Best Buy And Sony have no clue who to blame for broken ps3 Vernon Hills Illinois
Well on January 18th my husband had bought a PS3 from Best Buy in Vernon Hills. It cost us $399.99 for the system and we purchased the 2 yr warranty from Best Buy for $59.99. The guy told us we would be able to bring it back if any thing happens to it and they will exchange it.
So I brought it back 2 weeks after purchasing it because the wifi broke and the controllers won't sync. So I get there and they tell me that they can't do anything with it because the Barcodes on the reciept and the box do not match the PS3 itself. Makes no sense if they only sell brand new non opened Playstations. So they told me to contact sony to fix the problem.
Called Sony and they said to take it up with Best Buy. So kept gettin the run around...Then I went back to Best Buy got the manger calling me a liar basically. Now we finnally got it sent to Sony and they are charging me $160 plus to get it fixed cuz the codes don't match so our Warranty with them is void. Then Sony tells us that if we don't pay it they'll just send the system back without getting it fixed and take it back to Best Buy to deal with them. Here goes the run around again.
Oh forgot the highlight of the whole problem. When I went back to the Best Buy the second time around the Manager told me after all my complaining that Best Buy is like a $500 billion dollar company and $520.00 that I spent is nothing to them. If it's no big deal and the money means nothing to them then give it back to me. What jerks!!!
Valeria
Mundelein, Illinois
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Rick
Ava,Missouri,
U.S.A.
Serial Number Discrepancies - Walmart, Best Buy, Sony etc
#2Consumer Suggestion
Mon, June 15, 2009
I had a similar situation occur at Walmart. Serial number discrepancies. Mine is a ps3 discrepancy.
3 different customer service reps at Sony told me they've had over 500 similar situations at Walmart and that they've had problems in other stores such as Best Buy.
Consumers need to be aware of this situation. They need to protect themselves.
My Suggestions;
Suggestion to Consumers;
If you purchase an item with a serial number (camera, tv, game console, etc), ask the clerk to remove the product from the box to be certain the serial number on the box matches the serial number on the item. Even if the box is sealed!
If you are purchasing a game console of any type, research the latest model number to be sure you are purchasing the latest model. Sony told us the model that was in our box has not been sold for 6 months. I was told they had hard drive issues. I was also told there was a high probability that it was an "inside job" that is, an employee did the switch.
It wouldn't hurt to open any purchases at the checkout to be certain the item is 1. in the box 2. the same model depicted on the box 3.box/item has same serial number. A real pain if you are making a purchase as a gift to someone.
I've found there are many other consumers experiencing this problem. Can we start a group to address serial number discrepancies so as to strengthen our position and alert future consumers? Is there a group already started? One of the first actions i took was looking online to see if anyone else had experienced a similar problem. It would have been easier to have a bulk of complaints in one spot.
Also, I've enlisted a huge group of folks who are boycotting Walmart until this situation is remedied. Not an easy thing to do when they are the only department store in town. I know I've spent considerable money there over the years.
Suggestion To Sony (and other electronics manufacturers);
Please redesign your ps3 box with a clear hard plastic window over the console serial number. This way, the actual product may be scanned and there will be no discrepancy between the box serial number and the actual console serial number. There are a zillion ways to cheaply and securely implement this without experiencing shipping problems. One is to have a punch out in the cardboard that is removed at time of purchase. It also alerts customers that someone previously bought this same unit. Up to the stores to figure out restocking. With something as important as a serial number, it makes no sense to allow for potential discrepancies. You can lead the market by mentoring this important change with ALL high ticket electronic items! If consumers have to pay a little extra, fine. I would be willing to pay for the extra security.
Suggestion To Walmart;
As far as Walmart is concerned, this problem can be avoided by implementing a hard fast rule, not a policy, to scan both the box and the actual console. By the way, Walmart defined policy for me. Any policy they have may be broken by anyone at any time for any reason they so desire.
Walmart cannot expect a customer to simply acquiesce after spending that much money and having nothing to show for it.
One thing walmart told me, and then reneged on after I obliged them, was if i were to find any other customers who had experienced a similar problem, they would immediately exchange it. Then they went back on their word (was not the only time). Integrity is very important.