LifeSlices: “All Sales Final” is not a license for theft
Frequent readers here know that I believe in the power of shared experiences. This one’s a doozie, and it has left me both angry and embarrassed.
The bottom line is that CompUSA sold me an empty box for $269, one that was supposed to contain a camera. Their spin is it’s my problem, because it technically wasn’t them who sold it to me and that I had a responsibility to check and make sure there was a camera inside the box before I left the store. Never mind that I spent almost $3,500 with them that day. Never mind that I’ve been a long-time customer. Never mind that I’ve bought my last two laptops from them.
What really galls me is their cavalier attitude, both in person and via the mail. I mean, folks, we’re talking about $269! It’s a lot more to me than it is to them.
Here’s the letter I wrote to CompUSA CEO Roman Ross:
May 11, 2007Roman Ross
President and Chief Executive Officer
CompUSA
14951 N. Dallas Parkway
Dallas, TX 75254Dear Mr. Ross,
This is to bring to your attention an issue that I’ve been unable to resolve at the store level.
First of all, let me explain that I’ve been a loyal customer of CompUSA for 10 years. I bought my last two computers from your stores, along with hundreds of other items. It is because I view myself as a customer that I send you this letter.
On March 22, 2007, I went to the Lewisville store to buy a new computer (I’m writing this letter on it now). I wasn’t aware that the store was closing and was surprised when I saw the signs. I took advantage of the sale to purchase many other items. My total bill was over $3,300.00.
One of those items was a Canon A630 camera. It was purchased as a gift for my step-daughter, whom I would see in May, so I put the box away in my home office. When the day came, I handed it to her, as she beamed with joy. That didn’t last long, because the box contained only the peripherals and not the camera.
So I went back to Lewisville only to be told the store had closed. So I made the trip to Frisco, where I met manager Tommy Jackson. He refused to help me, telling me that, well, I really didn’t purchase the camera from CompUSA, but a liquidation company. I showed him the receipt from CompUSA, told him I bought it in a CompUSA store and that the salesperson was wearing a CompUSA uniform. He was adamant that it was my problem, not his. At this point, my frustration and embarrassment turned to anger, and he told me I would need to communicate with your lawyers.
How on earth can a company such as yours treat a customer in this manner? You sold me an empty box for $269.00, and over that, you tell me that all the money I spent with you over ten years means nothing. And you blame it on a technicality?
Mr. Ross, this reflects terribly on your company, and I ask you to make it right.
Regards,
Terry Heaton
xxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx
Grapevine, TX 76051
xxx-xxx-xxxx
Bear in mind that I thought this request to be completely reasonable and was hoping they would realize what they’d be giving up by playing hardball. I was wrong. Here is the response I got from one of Ross’s underlings. Frankly, I doubt Ross ever saw my letter.
May 30, 2007Terry Heaton
xxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx
Grapevine, TX 76051Dear Mr. Heaton:
Thank you for contacting compUSA regarding your purchase at our Lewisville store; we regret any difficulty you encountered or misinformation you may have been given.
The Lewisville CompUSA was one of 126 stores that was liquidated and closed on 5/7/07. The return policy for all merchandise, as printed on your receipt and posted throughout the store, clearly stated ALL SALES FINAL.
Keep in mind, new digital cameras are usually sold in a factory sealed box; if the camera you purchased was a clearance item, you should have inspected its content prior to purchase.
Although we apologize for any inconvenience this situation may have caused, we cannot honor your request for return or exchange.
Thank you,
Kevin Hain
Escalations Supervisor
CompUSA Executive Care
So there you have it. If you shop at CompUSA, you need to check the boxes of everything you buy, because they surely will sell you an empty one.
Yes, perhaps I should have done so, and technically they’re correct. A liquidator sold me the box, and buyer beware.
You, of course, are free to shop at CompUSA. I can tell you that I never will again.
Final note to Mr. Ross: there’s a reason your company is in trouble, and you don’t need to look any further than the mirror to determine the cause.
June 2nd, 2007 at 4:15 pm
i’m no lawyer, but that is fraud in the inducement if there is a picture of a camera on the box.
trouble is, is it worth the time? on principle it is.
got an email address for this mr. ross?
June 2nd, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Me … email sent to CompUSA noting the article and that’d I’d be sending it to friends … a couple of whom spend 5 to 10K with CompUSA each year via their businesses.
Then, sent it out to those friends.
Next … I’m thinking TechDirt.
June 3rd, 2007 at 7:32 am
The only thing that surprises me about this exchange is that CompUSA replied so quickly.
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:02 am
maybe if you paid with a cc their fraud protection would be a viable option.
i realize this is not the issue here as there are several legal remedies available. we would all like to think that the mega-corps we give our scratch to have an interest in keeping us as HAPPY customers. unfortunately, this type of treatment is more the rule than the exception.
personally, as mel states earlier, the web seems to be a great enforcer.
i would check with the cc company anyways.
June 3rd, 2007 at 9:10 am
I doubt the cc company is going to be of any help here.
I would definitely contact Canon.
I disagree about this sort of behavior being the rule rather than the exception.
I am totally shocked these days when a retailer behaves unreasonably….but shopping at a liquidation sale does kind of underline the “buyer beware”.
June 3rd, 2007 at 10:10 am
i suggest you stick with shooting pictures.
i said i’m not a lawyer, but i have much experience in this area.
i’m certain terry only wants the camera, so i was only tossing out some suggestions that might make for an easy solution. sure you could contact cannon too, but their obligation is far less to terry than that of compusa. for all we know they declared and canon is a creditor looking for 5 cents on a dollar.
i will make one final comment here though: the ALL SALES FINAL slogan is irony at its best; terry isn’t looking to return the camera, and if they don’t make good on the sale it will be the final one they make to him… and me too.
June 3rd, 2007 at 10:47 am
You said it, !
All sales final is great, but they didn’t complete the sale! The receipt said he was sold a camera. I guarantee you it didn’t say “Camera Box” next to the $269.00 on the receipt. They would have an argument by quoting “all sales final” if he were trying to return a camera they sold him. He’s not. They defrauded him.
All sales final? Damn straight. They made their final sale to me when I got a new kickstand iPod case there in March. That was their final sale unless/until Terry posts about their replacing the camera and giving him something for all of his time, trouble, and aggravation, too.
June 3rd, 2007 at 11:09 am
[…] We all swap CompUSA service horror stories, but here’s an especially horrifying one. My AR&D partner Terry Heaton purchased a digital camera for $269 at a CompUSA liquidation sale. Terry bought the camera for his step-daughter amid a $3,500 purchase. One problem: they sold him an empty box. There was no camera inside. When Terry went to a nearby CompUSA, the manager there told him that, since a liquidation company technically sold him the camera, CompUSA wouldn’t give him a refund. So, Terry wrote a note to Roman Ross, CompUSA president and CEO. Ross passed it along to a staffer who had the nerve to blame Terry: “The return policy for all merchandise, as printed on your receipt and posted throughout the store, clearly stated ALL SALES FINAL…. if the camera you purchased was a clearance item, you should have inspected its content prior to purchase.” And there you have it. Terry is to blame for not inspecting the box to make sure he wasn’t being defrauded. All sales of empty boxes are, apparently, final. It doesn’t matter the technicality - in CompUSA’s name, $269 was stolen Terry and CompUSA won’t give it back. It’s not just “buyer beware,” it’s “don’t be a buyer.” […]
June 3rd, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Just FYI, if you did use a credit card, you can dispute the charge 60 days after it appears on your statement. That’s the route I’d take.
