You will be fine. American Express will give you your money back especially since the manager stole your harddrive after you purchased it.

The successful return of the box of crap is 100% irrelevant to the new transaction for the new drive.

If I were you I would contact the local police department for theft.

You returned the box of crap and bought a new drive. You should have called the police for theft. Since this was a new transaction and the manager then stole your harddrive, they would have made him give it to you or he would have been arrested.

It's sad that things have come to this, what with the efforts that companies go through to put products in packages that cannot be opened without power tools. It would seem likely that the thieves aren't so much the people walking into the store and boosting product off shelves, but the people working in the DCs and warehouses. Of course we kinda figured this all along, and it was only a matter of time before the problem grew big enough to warrant attention.

I hate being forced to think that everyone is a thief and act like everyone thinks I'm a thief. It's a bullshit way to live.

So they set up the return and I repurchased the drive and while I was checking the contents to ensure it was a hard drive this time, the store manager came up, took the box from me and said to take it up with the manufacturer.

In addition to the above listed recommendations, I suggest you file a complaint with the police against the store manager. Assuming you'd already paid for it, it's your property. He's not allowed to "take it" from you. It sounds like what really happened is that after you purchased the new drive, the store manager came up and STOLE YOUR NEWLY PURCHASED DRIVE FROM YOU.

The fact that he may have given you some money shortly thereafter doesn't negate the fact that he robbed you.

Sam, Sam, Sam! You have AMERICAN EXPRESS. One call to them about this mess and they will put Best Buy over the barrel.

I am going to go out on a limb here and figure that it is unlikely some thief in Malaysia stuffed the box with pages from the New York Post, especially one from a future date.

Checking boxes before leaving the store is essential, and not buying from Best Buy is also important.

Good mention of the holiday season, this is a perfect time to remind buyers to be cautious because undoubtedly this type of theft is going to increase when the hectic shopping starts. Definitely get the local media involved, reach some local community networks, and let the management of that Best Buy know it is being done.

People should be warned, there are possible other victims who won't be as resistant to Best Buy's attempt to make them eat the cost, and companies need to know that their advertising isn't just what they place in the papers, but how they treat their customers.

To the original poster:

I got the impression you bought the second drive from Best Buy. Return that as well. There's no reason they should have your business. As an added bonus, you can inevitably find things cheaper than at Best Buy online.

Summary for everyone else:
When a store screws you, ensure they never see your dollar again. Don't keep shopping there!

If the drive was new and not refurbished it would have to be a store employee that stole the drive. Judging by the managers reaction he may well have been the that did it. Also yes he would be liable for theft if the return was approved and the new drive was already paid for.

Western Digital Caviar GP WD10EACS 1TB
$299, Free Shipping 3 day shipping
[www.newegg.com]

Best Buy Sucks

With the story saying "So they set up the return and I repurchased the drive..." it sounds like you already returned the old drive. If you had already paid for the new drive yea I would have called the police and filed a theft report against the store manager.

As far as checking the box before you leave the store goes who does that? Sure if the box apears tampered with but a lot of the time you have no way of being sure. Also hell if you are going to open the box are you going to check and make sure every cable is in it(not really an issue with a hd) and that the serial numbers match?

After hearing about a lot of these cases on Consumerist, I'm beginning to think that opening anything you purchase right there in front of an employee is the only way to go.

Which is really really lame.

So, if someone else that DIDN'T work for BB came up to you in the store and said "Tough Shit, you can't have this drive, it's mine" what would you have done? Called the cops.

Yesterday, I opened a box of tiles that I purchased to tile my bathroom floor. Instead of tiles, there is a Western Digital 1 TB hard drive. The tile dealer won't swap the hard drive for a box of tiles and told me to take it up with the manufacturer of the tiles.

Lets look at the facts here; it's obvious that the tiles were not put in the box in Malaysia. And assuming the OP is an honest guy, then someone at Bestbuy did this. I highly doubt it was a return that was resold as Bestbuy would have to be insane to accept a return without checking the contents.

So; someone working for Bestbuy opened the box, stuffed the tiles in it, and put it back on the shelves.

To me that sounds the most plausible. Sad to say that I really don't trust any of them and ALWAYS check the contents of my purchases before leaving.

This is getting ridiculous. It's one thing to ask consumers to be responsible for what happens to a purchase under warranty once it's at home, but it's ridiculous to ask them to be responsible for what happens in a store prior to purchase. This issue had better come to a head soon.

I know people pull all kinds of return scams. Saw plenty in my Sprawl-Mart days. But this is clearly a new kind of shrink issue, and they're going to have to face fixing it from within or losing customers and/or money on the other side. No one's going to trust a sealed electronics purchase now.

