Best Buy review: Return policy 30

I have a complaint regarding the illegal return policy used by the Best Buy store in Madison Heights, MI. I purchased a Nikkon Cool Pic camera on March 16, 2008. The camera worked fine until 11 days later when the flash stopped working. On March 28, 12 days after purchasing the camera, I tried to exchange this camera for one that wasn't defective. I was within the 14 day return/exchange policy so felt there would not be a problem.

When I tried to return it, the first customer service rep checked the camera, found that the flash didn't work and didn't have a problem exchanging it as it was within the 14 day return period. All of a sudden another rep appeared and stated she would handle it. She checked the camera, found that the flash didn't work, but then stated I couldn't exchange it because the serial number was not on the box. The bar code was on, but the other number was partially off the box. I didn't take the number off the box, as woulld have no reason to. The camera was a present and could have come off as it was being opened.

I explained to her that the return policy stated I had 14 days to exchange it, and she stated she didn't care. I was out $150.00 and she didn't care. I asked to speak to a manager and she said she was one. I asked her for her name and she would only give me her first name - Tamela. I told her what she was doing was illegal, and she said "too bad." Unbelievable!

I went to another Best buy and was able to return it without a problem. I plan on pursuing this situation with a Best Buy Representative.

This manager should be fired as she was rude and by refusing to exchange a camera that was brought back within the timeline of their policy was clearly illegal and discrimminatory. I won't be shopping at that Best Buy ever again.

Long story short, I purchased a Kenwood KAC 9103 D from Best Buy on July 5, 2007. On Sunday, April 27, 2008, this amplifier died in my car, under operation for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Now, I am not complaining about this amplifier because I liked it a lot, but I am complaining about the service plans from Best Buy and how they are absolutely worthless. I went into the store to see what they could do for me and what they tried to do was get me out of the store. I was expecting them to give me trouble, but the service department gave me the complete run around and it really ticked me off. Already knowing the game they were trying to play with me I requested a manager to see if I could get something done. He proceeds to tell me that because the amplifier wasn't installed by Best Buy (as if I would let them touch my car to begin with) that they would ship it our for servicing and it would take 6 weeks. To that I asked where they would send it to be serviced. The manager says that they would send it to Kenwood to see if it could be repaired, but in the meantime I'm screwed without an amplifier. After dealing with this BS, I called Kenwood USA in California to see what they could do for me. The professional on the other end of the phone gave me shipping information for a service center and told me because of my proximity to the service area, that it would take them a week to send me a new amplifier if they could not fix mine, or it would take them two weeks at the max to repair my amplifier and send it back to my house. I told Kenwood the problems I had with Best Buy and urged them to stop selling their products with Best Buy because I felt their brand was being misrepresented by people who are...
1. Unprofessional
2. Don't care about the customer they make their money from
3. Do things improperly
Kenwood makes great products and they have great product service, but Best Buy is worthless and I will never do business with them again because of this kind of crap. I've had problems with them before, but this one tops the cake for absolute ridiculousness.

I bought an xbox package, the system and gta and get a gift card with purchase. In one night the system blew up so I called Best Buy and they said to bring it back and I would get a credit on my credit card, I did not want to purchase another system for fear of it blowing up, too. They refused to take the games they I can not use without a system to play, if Best Buy can not back-up what they sell, then they should not sell the products. They have poor customer service to the people that keep them in a job. All that I wanted was for my credit card to be credited the full amount that was charged, and they still would not do that. They have lost my business forever.

So wait, let me get this straight, your upset because the unit kenwood made, packaged, and sent to best buy stopped working a year later, and you did not buy a service plan, nor let the autotechs install it in your car. So it is best buy fault your an idiot? But you defend the company that made and shipped the defective product? What did you think was going to happen does best buy look like UPS or Fed Ex? If bestbuy would have told you a 1 week turn around and it took 10 days I bet you would have a bone to pick with them then. If you would have had the professionally trained auto techs install it in the first place, you would have had a lifetime warranty. It's your fault for being so negative.

FYI . . . Buyer Beware!

