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Virgin Mobile & Best Buy run around. Anyone have experience with this, or an opinion?

J

Jason1978

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 18, 2013
248
0
I bought a iPhone 5s 16GB from Best Buy less then a week ago. I took it back because I had buyers remorse and got a 32GB. He gave me the phone in the package because he figured since I had the sim card in my pocket, it was all good. I was good with it too. Ok thats great transaction was secure, no problem.

I get home and noticed a nick on the touch id crystal. I thought that I could just get over it but I decided that I want to exchange it. So I call Best Buy and they said they could exchange it but Virgin Mobile has a 14 day and 30 minute of talk time usage rule. Meaning if I go over 30 minutes talk time I can't return the phone.

So I call Virgin Mobile and ask them what their policies are and they say that it's all good and I dont have to worry. After calling Best Buy again to clarify, I called Virgin Mobile again and they had told me that it is not their policy, but the 30 minute rule is Best Buy's return policy.

So obviously someone is lying. I could walk into Best Buy tomorrow and speak with the mobile manager, and he can say we can't exchange/return it because you went over the 30 min talk time. But considering that they didn't inspect it before giving it to me, does that mean that they have to either way?

Also I will not be exchanging because thanks to this forum, I found out that I would be getting a refurbished phone instead of a new one...even though the Best Buy rep said that I wouldn't, but who am I going to trust.

This is getting really out of hand. Why would they lie and blame Virgin Mobile when really this is their policy?

Anyone have an opinions about this?
 
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That's a lie from best buy for sure.

After I sold my iPhone 5, I needed a phone, and best buy only had space grey 5S. I bought it, asked to confirm I had a 14 day return policy. When I found that the apple store was going to have the Gold iPhone in stock (a few days later) I returned the space grey to best buy and ordered the gold for pickup at the apple store. This was after well over 30 minutes of talk time on my phone.

I feel that the 30 minutes would mean that if you activated a new account, you could return the phone and not have to pay anything as long as you didn't use over 30 minutes of talk. If you went over the 30 minutes, you would probably have to pay a prorated rate for each day you had service on the phone.
 
xxBURT0Nxx said:
That's a lie from best buy for sure.

After I sold my iPhone 5, I needed a phone, and best buy only had space grey 5S. I bought it, asked to confirm I had a 14 day return policy. When I found that the apple store was going to have the Gold iPhone in stock (a few days later) I returned the space grey to best buy and ordered the gold for pickup at the apple store. This was after well over 30 minutes of talk time on my phone.

I feel that the 30 minutes would mean that if you activated a new account, you could return the phone and not have to pay anything as long as you didn't use over 30 minutes of talk. If you went over the 30 minutes, you would probably have to pay a prorated rate for each day you had service on the phone.
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See Best Buy said that I wouldn't be able to return it AT ALL if I went over the 30 minutes. No fee just no return. Of course they also said that this was Virgin Mobile's policy. My god. So they kind of have to now right because they didn't inspect the phone?
 
i don't know what you are talking about inspect the phone, but best buy has a 14 day return policy. They can't tell you they aren't accepting your return if it's within the 14 days. I mean unless you cracked the phone screen or something obviously they don't have to return it.
 
xxBURT0Nxx said:
i don't know what you are talking about inspect the phone, but best buy has a 14 day return policy. They can't tell you they aren't accepting your return if it's within the 14 days. I mean unless you cracked the phone screen or something obviously they don't have to return it.
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Well they are saying that the phone can't be returned if it has over 30 min talk time, but they are blaming Virgin Mobile for that. They said I have to come in tomorrow to speak with the mobile manager. :/
 
Jason1978 said:
Well they are saying that the phone can't be returned if it has over 30 min talk time, but they are blaming Virgin Mobile for that. They said I have to come in tomorrow to speak with the mobile manager. :/
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I would show them their own return policy which states 14 days....

I just returned a phone to best buy about 10 or so days ago, they are lying to you.