June 3rd, 2007 at 2:53 pm
[…] Any time you have to wonder why CompUSA has gone the way of the dodo, here’s a good example. Terry Heaton bought a digital camera for his daughter as part of a bunch of purchases at a closing store. In exchange for $269, he got an empty box. Terry wrote a note to Roman Ross, CompUSA president and CEO. Ross passed it along to a staffer who had the nerve to blame Terry: “The return policy for all merchandise, as printed on your receipt and posted throughout the store, clearly stated ALL SALES FINAL…. if the camera you purchased was a clearance item, you should have inspected its content prior to purchase.” And there you have it. Terry is to blame for not inspecting the box to make sure he wasn’t being defrauded. […]
June 3rd, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Yea…. You’ve all pretty much missed the point. CompUSA closed half of their stores. They’ve already told half their customers, “Hey. we don’t want your business!”
So what exactly is the leverage you expect to hold over CompUSA? That now a few more customers won’t shop there? They already wrote off half their customers, what do they care if a few more leave?
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:14 pm
I’d suggest Terry do exactly what he’s doing here (and Safran is doing on Lost Remote): Tell the world.
Clearly, the company (once a fine competitor to my former employer, Egghead Discount Software, when it was SoftWarehouse) thought that the equivalent of a form letter would make this go away. It hasn’t.
I would also raise this issue in a letter to Consumer Reports (perhaps for their back page feature, with a photocopy of the receipt and a photo of the box, empty), any we-do-sweeps-stunts-for-you consumer advocates on TV in his viewing area, and any local newspapers columnists, too. And fire off another polite letter to the CEO, again, indicating he did not get a satisfactory answer from his underling.
Now, I’m not sure Terry wants to turn this case into a career. But a couple of more letters can’t hurt. And he might get some personal satisfaction from them, nonetheless.
June 4th, 2007 at 8:28 am
Terry,
You are right by assuming that your letter to the president of the company was never seen by him. Consumer advocate, guru and radio personality always says to send these types of complaint letters to one or more of the company VPs who almost always get their own email and letters. His strategy has worked for me on more than one occassion.
You may want to consider re sending your letter to a VP at the company. You should also let Clark Howard know about this deal. He’d certainly spread the word via his radio show.
One more thing….Like someone else said, the sale is a fraud since there was no camera sold. It wouldn’t be stretching things too much to pursue crimminal charges against the company.
June 4th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Re. comment 9, “you can dispute the charge 60 days after it appears on your statement” — NO NO NO!
Dispute the charge ***BEFORE*** 60 days have elapsed from the purchase date, or you will **LOSE!!!** all your rights. If a merchant has ever told you to wait until after 60 days, they were DECEIVING YOU and most likely committing a crime.
DISPUTE NOW! DON’T WAIT 60 DAYS!
Hope this helps…
June 4th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Hey, I would highly recommend getting yourself a lawyer — Texas has strong protections for consumers under the DTPA (Deceptive Trade Practices Act). See generally, Chapter 17 of the Texas Business & Commerce Code.
Many DTPA provisions allow for attorney’s fees, which means that many attorneys may be willing to take this case at no upfront cost to you.
June 4th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Take them to small claims court. In Texas you do this yourself, without a lawyer. I think the filing fee is about $50. Most cases (I don’t know about yours specifically) you can get treble (3X) damages. I bet they wouldn’t even show to defend themselves, which would make arguing your case really easy
June 4th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
[…] CompUSA screws over a customer bigtime. They sell him an empty box, and when he comes back for a refund, they refuse. They think they can get away with this because, hey, who’s he going to tell? Their customer base is so huge that if he and his friends get torqued off and never come back, it’s no problem. […]
June 4th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
[…] Apparently CompUSA thinks it’s perfectly okay to sell an empty box just so long as they say “all sales final.” Those of us who think stealing is wrong tend to disagree. Read the story here of a guy who spent a shit-ton of money at CompUSA, and as part of his purchase picked up a digital camera. He gave the camera as a gift, and when the recipient opened it, found only an empty box. And CompUSA refuses to do anything about it. […]
June 4th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
[…] On Terry Heaton’s blog he outlines an encounter with CompUSA in which he purchased (he thought) a Canon digital camera for his step-daughter. When the time came to give her the present, they discovered that he had not bought a cool new digital camera… Instead, he had bought a $270 empty box. […]
June 4th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Dispute the charge with your credit card company. Your chances are excellent of having the charge reversed. The Fair Credit Billing Act states that you have zero liability for “fraudulent purchases, poor-quality or damaged merchandise, or for merchandise that was never delivered. ” This would definitely apply here, and it’s easier than you think. And it’ll stick CompUSA or whoever with a chargeback fee.
June 4th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
All Sales Final is not a license for theft
This story has been submitted to Stirrdup. If it can generate enough interest, it will make it to the main page.
June 4th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
comp usa screwed me on two rebates too… they are a terrible company
June 4th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
One word: Consumerist.com - take pictures and send it in and watch them raise hell.
June 4th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
I’ve been screwed before at “all sales final” clearance events, and I chalk it up to experience; if the box wasn’t sealed, you shoulda checked it; heck, you shoulda checked that the camera was in working order before you took it home if the box was already open. You just got stuck paying for that lesson… hopefully others here will take note of that.
So I understand this sucks to be you and all… but honestly, especially after so much time has past (how much time between purchase & b-day anyways?), you expect them to just give you a camera or your money back? Who’s to say you didn’t take the camera out of the box yourself? They’re supposed to just trust you on that? For every person with an honest problem, there are several trying to rip off the store. I’m not saying you are lying about it; but if they give you a camera/refund, how many other people are gonna come at them now with the same sob-story?
And really, if you’ve stopped shopping at CompUSA, where you gonna go? Best Buy? Circuit City? Ya know, cuz they really care about their customers…
June 4th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
My favorite CompUSA story: I was buying a PDA, an HP iPAQ. The salesgirl kept bugging me about getting an extended warranty plan, which I repeatedly turned down. She takes the iPAQ up to the front of the store for checkout, and the cashier went to get it from the pickup area.
Well, guess what? As he’s ringing it up, I notice the extended warranty plan is in the bag too. I mention that I did not want the plan and I had told the salesgirl that (no less than 4 times). He gets p’d off and says “Then I’ll have to get the manager.” The 20-something “manager” comes over, the clerk points at me and says “This guy doesn’t want the plan anymore.” The manager shrugs and says “Wasn’t my sale” and walks away.
Gee, I wonder if the extra commission that the salesgirl would have made, played any role in this “mistake”. I wonder how often this happens?
The kicker is that as the CompUSA clerk finishes the sale, he hands me the bag and says “Don’t come running back to us when this breaks in a few months”. WTF????
June 4th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
[…] I can’t believe CompUSA is being this stupid about customer service. They told him they we’re selling him a camera in the box but the camera wasn’t there. Now they refuse to fix their mistake, read all about it at Terry Heaton’s Blog: “All Sales Final” is not a license for theft. If they don’t make this right soon I won’t be giving them any more of my business. […]
June 4th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
“They’re supposed to just trust you on that?”
Yes, I think so. You seem to be saying that since neither side can prove it conclusively, the consumer should get screwed, which is odd.
The benefit of the doubt should go the customer in cases like this, or else big corporations tend to abuse their power. This is a greater evil than those who might try to game the system for a free camera.
When the industry is set up to protect the customer first, it forces businesses to adopt better practices. Like opening up the box and showing the product to the customer before they leave the store.
