Problems with returning TV to Futureshop

[Grunt]

So at 4:45 today I finally got a call from Futureshop saying that had found my invoice / receipt. It took them 5 hours, but they found it.

Now of course, they want to send it away to Insignia which they say will take 4-8 weeks. Insane. I haven't gone in yet to collect the invoice/receipt, but I really don't want to wait 1-2 months to get my TV back.

Considering the circumstances, would I be out of line to demand a replacement TV? I used to work in customer service, so I know what it's like to deal with a customer who gets out of line, asking for the moon ... I'm just not used to being that customer :P I'm probably going to head down to Futureshop tonight to get this all settled...

Should I raise a fuss and demand a replacement, or just accept the fact that I have to wait 2 months?

[browna]

Originally Posted by Grunt

So at 4:45 today I finally got a call from Futureshop saying that had found my invoice / receipt. It took them 5 hours, but they found it.

Now of course, they want to send it away to Insignia which they say will take 4-8 weeks. Insane. I haven't gone in yet to collect the invoice/receipt, but I really don't want to wait 1-2 months to get my TV back.

Considering the circumstances, would I be out of line to demand a replacement TV? I used to work in customer service, so I know what it's like to deal with a customer who gets out of line, asking for the moon ... I'm just not used to being that customer :P I'm probably going to head down to Futureshop tonight to get this all settled...

Should I raise a fuss and demand a replacement, or just accept the fact that I have to wait 2 months?

First, get the reciept in your hands. Don't bring the TV in (keep it in the car).
Then, yes, of course demand that you get yourself a new TV in exchange, or reasonable equivalent )a store credit in the amount that that TV was originally?), for a) The bad TV and b) The incompentance displayed after your original request, and the fact that you've had to go through the hassle to come back to the store 3 times for the simple request.

If they put up any sort of hassle or reluctance (guage it) take your receipt and leave and call the customer service that you called earlier today, and plead the case to them, given all the factors involved, and see what shakes out.

All you've accomplished so far is presenting the reciept you should've been given originally. Given the ridiculous lead time for a repair, and all the hassle you've gone through just to get to this point, don't let up on the gas now...make them fully aware of oyur inconvieniece, and be a PIA to either get the TV fixed quicker, or a replacement TV in its place.

[snappyk]

If they won't give you a new one, ask for your money back, then raise a big stink in their store, just don't swear. If I were you I would have lost it by now and freaked on the girl at the desk, glad to see you've kept calm through this whole thing.

[Grunt]

Alright, so I went down to the store and asked them for my receipt/invoice. After the girl behind the desk gave it to me, I asked to speak to a manager. She of course stalls and has me tell her the story.

After I tell her everything I've been through up to this point, which she rebutts with her typical Futureshop BS, I tell her that I am VERY unhappy and I will not be satisfied until I either have a) a replacement TV or b) a full refund. At this point, she gets her manager.

The manager comes out, and shortly into our conversation (which he opens with, "Mallory told me everything and unfortunately we can't do anything other than send the TV to Insignia, which will take 4-8 weeks), I discover that this is the same dickwad that I had talked to on the telephone yesterday. He tries to tell me that I didn't explain the whole story to him and that's why it took so long to get the invoice ... riiiight.

He tells me that there is no way that Futureshop can give me a replacement TV/refund after 3 months as that is their "policy". I tell him outright that I don't give a **** about their policy, and that certain situations warrant a bending of the rules, and this just happens to be one of those cases.

I also asked him what he would do in my shoes, to which he agreed that he would be equally as upset, but that he still couldn't do anything as his "hands were tied". I had already lost it at this point, and asked to speak to HIS manager. Of course, his manager isn't there right now, but he says he will call me in TWO DAYS!!

I laugh out loud at this, and I think he realized how ridiculous it was as soon as he said it. He then says that there is another one of his managers working tomorrow, and he will have them call me. I tell him that I want to talk face to face with this person... so apparently I'll be going back there b/w 1-6PM tomorrow to talk to yet another manager. They are also supposedly going to call me at 10AM tomorrow morning.

It was funny to see how near the end of our conversation, the manager would barely look me in the eyes. He just looked down at his paper and fed me his Futureshop BS.

The thing is, if they had just given me the bloody receipt the first time I called, I wouldn't even be making a fuss. I would have been a bit upset about having to wait so long to get my TV back, but likely would have sucked it up and just sent it away.

Anyways, I'll let you know how tomorrow goes. LOL, what a gongshow.

[gottabekd]

After having worked in retail, originally I would just say "After 3 months, you can't expect a replacement on the spot. Wait the 4-6 weeks. I'd only expect a replacement if its been < 30 days."

But really, there is no need for their BS. The second you ask for a receipt printed, they should try to accomodate you. Obviously they have to protect themselves against any sort of scam (as I'm sure happens lots), but not at the expense of REAL customers.

[ooogabooga]

i work for the company in general i won't say where because honestly they crack down a lot on posting on forums about anything really and i don't want to get fired, for a tv of that size they should of gotten your information at the very least. to fill out a layaway deposit for the tv they have to of got your information. so they should of had it on the computer system quite easily. and of a tv of that size it makes no difference if you have purchased the warranty because the information is there anyways. if you purchased something that was cheaper and they didn't put the information in the computer system the reciept would of been much harder to find. the policies are that they won't do anything. and honestly you will probably have to catch the manager on a good day for them to exchange it for you. just something to consider that yes they shouldn't of messed around with you like that because they should of had that information in the computer system quite easily, the only way they wouldn't of is if the sales person didn't put your correct information in the computer system.

so to make a long story short, that unfortunatly they might not do anything for you other than offer to send the tv out for repair. and they shouldn't of screwed you around to find the reciept because they should of had it in the system.

anyways hopefully that kind of clears things up. i'm not that good at explaining things though. sorry for the length.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

It cost me $115 to get a heatsink replace, it would normally cost 50 but I wanted the mondo huge heatsink.