This says nothing about not being able to return a phone:

 
I think Best Buy's the one that's causing the trouble in your situation. And yes, the employees at Best Buy lie. Last year, I bought a Galaxy S3 at full retail price but didn't like it very much and decided to return it and wait for the next iPhone. I went to a different Best Buy closer to my house and the scumbag working there told me that they don't accept returns from different Best Buys. I left infuriated and called up the same Best Buy to talk to the store manager and explained the situation. She told me that that's not their store policy and the employee's misinformed. I went right back to the store to do my return and the guy was gone, probably getting an earful somewhere.
 
erure said:
I think Best Buy's the one that's causing the trouble in your situation. And yes, the employees at Best Buy lie. Last year, I bought a Galaxy S3 at full retail price but didn't like it very much and decided to return it and wait for the next iPhone. I went to a different Best Buy closer to my house and the scumbag working there told me that they don't accept returns from different Best Buys. I left infuriated and called up the same Best Buy to talk to the store manager and explained the situation. She told me that that's not their store policy and the employee's misinformed. I went right back to the store to do my return and the guy was gone, probably getting an earful somewhere.
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I had the exact same thing happen to me with a return there a few months back. They will literally make up things on the fly depending upon who you get it really seems. I ended up going back later (getting a different employee the next time) and they accepted the return that next time.
 
Like I said, best buy lies.

Print out a copy of their return policy. Go to the store, try to return it, if they argue with you pull out the return policy and tell them to show you where it says the ******** they are spewing.

I'm sure they will return it once you show them their own return policy. Going to be pretty hard to argue with that.
 
erure said:
I think Best Buy's the one that's causing the trouble in your situation. And yes, the employees at Best Buy lie. Last year, I bought a Galaxy S3 at full retail price but didn't like it very much and decided to return it and wait for the next iPhone. I went to a different Best Buy closer to my house and the scumbag working there told me that they don't accept returns from different Best Buys. I left infuriated and called up the same Best Buy to talk to the store manager and explained the situation. She told me that that's not their store policy and the employee's misinformed. I went right back to the store to do my return and the guy was gone, probably getting an earful somewhere.
Click to expand...

Though they can return the device that is purchased at another Best Buy, they do take a hit for the return, as the original place of purchase gets compensated for the purchase from the carrier, and the store that process the return doesn't get any sort of compensation and takes the hit on it. I used to work in both the returns and cell phone area about 8 years ago and dreaded it when customers brought their phones that were bought at another location to do a return because it hurts the budget the department has for each day. Though it's more convenient for the customer to just go to whatever store is closest for them.
 
xxBURT0Nxx said:
Like I said, best buy lies.

Print out a copy of their return policy. Go to the store, try to return it, if they argue with you pull out the return policy and tell them to show you where it says the ******** they are spewing.

I'm sure they will return it once you show them their own return policy. Going to be pretty hard to argue with that.
Click to expand...

Ok will do. Just got off the phone with Future Shop (sister store of Best Buy) and they said they dont have that policy anymore. I called Best Buy again and they said their policy is different from theirs. Arrgh this is BS. They just lost a customer. I don't like getting the run around. I am in Canada btw.
 
famoussasjohn said:
Though they can return the device that is purchased at another Best Buy, they do take a hit for the return, as the original place of purchase gets compensated for the purchase from the carrier, and the store that process the return doesn't get any sort of compensation and takes the hit on it. I used to work in both the returns and cell phone area about 8 years ago and dreaded it when customers brought their phones that were bought at another location to do a return because it hurts the budget the department has for each day. Though it's more convenient for the customer to just go to whatever store is closest for them.
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Weather you dreaded it or not it wasn't coming out of your paycheck right?
And since its a nationwide chain like walmart, target etc.. you can do returns at any location with valid receipt.
So best buy employees should worry more about customer support and satisfaction than the particular department budget taking a hit IMO.
 
Jason1978 said:
Do you live in Canada?
Click to expand...

no sorry I don't, I didn't really know best buy was in canada, so I assumed you were in the states.

Regardless, they should have the same return policy. Go on best buys website and at the bottom click returns and exchanges.
 
xxBURT0Nxx said:
no sorry I don't, I didn't really know best buy was in canada, so I assumed you were in the states.

Regardless, they should have the same return policy. Go on best buys website and at the bottom click returns and exchanges.
Click to expand...

Ok :p
 
xxBURT0Nxx said:
here is best buy CANADA's return policy from their website:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/help/article/hc1075.aspx

cell phones are explicitly stated under the 14 day return policy, with no mention of a 30 minutes or less use policy.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks. So I have the right to ask them to see it in writing? It cant be a verbal thing. She did mention it to me when I bought the phone but I thought she was talking about the carriers policy and not theirs. Which turns out they are trying to pawn it off on the carrier.
 
yeah i would print it out and bring the policy i linked. Then when they say anything about the 30 minutes I would pull out the return policy I printed and I would ask them to show me where it says that.

They are not going to find it, and are going to have a hard time arguing with you when it specifically states phones have a 14 day return policy.