Purchases are protected legally under The Fair Credit Billing Act exactly for these kinds of situations. But even if they weren’t, it doesn’t make financial sense for a company to risk this much bad publicity over a purchase like this. When the free market is working correctly, these kinds of practices will find you out.
June 5th, 2007 at 12:26 am
Frankly I’m not surprised. I think you summed it up adequately when you stated why CompUSA is in trouble. They have always treated their customers negatively. I tried to return something there once and it was a nightmare. It is no surprise that online vendors such as Newegg.com are thriving when their competition includes the likes of CompUSA and Best Buy.
June 5th, 2007 at 12:32 am
How much is the camera normally at retail? Bet it was selling for pretty cheap right? The sign said “ALL SALES FINAL”. Thought you were going to get something for nothing, instead you got nothing for something. Normally DumpUSA would have charged you more and took on that risk of a bad or missing product, but you assumed that risk in return for a dirt cheap price. If the camera was physically demolished would you expect a return still? Why? What part of “all sales final” didn’t you understand? You bought whatever was in that box and you assumed that risk. Go to hell and stop complaining.
June 5th, 2007 at 12:39 am
Oh yeah… he sent a letter to the president… Let’s guess that camera probably nets DumpUSA about $25-40 in profit at most. Yeah. I’m sure he’s going to get right on with stopping whatever he may have been doing to get you a fucking camera. He aint got nothing better to be doing right now… nope… you and your little friggin blog are so god damn important. I think tomorrow i’m going to go see if they have a similar camera at the DumpUSA, check it out instore before buying it, and post it on my blog for the rest of the world to see how a reasonable human being checks “ALL SALES FINAL” merchandise before leaving the fucking store.
June 5th, 2007 at 1:02 am
CompuUSA is overpriced anyway. You were getting shafted when you bought that other stuff. If theer is a Fry’s in your area, you should try them. Best Buy is even better. But the Internet is best.
June 5th, 2007 at 2:24 am
I will tell every single person I know about CompUSA being a disgusting rat bastard thief.
Ever notice when they have a sale, they ALWAYS run out of the super cheap stuff and all thats left is overpriced crap.
Death to CompUSA
June 5th, 2007 at 2:25 am
[…] June 5th, 2007 [link][more] […]
June 5th, 2007 at 4:07 am
That is really really poor customer service. Understandably a mistake about the camera, but any 1/2 decent retail company would look @ the $3k receipt and realise that you are customer they want to keep. I have had a similar experience in the UK with a shop called Dixons, and had a similar outcome. Either way, its a tough lesson. Sorry mate :
June 5th, 2007 at 6:06 am
I once bought ATX Power Supply from BestBuy, when I got it home I noticed it was making an unusual nose. I looked at the brand sticker on the box, it wasn’t a super cheap generic it was a used enermax with dust already on the exhaust fans. I took it back and was able to exchange it for an untampered one. It’s unfortunate that Terry Heaton was duped. Even though all sales are final, this reeks of fraud. Hopefully he can get some resolution to this.
June 5th, 2007 at 6:08 am
[…] A couple days ago, Steve Safran posted Terry Heaton’s horror story of buying an empty box at CompUSA only to learn the company refused to refund him his money. As of this writing, the story is on Digg’s home page and BoingBoing’s home page, among other places, and it’s generating astronomical traffic here on Lost Remote. It’s fascinating to watch how quickly this story is becoming a de facto publicity nightmare for CompUSA among a young, tech-savvy audience — customers they should be most concerned about keeping. (And meanwhile, let’s see if Lost Remote can survive a full-on Digg onslaught.) […]
June 5th, 2007 at 6:11 am
[…] A couple days ago, Steve Safran posted Terry Heaton’s horror story of buying an empty box at CompUSA only to learn the company refused to refund him his money. As of this writing, the story is on Digg’s home page and BoingBoing’s home page, among other places, and it’s generating astronomical traffic here on Lost Remote. It’s fascinating to watch how quickly this story is becoming a de facto publicity nightmare for CompUSA among a young, tech-savvy audience — customers they should be most concerned about keeping. (And meanwhile, let’s see if Lost Remote can survive a full-on Digg onslaught.) […]
June 5th, 2007 at 6:56 am
[…] If you read the reply letter, clearly no one at the chain realizes everything like this ends up on the web eventually creating the worst kind of publicity. Like this blog post. “All Sales Final” is not a license for theft […]
June 5th, 2007 at 8:09 am
Good Day,
Though I understand you’ve recently been put in a situation where you have been personally embarassed by attempting to provide your loved one a gift you seem to have missed the bigger picture here.
Why didn’t you check the box of the product?
Was the product open? Resealed? On clearance?
Did you check the box? Examine the contents? Verify functionality?
Did you think that “Maybe the store is closing and I should do these things in a prompt manner”?
It comes down to responsibility, the company is in a partial wrong here. Yes they sold an empty box. Mistakes happen, especially when your work force is as qualified as the boys at the local McDs. However they are also requires to protect themselves and the assests of the closed location. Had you returned in a reasonable time (ie before the store had closed) I’m sure they would have assisted you with your problem, but attempting to deal with the issue a full month after the location had closed is unreasonable. Further more I’m proud that you received the reply you did from their head office. It shows that there are companies out there that aren’t willing to concede every little whinny problem a customer complains to them about.
To those people mentioning the credit card protection idea, keep in mind it was designed several decades ago to protect users from making purchases through mail order where it was possible to scam the credit card user into purchasing product not as advertised. In the modern era it is being used to address every little form of consumer stupidity and is always called a “right of the people”. Please stop suggesting it, as all it costs is the businesses (credit card company, affected business) time and energy to deal w/ the problem, and more often then not the customer loses in these types of situations as the card was present, swiped, and the product was seen by the end user at time of purchase.
Finally to those people who look at their receipts and say, “Wow, I just spent 3-5k dollars in this store and they don’t want me as a customer” think about it this way. The customer just purchased 3k worth of clearance items, They had no margin and the company could careless who bought them. As for the “I’ve purchased my last 2 laptops here” statement, yee haa, they made 80$. Computers aren’t like jewelery there is no margin in this business and the only users who are treated better are those who can make the same statement but they add a 0 at the end,
June 5th, 2007 at 8:27 am
These types of transactions are not new. WalMart is known for re-shelving returned items that are not always working, so I check everything I buy from them. This camera box could have been an empty box return and the store manager was passing on the savings…LOL
June 5th, 2007 at 9:47 am
[…] http://www.thepomoblog.com/archive/lifeslices-all-sales-final-is-not-a-license-for-theft […]
June 5th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Sorry, but anyone who is shopping at a CLOSEOUT with a NO RETURNS policy posted everywhere should have enough sense to examine the item before they leave the store.
What if the camera had been there, but didn’t work? Or was missing pieces? You still would have been upset.
You should have examined it. No fault to the seller if the buyer didn’t take proper precautions, knowing there was no return.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:58 am
You should consider going into CompUSA with the letter, going to whatever part of the store sells the most expensive products, opening every product in sight, closing it again half-assedly, and when they ask what you’re doing, show them the letter where a CompUSA customer service rep told you that you needed to do that before buying something.
Ideally, do it with software. Then, they can’t even resell it. You’ll cost them thousands.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:58 am
You buy a camera in March, take it home, open the box in May and then think that they are responsible. Sorry. That doesn’t work anywhere I’ve ever purchased.
June 5th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Well, something to give them a taste of there own medice would be to get some office/vista softwhare and open all the boxes to make sure it is in the box then decide that you dont want it and walk out.
June 5th, 2007 at 11:21 am
“The sign said “ALL SALES FINAL”. Thought you were going to get something for nothing, instead you got nothing for something.”
