So now, heres a piece I write against BestBuy.
Someone was nice enough to buy me a $100 gift certificate to the Best Buy in my home town. More than elated at this gesture I waste no time running to BestBuy the next day.
At The Store:
I finally decide on a $90 CD. Add tax, $95 something, I assumed. I get in line, being the day after Christmas the line is long and I wait 15 minutes before being helped at the counter, yet I notice in my time in line that there are 2 lines that are not open.
At The Counter: The teenaged boy working the register swipes the Cd player past the scanner and like I suspected $95.32, I hand him the card and soon after he gives me my reciept. NO CHANGE. I ask him for my change and he said that I could not get any, that my card had credit for $4.68. I simply told him no. I told him and I qoute “I am damned poor and will be damned to spend any of my money at this store.” fairly loud. Now sensing that I am mad, he says wait here , I’ll get the manager.
…25 minutes later
Speaking With The Manager:
My exact words were, “Listen here buddy, someone was nice enough to spend $100 on me. What’s it to you? Eitherway you get money in your pocket, the store isn’t losing any money.”
He said something to the effect of “Now, young man, this is the way these things work. Theres no reason to get mad. You still have some credit left on your card, you can come back and buy something else here.”
thatsit.
I Erupt.
“Thank you for the patronizism, sir but I am NOT leaving here, unless I get my $4.68 CHANGE or you find me something worth exactly $4.68 GODDAMN CENTS!”
At this, the entire store drops what they are doing and looks over at the young teen boy staring down the store Manager.
“Wait here” says the manager and disappears into the offices.
30 seconds later…
The manager emerges with exactly $4.68 and my receipt.
He has me escorted out the store by security, as I march past everyone looking at me awestruck I lift both hands in the air to flip off the manager.
No. Actually… you’re the asshole. The store does indeed lose money when they give you the change. Most times, when you get a gift certificate, you will be informed that no change can be given. If anyone should get the change it should be the person that got the certificate in the first place.
My friend gave that particular store $100
I gave them $95.32
They gave me $4.68
$95.32 exchanged hands, all to the store.
How did they lose money?
The card said nothing about no change.
When a gift certificate is bought, the money is put aside as already spent, and so they count that as something already bought, in their profit. When you ask for that money back-they LOSE it! Understand?
It seems like you acted like an inconsiderate prick over not even five bucks.
People like you are what makes me hate my fucking job in retail. Good god, I hope you don’t treat waitstaff like this! You might find extra little “presents” in your food.
I don’t think the store loses money like oldscratch says, but he’s right that you’re demanding something you’re not entitled to.
When that person bought the gift certificate, they turned legal tender from the US govt into a privately negotiated contract with a retailer. It may act like cash, but it ain’t. You have no right to demand anything from them that wasn’t agreed to at the time of the original transaction. It may suck, but that’s the breaks. The only reason you got money back is because you made a scene.
And if you are so poor, why didn’t you buy a $5 CD single, and get $95 cash in change?
Part of the reason large retailers like Best Buy went to gift cards in the first place was because of people like yourself, who get gift certificates, buy one item, and take the remainder in cash. It’s not really fair to the person who bought the gift card if you do that, and it does cheat the store out of some money (The difference of what they paid you in cash.) Ideally, however, there should be a cash-back option.
Let me clarify. The store actually does lose money, they lose the profit margin on the $4.68 that they assumed they would get when they sold the gift certificate. They don’t have a loss on the gross, they have a loss on the net.
They sold $95 of stuff nonetheless
b) Oh boo hoo, I’m cheating a BIG CORPORATION out of $5, how will they ever feed and clothe their children now?
Like Guinastasia stated, I was a prick over less than $5. Is $5 to them really a great deal? It’s a great deal to me, I scrimp and scrape and save to get what I need, e.i. food, clothes, $5 could help me get some stuff quicker.
d) The Card stated nothing about a No Change policy. Something I think they should expect.
Yes, I am a costumer and I blow. But in the end, the costumers that blow pay the people who work as well.
Where I work it is customary for supervisors to give gift certificates for a job well done. Most of the time the certificates are for dining out. I have discovered that Lone Star (steakhouse) does not give change on gift certificates. Outback Steak House will give you back change if you don’t spend the entire amount. WalMart will also give you back any change. So it seems that it’s up to the retailer on whether or not they honor the entire amount of the certificate. But it would be nice if they would let you know up front what their policy is on giving back change.
Mercutio, putting aside the big bad corporation for a moment, what did you have against the person working the register? He’s poor too or he wouldn’t be working there. He clearly didn’t create the policy and he certainly doesn’t have the authority to circumvent it for you. So why yell at him? Oh, to get the manager out. Yes, good response. Wouldn’t asking for the manager have accomplished the same goal?
Now, let’s talk about the big bad corporation. At what point is it ok to ask for change back? What if you had bought $1 worth of merchandise and wanted $99 in change? Gosh, what do they care? They’re making a buck, right? At what point is it ok to ask for your change back and screw The Man?
Well maybe your stupid fucking friend should have thought to give you $100 in cash. I didn’t hear you complaining about giving them the $95, that’s a far larger ammount.
**
And it didn’t state anything about giving you change either. Are you the biggest dumbfuck in the US, or do you just play one on this message board?
The phrase “The customer is always right” means nothing. If they’re wrong, they’re wrong, simple as that. And I have no trouble telling my customers that if that happens to be the case. I’m not going to kiss ass regardless, just because I’m standing on the other side of the counter. And, before anyone suggests otherwise, no I don’t have a shortage of customers because of this.
