Retailers Hate Us

[Nilfennasion]

In this town, retailers don't only hate "difficult" customers. They hate customers, period. When I go to places like the jewellers or Harvey Norman, I get the distinct feeling that a) they don't want my business and b) they think they are doing me a favour by answering my queries. No prioritising involved here at all, they just hate a customer who they cannot con, period. Doesn't matter if they spend $100 or $100,000.

The chamber of commerce in this town has already remarked upon what a big problem customer service here is. Now, if only they would get up and do something about it.

[Headbanger's Ball]

Triumph would say it best....

"Best Buy is a great store...FOR ME TO POOP ON.

[FulciLives]

I for one don't use rebates. I will not buy something witha rebate. I look for the best price I can get WITHOUT having to use a rebate.

Rebates are a scam and nothing else.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[tag]

Triumph would say it best....
"Best Buy is a great store...FOR ME TO POOP ON.

Okay, that should read "...POOP IN".

Although one could could poop in a BB store, all of the stores are way too big to poop ON..........unless you have crane or something.

[holistic]

I for one don't use rebates. I will not buy something witha rebate. I look for the best price I can get WITHOUT having to use a rebate.

Rebates are a scam and nothing else.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

I'll second that.... They can shove their rebates up the collective arses.

I have tried rebates only twice over the years. One success.....and one still a waiting after 2 years.

Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me.

My computer money is spent at a local 'mom&pop' (actually brothers) style store and I have had nothing but excellent service. Worth the few extra dollars to me anyway.

][

[JohnnyCNote]

I've collected many hundreds of dollars in rebates over the years with very little problems. If you follow the directions, which are usually not all that hard to begin with, keep copies and track them, it's well worth the time. I just got an Epson R200 printer from Office Depot for $48 after a $50 rebate. I doubt very seriously you could find one for that price without a rebate.

However, that's just mine (and many others') experience. If someone else doesn't want to deal with rebates, I certainly couldn't care less.....

[FulciLives]

Well we are all smart people here so I feel this doesn't really need to be said but frankely I didn't care for the tone of JohnnyCNote's last post specifically the last part.

So ... I guess it DOES need to be said.

In short I see NO POINT to a REBATE otherthan the fact that the company offering the rebate hopes that some people will be too lazy to send it in ... or forget about it etc.

We have all heard about people sending rebates but never getting anything back.

This does not surprise me. I'm sure some companies "lose" some on purpose and chock it up to the mail service if anyone complains.

In short if a company is not upfront enough to just put something on sale or offer a coupon (instant savings I'm talking here) then **** 'em. They are no good dishonest pieces of shit playing games.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[JohnnyCNote]

Take it or leave it. All I said was I don't care if you use them or not. I'm not going to lie and say that I've had all kinds of problems with rebates when that's simply not the case. I would also like to ask you not to read too much into what I stated. I didn't say I don't prefer that they simply take the discount off of the top. All I said was I've collected hundreds of dollars over the years, as have many others.

This subject has been discussed over and over again. Everyone's positions are already well known. Do we need to rehash it again?

[BobV]

The only problem I've ever had in Best Buy is one that is common in many electronic or tech stores, the lack of good employees. It's hard to find one that is willing and able to help. So I educate myself on what I'm buying before I go. No Big Deal.

[DVDDave]

Best Buy just plain MF SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!! Circuit City use to be good and then they fired all of thier good, knowledgeable salespeople. Now they all SUCK. just buy from the cheapest store out there, and check the prices on line for a few weeks after a purchase in case it gets cheaper.

[ViRaL1]

Rebates are not a scam. Many good companies do their best to fulfill all legitimate rebates and take care of their customers. Rebates are just another revenue stream for many companies. You could make the same complaints about coupons. If you can sell it to me for $100 - a $20 coupon, why should I have to bother bringing in some slip of paper that says you should sell it to me for what it's worth..and only during specific time periods? Give a choice, I think everyone would pick the option of buying for $50 out the door vs $100 and a $50 rebate, but in the end, I'll usually pay a little more to save a lot in the end. I've never had problems with rebates myself, though I know many have. Luck of the draw I guess.