I don’t think almost $300 is “nothing” as you describe it.
I’m gonna start a store called All Sales Final and sell empty boxes with pictures of products on them and when people complain, say, “Hey you knew ‘all sales are final.’”
That’ll work, sure.
June 5th, 2007 at 11:40 am
I think the real lesson here (aside from not shopping at CompUSA, which isn’t a problem for me since they shuttered every single store here in So. Cal.), is:
1) If the store says “ALL SALES FINAL” the merchandise must be opened and inspected on the premise, so as not to get screwed with either an empty box or even for that matter a “dead on arrival” piece of electronic equipment; and
2) If you are giving delicate, expensive electronics as a gift, it MUST be opened and inspected prior to putting it in storage, or even delivering it as a gift. I know it’s nice to give an unopened and shrinkwrapped gift, but in this day and age, you can’t trust most expensive gifts as far as you can throw them. The fact of the matter is, the shrinkwrap isn’t worth a damn anyway, ALL of these stores have their own shrinkwrapping machines, so it is all too easy for employees to get away with crap like this.
I feel your pain, and if it’s any cold consolation to you, your warning has reached far and wide, and I know I will be a lot more dilligent about “practicing what I preach” in the future from now on.
June 5th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
[…] Many of us swap CompUSA service horror stories, but here’s an especially horrifying one. My AR&D partner Terry Heaton purchased a digital camera for $269 at a CompUSA liquidation sale. Terry bought the camera for his step-daughter amid a $3,500 purchase. One problem: they sold him an empty box. There was no camera inside. When Terry went to a nearby CompUSA, the manager there told him that, since a liquidation company technically sold him the camera, CompUSA wouldn’t give him a refund. So, Terry wrote a note to Roman Ross, CompUSA president and CEO. Ross passed it along to a staffer who had the nerve to blame Terry: “The return policy for all merchandise, as printed on your receipt and posted throughout the store, clearly stated ALL SALES FINAL…. if the camera you purchased was a clearance item, you should have inspected its content prior to purchase.” And there you have it. Terry is to blame for not inspecting the box to make sure he wasn’t being defrauded. All sales of empty boxes are, apparently, final. It doesn’t matter the technicality - in CompUSA’s name, on a CompUSA receipt, $269 was stolen from Terry and CompUSA won’t give it back. It’s not just “buyer beware,” it’s “don’t be a buyer.” […]
June 5th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
WHO CARES why he didn’t check the box. It’s irrelevant. There’s a reasonable expectation from those who buy products that what is on the box cover is contained within the box. Any rational person expects this to be true. You want to blame the customer for not planning for every possible contingency regarding how he could be screwed.
In order for a sale to be final, there has to be a sale. There wasn’t one here, as the promised item wasn’t delivered. If I paid for a product to be delivered to me in the mail, and it doesn’t show up, a transaction has not been conducted. To keep the money and never deliver the product becomes a form of theft. In this case, the distance of the delivery was simply shortened to being over the counter. No camera, no transaction.
The number of people who side with corporations what fail to follow through on a promise is mind boggling.
June 5th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
I Guess Terry needs to learn how to be a buyer.
If I buy 7 bananas, I don’t care if they are for $0.10 each and not $3000. I inspect all 7 of the bananas BRIEF ENOUGH to know they aren’t skins with no fruit inside.
If the banana inside was rotten (like a camera lens being broken), thats a different story….
Moral of the story: Learn to slow down and pay attention to both sides of the road before crossing the street, or you might get run over.
Thats not to say that CompUSA isn’t at fault. But, if you stopped for a second, you could have pointed it out right on the spot. I think it would have been better to show the rest of the customers at CompUSA them trying to sell you an empty box rather than having no proof for it later on.
June 5th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
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June 5th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
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June 5th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
File a lawsuit, ask for $269 actual and $10 million punitive. That’ll at least get their attention. They’ll most likely settle to avoid bad publicity. I know that after reading this, I’ll never shop there.
June 5th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Email addresses courtesy of:
http://rootforce.org/dada/mail.cgi/archive/announcements/20070227234032/
Chief executives: Roman Ross, President and Chief Executive Officer; Todd Whitbeck, Acting Chief Financial Officer; Ellen Miller, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer; Gabriela Villalobos, Executive Vice President Sales and Operations; Brian Woods, Executive Vice President and General Merchandising Manager; Bill Maddox, Executive Vice President Business and Technical Services; Mark Walker, Executive Vice President and General Counsel.
roman_ross@compusa.com, todd_whitbeck@compusa.com, gabriela_villalobos@compusa.com, brian_woods@compusa.com, bill_maddox@compusa.com, mark_walker@compusa.com, ellen.miller@compusa.com
Enjoy
June 5th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
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June 5th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
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June 5th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Treatment like this is the reason they are going out of business..
June 5th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
[…] For some dark and twisted reason, the CompUSA “All sales are final, you should’ve looked inside the box” fiasco reminded me of the final scene in the movie Se7en… […]
June 5th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
I think you are stupid not to open the box and inspect the merchandise when you knew it was a closeout. This is a case where stupid consumers (this one can afford to pay $3500) have to be coddled like a 3rd grader. Believe me, the rest of us have to pay for this type of stupidity every day with higher prices to cover for someone’s inability to practice good shopping habits.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Hi Terry,
I had an awful experience with CompUSA. My calls, letters, and emails to Roman Ross went unanswered. I did receive a call back from Kevin Hain but he basically told me to bring them to court which is exactly what I did. I ended up winning my claim against CompUSA and have never stepped foot in their stores again. Its an awful awful company to do business with.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
My wife and I quit shopping CompUSA a while ago. Their return policy is awful, surpassed only by the total lack of costomer service we have recieved so many times in that store. What was most frustrating was to go to the store because of an ad, and not have it in stock when you get there. Grrrrr.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
I wqas glad to see your post because I too have been taken by CompUSA during a liquadation sale here in Modesto CA. I purchased a 2500 laptop by Sony and found the sealed box hid the facxt it was missing an important part not stated on the box. When I contacted them they said that since I received such a great discount I can purchase the missing 199.00 part on my own!
June 5th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
I have had extreme difficulty having a laptop computer repaired under comp usa’s extended warranty. After 5 attempts to get it repaired I finally gave up and went next door to best buy and bought a new one. I had bought 4 computers from comp usa, but now I make it a point to take my new purchases from other stores in to show the idiot manager the sales he cost his company.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
This is a matter of principle as $270 is not the issue. Given that the store fell short on principle initially, I support the idea of never shopping there again. Unfortunately, many if not most store fall short on principle. CompUSA is not alone.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
All my future business with them is FINAL!!!! NEVER AGAIN…
June 5th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Corporate Citizens not only have the God-given right to defraud consumer citizens, but it is their duty to steal as much money out of the pockets of the gullible as is inhumanly possible. See BT Barnum “There’s a sucker born every minute” for more on that.
I completely agree with the 4$$H0L1C comments above that you consumers should have no rights to complain if you spend $300 for an empty box! It is people like you that cause CEO salary increases to be lower than expected. How can you sleep at night knowing that you caused 30 seconds of grief to a CEO’s flunky!
The American Way Manual (©®™) says that your empty box has a value of $300 and you should be on ebay recouping your investment in that precious cardboard. For everyone knows that there is no such thing as fraud on ebay.
This is NOT fraud because the box clearly had a picture of the camera on it and he did receive a picture of a camera on a box. For example, vegetable shortening has a picture of fried chicken on it, but you don’t expect to open that and find chicken in there, do you?
