OR "Don't rob an EB Games store, there is no cash" I bought a used PSP core system from Electronics Boutique last week and paid cash. I was planning on using it for multiplayer with my little sister, but as it turns out I've been told to take a few weeks off of work and am short on cash. I hit up the original store that I bought from and they give me no problems with the return... until they discover that between both drawers they only have roughly $45. On to the second store in town and it's more of the same, only this time I am told that their drawer actually show NEGATIVE??? I'm getting pissed at this point, but as all of the employees are quite nice and apologetic there's not much more they can do, I politely move on. I drive 20 miles to the next nearest EB and I'm met with an arrogant Ass who refuses to take the item back, claiming that their returns policy expressly forbids the return of a non defective used item. I'm pissed and react a bit sarcasticly "You've got to be freakin kidding me?" He gets the manager... We argue for 15 minutes and they cannot show me where in the return policy that it says my item is unreturnable. Eventually after much exasperation the manager realizes that he is not getting rid of me without a refund, he gives me my money and I wish him a nice day. I'm still just perplexed as to why the first two stores were fine with the return and willing to help me out the best they could, but this third store just kept giving me crap like "well you see the corporate bylaws expressly forbid the return of any used items" and "I know what the return policy says, but it doesn't meen that".. Return policy at bottom of their receipts reads: Receipt required for returns/exchanges. Unopened new items can be returned/exchanged W/in 30 days. Opened new videogames, new PC games & new systems can be exchanged for the identical item w/in 7 days. Opened accessories and ALL USED ITEMS can be returned/exchanged w/in 7 days.
A bought a cell phone once, and the camera was crap, as were the ringtones. Random pictures would 'develop' as pure white, even though I'd taken them properly, and while previewing certain ringtones it would crap out on me after playing them for 10 seconds. I took it back to the store, and the first thing they did was pull out a new box for me. I said "no thanks, I want a refund." "oh we don't do refunds" So I open the sleeve\booklet thing the receipt came in, and show where it says defective items may be returned within 14 days for a full refund. She just brought someone else over who took care of everything. How wierd is that?
In most stores they have internal policies where the shop assistants are told to push for replacement rather than a refund, or they are required to ask for a manager when a refund is given rather than a replacement. It probably isn't always the assistant's fault, sometimes managers can be total asshats and turn their staff into job's worths. It's all about percentages. The customers don't really matter to the stores once they step outside of them.
This return-for-full-refund must be a USA thing. I mean, the TS bought a PSP, then found out he shouldn't have, then made it the stores' problem. Even if store policy allows for this, it appears to me as a rent-for-free system. It also begs the question: what happens to the returned PSP? At this point the PSP is used and should not be sold as new. I suspect they just sell it as new to some unsuspecting customer. Not done in my book.
Well generally I would agree and am not in the habit of making my own mispurchases and bad decisions the stores fault. But when their own return policy allows for the return then I have no problems taking advantage of it. Also, I never did use the system so it would have been like returning an unopened unused system. And as Taucias already stated, it was a used item. I had to argue this with the manager as well, he kept saying "how do we know you didn't use it" and I was just in disbelief.... It's A Damned Used Item... It Was Used Before I bought It! Bottom line is not that I am mad or upset because I didn't get my way easily, but rather that I wasn't asking for anything more than their own store policy granted and the previous two stores had no problem with.
Have you checked local(state? federal?) bylaws about returning goods? In some places, the laws state that within a short period of time after buying goods, the purchaser has the right to get a full refund from the store -- on any transaction, and even if the store has a "no refunds/returns" policy. Definitely, USA and Canada have a very customer-friendly consumer culture regarding refunds. (The opposite is definitely true of Japan, and Europe, I've heard.)
By law pretty much anything is returnable with in the first few days regardless of what store policy is. Any policy they do have has been calculated into the overall business plan so using it isn't going to surprise anyone at EB. What's you're probably dealing with is a manager who doesn't want returns reflected on his balance sheet so he puts up a stone wall at first just to see if you'll fall for it. It's probably somewhat typical for an industry where a lot of buyers are kids and don't know they have legal leverage. I'd also guess that the first two stores lied about the cash situation. I would imagine that they have a policy about how much cash they must keep on hand for returns and for buying used games. Two stores in the same city having less than $50 is a statistical oddity that defies common business sense. Basically, the first two managers put the return on the 3rd manager's reports...
I work in retail, not games mind you, and I can tell you that what Japan-Games said is most likely true. The first two stores probably lied to you, it doesn't matter how much money they have in the drawers, they have the same amount or more in the safe in the back as well. They most likely did not want to do the return period and thus turned you away in a nice way. The third guy, not as nice. My store generally doesn't do this, but occasionally it comes up with receiptless returns for large amounts and obviously mistreated merchandise. And then there are those days where we do a lot of cash returns (sorry, can't quantify that) and we literaly do not have enough money on hand to do a return. We will then offer store credit and/or the option to come back at a later time and get their money back.
I'm reasonably sure that the first store at least didn't have the cash. Not in the registers anyway. I watched them check the drawers and there really was nothing in there. Samael, how's the book deal going? Any new news?
Going a bit slow, it's taking longer to get it back from the person I have editing it than I expected. I'll update everyone when there is more news on the subject. Thanks for asking!
