johnson_design

Well I need to return Van Wilder that i just got. Wife and I both bought it unknowingly. Do I have to return the free copy of Weekend at Bernies as well. Part of me yes and part no. Any ideas?

davejt1

Personally, I'd say "yes."

If Iwere going to return either Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction, or both, I'd think I would have to return the free From Dusk til Dawn disc (since the free disc was contingent upon buying both discs).

I'm thinking that the BB CSR, if they know what they're doing, is going to ask for it anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't have some sort of team meeting or memo to discuss the possibility of such an occurrence.

huzefa

Yes, you have to return it. It will show on the receipt that you got a free copy of Van Wilder. But one of you guys bought the dvd without getting a copy of Bernie's, then return it using that receipt.

explorer2000

I agree with Huzefa. Just return the one with the receipt that doesn't have the free copy of Weekend At Burnies.

Avenash

No, you do not have to return it. Because it was free.

I used to work for Target Guest Services (ugh, I know!) (just quit a few weeks ago) and once in a while you'd have someone who used a coupon or got a freebie (i.e. - free 2 liters were available with coolers) and we were instructed not to include freebies and promotions in the return.

The reason being, if it's a coupon, someone has paid for the item (often the manufacturer, sometimes the store) and so as far as the store is concerned they've gotten their money for the items in question. It's been covered. And a full refund is the only way to do it (unless you want to find the coupon, read the manufacturer's coupon address, try and contact them and ask if they want their fifty five cents back...though I bet they'd say no)

I dunno how close Best Buy's thinking is on this, but I've been led to believe that this is the thinking behind most grocery and department stores.

I say keep it.

vdadlani219

It wasn't free (BTW, nothing is free). You receive it when you purchase it Van Wilder. Since you are returning Van Wilder, and in a sense, revoking the deal, you should return all items involved with that deal.

But then again, do whatever you want. You have the DVDs to dispose of at your pleasure.

Cheddarmuff

Do whatever you think is right....sounds like you would feel guilty if you don't return Bernies.. otherwise you wouldn't be asking for approval.

Whatever gets you through the day....This is only a dvd....what do you do when it is something bigger?? (I sound like my parents )

5th_Wheel

Sounds like something my 22 year old would say.

dvd-fanman

If it is listed on a receipt as a package deal with Bernie on there they will not accept the return without it.

I know from working at The Disney Store before I moved on and got a better paying job with the company, on our pre-sale vouchers it clearly stated that if you returned the item with a "FREE GIFT" any and all "FREE GIFTS" must be returned if you returned the pre-ordered item. If someone tried to return it without the free lithographs or whatever we offered with it when the receipt showed that it was a pre-order pickup they were refused and told that we'd be happy to return it for them when they returned with all the items that they received.

If they bought VHS and meant to buy DVD or received a defective item, we'd do the upgrade by returning the VHS and then purchasing the DVD and get them to pay the difference, or do the exchange, and they were indeed able to keep the gift.

johnson_design

Well I went to return my movies and I didn't have to return Bernies. It was on the receipt as $0.00 and the CSR didn't seem to care. Yeah, Free movie.

Avenash

Thanks for the update.

RevLiver

I had ordered We Were Soldiers from bestbuy.com using the $10 digital coupon I got for buying LOTR. The disc arrived yesterday, but before I even opened the package I could hear it rattling around inside. I opened it and sure enough it was off the hub and all scratched up. Fortunately, two weeks ago Best Buy just opened a store about 3 miles away from me. So I took it there to do an exchange.

I go in, the door guard stops me when my DVD sets off the alarms. He swipes it over the sensor deactivator and marks it with a sticker that it's being returned. I go to the DVD section, pick up a new copy of the movie, shake it to make sure it's not loose and head to Customer Service to do the exchange.

After having to wait 20 minutes in line behind a couple who were practically making out in front of me I finally get up to the service desk. The girl has never done a return/exchange with an item purchased online before. She enters the order# info from my packing slip and the computer brings up my order. However, there is no option to do an exchange, just a return. She hits the button and my return is processed. I get $11.19 (19.99 + tax - $10 digital coupon) credited to my Discover card. Then she tries to figure out how to ring up a new copy of the DVD but at 11.19 not 14.99 + tax. She goes and gets an assistant manager of some sort. He says I'll have to either buy the new one at 14.99 or re-order it online because they don't pricematch their online store. I say, "No, I'm just going to do an even exchange, no money will be changing hands." He goes off and talks to who I guess is the store manager.

After a few more minutes, he comes back and hands me the new DVD, which they've made me open to make sure it's not scratched either (something about the policy is when exchanging scratched DVDs from online they have to check the new one too). He tells me to just take it. I have a sort of puzzled look on my face, thinking, but you haven't charged me for it. I was more than willing to pay $11.19 for it, since that's the amount they credited back to me. But they just send me on my way. Now, of course, they didn't swipe it, so I know it's going to set off the alarms again when I leave. In fact, I stop and tell the door guard this will happen, he takes it from me, it sets the alarms off and the store manager yells over to just let me have it. Door guard swipes it, I leave.

So, after 40 minutes I've managed to exchange my scratched DVD for a new one and in the process got it for free.

Ethical? Maybe. They insisted I take it. Apparently they have no way of exchanging items bought from online for the same exact item in the store. The way I look at it, it should not have taken 40 minutes to do a simple exchange, so the free DVD was my compensation.

Am I recommending you scratch your DVDs from bestbuy.com and exchange them in store to attempt to get them for free? No. Hopefully more experienced stores would know how to handle the situation better.

Avenash

As I understand it, they have to open it because copyright law says that open DVDs can only be exchanged for another open DVD of the same exact title (what "same exact" means is a little sketchy, and I'm betting depends on the store (I mean as far as WS and SE dvds go...). (This is to prevent "rental" scams.)

MacKenzieIII

First lets point out that your and my ethics are probably not the same. So in the end, whatever makes you sleep better at night is what you should do. Because "Weekend at Bernies" is definatly not worth even 5min lack of sleep IMHO.

But personaly if I wanted to return it I would just return that is all I would return. I think bringing the 2nd DVD is likely to confuse the poor Best Buy CSR people and make it so you spend even longer waiting for something that really isn't a big deal either way.

broadwayblue

i think they make you open it because a lot of people would scratch the disc in order to get a replacement and then return that one for store credit as it was still sealed. this stops that scam cold.

POWERBOMB

Depends on the customer service person you get (obviously, you got one that gave you the result you were looking for).

However, the guidelines are that all items including any "free" ones are to be returned.

RevLiver

Makes sense to me.

Just logged into my BestBuy.com account to discover that in addition to winding up with the DVD for free, they gave me the $10 digital coupon back when they processed my "return". Works out even better for me.