Subject: Best Buys return policy Check out 'Snopes' and you will find
it is true! BEST BUY, MY FOOTBest Buy has some bad policies...
Normally, I would not share this with others, however, since this could
happen to you or your friends, I decided to share it. If you purchase
something from, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, JC Penny, Sears etc. and you
return the item with the receipt they will give you your money back if
you paid cash, or credit your account if paid by plastic. Well, I
purchased a GPS for my car, a Tom Tom XL.S from 'Best Buy'. They have a
policy that it must be returned within 14 days for a refund! So after 4
days I returned it in the original box with all the items in the box,
with paper work and cords all wrapped in the plastic. Just as I received
it, including the receipt.I explained to the lady at the return desk I
did not like the way it could not find store names. The lady at the
refund desk said, there is a 15% restock fee, for items returned. I said
no one told me that. I said how much would that be. She said it goes by
the price of the item. It will be $45.00 Dollars for you. I said, all
your going to do is walk over and place it back on the shelf then charge
me $45.00 of my money for restocking? She said that's the store policy.
I said if more people were aware of it they would not buy anything here!
If I bought a $2000.00 computer or TV and returned it I would be charged
$300.00 dollars restock fee? She said yes, 15%. I said OK, just give me
my money minus the restock fee. She said, since the item is over $200.00
dollars, she can't give me my money back! Corporate has to and they
will mail you a check in 7 to ten days.! I said 'WHAT?!' It's my
money! I paid in cash! I want to buy a different brand..Now I have to
wait 7 to 10 days. She said well, our policy is on the back of your
receipt. I said, do you read the front or back of your receipt? She said
well, the front! I said so do I, I want to talk to the Manager!. So the
manager comes over, I explained everything to him, and he said, well,
sir they should of told you about the policy when you got the item. I
said, No one, has ever told me about the check refund or restock fee,
whenever I bought items from computers to TVs from Best Buy. The only
thing they ever discussed was the worthless extended warranty program.
He said Well, I can give you corporate phone number. I called corporate.
The guy said, well, I'm not supposed to do this but I can give you a
45.00 dollar gift card and you can use it at Best Buy. I told him if I
bought something and returned it, you would charge me a restock fee on
the item and then send me a check for the remaining 3 dollars. You can
keep your gift card, I'm never shopping in Best Buy ever again, and if I
would of been smart, I would of charged the whole thing on my credit
card! Then I would of canceled the transaction. I would of gotten all my
money back including your stupid fees! He didn't say a word! I informed
him that I was going to e-mail my friends and give them a heads up on
this stores policy, as they don't tell you about all the little caveats.
So please pass this on. It may save your friends from having a bad
experience of shopping at Best Buy.It's true! read it for yourself!Best
Buys return policy.

I bought a tv which was defective. I was to call Westinghouse, they said Best Buy. Eventhough I had a warranty, I went back and forth for four weeks. Today, the Westinghouse told me to got Best Buy and I did. Best Buy supervisor told me it was not their problem. I said it was frustrating, I would file a complaint with Virginia Attorney General and put a video on Youtube about my experience. The supervisor said he would take that as a threat and started to push me. Considering I had a surgery on my legs and they had seen me few days ago with crutches, I could not believe he kept pushing me. When I was outside, the general manager came out and threatened me and said "if you ever talk about your experiences, we will file a legal suit, I have all your information, we will take care off oyu. I called apolice and they lied to the police. For some reason they said to the police they had no camera where the incident happened and no audio on tapes. They could only provide the video where all the way at the end I yelled at them and told them not to push me and they sold me defective tv. Of course, because there is no audio, they lied about that too.

The worst customer service full of lies, threats! They lie, steal your money. Best Buy = worst customer service, defective products"

