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My insane buyers remorse story

Huliodude said:
And finally, in all fairness, why is 95% of BB's notebook selection last-years models? Not being up on the latest and greatest was clearly my mistake, but I never expected to walk into a BB, check out their laptops, pay top brass, and go home with last years model! It was only after doing some research did I see that newer models could be had for similar money from other outlets. The Mac was one of the few models that I was sure was the latest offering (since Apple doesn't have 10,000 models like other PC companies), and played a big part on my choosing it.

You seriously think a little guy like me should be concerned about exchanging a notebook as per the policy, to a multibillion dollar corporation that enjoys profits you or I will never see in this, or multiple lifetimes? That's simply ignorant.
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I think your actions answered your own questions. BB carries whatever they have in stock because most consumers don't do the research before they shop. People that care to do research and hunt down deals will often buy from somewhere else, not BB. I haven't bought anything from BB in over a decade and I used to work at one.
 
I would have done this if I did not have to pay any fees. It's fun to use different laptops from time to time :)
 
Huliodude said:
You know, all the responses were great, except for this one. Let me enlighten you on what you as a BB employee should already know:

You need to look at the big picture when it comes to BB's return policies, as I'm sure the BB bean counters have.

1. BB is the only place I go to buy electronics of any kind, large and small ticket items. I've spent a ton of money in there over the years, and I never care whether they have the best price for the product I'm buying, simply because of their return policy. Their return policy is a big part of what makes them so profitable. They wouldn't have this policy if they lost money on it in the long run.

2. With the exception of this notebook fiasco, I've hardly returned anything to BB over the years.

3. My decisions to return 9 laptops costed me far more in time than it costed BB in money, for sure. I'm sure they're aware of how much time is consumed in exchanging products, which also works in their favour.

4. Because they were so fantastic about it, I'm a continued customer who will go back again and again, to buy more stuff. I don't even consider stores whose return policies are lesser than BB's.

Had one of them told me to "get lost", when I wasn't violating a single policy that's laid out on their wall, well I can say that it wouldn't have been pretty, especially for the employee who had the ignorance to blurt that crap out.

And finally, in all fairness, why is 95% of BB's notebook selection last-years models? Not being up on the latest and greatest was clearly my mistake, but I never expected to walk into a BB, check out their laptops, pay top brass, and go home with last years model! It was only after doing some research did I see that newer models could be had for similar money from other outlets. The Mac was one of the few models that I was sure was the latest offering (since Apple doesn't have 10,000 models like other PC companies), and played a big part on my choosing it.

You seriously think a little guy like me should be concerned about exchanging a notebook as per the policy, to a multibillion dollar corporation that enjoys profits you or I will never see in this, or multiple lifetimes? That's simply ignorant.
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No. What is amazing is that you spent more time going back and forth than the entire value of the computer. Secondly, people like you raise the cost for the rest of us that bother to do an hour of research before we go out and buy something.

The others are right. Go see a shrink
 
GimmeSlack12 said:
Ok, I think this thread is a bit crazy, but this isn't true. I mean, really.
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Why do you think that? There was a time when BB did not have any restocking fees; cameras and HDTV's could be returned any time within 30-60 days without penalty.

Now they realize people buy and return DSLR cameras for the duration of a vacation or buy a HDTV for the big game and return it afterwards. That's the only reason why time limits for those items have changed and why there are restocking fees now.
 
Gotta admin your "persistence", but like others have mentioned, you should do a lot more researching and checking at stores before buying.
 
obviously, a little research on your part would have gone a long way, but i wonder if you knew where to look ahead of time. did you check macrumors before or after buying? have you checked out cnet and other sites that review machines?

i am the opposite of you. i hover around gadgets in stores and visit several times before i finally buy. it has nothing to do with being "careful," or anything like that. i cannot stand parting with my money, and even worse than that is when i buy something and regret it later. in other words, in order not to become frustrated after i buy, i spend the hours, days, and weeks before my purchase making myself miserable. literally. before i bought my mbp the other day, i didn't sleep more than six or seven hours across several days. i think my posts on macrumors at the time will prove this :)

my wife also thinks i am crazy.
 
