Reader Daryl writes:
“Bought a PS3 from my local Best Buy yesterday. When I got it home I found out it was broken. On boot up it would say “Need to restore hard drive, press X to continue”. Pressing X would cause it to say “Restoring…” then after a few seconds it would restart, and would come up to the same exact thing, and repeat.
So, I take in my broken PS3 to Best Buy today, to replace it of course, and they refused to because the serial number on the console is different from that of the box. They accuse me of trying to trade back a different PS3 than the one I bought (I guess there are idiots that do that), in order to get out of paying to have it replaced. This, of course, is total crap because I bought this EXACT PS3 the night before.I’m pretty sure I’ve figured out what they are trying to do. See, before, people were getting away with trading in their, out of warranty, broken PS3′s. This means that Best Buy had many PS3′s that were broken, and had different serial numbers than the boxes they were in (Which, is only their fault because they didn’t check the serials on return). Normally Best Buy would just send these PS3′s back to Sony and get reimbursed. Problem is, Sony won’t reimburse for PS3′s with different serial numbers then the box. So, what is Best Buy to do with all these broken PS3′s with different serial numbers than the boxes? Well, resell the PS3 to the customer, in order to make back their 400 dollars. Once that’s done, the customer can’t prove anything, and now has to go to Sony in order to get their problem solved. In the end, Best Buy gets their 400 dollars, and doesn’t have to back up the product they sell, and the customer is stuck with the problem. I will be calling Sony to figure out what’s up with these serial numbers, but I’m not going to let Best Buy get away with this. They are the ones at fault, and I’m going to get my PS3 from them.”
It’s a nice thought, but if we were you we’d save ourselves some time and aggrivation by calling our credit card company and explaining what happened. Changes are that they will either advise you to do a chargeback against Best Buy for fraudulently selling you a broken, used PS3 with an incorrect serial number, or, they’ll replace your item under their own purchase protection plan. You see, they know you paid $400 for a PS3 the other day, and that’s really all they care about.
Make sure to have all your receipts and relevant information at hand and then give them a call.
The more we see complaints like this, the more we realize that you absolutely must check your items while you’re still inside Best Buy. They will literally sell you a box full of shower tiles instead of a hard drive and no amount of complaining and filing police reports and reporting them to your state’s attorney general will make them realize that it’s fraud. Way it goes.
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I know it might be overly inconvenient, but can you open the packaging in store and do a visual check? Even a slightly used system will invariably receive a smudge or 2 here and there. The wrapping of the cords/externals won’t be as tight or the tape looks like it is torn.
For any higher profile products (over 250 in my world and this includes large sized products like TVs), I open the package right there and make sure it is what I want to take home with me. My philosophy, when dealing with BB or anyone else is that once it leaves the store, I am now responsible for any future dealings (whereas if I am still physically in the store, my chances are better of keeping the accountability with the retailer).
@cwlodarczyk: Or cover their ass.
@sp00nix: Heh heh…you said rectally.
Best Buy scans the serial number on the console, not the box (they did when I worked there before the PS3 was released). If the PS3 has a similar arrangement with a hole cut in the box to make the console serial number accessible then there is no way that this person is telling the truth.
@Primate: Except that his allegedly broken unit would still be under warranty, and except that he would get a replacement and then have two working PS3s of which yes theoretically he could then sell one, but isn’t that an awful lot of work rather than just repairing his initial box under warranty? Not to even go into the fact that he’s so upset that his scam doesn’t work that he goes online to write a lengthy diatribe about it to Consumerist?
I guess I’m saying that given a choice between “Wow, Best Buy is really incompetent” and “Some scammer has an absurdly complicated plan to replace a broken PS3 that would be under warranty anyway that involves manipulating Consumerist to perpetuate his fraud” I know which one is the safe bet to be right.
@Eric: Unless the checker screwed it up somehow, which is far from impossible.
Why in the hell does anyone shop at Best Buy. I’ve gathered from several posts here that all Best Buys have unaccountable to corporate. Well, if you can’t hold the outlets accountable and they are responsible to no one, why shop there?
Screw Best Buy
“(I guess there are idiots that do that)”
I don’t believe the consumer’s story. The seal on the box would have been broken. Does Best Buy have a roll of SONY seals???
This sounds strange to me. I don’t believe it at all.
Seriously folks, where is the Photo Evidence from this little jerk-off crying, some bad man returned a bad PS3 in the wrong box, Best Buy sold it to me and now I can’t get my money back. I want Pictures of the Box, Front Side Back and I want a Picture of the PS3. I bet anything those have a Window on them that the clerk scanned. The little brat is just trying to ripoff Best Buy. If the PS1 had it, if the PS2 had it then the PS3 will have, the Window to the Serial Number on the back.