Expecting to receive an actual camera inside the box is a result of nanny-state mollycoddling by those damned Liberals. The only way corporate citizens can be protected from fraud and extrotion by consumer citizens is to round up all the Liberals at chinese-made gunpoint and force them to work at CompUSA for minimum wage for the rest of their lives.
And consumer citizens should be banned from ever filing lawsuits. It is clearly the intent of the US Constitution that lawsuits are to be a sole power of the corporate citizen. I fully believe that CompUSA has the DUTY to sell as many empty boxes for as much as they can get and that they should be the only ones allowed to sue anyone that complains.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
So who buys a box that weighs a fraction of what it should and thinks there is something in it?
Would you go buy a twelve pack of soft drinks and walk out confidently with it only weighing a few ounces?
June 5th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
That’s one light camera! I think I would’ve looked in the box.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
The same thing happened to me. I bought the same camera at OfficeMax in Jacksonville, FL. When I got home I opened the box - no camera. I went back to the store the next day and talked to the manager. Luckily I remembered who sold me the camera and only one day had passed since I bought it. He called the store employee at home who told him that the box was probably empty because it was for the camera on display. It was a discontinued model and the last one at the store. The manager asked me if I wanted the display camera and I said no so he gave me an upgraded camera for no additional charge. If he had not been able to contact the employee who sold it to me I got the impression, though, that my experience might have turned out like yours. These cameras are very light, the only thing that gives them any weight are the batteries, and in my case, the batteries were in the box with everything else but the camera, so the weight does not tell you if the camera is inside the box or not.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
hi,
Have you thought about contacting a computer magazine? There’s one I read that might take your complaint and try and resolve it for you. If that doesn’t work, try suing them in small claims court or goto your local tv station. If you can cause a big enough stir, Comp USA will probably give in and either credit you or give you the camera you legally bought.
Good luck!! Let us know what happens!!
June 5th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Yes..Maybe you should go buy another camera…take the camera out of the box…and return the box to them….I know this isnt right..but what they did isnt either……I bought an open box camera at C.C, and it didnt have the box…maybe you got my box and I got your camera….sorry…just kidding..
June 5th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
At least Terry finally got the $$ for his camera. lol
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,278258,00.html
June 5th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Can we get some details? Was the box sealed in any way or was is it already unsealed?
If the box was an “open-box” item then its only natural to check and see if all the items are in the box, like accessories, maunals, CDs, etc. The buyer is at fault.
If the box was sealed with Canon’s seal its Canon’s fault or if sealed in clear wrapping then its CompUSA’s fault.
Which is it?
June 5th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
I’m glad you got your money back or at least a credit. Personally, I will not shop in that store. Their sales people are not very bright and act like they are doing you a favor to wait on you. I hope they close every single store.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
having problems with comp usa myself. this sounds typical of them, one hand doesnt know what the other is doing. purchased the download for a product and something happened with the dl so i cancelled the order the same day and purchased elsewhere. currently i am in email ping pong with comp usa’s brainless staff.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
I would like to have a talk with this Mr. Ross. Ultimately this is his responsibility and he did nothing. Shame on you, Mr. Ross and shame on CompUSA. I’ll never go there again.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
As already stated, COMPUSA IS OVER PRICED for everything they sell! I never shop there even though its the only computer store in the area. I would rather pay the shipping costs on an Internet purchase than purchase from them every time.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Good for you my friend. I’m very glad to hear that you eventually got your money back. Just reading what CompUSA said to you made me boil. I’ll never go there again.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
OK, you bought a camera and the box was empty?!? DIDN’T YOU HAPPEN TO NOTICE THAT THE BOX WAS MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, A LITTLE LIGHT???? AND IF YOU’RE BUYING A CAMERA THAT’S BEING LIQUIDATED AND THE BOX WASN’T FACTORY SEALED, WHY IN THE WORLD WOULDN’T YOU OPEN THE BOX TO MAKE SURE, OH I DON’T KNOW, THAT THE CAMERA WAS REALLY IN THERE AND THAT THE LENS WASN’T CRACKED AND THE BOX CONTAINED ALL THE NECESSARY ACCESSORIES?
I THINK YOU ACTUALLY BOUGHT THE CAMERA, THEN MADE UP THIS STORY AND RIPPED OFF COMPUSA FOR A $300 GIFT CARD!!!
June 5th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
This happens all the time. It happened to me!!! I went to Sam’s Club in League City Texas and told the clerk I wanted the $300 Kodak digital camera. She pulled out the box from behind the counter and gave it to me. I was just going to pay for it when I decided to open it up. I almost didn’t open it becuse I knew the digital cams weigh almost nothing. When I opened it, THERE WAS NO CAMERA INSIDE!!! Lucky I was still in the store and gave it back to the clerk. I believe she didn’t give me the empty box on purpose but had a bunch of empty boxes that belonged to the demo cameras on display. This is a common occurance and happens all the time from what I read.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Sense of humor, first! Thanks…anyway, happy to hear you kept on going with this until it was resolved. Too many people get treated in a less than satisfactory way, and deem it too much work to say anything… I had a similar experience with a store owner selling Sprint cell phones. First of all, he doesn’t print his name on his business cards (I wonder why?). I was sold a phone that was previously used! Didn’t realize it until I had started to input my information. Found a phone directory and call history! Oops… I called them. They told me to bring it back. A new employee had “accidentally” put it back on the shelf. I wasn’t able to bring it back immediately due to a death in the family and a miscarriage. Went back to the store on the 14th day after purchase. They proceeded to look at it; found a nick in it, and decided I had damaged the phone, so now there was nothing they could do. I am furious. It was their mistake in the first place. I went to another of this “owner’s” locations to speak with him. He started screaming at me. Told me it was a done deal; he wasn’t dealing with it anymore. He threatened to call the police if I didn’t leave. I asked him why he was yelling. Couldn’t he be professional and courteous? I was shaking I was so scared. He was out of control for no reason. (Over a $30 phone, mind you.) Anyway, Sprint finally sent me a new, upgraded phone, at no charge; they advised against going to his store again for my safety). My husband decided to go to visit this man, and he reacted the same way; threatened to call the police. We are law-abiding citizens. And reasonable human beings. My husband told him he was giving him an opportunity to apologize to me; when this guy went bolistic again, my husband just twisted the phone and put it in front of him on the counter. I just got a phone call from Sprint in reaction to my formal complaint to the Better Business Bureau here in Minnesota. I will hopefully be speaking with her tomorrow.
We live in a great country. We have had the “best customer service” in the world (I’ve worked in other countries, and know this to be fact). It seems to be crumbling. I don’t get it. People have no respect for one another, it seems. Anyway, had to respond to your situation with a “GOOD FOR YOU”.
Take care,
Kathi
June 5th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
terry
Kudos on exposing these so called close out deals!!! these irresponsible executives make companies go down.
Wake Up Call
Bob
June 5th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
I can’t believe after all the negative publicity all they had the nerve to give you was a $300 gift certificate. Especially after buying $3500 worth of stuff. It sounds like you went through a lot more crap than a mere $31 extra could satisfy. I will never buy from CompUSA.
June 5th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
although i think comp usa should refund the money, who buys a discount item, or an open box item without inspecting the item? the buyer has responsibilty here also, this is not the stores fault, in addition whoever buys an item from a store that is closing, without thinking, “i cant return this item if it doesnt work” so what was he thinking when he bought all this stuff? saving a few bucks is never worth it in the end…..
June 5th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I’m glad you had a blog. I’m really glad to see blog type folks ready to push back against the corporate chill. Was the camera made in China?? Get ready for round two.
