Testimonial #58: Don't buy open item!! (Especially video cards)

On the way home from a friend's house I decided to check out the nearby Best Buy in San Diego looking for a video card as a present for my cousin. I walk into the computer department and begin browsing through their selection looking to spend no more than $200.00. Something catches my eye, an ATI Radeon 9600 PRO for $149.99. There's only one catch, it was open boxed. So i stand in the aisle examining the box and the little blue and yellow sticker and notice that was complete.

Not one to pass up a good deal, I quickly take the box to the counter and have them ring it up. I walk out the store feeling pretty good with myself about catching this great deal, until I get home to try out the open boxed item.

First thing I did was take the price tag off the box so that my cousin doesn't know how much I spent. Next I cut through the "Inspected by Best Buy" tape covering the opening. I pull out the card and inspect it to make sure there is no damage. It looked to be ok and I begin to look through the box for the accessories: s-video cable, and dvi converter that were supposed to come with it. Well, after about 2 mins of making sure that I hadn't misplaced them on accident, I come to the conclusion that some genius at the customer service desk didn't check if they were there or not and just assumed that it was "complete".

So the next day, I go to the nearest Best Buy and try to explain the situation and get a new card. She explains to me that she has to check it to make sure it works. So she takes the card in back and after 10 minutes, she comes back with a "computer technician" and says that they can't take it back. I ask them why, and she explains to me that since i had take the price tag off, there was no way for her to know if they were in fact missing or not. She tells me that I would have to take it up with the store that I had purchased it at.

I drive 15 miles to the other Best Buy and explain the situation again. They tell me the same thing but since it was at their store, I could get a new one and pay the difference. Knowing that I could get the card online for about 15 bucks cheaper online, I argue and state that the only reason I bought the card was because of the price is because I had to wait for the card to come in the mail when I needed it the next day. The supervisor comes out, and I explain my situation again. He tells me the same thing. I try to argue some more but he becomes irritated and says I can either I can leave or pay the difference for a new one.

So like a moron, I take the new card and pay the difference. I pay and leave the store and begin to drive home. I am pretty pissed about the ordeal and begin thinking. Why should I spend about 65 dollars more when I can get the same thing online? At this point I don't care about the delay it would cause because I would be saving a lot of money. I head straight to the closest Best Buy and demand my money back. Luckily, I get a different cleark that was cool and stated that since it was still sealed they would take it back with no problems.

Later, I find out that the dumb clerk that origanally rang me up was SUPPOSED to open the box before she sold it to me to make sure this exact thing would not happen, unfortuately she didn't and it cost me a lot of time. LESSON: DO NOT BUY ANYTHING "OPEN ITEM".


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