[lordsmurf]

Rebates are too a scam.

They use them to collect your info for free for marketing purposes, often to resell to others.

They also bank on the fact that some people will forget or get screwed. I tossed out a UPC on a $5 rebate a few weeks back. I'm therefore fucked. If it had just been an old-fashioned sale, there would be no problem.

Plus they want to keep that money in their stocks as long as possible.

[ViRaL1]

I agree that they want to hold on to your money as long as possible, but I wouldn't say that constitutes a scam. I'll even agree with you about the marketing aspect. But calling it a scam because SOME companies deliberately try to scew people out of their rebates would be like saying that rippers are a scam because SOME people use them to steal movies. There are plenty of people who have gotten tons of rebates from legitimate companies who are actually interested in repeat business. If there were no rebates, most of the items that come with rebates would probably be more expensive all around.

[verchad]

How could you return an item that you sent in a rebate? Almost all of the rebates require the UPC to be cut/torn from the box. On the few times I have needed to return something to BB, they always check for the UPC on the box. No UPC - No return! Simple and direct.

BTW BB cash registers run on win2000

I was just in a best buy last week and they had an open box epson printer marked down to less than the regular price, but it would cost you more than the new one if you included the rebate on the new one. I looked at the box and sure enough, the upc code had been cut out of the box.

[j-a-w]

All companies offer rebates on the hope the customer don't really mail in the rebate. The always run sales on items just to get people in the store. I really don't know how they can call customers demon with all the unfair the gimmicks they run. Like having sales and not offering rain checks on the items.

[Suntan]

What was this all about? Oh yes now I rember. Service. You pay for the service that you get. If you want your ass kissed when you shop spend a little cash. If you want the 50 pack of whatever is on sale for half price and a rebate for the other half in six months don't expect the manager to roll out the red carpet and give you free drinks.

There is a difference between half-assed service and lying to customers/abusive sales tactics. As Best Buy was successfully sued for by the State of Minneasota (where it is headquartered) last year.

I can handle sales people that know little more than which direction to point to for the various departments and having to deal with ligitimate rebates (even though they are a pain in the ass.) But it is completely different when the teenage sales people look you straight in the face and say that something only has a 90 day warranty (when it states on the box a 3 year warranty) or they tell you you need to buy this cable seperately (when one comes in the box) both of these I have overheard and felt I needed to say something to the clueless customer that was about to be taken.

-Suntan

[andkiich]

They use them to collect your info for free for marketing purposes, often to resell to others.

I'd rather that I get the $5-$100 per rebate for selling my info than getting nothing and the retailer selling the exact same information and making $100,000 for printing off a list of customer names and addresses.

I also agree that the customer service at Best Buy is horrendous. The people there couldn't tell their arse from their elbow.

I purchase most of my stuff online. Even shipped, it either matches or is less than the retail price.

My take on abusing return policies. If they are going to have a limit on the number of times a person can return items, then they need to state that in the return policy verbiage. I know a guy who used to buy video games, play them for 29 days, and on the 30th day, return it backto Electronics Boutique. Why? Because they had a policy of "if you don't like it, return it for a full refund or full store credit". No where in the return policy did it say that he could only do this once, or X number of times.
They have since changed their policy and are much more strict on returns.
I say you are not abusing the system if you are following the rules they have provided.

[rkr1958]

I for one don't use rebates. I will not buy something witha rebate. I look for the best price I can get WITHOUT having to use a rebate.

Fair enough ... I know some people who feel that way and their choice. Free Market System and such

Rebates are a scam and nothing else.

Now this one got my attention. How so? Where's the scam.

I've always gotten my rebate checks (sometimes in 2-weeks sometimes in 8-weeks or so). I'll probably do four or five rebate items a year with rebates ranging from $5 to $100 or so. I'll only buy the rebate item (if it's gone I don't buy another). Again ... this is my choice as a customer ... free market system as such.