My Mother -in-law purchased a XM Satelite Radio for my husband for Christmas this year. During the purchase the sales clerk neglected to ask us about the extended warranty, so I ask about it and we decided to purchase it later along with the installation. On 1/08/09 I called out local BB and was directed to the installation dept. and set up a time and date to have the machine put in my husbands SUV. While on the phone he asked me the year, make and model of the car and then asked the time and date I would like to have it installed. I set up the appt. for the very next weekend 1/10/09. I had to change the appt. the day of the apt. from 11:00 am to 3:00pm due to my husband schedule. The man said when I called that it would be okay to change the time. So, now my husband is at the store and I give him a call to ask if they had started to work on the car yet. He asks me if I had told the guy at BB the year, make and model of the car. I told him that I did give him all the information that he had asked for when I set up the appt. He said okay I'll call you back. At this point I knew something was up, so I waited for his call back. He came to the store that I was in and proceeded to tell me that they did not have the parts necessary to complete the installation. They needed to order the parts from another store which was going to take anywhere between 3 to 5 days. They wanted him to reschedule his appt. to accomadate the employee's mistake.. What the hell is that? My husband got into a lengthy dispute about how they don't know what they are doing and yadda, yadda, yadda. He then said that after the cost of the XM radio and the cost of putting it in and the yearly cost it was just not something that he was willing to have anymore. So, he said that he wanted to return it. I told him that I have the original receipt at home and that he should wait if he wanted to return it. He said fine and went back to BB. An hour later he came back and said that he had returned it and they gave him a gift card. I said that they more than likely didn't give him the full price for it considering he didn't have the receipt. I looked at the receipt that they gave him that had the balance of the gift card on it and it said that they gave him $158.99 and the cost we paid for it was $180.19. I told him that we could take it back and hopefully get the full refund and get it in cash not a gift card. So, the next day 1/11/09 we went into the store (which I might add is 40 minutes away) I went to the customer service desk and explained the problem to an employee there. He said that he would let the guy who worked on the problem the day before handle it. I said that it would be fine. I explained to the guy that we have the original receipt and that we would like to have the rest of our money and what is left on the "gift card" in cash please. He said "I don't think that I can do that, but let me get my manager". I said fine. He went and got a manager named Megan. So, I then proceeded to ask her the same question. She said " You should have called the same day of the return". I told her that yeah, maybe I should have called, but I didn't because I had gotten side tracked. She said " well, i'm sorry I can't help you. If you would have called or came in the same day as the transaction I could have helped you". I asked, why does it matter? I have all the appropriate papers and you said that you recognize my husband from yesterday anyways. She was very unemotional and not interested in what my complaint was. She said again, " I'm really sorry there is nothing I can do you should have called yesterday". I was getting disgusted at this point, because she was not just saying it politely she was being kinda robotic and crappy. I told her that I was no longer interested in dealing with her and ask if I could speak to her manager. She said " i'm the manager". I then was getting more annoyed and told her that yes Megan I can read your name tag, I would like to speak to your boss. You have to answer to someone. She then stated that " you will have to speak to someone at Corporate". I said fine. She said " I'll give you the number". I told her that isn't going to happen. YOU will call them for me and I will speak to them while I'm waiting here. She said "fine". She dialed up the number to "Corporate" and handed me the phone. She then said " I'll be back"( she never did return willingly, I might add). What ever! I was thinking. So, I'm standing there listening to their elevator music and was told by the automated system the approx. hold time was 15 minutes. Can you believe this? I ask my husband. I then waited the entire time and then I got to speak to a (ugh!) ###, named Herb in the customer service dept. I was told I was going to speak to a manager in "corporate". Herb was just your everyday run of the mill customer service rep. I proceeded to tell him that he was not going to be able to correct my problem and that I would like to speak to a manager. He said that " he would really try to help me with the issue". So I
