Best Buy - MacBook Scam

[deeddawg]

Whatever happened to the good business practice of "The customer is always right"?

The less frequently stated second part of the above is "but choose who you have as you customer"

Simply stated, some customers cost more to have/retain than they're worth.
[doublepost=1458997068][/doublepost]

Really?

I live within 15 miles of Best Buy corporate headquarters and at least 12 retail stores....
I've given Best Buy the benefit of the doubt many times on things I've purchased at different BB retail stores and they have been less than honest with me on numerous ocassions.
I reluctantly gave them another shot...

I call them as I see them and stated the facts.....you can defend them all you want but my experience with them speaks volumes.
I could write numerious accounts on their tactics but that is not the point of this thread.

This is the 2nd iMac in 5-days I've returned to Best Buy and this incident is darn right dishonest.......I'm not so stupid as to try for #3.

edit...
I just talked to Apple again about the first machine I got from Best Buy on Sunday. I had the SN since I had non-repairable issues with that unit.
Turns out that unit is from October and again the warranty started then.

Told like it is...

... and you've completely missed the point of my post.

 

[ghanwani]

What happens to the product when a restocking fee is charged? Does it now get sold as an "open box buy"? Even open box buys look like they get a full 1-year warranty, so in this case, it sounds like when the took the machine back, they forgot to reset the "sold date" associated with it?

 

[fenderbass146]

What happens to the product when a restocking fee is charged? Does it now get sold as an "open box buy"? Even open box buys look like they get a full 1-year warranty, so in this case, it sounds like when the took the machine back, they forgot to reset the "sold date" associated with it?

That is correct. Whatever retailer did the return needs to fill out a request to reset warranty.

 

[ZipZap]

I already explained the reasons I returned the higher priced items in my post (a Roku & a digital camera). They were both in perfect condition, one was returned the same day, accepted by the associates with no problems, and returned within the proper time frame. Yes, I returned two cheap phone cases (omg!).. also in perfect condition.. one hadn't even been opened.. and exchanged one because I switched phones.

If you feel that's abusing their system, that's fine. I can live with that. Why do I feel differently? Because according to their policy: "If you are not fully satisfied with your purchase, let us help you with a replacement, return or repair."

It's true that if I'm not satisfied with something, I'm going to take it back. I thought that's what most people did.. but all the scolding in this thread has led me believe otherwise. Yet another reason to shop with Amazon, I guess. BB will probably be bankrupt and out of business in 5-10 years anyway.

Perfect condition is NOT unused condition. You made a lot of returns in a short period.
[doublepost=1459014907][/doublepost]

Well it should've taken a lot more than what I returned for their system to flag me. That said, I've never been a frequent BB shopper - last summer/fall was the most I'd shopped there in a long time, and much of what I bought ended up going back. So I guess that's why it happened. It's fine if people think I was abusing the system, but I certainly wasn't scamming the system, or buying things so that I could turn around and take them back.

Needless to say, I don't shop at multi-billion-dollar companies that don't guarantee their products and treat legit returns like they're criminal. I've never had any problems with Amazon and don't expect to in the future. I've bought significantly more from Amazon than I've ever returned, and their excellent return policy is one of the reasons people shop there with confidence. If they have a blacklisting system in place, it's obviously much more reasonable and does a better job at targetting the real scammers.

Guarantee their products..I believe they do. Guaranteeing you will like what you buy...it depends.

A legit return is technically a return for a defective unit or a promise of functionality that turned out to be missing. While I do agree that sometimes you need to buy something to know if you will like it, not in an over-and-over scenario. If price was a concern, you easily can shop price online before you purchased at Bestbuy so a return for this reason is not legitimate.

Best buy is impulse buying and seeing before you buy. They never have the best prices unless then are selling down or you are buying open box.. They are convenient and for some items more ideal than buying over the internet (big TVs) for one.

 

[justiny]

I buy my big TVs at Costco. And a legitimate return at Costco is simply if you don't like it, they will take it back (90 days for electronics).

I don't understand anyone who defends Best Buy's joke of business practices and ridiculous policies with their customers, unless you work for them.

Again, I have worked Return-To-Vendor operations at several retail companies, and the way BB operates is a borderline scam. That being said, everyone is free to spend their money wherever they choose to.

 

[Eric8199]

Trust me, I never said Best Buy isn't horrible. They are. I've had my share of run-ins with them as well. But they're not exactly making buckets of money — they're closing stores all over, and people taking advantage of their system doesn't help and ruins the system for the rest of us.