[pacmania_2001]

I work in retail and I have to agree with one of the posters above, if you come into a store like Best Buy for technical advice, you've gone wrong already.

I'm in the hardware section in a large retailer and the big trend in Australia at the moment is renovating so of course every weekend we get the DIY crowd in not only buying the products but also asking for in-depth technical advice on everything from plumbing to carpentry to electrical work.

I don't know how anyone can expect someone making $10 an hour whose doing it as a part time job to get through high school or university to be able to provide the knowledge like that.

I'm not too bad because I've done renovating work plus manual arts in high school but when you're asking a 15 y/o girl whose started working their a month ago with virtually no training how to grout a bathroom floor then you've seriously got problems.

If you go into the shops that advertise themselves on low cost then you have to expect a sacrificed level of service. If you want that knowledge, go to a specialised store but expect to pay higher prices.

As for "evil" and "good" customers its just a fact you deal with in retail. You learn to identify them after a while working at a store and take steps to counter them.

[sammie]

II too won't buy anything because of a rebate sale anymore. I'd say my track record for actually getting anything back on rebates is around 1 in 4, and that usually involves a couple of phone calls. Since I figure it's not worth my time to call, or it isn't a toll free number sometimes I typically don't call on the couple of dollar stuff anyway. Plus as Smurf says, they are just away to collect information for more sales pitches. One company went so far as to say they wouldn't accept a Hotmail e-mail address (my standard spam can address). Plus, rebates are now being used to verify a "business contact" to get around the "Don't call list". So while I would have to agree that rebates aren't out and out scams, they are definitely well into deceptive business practice realm.

As another example of the get the customer mind set these days, the "up-sale" pitches are getting totally out of hand. It's everything from extended warrantees at Best Buy or "fries with that?" at a fast food place. I've literally gotten into 10 and 15 minute arguments with checkout folks (not even the salesman) over not wanting the extended warrantee and only been able to check out without getting it by threatening to walk out on the sale. As a funny aside, I just got back from lunch at a fast food restaurant. There were 3 separate up-sale pitches, twice they asked a second time (are you sure you don’t want….) when I said “no thanks”. Then despite repeating my order after each up-sale pitch (so a total of 4 times), they got 2 of 3 items wrong, did not include the condiment requested, and forgot the napkins and straw. It was painfully obvious they were totally focused on the up-sale to the point that they could care less about the order itself.

[Laddydaddy]

Whenever I need a laugh I go to Best Buy and head right to the optical drive department. Literally every external burner has a sticker on it that says "Let Us Install It For You." I also stay away from rebates unless they are instant rebates. It pisses me off that I buy an item for say $100 with say a $20 rebate for a final cost of $80, yet I pay a sales tax on the total amount of $100. Why should I pay sales tax on $100 when the actual price is only $80? By charging me full price at the register, the state gets to suck extra money out of me.

[rkr1958]

By charging me full price at the register, the state gets to suck extra money out of me.

So I take it that when you buy an item on-line from out-of-state, where sales tax is not charged, then you sent in the amount that should have been charged to your state?

[Laddydaddy]

rkr1958 wrote

So I take it that when you buy an item on-line from out-of-state, where sales tax is not charged, then you sent in the amount that should have been charged to your state?

Not unless they have an agreement with my state to collect the sales tax for them.

[sammie]

........almost forgot the 'ole printer ink scam too.
Was reminded by my black cartridge finally running out of ink. Why is that unusual? Keep in mind this is a business printer and I print dozens of pages a day, but the printer starts warning me that my cartridge is low on ink and needs to be replaced typically after a month of use. It actually runs out of ink almost 3 months later. So the printer is telling me that I need to replace the cartridge (with a nag screen every time I print) when the cartridge is in fact only 1/4 used.

The printer I use at home interrupts printing, each page to nag me that I do not appear to be using authentic Epson printer cartridges (true, I am using good quality substitutes at less that 1/3 the cost), and do I really want to keep doing so? Of course this is better that the printer that I had before which I threw away because you could no longer buy 3rd party cartridges because the printer company had successfully sued under the DMCA to block competitors from copying the chip in the cartridge which allowed the printer to function.

