Buying cards at the Future Shop, my experience

[SkaGoatMaster]

I buddy bought a Sony "Car Ready" Discman, with the extended warranty there, he took it back, they wouldn't over the counter replace it, they sent it away to a local Sony repairman, he got it back a month later, and it worked for another month, and started doing the same thing.... he hasn't been able to get back to the store to have it replaced yet.

 

[CraxySerge]

Hey, I don't abuse smaller stores. Its only Future Shop, and their 30 day satisfaction guarantee deal. I buy an item, use it, and if I'm not satisfied I will return it. If the cables or the universal remote is missing then it's their foult for not pointing it out to me. Maybe I innocently forgot it at home and would be more then happy to go home and get it for them. And Future Shop employees take everything back. I know somone who wanted to mod their Playstation and he broke it, and Future Shop gladly gave him his money back.

 

[Mr. Chambers]

people like you make me sick... what you're doing is WRONG i dont give a rats *** if you think it isnt.. so just because they're a "big" corp. you can screw them out of money? this is the EXACT reason why almost 90% of online stores have restocking fees...

[edit]

sorry about getting off topic garrett, i will repost on some other forums to get the word out, its obvious no one should do much buisness with futureshop! i'm glad i have newegg

 

[Yodums]

Chamers, agreed. There are two reasons people actually return stuff:

The hardware went defective by itself

The user is trying to screw the vendor/manufacture

When you did what you did with the phone, you screw over the customers as well. We probably wouldn't pay half as much as we do for software or cds if there wasn't pirating etc. It will never end though. I just feel that people need to think that their hardware being damaged has nothing to do with the vendor or manufacture and yet they blame them.

Yodums

 

[Garrett_thief2]

Just to keep you guys updated....

The Future Shop emailed me back to let me know that they filed a complaint and will be launching an investigation......what that really means has yet to be seen..

I emailed them back demanding that they pay me the $322 difference that i was forced to pay.They told me they'd get back to me once the store manager responds to the complaint.

They can keep their money if they fire that Paul jerk........

 

[illbreakit]

I guess we have been lucky over here. I have taken stuff back with no hassels. My buddy just recently fried his 4600, (our fault) so he proceeds up to Future to buy a replacement. He settled on a 9000. Took it home and was disgusted by the performance. I couldn't keep up with my 8500 retail. I mean, isn't a larger # supposed to be better? Anyway's, he takes the 9000 back, because it turn out that they had also sold it as a 128 megger and it was only a 64. The had no 128 meggers, so he said he would only settle for a 4400. They hummed and hawwed, tried to brush him off a little, but he just kept standing there at the desk. 'Bout 10 minutes later, they come back and say OK. So, he got a better card for less money, the lucky you know what!!!

 

[DDR-PIII]

I posted this in "gripes and moans" but thought it was appropriate to post it here too.....



Just thought i'd type this up to let everyone know what happens when you buy from The Future Shop in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

In August i bought a Visiontek GeForce 4 Ti4400 for $369. I bought it because its a kick *** card, with a lifetime warranty.The salesman at the future shop explained to me that Visiontek has an awesome, no-hassle lifetime warranty, and that if i ever had any problems with it, The Future Shop would gladly replace it, no problem. So i decided to buy it right then and there. We discussed the "over the counter replacement deal", wich would have cost an additional $50. I asked the salesman why i should bother with it if the card came with a lifetime warranty.He replied. "i don't know, i'm just supposed to ask you if you want it"

Ok, so fast forward a few months till yesterday.My Ti4400 died.I replaced it with my backup card, and all was well with the system.

So i go down to The Future Shop and explain that i tested the card in 2 different machines, and it failed to display video in either.Both machines work fine with other cards.I am told by Jenn, the customer support girl that the card would have to be tested, and it might take a few hours.I say fine,, and ask what will happen when they find it is a dead card.I am told that i will have to purchase the "over the counter" replacement policy, and that she would back date it. Since they were sold out of Ti4400's i ask her if i would get the 4600 as a replacement.She left for 10 minutes and came back to let me know that i would indeed get a 4600.I say fine, i'll go for that then.

She brings the tech over, and he tells me that i would not get a 4600, but that i would get a Radeon 8500le.I tell them noway, thats BS. They then take all offers of help or support off the table.Now they will do nothing for me.I become angry.Paul, the Tech tells me "what did you expect....Visiontek went under, thats why the card was on a clearance sale" .........I lost it!!! In effect they sold me a card knowing that it would not warrantied, yet they really hyped the warranty. I told them i felt deceived and outraged.

Fast forward 45 minutes.Tech guy tells me that he will give me one option, and i have only a few minutes to decide.They will give me a store credit for $369, to use towards anything in the store, but i have to go for it right now.He walked away to let me think about it.

I tell him that i'm gonna buy a $229 Radeon 9000, and a $170 80 gig hard drive, and i will gladly pay the difference.....he says "noway,dude....its gotta be on a videocard only....if you decide on a $229 card, thats all you get" I lost it again!!.....they are robbing me, with the intent to rape me.....