reluctantly explained the story to him. He said " okay, well our policy is that if you return something without a receipt you can not redeem the gift card that is given to you for cash. So this conversation was going nowhere and I was only getting angrier by the minute. I was getting really fed up with the stupid a** people that BB likes to call employees. I was on the phone by this time for around 30 or so minutes. He said to me " I need to speak to Megan". I said fine, but don't plan on putting me on hold for very long. He said "fine". He did exactly what he said he wouldn't. He put me on hold for 5 min. Then came back and told me the exactly the said thing. He said that " there is nothing more I can do". I ask him if he had more authority than Megan and that was not the case as I had predicted. Then I had another employee ask me if I need help? OMG! Are you not hearing this stupid conversation that is going on in front of your face? I looked at her and said, you know I'm supposed to be getting help, but that isn't the case... I told her the longer I'm on the phone with this ### the louder I'm going to get. So, please be aware I'm in the front of the store and other customers are in ear shot from me lady. So, yet again i'm fussing and fighting with Herb and nothings is being done. I finally told him that I would like to speak to a supervisor. He was not real happy to be passing the call on to the supervisor. Like he was going to help anyways. He said "m'am I'm going to put you on hold to transfer you". I told him that he better not be jerking me around. I don't want to be here all damn day, please make it quick. He said that he would. I waited on hold for another 7 or so min. By this time now I'm down right irate. I look at the time on the phone and it said that the time elapsed is 36 minutes. Can you believe this? About 45 minutes in, he comes back on and introduces his supervisor named Rob. Okay, for the third time now I am telling the story of their employee not doing their job and not giving me cash and the same old story that the other people have heard. He listened to my story and agreed with Megan's decision.. I really at this point was getting quite loud and was very fed up with the entire situation. I pulled out all the stops. I'm for the most part very quick on my feet and I remember what was said in the other conversations that I had with the other people. He just like the other employee's started to quote policies. Ugh! If I heard one more time about the dumb policies they "try" to enforce I was going to have a melt down. Rob and I went tick for tack for quite sometime and he was not willing to make things right. Well, " according to me" he said. He told me that " it is policy that we don't take returns with out a receipt and that as a courtesy they were able to give my husband a gift card int he first place". I told him that they didn't even ask for the receipt so there for how does he figure it's a "courtesy" when were not notified of any such thing. He said that " it's policy that our employee's ask for the receipt and he would have done so". I'm telling you there was no discussion of the receipt and that my husband just said "can I return this?". Over and over we went about the conversation that had gone on the previous day. He was getting very upset with me at this point because i'm yelling into the phone. He basically told me that "he was not getting into semantics with me and if there was nothing else he was going to end the conversation". I then yelled across the store to Megan who had been absent all this time and told her to get over here NOW! She come running over and we disagreed some more and then she took off again. So, more with Rob and by now I'm fighting back tears because of the entire situation. I realized that all the complaining in the world was not going to change this ###s mind. He was programmed very well by BB and he was not changing his mind. I finally got to the point that I was making a fool of my self in the store and yelling obscenities' at him and just in general. He then ask me in a very sarcastic tone " is there anything else that I can do for you". And I yelled in the phone YOU CAN GO F**K YOURSELF! I know, I know what a lady I am, right? But, after being on the phone with this crap for 1 hour and 11 minutes it was bound to drive anyone past the point of no return. So, I then screamed for Megan to get over to me NOW! She ran over and I told her that she is going to put the rest of my money on the stupid gift card and stop wasting my time! She thought for a moment that she was going to get sassy with me, but honestly she is really messing with the wrong person at the wrong time. She attempted to say " if your going to talk to me like that" and I interrupted her and screamed at her to put the money on the f**king card NOW or i'm calling the cops and making a report of someone trying to rob me. I threw the gift card at her and she picked it up and walked over to the register. I told her to hurry up! She said " if you going to talk about the cops" and I cut her off and told her that she isn't going to do nothing... She stood there shaking and finished putting the rest of the money on the card. I grabbed the card out of her hand and started for the doorway. On the way out I decided that I may as well tell the all what my feelings are about the store so I yelled THIS STORE F**ING SUCKS! Mind you, there is quite a lot of conversation that i've left out. Such as Rob the manager telling me that "if I wasn't happy with the gift card that they gave me that maybe I should give it to someone else, or sell it to someone for money". I told him that I was flabbergasted at how they take care of their customers and that they should take some tips off of Macy's, they seem to have it right. I have realized since I've calmed down that I did make a complete a** of myself and that bothers me, but I felt very put in the corner about what was going on. I can't believe that BB has such a huge empire and they treat their customers like this. I've since then filed a complaint with their corporate office and i'm in the process of writting a letter to their CEO. I'm not going to get my cash back and I now know that, but I do feel very vindicated in yelling at the people who were at the cause of all this stress. I hope Megan and Rob slept well that night knowing that they ripped off yet another customer. And I hope that Megan though that I was some crazy person that she need to watch over her back for... lol I do find it embarrassing yet amusing at the same time. I hope she had a really bad day after that. So, in conclusion please, please reconsider if you are wanted to buy something or have something installed from BB. I hope if you do your experience was much better than ours. Buyers beware!