You don't need to wait for the "mobile manager" go in there right now and you can speak to any manager if they keep trying to tell you that you can't return it. I would actually want to go and make an example out of the person who is telling you on the phone about this bogus policy. they deserve to lose their job for lying to you just to get out of doing a return. I would definitely go right in there and make them look like a fool in front of their boss/coworkers for lying to me, but that's just my .02.
 
xxBURT0Nxx said:
yeah i would print it out and bring the policy i linked. Then when they say anything about the 30 minutes I would pull out the return policy I printed and I would ask them to show me where it says that.

They are not going to find it, and are going to have a hard time arguing with you when it specifically states phones have a 14 day return policy.

You don't need to wait for the "mobile manager" go in there right now and you can speak to any manager if they keep trying to tell you that you can't return it. I would actually want to go and make an example out of the person who is telling you on the phone about this bogus policy. they deserve to lose their job for lying to you just to get out of doing a return. I would definitely go right in there and make them look like a fool in front of their boss/coworkers for lying to me, but that's just my .02.
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I spoke with the floor manager earlier today and he's the one who was talking about that 30 minute policy as well. Also that link is not working on my macbook :( I dont know..there must be something wrong with the servers. Apparently the mobile manager makes the decisions about all phones. This is BS.
 
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So here is the verdict, for anyone interested. I walked in there and spoke to the mobile manager. He said there is no way he can exchange or refund it. At first he tried to say he couldn't see the nick. Then he tried to say his employee said that "I" demanded that they not open the box when I purchased it, which I did not. I told him "so I guess the customer is always wrong in your case right?" I also said maybe your employee did not want to get into trouble. He said "Why? We don't have to inspect the phone before giving it to you?" I said "That's funny since the assistant manager said that you are suppose to unless the customer requests otherwise".

He was completely contradicting himself. He said he doesn't know whether it was a manufacturing defect or me who made the mark. I said look at the device, you can tell that it is inside the crystal. There is no way I can make a mark like that.

So anyways I ended up calling head office and there is now a complaint going to the district manager. I talked with Apple and they are probably going to replace the phone and hopefully not get a refurbished phone. The supervisor said 99% new phone. Maybe they will be nice enough due to the fact that the phone is only 3 days old and it is impossible for me to do anything at store level. I am not happy with their service. I should have went to Future Shop. Let this be a lesson learned.
 
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I wouldn't be too upset if you get a refurb. Any apple refurb the completely replace the battery and any part you can touch with brand new pieces. So your screen, the back case, the buttons, etc, all brand new. The only parts that are "refurbished" would be like the processor, maybe the camera, and so on. All of those parts are tested first to ensure they are working, and the refurb comes with the same warranty as a brand new unit.
 
xxBURT0Nxx said:
I wouldn't be too upset if you get a refurb. Any apple refurb the completely replace the battery and any part you can touch with brand new pieces. So your screen, the back case, the buttons, etc, all brand new. The only parts that are "refurbished" would be like the processor, maybe the camera, and so on. All of those parts are tested first to ensure they are working, and the refurb comes with the same warranty as a brand new unit.
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That's what I told him before but some people freak out when they hear the word "refurb" and they think it will be used, scratched, dirty, falling apart and with tons of defects:D
Not with Apples replacements but whatever makes him happy:)
 
They told me refurbished doesnt mean that someone has used it- dont know whether they are telling the truth. They said that whenever a device off the assembly line doesnt live up to standards or code, they take it in and fix it and run it through tons of tests. I wouldnt want a phone that has been used by someone else. Maybe if I had the phone for longer, but its a 3 day brand new phone, so thats what I think I should get.

But they said that they dont even have any refurbs right now. Weird thing is that I got a message from the general manager at Best Buy and he wants me to come in the store so he can look at the phone. Future Shop's manager first told me to call him because he said he will hook me up but I figured they would just do the same and frankly I didnt want nothing to do with them.

To be honest I dont really want to set foot in that store anymore after all of that. Suppose the general manager tells them to refund the phone, I will have to go in there and converse with them while they do the exchange. Especially since I told the mobile manager that I was taking this over his head. I kind of dont want nothing to do with any of them, but in the same token I might get my phone quicker. :( Argh
 
I cant blame you. I wouldn't want to go back there either.
When they treat the customer like crap and then someone above them wants you to come back to finally make it right?
Sure, after you lied and drove me nuts and handled the situation so poorly now you want to "hook me up"?
Thanks but no thanks. Why does it have to be so hard to do a return?
 
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