When I worked at Wal-Mart people would return computer or stereo boxes with rocks or bricks in them all the time. Most of the time we would catch them...but occasionaly one or two would slip by

I will never ever get anything at Best Buy. One year we returned an item 2 weeks before Christmas that was purchased earlier...we were going to give the whole family a camcorder, ended up needing the money to actually GET presents at all due to some extreme circumstances...so I did the entire exchange process and the very very very last thing that happened was "we'll send you a check in 4-6 weeks". I was somewhat loud and irritable with them for about 20 minutes but to no avail.

No mention of that while I was doing the return. It was paid for with cash originally, but they kept that money to steal interest off of it until they absolutely HAD to send it back. We were planning how to handle no Christmas presents for a bit there...fortunately for us the refund actually showed up a few days before.

NEVER EVER AGAIN

When I went to purchase my new computer after my old one died I went to Best Buy first (I hate them but I had to price check). As I was studying the tag of a computer, comparing it's features some useless clerk came and took the tag. Never said a word, saw me standing there studying it and removed it to show another customer. Not "excuse me, I'll bring this right back", not "oh, are you looking at this, I'll be just a moment". I left and bought my computer elsewhere.

When I bought my new tv from Best Buy a few years ago I was looking at a particular model. I asked what the warranty was. Naturally, the sales clerk had no clue. He faltered on 60 days, then 90, then 1 year, then back to 90. I finally said, "ok, which is it, 90 days or a year?" He said "90 days parts and labor and 1 year for someone to come and look at it". I said "I don't need someone to come and look at in a year if it's broken, I'll know it's broken". They're idiots there. I won't purchase from them again.

This is really messed up. Keep us updated, please!

I will buy software and maybe paper or ink from BB. That is about it. I am very tech savvy and can build my own computer from other internet sites. There has to be a REALLY good sale for me to get something from them. Most stuff I need I can get from other places.

It seems to me that the manager might have something to do with the mis-packaged merchandise. I wonder if that store has been "hit" before.

If I'm not mistaken this is an old story (or it has happened before).

It really isn't messed up. You have to look at it from the other side. How do they know the person is telling the truth? There is no way.

I couldn't imagine any company returning the man's money or even giving him a new product, especially a high dollar one just because he said the product wasn't in the box.

To think that they should is just silly.

I work at best buy.. (pause for the booing...) and we constantly get people exchanging or returning things that have bricks or other heavy objects or even the previous models in the new box. It's very hard to tell which customers are lying and which ones are actually telling the truth, considering both happen a lot, ecspecially getting into the holiday season. However I do know that with the dotcom online purchases the employees are required to give new product that has neer been opened, not allowed to try and give them "open-item" products. It would be very hard and very recognisable if someone came into the store and not only tried to steal one of these out of the packaging but also carried tiles in to replaces it. Therefore if there was a problem it did most likely come from someone at the manufactoring company, or the customer. The manager was a d**k though to just snatch it without explaining. But the customer service rep(most likely recently hired as a seasonal worker) should have never took that return.

I can do one better. The f**king FSU computer store. I bought my girlfriend a 1st gen iPod nano (the one that was all white). This was the day before the 2nd gen (colored ones) was released. I heard that it was likely that the 2nd gen was coming out the next day, so before I bought it (with cash) I told them the situation and asked what the return policy was. The guy said that as long as the package was unopened, returning it wouldn't be a problem. So I give my girlfriend the gift that night for our anniversary and I tell her not to open it yet, bc the new one might be coming out the next day.

Sure enough, come morning, the 2nd gen nano comes out. I go to return it and I am told that you cannot make returns for cash. They said they would mail me a check in 4-6 weeks.

IF I didn't owe the university any money. I was told that if I owed the university anything at all, I would not get the money back. Meaning, that if I didn't pay the 25 cents I owed on my overdue library book, I was going to lose $150. I almost killed several people. I definitely made a ridiculous, but comical scene. Maybe I'll share the details in the forum.

I bought a computer from Best Buy last spring. Turns out they had installed an incompatible wireless card, one that they had shown me prior to installation and when I had mentioned that it did not say on the box that it was compatible with Vista Home Premium, they had assured me that it was. They installed it, and of course my internet did not function, and so the next day I had to bring it in for repair and wait a week for them to f**k around with it and tell me they had fixed the problem. Upon bringing it home, it did not work, again, and had additional problems with its memory. I brought the machine in again and they told me it would be two days to repair this time, that is would cost me this time, and that they needed to install a different wireless card because this one was not compatible (no s**t!) and that I had to choose the card I wanted them to install. I did not like the idea of being charged extra for their mistake but I was given no other option. It was not a large amount, so I figured I would rather just get this over with. Upon looking in the store, browsing the website of and calling the manufacturer, I discovered that there WAS no such thing available from that manufacturer, from whom Best Buy stocked its shelves exclusively. I told Best Buy this, and their response was "Gee. Whaddya wanna do then?" I was disgusted and said that I wanted my money back but this involved further complication. I ended up exchanging it for an iMac and paying the difference, despite not wanting to deal with Best Buy anymore, but this machine had a wireless card preinstalled and a manufacturer's warranty and has required no service from Best Buy. Certainly this is not a worst case scenario, but I will not deal with them again if I am given any other option.

well.. wait. what if someone returned the bricks, and for whatever reason it was restocked without checking the packaging, and then resold??

I worked at Best Buy for a summer and had to quit for reasons of conscience. I'm not joking. This kind of thing there is so typical.

A good friend of mine worked there until recently and related this story to me:

Someone came in to test out one of those iPod docks that you can put your iPod in to use it like a normal stereo. They put it in one of the floor models and it completely fried their iPod. When they told Best Buy, they just told the customer that there was something wrong with their iPod anyway and it wasn't their fault, knowing full well it was actually a faulty dock. Two weeks later, someone else came in and tried out the same floor model (which they hadn't replaced) and the exact same thing happened to this unfortunate customer's iPod. She came to complain to my friend who told her he would find a manager to remedy the problem. The managers just told him to tell the customer the same thing they told the other one, that she had a defective iPod and it was no fault of Best Buy. My friend, knowing better went back to the woman and said they were trying to screw her over and said he would try his best to help her. He went back to the managers and they refused to help. He told the customer as much. Then, a girl came out and told the customer she was the manager on duty (she wasn't) My friend says, "No, you're not the real manager, go get the real manager!" Finally the manager comes out and my friend (a Best Buy employee I remind you) yells at the manager for 20 minutes in front of the customer until they will give the poor woman a new video iPod.

Sorry that was such a long post, but thats a true story folks.

I know how he feels. I just bought a box of tile and got a stinking hard drive instead.

There was another story a while back about a couple buying a camcorder from Best Buy and they got a jar of spaghetti sauce instead.

I used to work at Wal Mart too and they made it policy to check the contents of the box before accpeting returns. People would fill boxes with toilet paper, newspaper, bricks, whatever.

That was policy where I worked to. Didnt always happen though so some theft would slip by