I returned my xbox 360 which I had for only one night and because of the return policy which I was not made aware of I have been waiting over a week to get refunded. Because at Best Buy they are going to profit off my money by sending me a check rather than refunding it directly to the account it was purchased with. So I have to sit here for a week waint to get the check and then wait for the check to clear while the whole time they profit off keeping my money theses extra weeks. I will never purchase anything at Best Buy again!

How did you buy it? Normally the computers kick it right back to the credit card it was purchased with or given back in the form of gift card/cash

I've been here before too, not only with Best Buy, but other stores too. This is what I have learned. You have to play thier game. In your situation what I would have done was repurchase the radio (which must have been on sale if they gave you less money) with the gift card, then turn right around and return it with the old receipt for $180.19. Now of course that is if you could truly still get cash with the receipt. I think Best Buy has some type of policy that they only accept returns within 14 days, but even if you had to get a gift card you want it to be for the price you paid so I would have still done the same. Saves a lot of frustration and aggravation. But regardless I feel your pain.

After spending over $2k at best buy this holiday season I attempted to return a malfunctioning product. After waiting about 10 minutes at the return desk I was sent to the "Geek Squad" guy, after another wait he informed me he could not fix it and smugly stated I should have bought a warranty. If he can't fix it, they will not accept it. Just horrible customer service. I do not know if this is Best Buy company policy or just Valdosta location. Either way, they have lost a very good customer.

The customer service manager was informed of my complaint. He contacted me, replaced the item with no questions asked. Thank you, Best Buy.

You sound like a real ###.

You sound like a real cu!t. I would have called the cops on you.

Caveat Emptor –
They may have the ‘best buy’ in town but they definitely do not have the best return policy. Purchased my Blue Ray player on 5/19/10. It failed on 6/17 – a Thursday. I was out of town beginning on Fri and returned late Sun. Went to return my player (on Mon) a mere three days after their 30 day return window and was refused. Was told I would have to go through the warranty service provided by the manufacturer in order to fix my problem. In retrospect, I can think of so many companies I could have purchased my product from that would have been more than happy to return a $250 dollar item only 33 days after purchase. Needless to say, I won’t be coming back to Best Buy to shop again. Simply put, their return policy is nothing more than poor customer service in a time where many dealers are bending over backwards to please their patrons. I hope it was worth losing a customer over. Their lack of assistance in this matter is the second such incident I have experienced with them – I should have learned my lesson the first time. I have now. Word of caution – don’t bother to shop there unless you know you will NEVER need to return the item.

minimaxdeal.com offers consumer electronics

Best Buy return policy has been changed. Even with a receipt they will not do any return without a Drivers License. SHOP AT AMAZON.COM. Better customer service and a much better return policy. F~You Best Buy I will never shop at your stores again.

It is also to track returns for people who return ### ALL THE TIME. In that instance, they have the right to refuse returns in excess. For example, say someone constantly goes on vacation and buys a GPS and returns it on the last day of the return policy or even outside the return policy. Best Buy can now research these "vacation abusers" and refuse the return.

Of course, this is a case by case basis.

I am not in any way affiliated with Best Buy and my comments and views are not the sole view of Best Buy.

I purchased a new sony camera on may 6th 2011 from a best buy store in crestwood Illinois. I turned it on to set it up and tested it by taking a few pictures (Less than 15.) the next time i turned it on (May 7th) my friend was about to take a picture of me and said my display was messed up. I look at the display to see a bunch of just white lines covering the entire left side of the screen. panicking i thought it was just some weird photo effect i tried to reset the camera. Lines were still there. I brought it back to best buy and turned it on for the clerk to see and this time it was worse over half the screen filled with fuzzy white lines. they sold me a defective unit and tried to convince me i broke it and wouldn't return/exchange it. now im out $160 for a Sony DSCw370 model. The store clerk was also very rude to me. Instead of making this process simple now i have to ship my 2 day old camera to sony for repairs. at least sony was nice and the repair is free. guess i wont have a nice camera for my vacation in 2 weeks Before this incident i owned best buy credit and rewards cards as i used to shop there for everything sorry to say i cut them both up. Never shopping there again! Thanks for screwing me over best buy!

