BestBuy banning people for returning things

[Richdmoore]

I have no problem if they notify you BEFORE purchase that you can’t return or exchange in the store, and carry the policy forward for future purchases.

What I don’t like is the idea you can’t exchange or return products that you purchased before being notified of the return ban. I have no idea of the legality (I suspect it’s entirely legal) but it’s ethically wrong to not honor the returns with previously purchased products before the ban occurred.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I have no problem if they notify you BEFORE purchase that you can’t return or exchange in the store, and carry the policy forward for future purchases.

What I don’t like is the idea you can’t exchange or return products that you purchased before being notified of the return ban. I have no idea of the legality (I suspect it’s entirely legal) but it’s ethically wrong to not honor the returns with previously purchased products before the ban occurred.

I mostly agree, except when something is defective, as was the case for my open-box purchases.
There needs to be an exception for defective items, irrespective of other returns/history, etc.

 

[Dc2006ster]

Interesting thread. I have heard of people abusing return policies but that does not seem to be the case here and this concerns me because I have purchased items, taken them home to try, decided against them and then returned them in a day or two. Is this only happening in the USA? I have not heard of it in Canada?

 

[Rocko99991]

I mostly agree, except when something is defective, as was the case for my open-box purchases.
There needs to be an exception for defective items, irrespective of other returns/history, etc.

They don't care though. It cost them money when things are returned opened-defective or not. But not communicating that with customers who have sales people telling them return items if you have issues is the problem. It's not published anywhere visible in the store that you can be banned from returns when you hit a magic equation that we won't tell you about.

 

[chabig]

I mostly agree, except when something is defective, as was the case for my open-box purchases.
There needs to be an exception for defective items, irrespective of other returns/history, etc.

Why? The retailer isn't responsible for defective items. The manufacturer is.

 

[Breezygirl]

Why? The retailer isn't responsible for defective items. The manufacturer is.

Store like Best Buy normally return the defective items from the customer then ship them back to the manufacturer. All a part of customer service, at least when I worked there for a bit for some extra cash and the employee discount.

 

[jtara]

Many electronic manufactures include a big yellow "do not return to retailer" flyer in the packaging. They want consumers to contact them directly for warranty issues, rather than returning to the store.

I have to admit, I have abused return privileges to "audition" multiple competing products - but - LED light bulbs, not laptops! I was encouraged to do so by a Home Depot employee.

Of course, when I went back to return the ones I didn't like (and purchase more of the one that I did) I had to stand in line behind a contractor with two shopping carts of returns!

 

[jpine]

I have one particularly good anecdote about this.

I went to Fry's maybe 15 to 18 years ago to buy a DVD burner to upgrade the CD burner in my PC.

The only one they had that fit my needs had the "Returned item - 10% off" sticker, but I bought it anyway.

When I got home and went to install it - the drive inside was a CD-ROM drive - some ****** had installed the DVD writer, and put their old CD-ROM in the box and returned it. (And they also kept the two blank DVD-R discs - back when those were not cheap.)

That's chutzpah!

Something similar happened to me about 20 years ago with a sound card. I opened the box and found a used 8 bit sound card instead of the newest Sound Blaster. I think it was a Newegg store, but I wouldn't swear to it. The manager did take it back, but not without giving me a suspicious look. I didn't blame her one bit for the evil eye.

 

[ImAnAgent]

I'm wondering if this involves people returning items for refunds or exchanges or both. I've never returned anything for a refund but I have returned many things for an exchange and never got banned. I returned a 13" MBP for a 15", a Surface Pro 3 just to get the faster SSD and an Apple Watch. I've also purchased far more then I've returned such as three Samsung TVs in March and Apple TVs to go with them.

The last time I returned anything previous to the three things I mentioned above, was a MBP around 2009 or 2010.

