The Great Best Buy Gift Card Scam, Part II

This article was originally published on March 22nd, 2007 at americanchronicle.com

A few days back I wrote an article on something that happened to me on my birthday with Best Buy and a gift card I received. I have never received so much response to an article. When I first sat down to write about my experience, it was not my intention to become a type of Don Quixote. I am now under the delusion that maybe something I’m doing will actually help to make the world a little better, a little nicer, a little more chivalrous. It seems that some people don’t care and others wish to have their concerns addressed but don’t know where to turn. The latter get very angry and frustrated. I thought I could use this space to share some of the response I got to my story.
One gentleman wrote me an email calling my concerns ridiculous. He asked me what right I had to expect cash for my gift card and what I felt should be the refund limit on the card. He then informed me that there are far more grievous problems with gift cards such as expiration dates and balance reduction over time so my complaint was extremely foolish. My verbatim reply is below:
Sir,
Thank you for responding to my article. Feedback is always welcome. You ask a poignant question that I think deserves an answer. What right did I have to expect a cash return on my gift card? And interesting query. Upon reflection, I realize I wasn't thinking about my rights at the time I inquired about the change. I also really didn't think about my rights when I tried to get my money back for the merchandise. I wasn't even really thinking about my rights when I wrote this story in the first place. I was simply relating an episode in my life as honestly and objectively (albeit from my point of view) as I could and unveiling it as it happened. I didn't think I had claimed that I had a right to expect a cash return on my gift card, but I guess my actions could be taken as an indication that I felt I had a right to expect cash. I suppose we have the right to have expectations no matter what those expectations are. Just because we have expectations does not necessarily mean they will come to pass. As it was, at the time of the incident, I thought my wife had paid for the gift card with cash because that is her usual modus operandi. My expectations certainly were not met. In the long run, I guess Best Buy had the right to refute my expectations and they exercised that right just as I exercised my right to ask for what I felt I was due. As explained in the story, when it was explained that they had to put the money back to her credit card I accepted that and took the necessary steps to make sure that happened. I guess what I was really expecting was some good customer service, someone to listen to me and take care of my needs. I've always been taught that the customer is always right and to strive to make sure he's happy. I think that doesn't apply anymore in today's world. I have gotten a lot of feedback since this article has come out and I now realize that Best Buy simply does not care about the customer. As for how much I think the cash limit return on the card should be, 100% sounds good to me. The important thing should be that the customer has a good experience and you have won a customer for life. I have a story that was related to me about that too. Thank you also for the information about the cards losing their value and expiring. I had no idea that was the case. Yes, that certainly would have been a shame if I had waited, or lost the card and then found it again only to find that it had expired. That would certainly be a situation much worse than the one I experienced. You ask why companies should issue a card at all? Perhaps they shouldn't. I know I prefer cash and perhaps many people do but don't say so just to be polite. But, my opinion aside, the company should issue cards as a courtesy to the customer and in hopes of gaining new customers. They should not impose draconian rules upon those cards which would only serve to anger a potential customer, especially in this day and age when everyone has a platform they can climb upon to tell their story. I am sorry you feel my complaint was foolish, perhaps I am just a fool for questioning the rules. Perhaps from now on when I feel I am getting taken advantage of I should just keep my mouth shut. More likely I will continue to relate episodes of my life to anyone who is willing to read them. Thank you again for your interest.
Another gentleman told me to grow up, reminded me that retail workers make little money, and called me petty, a slovenly middle aged pseudo elitist and a schmuck. I guess he feels that because retail workers don’t make much money they are incapable of providing excellent customer service. I didn’t mean to imply in my article that I found fault with the employees of Best Buy. On the contrary, I think they were just being good little soldiers and obeying the orders of their superiors. I blame Best Buy’s policy makers, the ones at the top. As for being petty, according to a Fox News report dated Dec. 18th, 2006, Best Buy reported $43 million in gains from unused gift cards. I wish I had $43 million, then maybe I wouldn’t be so slovenly and could in fact be a real elitist. And talk about petty, Best Buy couldn’t dip into that $43 million and give me $8.49 change? If that’s not petty I don’t know what is.