P.S. the photo i uploaded isn't mine... since i dint have a high quality functioning camera i googled "Sony DSC-w370 Cracked Display." In the case that this is a low quality model and breaks that easily after just one day of use which i highly doubt it should be pulled from the markets. The best buy clerk who sold it to me raved about it. People rated it for low picture quality but nothing about a bad display.

I did 2 things I spoke with the manager who was very rude, by saying things like go ahead sir nothing im going to do about it, and told me it can happen with any camera purchase. I called best buy community relations and was told pretty much the same thing by a nicer guy who asked me to call sony. So now im am in talks with sony to try and get it fixed. They said they were going to email me forms to include when mailing it to them. I never received those forms yet. ill have to give them a call to make sure they have all my info right because last thing it want to do is ship it to the address they gave me without any information they Need

I used a Best buy credit card, Sony finally sent me over the information for shipping it to them! So because im sick of dealing with best buy reps i will be mailing it to sony later today

I didn't need to deal with more rude BB associates already put it in the mail to Sony, but ill keep you updated on what happens

Sony has informed me that they have received my camera, still bummed i wont have a nice camera for vacation next week! Hope this won't take too long to settle

The Best buy associate raved and raved about this camera! It was $160! If it is indeed a bad model it shouldn't be on the markets. I read the cnet reviews it averages 3 stars and nothing about a bad display was mentioned

Final Update! I have received my camera in working condition back from Sony!

Best Buy really means "Best that Buyer Beware"!

I purchased a Nikon P500 camera barely over 60 days ago. I purchased it for my business. I have used it maybe 5 times and only for short periods of time at that. I was in another state on vacation and went to take some pics. The next day after its operation had been ok, I turned it on to find the camera would NOT take pics. Then, it would only random take pics when IT wanted to until if finally quit. Came back home and went to Best Buy the next day. They told me basically, "Buyer Beware" when you buy from us.

Tried to explain I need it despirately tomorrow morning for my work. He smiled and said it was past their 14 day return policy and I could present it to their Geek Squad who would only ship it off. Though they still have this same camera in stock, they REFUSED to exchange as it was obviously defective. In fact, the sales guy used that exact word, "obvious", saying it is obvious what is wrong with it. Something about the shutter has quit working. Sounded like it was a "known" common issue with the Nikon. This was NOT a cheap Nikon either.

I would NEVER recommend anyone purchase anything from Best Buy, especially if it is needed for BUSINESS, unless maybe it is a chair. Then becareful it does not fall apart while sitting.

I have been given the distinct impression that Best Buy "moves" known defective electronics for the manufacturer. And they will tell you whatever you want to hear to get you to make the purchase. However, upon returning it (as I noted from above), their demeanor totally changes from what you are originally told. (Yep, this is the 2nd, and LAST, time this has happened to me with Best Buy. In fact, I almost feel their promises may be in violation of the DTPA and possibly crossing into Fraudulent Misrepresentation. I DO plan to present to my attorney as this may cost me my income tomorrow.

Maybe I should collect info from consumers in the same boat to consider a possible Class Action against Best Buy! If interested, send your info to dfwsurveys@yahoo.com...

well if you didn't want to show your drivers then you should not have returned the item. It is a security measure. There are some people that will steal items at another bestbuy store and try to return it for cash. you can not blame them for being cautious

Next time you buy something, ask them in advance what is required for a return. There is nothing wrong with that policy, unless you are hiding something.

Also they dont take down your address i work for best buy. All it does is attach the purchase to your name. Stop being paranoid.

i agree that they HAVE no right to ask for any identification. As far stealing goes i think it would not be problem as long as i have my receipt. Why don't Best Buy require DL when u purchase the item just like the other dude said they use it to attach it to ur name don't u need it when u purchase it so SHUT UP U BEST BUY SLAVE. i have had this happend with besy buy this week already. WHEN u want purchase they assist so much coze ur gonna buy something but when u want to return they want to make u wait and ask all kinds of q's and find something whacky that will not refund all of ur money. THAT"S BULL****