It’s getting down to crunch time, and I’m starting to get a bit worried. My stomach hasn’t been treating me well the past few days, due in large part to poor eating/stress/going out last night.
What I learned today – never purchase an open-box product from an electronics store. In anticipation of the event, we are trying to complete this “checklist” of things to do… One of them is “purchase digital video camera and return a week later.” I have definitely returned stuff in the past… Last year, I took a week-long backpacking trip to Yosemite, and I purchased a funny looking hat for the trip. The hat is meant to keep your head warm at night, etc, etc… Well, I wore it for the whole week, and thanks in large part to a terrific return policy (will not mention store name, but feel free to email me to ask) I returned it without any questions being asked of me. Hurray for good return policies.
Thing is, when you buy consumer electronics from a store like Best Buy, or Circuit City, they are way more sophisticated. They know taht jerks like me come around every now and then looking to “borrow” expensive consumer electronics for one or two uses. Their way around this is to charge you a 15% restocking fee for any item that costs in excess of $200. There is ONE exception to this rule – if you purchase an open box item, they WILL refund all of your money within 14 days.
I went to Circuit City on 4th and Arizona the other day and bought an open-box Hitachi DV Camcorder. It was marked down signicantly from the original price, and it would have been perfect for our launch event. To my disappointment, I walked home and discovered that it did not have a battery. When I took it back right away and explained the situation, they tried to tell me that it was actually my fault, and I may have taken the battery… After some squabbling, they gave me my money back. I think next time I’ll just go to Costco.
Is this really California? The weather is awful.
Scripped Inc. Blog 