I never buy from Best Buy anymore. I've had too many problems with returns, advertised prices, and their scamerific "rewards" program.

Hard drive was bought in New York and the news paper the tiles were wrapped in were New York times. Why do I think the switch wasn't made in Malaysia??

the Yonkers NY Best Buy is really shady. You should try going to the Hartsdale, NY location and return it there, explaining how Yonkers was unhelpful and rather rude. I have found better luck with their Customer Service dept.

My brother used to work at Best Buy in high school. You would be absolutely amazed at how often people try to scam big retailers. Every single day someone would swap a sticker and then try to buy a 42" TV for $50. The biggest day for video camera returns is the day after high school graduations. So many people buy a video camera, videotape their kids, and then return the camera claiming it was "broken". I was always amazed at how brazen people think that Best Buy was basically a library.

I know people pull all kinds of return scams. Saw plenty in my Sprawl-Mart days. But this is clearly a new kind of shrink issue, and they're going to have to face fixing it from within or losing customers and/or money on the other side. No one's going to trust a sealed electronics purchase now.

One of my principal love/hate relationships with Fry's electronics is the return queue. In order to use Fry's generous return policy (30 days on just about everything but food), you must submit to the reverse cavity check when you return an item. They open the returned box, check the contents against the SKU, and will even plug it in to determine functionality for certain items.

When an item is returned, a Fry's manager must sign off on the process, and if the item is resaleable, that manager initials a sticker that seals the box. They've even started re-shrinkwrapping boxes that are returned.

At Fry's they are no-nonsense about employee shrinkage. Everything that could conceivably be stolen in a "warehouse" is actually delivered to the store's 'cage' - which is located out in the open behind the registers. One person works in the cage, and RAM, OEM hard drives, CPUs and other small, high value items are only given to the cashier after the customer presents an itemized sales floor 'estimate'.

The system seems to work well. Even in these times of NewEgg, Frys still does a respectable and price-competitive business in these high value commodity items without requiring the ass-tastic tactics of BestBuy.

If someone came up to me and tried to take something off of me that I had already paid for, I would pepper spray them and call the cops.

The problem with this story is NOT that the box had tiles in it (the lower level BB employees rightly gave an exchange, which if that was the end of it the story would be no big deal), the problem is that the store manger STOLE the dude's new hard drive after he paid for it!!! At this point you are not in the wrong to resist by force.

Worse than being scammed, the tiles were wrapped in the New York Post.

Eeeuuuw.

@CaliforniaCajun:
Here is an interesting story about Fry's. I bought a Pioneer DVD-R there in April- I didn't try and burn a DVD until August when I realized that what I had actually got in the box was a Lite-ON CD-R with Pioneer stickers. Naturally I ran back to Fry's to demand a swap- of course being 4 months later, no box, no receipt I was met with a lot of resistance. The customer service department head said this "couldn't have happened" - so I suggested that she was saying that I was lying to her - she also said that wasn't the case. :)

I asked to talk to the store manager- who was on a conference call. Fast forward about 45 minutes and a very polite man asked me what the story was - said it was tough to believe but agreed that I'm obviously not trying to get the best of Fry's. He promptly refunded my whole purchase price and I bought a new DVD-R that day and have continued to do business with Fry's. (I generally spend a couple $K there a year)

This took place at Fry's in Sunnyvale, CA. I'm glad it turned out with a favorable outcome so I can continue to happily shop at and recommend Fry's.

When are people going to stop shopping at Best Buy? They are horrible. People will never learn.

@JeffM: That's a great story - while Fry's checks every box that gets returned, some of their employees are less than detail-oriented.

Good to hear they have come a long way since the "you must have a Ca. Drivers License to write a check drawn on an out of state bank".

Wait a minute, he took it from you after your paid?! Stop the presses! That's CRIMINAL THEFT. Press charges, right NOW.

Worst Buy.

I've tried to post three times with no success! Consumerist Comments doesn't like me today.

Yep. Should have called the cops right on the spot.

To add insult to injury the tiles were wrapped with an article about Hilary Clinton (see picture) You heartless bastards!

So the assistant and the employee actually processed your return, and you COMPLETED the new purchase?

I mean, money changed hands, and the manager took YOUR new hard drive from you?

That absolutely warrants a police report.

I would have called the Police and reported that the manager had stolen the property that you purchased from the store. You have a receipt with the time and date on it, the merchandise is yours.

@CaliforniaCajun:
Fry's actually sends management out from HQ to the stores & padlocks the dumpsters every once in a while. Then the dumpster is shipped back to the San Jose HQ & they search through it to see if anyone in the store is "throwing out" something valuable so they can retrieve it later that night.
That was in a Forbes article on Fry's a few years ago.