So in the end, my choices were : 1. Pay $369 for a $229 dollar card or 2. Buy a $530 Ti4600 without any hopes of future support or 3. Fork out the cash for a $650 Radeon 9700 and try to take comfort in knowing i had the best card on the market.

I chose 3.....I had to, it was to only logical choice to make at the time.....

Jenn, the customer support girl was nice, and she did try to help, but Paul, the tech guy, was a real jerk.He was obnoxious.a small guy trying to bully me around.


what do you guys think?

haha im from thunder bay also.....in westfort

 

[DDR-PIII]

i just read your story and i know that tech guy paul hes a eal @$$ grrr..... but i havent had to much trouble with future shop... since there arent many places ti buy PC parts here

 

[Garrett_thief2]

Hey DDR! Good to see a fellow overclocker from T-Bay

I live up in PA, just off Red River

check out www.ncil.com They are on memorial ave.,just behind Fanny's Fabrics.Decent prices, and not bad to deal with.

I am only going to deal with Dan and Darcy at soft sell from now on.....they are great to deal with, and they don't mind negotiating on prices a bit.....

 

[DDR-PIII]

sweet thx for the link

 

[AaronP]

I believe a few swear words are in order in this case. Future shop ripped you off, so you have to either do something legally, OR boycott them with protest or something.

 

[Garrett_thief2]

My lawyer is going to deal with them......

 

[OC Noob]

Geez, what kind of store is this?

Sounds like they bend over backwards for the people who abuse thier policies and bend over the innocent customers.

Those no questions asked replacement warrenties are just bad policy imo. Send it out to be repaired, okay, but replacement on the spot with an equal or better product is just begging for @-holes to come in and abuse the policy...usually at the expense of honest customers.

 

[Cisco Kid]

for those of you who do not know futureshop was bought out by Best Buy here in Canada

I have never had a problem with them and I have spent alot their , like nearing the 10K figure on electronicas stuff.........

unfortunately thier exchange policy gets abused by those who know how to work it

cisco kid

 

[Garrett_thief2]

Not to drag up an old topic.....but i just stumbled across this thread and figured i'd update it.

I sent the Manager about 50 links to various boards where i had posted the story......he wasn't happy. He asked me what it would take for me to settle down...

The Future Shop agreed to pay me the difference between the price of the Visiontek Ti4600 and the Radeon 9700.......which ended up being $180, plus i got a free 3 year over the counter replacement.Used it once already, no hassle.

So in the end i got a 9700 for $470, including the 3 year warranty.

Still wasn't worth the hassle......but i'm satisfied.

Moral of the story: If you get screwed....*****....very loud.



*edited the price i actually paid....my math was way off*

 

[OC Noob]

Glad to see you finally worked that out.

So what is the Canadian/US conversion rate?

 

[Garrett_thief2]

Roughly $300 US....but remember, this was early October....9700's have since gone down in price a bit.....

*edited for my math mistake*

 

[Scant7]

I just read your story for the first time, wow that Paul guy seems like a jerk. I had an encounter similar to that, at CompUSA, which I will never go back to. I bought a Hercules Fortissimo 3, installed it, I recieved non stop static from my speakers, so my guess was that the card was diffective.

Back up a little bit, I had trouble at CompUSA in the past, returning a video card a long time ago. When I bought the Fortissimo 3, I asked them about the return policy, because I knew they charged a 15% restock fee, for returns. The guy distinctively told me, that if the card was defective, that the 15% restock fee would be waved.

So, back at my house, I took the soundcard out, looked at it, and discovered 2 of the black pins (round things that stick out of the soundcard) were bent, not fully connected to the soundcard, and ready to fall off. It was as if someone had stepped on the box. I took it back, and saw the same guy I had talked to about returning it. I told him how it didn't work, and he said that I could take it back, and I said alright lets do that, and then he added, 'oh yeah, you will be charged a 15% restock fee.'

I told him that he clearly told him earlier, that he told me if the card was DEFECTIVE, I wouldn't have to pay a 15% restock fee taking it back. He said 'No, I never said that' and he showed me the back of the receipt where it says a 15% restock fee applies to all returns. What BS.

I didn't want the Hercules, I was going to get the Turtle Beach, and told him, alright, then I will exchange it for the Turtle Beach and pay the difference. He said ok, and that I would still have to pay the 15% restock fee. I said WHAT? and he was going to make me pay about $9 to get a sound card that costed more money. I said, 'screw this, let me talk to your manager' I talked to the manager and after arguing a while, he finally let me take it back, without paying a 15% restock fee, and I told them I would never go there again.

The next day I looked in the paper, and on the back of the front page, was an article about how much the return policy at compusa sucks. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought so. It is a pitty that our compusa has a lowsy manager and workers, I really like their products.

 

[snyper1982]

i know someone who bought a broken audigy off ebay for like 20 bucks, went to compusa and bought and audigy, stuck the broken one in, and took it back, he paid the restocking fee though.

 

[Garrett_thief2]

Thats just wrong........