Consumerist mods, is there any way for me to block jerkoffs like @soulman901?
I honestly want to know WHAT PURPOSE is served by someone wanting to scam Best Buy and complaining about it here. What purpose could an actual thief accomplish? People who play the ripoff game aren’t going to waste their time here and expose themselves to public scrutiny over A SINGLE PS3.
You people need to use your brains a little more.
Thanks to those of you who gave me helpful advice.
To those of you who think I’m lying. There is no “window” on the PS3 box, if so, this wouldn’t have happened. Giving you pictures wouldn’t prove anything, I don’t know what you’d be looking for in the pictures to believe me. And, a seal on the box. You mean that flimsy little circle sticker that “seals” the top flap? Yes, that was on there, and didn’t look tampered with or anything. Now, the other PS3′s around it looked tampered with, that’s why I dug deep into the pile to find one that hadn’t been tampered with, and I came out with this one.
I’ve called my bank and filed a claim. After work I’m going to go to best buy, and talk to the manager. I’ll let him know about the claim, and that I can cancel it if they either give me my money back, or give me a working PS3. I’m also going to let them know that the other PS3′s looked to have been tampered with and i suggest they check them all to make sure they have matched serials with the boxes.
Hopefully this will end soon and I will FINALLY get the PS3 I paid 400 bucks for!
@RIP MRHANDS: Being devil’s advocate:
1) We’ve heard many tales of people getting things resolved after complaining about them here on Consumerist. It’s very little effort to send an email to this site in hopes of a last resort save of $400 to purchase a new PS3.
2) You break your prized possession, a PS3. You saved up for quite a while to buy one, and now you’re SoL. You have this grand idea to buy one from a store and return it, only they bust you on the serial which you didn’t expect. Now you’re pissed and want to get back at the store (or find a way to get your exchange) any way you can. Sending an email is a lot less work than buying a PS3 to return your defective one in the first place.
The second you tell the management at Best Buy that you filed a claim, they will immediately refer you to corporate (which will do you no good), and show you the door.
@Counterpoint: I agree with what your saying. But, I can assure you this is totally legit. I’ve done much more than just e-mail Consumerist. I’ve also sent many e-mails to other websites, and posted on several blogs. Not to mention calling my bank and opening/filing a claim. All I want is the working PS3 that I’ve paid 400 bucks for, but it seems that is just too much to ask.
@RenStrike: contrary to popular belief, Best Buy stores do not stock “Sony Holographic Sealing Decals” in their back room.
stop trying to exchange your previously broken PS3 under the guise of your conspiracy theory.
and the part of you saying BB corporate told you that Sony doesnt accept mismatched returns? that’s a lie. either you’re lying or BB is lying… and so far, it doesnt matter because you both suck for trying to cheat everyone else.
@Counterpoint: But the point is this is a site set up to discuss consumer issues (or at least provide “info-tainment”). The goal isn’t “We’ll post stories that may or may not be true, and commentors should then argue about which ones are BS and which ones are real.” Great, yeah, there’s an infintesimally small chance that this is some brilliant scammer who has an elaborate scheme involving Consumerist — cheers to everyone who pointed that out. Me, I’m more interested in actually discussing how to solve or avoid problems described by posters, and Consumerist can weed out suspicious e-mails they don’t want to post.
There’s really no point at all to comments like soulman901, who apparently just want to get off on flaming the OP.
Furthermore, don’t you think a scammer would be better served by pulling a stunt like this using a credit card with buyer protection? And are you really so incredulous that Best Buy could muck something like this up?
@Counterpoint: Maybe so, but the people who are nay-saying this have absolutely no proof that he is committing a fraud.
(2) doesn’t make a whole lot of sense as a viable form of fraud.
The problem is that this sort of thing can actually happen to people and there is no real way for the victim to prove their honesty or for BB to prove fraud.
@omerhi: Okay, they’re the worst electronics retailer around, and I wouldn’t set foot in one even if they paid me. Better to have a no-questions-asked (or as few as possible) return policy and eat the losses, than risk ill will from customers because of stupid policies dreamed up by local managers.
Two points. First, the “You’re an idiot if you shop at Best Buy” comments are never helpful, and they’re getting old. People are going to keep shopping there, and by doing so, don’t forfeit their right to complain when they get screwed. Deal with it.