I don't know about you guys, but if I return something to Amazon and don't have a valid reason, they charge me a restocking fee. That is so people don't abuse the system. Sorry you got blacklisted from Best Buy because you took advantage of their system, but you deserved it in this case.

There are plenty of reasons to hate Best Buy. But them not letting you return stuff because you scammed the system isn't one of them.

 

[CE3]

Trust me, I never said Best Buy isn't horrible. They are. I've had my share of run-ins with them as well. But they're not exactly making buckets of money — they're closing stores all over, and people taking advantage of their system doesn't help and ruins the system for the rest of us.

I don't know about you guys, but if I return something to Amazon and don't have a valid reason, they charge me a restocking fee. That is so people don't abuse the system. Sorry you got blacklisted from Best Buy because you took advantage of their system, but you deserved it in this case.

There are plenty of reasons to hate Best Buy. But them not letting you return stuff because you scammed the system isn't one of them.

I wasn't scamming their return system. My reasons for returning the big items I did were explained and valid, but feel free to continue blissfully ignoring that fact and carry on being an apologist for this crappy company. BestBuy is going down the tube for a number of reasons, and poor business practices like this is one of them.

 

[David58117]

• Purchased brand new (not open box) silver Macbook 512 on 03/20/16. Unit did not work properly and would not allow me to log into my Apple ID. I called Apple support, they recommended returning it to Best Buy.
• Returned on 03/22/16
• They exchanged it for another supposed brand new Macbook (box was sealed as far as I could tell)
• When fired it up, I was immediately suspicious as it has Yosemite as the OS, and also still has some Apple ID issues logging in.
• Contacted Apple support
• Apple says the unit was purchased before on 9/13/16.
• Warranty coverage that Apple will not change.....
• Limited warranty
  2016-09-13 (172 Days Left)
  No phone support
  Expired 103 days ago
  Serial Number: C02Q60U3FWW4

I cry foul........I don't care if I got $300 off or not on their "sale".........it's supposed to be a brand new machine! Not an open box or already sold unit.
Needless to say it's going back immediately.

I should of known better than to purchase Apple products other than at an Apple store.
Best Buy is not being at all honest with customers...

I'm done with them.

You're talking about logging in to your apple ID when you first set it up?

Yeah - mine did that too (purchased recently). I believe it was a bug on apples end with the software version shipped, as I remember my 15" doing that too.

All you do it skip signing in, let it finish installation, then update via the app store (you don't have to be signed in to do this), then after you're updated - you're fine to sign in. I've had absolutely 0 issues since..

This was both a 15" 2015 and a 12" rMB.

So it sounds like your first machine was perfectly good..

 

[Carmenia83]

Wait, Best Buy was selling rMacBooks for $300 off? F!

EDIT: Nevermind, found it!

 

[SparkFlash]

I think its a bit off to claim it as a scam. More likely just a mistake. And as you said, a simple return/exchange solves this for you.

 

[ghanwani]

Wait, Best Buy was selling rMacBooks for $300 off? F!

EDIT: Nevermind, found it!

It's not that big of a deal. B&H sells the 1.2/512 for $200 off and most places you won't have to pay tax with B&H so you end up with more or less the same deal.

 

[mtneer]

Best Buy wouldn't take payment in cash without showing them government issued ID due to the "patriot act".

 

[Buerkletucson]

You're talking about logging in to your apple ID when you first set it up?

Yeah - mine did that too (purchased recently). I believe it was a bug on apples end with the software version shipped, as I remember my 15" doing that too.

All you do it skip signing in, let it finish installation, then update via the app store (you don't have to be signed in to do this), then after you're updated - you're fine to sign in. I've had absolutely 0 issues since..

This was both a 15" 2015 and a 12" rMB.

So it sounds like your first machine was perfectly good..

I spent over 1-hour with Apple support in the first machine, you don't think I (and Apple) tried something that simple?
The first machine also had the warranty activated in Oct 2015.

Both support calls to Apple had them on alert and documenting Best Buy selling practices.....especially the second system being sold as new when it obviously wasn't.
They were not amused by what was going on with BB.

 

[David58117]

I spent over 1-hour with Apple support in the first machine, you don't think I (and Apple) tried something that simple?
The first machine also had the warranty activated in Oct 2015.

..did you actually do *specifically* that?

skip sign in during installation, install OS updates without signing in, then signing in?

I've had that error on two different machines, and that's been the solution..