As for giving change on gift certificates, the store does lose money for this, as previous posters have pointed out. At the end of the day, you end up losing out because of this. When a store loses money, no matter how big an organisation they are, they’ll just put up their prices to recoup their losses. So, you may get your $5-odd worth of change now, but the future price increases will soon even that out.
in Massachusetts, where I answered questions about consumer affairs (among other things) for seven years, there are practically NO laws about gift certificates. Stores issue them and have a great deal of discretion on how to honor them. The general rule is that they can put pretty much whatever rules they want on the dang things but then must honor those rules. So…
If the BB had said on the certificate they would remit any balance in cash, then they should have done it.
If, however, they didn’t say anything like that or indeed anything at all about the balance, they can set whatever rule they want at the time. Your friend gave BB $100 for goods to give to you; they were going to give you the CD player and $4.68 in credit in return. I don’t know what state you’re in but I find it hard to believe it’s more densely regulated than MA!
BTW, major asshole points for yelling at the cashier and manager. Guinastasia’s got you pegged. I bet you’d also have yelled at me when I patiently explained the law (or lack thereof) on the consumer line. Maybe I should start a thread about those of us who work on such lines–sheesh, what people say.
Screams and hollers at cashier because he did not ask how the system worked.
Whines about the long wait for service despite having picked the second busiest day of the year (and the busiest day for management because the day after Thansgiving does not require a lot of refund activity).
Screams and hollers at the manager because he does not like the system in effect (about which he did not inquire before he attempted to use it).
Makes a major scene, then flags an obscenity to the store in general after demonstrating that he lacks a basic understanding of customer/merchant relationships, any consideration for working people, and any class.
I would guess that Mercutio’s next Pit rant will be a jeremiad against people who judge teenie boppers too harshly.
Reminds me of Dilbert’s comment: Giving gift certificates is like giving cash, except it’s only good at one place and expires. It’s like taking the least thoughtful gift you can think of and figuring out how to make it worse.
Oh Jeeze…OK, I’m going to post this in the most non-confrontational and logical manner that I can.
First, let me preface by saying I understand how Best Buy’s system works. If it’s their stated written policy, I have no beef with them specifically.
Re-read that above before you flame me.
In principle I agree with Mercutio. One way or another, the store has not lost money. If they have counted the entire $100 as “revenue”, then IMO that is the wrong way to account for it. The store made a $95 sale, and got to hold onto the $100 and earn interest off of it. I don’t see why they fuss over the $5 balance.
I would hazard that the majority of persons who receive gift certificates like that do not in fact buy a $5 item, expecting a $95 cash return. IMO, gift certificate money should be kept in seperate accounting, and the store should cheerfully give as a refund most, if not all, of the balance, depending on the magnitude. Because yes, there are handling and transaction fees associated with dealing with gift certificates.
I have no problem with anyone challenging or disagreeing with a store’s policy.
Acting like a two-year-old that wants candy in the middle of a crowded store because one was too stupid to ask about the policy beforehand and taking out one’s frustrations on people who are in no position to defend themselves deserves every brickbat that is thrown.
Having worked retail, I am very critical of how a store is run and how professionally the staff behaves (and appears to have been trained). I do not put up with bogus claims and I will go to management (at the appropriate level) to indicate that they have a problem.
Throwing a temper tantrum is not an acceptable response.
Abusing people is not an acceptable response.
Mercutio got lucky in finding a harried manager on a busy day who found it easier to cave in than to put up with the idiocy. I was never rude to a customer on any occasion under whatever provocation (including having total jerks behave identically to Mercutio), but I also never caved in just to let the crybabies win. Never.
I responded to a quiet request to reconsider policy on several occasions when I saw that the customer had a reasonable view. The several fools who screamed at me before a crowd of customers were met with absolute civility and absolutely no give in my position.
The one or two jerks who screamed at my cashiers or stock clerks were (quietly) threatened with legal action.
Don’t mess with my staff. If they screw up, call it to my attention and I will (privately) ream them a new one. If they have been rude, I will see that they apologize. If you come on like an utter jerk, I will generally figure that the clerk was simply overwhelmed by your rudeness and you will not get an apology from them.
I understand your gripe, Mercutio. You may have somewhat of a legitimate point.
No, I don’t think you should be able to spend $1 and get $99 in change. But, it’s my opinion that if you’ve spent a majority of the value of the GC, say at least 80% of it, that stores should give the option of cash back. I also fully understand that Best Buy is a private business and has the right to set any rule they like about GCs and change.
Now, having said that, Mercutio, let me state that you acted like a walking, leaking colostomy bag. First of all, anyone who needs to yell at and give the finger to the employees in a retail establishment (barring extreme cases, of course) is a complete ass stain. And for four bucks and some change??? Way to fight the power! Yeah! Stick it to the man! :rolleyes:
Tell you what, piss puddle, if $4.68 is SO important to you that you need to show how poorly you were raised, then send me your address (my email is in my profile). I’ll send you $4.68, and you can shove the coins up your ass, roll up the bills small enough to jam down your dick hole. Please think of the clerk and manager at Best Buy while doing this.
I agree with Anthracite. IMHO, the $100 received from the sale of the gift certificate should be accounted for as unearned revenue and would be a liability on the books of BB (because they owe the certificate holder $100 worth of goods). BB is not losing money other than transaction costs.
As for the $5 balance, I think it’s more of a customer service issue. For that amount, it should be given as change, no questions asked.
Yeah, but since he never even TRIED to be civil-as soon as he found out the policy, he turned into an asshole. Thus, I would not even bother to try and help the bastard.