Right, if it had been me, the moment the manager removed the drive from my possession and refused to return it, the cell phone would be out and I'd have a couple cops on the way over. Then I'd be calling one (or more, but I particularly like the one station) of the local news outlets to make it a real party. Unfortunate that Sam didn't do any of that at the time. But hopefully he will send updates of whatever legal remedies he pursues.

I never understood the purpose of ordering online and then picking up in-store. From what I've seen, it doesn't really save you time, and there's no discount on the purchase. So what's the incentive?

Anyways, that brings up a related point. Smart shoppers inspect the product before buying. If you look at a shelf full of hard drives and you notice that one looked and felt a little different than the rest, you would be a little suspicious right? A smart shopper would guess that it was either opened in store, or tampered with, or it was a returned item.

Quit being lazy, people. Go to the store, inspect the product, and then buy. Don't let some Best Buy drone pick the product off the shelf for you. You could be receiving a box of tiles.

Pretty simple to know what happened.. I used to manage a futureshop and things like this would happen.. Someone purchases a product has access to a shrink wrap machine at work, loads the box full of junk, re-wraps it and returns it for a full refund. The CSR is none the wiser as it appears to be "Factory Fresh"

We busted an Asian gang that was doing just this to various retailers throughout South Western Ontario.

you my friend have been taken advantage of by BB, contact the BBB and resort to a ECB if need be...

Simpoleca

@LatherRinseRepeat: Often times you are not allowed to inspect the product. For example, if you buy an ipod at BB, they walk it over to the register.

The tiles certainly wouldn't pass the implied warranty of merchantability that all non-asis sales are required to meet ;^)

@MoCo: you sir, are a winner.

@stanfrombrooklyn:

What's your point? What you said does not relate to this at all. This guy bought what was supposedly a hard drive, and his hard drive box contained tiles. He was defrauded and is seeking compensation. I don't see how that is in any way similar to people swapping stickers or trying to scam the return policy.

@Benstein: "The problem with this story is NOT that the box had tiles in it (the lower level BB employees rightly gave an exchange, which if that was the end of it the story would be no big deal), the problem is that the store manger STOLE the dude's new hard drive after he paid for it!!! At this point you are not in the wrong to resist by force." Quoted for Truth

@dlab: He's pointing out the other side to the story, i.e. what Best Buy must think (Before the manager went and stole his harddrive)

Are you sure those aren't bricks of cocaine? You could come out ahead in the situation.

We had a shrink wrap machine at the computer store I used to work at. It consists of a hot wire to create the seams and a blow dryer to do the shrinking. Certainly not high tech.

I understand there are scammers out there that buy legit items and claim there were rocks in the box but unless Best Buy is inspecting every return (even shrink wrapped ones) then they are part of the problem, not the solution.

Someone needs to get over to that Best Buy and do a little detective work. Find out if the tiles match the ones in the Best Buy employee bathroom and take some pictures! This story is so YouTubeable!

Best Buy is the scum of earth - they pull this crap all of the time. I agree with the previous posters who can't believe people still shop there.

This story disturbs me because it turns the idea of escalation on its head. How many times does Consumerist and its readers/commenters (including me) advise escalating a problem to the manager? This seems to be the rare case where the clerk and the assistant manager got it right, and then the manager screwed it up.

@noasalira: No, maybe some thief in Malaysia didn't... but some thief in a warehouse in New York certainly could have.

If Best Buy can check receipts at the door, the least they can do is provide an area for the consumer to open and check their boxed/sealed product before they leave the premises.

Boy, the days of the euphoria of opening something new are long gone...

I emailed consumerist more than a month ago about best buy selling me a g1s laptop that was obviously mis-described blatently on their website and trying to charge me restocking for returning.

more than a month later, Ive spoken to executive customer support maybe 10 times, Told them that all i want is the website changed so that it doesnt happen to anyone else..... OF COURSE, 1 month later, IT STILL SAYS THE g1s HAS A 15.4" OLED SCREEN, ANy geeks out there want to go and buy a laptop with a screen from the future?

I do not know one person that has ever had anything good to say about best buy, ive heard more horror stories about best buy than ive heard insults to George bush.

My problem with all of this? This isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened at Best Buy stores... just as they've historically had issues with credit card fraud/abuse - identity theft there.

You always get the runaround locally... sometime regional/national management is better.

It's enough to make me want to never use the store.

One time I bought a Nintendo DS screen protector from bestbuy and when I got home the box was completely empty. I didn't bother wasting my time disputing a $5 item but I sure learned my lesson. After that day, I always try to open the box and check the inventory while I'm still IN the store or better yet while I'm at the counter before I leave. This kind of thing happens all the time and it really really hurts if you get stuck holding the bag especially for a $300 item!