Yet another gentleman informed me of a time when he had received a $25 gift card from Best Buy and they had refused to give him around $2.00 in change that he had coming to him. This was some time back and he has refused to step foot inside a Best Buy store since. He then went on to tell me a story about a gift card he had received from a small pet store that sold tropical fish. Since he keeps tropical fish and they’re hard to wrap, he felt that was a good application of a gift card. He went to the store and bought a couple of fish, but not enough to cover the entire amount on the card. The owner of the store asked him if he wanted the balance on the gift card or if he’d prefer it in cash. He told me the amount wasn’t much, around $10, but he took the cash. He continues to use that store for all his tropical fish needs even though they may sometimes charge more than a big chain pet store for certain supplies.
There were a few people who realized this article was more than just about the money, that it was about customer service. They related to me their own stories of poor to no customer service at Best Buy. One woman informed me that she had bought a new laptop computer from them for $900 with the new Windows Vista operating system installed on it. She took it home and discovered that it wouldn’t work with the software she used to conduct her business. This made the computer useless to her. She took it back to the store to ask if she could get the operating system replaced with one that would work and they told they could do that for a rather large fee. She then asked if she could return the unit seeing as how it was no good to her and get her money back and they told her they could do that for a $250 restocking fee. That's $250 they wanted to take from her without giving her anything in return. This was within a couple of days of her buying the unit. Angry and frustrated and finding no satisfaction with the so called customer service at Best Buy, she left the store with the merchandise she could not use and swore to never shop at Best Buy again.
One gentleman informed me of a situation he had with a PDA he bought at Best Buy. He told me that while it was in warranty the screen went bad and was somehow out of sync. He had bought the extended warranty. He took it back and they told him it would take them 45 days to repair it. He informed them that he used the unit every day and asked if they could exchange it for him. They informed him that wasn’t their policy. He asked if they could give him a loner for the 45 days that they would have it and they told him that wasn’t their policy. He finally gave in and let them take the unit. When it came back 30 days later he went to pick it up (surprised that it had arrived early) and found that it was not fixed. He asked if they had checked the screen and they said they had, then he showed them that it was still bad. They then told him it would take another 45 days for it to be fixed. He told them no, that he wanted an exchange. They said they could do it now but that his model was obsolete and he’d have to pay more for the upgrade. He wouldn’t take the deal as he liked the model he had and did not wish to spend more money. He finally gave up and walked out of the store with the defective unit, never to return.
Yet another gentleman bought a mini disc player as an open item from a Best Buy store. He was told it was working. When he got it home he found it was not. He tried to return the item to get his money back but they would not allow it. It wasn’t their policy. He is yet another customer Best Buy has lost.
I could go on, but why bother. Best Buy’s customer service policy seems to be no customer service. Whatever happened to “Satisfaction or your money back.”? Whatever happened to “The customer is always right.”? There is a nice story that was related to me to show us all that even in this day and age that there are still places where good customer service does exist.
A gentleman told me that he was in an Oberweis Ice Cream store one morning to pick up an ice cream cake. The price of the cake was $34. He was paying with a credit card. The card reader was having problems communicating with the authorization center. He offered to pay with another credit card, but the cashier told him it wasn’t the card that was the problem, it was the communication between the store and the authorization center. He waited for twenty to thirty minutes for the problem to resolve itself. Finally, the cashier told him to just take the cake for free. He was flabbergasted. It was a fairly expensive cake. He offered to come back and pay later. The cashier told him no, that she was the manager and it was her right to use her discretion to give him the cake. Now there’s a company who knows what customer service is all about. They realize that with good customer service they will gain a customer for life. They understand that the sacrifice of a relatively small amount now will pay big dividends in the future. That man is likely to go to Oberweis from now on for all his dairy needs.
