Bye B.

Best Buy
Best Buy 2018-07-12
1/5
Beware of Best Buy's "You Can Return It" Claim

After spending $789 on a Samsung Galaxy S9 phone, plus $45 on the case and $31 on the glass cover, plus the $11 per month for the damage and loss/theft protection plans, I also asked the sales person about stands for the back of it I case I would ever want to set it on a tray table on a flight and watch a video or whatever. He showed me some pop-sockets for $15 each. I said I wasnt sure if I would want to put it on the phone, but would buy one and think about it. He indicated I could return it within 14 days as long as I had the packaging and receipt.

Two days later, I decided the $15 pop-socket wasnt going to be something I would use, and brought it back to the same Best Buy. I was able to return it, but in the course of the transaction a second receipt generated saying Warning, future returns might be declined. I asked what that meant and the customer service person she did not know. There was info on that receipt about contacting "The Retail Equation" to get more information on our return activity.

In any returns we have made to large retailers - Target, Home Depot, Lowe's etc. - we have always made the return within the acceptable return period, always with a receipt, and have never been issued a "warning" or been denied a return. So I didn't think much more about it, thought it was possibly a fluke or that Best Buy was doing this to deter people from returning things too often or without a receipt.

Fast forward to a week or so later when my husband called to tell me that Best Buy refused to allow his return of a $120 wireless TV device. At the time of his purchase, he was also assured by the salesperson that he could return the item within 14 days, as long as he had the receipt. He had not removed the device from the package, had his receipt, and attempted the return within the 14-day period. He was told by the customer service person that there was nothing Best Buy could do about the denied return and that he would need to contact "The Retail Equation" - the vendor Best Buy had hired to monitor fraudulent returns, returns without receipts, etc. As we were following Best Buy's return policy to a "T", yet were denied the credit, we have disputed the charge with our credit card company and hope to have it resolved that way. We are also considering sharing our story with a major law firm who is collecting peoples' experience with The Retail Equation in consideration of a possible class action.

Thanks for nothing, Best Buy. Apparently my $900.00-plus phone purchase, along with thousands of dollars of TVs, laptops, electronic accessories and gift cards we've purchased over the past 20 years, count for nothing. Bye-bye, Best Buy. We won't be shopping there again and look forward to patronizing retailers where the "You Can Return It" claim actually means something.