"Over my return limit" at Best Buy, what to do?
 

Hi everyone,

I took back some DVDs I got back as gifts today for exchange at best buy (without receipt but bought by friends at best buy) and they said I was "over my limit" at 3. I did this once last year around January I think, and then once yesterday (because I forgot to bring some, I came back today); they told me you can do this 3 times per year; I'm kind of stuck, do you know if this is cleared at the calendar year, or 365 since the first time year? Otherwise I may wait until next week when the new year begins. I don't know what to do with all these duplicates I got for Christmas. Thanks

Wow, that's weird that they put a limit. I really have no idea what to tell you.

You can always email me a list of what you want to get rid of. I may be interested. :)

I don't think its calendar year, because I had the same thing happen to me a couple years ago in June and when I tried again the following January, they told me I was at my limit. And to top it off, the jackass security guy (the one in the yellow shirt at the door) didn't put a tag on my return, so they had to go through back over the security tapes to prove I walked into the store with the item.

I had that problem last year. Funny thing was, I had NEVER returned anything there before! It was a brand new driver's license cuz I had just moved to another state. I called and complained about it, cuz it was ridiculous. But they didn't care. They believe the computer is never wrong...

You could always exchange them for different DVD's at Suncoast. It is basically the same chain anyway, and they don't even ask for your drivers license...

Try Wal-Mart, maybe. They take anything back.

Got a friend?

How is that wierd? They put a limit on non-receipt returns for a reason. Good for them!

I think it's pretty obvious what to tell him.


START KEEPING YOUR RECEIPTS.

apply for a california ID. It is just like a drivers license however it has a different number than a drivers license.

new 3 limit to use :)

Is the limit 3 different visits or 3 different items? My brother bought me a bunch of Bond DVDs at BB that I already have and, of course, he threw out the receipt. It's 4 DVDs that I need to return and I was wondering if BB will allow me to return them all at the same time. Thanks.

The limit is 3 different visits. You can bring as much as you want per visit if you desire. I didn't know about this limit, because if I did, I would have waited to bring back everything today instead of bringing back some yesterday and my forgotten items today. I may just ask a friend to do it for me, I was just surprised.

What I still want to know is what this "year" limit constitutes exactly in terms of time frame, or if different stores have different limits or quotas, like Best Buy vs Circuit City. I've heard people not having problems with circuit city, but I'm not sure.

Thanks for the quick reply, much appreciated.:)

FYI, I had an employee tell the woman in front of me who was trying to exchange Crazy Taxi GC that their price limit for non-reciept returns in $20. Now I don't know if that is $20 per item or $20 total, thats just what she said.

Is it 3 returns total or 3 returns without a receipt?

3 returns without a receipt

In the United States, a "year" is 12 months long. Since people have already stated in this forum that they don't use a "calendar" year, they must use a "dictionary" year... which is 12 months.

If you go to Best Buy 3 times on Jan 15 to return without receipt, you will be eligible again on Jan 15 the following year.

The employee was wrong.... I returned two games to BB the other day without a receipt and got $100 credit total. The price limit for that particular game may have been $20 (I know I've seen it on sale a few times) but it doesn't apply to everything.

Posted this in another thread as well...

What happens if you don't have a drivers license?? How do they track you...can you not return?? (i.e. if you are not 16 or never got a license)

Then you go get a state issued ID card (which you can obtain at any age), or you don't make the return. :)

I had the same problem (being over my limit of 3) and decided to write the company to protest.

I actually admitted that the returned item was without the receipt (hey, I even had the Best Buy price sticker still attached!). But their policy is no return without a receipt (if you are over your 3 visit limit).

So I wrote to the company to explain that I have been a big regular customer. In fact, I just bought a $600 digital camera the week before. They were courteous enough to answer. But the only issue they addressed was that I did not have my receipt. So I wrote them back and stressed that I am a big purchaser at their stores and if they did not value my business, I would take it elsewhere.