I’ve had a lot of interesting conversations due to the last article. I’ve discussed everything from how a younger generation has grown up not knowing what good customer service is and so they don’t expect it to how people have become sheep and just accept things the way they are and do as they are told without question. I think that sometimes we as consumers don’t realize just how much power we have. If we don’t like how we are treated at a store, we shouldn’t shop there. It’s that simple. If we want excellent customer service, we must demand it. If one has a bad experience in a store, it is appropriate to tell as many other people about it as possible, otherwise no one else will know or care. Similarly, it is also important to let people know about the good experiences you have and recommend those stores that provide good customer service. This is how we can make the merchants hear us and listen to our needs. The same can be said in other areas of our lives. As a people Americans seem to just accept political corruption, poor representation and even outright criminal activities. This will continue until we demand change and stop putting politicians in office from parties we know are corrupt. We as a people, as a community and as a nation have the power to change the environments in which we do business through the positive action of refusing to do business with those that mistreat us. It is time to start practicing this idea.

The Great Best Buy Gift Card Scam

This article was originally posted on March 19th, 2007 at americanchronicle.com

It was my birthday a couple of days ago. I’ve gotten well past the point where I make a big deal out of it. Still, it is nice that others recognize the day. It is pleasant that someone else lets you know that they are happy you were born. It’s also nice to get presents. So, it was my birthday and my wife got me a couple of presents, which was nice. She got me single cup coffee maker that brews coffee right into a travel cup, so I can kind of grab and go. She also got me a $100 Best Buy gift card, and that is where my adventure begins.
I used to love Best Buy. I went there often to buy CDs and other products because they had the best deals. They also had a tendency to have the largest selection. Since the advent of the Internet as a shopping venue, however, I find that Best Buy no longer has the best deals. I also don’t like having to deal with the crowds in there at Christmas time. The nearest Best Buy store to me is also quite a bit further away than other big box stores I could go to. But all that didn’t really matter today because I had a $100 gift card and I was going to go spend it on something I wanted, something fun. I was actually going to go shopping for myself. I got in my car and headed to Best Buy.
I arrived at Best Buy and grabbed a little hand held shopping basket. I wondered what there was that I would want for less than $100. I saw some digital cameras, but any that I wanted were more than $100. Besides, I already have a digital camera. I saw some digital camcorders, but they started at well over $200 and I don’t have the extra money to spend on something so frivolous at this moment. I saw a nice pair of binoculars for about seventy five dollars which I thought about because my telescope broke a while back, but I took a pass on it. I walked around the computer section for a while, trying to get a feel for the newest in that technology, but nothing caught my eye and there were certainly no deals that jumped out at me. I settled on the old stand by, CDs and movies. I went down the aisles looking at the Rock CDs, as those were what I was interested in. I picked out about five CDs, including Death Cab for Cutie, The Killers, a couple of old CDs from the Cure that I had never replaced from when my house burned down, and some other CD that I can’t remember. I then went to the movie section to look for something that might interest me. I found a history documentary on Hitler and the occult and some other movie. I wanted to get as close to a hundred dollars as possible. When I had picked out what I felt was enough I proceeded to the cash register.
I waited patiently in line as the cashier finished with the customer in front of me. I said hi to the cashier and asked her how she was doing as I like to do when in that situation. She told me she was fine and we continued to make small talk as she rang up my merchandise. The total of my purchase was $91.51. I felt OK with that and handed the cashier my gift card. I told her I wanted the remaining balance in cash. She told me she couldn’t do that. I asked her why not and she informed me that they couldn’t give cash back for a gift card. I insisted that someone had given her cash for that card and that I should be able to recover the cash I wasn’t spending. The manager quickly became involved. She told me that they could not give change for a gift card unless it was less than five dollars. She told me that if I had the receipt from the gift card that I could get the change from it. Can you imagine? Does anyone give someone a gift card and then give them the receipt to? How ridiculous does that sound? I changed tactics and told her I didn’t get up that way very often and did not want to return to her store to spend what was left on the card. She told me that I could go back now and spend the remaining money. Now my ire was raised. I saw their game. People get these gift cards and then are forced to spend almost the entire amount at the store, and I’m sure that the store hopes the consumer will spend more than what’s on the card. I could feel my face getting red. I grabbed my merchandise and walked out the store.
I was a few steps out the door when an idea hit me. If they weren’t going to give me the $8.49 change for the card, which should not have been that unreasonable a request, then I wasn’t going to give them any money at all. I turned around and went back in. I didn’t need the junk I had bought. Besides, I could probably get it cheaper somewhere else. I would return it and get my money back.