Second, if a chargeback doesn’t work, small claims court is definitely the way to go. Best Buy will probably settle, using the logic that it’s cheaper, and that if the OP is willing to take it to that extreme, he’s probably telling the truth, anyway. But if not, he should try and get something from his credit card company proving he only bought one PS3. If Best Buy tries arguing that he could have paid cash for the first one, I think it’s a safe bet that the judge would find the plaintiff’s claim more plausible.
@soulman901: I’ll take you up on that bet. How’s about $1000 via Paypal? Yes? Ok, I’m staring at my PS3 box, and lo and behold there’s no window for the serial number. And my PS3 was wrapped completely in one of those styrofoamy blankets so a window wouldn’t have helped. Could you get that deposited today for me? Thanks.
Several things could be happening. The units and boxes are mismatched at Sony or BB employee incompetence, be it granting mismatched returns or committing fraud by returning their own broken systems.
I admit that there is a chance Sony mismatched the box with the PS3. The things is, I think that if you combine the mismatch, AND the fact that the PS3 is broken, the chances become VERY slim that Sony is at fault. The most believable thing I’ve figured out so far is that some employees PS3 broke, and in order to get a new one as fast as possible/for free was to swap it out for one from the stock. Nothing leading to him, he gets away scott free, and I’m stuck dealing with his busted PS3.
“Sony Holographic Sealing Decals”? What are those? The PS3 I received last Wednesday had a plain clear round sticker over the flap. I bought it from a very reputable retailer — a military exchange — and still checked it over very carefully when I opened it. The clear sticker itself peeled off very easily, leaving no evidence it had been lifted and replaced. Nor was the box marred in any way.
Also, as has been asked and answered repeatedly, the PS3 box does not have a hole to read the SN through. There’s just a sticker that says “Serial number for registration” and the number under it.
Thanks for reminding me to add the SN to my files, RenStrike. I hope everything works out and you get unscrewed on this.
@y0shidono: God knows bb would never think of doing anything like this…
@magus_melchior: No, that’s preposterous. Then Best Buy would become the go-to store for people who pull the common scam of buying a new item and returning a broken one in its place. (Heck, I did it, years ago. It came off eBay. I had fewer morals and more hate for BB then. I’m sorry, Best Buy. I truly am.) And the guilty will tell the same story as the innocent. It’s a tough call, but there’s an easy solution: open your shit before you leave.
Here, by Daryl’s account, the box looked unopened. So it’s quite possible the perpetrator in this case did a great job of making it look that way and the customer service staff didn’t open the box. I think that’s far more likely than a willful attempt by Best Buy to screw an unsuspecting customer. But it really doesn’t matter how it happened, because we’ll never know.
@Pro-Pain: Where does this story come from? That’s not Best Buy policy, so that oddly specific story sounds like an individual example of someone who should be fired. And they have an internal, confidential hotline for cases like this. Corporate would love to hear about it.
So I called my bank and they are investigating the purchase. I also called Sony and they said that, of course, they can’t do anything to help me, and that it’s all best buys fault. What I did figure out, and doesn’t really help, is that not only is this PS3 I purchased broken, and has the wrong serial, it is also a (Discontinued long ago) 60GB model, and the box I bought was supposed to contain a 40GB model. Doesn’t help me, but it’s interesting.
Calling Best Buy customer service didn’t get me anywhere, the agent said the same thing as before, even after calling my local best buy, and when I asked to speak to a Supervisor he went and told me the exact same thing as every best buy person has told me so far. I can’t prove anything, and the serials are different, so It can’t be exchanged.
So, I’m stuck between two companies that both blame each other with no help from anyone on this matter. I’ve called the local news station, and my Dad is currently talking to his lawyer to see what can be done.
I am now positive that it was a Best Buy employee that switched out the console. It is the perfect crime as it is VERY easy to peel that sticker off, and the serial never gets scanned.
One could blame Sony, BUT, what are the chances that they would not only package a broken PS3, with the wrong serial number, with the wrong product type (60GB instead of 40GB), and is broken? Yeah….exactly. Although, Sony is partially to blame as they made these boxes WAY to easy to tamper with, and they don’t have a window to scan the serial number inside of the box.
No idea what to do about this, and I see no end in sight.
@RenStrike: I hope you get everything worked out, but why are you still pushing outlandish internal Best Buy scam theories? You accepted a simple explanation yesterday:
It starts to look like you have an agenda when you come over here and go back to Best Buy proactively dumping a mythical stockpile of mismatched PS3s, followed by Best Buy employees swapping stuff from the stock (also known as “stealing”, which is illegal).