You could have just slapped a piece of junk metal on there with epoxy. Heck, you could have made a heatsink out of copper pennies.

[CaptainCrunch]

What are you saying man? That I'm not very smart. Maybe some kind of primitive man. Why that makes me angry, I feel I must smash something

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Grunt

Considering the circumstances, would I be out of line to demand a replacement TV?

IMHO, I would have to say yes, you would be out of line.

As much as we all know extended warranties are a cash grab; one of the things they offer is a replacement option if repairs are going to take too long. At some point in the sale you declined the extra service option offered by FS, and elected to go with what the manufacturer offers.

It doesn't hurt to try and ask them, but to demand is more than what you bargained for at the time of sale.

[Grunt]

Originally Posted by ken0042

IMHO, I would have to say yes, you would be out of line.

As much as we all know extended warranties are a cash grab; one of the things they offer is a replacement option if repairs are going to take too long. At some point in the sale you declined the extra service option offered by FS, and elected to go with what the manufacturer offers.

It doesn't hurt to try and ask them, but to demand is more than what you bargained for at the time of sale.

Under normal circumstances, I would agree with you. In fact, if the first person I talked to had helped me out in the first place by finding my invoice/receipt, I would have just sucked it up and sent my TV off for repair without much of a fuss.

Unfortunately, I've now dealt with 6 different people all of whom have given me major resistance. Up to this point, not one of them has even offered me an apology, let alone some kind of peace offering (some kind of store credit, a replacement TV, or a full refund). The quality of customer service displayed here is absolutely attrocious ... my ultimatum to them is, if they expect me to ever buy anything from them again, or NOT tell my friends/family/colleagues what crap service they offer, then they need to do something to make me happy.

Honestly, I'm not the type of guy that normally gets upset about many things. I'm fairly reasonable, and had they displayed even an ounce of good customer service I wouldn't be making any demands or putting up a fuss. If anything, I'm doing Futureshop a favor by giving them a chance to save a customer... however, they are likely going to drop the ball on this one (big surprise).

In the end, I really doubt I'll get what I want, and will just end up sending away the TV. I get the feeling that Futureshop honestly doesn't give a crap whether I shop there again anyways, which is pretty sad.

[Eagle Eye]

This is a prime example why you buy things at costco (that is if they have what you are looking for)

You can return stuff whenever (I have returned vaccums that crapped out after 6 mos without any problems)

[Avery]

Give us the managers name and the store telephone number, I'll phone him up and tell him I won't be shopping at Future Shop ever again. The more people you get to do that, the better chance you have of getting your TV problem fixed.

[Grunt]

Well, I talked to one of the head manager types at Futureshop (who was surprisingly competent), and explained the whole thing to him. He apologized (probably the first apology I've received) for the way I was treated, and said that they never should have told me that they couldn't find it when it was obvious that they could... especially since they didn't give me one to begin with.

He says that the reason that tracking down the receipts is difficult is because of a change in the privacy act that went into effect at the beginning of the year. Because they can no longer take my phone number / address (although I could have sworn they did) this made it harder to track down.

I tried pushing for a replacement TV / refund, but didn't get anywhere on that front. He did however promise me that my TV would be fixed within 2-3 weeks.

I think I can live with that ... I'm still super ****ed at Futureshop and certainly will never buy a TV from them again, but at least my TV is going to be fixed.

Hopefully someone out there read this and will think twice about buying any high priced items from Futureshop. Believe me, it's not worth the trouble.

Thanks for all the advice guys, I really appreciate it.

[Log]

Good to hear you got it all worked out!

I guess next time go to BestBuy, right?

[ken0042]

The thing to do now is make sure you write down the date, time, the guy's name and his contact info. I would have also pressed him as to what would happen if the TV isn't fixed within the 3 week time frame he outlined.

[Bobblehead]

He handed you a line, at least with regards to the privacy thing. PIPEDA went into full effect as of Jan 1 2005, and tha Alberta version came into effect before that.

They can still collect personal data, but they can't use it for any purposes other than what you are aware of when it is collected. (i.e. they are no longer supposed to sell their phone lists unless you consented to it (check the fine print!))

[Grunt]

I figured it was a line, and told him that maybe it's time for Futureshop to invest in a better records keeping system so that they can resolve issues like this in a timely manner.

I will definitely be writing down the date/time and have his name / phone number... so if I don't have my TV in 3 weeks I'll be a callin'. When I asked him what would happen if it took longer than 3 weeks, he just assured me that it wouldn't. I could have pressed more, but hopefully it all works out.

And ya Log, definitely Bestbuy .... riiiight :P

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Log

Good to hear you got it all worked out!

I guess next time go to BestBuy, right?

Future Shop was purchased for over CA$500 million by Best Buy on November 4, 2001. Best Buy has continued to operate the Future Shop locations under their original name, although it is now opening Best Buy-branded stores in Canada as well.

link

[Log]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Future Shop was purchased for over CA$500 million by Best Buy on November 4, 2001. Best Buy has continued to operate the Future Shop locations under their original name, although it is now opening Best Buy-branded stores in Canada as well.

link

Yep, that sounds about right!

[Shawnski]

Originally Posted by Grunt

Hopefully someone out there read this and will think twice about buying any high priced items from Futureshop. Believe me, it's not worth the trouble.

High priced and Future Shop do not mix.... ever. If it is a three digit purchase or more, they are NOT going to be the ones getting my business.