 

[Joshjosh8]

I'm also very unhappy / suspicious of Best Buy. Recently bought a "new" 1.1 MacBook for the $300 discount. Got a prohibitory sign on install. Returned for a "new" 1.2 MacBook (they were sold out of 1.1's). The new one had 0% battery out of the box -- never had that with an apple product before and I wasn't comfortable dealing with potential battery issues on a brand new computer. Exchanged for another 1.2 "new" MacBook. Again. Dead out of box/ 0% battery. I just returned it immediately.

I'm not sure what's going on. If it's something with Best Buy. Apple. Or the chip in these 12" MacBooks. But it's disappointing and very frustrating either way.

 

[dranakin]

I wasn't scamming their return system. My reasons for returning the big items I did were explained and valid, but feel free to continue blissfully ignoring that fact and carry on being an apologist for this crappy company. BestBuy is going down the tube for a number of reasons, and poor business practices like this is one of them.

Best Buy no longer has restocking fees (I think it used to be 15% for certain items), so it's fair that they have a policy to dissuade return abuse.

And before you keep whining about "valid" reasons for returning multiple items in a short period of time, you do realize that the result is the same, right? There's still an item that now cannot be sold as new. It doesn't matter if you think your reason was valid; the person behind you can return something because it clashed with their feng shui and Best Buy would still take it back. At the end of the day, an opened item is an opened item.

---

Anyway, back to the topic at hand: yes, it does seem worrisome that people are reporting issues with Macbook purchases from Best Buy. Did they store them improperly? Did they get some bad batches from the distributor?

 

[justiny]

And before you keep whining about "valid" reasons for returning multiple items in a short period of time, you do realize that the result is the same, right? There's still an item that now cannot be sold as new.

I don't think anyone here is "whining" about anything.

True story: When I was working an RTV position with a major national retailer, a customer had recently purchased a Dell desktop PC, got frustrated with it, tossed it out the window, and returned it to the store I was working at in pieces wraped in a black garbage sack. The store manager gave him a full refund (we didn't have restocking fees, not that it would've mattered with this case).

No way in hell did I or anyone else think this clown should've got a full refund, yet he did.

How a business operates and treats its customer base goes a long way. I'm not a business major, but Best Buy stores are shutting down for a reason. I highly doubt that reason is customers abusing their return system.

 

[David58117]

I'm also very unhappy / suspicious of Best Buy. Recently bought a "new" 1.1 MacBook for the $300 discount. Got a prohibitory sign on install. Returned for a "new" 1.2 MacBook (they were sold out of 1.1's). The new one had 0% battery out of the box -- never had that with an apple product before and I wasn't comfortable dealing with potential battery issues on a brand new computer. Exchanged for another 1.2 "new" MacBook. Again. Dead out of box/ 0% battery. I just returned it immediately.

I'm not sure what's going on. If it's something with Best Buy. Apple. Or the chip in these 12" MacBooks. But it's disappointing and very frustrating either way.

I'm curious what the prohibitory sign on install was. Was it the flashing question mark folder icon? That can be an easy fix, but I would definitely return it for that.

But with the "dead" battery, did you at least charge it and see what the actual condition of the battery was?

I really think Best Buy is just clearing stock, and probably some of the 12" MacBooks have simply been sitting on the shelves for awhile - drained batteries will happen.

 

[Joshjosh8]

Prohibitory sign was a circle with a diagonal line thru it. Can often mean hard drive failure from what I've read online. Could be something less severe, but I wasn't in the mood to start geek squading a brand new machine.

Battery issues: once I charged it up it was working. Coconut battery said battery capacity was at 97% (seems low for a brand new computer?). It also seemed to drain very fast when sleeping (14% in 9 hrs). And I had read for long term battery health, not to store these notebooks at 0% for any real length of time. I don't know if they could have been sitting like that for days or months? When I'm spending 1400 on a machine meant to last me 3-4 years with the battery practically welded in place and difficult to replace-- I want and expect a fresh, well-maintained battery.

These aren't issues I'm used to dealing with on fresh out of box apple products. Maybe I'm being overly picky, but I have /had high expectations for Apple products. And dropping 1k+ on something new, I want to feel confidence in what I've bought.

I'm curious what the prohibitory sign on install was. Was it the flashing question mark folder icon? That can be an easy fix, but I would definitely return it for that.

But with the "dead" battery, did you at least charge it and see what the actual condition of the battery was?

I really think Best Buy is just clearing stock, and probably some of the 12" MacBooks have simply been sitting on the shelves for awhile - drained batteries will happen.

