Complaint Review: Radioshack Austin Texas

First off, I do want to apologize for the way you were spoken to.  Regardless of whether or not the computer was refundable, you still deserve to be treated with as much respect as you're giving.  Going on the assumption that you were respectful with the manager who was belittling you, he was way out of line and you're right to be upset about that much.

The proper course of action in the store goes a little bit like this:

A.)  Personally attempt to resolve the issue with the computer itself.  It's something I do extremely often in our store, and while it can be very tedious and time-consuming, the primary goal is to take care of your customer.

B.)  Offer to either send the computer to repair at no cost to you, locate another of the same model from another store and have it shipped to their location to replace yours, or exchange for a new model.  We have a pretty large number of ways to make little problems like a computer issue a pretty painless experience - I'm sorry that didn't seem to take place.

C.)  If no other resolution can be reached, a refund check request may be processed.

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Now, a couple of things to touch on:

1.)  The store representative you spoke to from Westlake was clearly neither very knowledgeable nor very responsible to be second-guessing the actions of another store without knowing the actual status of the product in question.  There is a restocking fee on all computer, television, camera, GPS, and video gaming devices.  This is printed on the receipt, and there are signs in-store that mention this as well.  Whether your product met the criteria to have this fee waived, I cannot possibly know, never having seen or handled it.

2.)  They do not, in fact, have that much cash to give you.  Of course they had the cash the night you bought it - you had just given it to them.  But just like every normal civilian, they don't just hang onto every scrap of cash they've ever obtained.  You wouldn't walk around in the city with two, three, or four weeks' worth of pay in your back pocket, would you?  Of course not.  So after large sums of money are deposited, it takes a Refund Check Request to get it back.  The maximum amount of money any store keeps overnight is less than the purchase price of any notebook computer - and about half of the amount they keep in the register is coins.  There's just enough in there each morning to make change for your customers.

3.)  I'm failing to understand why you're upset about Acer being the owner of the Gateway brand.  Gateway is still one of the premier brands in the computer market.  In fact, both the fastest and the largest-screened notebooks  we currently carry on our store shelves are Gateway models.  They offer faster processors, more memory and generally more durable construction than many other brands without charging the highest prices.  Acer acquired their wealth by making solid consumer computers and charging less of a mark-up than their competitors.  Gateway is their marquis brand.  Think Lexus and Toyota; Infiniti and Nissan; Fender and Squier - all are single entities, but two different levels of quality indicated by the badge they wear.  One is for value, one is for performance.  Acer/Gateway is no different.  Companies buy other companies every day, and the public isn't going to know unless they look into it.  It's nothing that the average consumer ought to be concerned with.  Who the man or woman collecting the fortune at the top of the company ladder is rarely makes any difference in the quality of the end product so long as the same great minds are in charge of the design process.

4.)  If you bought the shelf model, you should actually have received what is called a "Premium Warranty" - which is simply an extension of the manufacturer's warranty to 2 years.  You are covered to bring your computer into a RadioShack store nationwide and have it repaired via the service center at no cost to you.  If it cannot be repaired, there will be other alternatives.  If you're not having luck in one particular store, it is because the employees working there are not doing their jobs properly.  Begin shopping at another RadioShack that treats you right - and trust me, they will.

Our goal is never to risk your future business over something foolish like a single $600 sale.  You are more valuable a commodity to us as a faithful customer whose needs we can keep on meeting than any handful of bills in the cash register are.

My advice would be to swap your Gateway for another of the same model and give it one last try.  It's extremely rare that you would end up having a problem with two of the same exact model - especially the Gateways that we're currently carrying.  I have personally sold somewhere in the ballpark of a dozen of the Gateway notebook with the Intel Core i3 processor, and not a single one has had even a minor fault as of yet.

Again, I apologize for the lack of professionalism put on display at your local Shack, but trust me when I say that there are managers and associates who will take care of you.  Unfortunately, I am very, very far away and can't offer any immediate assistance :(

Good luck with whichever route you choose to take.

   I understand the restocking fee...IF the item bought was bought in error (buyer bought wrong size, changed mind, etc.) but if the product is defective, then there should be no restocking fee.

   I also do not see where the rebuttal to this complaint addresses anything. Wizard is clearly upset over the treatment they received and the faulty product and stated that the product was faulty since day one of the purchase. How can Wizard be responsible for downloading malware if the computer was defective on the purchase date? Regardless of the warrenty differences stated here, Wizard should not have been treated that way and Radio Shack should have stood behind their product and their warrenty. Consumer relations are very important, especially in a weak economy! Sometimes it is better to swallow something than to make a huge issue out of it and possibly hurt business. Consumer satisfaction says much more than comsumer dissatisfaction and the "word of mouth" against a business!