@blondegrlz: Employees playing on their breaks? Do you think they just take it into the break room, open it up, plug in the internet, link it to their online account, and the Store Manager says “Alright guys, party in the Break Room! Let’s play some Gran Turismo!” followed by “That was fun. Put it back on the floor. Be careful with the sticker now: we want it to look unopened”? No. No no no. Probably a customer used it and returned it. It’s a simple proposition.
hmmm… for all those people say you are dumb for shopping at best buy and stuff but they forget that they are talking to the educated ones posting on a consumerist forum, a good deal of us are what Bestbuy calls devil shoppers. I don’t buy consoles from retailers, only from Costco and Amazon. What you aim for is the loss leaders that are definately 100% good. Picking up 3-4 X360 games at $20 using coupons and/or sales in one run at a severely discounted price is awesome. Its not dumb if you shop smart. Cheapassgamers and slickdeals tend to stick it good into best buy, we win twice as they lose money and we gain nice things cheap.
@RenStrike: Did you say the word “chargeback” or “purchase protection” to your bank? I’m not sure what you mean by “they are investigating it”. You already know what Best Buy will say to them.
But you bought a PS3 and didn’t get what you paid for. Tell them you want to do a chargeback, code 53: “Not as Described or Defective”. There’s no investigation. You’ve done all you can by dealing directly with Best Buy and Sony for now. The chargeback means that your bank is going to send the charge back to Best Buy to respond, which is exactly what you want.
@Michael Belisle: No, I didn’t say any of those things to them, I “Filed a Claim” or something, never done it before, not even sure how it works.
Also, I don’t think my previous proposition is outlandish at all. I talked to several people at my work who have worked in retail like this and they say many employees swap out their consoles like this. It could also be a customer. Either way, it’s primarily Best Buys fault.
I had a similar experience. After parading a Buyer Beware placard outside the store for 10 minutes, the store manager finally looked into my problem and after exhaustive investigation, traced the return (credit card purchase by a 70 year old who returned a DOA phone). Turns out, this very honest person returned a DOA product which was promptly re-shrink wrapped and put back on the shelf and sold as new.
Don’t just take this lying down, get a sign together and walk the walk outside the store – this will certainly get the attention of the store manager. Call some friends get them to do the same. Call the local news station. Make some noise.
EECB with BB is a waste of time, almost like over prescribed anti-biotics it’s no longer effective.
Needless to say, I’ve never set foot inside a shitbuy store since then and as long as my ass points down, I never will.
Get with the program – Boycott BB, tell everyone you know to do the same tell them to tell everyone they know. Eventually (we live in hope) they’ll get the message and change their ways.
@RenStrike: Regardless of your conviction, it doesn’t really matter how it happened; all that matters is that you didn’t get what you paid for and Best Buy refused to accept the return. Some retailers (Home Depot, at least, didn’t see it in Best buy’s Policy) reserve the right to refuse a return at any time, for any reason.
But that’s what credit cards are for: Call the bank back and make sure a chargeback is in the works:
If that’s what they’re doing, then all’s good. Best Buy will eat the cost if the chargeback goes through or if your credit card convinces them to accept the return.
Call off the attack dogs until the chargeback plays out. It shouldn’t take long. Go get some ice cream (or beer, if you’re >21) and play your friend’s PS3 for a few days.
@RenStrike: Oh and the chargeback has been successful before.
I REALLY doubt this guy’s story, even though I believe some of the other similiar ones.
It is EXTREMELY unlikely Sony would ship a PS3 with mismatching serials, and likewise that Best Buy both A. accepted numerous returns for mismatching serial #s and/or B. Willingly sold mistmatching serial # PS3′s.
There is an outside chance ONE slipped back into the store on a return, and was bought again by this fellow, but then he never said it was an open box item – which is something that would be very obvious – either because of the stickers and pricing Best Buy gives open box items, or because you can clearly see the seal has been previously broken and the inside contents are not factory condition.
I call shenanigans on this one.
@Rectilinear Propagation:
There is a serial number on the box – its on the top, next to the UPC.
you scan the serial through the box at the time of purchase…this is totally a fake complaint and this guy is a fraud (i just checked a PS3 box on the floor to verify)
Consumerist…do you just post anything negative people give you about best buy without researching it for legitimacy first?
@realist.com: The PS3 box I have has NO window on it to scan the console inside, NONE! Everyone else who has checked has confirmed the same…except you.
@Deusfaux: And this “seal” on the box is a simple little piece of circular tape. Any idiot could peel it off with and put it back on without it being noticed.
Whats this about scanning the console and the box? Shit, a small heatgun to the lil S/N sticker on the unit, and it most assuredly could be peeled off and swapped.