I feel your pain on a much smaller level.

I went to Apple wanting to buy the Hi-Res, Glossy MPB 15". They only had Antiglare in the Hi-Res 15" so I went home with that.

I liked it enough, but was feeling upset I didn't get the Glossy. So I returned it to the Apple store.

I ordered the Hi-Res, Glossy online. A day after I placed my order, I convinced myself I wanted Antiglare again. So I tried to cancel my order, but it was too late. So the Glossy came to my house, I tried it for a few days and disliked it since I had been using Antiglare.

Now I'm waiting on my Hi-Res Antiglare. I feel like a crazy person lol
 
madisonfaye said:
I feel your pain on a much smaller level.

I went to Apple wanting to buy the Hi-Res, Glossy MPB 15". They only had Antiglare in the Hi-Res 15" so I went home with that.

I liked it enough, but was feeling upset I didn't get the Glossy. So I returned it to the Apple store.

I ordered the Hi-Res, Glossy online. A day after I placed my order, I convinced myself I wanted Antiglare again. So I tried to cancel my order, but it was too late. So the Glossy came to my house, I tried it for a few days and disliked it since I had been using Antiglare.

Now I'm waiting on my Hi-Res Antiglare. I feel like a crazy person lol
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Hahaha, that's really funny. Thanks for sharing your insanity with us.

No amount of research can ensure you make a right decision. Until you've got it in your hands and can use it as you intend to, you can't truly know whether you bought the right machine. That's why I love BB's return policies, and will continue to buy from there.

And for the record, I'm keeping the MBPro. I just wanted to share some insanity since it had become comical for myself & family.
 
Lol.

If I were you I would just go out secretly and return the MBP for the MBA and just not work in front of your family for a few days. If they are anything like my family they would forget all about it.
 
dear thread starter

thanks to you I have realised that Im not an insane lunatic i thought I was

because you are about 6 times worse than me

lol

anyway i know exactly how you feel, I had a similiar experience when choosing my dj equipment (and my macbook!), at the end I lost money on restoking fees and a bit too much, I learnt how to be happy with what i have, and so far everything has been great

PS you should definitely swap the macbook pro to macbook airs - the 2011 models ARE SO AWESOME
 
i thought i was pretty insane, but you take the cake.

it was a good read! gave me lots of LOLs. :D

i hope u returned the macbook pro and got urself macbook air 2011.

besides that $50 to ur kids... i'm sure they will appreciate it. :p
 
Manacit said:
For the record, the new MacBook Pro (and I assume MBA) will link at a port speed of up to 450mbps over Wireless-N. I've actually seen real world speeds of 11.8MB/s through a wall and a floor with my Linksys E-4200.

At any rate, I'm glad you've decided to stick with one thing. Although those new MBAs do look pretty sweet..
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Mine won't. I think the 2011 Macbook Pros are having 802.11n problems. My speed will decay as the day goes on. I have to turn off Airport and back on to get it back to normal which is only a transmit speed of about 216. I have the E-4200 too. My son's new 2011 Macbook pro does the same thing. I am waiting for Apple to create new drivers or something to fix this issue.
 
Archlord said:
because everyone viewing this thread knows about the decisions your fiance makes in a cupcake store and is able to relate on a comedic level, right? i mean obviously.

why are they fails? the guy is trying to find the computer to best suit his needs, and is utilizing return periods on all of them. seems pretty smart to me if he's not satisfied. while agree it is ridiculous to buy and return the same model 3 times, there's no harm in returning it if you're really not sure.
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i love being that guy.
 
Thank you for sharing your story had a good laugh :D. I don't think your too crazy. Some time we see some stories on macrumours like "OMG I just spent 2K on a computer and Apple of all companies couldn't send me a perfect computer". And they're basically moaning about how a key is slightly slanted and change it 6 times... You were taking it back for practical reasons, not so bad.