   As for not being told that Gateway went bankrupt, Wizard clearly thought they were getting a Gateway computer and the salesperson should have said that the company was bought out by Acer. That would just be good salesmanship...tell the customer all the information on a product. Wizard is not a "nobody" but a customer and that makes Wizard important since no business can survive without customers.

   Sounds to me like Wizard has a valid complaint against this Radio Shack since there was an apology issued.

There are so many things wrong with your complaint that I don't even know where to start...

You say that the restocking fee is unreasonable.  Please explain your stand on this.  It is extremely common practice for stores to charge a restocking fee for returns that are not due to some error on the store's part.  You clearly have a problem with either the manufacturer, or more likely, your own ability to effectively use a computer.

Second, you say that you researched the Gateway and found no consumer complaints.  However, when YOUR computer started having issues, much the same as the one that you returned previously, you blame the manufacturer and/or Radio Shack.  Do you see a pattern emerging here?

Finally, to move on to my favorite part of your inane rambling, you are somehow indignant that you were not formally notified by someone about Acer acquiring Gateway... Whose job is that exactly?  Do you own stock in either company (don't even bother lying about it, we both know you don't)?  Do you work for either of them?  You were not notified because you don't matter.

Instead of venting in such a futile manner as you have done here, how about learning a bit about computers so that maybe you can operate one without downloading massive amounts of malware, which is so obviously the case with both of the computers mentioned. 

YOU are at fault here, not Radio Shack, and not the manufacturers of the computers you bought.

The Rebuttal is wrong that the Radioshack employee wrote back on! First of all:
If you purchase an item and according to Radioshack it states that you have 30 days to return the item with a FULL REFUND UNLESS" it is of your doing such as damage.

However, It was not damaged by me, and it was returned according to your policy. In the original box, with all the original paperwork and with everything you needed. If I did make a mistake I do not think that the corporate manager would of called me and apologized for the wrong doing of his employee at the Barton Creek Store. He wanted to charge a price for restocking and that was not in the policy and the product was defective! I am the one who nicely took your product in good faith and bought it out of the box and off the shelf. All he did was take the money and then sell it to me which was extremely easy.

But it had a problem and that is when all of a sudden he gets nasty and unprofessional and I am also told that you do not return back cash? You do not keep that much on hand? Didn't you have that on hand that night that I purchased the computer? That is a ploy so you have to put us through the hassle of waiting two weeks for the money and then I was nice enough to take another one at his offer and why would he do that if you were not at fault RADIOSHACK?

Then the gateway same thing and it was less money too and the HP was on sale but I was nice enough again to take it and not argue over the difference of the pricing which I mean the HP was more expensive in the first place in spite that it was on sale I took a lesser value of a product only to get back $10.00.

Now still within the receipt it states the same thing on the 90 days except that you will either replace the item or refund again within 90 days and yes it mentions the warranty of the product as well. But in this particular case I was already treated unfairly and told that you were sorry and not by the manager of Barton Creek who should of been fired for doing what he did in the first place, but I took one from the store in Westlake. Then when it has trouble and Norton cannot figure it out and it states in the devices of the hardware itself the issues began on the date it was picked up that tells me you never configured it at all and I know computers as well and it had two different names and one was for me the user and another again the same as the administrator and the windows defender was turning itself off, and it stated boot degredation and critical errors since the date I got it! So therefore do to all the device and problems it had on the hard drive I would pay you good money to prove that you are at fault again and go and look at all the complaints against Radio Shack. Is that just a fluke?

Do not think so guys, you are liars, scammers and downright dishonest and too bad. What goes around comes around!!!

Carol Hansen!!!!

The complaint states, "...it was well under 30 days of the return and their return policy states that you have 30 days for a full refund and 90 days total unless it is caused by you."

It also states, "Now it is still under the 90 days and it states a full refund if not your fault..."

Both of those statements are incorrect.

The return policy on the back of the RadioShack receipt states the following:

"Most items purchased at RadioShack may be returned for exchange, credit, or refund within 30 days of purchase.  In addition, a defective item may be repaired or replaced within 90 days of purchase under Radioshack's Warranty Policy, or within the manufacturer's warranty period, whichever is longer.  See Warranty Policy below for more information."

When you look at the Warranty Policy, it states:

"Most products sold by RadioShack include a warranty from the manufacturer.  Applicable warranty information can usually be found inside the box or packaging.  RadioShack provides a 90-day limited warranty with the products listed on the receipt whenever the manufacturer provides no warranty or a warranty of less than 90 days."