I went to the return counter and told them I wanted to return everything I had just bought. I told them I wanted cash for the merchandise. They would not give it to me. They would only put them money back on the gift card. Again, a manager got involved. This manager had a badge that told me he was a “hiring manager”, whatever that meant. I told him what was happening and that I refused to spend any of my money at his store. He told me that he would have liked to have given me cash for change but that Best Buy had a contract with American Express and that the agreement stated that they would not give change for more than five dollars. I told him I didn’t care about his excuses and that I wanted the money back for the card. He told me I needed the receipt, that if it was bought with a credit card that money would be returned to the card, if it was bought with a check then a check would be sent to me, if it was bought with cash than I would receive cash. The other manager, who had come over to observe the proceedings, said she had told me the same thing. I explained to her that she hadn’t, that she didn’t say anything about a contract with American Express. She told me that she had told me about not being able to return money without the receipt. The point was moot. I was going to have to get the receipt from my wife, who had been thoughtful enough to buy me this gift card which was now turning into more problems than it was worth. This certainly wasn’t the best customer service I had ever experienced.
I really doubt that these people cared about what was going on here. I can’t help but believe that those workers simply saw me as some butt hole out to give them a hard time. I doubt very much that they could see this from my point of view. I figured it this way, that someone had given them money to buy the gift card and had given me the gift card to use like money at their store. They were going to get their $100 cash for the card no matter what, so they should be able to give me the change. If what I was told by the “hiring manager” is true, then American Express really should have no business telling Best Buy how to best serve their customers. Personally, if it were me, I’d find someone else to handle the gift cards or do it myself if some corporation like American Express was putting such stupid restrictions on my customer service. If I had only wanted to spend ten dollars at their store it seems to me that it would be ten dollars more than they would have had otherwise. What harm would it do Best Buy to give change for a gift card no matter how much or how little one spends when using it? It seems to me that too many people probably just accept these restrictions, don’t question them, and so like sheep we just spend the money at that store even when we can’t find anything we really need or want. We really have become materialistic zombies wondering about the aisles of the big box stores buying junk to try to fulfill our empty lives. I found myself, as I traveled home now light all that merchandise but still in possession of the $100 gift card, thinking that I really didn’t need the stuff I had bought and that the money could be better spent elsewhere. I found myself thinking that all I was doing was acquiring meaningless junk anyway. Certainly there was more to life than acquiring material goods. I began to wonder if this episode was going to bring me some kind of spiritual epiphany.
I got home and fortunately my wife had the receipt for the gift card. If she had thrown it away I guess I would have been stuck with the card and I would have been forced to spend the money at Best Buy. It seems to me that that policy is also a little unfair. I took my son with me when I returned to Best Buy. I gave the manager the card and the receipt. He then asked me if I had the credit card which had purchased the gift card. I told him no, that it had been a gift. My son noted “Hence the name gift card.” Quite an astute observation from a thirteen year old, even if it was beyond obvious. I told him he had said all I would need was the receipt and that had he told me I needed the card I would have brought it. I ended up having to call my wife to get the credit card number. I then explained to the “hiring manager” that I knew he didn’t care, but someone higher up at Best Buy should. I explained that they’d had $91.51 in their pocket and that money had been lost to them simply because they refused to give me $8.49 change. Not only that, I told him, but I had given Best Buy gift cards as gifts in the past and I would no longer do that. In addition, my wife, who also thought the policy of not giving back change was silly, would never again buy a Best Buy gift card. I also told him that I would write about this episode and people would read about it. And so I have. In the end, the money was put back on my wife’s credit card and she gave me $100 dollars cash I can spend anywhere. I don’t know where I’m going to spend it, maybe I’ll hunt down some deals on the Internet, maybe I’ll take my family out to dinner. I’m sure I’ll make good use of it. As for a spiritual epiphany, it never happened, at least not yet. But I do feel better now that the episode is over and I've kept my promise to write about it. In fact, I feel strangely more empowered with $100 cash in my pocket than I did with flaccid piece of plastic good at only one store in my wallet.