 

[AppleDior31]

I'm wondering if this involves people returning items for refunds or exchanges or both. I've never returned anything for a refund but I have returned many things for an exchange and never got banned. I returned a 13" MBP for a 15", a Surface Pro 3 just to get the faster SSD and an Apple Watch. I've also purchased far more then I've returned such as three Samsung TVs in March and Apple TVs to go with them.

The last time I returned anything previous to the three things I mentioned above, was a MBP around 2009 or 2010.

Mine were returns. The second return caused a flag and third was denied.

 

[Rocko99991]

I'm wondering if this involves people returning items for refunds or exchanges or both. I've never returned anything for a refund but I have returned many things for an exchange and never got banned. I returned a 13" MBP for a 15", a Surface Pro 3 just to get the faster SSD and an Apple Watch. I've also purchased far more then I've returned such as three Samsung TVs in March and Apple TVs to go with them.

The last time I returned anything previous to the three things I mentioned above, was a MBP around 2009 or 2010.

I read it doesn't matter. It's number of returns in a certain amount of time.

 

[Plutonius]

Over the last ten+ years, I've only gone to Best Buy to look at things I then buy from Amazon or other online stores. Best Buy won't last much longer. It is almost always cheaper to buy the same stuff online and most major online retailers have far better return policies.

You can order online from most brick and mortar stores.

I found that Amazon prices are no longer the best you can get.

I always comparison shop for items (including websites of local stores). I probably only buy at Amazon 20% of the time and it's usually because they have a good selection of what I want.

I think most of my online shopping is actually at Walmart.

I have never had issues with returning items from both online and local stores. I personally think it's easier to return an item to a local store rather than packaging the item up and sending it out.

 

[dazz87]

What garbage behavior. Pay in cash and get a friend to do the return if you really need to.

Depends on the amount.... IF its over a large amount i believe its $250.00 then corp will send you out a check. So you will have to wait to get back your money.

 

[ignatius345]

I know this may be a relatively old post but I was just denied a return by BB. I came across this post by simply typing in, “the retail equation Apple.” So here’s my story: I purchased three Apple watches that I ordered online and received this week. I was on the fence about what size, the 44 or 40 and between the silver or space grey. I opened one and decided to return the other unopened two. The first return went through. However, on the second, I received a warning that future returns may be denied. I’ve never heard of anything like that before. I had the receipts and the items weren’t even open! Upset from getting a warning, and feeling like I was accused of being a theif and fraudster, I decided to return the third one too. It was denied and I was given the detailed receipt for me to contact TRE. I wish I had known about this before I stupidly bought all 3 watches because I couldn’t decide in the first place. Lesson learned, no more indecisiveness and never shopping at BB again.

I would reach out to your state's Consumer Affairs division. Quite likely this is illegal under their license to do business in your state.

 

[SDColorado]

I'm wondering if this involves people returning items for refunds or exchanges or both. I've never returned anything for a refund but I have returned many things for an exchange and never got banned. I returned a 13" MBP for a 15", a Surface Pro 3 just to get the faster SSD and an Apple Watch. I've also purchased far more then I've returned such as three Samsung TVs in March and Apple TVs to go with them.

The last time I returned anything previous to the three things I mentioned above, was a MBP around 2009 or 2010.

i am with you on this. Either they count exchanges different, it is a store to store enforced policy, it is a state to state enforced policy (perhaps some don't allow it) or they must love me. i am sure I drove them crazy with a travel camera purchase last year because I swapped between 3 different cameras, before a fourth swap back to #2. Earlier this summer I did something similar with a mesh wifi system, buying a Google setup, swapping it for Orbi and then returning that for Eero. Just last month I picked up a pair of Beats headphones on sale, didn't like them and swapped them for a pair of B&O, didn't like them and swapped them for Bose, wasn't fully satisfied with them and swapped them for a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3.

They haven't banned me yet....

 

[turbineseaplane]

They haven't banned me yet....

May fortune continue to be your friend

For me?
BB can screw themselves.