Actually, you made me realize something. I usually do a lot of research for higher priced items but rarely do for cheaper stuff. And it's quite common for me to just buy something and not feel right about it and just live with it instead of returning it and getting something that's worth it. A lesson to be learned here.
 
Huliodude said:
Hahaha, that's really funny. Thanks for sharing your insanity with us.

No amount of research can ensure you make a right decision. Until you've got it in your hands and can use it as you intend to, you can't truly know whether you bought the right machine. That's why I love BB's return policies, and will continue to buy from there.

And for the record, I'm keeping the MBPro. I just wanted to share some insanity since it had become comical for myself & family.
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duuude. what is in your water over there? you can't really be trying to suggest that you did enough research.

you didn't know about the intel chips, you didn't know about the upcoming mba refresh, you didn't know about the reviews... some research would at least point you in the right direction instead of churning through products and returns at best buy. you didn't have to wade through all of that crap to get to the mbp you know. of course, you gotta use it to really be sure, but you could have avoided several of those because they just are not very good computers.
 
OP, the new MBA is great !!!

You need to at least try it.
You can always go back to your MBP.

Also, there'll be new late-2011 MBPs in a few months so you can start over :D
 
kappaknight said:
Why do you think that? There was a time when BB did not have any restocking fees; cameras and HDTV's could be returned any time within 30-60 days without penalty.
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Yes, you do have a point, but then again Best Buy rips people off left and right for everyday things from HDMI to CAT-5 cables. Not to mention the GeekSquad and god only knows what else.

At least I would say that the OP is not the cause of the overstocking fees, that's just silly. This is simply a thread with a ridiculous person doing a ridiculous thing, but he isn't hurting anyone.
 
GimmeSlack12 said:
Yes, you do have a point, but then again Best Buy rips people off left and right for everyday things from HDMI to CAT-5 cables. Not to mention the GeekSquad and god only knows what else.

At least I would say that the OP is not the cause of the overstocking fees, that's just silly. This is simply a thread with a ridiculous person doing a ridiculous thing, but he isn't hurting anyone.
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Counterpoint - if people did their research and hunted for deals, Best Buy wouldn't be able to get away with raping people over the items you suggested. If they wanted to stay in business, they would then have to lower their prices. Things like this prove that many are dumb and will not question what is made available to them to clear the shelves.

This may just be one case that we're hearing about but with the internet being available to most people in the U.S. today, there's really no excuse to run around like an ignorant chicken with their head cut off. I still don't understand how someone who seems to care so much could research so little.
 
That was a fascinating story. Like others have suggested. you didnt do your research. You returned a macbook pro because of compatibility issues. If you had sat down for 5 minutes and made a list of what you expect out of your laptop, a quick google search would have alerted you to the compatibility issues before you forked out money for a macbook pro.
 
A minor form of the OP's buyer's remorse happened to me yesterday. I returned an Asus 1018p eeePc to Amazon because the small screen partially blocked the one reason I bought the thing, to run this single pc program on the go at a coffee shop (also so I could use the bathroom there without having to pack up an expensive Macbook), the cpu was slow as dirt, and the thing looked refurbished because it had wear and tear on the back.

I received the product the next day after purchasing it and returned it to UPS 4 hours after opening it. Took about 1 hour to boot up new, 2 hours to uninstall bloat wear, 5 minutes to decide on if I should keep this junk, 15 minutes to chat and get return labels from Amazon and 40 minutes to get dressed, repackage and drive to my nearest UPS store.

I'm going to wait for AnandTech's review and decide if the MBA 11inch is for me. But I did research EeePc's on Amazon, for some strange reason people love these things. IMO reviews and ratings aren't usually the best way to decide if a pc is for you mainly because people use pc's in many different ways. Might go to an Apple store early in the morning when it's not busy to play with one.

P.S.: I hope people know Best Buy price matches everything in the store. Whenever I go and buy Apple products from them I pull out my Apple Store app and show them Apple's prices. They even research these prices themselves and are already listed in their cash registers!! Remember though, they usually don't have the latest products in stock for a while.
 
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