Box of Beans ... from Best Buy
 

March 4, 2008
'I got a box of beans instead of a hard drive!’

Question: My husband and I bought a $300 hard drive from Best Buy, but when we opened the box, it was empty except for three bags of dried beans! We immediately called Best Buy, but the manager said the store wasn’t responsible and I should call the manufacturer. When I did, the manufacturer pointed blame back at Best Buy. Finally, I called Best Buy’s corporate office; the customer service manager said there was nothing he could do. Ugh! Can you help? - Maja Chiesi, New York City

Answer: A box of beans, huh? Sounds like a booby prize from Let’s Make a Deal - only less funny, since you’re out $300. You’ll probably never know what happened here; perhaps an employee stole the hard drive or maybe someone else bought it, kept it, returned the box and got his money back. Best Buy likely took a hard line because it had no way of knowing if you were the responsible party. Not that that excuses the retailer’s behavior: As an innocent victim and a good customer, you shouldn’t have been left holding the beans, so to speak.

In a rare case like this or the more common scenario of realizing an item is defective or is missing parts, you want to deal with the store, not the manufacturer. (Legally, you entered into an implicit contract with Best Buy that it would sell you a functioning hard drive.) You were right to start with the manager, then move up to a customer service supervisor. In such interactions, it’s crucial to be polite but firm: “I’m prepared to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and I may be forced to consider legal action.”

Next step: Send a written complaint by certified mail to the customer service manager, with copies to the CEO, the BBB and the state attorney general. Meanwhile, dispute the charge with your credit-card issuer, which will investigate. Generally, cards side with consumers.

Understandably frustrated, you came to us after being batted back and forth. When we called Best Buy on your behalf, it wouldn’t cop to responsibility or refund your money. But it did offer a $300 gift card to cover a new hard drive. (You can keep the beans.) Fingers crossed, this time you’ll get what you paid for.

Tip: Many merchants require electronics to be returned in the original packaging. So don’t chuck the box till you’re sure the item works.

Box of beans . . . a variation on the 1986 Miniscribe hard disk inventory scandal. The folks at Miniscribe boxed up a bunch of bricks to pad their inventory count.

Were they magic beans? Did he even attempt to plant them to find out?

You mean cook the beans and see if they ...

turn into a hard drive?

taste like beans?


Wha?????

Sounds about right.
With everything these days so computerized for tracking purposes.
Especially returns to electronics retailers such as BestBuy.
I’d think it would be in BestBuys best interest to provide this customer a new drive, rather than loose a possible customer over $300.00.

With all the return info keep on record, it’s not like they could make a habit out of repeatedly ripping off the store.

call up your local media they will deal with it if you cant find a resolution.

I remember I worked at a store a couple years back, we sold a swamp cooler to some lady. She came back a few hours later and said there was a broken 10 year old microwave in the box instead. Long story short, it turns out she was trying the same scam at some of our other locations, told her to enjoy her microwave.

That's weird... I bought a box of beans the other day, and all that was in the box was a hard drive.

same thing happens at target but with bags of sand

If the word goes out, it will be more than just the one customer they're loosing. Many will be more cautious who they give their money to.

I bought a Canon digi cam recently at Circuit City. I made a mistake 'cause I didn't shop for products and prices before hand. It happened that I found a better deal at Amazon on a better product too.

So 2 days later I returned the Canon unused. They charged me 15% restoking fee. I was unaware of that policy.

I read the small print, which said 'opened items'!

Fact of the matter is: The box was never sealed in the first place and the sales kid opened the box in the store before I even purchased the item.

They still charged me 15%. Accordingly I won't shop there anymore.

Nowadays, you get better deals online, just got to do some product search before hand.

Customer Service rules!