You can guess the response from Best Buy--NONE. Since they apparently had no comeback from my demand, they chose not even to respond. So much for satisfying the customer! :confused:

They are not bothered over losing customers, regardless of how much they purchase. One silly customer isn't going to break the bank (no need to think about the long term affects of losing customer after customer after customer).

They lost my business over a $69 gameboy advance, when I got it the clip that holds the battery door on it was cracked and it wouldn't stay on too well... so I just wanted to exchange it for another one... Now, I could not locate the receipt but since best buy DOES scan the serial number at checkout I figured they could look it up (if they even cared, it was just an even exchange). But no, not only did they claim there was no way to lookup by serial number but there was no way they would exchange it without the receipt. The manager told me if I didn't like it I didn't have to shop there anymore, so I returned later that day with anything returnable that I had the receipt for ($800 worth of stuff, then went across the street to circuit city to repurchase it), and have not returned to best buy since and refuse to ever do so again...
But like I said, best buy could care less.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe what they scan is not a serial number but the UPC (Universal Product Code or somesuch), which is a code printed on every item and is identical on all instances of a product. If this is the case (as I'm pretty sure it is) then you were in the wrong and you walked out on Best Buy for sticking to a policy that protects them from people trying to rip them off and you should have kept your receipt.

Unfortunately there are people out there who do try and rip off large retail stores like Best Buy which is why they even have to consider having such a policy in the first place. For an unwrapped item that they stock I'd think it'd be a wash either way, but there are administrative costs associated with returning and reshelving those items, so it's logical that they'd want to limit the number of returns from people who might not have bought the item there in the first place.

It sucks, but it's one of the many ways in which the many end up paying for the sins of the few. Demonizing Best Buy in particular for this practice isn't particularly fair. When I consider that their new release DVD's often have some of the lowest prices, even compared to major online retailers, they're not that bad. They also have some of the most reasonably priced CD's outside of a used CD store that I've found in my area, especially compared to major rip off centers like Tower, Whorehouse, and Sam Greedy.

G

Actually, in the case on the GameBoy advance anyway they really do scan the serial number (through the window in the back of the box, and the serial number gets printed on the receipt). Best Buy admitted the serial number was scanned, but they had no way of looking up by the serial number.
Also, there is a 800 number that the merchant can call from Nintendo and punch in the serial number and it will tell them what retail outlet the product was sold to.
I was told they knew about that but that "they still need the receipt". And yes, the receipt should have been kept... But it was actually purchased for me by my wife while I was in the hospital to give me something to do and with everything going on I suppose keeping track of the receipt wasn't #1 on her mind.

Should we have kept the receipt on the item? yes
Should the store have been able to search by the serial number which got entered in to the system? yes
Should the store have been willing to call the Nintendo 800 number that they knew about and verify it was purchased there and do the exchange anyway? Yes
Should they have done the exchange on such a cheap item simply to keep the customer happy? I think they should have, and it would have made the most sense.
Should they tell the customer if they don't like the fact that they are stuck with a defective product that they should never shop at the store again? no.

So no, i'm not going to scream that best buy is a spawn of pure evil that should die. I am going to say I don't like how I was treated, I don't like that I was made to feel like a criminal because I didn't have the receipt, and I don't like the fact that they made no effort to make the customer happy or make the situation right.

I prefer to shop at places that I have been treated better in, and that take some time to try and make the customer happy.
If that means I have to pay more for the products and services, that's fine. Obviously I see there is a added value in the slightly higher cost.

P.S. This thread is about being "over your return limit", I guess this return limit thing didn't apply to me since I have never attempted to return a product to best buy without a receipt before that time.

The 3 rule is w/o a receipt. I was flagged last year b/c I returned a bunch of games. No biggie. I usually take stuff back from family and friends that I get as gifts. I don't know if it came from BB, but they are usually the easiest and the least amount of hassle.