My Other Self

I just had to chime in here..

As with most larger cities, there's Wal-Mart's every 10 miles or less where I live. The second Supercenter to hit Northern California is really close to my house, so I do a lot of shopping there (the other closest Wal-Mart store is really rundown and the customer service blows).

I attempted to return a sealed copy of Mario Part 8 for the Wii last night, never opened.. looked like it just came off of the shelf. I bought it on eBay for a steal and really needed some groceries.. and I thought what the hell. Needless to say, they wouldn't take it back first because it was an electronic (the woman said ALL movies and video games - regardless of being sealed needed a valid receipt) and second because the total wasn't over $125?!?! I never heard of that before. Sure, times have changed quite a bit.. but apparently you need a minimum of $125 to even get store credit!!

Needless to say I was thrown off. So I attempted to do the same thing at the other Wal-Mart where, without fail, everytime I shop there I ALWAYS have issues.. and guess what? They took it back without even blinking!!

I don't know if the girl that helped me at the Supercenter was just being a bitch or what, but be cautious.. they actually had the nerve to call up 2 other managers to question me why I didn't have a receipt. I told them from the get-go it was a gift, so who knows.

420dgl

I got a couple of rejections from Borders lately. I think they're tightening up the return policy a bit because there business is near bankruptcy.

Also, most importantly, its store/manager specific. There are several stores near me and there is one that is easy as cake returning anything. Then there is one that makes you go through INS-like security check.

Anyway, this great loophole is almost over so enjoy while you can.

Sweet Baby James

I was afraid that this was going to happen. Did they just flat out refuse to do the return or did they look it up on the computer and claim that they didn't have the item in stock? Thanks.

420dgl

They flatly refused it and used the phrase "high item value" for a reason. They were very recent and highly popular items. CDs and DVDs they clearly sell on the sales rack and not on regular rack. I was surprised that both managers at 2 different stores used the same phrase. Maybe something came down from higher up?

But another store, it did not even matter. The cashier did not even look it up for in stock. She just rung "out" the items and manager hit the codes asap.

Christi P

Before Christmas, I did a few returns where they just took them back without asking questions. After Christmas, they started doing this anal retentive check on a separate computer - where they claimed that they hadn't sold a copy of 'Fantastic Four' in the past year so they couldn't accept the return.

There definitely seems to be a policy change.

neiname

I just brought back The Departed SD, Blood Diamond SD and From the Earth to the Moon and they took them back without issue. They did check the computer and only gave me $8.99 each for The Departed and Blood Diamond but I'm pretty sure I paid less than that for them. They flatly refused to take back Devil Wears Prada because there was some sticker residue left on the outer cardboard box and she claimed that Borders doesn't use those types of stickers, I didn't press the issue.

D917

I have a question. I got the 5 free BluRays by mail with the purchase of the PS3. I want to return them and get another PS3 controller. If I take take them to a BestBuy and they take them, what shows up on their computer screen when they scan the DVDs?

SFranke

Go to Amazon.com and click on Selling on Amazon on the left side of the page. Enter the UPCs of your discs in the box. If it returns the corresponding item, then you shouldn't have a problem returning.

In my experience, promo DVDs usually have the same UPC as the stores or a box stating the item is not for resale.

danicus007

I successfully returned Spider-Man 3 on Blu-Ray to Borders two days ago. They currently sell it for $43.99!!! But they only gave me $29.99 for it since that was the lowest sale price recently. For some reason they put movies on sale and don't advertise the sale or even put up a sign. I bought POTC:AWE with the credit for $35.99 and brought it back the next day and asked to return and re-buy with a 20% off coupon I found online. He said they don't normally do that with pre-bought items but he would help me out anyway. He rang the disk and it had gone on sale to $24.99. So instead of giving me back the diff. on a gift card, he just gave me cash back. So I returned Spidey 3 and got POTC and made $5 on the deal ;-)

I told him I was going to go back to the Blu-Ray section and see what else is on sale and he told me that they probably weren't marked and there were no signs. He was right, the only way to tell if it's on sale is to scan the item. Pretty lame.

al_bundy

might be the economy and different store policies

when you need to keep profits going in an economic downturn the easiest way is to tighten returns to keep money from flowing out of the store

D917

So being able to return merchandise without a receipt is YMMV at BestBuy? I went to three BestBuys, two said they don't accept returns without the receipt, another one told me I had exceeded my return limit with no receipt otherwise I could have returned them.

Trevor

It is once per year, tracked by DL#. I also hear that there might be a dollar amount max.

tbwmp88

Anyone in Boston want $30 cash to return a few DVD's?

Peep

Sure! Please send your DVD's and the $30 cash to:

I. RipoffCheaters
2456 Mass Ave.
Boston, MA

tbwmp88

Do you like eggs?

True_Story1011

I think its funny how some things on this board can be looked down upon as fraud.

But yet we have this thread with 5 pages of post's still open without so much as someone stating this is wrong to defraud a company.

420dgl

Where is the fraud? We're getting store credit for items they sell. Don't see any harm.

BTW, If you're worried about alarms going off as you walk IN with the dvds, just rub your dvd box with refrigerator magnet and it will desensitize the tags. But I have walked in with it many times and nobody even cares. Just tell the sec. that you're here for the return and go straight to the cash reg.

fujishig

Ugh, it is fraud, it was pointed out earlier and discussed (don't know if it's in this thread or in a previous thread), I think the detractors (like me) just got tired of pointing it out or visiting the thread.

danicus007

Just an FYI, but Borders put up a sign in their Blu-Ray section saying they are accepting HD-DVD returns for store credit only until May 31st. I returned Firewall, Swordfish, and The Italian Job (mail away freebies) for $105 in credit today. Then I used the 40% off coupon and bought 6 Blu-Ray disks with the credit.

Of course YMMV on this one.

Sweet Baby James

Thanks for the info and congrats on your score. Did Borders give you any grief with the receiptless return?

danicus007

No grief at all from my store. The manager did look at his watch, I guess to check the date, and then told the cashier it was okay since he still had time to send them back. I can't believe they sell Firewall for $40!!!

Their prices are horrible, but with the 40% coupon it makes most of their titles about $17. I was able to get 6 Blu-Ray titles for the 3 HD-DVDs I traded in. Not too shabby.

Sweet Baby James

I don't know if you are aware that you can still use Borders gift cards at Amazon. Just link to Amazon through www.borders.com . Unfortunately, this arrangement is going to cease anyday now.

X

YOUR MEMBERSHIP TO THE DVD TALK FORUM IS ALSO PREDICATED ON YOUR ADHERENCE TO THESE RULES. If you violate any of these rules your account will be suspended and you may be permanently banned from membership at our discretion:

ABSOLUTELY NO:
• Posting Information on how to defraud any company or promotion of any kind of illegal or unethical activity

http://www.dvdtalk.com/legal.html