June 5th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Nice to see justice served!
Way to go, blogosphere.
Dennis
June 5th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Regardless how you feel about the entire transaction, the fault really lies with you. Any normal person would check a item for proper operation after making this type of purchase. We only have your word that the box wasn’t opened and that the camera wasn’t in the box. None of these people know you from any other guy and as you know there are a lot of dishonesty people working our society these days.
June 5th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
…geez, we work so hard for our money. the greed from most companies is choking us. But, I did like the idea by HOLLY (#7 above), they did not complete the sale. If the box was sealed then you would think it was a good sale. If the box was opened prior to sale by the store ( due to a display etc…the clerk should of affirmed that the set was complete at time of purchase. I suggest that CompUSA needs to either change that USA name or double Mr. Heatons money back !!! I bet that if one of the companies CEO’s was shorted (lord forbid)they would try to make it right for themselves.
June 5th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
You should have sued, or called the cops, big companies should not treat people like dirt.
June 5th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Glad to see it’s been resolved. While buyer holds some responsibility and the company may not have held any LEGAL responsibility, there’s such a thing as good customer relations and doing the right thing. It’s a pity they had to be publicly shamed into doing so, but not at all surprising.
June 5th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
I stopped buying from Comp USA about 12 years ago. I worked for them for a few months when I just got in IT. I can say that I first hand saw and had to partake in the repackaging process where a returned product would be re-shrink wrapped and sold as new. We did have to make sure it looked like new and contained everything. I thought it was a cheap and horrible process as we never made sure the items worked. To return an item was always a nightmare at CompUSA, the return policy was strictly enforced and did not benefit the customer to any degree. One of those products could have been defective when we re-shrink wrapped, if it was a gift and returned after the allowable time, the buyer was shafted, I hated that and despised how management could care less about the consumer. I guess it is finally catching up with them.
June 5th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
I gave up on CompUSA some time ago ago. It is my personal belief that CompUSA exists solely to make the Federal bureaucracy appear competent and caring…
I could tell you so many stories that I’d be embarrassed to reveal just how many times I went back to the store and wound up leaving empty handed. Nature was definitely trying to tell me something.
The bottom line is simple: If I wanted to be treated like garbage by jerks with sub-standard IQs, absolutely NO COMMON SENSE WHATSOEVER and ,MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, crappy attitudes, I’d go to the VA. Way too many inaccessable corporate bosses AWOL on self-important three martini lunches and the underlings know this full well which is exactly why CompUSA’s customer “service(???)” is the stuff of legend.
Their eBAY operation is as bad or worse. I once purchased four hard drives only to find that their checkout system wasn’t working. After a couple of days it was STILL DOWN so I e-mailed them about it. NO ANSWER. E-mailed them numerous times. STILL NO ANSWER. FINALLY I GET AN EMAIL FROM THEM *THREATING TO TURN ME OVER TO PAYPAL IF I DON’T PAY THEM IMMEDIATELY…”
So, if you can imagine the IRONIC STUPIDITY BEHIND THIS, HERE IS A CUSTOMER LITERALLY ***BEGGING*** THEM TO LET ME PAY THEM - BUT THEY DON’T HAVE TIME TO DO SO BECAUSE ALL THEIR EFFORTS ARE APPARENTLY BEING DIRECTED AT SENDING ME “PAY UP OR DIE!” MESSAGES……….
But WAIT!!! JUST WHEN YOU THINK THAT IT COULDN’T POSSIBLY GET ANY MORE BIZARRE, I CALL THEIR CORPORATE OFFICES AT 2:30 IN THE AFTERNOON (THEIR TIME) ON A WEEKDAY ONLY TO GET A RECORDED MESSAGE: :”THIS IS COMPUSA. WE CAN’T TAKE YOUR CALL RIGHT NOW…” I repeat: Their ***CORPORATE*** OFFICE!!!!
Maybe I should put up MY OWN COMPUSA HORROR STORY WEBSITE…
June 5th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Hey Terry! Congrats on finally getting your problem resolved! Just because of that I now will NEVER shop at Comp USA…… Word of mouth is a great advertiser or good and bad. This time it was BAD! Bad for Comp USA…
June 5th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
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June 5th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
$300 gift certificate means you will have to step into one of their stores again, or your step-granddaughter will have to. I’ve seen people sue for 6 figures for less than this but I’m not that type, I’ll rather spread the word around. CompUSA will have more stores closing if treating customers like this. Ebay has the camera on BuyItNow for $239.95 ($20 shipping) includes a bonus 4GB SD card, rechangable batteries & charger, and most important the CAMERA!
I had a situation with Conn’s about 5 years ago, they claim they will meet or beat anyone’s price, something like that. There was an ad for a camera at OfficeMax Reg $499.99 on sale for $199.99, our near-by OfficeMax did not have the camera they were sold out. So I took the ad to Conn’s, they had the camera and then I presented the OfficeMax ad, he had to talk to the Manager (like buying a car). He came back with NO we cannot sale it for that price, I asked about their slogan, he would not answer, I told him I would not buy anything from them again, and I have not in over 5 years.
So I went by an OfficeMax store by my work, they were also out of that camera. But they gave me two alternatives; ship one to me in a few weeks or I could buy another camera for $199, it was an Olympus that was priced at $499.99, I researched the camera that night and bought it the next day. It was a steal, but they also won them a life-time customer until they sell me an empty box, but they teach their customers better than that!
Now the world of BLOG is great and powerful as Terry stated, for both the customer and stores that treat their customers fairly!
June 5th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Whoever is in charge at CUSA must tell the stores to “make money at any cost.” The management at the stores just simply did not care about the customer at all. Now, the stores in our area have closed. What a shame! CompUSA was THE place to go see the latest video cards as gaming grew exponentially, the latest modems as the internet grew by leaps and bounds, and every other cool piece of hardware. They turned into warranty salesmen who merely wanted to sell the myriad of warrantees, phone support, etc., all of which provided the customers horrible service. Next, they imported every item known to man and it looked like a low-grade Best Buy. Finally, they shutdown out here. From greatness to the garbage pile. Thanks CompUSA, for the memories and no thanks for all the rest.
Some posters here have a point about the consumer inspecting the package. HOWEVER, I would be QUITE SURE that the law requires there to be AN OBJECT INSIDE A BOX THAT IS FOR SALE. If not, companies would be making a killing by selling empty boxes, with a sign out front saying “BUYER BEWARE.”
jbm
June 5th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
People still shop at CompUSA? My friends and I have called it CompUseless for years. They are overpriced with poor customer service. The liqudation sale was the first time I’d entered the local store in 3-4 years. It was mostly good for a laugh to see 50% off items that were still overpriced, shaking my head at people purchasing expensive items at a sale where they should know perfectly well they had no recourse once they left the store, and hearing a salesperson blame the store closing on Walmart’s low-end, budget, email-only computers.
The computer retail market has changed drastically over the past several years. A retailer can’t make much money on hardware anymore, they have to make their money in services. That’s why if you go into, for example, a Circuit City, the salesperson will try to sell you extended warrenties and service plans. That’s where they make their money, not on the computer sale itself. CompUSA doesn’t get it, they are a dinosaur that refuses to adapt and is too stubborn to die.