I recently got to be a victim of the BEST BUY bullshit of OPEN BOX crap. A friend bought me a DVD CD Player Stereo for my new truck for Christmas. When I got it home and opened it up, it looked like someone nicely packaged their old worn out Alpine shit, and returned it to the HIGH SCHOOL kid working the return desk. My issue hasn’t been resolved as of yet. This also happened to me at Wal-Mart on a printer cartridge, so it isn’t Best Buy alone.
I don’t think Best Buy is intentionally swapping out old broken shit at consumer cost.
Seems like it is standard practice to put some KID who prolly just smoked a joint on break at the return booth, someone who is supposed to be FULLY inspecting returns.
Bought a 160GB hard drive after work and installed it. Booted up the machine, formatted the drive, and what do I find but the culprits first and last name saved as a user on the PS3′s internal memory. Seems the user names don’t get saved on the hard drive. Called my local best buy, after some talking and searching they finally found the guy. He lives in a town near here and, go figure, “returned” a 40GB PS3 recently for a full refund. There’s the answer, FINALLY. This is EXACTLY the proof I needed to finally get Best Buy to listen to me. Seems the guys 60GB PS3 borked on him. So he goes into best buy, buys a 40GB, and swamps it out for his broken one and returned it for the total amount, getting himself a new PS3. The manager is going to investigate it further and figure out what to do next and get back to me.
It seems this is finally almost over. It’s about time, I was stressing out something fierce.
So far I’m loving my PS3 though. Can play “most” of my videos off my PC, seems it doesn’t support several of them,
. Still, very cool. Watched The Road Warrior on BluRay. Looked amazing. I forgot how good that movie is. Gonna watch No Country for Old Men tomorrow with the fam when they visit. I recommend that movie to anyone, it’s one of my new favorite movies of all time.
@sp00nix: blame cahill
For my part, this guy is not lying. My son bought an x-box 360 from bb two
days ago. He’d saved for months. The console didn’t work properly and when
we returned it to bb to exchange they “discovered” that the serial number on
the console and the one on the receipt were different. BY ONE DIGIT!
Obviously, we were trying to pull a fast one on them. They told us our only
recourse was to contact Microsoft for a replacement. Shockingly, the tech
at MS was very helpful and agreed completely that we were right and bb was
wrong. His records showed that the serial number from the console was
registered to us and the one on the receipt didn’t register at all. (the
complete opposite of the story from bb). The problem is that if MS replaces
the faulty unit they replace it with a refurb model. Plus, we get screwed
out of the extended warranty we were counting on as insurance against a
product with known issues. This isn’t over by a long shot. If bb doesn’t
do right by me tomorrow I’ll be adding another post with plenty of names. I
hope this won’t be the case. As bad as they are, they’re convenient and
inexpensive.
Jeff Pitcher
I believe the OP, as this just happened to me. Bought a PS3 this Saturday with extended warranty. PS3 boxes do not have a window showing the serial number. Took it home and the blue ray player doesnt work. I think ‘no prob’ I’ll take to get an exchange. Well not only did I not get an exchange, the Lady accused me of lying..I see her point..as anyone can claim this. I ask her what I can do, she directs me to her manager..he gives me the same story, that anyone can claim this.. So I ask to speak to the store manager. He was a little more helpful as he is going to conduct an investigation (whatever that is)…I set up a police report, my credit card company has been notified, the better business bureau has been notified as well. If the store manager doesnt do anything about it, i’m just gonna keep going higher…this isnt about the $$$ I paid..its now come to the point of principle…BTW this is after I spent over $4500 in the store as well. The guy at Sony told me there is nothing they can do. He was helpful in the fact that he advised me to always check serial numbers before leaving the store. The worst part is that the PS3 that was in the box was a 40GB not an 80GB…so if nothing gets done…I’m stuck with sending to sony for an extra $150 to get it fixed and its only a 40gb…to all the people that think that the O.P is faulty…he might be in the theory but I believe that Best Buy and Future Shop (same parent company) have some internal staffin issues…whether it be staff switching product..or staff not checking serial numbers when customers retun items…To the O.P …I havent read through all the comments…but did you and up getting any sort of remuneration??? I will also be contacting Silvermans on CP24 News to see if he has had consumers complain about this…..will post back what i find out or if I get this resolved…
I have this problem this moment right now, I purchased today a Sony DVD+/-R DL dru-842a and inside I saw a totally different cd-r/rw used and with grease from some other computer.
But I have to my daughter as a witness because she saw that I opened the box, she is a 9 year old and ofcourse she does not need to lie, I don’t need to lie for 60 dollars, so I will dig and see how I can complaint against best buy I don’t care how millionares they are.