[doublepost=1459073331][/doublepost]Btw my 2nd "new" machine also showed an original applecare start date of Jan, instead of my purchase date in March. I don't know if sometimes that happens when a 3rd party dealer buys it from Apple, for instance, in January? It also showed 3 battery cycles already, which someone at Apple Store said could be normal for a factory machine. But if Best Buy is selling products marketed as "new" that are actually used/problem machines, that is obviously highly illegal and a big deal. Or, I wonder if bb possibly gets product from apple's more problem-prone facilities in China? Or perhaps I just had some bad luck. No matter what, I'm going to be looking at something other than the MacBook next, and definitely not from Best Buy

 

[laudern]

You bought 2 ****** apple computers and you are annoyed at Best Buy??? I'd be more annoyed at Apple, personally.

 

[Joshjosh8]

You bought 2 ****** apple computers and you are annoyed at Best Buy??? I'd be more annoyed at Apple, personally.

No. 3 ****** computers. I'm still processing where to direct my annoyance

 

[Wowereit]

Returning something because the battery is dead?
How about charging and testing the battery?

 

[Joshjosh8]

Returning something because the battery is dead?
How about charging and testing the battery?

As I said, I tried that for a couple days and I found the battery draining quickly. I wasn't interested in trying that again with another machine with a 0% battery. They're not supposed to be stored that way long term and I didn't wanna start off with a non optimal battery given how hard they are to replace.

 

[Buerkletucson]

Update...

After issues with (2) supposed brand new MacBook machines purchased/returned to Best Buy.......I Went to a local Apple store yesterday and purchased a MacBook 512 in silver.
I couldn't be happier with the machine and transaction.....night and day difference between BB machine and machine purchased directly from Apple store.

• With discount and also my company discount I paid within $50 of Best Buy price
• Flawless setup with zero issues, had it setup and fully functional in 5 minutes......vs......Best Buy MacBook with numerous issues including over 1-hour with Apple support that they finally told me to return the machine to BB.
• System came with recent version of El Capitan and only requiring (2) minor app updates...vs......Best Buy machine coming with outdated Yosemite and a ton of updates behind.
• Battery had over 80% battery charge out of the box.....vs.....Best Buy machines both coming with completely discharged (0% charge) on battery out of the box!
• Warranty & phone support started on day of purchase.......vs......Best Buy machine having only 6-months warranty left and phone support expired.
• The machine is brand new and current.....vs......Best Buy purchase of "new" machine that obviously was not remotely the case and showed it had an original purchase date of 9/23/15.
• Apple support and sales were awesome with knowledgable and courteous people.....vs.........Best Buy snooty sales people that know little to nothing about what they are selling.

Shame on Best Buy.......sure hope Apple is using the submitted reports and investigating their practices. They were quite concerned during my conversations and information submitted to them.

Won't see me near a Best Buy any time soon.

 

[David58117]

Update...

After issues with (2) supposed brand new MacBook machines purchased/returned to Best Buy.......I Went to a local Apple store yesterday and purchased a MacBook 512 in silver.
I couldn't be happier with the machine and transaction.....night and day difference between BB machine and machine purchased directly from Apple store.

• With discount and also my company discount I paid within $50 of Best Buy price
• Flawless setup with zero issues, had it setup and fully functional in 5 minutes......vs......Best Buy MacBook with numerous issues including over 1-hour with Apple support that they finally told me to return the machine to BB.
• System came with recent version of El Capitan and only requiring (2) minor app updates...vs......Best Buy machine coming with outdated Yosemite and a ton of updates behind.
• Battery had over 80% battery charge out of the box.....vs.....Best Buy machines both coming with completely discharged (0% charge) on battery out of the box!
• Warranty & phone support started on day of purchase.......vs......Best Buy machine having only 6-months warranty left and phone support expired.
• The machine is brand new and current.....vs......Best Buy purchase of "new" machine that obviously was not remotely the case and showed it had an original purchase date of 9/23/15.
• Apple support and sales were awesome with knowledgable and courteous people.....vs.........Best Buy snooty sales people that know little to nothing about what they are selling.

Shame on Best Buy.......sure hope Apple is using the submitted reports and investigating their practices. They were quite concerned during my conversations and information submitted to them.

Won't see me near a Best Buy any time soon.

I'm really confused why you're blaming Best Buy.

Best Buy didn't make/ship/package the computer - apple did.

It sounds like you simply got a machine with more recent software updates, vs having to update it yourself.

The applecare issue though is worrying - but that's completely an Apple issue.

Glad it's sorted out, and that you got a good one!