June 5th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
WOW.. i cant believe CompUSA struck again! About a year ago, I bought a lap top from CompUSA and the associate told me to purchase their Reward Program much like Best Buy’s Reward Zone. It would cost me $30 for the membership, but with how much I was spending on the Sony Laptop which cost $1,300 at the time, I would end up getting $60 back, thus saving $30. Sounds good right? That’s what I thought. I purchased it, and never recieved my money back, and when I went to the CompUSA I purchased it at to find out what had happened, they informed me that they cancelled the program 3 days after I purchased the program so it was no longer valid! Of course I demanded my $30 back, but was given the run around. I was told to email the disctrict manager, and when I did, I got an automatic response the he had left the company. I continued to fight it, but CompUSA went out of business, and so I was assed out. Im glad CompUSA went out of business. They are the absolute worse!
June 5th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
working for compusa business sales we bend over backwards to take care of the business customers. State and Federal agencies, local small businesses. I’ve established great relationships with the buyers and make a good living at it. Although not perfect, the retail side is under tremendous loads to sale TAP (extended warranty) on everything, that is what makes CUSA money and keeps those 8 dollar an hour people employed. They do make a spiff of 4-20 dollars on each TAP sold. But if not for the services, training, and warranty’s CUSA would be out of business
June 5th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Way to go Mr. Heaton ! I must applaud you for what you have done. You could have done nothing and let them use you as a doormat but you didn’t. You stood your ground. You did the right thing. As a consumer we all have our horror stories to tell. I am glad for you that yours finally turned out on a positive note.
I have to also agree with Holly #7 when she says all sales were not final for you had no camera. The receipt said you bought one however.
Buyer beware is right on anything you buy from anywhere. Sometimes is is a dog eat dog world and sometimes our underwear is made of Milk-Bone.
June 5th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
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June 5th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
You got screwed. Tough situation.
Your only recourse? Go back to the Frisco CompUSA and steal something worth at least $269. It might be illegal, but at least you’ll feel better. (And arguably, it’s not stealing, but rather “settling up”).
Good luck.
http://hypocalypse.com
June 5th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
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June 5th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
By the way your math problems sucks. Glad you got something out of Compusa. Buyers beware ESPECIALLY IN BIG BOX STORES. Most BIG BOX STORES do NOT put the serial number of the products on the receipt. Therefore they can re-sell products returned to the store for any reasons. So the “new” product you get, might actually be “Used” when you open it. Sad, but true.
June 5th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
And of course the CompUSA Pres. gets mega bucks for running the company this way. Aren’t they only 20 minutes from you? Stand outside their corporate headquarters with a sign - after calling all the local media to let them know you’ll be there.
June 5th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
WAR EAGLE!!!!
June 5th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
CompUSA advertised 24 months same as cash when I bought my MacBook Pro last Thanksgiving evening (I have the screen shot of the website to prove it). The associate at the now closed store rang up the sale as 18 months as cash and promised to change it. 7 months later and plenty of phone calls, they have yet to change my payment terms. I, nor my family and friends, will never buy anything from CompUSA again if I have anything to do with it.
I sincerely feel your pain.
June 5th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Maybe I’m wrong, but didn’t I read somewhere that CompUSA is owned by some mega rich guy in Mexico that is known for questionable business practices and ethics that would make Wal-Mart blush?
WAR EAGLE!!!! (it’s the hat)
June 5th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Thanks to Mr. Heaton for getting the word out on CompUSA. I will add them to my list of business not to do business with. They may have thought they were saving $269 by refusing Mr. Heaton’s initial request. Given the publicity this story has generated, I would estimate their loss in sales over this incident in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. All to save $269.00! Who wants to take bets on whether Kevin Hain, Escalations Supervisor, still has his job tomorrow?
June 5th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
I will not shop at CompUSA anymore. They took too long to remedy your situation, should have been handled day #1. Shame on them. And over $269 bucks, wow.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
This guy was given grief after spending $3,500.00. Imagine if he bought just the “camera” for 269.00 and tried to get relief 2months later. These stores /corporations are all filled with young people who fit the profile of the customers they are likely to serve yet lack desire,
common sense and often times even the ability to make change.You often have difficulty even finding a sales associate as they are busy discussing the previous or coming weekend and the girl/guy they are currently hot for.It’s not that there are no good younger employees, but why not hire some senior citizens who know how to work and really want to ? Some even could use the money!! Imagine that.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
[…] Filed under: Digital Cameras […]
June 5th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
And they wonder WHY they had to close 126 stores? A similar thing happened to me 12 years ago at Circuit City. Never been back and have told hundreds of people not to shop there. Good customer service rules every day.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
CompUSA Sells Empty Camera Boxes, Blogging Resolves The Issue
Hey Steve Rubel, here’s a company that learned how powerful a blog can be. Chalk this one up to the power of the blogosphere, that CompUSA recognized just how powerful negative word of mouth marketing can be. Terry Heaton, from Grapevine Texas, and Se…
June 5th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Way to go! Power to the people! I cannot believe that a major corporation wouldn’t go out of their way to “make things right” before it got to this point. Congrats… your story picked up by FOX News.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Congrats, Terry! I just read about your situation on FoxNews.com and I could not be happier for you. If we stand up for our rights, occasionally, we win the day. I recall a similar situation at another big retailer and the buyer was called a liar in front of customers! Good for you!
June 5th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
One important thing in all of this, is how can we all be sure that he is not lying?
How can be sure that his daughter has not lost the camera, or some one else has open the box in their home?
It could be nice that this guy goes to a lying detector machine to know if he really is telling the true about all of this. And also his daughter, if they are telling the true, then CompUSA has to pay them a refund, and also give him a check with some extra money because of this problem.
June 5th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I too had a nightmare with CompUSA last year. I purchased items totaling $4000 that included a printer. The printer stopped working shortly after I purchased it and the staff at the local CompUSA would not lift a finger in assisting me in getting the printer returned to HP so it could be replaced. No phone #. No address. Nothing. I realize they were not required to but why not at least make a nominal effort to see that I was a satisfied customer. I ususally do not lose my temper but the attitude and total indifference of the employees really got under my skin. I called the CompUSA customer service hotline and spoke to a woman who I can only describe as completely lacking in personal skills. With regard to my broken printer she said that that was just my “tough luck”. That CompUSA has their policies and the “certainly were not going to make an exception for me.” She refused to give me a supervisor or any information on how to contact corporate headquarters. I concluded the phone call by saying (in a reasonable tone) that CompUSA must not care if I ever shopped there again. Her response was — “You are correct.” Then to top it all off she hung up on me. I am a fairly mellow person and at no time did I speak rudely or unreasonably to her. I know that employees have to follow the dictates given to them by corporate. But a little empathy and courtesy does not seem to be an unreasonable expectation to have when you contact a company about a faulty (and expensive) product. If CompUSA sold oxygen and the world was running out I would not go in an buy any. I do not see how they can stay in business with these practices.
June 5th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
I really wish Fox News would get Cavuto and some of the other Business News analysts to discuss this company in depth (as well as interviewing some CompUSA stockholders to see what they think about losing their finiancial rears to mismanagement and corporate stupidity,)
June 6th, 2007 at 12:56 am
I had trouble with CompUSA 10 years ago - I stopped buying there after that. (OK, maybe I bought some batteries and a pack of gum once.) Let’s just say I had a similar problem to the empty box. To add insult to the injury I had to drive 3 hours to get it! (TWICE) A birthday gift that had to be purchased that day and the only store that the “system” said had it was 3 hours away. I made the drive, got the computer and the amount of memory in the machine was not what was on the box. I had to drive back the next day to TRY to resolve it. They offered me free merchandise instead of the memory needed to be able to run the version of Windows that was on the machine. I never go the memory. I just installed an earlier version of windows on the computer for my Mother-in-Law. I did get a free CD case, some other crap but it was not really the correct replacement.