My dad in fact, had an inexpensive Lexmark printer that was literally cheaper to go buy a new printer, than a new set of cartridges. Evidently this practice became so prevalent that several of the big retailers started buying models that didn't include cartridges (despite the label on the box that said they did) to stop people from doing that.

[enstg8er]

I work in retail and I have to agree with one of the posters above, if you come into a store like Best Buy for technical advice, you've gone wrong already.

well said.........
years ago my mother was ill and my father sent me to the mcdonalds for supper. when i returned each meal was wrong. my father lectured me for a half hour for the screw up. his point- the minimum wage workers are not the premier workforce so you should always check everything before you leave the parking lot.
if you need tech support, it's better to pay for it.
as for rebates, with 5 daughters i always buy on the cheap.
good: rebates, sales, clearance, refurb, demo, returns, free shipping, no
sales tax
bad: retail, shipping, tax
i've never had bad advice from best buy (never asked for any) and their rebate set-up works fine. the worst rebates are from office max. and if i mess up a rebate i don't blame store.

do what works for you.......

[Supreme2k]

So I take it that when you buy an item on-line from out-of-state, where sales tax is not charged, then you sent in the amount that should have been charged to your state?

That ain't his business. He's the consumer. That is up to the retailer to take care of tax matters.

If he (or anyone) goes to another state and purchases an item at a lower sales tax, they are not required to pay the difference once they get home.

Not paying sales tax online is completely different. If they don't take your money, that's it. When a store charges you full-price tax on an item that actually has a lower price (after rebate), that's quite simply a scam.

[overclockxp]

I've collected many hundreds of dollars in rebates over the years with very little problems.

That's all? Since February 2001 I have collected over $9,343 in rebates. Probably had to argue for about $200 of those. Pretty awesome stuff rebates. Staples rebates are usually fastest. Best Buy is ok but no real time tracking. CompUSSR, well let's not go there.

Best Buy Sucks, really sucks. I was hanging out at the computer center stand with 3 or 4 employees just standing there talking. The manager was right there and he was actually working on an issue for a customer. The peons were arguing over a pen. I wanted to see how long I would have to stand there waiting for help. After 5 or so minutes the manager looks at the group of losers and says, "Will someone help him."

What a bunch of eye dee ten tees. (ID-10-T's)

But why was I in the store in the first place? One time BB had Crucial PC2100 DDR 256mb on sale for $25 after REBATE. I went in and they were out so I got a rain check. I kept the ad showing the rebate. I had gone in to get a stick for the after rebate price. They did it. I actually got a stick of memory for $25. The funny part is that I went in 3 months after the sale was over and the memory was $90 a stick. Should of had better stock Best Buy. Cracks me up. They blame customers for their poor inventory system. All customers would be profitable if they didn't make people work for the sales. Get a clue. ID-10-T.

[Laddydaddy]

Supreme2k wrote;

That ain't his business. He's the consumer. That is up to the retailer to take care of tax matters.

If he (or anyone) goes to another state and purchases an item at a lower sales tax, they are not required to pay the difference once they get home.

Not paying sales tax online is completely different. If they don't take your money, that's it. When a store charges you full-price tax on an item that actually has a lower price (after rebate), that's quite simply a scam.

Thank you. As you stated the onus of collecting a sales tax is on the seller not the buyer. You understood my point exactly.

[ViRaL1]

I'm not sure about anyone else's state income tax, but my state income tax forms DO require me to declare my out of state purchases, allowing me to subtract the amount of tax paid to that state. If I paid no tax the the state requires me to pay a use tax.

[rkr1958]

rkr1958 wrote

So I take it that when you buy an item on-line from out-of-state, where sales tax is not charged, then you sent in the amount that should have been charged to your state?

Not unless they have an agreement with my state to collect the sales tax for them.

Maybe it just my State but when I fill out my State Income Tax there's a place to enter the total dollar amount of items bought on-line and on which no State Tax was charged. You get to pay your State Tax then.