I tried to return an Iriver Mp3 player today at a Futureshop store in Victoria, B.C. , Canada. I had called customer service (number via internet) before because I had bought it online. They told me to bring the mp3 player in to have it looked at. So that’s what I did. When I showed the lady the mp3 player and told her about the problem (batteries go empty within a few days without using it) she started looking up some stuff in the computer and told me that a) they didn’t have the same model anymore and b) that I could only trade my defect one in for another one because I didn’t bring all accessories that came with it. I told her that I didn’t understand what she was talking about. “I have called with customer service and they told me I should bring it in together with my receipt to have it looked at. I’ve got my receipt and the player, can’t it be repaired?” No, it couldn’t and she couldn’t help me since I didn’t bring all the other stuff. I explained to her that customer service had never told me to bring the little cable and the CD and that I never thought of that either since I thought they would repair it. I also explained that I came right through rush hour (it was about 4:30 pm) and to get all the stuff would take me another hour; isn’t that too much to ask for a little cable and a software CD? I could simply not believe they were not going to repair the mp3 player or give me my money back since I had done exactly what customer service had told me.Well, for her it was time to send me through to her manager. He told me I could get a refund for my Iriver mp3 player, minus the accessories. I said that was fine. So he and another girl (blond,  girl no.2) started counting the costs of the accessories: 5 dollars for a belt clip, 5 dollars for the arm clip, 10 dollars for the software (1 CD), $10 for the USB cable and a whopping $20 dollars for the manual! Yes, because they sold me a disfunctional mp3 player, I had to be punished for not bringing in the accessories. Great line of thinking guys,  “Customer Service”.Anyways, I was going to take this and let them go through the trouble of figuring it all out. I could always bring in the accesories later. Then  girl no.2, the blond, started some other tricks on me. – [blond] “So you wanted to exchange it?”. – [me] “No” I told her, “at this point I just would like to get my money back, this is what I just talked through with the manager”. – [blond] “Oh, are you sure, I thought you were going to exchange it, let me call him again…. Yes it’s fine, but we will have to give you store credit. This is where I lost it for a second. I made sure they got that:- [me] You are really not getting it, are you? I bought an mp3 player, it is not functioning properly. You are not able to repair it or give me another one (the same model is not available anymore) and you will not give me a full refund. Do you really think I will ever buy something at this store again? The funny thing was that the line-up behind me, which was getting longer, was completelly behind me! Everybody already seemed to know about the “poor” service of Futureshop. I loved telling them that they were going to deduct $20 dollar from my refund, what asshole would do that to an unsatisfied customer? One of the guys in line, who would never be in line if it weren’t for the fact that somebody gave him a present that he wanted to exchange. that it is way better to go to London Drugs. I know, I said, I normally always go there; this was a mistake and I’ve learned my lesson!To keep things consise, they deducted $50 dollars from the orginal $229 and refunded me the money into my Visa account. I did find the CD, belt clips, USB and the manual ($20) back and will deliver them tomorrow after rush hour to get those last $50 back as well.  I’m sorry for the people in line; It started with about 3 people (once I was being served) and when I left there were at least 10-12 people. But, as the guy who adviced me to go to London Drugs said, you got to stick to your guns with these people! Know your rights and don’t let these rats talk you into things.

Posted by Admin on Friday, March 17th, 2006 at 2:40 am.