Good luck with your future purchases - elsewhere.
June 6th, 2007 at 2:59 am
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June 6th, 2007 at 3:30 am
I had my own crapusa experience involving a rebate which eventually got after 4 months. That was in 2000 and I haven’t shopped there again. And have hopefully influenced others not to shop there also.
I occasionally run into companies that will try to overcharge, sell bad product, etc and have compiled a little sequence I follow should I not get reimbursed for lack of quality service.
When a company starts playing dirty… hit back. File a complaint with the main office.
Then complain again, with an added reference that all communications are now being archived and will be forwarded to various consumer protection agencies, and others. Create a lovely tag line for your email refering to the companies bad service and how you will never recommend them.
File an alert at the BBB and Planetfeedback. File a complaint at the companies home office state and brown stones state Attorney Generals office.
The first 3 sites have been used by me or others I know. I have never had to go further than the BBB
since my Compcrap incident. My last inconvenience went no further than the second complaint. Of course it wasn’t CUSA.
http://www.bbb.org/
http://www.planetfeedback.com/
http://www.complaints.com/
http://www.measuredup.com/
http://www.my3cents.com/
http://www.complaintsboard.com/
I hope this helps anyone that might have further misadventures
June 6th, 2007 at 4:57 am
I also had several negative experiences with CompRipOff.
I was cheated two times and my wife one time on so-called “rebates”, where we submitted all of the documentation (receipts, cutting out the bar code from cardboard boxes and all that nonsense), and received responses such as “denied, insufficient documentation” or “expired, beyond time limit” and “wrong bar code”.
I received no satisfaction from the store or corporate office. As the absolute values were somewhat low (
June 6th, 2007 at 5:00 am
[…] […]
June 6th, 2007 at 5:15 am
[…] With that story in mind I stumbled across a story that again reinforces the continuing decline in customer service businesses today are providing their customers. A fellow in Texas bought a $269 dollar camera from CompUSA and when he got home and opened up his new toy he discovered that the store had sold him an empty box! I would recommend you read the responses he got from both a store manager from another CompUSA and the corporate office from that company as they are priceless!. […]
June 6th, 2007 at 5:20 am
Terry,
I recommend you take all of your business to CDW (www.cdw.com). Super customer
service, excellent prices, and an extremely broad product line.
We used to do about $22K a year with CompUSA; now we do all of our business with
CDW and $0 with CompUSA.
June 6th, 2007 at 5:25 am
My name is Barry Cashin aka Kevin Cotton and I am the UK’s leading consumer champion having won back the equivalent of $17 million in refunds and compensation settlements for British victims of poor consumer practice.
My wife and I and our two children are currently awaiting our Green Card application so that we can move to, live and work in the USA. In particular, Texas.
I was very much heartened to read Mr Heaton’s story and how his persistence paid off in writing to the CEO and then publicising his plight on the internet.
Although UK and American consumer law is different, we all share the same values of good service and fairness and I would love to bring some of my skills to the table for the benefit of the American people.
If any interested organisation would like to get in touch via my website or email address, I would be delighted to discuss how to construct the perfect letter of complaint, how to take it to the top and make it count - as well as giving an insight into the mindset of the professional complainer.
If it leads to a job offer in the country I love, America, then so be it!
Well done Mr Heaton and thank you for your persistence in the face of corporate resistance.
June 6th, 2007 at 7:01 am
I’ve never heard anything good about comp usa. Check this out:
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=compusa_sucks
June 6th, 2007 at 7:32 am
Although for only $50.00 I too was sold defective merchandise. I purchased a power supply that was DOA and was told too bad. Lets hope the rest of COMPUSA closes
June 6th, 2007 at 7:41 am
[…] Filed under: Digital Cameras […]
June 6th, 2007 at 8:04 am
Looks like the situation was resolved and obviously is getting a little press thanks to the blog.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,278258,00.html
June 6th, 2007 at 8:35 am
Looks like it was resolved, and obviously getting some press:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,278258,00.html
June 6th, 2007 at 9:19 am
I’m somewhere in the middle on this one. If an item is not factory-sealed I ALWAYS inspect it. This is Caveat Emptor, and is the reason that I do not buy “AS-IS” Hard Drives on eBay.
Unfortunately there are people out there who want a something for nothing and will resort to trickery. The stores have to be strict.
However, I disagree with the Store’s insistence that the buyer “Didn’t really buy it from CompUSA”. If that is the case, what does it say on the receipt? What does it say on the Bank Statement?
Yes, this is a simple case of fraud… but it is almost impossible to prove, which is why the CC probably won’t help.
CrapUSA don’t care.
Worst Buy don’t care.
Circuit Snotty don’t care.
Looking for someone who cares? Take your business to a local shop (if you can find one). But you’ll pay more.
June 6th, 2007 at 10:06 am
[…] Filed under: Digital Cameras […]
June 6th, 2007 at 11:16 am
[…] Filed under: Digital Cameras […]
June 6th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
[…] Filed under: Digital Cameras […]
June 6th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
I too had run arounds from Comp USA over the years, and it was frustrating that their abusive practices never seemed to catch up with them. When they annouced the closing of many stores, I was sorry for the employees, but as for Comp USA as an organization, I think all of Comp USA should close. My experience with an MP3 player from Comp USA is here: http://darkbrownhole.blogspot.com/2007/03/was-comp-usa-out-comp-usad.html
June 6th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
I feel your pain. When I shopped at the Garden City Compusa, I was going to buy the Sony Blu-Ray burner for the deep discounted price of $350, when I got to the cash register I asked them to open the package and sure enough, a CD-player from 1991 was sitting in the package. I informed the liquidator that clearly this was an inside job. Always ask the cashier to open the package when the sales are final before purchasing anything.
June 7th, 2007 at 12:30 am
I used to work at CompUSA for a 2 year period. Many of times managers just “dick” customers around by just telling them to call the 1-800 number. They do that quite often and they do it sometimes when its not the correct procedure. Sometimes if a Manager is in a good mood, they’ll take care of the customer even if it means “bending” the rules. But sometimes if they feel like it, they will just send them on out with the 800 number and pretty much wishing them goodluck son.
i no longer work for that company and i’m really glad they’re going down. i hope they completely go out of business because i really felt that the ways they treated their employees was wrong. another point i want to talk about is their warranty. they sell warranty just like any other place, but sometimes it’s really shady. a customer is often times misinformed on how the warranties work. this is usually because a lot of salesman aren’t fully educated about them, BUT they are just pushed to sell it.
as for training, they “require” employees to do online technology class-like tests every month. i personally know that most employees don’t do it, and in fact most managers just kinda wing it and share answers to get by. By not completing the “cyber scholar” as they call it, nobody ever really got in trouble. anyways.
i’m glad the gentlemen got his 300 bucks, but its a gift certificate! i think he deserved a full on refund. thats just to make whats right, it doesn’t change the fact he spent hours and days and a lot of out-of-pocket expenses to try to get what was rightfully his!
do u all remember when someone bought a camcorder from bestbuys and they got a thing of spaghetti sauce?
June 7th, 2007 at 8:15 am
[…] Learning from the Dell Hell fiasco, CompUSA realizes that Terry Heaton has found an audience for his complaint about a missing camera. They’re sending him a gift certificate. Via. […]
June 7th, 2007 at 8:34 am
[…] Learning from the Dell Hell fiasco, CompUSA realizes that Terry Heaton has found an audience for his complaint about a missing camera. They’re sending him a gift certificate. Via. […]
June 7th, 2007 at 8:45 am
I’m surprised a