What should you do when a big-named store rips you off?

Question

Yesterday my boyfriend and I bought a Sony Playstation 2 from a reputable store (in Canada). The package was to include the playstation, a memory card, a contoller, and the adaptors. We paid full price. When we got home and started to set it up, we found that it was used, the controller was missing and the adaptors were not only the wrong ones but were also used. When we went back to the store today to get a refund, they refused. They even went as far as accusing us of stealing the controller and adaptors and replacing them with the others. They refused to give us the name of the store manager and proceeded to call security on us. We were calm and would have settled for an exchange but not now. All we want now is our money back so we can go somewhere else to buy a PS2 for our son's birthday but they won't give it back. They followed us out of the store and everyone in the store was watching, I was mortified! What should we do? Isn't what their doing illegal or something? Anyone know?

Answer 1

1. If it is a chain of stores, complain to the head office.
2. Write to you local newspaper. Some newspapers have a sort of 'ombudsman' that checks into these things.
3. If you feel so inclined, and are willing to risk the money, you can also see a lawyer and sue the store - not only for ripping you off, but for the embarrassment
4. Another idea would be to go back to the store and start all over again, this time with friends who are present to witness their behaviour. Especially if you are planning on going to a lawyer, witnesses could be very useful.
It sounds like shocking behaviour on the part of the store.

Answer 2

Either go talk to a lawyer or go to the police. Tell them that you have done nothing wrong and only wanted an exchange. One thing to do is to not jump to hasty conclusions, one store does not really represent the company as a whole, it may just be the way that the manager has ran his business like that. If you are willing to, try going to another store of the same company, do the same thing, buy a PS2, check the contents and then return it. If they are like the first store, then go to a lawyer and tell them that they are running a business with bad practices. Make sure you read their refund policy correctly to make sure that there are no loopholes to say that they are right. Also be weary that some stores have more complicated return policies for electronics.

Answer 3

First of all contact the Better Business Bureau. Secondly, how did you NOT notice that the packaging wasn't previously opened?

You obviously now use the term "reputable" in the past tense.

Why don't you just go buy and swap/exhange the bad cable/controller for the good controller??? I've done that with a Palm Pilot before b/c the one I bought was a lemon.

Answer 4

Contact their main offices in Canada. Then, contact thier main offices in the US, unless its an exclusive company to Canada such as a Hudson Bay Co. operation. I believe you have a consumer's union (like the BBB in the US) in Canada that can help you with that too.

It could be that someone else ripped of the store and some other dufus restocked it.

You shouldn't have been treated the way you were by a major store. Yikes.

Answer 5

in case you have funds, bypass someplace else and purchase yet another. it is the difficulty with retail. it extremely is often a sturdy coverage to get each and every thing you prefer by a delightful touch or connection. you be attentive to you wont be stifled or ripped off ever. it is the difficulty my mum and dad continuously had as I grew up center classed. Now each and every thing i'm getting is extremely good, adapted, or no longer rapidly unique. i could recommend letting it bypass, you are able to not beat great business enterprise in a lawsuit. They destroy out the great attorneys (despite if the fee for court docket is better than your asking) purely for the theory of it. I used to have pals that would recommend having somebody be paid to bypass interior the shop and scouse borrow the equivalent, possibly a shifty worker or the like, yet i do no longer condone that. i could enable it bypass and get yet another someplace else.

Answer 6

Go and talk to a lawyer. Your claim can be substantiated by the hidden camera in the mall. That camera will show that you bought the PS2 in good faith and because of that, you did not bother to check what was inside of the box. Mall management may be liable under the Consumer Protection Act of your country and perhaps of discrimination due mainly to your skin color (if you're a minority), appearance or age.

Answer 7

Go to the Better Business Bureau. I don't know where you live just type that in with "Canada" and a bunch come up.
This is a cool site too.
http://www.thesqueakywheel.com/

Answer 8

alot of times systems are recycled. be careful. call the bbb and report them. call the store owner and complain then call your local news stations and report this. ask them to do any interview. alot of times stores will bend rules and make exceptions if they know they are going to get a bad rep. 100 % customer satisfaction.

Answer 9

like i said, i am a sinner. so here's my advice.
send somebody else back to the store and buy another one. then carefully open the box and replace it with the first one you bought. then rapack it and send it back and say it was never opened and changed their mind or it was a gift and they already have one.
because obviously somebody else have done it without their knowledge and got away with them.

Answer 10

Call up the main headquarters, explain in VIVID details what happened, keep all the details you can (ie box, product, reciept, etc). If that doesn't work, call up a big name newspaper and let them take care of it.