVs in process of settling on the one I really wanted, XPS 12 and my wife's tablets four times (she settled on on the new Surface 2, after Kindle, Nook HD+, iPad Mini and iPad 4)... All within this year, and we've never had an issue. Of course I spent waaay too much there as we just moved into a new house and basically redid all the electronics, but still. I was expecting some kind of warning.

I think you really need to pursue it with Corporate, that usually works wonders.

That's just it. It is so capricious it makes no sense. You have all those returns and nothing. I have one exchange in a year and I am black-flagged.
 
Maybe this article will be of some help.

The Retail Equation says its Verify-2 software identifies the 1 percent of consumers whose behavior can be identified as return fraud or abuse. The company, whose software is in 20,000 stores throughout the country, says return fraud ranges from $14.3 billion to $18.4 billion each year.

"Verify-2 enables retailers to rely on objective, verifiable data," says spokeswoman Lisa Mendenhall, "to determine whether a return is valid rather than relying on subjective observations and guesswork by sales clerks. This objectivity ensures that only those with highly suspect return-and-exchange behavior are affected. The vast majority — approximately 99 percent — of returns are accepted."

One exchange 12 months ago where I returned a defective unit and bought a more expensive one and this qualifies as "highly suspect behavior"? I was returning a $35 item, not a $10,000 TV. Complete and utter steaming BS.
 
Im going to return a 35.00 item tomorrow ill let you know how it goes lol.. couple weeks ago i returned some bluetooth headphones with no questions asked...
 
The item I was returning was paid for in part with Reward Zone Points. I was reading online that apparently if you return something bought with Reward Zone Points that this is flagged as "highly suspicious and potential fraud". Um, how? They do not give you cash back for your Reward Zone Points, they just credit the points back to your account. What possible fraud could you be committing?

Nevertheless, "The Retail Equation", the shadowy organization they use to determine these things, says it is and that's that.

So if buying anything at Best Buy using the Reward Points you earned for being a great customer beware. If you decide to return it you will be flagged as a possible criminal.

** They claim that only 1% of customers are hit with this 90-day moratorium. 1 exchange with a valid receipt in a year puts me in the 1% fraud club?
 
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They are going down in flames because so many people return stuff. That's why they're trying to control it.
 
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